Sue Rundle-Hughes, Illustrator

29 Ways To Stay Creative.

2012-01-26T23:51:00.001Z

I saw this on a friend's facebook page, watched it and, basically, I couldn't have said it better so thought I would share it with you on my blog: 29 ways to stay creative.

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

First Sketchfest of 2012

2012-01-14T00:56:00.000Z

I'm a week late posting them, but last week was the first Sketchfest of 2012. It was over 48 hours this time but I only managed to produce seven as I was busy with other projects. Here they are. Hope you like :)

The Ugly Duckling

Whimsical Valentine

Bird Woman

Heidi

Jo March from Little Women

Beauty and the Beast

A Victorian, Gothic Faery

Shirley Hughes celebrates 30 years of Alfie

2012-01-09T12:52:00.000Z

I always enjoy seeing how illustrators and artists work and I was delighted to find this audio slideshow of Shirley Hughes illustrations of 'Alfie' on the Guardian newspaper website. It's wonderful to watch and I thought I would share. Please click on Shirley Hughes Audio Slideshow to watch.

I also found this video on YouTube, an exhibition of Shirley Hughes's work.

The Babysitter

2011-12-18T12:57:00.001Z

‎'The Babysitter', another drawing I sold from November's sketchfest :)

The Snow Queen

2011-12-17T23:49:00.000Z

I haven't had chance to do much work this past week due to my brother's wedding and Christmas (I'll post some wedding photos soon... I was bridesmaid), but I realised I hadn't posted this drawing so thought I would introduce you to her. It's the finished drawing of 'The Snow Queen', which I did for November's sketchfest. Hopefully she has reached her new home by now :) Thanks for looking.

December Sketchfest

2011-12-12T00:19:00.001Z

Sketchfest was last weekend (2nd December) but I've only just had chance to upload my sketches! Some of them have been tweaked since last week but I would still like to finish them properly and maybe paint one or two if I can find the time over the busy Christmas period. You can find out more about Sketchfest here: http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/sketchfest/ Thanks for looking :)

The Seamstress

The Ice Skater

Gypsy

Alice falling down the rabbit hole:

'She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed it: it was labelled "ORANGE MARMALADE" but to her great disappointment it was empty'.

Future Rock Stars

Castle in the clouds

Elven Bride

Trapped! Faery Under Glass.

2011-11-22T08:48:00.001Z

Here's the finished pencil drawing of my Sketchfest sketch 'Faery Under Glass', which I recently completed for a client. It's now whizzing its way to USA.

Presenting Sketchfest Twenty!

2011-11-14T01:38:00.001Z

Another weekend over and another sketch fest over too... for those who don't know, it's a '24 hour creative jam session with artists across the world'. I did eight sketches this time. There were so many excellent prompts that I just didn't know which ones to choose and so it sent me into a flap, hehe. For those who love sketching and would like to learn about sketch fest, please click on the link to read all about it. It is so much fun and I always look forward to 'sketchfest weekend'. Hope you had a good weekend too? Presenting my sketches:

Fairy Under Glass

This is a little faery who was caught nibbling left over food on the dinner table. She was so engrossed in munching, she didn't see the wine glass put over her until it was too late. I didn't have time to draw the food, but I'd like to :)

Hedgehog's Tea Party

A bit of whimsical fun ;) I hope the hedgehog, with the tray with the teapot, doesn't trip up on the long grass!

The Ice Queen

I had trouble with her hand in this pose. The queen sitting on her throne of ice :)

A Knight and his Steed

As I love faeries, I thought I would do a faerie knight on his steed, a mighty mouse. Not happy with this sketch though. I think the perspective is wrong and I would love to rub bits out and start again but ran out of time.

Sleeping Birds

It didn't quite turn out as I wanted and it still needs work but here is a faery whose task it is to baby sit the young birds :)

Winter Angel

This angel is helping to keep warm the poor animals in Winter :)

The Polar Bear Express

I didn't get chance to finish this but I enjoyed drawing it immensely. The train is probably not technically correct, but how many polar bears have you seen driving steam trains? I would like to finish the carriage on the back of the steam train :)

The Snow Faery

She's making wintry snowflakes. Not very well drawn snowflakes, but I was sketching them quickly ;)

Presenting Sketchfest Twenty!

2011-11-13T21:00:00.001Z

Fairy Under Glass

Hedgehog's Tea Party

A bit of whimsical fun ;) I hope the hedgehog, with the tray with the teapot, doesn't trip up on the long grass!

The Ice Queen

I had trouble with her hand in this pose. The queen sitting on her throne of ice :)

A Knight and his Steed

Sleeping Birds

It didn't quite turn out as I wanted and it still needs work but here is a faery whose task it is to baby sit the young birds :)

Winter Angel

This angel is helping to keep warm the poor animals in Winter :)

The Polar Bear Express

The Snow Faery

She's making wintry snowflakes. Not very well drawn snowflakes, but I was sketching them quickly ;)

Sanhaim Avalon Faery Ball

2011-10-31T23:57:00.003Z

I have just arrived home from Glastonbury where I met up with my dear friend Natacha Chohra for a fun weekend visiting the faery fayre and the Avalon Faery Ball. It was the first time we had met each other, although we've chatted online for a year, but we got on like old friends. She is such a lovely person. Natacha made her own wings and costume and looked absolutely stunning. I cheated and merely embellished a dress but I'm definitely making my own costume for next years Faery Ball. The ball was a magical place where I met elves, dryads, goblins, pirates and of course, lots of faeries and other fantasy folk. I also made some wonderful new friends. I can't wait for the next one and Natacha and I would love to sell our work there next October. Here are some photographs:

Glastonbury Tor

Jasmine Becket-Griffith

Meeting Linda Ravenscroft

Natacha's beautiful wings

Me in my costume

Me and Natacha

Natacha looking stunning.

Me and Ahob Goblin (but I don't know the name of the lady in the middle. She was dressed as a fox).

The Mad Hatter

Felicity Fyr Le Fay

New friends, gorgeous fairy Sarah Aiston and steampunk fairy, John Webster. His wings were great and produced steam.

The Dolmen, a wonderful celtic rock band.

Ahob Goblin, Linda Ravenscroft and Natacha Chohra

My new friend, Ayesha Stone, made the horns herself from fimo. She looked beautiful.

Sketchfest Nineteen

2011-10-23T00:36:00.001+01:00

Sketchfest nineteen has just finished so I thought I would upload my sketches. I didn't do so many this time as chores and other things got in my way, but I managed seven. Here they are:

Sleeping Beauty

Wild Elf Child

Winter Elf

Small dog, big stick!

(Based on my dog, Millie-Moo)

The Tooth Fairy

Travelling in Style - on a mountain hare

Whimiscal Winter Wonderland

New 'Sealy Me' Illustration

2011-10-17T23:40:00.000+01:00

Hope you like my little wannabe wolves ;) An illustration from 'Sealy Me' by Laury Blavoet, where children pretend to be animals.

Goosey Me!

2011-10-12T12:50:00.000+01:00

A little girl pretending to be a goose. An illustration from 'Sealy Me' by Laury Blavoet where children pretend to be animals.

Illustration Friday - Hibernate (number two)

2011-10-06T01:40:00.000+01:00

I just finished a painting of a little fairy and dormouse asleep. I originally sketched this for Sketchfest, entitled 'Friends' and decided to paint it with watercolour. I thought it was also an appropriate subject for this week's Illustration Friday too :)

And here it is in a frame. It cuts the end of the feather off so I'll put it in a bigger frame, but it will do for now :) Thanks for looking.

Hibernate - Illustration Friday

2011-10-01T17:40:00.001+01:00

This is a painting I did ages ago for a calendar. I thought it would be appropriate for this week's illustration Friday :)

Flower-Power, Hippie Chick

2011-09-30T12:36:00.000+01:00

My hippie chick stamp design for Addicted to Stamps.

Fairy Commissions

2011-09-25T19:12:00.001+01:00

I was recently commissioned to paint two paintings of my client's grandchildren as fairies. She sent me photos of the paintings framed.

She provided photos of the children and I first sketched out some ideas. These are the two she chose :

I then transferred it to cold press watercolour paper and painted with watercolour and added some details with derwent watercolour pencils and my old faithful karisma pencils. I changed the baby on the toadstool slightly. The paintings are 10 x 8 inches approximately.

Here they are, hanging up in their frames :)

A little fairy I sketched last night...

2011-09-23T23:18:00.000+01:00

Here's a little fairy I sketched last night. She came and sat down next to me, on the arm of my sofa, and let me draw her ;)

(I used a beautiful photo from iardacil-stock as figure reference)

The Haunting Apparition

2011-09-16T03:06:00.004+01:00

I finished the drawing of my sketchfest sketch, entitled 'Haunting Apparition. I hope you like it and thanks for looking :)

'The Ruby Slipper' and New Facebook Pages

2011-09-13T12:34:00.001+01:00

My friend and I recently decided to start new facebook pages of our art, so I thought I would shamelessly promote them :) Please come along and take a look, maybe make a cup of tea and have a hobnob or two and sit back to browse the pictures and if you like what you see, perhaps you could click 'like', hehe. Here's my page and this is Natacha Chohra's page. Thanks :D

Natacha's stunning painting 'The Ruby Slipper'

Natacha Chohra's work

2011-09-13T12:08:00.001+01:00

As I noted in my last post, it was sketchfest time again recently. I posted my sketches, now here are Natacha's beautiful drawings :) They are also for sale here, if anyone is interested. Natacha also has a facebook page now, showcasing her artwork. Please come and take a look here :) Thank you.

Outta the coffin

Fairy Godmother

The Snail Race

Mermaid's Treasure

Forever Young

(Sleeping Beauty was one of Natacha's favourite stories as a child).

What is this? Should I start running now?

La Marionette

"Ticket Please"

They walk among us

Sketchfest 18!

2011-09-11T22:08:00.001+01:00

Here's September's sketchfest sketches. I am so addicted to sketchfest. Please do join in next month if you enjoy drawing. I decided to put them up for sale this month and sold two of them, which is an added bonus! If you are interested in purchasing any of my sketches, you can buy them from here.

This prompt was 'Asian Archer'. I was influenced by the Japanese Geisha girl for her costume. She's an elf of course ;)

'Fairy Godmother'.

'Mermaid Treasure'

'Ponies with Gossamer Wings'. Not my favourite sketch but I tried to fit in a quick sketch as I only had 30 minutes left.

'The Cloud Painter'

'Floppy the Vampire Bunny' - the prompt was for 'vampire rabbit'. My user name on ebay is Floppy the vampire rabbit so I immediately thought of her. This image has been in my head for a while though, an evil version of a cute Victorian bunny Beatrix Potter style. I didn't have time to finish it as I wanted to put a gruesome border around her. I only had time to draw one skull, there should be one on the right corner too. She likes human blood best. Watch out! Don't fall down any rabbit holes!

Morgan Le Fay

Haunting Apparition

I was influenced by one of my favourite ghost stories 'The Woman in Black' by Susan Hill. This isn't her, but the sketch was strongly influenced by the character.

Masked Ball

Thanks for looking :) x

The Arctic Mermaid

2011-09-05T00:03:00.000+01:00

My new watercolour painting of one of my sketchfest sketches, 'The Arctic Mermaid' :)

'Smile' Exhibition at Shire Hall Gallery

2011-08-28T23:50:00.000+01:00

I recently went to Shire Hall Gallery in Stafford as I love to mooch around the exhibitions, which they change quite regularly. This exhibition was called 'Smile' and comprised of artwork by thirteen contemporary artists on the theme of smiling.

I loved it all but I was particularly taken by the Julie Arkell papier mache display. According to the museum guide book, Julie Arkell describes her papier mache characters as 'a mixture of thing's - partly human but other animals too. She especially enjoys the idea of giving them rabbit's ears'. These are the photos I took, not excellent quality as I used my trusty old iphone :)

I also enjoyed the work of Lucy Casson. I only took one photo unfortunately. This exhibit shows characters hard at work repairing an old chair.

Janet Bolton stitches her lovely pictures. The inspiration for her textiles come from 'visual experience, memory, imagination - and sometimes from some quality inspired by the material itself.' (taken from her website)

Finally, Linda Miller embroiders her colourful scenes of people, 'always happy, always smiling and usually depicted within a story' (from her website).

Too High! by Natacha Chohra

2011-08-28T21:52:00.000+01:00

I love my friend's latest painting, great composition and so cute! 'Too High' painted in watercolour by Natacha Chohra.

Sketchfest 17 - Natacha Chohra's Sketches

2011-08-21T00:30:00.001+01:00

My good friend and partner in crime, Natacha, is a wonderfully talented artist but she doesn't have a blog, so I thought I would show the lovely sketches she did for sketchfest 17 :)

Snow White and Rose Red

'One day my prince will come...'

Thorny Princess

A Witch's Brew

A young witch invites her familiars for high tea...

I Can See You...

Natacha said 'I wish I had been that brave when I was a little girl :) x'

The Guardian's Perch

Natacha wrote 'I think Gargoyles always look angry or upset because they feel very lonely up there on their perch..it's a hard job guarding a city! I usually do 'pretty' so this is a bit different haha :)x'

Turn Over a New Leaf

And guess who does the heavy work come spring? Mother nature's little helpers! ;)

The Ladybug's Lady

Sketchfest time again!!!

2011-08-21T00:03:00.000+01:00

Sketchfest 17 is my fourth sketchfest. For those who don't know what sketchfest is, here's a bit about it:

Sketchfest is a 24 hour creative jam session with artists across the world, brought to you by Ellen Million Graphics. The audience and fellow artists give the artists prompts, which can be single words, questions, phrases, lyrics, links, collections, creatures, characters or concepts, and we sketch whatever catches our fancy. The only rule? Sketches can only be worked on for one hour.' Please join in with the next one if you enjoy drawing. It's so much fun :D

I didn't do so many this time as I had lots to do, but here are the ones I did manage, in order that I drew them :)

Fairy Tea Break

Snow White and Rose Red

Frogs on Ice

A bit of silliness (hehe)

Pride and Prejudice.

Mr. Darcy didn't come out as I imagined him. He should be much better looking! I drew it in pen (over pencil) so I couldn't erase it. I wanted to sketch a regency party scene in the background but we only have an hour and I ran out of time.

Mermaids Chatting

Mermaids putting the sea to right over a nice cup of seaweed tea (I know the tea would float out of the cup, but it doesn't because it's mermaid magic...)

Aquarius

Friends

I've wanted to do something like this for ages, so I had the image of how I wanted it to look in my mind's eye already.

Garden Witch.

Stereotypical witches hat unfortunately. I wasn't happy with this as I ran out of time and was disturbed quite a lot while I was sketching it. I wanted to research the different herbs and flowers that you would find in a witch's garden and the seasons they appear, but maybe I'll redraw it and I can do it then. You might be able to see a face in the tree. I was influenced by the talking apple trees in Wizard of Oz, but it looked silly so I rubbed it out.

Drawing With Thread

2011-07-29T10:53:00.000+01:00

I meant to post this a few months ago but totally forgot! It has been sitting in my drafts section since April!

I regularly meet my friend in town for a cup of tea and a scone and afterwards we usually end up, in Shire Hall Gallery for a mooch around the craft shop and a nose at the latest art exhibition. During March and April there was an exhibition called 'Drawing with thread', which explores the use of thread as a drawing tool. I just adored this little book, which is made from cloth and embroidery, and I wanted to post it (sorry for the poor picture quality). Unfortunately, I can't remember who the artist was! I meant to go back to make a note. I think it's so pretty though.

Illustrator Chris Wormell Watercolours & Coloured Pencils

2011-07-29T10:40:00.001+01:00

My Artwork is now Edible!

2011-07-28T00:01:00.000+01:00

My artwork is now available on cakes through Party in a Box Designs. Easy to use cake sheets that you can put on cakes. 'Simple and easy to use yourself at home or take the sheets to your favourite bakery to create a beautiful work of edible art for that perfect party!'

Sketchfest Number 16

2011-07-24T00:56:00.004+01:00

This weekend was Sketchfest again (hooray! I get so excited and look forward to it for weeks! Sketchfest is the new Christmas for me!). For people who haven't heard of it, Sketchfest is 'a 24 hour creative jam session with artists across the world. The audience and fellow artists give us prompts that can be single words, questions, phrases, lyrics, links, collections, creatures, characters or concepts, and we sketch whatever catches our fancy. The only rule? Sketches can only be worked on for one hour.' If you love drawing, join in! I produced 10 sketches; some I liked, some not so much, but I had a good time, especially as I hooked up with another sketchfest fan, Natacha Chohra, and we had regular chat meetings after every sketch. I will post some of her work on here too, if she will let me. She's an inspiring and talented artist. Anyhow, here's some of the work I produced today, the titles are the sketch prompts:

'Arabian Nights Babe' was the prompt

This is Morgiana, from 'Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves' who performs a dance with a dagger and plunges it into the heart of the thief. Pencil. I didn't finish it though.

'Together We'll Cross the River'

When I first saw this, I thought of two medieval lovers (or fantasy background) escaping from her family, as she is wealthy and he is poor. If I finish it, I want to see someone in the background looking for them. Afterwards, I thought of an angel carrying someone across the water, but it was too late then... I was halfway through

'Stepping Through the Mirror'

When I read this prompt, I immediately thought of one of my favourite stories as a child, Alice Through the Looking Glass. It looks a little bit similar in pose to the Tenniel illustrations (obviously nowhere near as good), but that wasn't intentional. I think the pictures were etched on my mind as a child. I made her Edwardian rather than Victorian and dressed her in clothes of c.1912 (ish) period. My costume design background comes in handy sometimes :) Perspective is a bit wrong.

'Hedgehog Serenade'

This is a little wood spirte, playing a jolly tune for the hedgehogs. Not exactly a serenade but more of a celebration of hedgehogs! :)

'On the Mountain Goat'

A fairy from North America, dressed for chilly weather!

'Fairy Wedding Dress'

I think the veil must be split at the back for her wings. When I was drawing it, I stupidly didn't think of that. If I paint it, I will rub out the veil. The poor wings will be squashed underneath otherwise!

'Dragon Summer'

I didn't have time to finish, but I'd like to add a seagull and maybe an ice cream van in the distance and one or two other characters. A bit whimsical though. I wish I could draw 'scary' dragons :)

'Dragon Heart'

Another overtly whimsical drawing! I really want to draw serious, scary dragons, but they keep coming up as cute things (mind you, dragons are only four foot tall. It's a fairy tale that they're huge and scary!) This is a dragon mummy with her baby. Awwwwwww. It's a small sketch done with watercolour pencils.

'Tell me a story'

Sorry Ellie, I took a sneaky photo of your dad reading a story to your son in your wedding last year and it inspired this :) You can have the sketch if you want. I knew the pose would make it into an illustration one day!

'Are you a ghost?'

This is a little more personal (and some people are probably going to think I'm weird) This sketch was inspired by a little girl ghost my sister, Nicola, and I used to see when we were children. A little Victorian girl. She used to reach out and touch my arm. I wasn't scared then. I would be now!! She had her hair tied back when I saw her. However, I thought loose hair looked more ghostly. Have you noticed how Japanese horror films always show their ghosts with long lank hair? *Shivers* I last saw this little girl on the night before I was married :) She touched my arm, as usual, to wake me up. I think she was saying goodbye...

Some More Sketch Ideas for 'Sealy Me'.

2011-07-19T12:57:00.001+01:00

Here are some more sketch ideas for the book 'Sealy Me' by Laury Blavoet. Not sure whether I'm going with these yet as I'm waiting to hear back, but thought I would post them anyway :)

What animals are the children pretending to be? (The name is on the first one, so that's a big give away, haha)

My Second Sketch Fest Weekend

2011-06-11T23:04:00.007+01:00

It was Sketch Fest weekend again! Yay! I look forward to them since I was hooked last month. Here are the sketches I did this time. I'm hoping that I'll get round to finishing them off at some point, maybe even painting them :)

Prompt - 'Dancing Shoes'

Model from Aehireiel Stock

Prompt - 'Dancing with the wind'

Prompt - 'He loves me not...'

Model from Eirian Stock

Prompt - Ophelia

Prompt - 'Swan Maiden'

Prompt - 'When I have a moment'

Model from Linz Stock

Oliver Jeffers in Hay-on-Wye

2011-06-01T23:56:00.009+01:00

I thought I would write a bit about the 'Illustration Master Class' I went to in Hay-on-Wye festival yesterday. I was lucky enough to see the wonderful illustrator Oliver Jeffers talk about his work and found him very inspiring. Armed with my trusty sketchbook and pencil, I jotted down some notes, took some dodgy photos with my iPhone (of which only one photo - below - was any good), and sat back and listened.

Oliver started off with a humorous look back over his life, which set the precedence for the rest of the talk that had me chuckling all the way through. I particularly enjoyed his pie chart of how he spends the day (it involved a lot of tea and coffee drinking, hehe) and I found his inventions amusing and clever.

Oliver walked us through the process of how he comes up with a picture book, jotting down ideas in his sketchbook, producing thumbnails and working out the page layout, likening the process to film making. He also told us he tests his ideas on kids first as children tend to tell the truth if they hate something. He writes his stories with as few words as possible, letting the pictures convey the emotion, such as a character's pose or his use of space: a tiny boat on a huge expanse of sea in Lost and Found for example, suggests to the reader a sense of loneliness.

Oliver showed how his work has progressed from watercolour beginnings to a more experimental style by using anything at hand, for example house paint and collage. He showed us examples from The Incredible Book Eating Boy, where he used scraps of vintage paper as backgrounds. This also resulted in him progressing to Photoshop, as a result of wanting to clean up his pictures and be more in control of his designs!

At the end of the talk, there was a question and answer section. Oliver was asked which illustrators had influenced him and he replied with three: Tomi Ungerer (Moon Man), Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are), and the Roald Dahl/Quentin Blake partnership. His paintings were influenced by John Singer Sargent.

Oliver also gave advice to illustrators starting out. I quickly jotted them down as he spoke so I could post them on my blog. Here’s what he told us:

Nothing is original
Be open – open to new ideas, advice etc.
Take a business course - Oliver took a short business course to be able to deal with this part of illustration.
Act the part of an illustrator – Oliver explained how he often felt like a fake, but thinks he has now become the illustrator he was once pretending to be.
Be a sponge – be curious. Oliver pointed out there was no such thing as a stupid question.
Be nice – I loved his father’s saying, ‘you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar’.
Don’t fear white space (of the paper)
Make it pretty – which doesn’t mean over embellish as the illustration can still look pretty if it is understated.
Find your own way.
Work harder – work hard and then work even harder!
Enjoy yourself :)

Oliver Jeffers signing my book. He seems a lovely, funny chap :)

Sketch Fest Weekend

2011-05-22T20:29:00.005+01:00

I have just spent some of Saturday involved in Sketch Fest which is 'a 24 hour creative jam session with artists across the world, brought to you by Ellen Million Graphics. The audience and fellow artists give us prompts that can be single words, questions, phrases, lyrics, links, collections, creatures, characters or concepts, and we sketch whatever catches our fancy. The only rule? Sketches can only be worked on for one hour.'

I managed to do six sketches as I had visitors so couldn't devote all my time to drawing, but I'm hooked! I can't wait to join in with the next one.

Winged Pug

Rapunzel:

(Unfinished sketch as I ran out of time, but I'm going to finish it and maybe paint it. I used a photograph from Piece of Me Stock as reference for the pose).

If Pigs Could Fly (Just a quick jokey sketch)

Cupcake Break (I am going to rework this as one of my 'Fairy Cake' card designs).

Arctic Mermaid

Mirror Mirror

(inspired by an acorn I keep on my desk)

Insomnia and Sketching Scottie Dogs

2011-05-18T22:03:00.003+01:00

I was still wide awake at 4am this morning. I got carried away with a fairy painting and before I knew it, it was almost 4 o'clock and the sparrows were stirring and sipping their morning coffee! I decided I had to go to bed, a hard decision for me to make when I'm full of inspiration, but before the sandman got me with his sleepy dust, I spied my dog, Dougal, snoozing at the bottom of the bed and couldn't resist grabbing my sketch book and favourite pencil and sketching him, he looked so cute. Unfortunately, he woke up before I had finished and gave me the evil eye. Anyway, here's my quick sketch (just realised, in my tiredness, I wrote the wrong date):

Some more sketch ideas for 'Sealy Me' by Laury Blavoet.

2011-05-14T22:03:00.001+01:00

Here are four more rough ideas for 'Sealy Me' by Laury Blavoet:

Sketch for a Fairy Painting Commission

2011-05-14T16:38:00.001+01:00

Here's a sketch for a painting I've been commissioned to paint. It is based on my painting of Will-o-the-wisp, which the client particularly liked, and has her daughter dressed as a fairy. I'll post more pictures of the painting as I progress :)

(That's an orb of light in her hand and in the background, but I found it hard to sketch)

I coloured in the little girl sketch

2011-05-08T21:02:00.001+01:00

To warm me up and get me going this morning, I coloured in the little girl sketch that I drew in the children's club the other day. I think she looks quite 'vintage' :) A lot of my female characters wear stripy tights and wellies and have flowers in their hair! I don't know why. I wear flowers but don't really wear stripy tights and wellies that often...

Two Sketches

2011-05-07T02:00:00.000+01:00

Whilst I was in work today (I work in an after school club with children aged from four to eleven), a child asked me to draw a little girl with long wavy hair for a story she had written. So I did. The little girl with the watering can is a pose that I also used in a fairy design in the past. She's watering some sunflower seeds that have just been planted. I gave the sketches to the little girl, but I quite liked them, so I made copies for my sketch book first. Here they are :)

Hunting for Fairies

2011-05-07T01:22:00.000+01:00

Recently, I took two of my nieces, Mia and Shannan, and my nephew, Daniel, along with their mothers (my sisters) over to the woods where we used to play as children. There is a stream at the bottom of the garden and the small wood is on the other side. Apparently, I used to sit by the stream for ages and talk to the fairy folk, so my mother says. With that in mind and laden with fae hunting equipment (I was a bit worried about Daniel's water pistol, but he promised not to use it on the wee folk), we decided to go and hunt for fairies. We didn't meet a fairy in person, but we could hear them giggle and we found one of their homes, in an old tree trunk. Mia could even see the little stairs up to the doorway! We'll come back next time with a packet of rich tea biscuits and see if we are invited in for tea ;)

Mia is deadly serious. She has found a fairy house...

"There it is Aunty Sue!" say Shannon and Mia. "There's the front door and this is the staircase!"

And another suspected fairy house...

"I'll carry this stick, just in case I meet an angry goblin".

Oliver Jeffers

2011-04-09T22:52:00.002+01:00

I'm so excited as I have bought a ticket to for the illustration master class with Oliver Jeffers in Hay festival on 31st May. Hooray! I thought I would post a video I found on YouTube to show people who aren't familiar with his work what a creative genius he is :) I haven't read his new book yet The Heart and the Bottle but I'm hoping to buy it while I'm in Hay-on-Wye and ask him to sign it.

Anyone who knows me will know how much I love Hay-on-Wye and I would move there right now if my hubby could move his job there (I knew I should have married a bookshop owner, hee hee). If you love books and you're near Powys, in Wales, or Herefordshire between 26th May and 5th June, I would highly recommend a visit to Hay-on-Wye.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings, blah, blah, blah, here's the video... Enjoy ;)

Some More Roughs For 'Sealy Me'

2011-04-09T15:46:00.002+01:00

Here are some more sketch ideas I have done for 'Sealy Me' by Laury Blavoet.

Cover Idea

Fantasy Fabric

2011-04-09T15:33:00.001+01:00

I've just become a fabric block artist with Fantasy Fabric Blocks. The website is for crafters and quilters, where 'you will find beautiful fabric creations of enchanted fairy art, mermaid art, unicorns, whimsical toads, dragon art and much more, all available as fabric blocks in cotton.' Check it out :)

IF - 'Cultivate'

2011-03-22T23:33:00.003Z

This weeks 'Illustration Friday' is 'cultivate'. I haven't posted anything on 'Illustration Friday' for ages, mainly because I'm working on a project. When I saw the subject this week, I immediately thought of an old painting of mine, so I thought I'd post that. I cheated as I used this for another Illustration Friday a while back. She's my fairy gardener, 'cultivating' the fairy garden of course :)

'Harry and Hopper'

2011-03-17T00:25:00.003Z

My facebook friends will have already seen this post as I wrote about it last week, but I felt compelled to blog about this wonderful but sad book for other people interested in illustration, who haven't read this book.

Last week I bought a beautiful picture book called Harry and Hopper by Margaret Wild and illustrated by Freya Blackwood which won the Kate Greenaway medal 2010. The text is moving and beautifully written and the gorgeous illustrations are very touching. It tells of a little boy, Harry, and his dog Hopper, so named because 'he was as jumpy as a grasshopper.' The story deals with death and the loss of a beloved pet and how Harry comes to terms with it. It is very moving and, I'm afraid to say, I blubbed at the end (well, I actually sniffled my way through most of the book). Freya Blackwood’s charcoal and watercolour illustrations have a sketchy, loose feel to them, full of life and movement that suggests Hopper’s playfulness, and the darker colours express the sadness Harry feels when he loses Hopper.

Please read Inside the world of Kate Greenaway winner Freya Blackwood/books/Guardian.co.uk for more information and to view some of the lovely illustrations. Also, Sarah McIntyre's interview with Freya is an interesting insight into her techniques and illustration process :)

It's A Book - By Lane Smith

2011-03-14T12:13:00.001Z

I really enjoyed watching the trailer of 'It's a book' by Lane Smith, a picture book about a computer loving donkey and a book loving ape. I haven't read it, but I would really like to soon as its theme is a subject close to my heart, a debate between computers/ebooks and traditional books... and I hear it's very funny :)

'Sealy Me'

2011-02-17T01:22:00.011Z

These are illustrations for a book called 'Sealy Me' by Laury Blavoet. It's about children pretending to be animals. She writes that this book 'started with one of my favourite expressions in English : 'Silly me!'
And then came all the animals …' I'm going to post some of the illustrations and sketches as I work on them. Here's a few to start with:

Needle Felted Friend - Scottie Number 2

2011-02-10T22:57:00.002Z

Here's a new needle felted friend that I was recently commissioned to make: he’s another little Scottish terrier, a brother for the one I made last year. I love making Scotties as I have three of my own, so I have lots of inspiration. As usual, the photographs aren’t the best but hopefully the photo isn’t so shaky and blurry that you can’t make him out, lol. You can't really see his nose in the first photograph as it blends into his face (the problem with being black all over. My next needle felted dog I make is going to be a spotty one I think) so I have posted the little guy in profile too. The new owner has called him 'Mr. Woofies', hee hee it suits him :)

Apologies for not posting any art on my blog recently. I've been busy working on sketches and illustrations for a book, which is proving to be so much fun, but I will post them at a later date ;)

Vicki's painting

2010-12-30T23:23:00.001Z

Just thought I would add a photo of a minature watercolour painting I did for my friend, Vicki, as a Christmas present.

Private Commission - Portrait in Elizabethan Style.

2010-12-30T23:07:00.001Z

My friend, Rhian Doyle, asked me to paint a portrait of her husband, Alan, in Elizabethan costume. It was for a Christmas present from her to him. As I only had a couple of weeks to complete it, I painted it digitally and then sent it to my printers and had it printed as a giclee print. Rhian's only request was that it should be black and white, the colours of Alan's favourite football team. As I originally studied costume design, I have lots of books on the history of clothes as reference and I spent hours looking at the lovely clothes instead of working! A painting of Sir Walter Raleigh also inspired me. Here is the finished portrait anyway, and the preliminary sketch. Alan was very pleased with it :) I just wish I hadn't decided to paint a doublet with so many slashes!!!!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-19T01:20:00.002Z

This will be my last blog post before Christmas (probably) so I thought I would post my painting of a Christmas fairy carrying the gift of Christmas spirit (thanks Elise Hoogsteden-Roberts for that idea:). Merry Christmas everyone and hope you have a great holiday xx Ho ho ho! ;-) xx

Needle Felted Bunny

2010-12-19T00:39:00.000Z

Just thought I'd add a new needle felted friend I made for my friend for Christmas. It didn't turn out as well as I hoped... I think the eyes are in the wrong place... but considering she started off as a cat, this whole project hasn't gone to plan, lol.

A Christmas Drawing For a Friend

2010-12-17T00:16:00.000Z

My friend doesn't know this yet (and I hope she doesn't look at my blog) but I did a little festive drawing of her dog 'Billy' for a handmade Christmas Card ;) I'm posting it to her tomorrow, so I'll let you know what she thinks of it. I was going to paint it but I've run out of time. Christmas has just appeared out of nowhere!

The Frog Prince

2010-12-13T23:13:00.000Z

A little sketch from my sketchbook of 'The Frog Prince', which I want to develop into a painting in the future when I've finished my current projects :)

Needle Felted Duck

2010-12-08T13:26:00.002Z

I finally took a photo of the needle felted duck I made for my sister to give to her friend. It isn't a very good photo but you can see what she looks like. My sister's friend loved her, 'especially her chubby cheeks' she said. I used wire in her legs so they can bend.

Little Sketch of a Duck

2010-11-15T01:58:00.000Z

I just realised I haven't posted anything for ages so I thought I would post a little sketch of a duck I recently did. I'm busy making needle felted friends for Christmas and my sister asked me to make a duck for her friend, so I sketched this little guy to give me an idea of the positioning of the eyes and the beak. There's a lovely park in Stafford, which the River Sow runs through, and some picturesque canals to walk along, where there are always swans and ducks to sketch and photograph.

Dream House!

2010-10-25T22:51:00.000+01:00

In the after school club recently, I thought it would be a lovely idea for the children to design their dream house. I decided to join in too and I sketched my dream house, along with my dream pets. One of my dogs, Dougal, stands sentry (the other two dogs are watching day time TV on the sofa inside the castle). The dragon is too big to come into the castle, although he tries every day... You can't imagine how many drawbridges he's broken! He's quite happy sleeping next to the moat, curled up around the castle though. Note, the moat also has a little duck, as I've always wanted a white duck too (I'm not fussy what colour the dragon is, but the duck must be white!). I might turn it into a painting one day :)

One Lovely Blog Award! What A Lovely Surprise!

2010-10-23T21:59:00.000+01:00

A big thank you to Marion Eldridge who gave me this lovely blog award. It was waiting for me on her blog New Art News and I am delighted to have received it. Thank you Marion. Marion is such a talented illustrator and I really enjoy reading her blog and seeing the latest gorgeous Illustration Friday painting or sketch.

I promised to pass this award on to other lovely blogs too and I'm finally doing it, after about two weeks, lol. I follow lots and lots of blogs and I know I've missed so many out. Here are some blogs I enjoy reading, a mixture of writing, illustration and fairies :) I enjoy reading Marion's too, but of course I can't give the award back to her, lol.

Acornmoon
Diana Levin Illustration
Medeia Sharif
Written By Sime
Shirley Ng Benitez Illustration
Julissa Mora
DOLCI
J D Writers Blog
Jenny Wilson Artwork
Karin Won't Stop Talking
A Mouse In The House
Jacktoons

Watercolour of Tucker, the Pomeranian

2010-10-19T22:04:00.001+01:00

I recently painted a little portrait of Tucker, a beautiful Pomeranian, for a lovely couple, illustrator and cartoonist Jack Foster and Aleithia Deaver-Foster. It started off as a sketch, but his coat is such a gorgeous colour that I thought I would add a little watercolour and coloured pencil too. I really appreciated Aleithia's words of thanks and it was a pleasure to draw little Tucker. Thanks for looking :) Woof!

'Will-o'-the-wisp'

2010-10-16T20:49:00.000+01:00

Introducing my new fairy painting, 'Will-o-the-wisp', inspired by Doxey marshes in Stafford, which are just behind my house. As I've told my nieces, if you look hard enough from the window in the attic bedroom over at the marshes, you can sometimes see little fairies carrying balls of light...

Wonderful Hay-on-Wye!

2010-10-01T23:35:00.003+01:00

This post isn't about illustration, although it's sort of about books... I want to post some photos of my wonderful weekend my husband and I had to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We just returned from beautiful Hay-on-Wye in Powys, on the Welsh Marches, a place I visit frequently and somewhere I wish I could live because of the wonderful countryside, friendly people, the Hay festival and, of course, the book shops, of which there are approximately thirty in the small market town.

My husband and I stayed in a gorgeous bed and breakfast, called Lower House, in Cussop Dingle, a beautiful rural area of Hay. The hosts, Peter and Nikki, were extremely friendly and welcoming, and the house and garden were stunning (the garden appears in the book Discovering Welsh Gardens by Stephen Anderton). The 18th century house (with some parts dating back further) is built on 7 acres of land; a mixture of pretty gardens, stream and pond, woodland, orchard and small fields (home to some lovely black sheep). We stayed in 'The Rose Room', which had a charming window seat to sit and view the garden and the most comfortable bed! I found it hard to get up in the morning, but the delicious, organic breakfast soon coaxed me. Here are some photos:

Different views of 'Lower House'

Above right, the cairn built by Nikki and below right, the mirror in our room, made by Peter from an old wardrobe door.

Below, my husband, Colin, trying to decide what to have for breakfast... there was an excellent choice for vegetarians, which makes a nice change :)

Me, in the window seat of our bedroom, reading 'Discovering Welsh Gardens'.

It was sad to leave...

Illustration Friday - 'Dessert' No. 2

2010-09-07T10:19:00.001+01:00

I decided to post a second illustration for this weeks IF. This pig is a pen sketch, which I scanned into the computer then painted it digitally with Photoshop, giving it a watercolour effect. He's blissfully happy after eating all the cake.

Illustration Friday - Dessert

2010-09-06T21:41:00.000+01:00

This isn't a new illustration, but thought I would use this for my illustration Friday this week :) It's one of my fairy cake designs.

The Sketchbook Project.

2010-09-05T23:46:00.002+01:00

I have decided to do The Sketchbook Project. I don't know if you've heard of this but the website explains 'Thousands of sketchbooks will be exhibited at galleries and museums as they make their way on tour across the country. After the tour, all sketchbooks will enter into the permanent collection of the Brooklyn art library, where they will be barcoded and available for the public to view. Anyone - from anywhere in the world - can be a part of the project. To participate and have us send you a sketchbook that will go on tour, start by choosing a theme'.

There are many themes to choose from and I chose 'storybook'. I bought my sketchbook a while back and I didn't start sketching in it for ages, due to a mixture of work commitments, family commitments and fear of spoiling my beautiful sketchbook, haha (I'm a wuss). However, I've decided I really must start now and I thought I would post my sketches on my blog as I do them. Here is my first, a pencil sketch of 'Cinderella', with the words taken, or rather torn, from a tatty paperback and coloured with tea. I don't usually rip up books... sacrilege!... but this one was falling apart and wasn't that old or worth anything. I hope the god of books forgives me :)

Cinderella

Close up

Karin Cameron's interview.

2010-09-03T22:51:00.001+01:00

My thanks to Karin Cameron for interviewing me. I really enjoyed answering her questions and found her blog very interesting to read. Please click here to read my interview and to visit Karin's wonderful blog :

Illustration Friday - 'Immovable'

2010-09-02T22:19:00.003+01:00

I haven't finished this yet, I was going to paint it with watercolour but I ran out of time for Illustration Friday this week. As soon as I read this weeks topic 'immovable', I immediately thought of my brother-in-law's dog, Smudge, a Great Dane, who is absolutely HUGE! The little dog in the sketch is inspired by my dog, Dougal (in fact, I sketched him while he was standing on his back legs, looking out of the window the other day). I've been meaning to paint this all week, but other things and work got in the way, unfortunately. However, here is the sketch.

Here are photos of Smudge and Dougal :)

This is Smudge.

These little monsters are Dougal, Millie and Daisy :)

Emily Gravett on YouTube

2010-08-31T13:40:00.000+01:00

I really like Emily Gravett's illustrations, particularly her rabbits, so I was really interested when I came across a couple of videos on YouTube. The first video I've posted shows Emily in her studio, drawing the character for the new book 'Cave Baby', written by Julia Donaldson (author of The Gruffulo). The second video shows Emily characters from her book The Rabbit Problem. It's interesting to see how she works both traditionally and digitally on it. I really want a Cintiq now! These videos were posted by MacmillanPublishers :)

Angharad's Bunny

2010-08-26T22:19:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post to show a watercolour sketch that I painted for my friend's new baby girl, Angharad :)

Illustration Friday - 'Star Gazing'

2010-08-14T16:27:00.002+01:00

This week's 'Illustration Friday' is a painting I did of a fairy for a competition, back in January (it didn't win boo-hoo). The title of the painting is 'Dancing in the moonlight' and I thought it was apt for this weeks topic 'star gazing'.

My Tag Art

2010-08-14T16:21:00.000+01:00

I'm pleased to say that my fairies are now available on www.mytagart.com

Mr. Perkins

2010-08-12T23:34:00.002+01:00

It's a while since I have done any water colour painting, probably not since I was in art college, as I have been either painting digitally or with acrylics. About a month ago I had the urge to get out my watercolour paints and as soon as I dipped my paintbrush in the water and ran it across the paint pan, I remembered the joy of painting with watercolour. Here's my first attempt (I should have stretched the paper first I realised afterwards). I decided to paint a sketch that I did back in February, a doodle of a dog I named 'Mr. Perkins' (please click here to see the earlier post). It's just a small painting, about 6 inches by 4 inches :)

The doodle of Mr. Perkins:

And the painting:

More Needle Felted Friends

2010-08-06T18:17:00.002+01:00

Some more needle felted friends I made, plus the kitten that I previously posted, with his smart new bow (here).

Kitten

Dog

Scottish Terrier

New Fairy - The Painting Fairy

2010-08-06T13:36:00.002+01:00

This fairy came to life originally as a design for a promotional postcard, which I never used in the end, favouring a different design instead. Finding an old photo of me, sketching on holiday in Majorca, was the inspiration for the illustration. The fairy is drawing a fairy cake :) (She might look a little like me - only a little though as I don't have wings, mores the pity).

Emma Williams's Painting 2

2010-07-29T23:41:00.002+01:00

Back in June, I posted a painting by talented artist, Emma Williams (please click here to view it again). Here is another photo of her gorgeous artwork. Unfortunately, it's not a good photo as I took it in a rush and my camera is rather rubbish and won't work without a flash (hence the flash on the photo); plus photography isn't one of my strong points, which is why I paint instead of take photos, lol. Anyway, I digress... Emma painted it in her usual colourful style, using gouache paint, for a mutual friend's wedding present. If you look carefully, you can see the bride and groom in the bottom left hand corner. This depicts the photo shoot the bride and groom had a few days after the wedding, where they walked into the sea in full wedding attire, something called 'trash the wedding dress' (the wedding dress, thankfully, wasn't trashed and the photos were beautiful and original). I will post more of Emma's lovely paintings soon, hopefully without a flash spoiling it this time!

New Felted Friend

2010-07-28T18:18:00.002+01:00

Sorry, it has been a month since I last posted something. I have been very busy with an illustration job, which is good, but it means I haven't had chance to blog recently. This isn't an illustration, but I thought I would post some photos of my recent needle felted creation. This one is a kitten, although I don't know what to call him yet :) I still need to add a collar around his neck with a little bell and maybe give him a ball of wool to play with to stave off boredom, tee hee :)) Meow!

Hire An Illustrator.

2010-06-28T13:19:00.002+01:00

I now have a portfolio on 'Hire An Illustrator!'... hooray! It's something I've been meaning to do for a while. I just need to produce a design for my promotional postcard that 'Hire an illustrator!' will include in their mail packs, which they send out to potential clients. If you don't know what 'Hire an illustrator!' is, have a look at their website: They 'provide a promotional service and online presence for artists, illustrators, motion artists and agencies alike' and they represent the interests of over 200 illustrators (me being one of them now). It looks a good site to join and has the approval of Anna Goodson, who runs Anna Goodson Management. She writes '

“I am very impressed with this website. AGM is on several illustrator websites out there but none have given us as many job opportunities as Hai! so far. To be honest, I am quite amazed and surprised how quickly this website has caught on and am very glad we decided to sign up. I also like the international exposure that some of the other portfolio websites don’t seem to offer.“
– Anna Goodson

Time will tell if it will be good for me, lol. Bye for now, I will post again later. I must don my thinking cap and sharpen my pencils :)

Edmund Dulac

2010-06-09T11:15:00.002+01:00

I thought I would post another of my favourite illustrators - Edmund Dulac (1882-1953). He was a French book illustrator from the 'Golden Age of Illustration', famous for his beautiful 'romantic style' fairy tale illustrations, Arabian Nights, Sinbad the Sailor and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. This video was posted by Josh on YouTube. Enjoy :)

Emma William's Painting

2010-06-08T13:20:00.011+01:00

I've been meaning to post this beautiful painting on my blog for a while now but I've been putting it off as I don't have a very good camera. Mine is a basic point and click camera, which is good for nights out with the girls but no good for close-ups of wonderful works of art. I decided, I might never have a good camera, so I threw caution to the wind and took a photo and here it is:

It was painted in gouache by one of my best friends, Emma Williams, for my wedding present 10 years ago. I lived in Chepstow at the time and Emma says the houses on Castle Street inspired her – a row of Georgian town houses painted in ice cream colours, with views of Chepstow castle. I can stand and look at the painting for ages, there is so much attention to detail. Each garden depicts a different activity: friends enjoy a barbecue; a lady weeds her garden; people chill out, listening to music in their tent; children play in the paddling pool; a little dog plays with his ball, and so on. It epitomises a beautiful summer afternoon.

As I said, my photograph doesn't really do it justice and I'm hoping to post a clearer photograph in the future, but until then I hope you enjoy the painting as much as I do :)

Kay Nielsen

2010-06-08T11:48:00.002+01:00

I found this on youtube, another of my favourite illustrators, posted by Josh. Kay (pronounced Kigh) Nielsen (1886-1957) was a Danish illustrator, another from the 'Golden age of illustration'. His work was influenced by Swedish artist John Bauer, Beardsley and Japanese art. He's famous for his illustrations from fairy tales such as Grimms Fairy Tales, Old Tales from the North (East of the Sun West of the Moon), Twelve Dancing Princesses and Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales. He also worked with Walt Disney on Fantasia. Hope you enjoy :)

Mary Had A Little Lamb

2010-06-07T20:09:00.001+01:00

Here's a little illustration I did of the nursery rhyme 'Mary had a little lamb'. It is part of a series of three illustrations and I'll post the other two paintings when they're finished.

Arthur Rackham

2010-06-01T12:31:00.001+01:00

I found this video of Arthur Rackham's illustrations on 'YouTube', posted by Shivabel. As he is one of my favourite illustrators, I thought it would be a great idea to post it to my blog. Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) produced beautiful ink and water colour illustrations during the 'Golden Age' of children's book illustration, which spanned from the latter half of the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. He is particularly famous for his fairy tale illustrations. Enjoy :)

Meet Rosie Mouse

2010-05-31T23:45:00.000+01:00

Not strictly illustration, but I'm dabbling a bit with needle felting and here's a little mouse I made for my friend Vicky. Excuse the poor photograph as my camera isn't very good at close ups. If you haven't heard of needle felting, it's a bit like sculpting with wool, using a special barbed needle to bond the wool fibres together (being careful not to pierce the finger - ouch!). No stitching is needed. I love sculpting with clay and I think this is similar. I used merino wool tops in pink and white to make the body, 4mm black teddy bear eyes, the rose was bought from a local haberdashery store and I embroidered the mouth with black cotton.

Oliver Jeffers author video

2010-05-12T12:18:00.003+01:00

I haven't posted in a while, but I've been working very hard and will post some new stuff soon. In the meantime, I found this video made my Oliver Jeffers, on youtube (posted by Penguin Young Readers), one of my favourite illustrators. His work is so inspiring. I especially love 'Lost and Found'.

My Lovely Award

2010-04-22T21:38:00.002+01:00

Thank you Susan for my lovely award. Susan Mordigal awarded me the Deborah award, saying she has presented it to her blog friends who have given her hope, courage, and strengthened her faith. Susan is a very talented illustrator and her work can be seen on her blog: Susan Beth Studio

Thank you again Susan :)

Scrumptious Felt

2010-04-22T13:48:00.008+01:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, it was Easter and I went away for a week to visit family... but now I'm back and exited about getting back to work on some projects.

On Saturday April 10th, I went along to Shire Hall Gallery in Stafford for a felt making course. It was called 'Scrumptious Felt' and was advertised as 'experiment with felting techniques as you create a wonderful textured work with the help of Barbara Meek! Add depth and detail and mix in other materials, then embellish with beads, bells or buttons!' I had done needle felting before, making animals and dolls out of wool using a needle, but had never tried wet felting, which is like painting with wool. Wet felting is made by laying out fibres and then wetting, soaping and rubbing them together (we used bubble wrap to help us), which bonds the fibres together.

Barbara showed us that there were lots of wonderful things to make by felting, such as wall hangings, jewellery, scarves and bowls, to name a few. She brought in a selection of things she had made with felt, including a beautiful rug she had made on a five day intensive felt making course in Turkey to learn traditional Turkish felt-making (I believe she made the felted work in the image above too). Barbara also runs courses on felt making, which can be seen on her website: Felt World. She also has some taster sessions too. I really recommend them as she is an excellent teacher :)

On our course we made a wall hanging (I made one of a heart, which I have embellished with beads and buttons), a felt bowl and some beads that can be used to make into a necklace. Below are some photographs from the course. It's a wonderful craft to learn and we all really enjoyed it :)

Thanks to Barbara Meek for the images :)

Grown With Love.

2010-04-12T01:54:00.000+01:00

I thought it might be a nice idea to incorporate my fairy gardener illustration with a cup cake to join my 'fairy cake' illustrations. I've played about with the illustration and this is what I came up with :)

Zero2illo 12 Week Challenge

2010-03-30T12:53:00.006+01:00

I'm really exited to join in the Zero2illo 12 week challenge run by Jonathan Woodward. I can't wait to start and meet the other participating illustrators. I will post more information about this over the next 12 weeks. Thanks for organising this Jonathan. You're a star :)

If anyone is interested in the challenge and to find out more, take a look at Jon's blog: Zero2illo 12 week challenge

Showcasing Jasmine Green's drawings

2010-03-29T21:15:00.001+01:00

When I'm not busy scribbling away at my drawings or walking my dogs, I work part time in an after school club in Stafford. It is here I met talented Jasmine Green, age 10. Jasmine is very creative and inspiring and her drawings are drawn from imagination, not copied. She produced these quick sketches this evening at the club and she asked me if she could post them on my blog. I was more than happy to oblige (after asking permission from her mother of course) as I like to encourage and nurture talent and I hope I will be able to post some more of her work in the future :)

This is a fairy she sketched this afternoon (I'm surprised at how quick she draws her pictures). It's full of movement:

Cinderella

Some ballet dancers

An Easter drawing of Jesus on the cross

My Fairy Gardener - 2

2010-03-22T20:51:00.002Z

My finished card design with my fairy gardener (see 'My Fairy Gardener' post below for description), which I thought would be equally suitable for a retirement card or birthday card. ;)

As a retirement card:

Or as a birthday card:

Goose

2010-03-21T21:59:00.003Z

A sketch of the goose I took a liking to in Amerton farm, near Stafford. She might be used in an illustration one day - if I need to draw geese :)

My Fairy Gardener

2010-03-16T12:27:00.002Z

This illustration isn't completely finished yet, as I want to add a border of vines, but I thought I would post what I have done so far:

Fairies, I've been told, like to wear pretty clothes when they do a bit of gardening, although they are also practical and wear wellington boots and gardening gloves to protect their hands from the thorns. This fairy is watering a love plant. Love plants are native to all countries and naturally occur in places that are surrounded by love. Butterflies, bees and babies are very attracted to them. They are evergreen plants, surviving all year long, but can also be quite fragile, so need lots of love, kindness and attention to grow. The heart shaped flowers are one of the ingredients used by fairies in love spells and to create 'The Milk of Human Kindness' potion that the fairies secretly slip into grumpy people's drinks to make them feel more altruistic and generous to their fellow human beings (quite a lot of this is produced at Christmas and was famously and successfully used on Ebenezer Scrooge). Unfortunately, the plants are invisible to the human eye (however, a young baby can see it), although the heady fragrance can sometimes be smelt on warm, summer evenings :)

An Award... Hooray and Thank You Medeia :)

2010-03-16T11:45:00.002Z

My first ever award - hooray! A big thank you to Medeia Sharif, http://sharifwrites.blogspot.com, who awarded me this award. Medeia is a YA writer, whose debut novel The Bestest Ramadan Ever will be published by Flux in 2011. Thank you again Medeia :)

A Doodle - Mr. Perkins

2010-02-20T20:05:00.001Z

Today I was waiting for my husband to finish watching a film so we could go out food shopping. It was nearly finished but I was bored waiting and began to doodle. Here is the result of my doodle: Mr. Perkins the dog ... a little bit wonky and rough, but it is only a quick sketch and I liked his face :)

Illustration Friday - 'Adrift 2'

2010-02-20T01:06:00.002Z

This is the second painting I did for this week's Illustration Friday. As I had included my dog, Dougal, in the previous two submissions, I felt strongly compelled to include him again (I think it's becoming a habit now). Also, as it was Valentine day last Sunday, I wanted to inject a little romance into my picture. I imagined a couple hiring a boat for a romantic picnic, with their little dog and a picnic hamper full of goodies. Absorbed with each other (it is Valentine's day after all), they don't realise the rope has come untied from the mooring and the boat has gone adrift... The little dog has noticed though, because little dogs have more sense than humans in love :)

Illustration Friday - 'Adrift'

2010-02-16T22:41:00.000Z

I had two images in my mind when I saw this week's word 'adrift': Adrift on a boat and adrift in a balloon. It is ironic because I have just finished an illustration depicting a cake with lots of tiny balloons tied to it, along with a fairy, going 'adrift'. Therefore, I have decided to include this initially as my IF and hopefully another one, ie. the boat illustration, will be finished in time to include that as well :)

Happy Valentine

2010-02-11T23:43:00.005Z

I originally meant the sponge cake to be a birthday cake, seeing how it has candles, but because it has a heart shaped strawberry and decorations (ditto the chocolate cupcake) I thought it would be appropriate for valentine. This is a design I'm using for one of my fairy cake designs, but I liked it so much I decided to use it as a separate illustration too. I'm not sure if you can ice a sponge like I have in the painting, but this is in the realms of fantasy cakes :)

This is a cupcake design I illustrated.

Muddy

2010-02-10T00:36:00.015Z

This is my submission for Illustration Friday - 'Muddy'. I thought I would follow with the same whimsical character that I illustrated last week. This time I have painted Dougal the puppy, looking very pleased with himself, sitting in the mud with his equally stinky ball. Dougal is based on my Scottish Terrier, Dougal, when he was little and the antics he got up to. What is it with dogs and muddy water? Hee hee. And is it just Dougal that carries his ball over to a muddy puddle whenever he wants someone to throw it for him, or is it all dogs? He used to role in fox poo too, making sure he got it right in his ears and under his collar. Mind you, he still likes wearing essential oils of fox poo whenever he can get away with it, but that doesn't happen so often these days. I'm far more vigilant and fast, much to his dismay...

My Entry for Illustration Friday - 'Focused'

2010-02-03T01:24:00.006Z

I thought I would have a go at Illustration Friday this week, http://www.illustrationfriday.com if you are interested in trying it yourself sometime. The topic is 'Focused'. I didn't have time to start an illustration from scratch, as I'm decorating my art studio this week and everything is all over the place, so I finished off the painting I started ages ago of my dog, Dougal, when he was a puppy. Here he's focusing on a butterfly. He's probably wondering if it will taste nice...

Don't Get Too Carried Away On Your Birthday

2010-01-28T22:16:00.020Z

This is an illustration of a fairy being carried away by a heart shape, birthday balloon. As with all my fairy cake ideas, I'm also going to include a cake (otherwise why call the illustrations 'fairy cakes'? hehe), probably a cupcake again, as I think they are really sweet. I'm thinking of calling this illustration 'Don't get too carried away on your birthday', but I'm not sure yet. Personally, I always get carried away on my birthdays - not physically, like in the illustration, but usually after one too many glasses of Sauvignon Blanc, but that's another story...

Anyway, I thought I would explain the process I used to design it, as I have with a couple of my illustrations in the past. I'll keep adding posts until I have finished.

Step 1: I started off sketching my idea for the fairy in my sketch book and then scanning it into the computer (below).

Step 2: I paint the background different shades of green. I then start a new layer and add the sketch of the fairy, then start to fill in the illustration with a wash of colour in Photoshop (unfortunately, I had my forgetful head on that day and forgot to save it at this stage so can't show you the first wash). Then I start adding detail. I like to work on the subject's head first (please see close up of the fairy below) as the face and facial expressions defines the character. I have decided to make her blonde and her hair swirly and curly - I must have a thing for swirls because I always try and incorporate them somewhere in my illustrations. Maybe it's because I have curly hair? - and I added a pink flower to her hair as it's the 'in-thing' in fairyland at the moment, according to Vogue (the fairy version).

Step 3: I decide the original pose, with the arm straight at her side, is too stiff, so I just change the angle of her arm a little. I then add more detail to the rest of her body. I have decided to use soft pinks and creams for her dress and wings and I still need to finish the balloon and add more detail and shading to the fairy. I usually use different layers to paint different parts of my fairies, such as face, body, wings (you can set the wings layer on a low opacity then, so that they become translucent like real wings and the background shows through) but this time I didn't, although I can't remember why I decided on this and wish I hadn't now, but never mind.

Step 4: I continue shading and highlighting and adding more detail to the fairy, such as a lace overskirt, (below) and I also add the balloon, which I have decided not to make heart shape, as there will be too many hearts in the finished illustration.

This is the cake I've worked on to add to the fairy illustration. I decided to make it a 'proper' looking birthday cake, rather than a cupcake as I did in my previous birthday fairy-cake illustration. I painted the sponge cake in different layers. The icing was done on a separate layer, using the special effects 'drop shadow' and 'bevel and emboss', to give it a slight 3D effect. I'll merge the two illustrations together next.

I've decided to change the balloon from pink to red, to match the hearts on the cake (using the colour adjustment option under image in Photoshop). I've attached lots of balloons to the cake to make it look as though the cake is being carried away as well as the fairy. I added a shadow beneath the cake and...finished :)