puppy

Christmas 2020

Chatty, Step-by-Step, watercolour

That came round fast didn’t it?

I had bigger plans, as ever, to post more and complete more projects. But overall I think I’ve done well this year. I finished the Beardies in Need Christmas cards (I swear I will post about each one soon), finished some pieces in lockdown and even had a stall at a craft fair. It could be worse.

I have one more day at work and then out of office is going on. I think everyone really needs a break this year.

So, let’s ignore the Tier 4 stuff and the fact that so many of us can’t see friends and family. Instead, I’m going to think about what I can have this Christmas.

One thing is, I hope, plenty of time to just do nothing. Maybe Mario kart, maybe a board game, maybe just ditto watching the with a glass of wine and a fire.

Today after work I finished a long overdue Christmas card. It’s going to my parent’s grandparents and includes their two favourite kinds of dogs. It’s been a while since I did a good old fashioned step-by-step post.

As always, starting with the pencil drawing.
I hadn’t done any blurred backgrounds in a while (you know that Nigella Lawson effect? So it was fun to try something a bit different.
Finally I added in the white highlights and filled in the text.

If I don’t post again before, I hope that you have wonderful break. It’s been a tough year but, we’ll make it through.

Stay safe everyone.

July 2020 Projects

Chatty, Drawing, pen, watercolour

I thought, “oh I really must post before July ends” only to see a Hello August! post on my Instagram feed.

Continue reading →

Inktober 2018 – Day Twenty Nine: Double

inktober

The next couple of days might be harder to finish my inktober, I’m in the middle of moving all of my stuff to the flat. I’ve DEFINITELY overpacked for one train journey.

Here’s Molly with a little puppy we met over the summer, and here’s the original picture:

My pens are running out but it’s gonna be a while before I can get another set. It’s quite exciting when you have a need to get new art stuff, otherwise I always feel like I can’t justify the money otherwise.

Beardie Portrait #2

Acrylic, Chatty, Painting, Step-by-Step

In my previous post I started working on a bearded collie portrait. I’ve carried on with it and got it to a reasonable standard to give to our friend in the Beardies in Need charity. I wasn’t sure if I’d see her again before their next event, so although there was lots more I would have liked to add, I decided to give it to her now. Here’s a few close up shots as well as the overall.

I am pretty happy with it overall, and I hope it goes to a happy home, but I was in a bit of a painting funk when I tried to finish it. You know when you just overwork something and it doesn’t really change/get better? I’ve had that over the weekend. Instead, I’ve started a new piece with watercolour and pens. I’m looking forward to trying a different medium for a little while to give me time to fall back in love with acrylic.

For now, here are the beautiful fur-babies from the weekend. The second picture is from Saturday when it was Molly’s first birthday! She’s such a grown up girl now.

Hope you all had a lovely Easter!

Julia

Inktober 2017 – Day 30: Found

inktober, pen

Slightly rushed one this morning but I really wanted to get it up and posted because I’ll be home late. 

Based on real-life events of what happens when we can’t find something in our house. Always worth checking the garden to see if Molly had stolen it and put it in one of her holes. 

I can’t beleive Inktober is almost over. I haven’t found it as difficult as I thought I would, it’s definitely inspired me to paint and create more. The more inspired I feel though, the less time I want to spend on my Inktober drawings. I’ve got lots of other content to share on here though which is great! When I feel like I have something to show it definitely keeps me motivated to work more. 

Anyway, here’s some photos from the trian.

Inktober 2017 – Day 14: Fierce 

inktober, pen

Considering how long I spent on this, it’s not the best entry. 

I was trying to do a “fierce” puppy, but it’s much too dark. I wanted to still use colour today, but since I don’t have my lightest shade of purple (it ran out) I only had the midtone and the veeery dark. I also was very lazy when doing the initial sketch. I guess that happens after a 6 day working week. Oh well, it’s an entry anyway! Does anyone else find dogs much harder to sketch than other animals like cats?

Inktober 2017 – Day 11: Run

inktober, pen

Just over the halfway point and today was the first day I was flagging. Usually I try to start before work or on the train if I’m not driving that day. Today I woke up as late as possible though because I was home late last night after watching Zappa Plays Zappa, so I had to complete a quick sketch while catching up on Bake Off. So, today is not the best, but it’s something!