Hello Spring!

Looks like hibernation is well and truley over...

...but it's still okay to rock the occasional scarf right?

xx

Step by Step

Okay so this is the most sketch I've produced in the last 2 days...it was drawn entirely from imagination just sat in the garden with a cupper tea and the dogs (not sure what it says about my state of mind). I'm going to have a go at developing it step by step into a finished piece and see how far I can push it.



At the moment anything I even think about putting colour on goes disastrously wrong, with the exception of my sister's birthday card which was done with coloured pencils so I think I'm probably going to start from there...

Papergirl Newcastle

Okay so I've just finished working on a couple of small pieces that I will be posting off to Papergirl Newcastle tomorrow morning. If you've never heard of a 'Papergirl' project, then it's basically where a group of cyclists distribute artwork on a designated date to members of the public...it was originally started in Berlin back in 2006 and Newcastle's will be launching itself next month.
But you should really check out their blog or facebook page, as they do a much better job of explaining it then I do...

	And if you've got any free time around their launch get in touch with them and lend a hand, I just might see you there!   http://papergirlnewcastle.tumblr.com/ http://www.facebook.com/#!/papergirlnewcastle?sk=wall

Happy Birthday!

xx

Doodle Swap Project

Well I recently took part in the latest round of the Doodle Swap Project, where you produce a small amount (usually no more then 10) doodles of trading card side and swap them. This time round there was no theme so I just randomly drew whatever came to mind or happened to be in front of me at the time.

Most were done just using my HB Steadlier mechanical pencil, that I can't live without (seriously lost one in Birmingham and lost all ability to draw). Really enjoying just using pencil again, maybe I should just give up on colour altogether, and concentrate on binding my work together (no two things I draw ever look like they were done by the same person).

Well hopefully I'll manage to keep this blog a little more up to date now that I'm back in the swing of things (I'm always more productive when having a rough time, sod's law really isn't it?). In the meantime I fully encourage you to go sign up for the Doodle Swap Project between August 8-15 for the next round; you can find them here http://doodleswap.blogspot.com



A Long Overdue Update (with chocolate!)

Well I've been quite quiet for a while now so I thought I'd share a little bit of what I've been upto. Firstly I've been down to the 'Life' Centre in Newcastle to see the Wallace and Gromit exhibition, which is totally genius! Well it's clearly aimed at very young children (not that it stopped me from enjoying it, or going down the slide) and sadly I am too old to play in the under 7's area (including a giant squidgey Gromit doghouse and bowl). Perhaps I'll have to visit during school hours when all the kiddies are away to make the most of it. But it was great to see a few of the models and the detail that goes into them is remarkable, and well worth a visit. Plus if you're like me, creatively/inventively minded, then all the information on copyright and patenting is an added bonus.



The other place I've been to this week is Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle to see Vivienne Westwood's shoes! It was incredible some of her designs are so unique, my favourite were the shoes made from used coke and beer cans; who said recycling can't be glamourous? Might try and make a pair later...although that would just be another thing to add to my to-do list that I'd never get done... But seriously if you have never been to Bowes then you really should go the house is beautiful and it always has fantastic exhibits, as well as the famous 'silver swan' (which only runs once a day now at 2pm should you decide to visit, which you must!).

And now for the chocolate!

Well I've been trying my hand at baking recently and have had some small successes (and huge disastors) so I thought I'd share, it's sort-of creative isn't it?

As you can see I have been baking Florentines. The first batch was a bit of a mess, they all stuck to the grease proof paper and the mixture spread out far too much; they were huge like giant cookies! But after a small stroke of genius (if only I got those whilst drawing) the second batch was a success.

Intsead of putting them onto the paper i spooned small amounts into silicone bun cases so they held their shape and just pressed them out when they had cooled...and then smothered them in chocolate!

Oh well sadly there are none left now or I'd have offered you one, how about a nice cupper tea instead?



All the Colours of the Rainbow

So here are the coloured versions of my most recent doodles; both were done with a mixture of quink, inks and pastel pencils.

 'Alice' is pretty much done but I'm not happy with the second one.

The paper I used was far too thin and wrinkled up with the application of the ink. Other than that I just feel the colours are wrong...
I might try using some watercolours or acrylics on it instead; it just seems to have lost something that it had whilst it was still line work. But how do I keep the original essence of the sketch?