19 October 2016

Pushing the boundaries!

As crafters, many of us try (and in my case, often fail) to make our own Christmas cards each year.  Some are diligent and create the darned things "all year round" whilst others hit panic mode in November when they realise there just are not enough hours in the day to get them all done!!

Well, I reached that conclusion a little early this year........my Christmas card tally was in single digits and I'm away in early November...........things were not looking promising!

Then I sat in my studio day dreaming.........how long was it until my trip to Arizona to attend Jennifer Dove's Copic Bootcamp?  As I gazed into space I found myself pondering over the Copic fine art creations we have seen that amazingly talented lady producing......who can forget the giraffe drawn on an ostrich egg or those fantastic tulips and it got me thinking.........dare I have a go?

Could I do it?  So far I'd only ever used my Copics to colour stamped images adding the odd background here and there........would I be able to make the jump to a hand drawn piece of art as the Allen Christmas card? Well, there was only one way to find out - give it a try!  What is it they say - "nothing ventured, nothing gained" ...........but what was I going to draw - not a tractor in the snow, that was for sure!  Then my mind wandered to Ruby, the photobombing chicken and it got me thinking...........Christmas....birds....Turkeys, suddenly it hit me, what about a little Robin!


Well, I've waffled on long enough, so here it is:





It is based on an image I found online, along with numerous pictures of Robins I used for reference, primarily because, believe it or not this is the first time I have ever drawn a bird!




I would love to have taken some pictures whilst I worked on it, but I was simply too scared to do so........what if I goofed and had to start over!  So please forgive me; having drawn the image in pencil I drew a deep breath and started to add the colour.  Firstly the holly branch and leaves, then the Robin. Oh boy, creating the texture on those feathers took some thinking, I was layering lavenders, blues, browns and greys to get the right colours. Then of course there was that vibrant "orange" chest....yes, believe it or not Robin Red Breast is in fact orange!! Finally I turned my attention to the snow, colouring white is a challenge all on its own! I was literally holding my breath as I neared the end - praying that I could finish it without making a mistake - and thankfully I did, woo hoo!!!!  

Oh and it's 100% Copic, no coloured pencil enhancement whatsoever (pinky promise)!!! 

Are you all ready for the Copic list, you know me, I use lots.........well when you have a full set of Copic markers it would be criminal not to try and use as many of them as you can!


From now on I intend to use my markers for way more than just colouring in stamps.........and I have to say I am really rather pleased with my first piece of Copic Fine Art.........keep watching, there will be more, for sure!!!

Thanks for dropping by and I hope this has inspired you to challenge yourself, push those boundaries and try things you have never done before.................you never know where that journey will take you!


Happy Colouring

15 October 2016

Is it a bird, is it a plane?.....No it's Supergirl!

Oh boy, I certainly wished I had had super powers recently so I could have avoided picking up a pesky viral infection........hey, ho, sort of back to myself again and yes I have been colouring!

Not quite ready to share what I have been up to just yet........suffice it to say I pushed myself further than I've ever done before and am pretty amazed at what I've achieved...........more on that next week!!!

Until the big reveal, here is something else I coloured recently:


Now I confess, the hair -  grrrr, my nemesis; if I am going to have sticky Copic issues you can guarantee it will be with the hair!  This meant I required the assistance of a little colour pencil touch up to save the day!  
And if you look carefully you can see that I gave the envelope a little star treatment, adding them to both the front and the back. It does not show in the photograph but they sparkle too, courtesy of a touch of clear Wink of Stella!


She was coloured using the "No Lines Technique" (a tutorial will be appearing on my blog in the not too distant future) 
I then opted to fussy cut Supergirl for a change, mounting her with foam pads onto a distress ink coloured background. 


SUPPLIES:
Stamps: Super Girl by Whimsy Stamps, Block Sentiments by Lili of the Valley
Paper: Personal Impressions Premier Quality Smooth White card
Colouring Medium: Copic Markers, Caran D'Ache Pablos pencils
Tools:  Spellbinders Grand Calibur, L'il Inker Stitched Rectangles, MFT Blueprint 15, Wink of Stella Clear, Distress Ink - Black Soot, Hickory Smoke, Tumbled Glass and Scattered Straw, Memento Angel Pink, Versafine Majestic Blue
Card size: USA A2

Happy Colouring 
and have a great weekend

5 October 2016

A budding little picasso perhaps

So lets get down to the arty stuff, right - here is a card that was an absolute pleasure to create:


As you can see I decorated the envelope again, I just splodged on some distress ink.  Oh dear, I need to practice with those little spongy distress tools - there must be a knack to it (sadly I haven't found it yet)

Now, my version looks a little different when compared to the stamp...........adding more detail to the eyes and giving her a mouth as well as using the no lines technique adds a touch of realism to the original image.



Here is a picture of the outside, simple and clean - just letting the image be the focal point.








And here is the inside of the card decorated with distress ink and the paintbrush from Tim Holtz Crazy things collection.



COPIC COLOURS
Background: R0000, R000, E40, E41, E43, YR30
Hair: YR20, E11, E13, E44, E47
Skin: E0000, E000, E00, E40, V20, R20
Eyes: B93, B95, W10
Jeans: B91, B93, B95, B97, C0, C4, C7
Jacket & Beret: YR30, E50, E43, E81
Brush: R27, E43, E40, E41, B02, W2
Palette: E51, E53, E81, E43
Splats: B02, Y35, YG25, YR04, BV02, R27, W2
Boots: E11, E13, E15, E44








SUPPLIES
Stamps: WSD Budding Artist, Tim Holtz Crazy Collection
Paper: Personal Impressions white card, card from stash
Colouring Medium: Copic Markers, Memento Angel Pink ink, Distress ink - Tattered Rose, Caran D'Ache pencils
Tools: Misti
Size: USA A1

Thank you so much for dropping by my blog today, hope you enjoyed the post - until next time...........

Happy Colouring

1 October 2016

Happy little hedgehogs :)

We used to get quite a few hedgehogs in our garden when I was a kid, but I don't think we've ever had one here in this garden which is such a shame as they are so cute!


I decided to include a little hand drawn element to my card - I deliberately coloured it much paler than the foreground, giving the impression of distance. (nothing fancy, just squiggles that hopefully look like bushes/trees)


Here are pictures of both the front and inside of the card.....


........and lets not forget the customised envelope


Dependent upon the type of paper the envelope is made of I sometimes use Copics as above, however if the paper is a tad too porous and looks like it will bleed, then I play safe and use coloured pencils.  Here is a little tip - put a scrap piece of paper inside the envelope when using Copics, so if any colour does come through it marks the paper, not the back of the envelope!!


COPIC COLOURS:
Hedgehog: E40, E41, E42, E43, E44, E47, E49, W9, RV32, E99
Toadstool: E21, E23, E25, YR30, E40, E41, E42, W4
Ground: YG91, W0, YG0000, W4, W6, YG93, W1, G40, YG63, YG61
Log: E30, E31, E34, E23, E25, W2, W3, W4
Sky: B0000, B000




SUPPLIES:
Stamps: MFT Happy Hedgehogs
Paper: Navigator Office Card 160gsm
Colouring Medium: Copic Markers
Tools: Grand Calibur, MFT Stitched Rectangles, Misti, Versafine - Vintage Sepia, MFT Hybrid ink - Gravel Grey and Natural, Derwent Graphik White pen

Thanks for dropping by my blog today, hope to see you again soon on Wednesday with another post.

Happy Colouring