I managed to finish colouring my WIP from yesterday. I have changed the colours of some elements and darkened the background.
Now, I’m working on the drawing for the next one.
One day, I’ll work on completing one or more of these with just colour and not black outlines, maybe.
Line art drawn with Sakura Micron pens on paper.
Scanned art coloured using Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, Microsoft Surface Pen and Microsoft Surface Studio.
This was drawn on paper with Sakura Pigma Micron pens, scanned in and is in the process of being digitally coloured in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro. I’m using my Surface Studio and a Surface Pen, both from Microsoft.
The background may go a little darker on this one, but I’ll decide on that when I’ve completed colouring the design elements in.
It’s also work in progress Wednesday over on the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. We’d love to see your colouring works in progress of pages from my coloring books. Why not pop along and join in? You’d be very welcome there.
Drawn using a Microsoft Surface Pen on a Microsoft Surface Studio screen in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.
It’s been a couple of weeks since I last hand-lettered and patterned a word, and this morning it seemed really appropriate to do so.
Yes, hand-lettered, in a digital environment. Working with the Surface Pen on the screen of a Surface Studio is just like working with pen on paper in terms of physically hand-lettering and drawing the patterns.
The ability to work in layers, add effects to layers and use gradients to colour the background is a bit different to working in traditional media.
I do like doing these words; they’re fun to do! Also, a nice way to spend a few hours of a Monday morning.
This one has taken many hours to do, and I’m not quite happy with the background colour/texture, but I need a break from it.
I drew the black and white line art on paper with Sakura Pigma Micron pens, scanned it in, created a transparent background and then coloured it digitally.
I used Autodesk Sketchbook Pro with a Microsoft Surface Pen on my Microsoft Surface Studio.
Fun to do. A nice way to spend time, jut playing. And it’s unusual for me to colour in one of my black and white pieces of line art.
Another abstract botanical. This one has gold dot highlights as well as white dots. Fun to do!
I dug out my old Ohto Graphic Liner pens to draw this one. I’d forgotten all about them until I was looking for some new Uniball Unipin pens in my pen stash.
The Ohtos are roller ball pens with pigment ink which is waterproof and fadeproof. The beauty of a roller ball, unlike fibre-tips like the unipins or Sakura Microns, is that the roller ball tip is practically indestructible, even for one with a heavy hand like me.
They work well on the lightly textured hot pressed watercolour paper I used (which is 10″ x 14″ in size).
I applied the colour first, then worked with the way the colours spread and mixed to draw the patterns generally, though I do work rather intuitively.
Started yesterday, finished this morning. Another intricate, abstract botanical
I coloured the paper first and worked with the patterns made, mostly. Intuitive drawing with detail and intricacy and black lines is my favourite to do. Botanical things, abstract motifs, from my imagination are also some of my favourite things to draw.
My colour choices are a bit different for me, the way I blended the colours resulted in some unusual, subdued, almost grungy tones. I think I like it.
I’ve been playing around with a different kind of material and techniques and created these bookmarks. I’ve had a bit of fun doing them, something different, the same kind of drawings but different techniques.
I’ve used parchment paper and various ball tools to draw the images and Tombow Dual Brush markers to colour them.
I like the one on the left a lot. Surprisingly, the more muted, pastel tones really appeal to me.
I do have other bits and bobs of parchment here that I’ve tried things out on, and there’s some skills to develop for sure; but it’s a nice way of working, to draw in white on white then add texture and colour. I don’t think the textures show well on the photos though.
A nice way to spend a Bank Holiday Saturday – being quietly creative and learning new stuff at the same time.
Another day, another drawing/artwork/illustration/design. This one is only a little one; it’s approximately A5 in size.
I used some new watercolour paper from Canson – Moulin du Roy. It’s smooth, slightly off-white, pure cotton mould made and seems to work nicely with Intense pencils and a waterbrush.
I’m waiting for some metallic paints to arrive so I can add some highlights to this – there are places where a dot of gold will really work nicely, but not too many places methinks.
Also, I chose just seven colours to be my palette – sherbert lemon, apple green, iron green, lagoon, violet, red-violet and sienna gold. I thought that a smaller number of colours could result in a more cohesive feel to the design, and I think that it may have done so!
For this one, I drew the design first in pen then added colour.
When I draw first I do tend to fill the space with drawings. When I add colour shapes first I end up with more white space and a more random ‘edge’ to the design.
Why that is, I don’t know, other than it may have something to do with me filling spaces in with pen and ink habitually.
A habit I need to modify I think.
All the same, it’s nice to do little designs. I already have another drawn out waiting for colour!
A couple of quick (ish) drawings of kitties, the first I’ve done since I said goodbye to my companion puss of 16 years a few weeks ago. So, they’re both white as he was pure white.
Often, all anyone would see of him was his backside while I was Skype-ing with them. Sometimes his cute pink nose pressed up to the screen.
He sure left a lot of deep paw prints of love on my heart. He was one unique kittycat for sure.
I’ve finally done it!
I’ve left teaching to set sail on a new career as a freelance illustrator/artist and whatever else happens along my way. It’s both exciting and scary.
A lot of things came together at once to get me to start a new path. Another bout of long-term illness being one, a good look at the amount of work available to me from existing editors/publishers being another.
I think the financial aspect of the change is the biggest scary thing I have to face. For 28 years I’ve been a teacher with a permanent contract that has a regular monthly salary attached to it.
Now, there’s no regularity in income, which is a tad scary when I stop and think about it in connection to my past. However, I am doing my best not to do that, to think positively about my future, a future that is so good for me in so many ways.
One excellent thing about it is being able to choose as and when I work. After 28 years of dancing to a regimented timetable and day the freedom is bliss! I can make use of when I’m inspired and full of energy and motivation. The deadlines I have to work to help with the focus, but I know that I do have a lot of flexibility in how I work to meet those deadlines. I also love the ability to have energizing afternoon naps when I need to!
Working from home is another plus. It’s been my refuge and place of safety and security for so long that it’s nice to be here. My cat really appreciates me being home too; at 14 years of age and a clingy pusscat with some health problems I’m happy to be with him. He’s good company and makes sure I go to bed at a sensible time; simply because he wants to cwtch up to me for his big nights sleeps.
Of course, the biggest wonderful thing about changing career is that I am doing something that I’m passionate about, that brings me joy and pleasure.
Not that teaching didn’t. It did, for a long time, but it’s time for me to change. I’m sure I’ll use my teaching skills in other ways as time goes on, but not in a school environment. However, for the foreseeable future I’m going to be focusing on my arty pursuits, as well as learning about a lot of things such as accounts and accountants (I have one, I just have to collect together all that she needs from me …) and get into a routine of keeping receipts and a log of journeys made in connection with my business.
My home as had a HUGE clear-out to make space for me to work in comfortably as well as to store all my arty crafty supplies and completed artwork and various forms of paperwork and so on. Eighteen years of accumulated stuff had to go as well as stuff I no longer need, value or find pleasure in. My niece helped, rather, did most of the work, and between us we were ruthless! There are still bits and bobs to sort out and do, but deadlines take precedence for the next couple of weeks or so! The clear out has me behind, eek! Luckily I have so good and understanding editors who always build wiggle room into contracts for me without telling me what that wiggle room is.
The process is mostly finished, but a deep clean is on the cards for soon, and some repairs need doing so I need to find reliable tradesmen who charge fair price and do a good job, something else I need to learn about!
It is all exciting.
Add to that there’s more colouring books and stamps coming out that I’ve done the designs for.
I’m currently working on a Tropical Rainforest themed colouring book for Skyhorse Publishing and the sixth in the series of the Color Me books along with Lacy Mucklow. The sixth book is appropriately named ‘Color Me Grateful’, and grateful is something I really am of my new career, my cleared out home, my family and friends who have helped in so many ways, and the many experiences from my past life as a teacher that have helped to get me to this point in my life, both good, indifferent and bad.
Friday last, I met up with a small number of colleagues from the school I taught at for 27 years for high tea in a local country house hotel. There was lots of laughter as we remembered the good times over those many years, not a lot of mention was made of the not so good times. All the characters we’ve worked with and known, both staff and students! It was good to do. I couldn’t go into the school for the official farewell gathering as my emotional/mental health isn’t strong enough for that yet. But a quieter gathering away from the school was perfect!
One other thing I do hope to do is to make more frequent blog posts once I find my ‘voice’ for my blog. I’m thinking of adding some tutorials to do with the arty stuff I do, maybe. Feedback or ideas are always welcome, whether for blog posts or ideas for future books, artwork themes and so on.
Art is the Adventure 