Not Coming To A Store Near You...

Last year I was asked by Derwent to provide an illustration for a prospective tin of watercolour pencils - this is what I had to paint!  Unfortunately, this collection of pencils has been shelved, but the painting itself will be featured in the new Derwent catalogue. 

This was a fun painting to do - subject matter that I really like plus the surprise to find that I could achieve such depth of colour with watercolour pencils. 

Currently on the needles - ducks!

One Thousandth Post & A Giveaway

I cannot believe I have rambled on for 1000 posts over the years - thank you to those of you who have stayed to read it all!  To express my gratitude, I am giving away one of the boxes of Derwent Academy watercolour pencils.  This one has 12 pencils inside, my artwork on the box and if you really want me to, I'll sign it if you like.

Just leave me a comment below and after a week (on the 12th February or thereabouts) I will get the random number generator (my daughter and a bowl....) and pick a winner. If you are into art, drawing and watercolours, these are a nice little set to use, good quality and above all, free! This draw is open to anyone, anywhere.

Not free is this little dog set, which is about to go into my Etsy shop.  I've made a very girly set this time, with a soft fluffy white dog, pink collar and coat, pink & black check bed and a slightly lacy blanket.  If you fancy giving her a home, pop on over to my shop.  If you'd like a similar dog but with different colours, just get in touch.

I've been thoroughly enjoying painting this snowy scene - with a bit of luck it should be completed today.  Then it and the previous acrylic of snow will also go into my shop for sale.

Lots of work has come in this week - I have to design and make moorhens, rams' heads and make a start on that knitted car.....

999....But No Emergency!

This is my 999th post...which means the next one will be 1000 and contain a giveaway - hope you return and enter the draw!

This week I received a large envelope from Derwent containing three sets of the re-launched Academy watercolour pencils, each with my illustration on it. I never get tired of seeing my work on their packaging, especially with my name printed down the side.   It never feels quite real - after years of plugging away at painting and drawing to now be seeing some return is still exciting!

On the needles this week, dogs have been the subject.  The Alsatian is due to make his movie debut and the girly fluffy pup will be in my shop just as soon as I make her a food bowl. 

There has been more painting going on too - I'm thoroughly enjoying this acrylic of snow which contains no white whatsoever.  What attracted me here was the light coming through the trees and across the snow as dawn breaks.  There will be a great deal more detail in the foreground by the time it is finished, but I am quite liking it as it is too.

Can I be serious here for a moment?  With the global reach of the internet, I get quite a lot of requests to use  my work (free) for charity purposes.  I'm not one to blow my own trumpet, but in the past I have given pieces of art work, knitted dog sets and allowed the use of my images for appeals.  The charities I have donated to  have been ones I feel an affinity towards and also have come to me with credentials in hand - links to their websites and details of their proposed useage of my work.  Being a well-brought up lady, I hate to say no to anyone, but sometimes it is necessary - if I give all my work away or allow it's use willy-nilly for no financial return (and no guarantee copyright will not be infringed), I will be the one needing charity!  Particularly when someone comes to me with no credentials other than just saying they represent a charity - let's face it, I wouldn't hand over a painting to some stranger who knocked at my door wearing a face-mask, having no ID and just telling me that they represent this or that organisation!  So, please by all means feel free to ask me to donate my work and time, but please don't get offended if sometimes I say no.  It's nothing personal, I just have a living to make and need to protect copyright of my work.  Thank you for reading this far, I hope you understand the point I am making.

More!

Just got notification that the new website for the Derwent Academy range is now up and running.  Check it out here.  My illustration is on the tin for the newly launched watercolour pencils, so hopefully will be in the shops at some point soon. On the website is another of my paintings in the 'wall art' section - mine is the-swan-on-the-lake watercolour.

In July, I will be on the website for the whole month as part of their 'Artist of the Month' feature -this means I will have to be available to give hints and tips to those interested and answer questions.  I've just been trying to sort out a photo of me that doesn't make me look twice my age or as if I've been dragged through a hedge backwards (which is the usual state of affairs when you are a dog walker/crafter/work with children!)

Now, all this exposure is lovely but it's time it brought me in some serious work! Come on people, I need to recoup the past three months' horrendous outlays and replenish my savings!

Coughs & Sneezes......

When you've spent the whole week feeling like this......

...it's good that it's been possible to get on with this...

This is a very small portion of a painting I've been commissioned to do for the Derwent website - you will have to wait until it's up and running to see the rest.  This has been drawn/painted using Academy watercolour pencils.

I've also been able to make this....

...a tiny replica lurcher.  Interesting to do, figuring out how to make the whiskery bits look natural!

Hopefully it looks like the real dog....

One down, three to go......

There have been other projects on the needles, but none I am at liberty to show!

I Don't Want To Talk About It......

As I blundered towards the end of last week, counting the hours until school broke up for Easter and I could have an opportunity to do some Spring Cleaning and get some extra sleep, little did I know that instead I would be working every spare minute on two projects with deadlines that fall within the next ten days!

The first is a tin illustration for Derwent involving the above.  What I love about working for them is the free tin of pencils you get in order to demonstrate the product.  I'll never have to buy a water-soluble coloured pencil again!  No animals to paint this time, something a little different for me....I'm ashamed to admit that I am a mature woman of a certain age who had to look up a tutorial in order to find out how to make a paper boat. Origami is not my strong point...

I also have to design and make an accessory based round poultry - yup, you read that right.

As well as a scarf involving this combination of colours - urk, that wakes you up a bit, doesn't it!

As you can see, we're not snowed in although it is a bit chilly and damp.  We planted a damson tree this week to replace the poor diseased pear that we cut down a while ago.  My banana plant survived the winter and is putting out new leaves already - hooray!  Don't look at the bald spots on the grass - cold weather and dog wee will do that!  It's been re-seeded and hopefully will green up very soon.