Category: watercolour

twinkle, twinkle

My little nephew is truly smitten by the owl of “twinkle, twinkle little star”, a very popular English lullaby. So my sister-in-law asked me if I could make a painting of it, and I agreed. She asked me back in November, and although I made an effort to get it done by Christmas, that didn’t work out very well.
But after three months, it’s finally finished! And I hope they will both like it.

Sketchbook #1

This is what my brand new sketchbook looked like at the end of January! Hoping to fill it in a bit more with a different theme by the end of February.

Lately

Trees illustration – watercolour
Valentine’s card – red ink pen on Bristol board
Topiary textures exercise – watercolour
Flower dooddle – black ink pen on Bristol board
Daffodils – black ink pen and watersoluble pencils
I have been neglecting this space a lot lately, and was wondering if I should really try and keep it alive. 
And my answer is YES. 
I have the intention of CREATING a lot this year, together with enrolling in at least one art class. And this where I want to share my work, whether it is a work in progress, a finished painting, an evening doodle or a simple exercise. 

Sketchbook #1

Despite the numerous unfinished sketchbooks, this January I started a new one. I had a new project in mind, and the current deal “no new sketchbooks until all the others are completed” wasn’t really motivating me anymore, if not holding back my creativity.

Moreover, my brother and his girlfriend bought me a new sketchbook this past Christmas, so really that was just an excuse to use it!

I’ve also decided to start labelling my sketchbooks. At first I thought of numbering them all, including completed and unfinished ones, but as I’m giving myself a new start this year, I went for starting afresh and begin from #1.

I’ve written a bit about this little project before (here), but I will be using Sketchbook #1 for themed drawings/illustrations/watercolours, mainly taken from two little books I recently bought: 20 ways to draw a tree and 20 ways to draw a tulip.

Over the past month, I focused on trees shapes and illustrations, covering various styles and seasonal palettes. The idea is to get practising on nature subjects that I like, and to make a painting at the end of the month using what I’ve learned.
I’m still drawing sketches for the final piece, but given the fact that I don’t have much spare time to paint, I want to make sure that I’m actually creating something that I like, rather something just because.

This month I will be focusing on flower bulbs. The subject is actually not covered in any of the books I mentioned above, but I was really inspired after seeing my flower bulbs starting to sprout. And I already have a plan for the final painting. It is true when people say the more you create, the more you get inspired! 

30 Days of Lists // my listing book

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December is almost here, and so is the December edition of 30 Days of Lists! I like to get things ready before hand, especially this time with the holidays approaching and things getting crazier than usual. So here we go, my listing book is ready to go and so am I!
For this edition I went a bit overboard and decided to try something new. I have previously used an A6 eco seawhite sketchbook, and embellished it with printed out daily lists, stickers, washi tape, and whatever felt appropriate for the daily challenge. This time I will be using something totally different and handmade. I have been enjoying very much making sketchbooks and notebooks lately from scratch, and this is no different. After much debating I went for an easy-to-make concertina book. 
I used two pieces of 4x5in dark grey cardstock and 8 strips of 12x5in watercolour paper, each folded in 3, and attached them together with double sided tape. If you are looking at making one for yourself, check this tutorial from design sponge.
For the front cover I used a bit of everything, from some ribbon, which will also hold the book together once I’m done, to a used first class stamp, but sticking to a black, red and white colour scheme. 
For the inside of the book, it got even more messy, but oh so fun to do! I splashed some red watercolour paint all over the pages, without giving much attention to where the colour would end up and letting it bleed in all directions.
Once dried, the real fun began!
For the daily lists, as usual, I printed out the complete list in advance. Surprises are not really my thing and although I do each list daily, I like to know in advance what’s to come.
For this December edition, I printed each title using some fillable Christmas labels from Catherine Auger (you can download them for free here). To avoid any spoilers, I deleted the titles from the pictures below, so feel free to have a look!
I drew some black stripes to divide pages and title areas, attached the daily titles and used some stamps, butterflies cut-outs and handmade rubber stamps to embellish each page. Here is a sneak peak of the inside of my #30lists // December edition book.
I’m planning to use a stamp for the date, as before, and maybe add some more embellishment as I go along. And I will be using a pilot G-1 0.7 for writing down the lists. Can’t wait to start listing! 
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There’s about a week left before the start of this year’s December edition of 30 Days of lists. If you want to know more about this monthly challenge visit 30 Days of Lists and have a look at all my previous related posts here. You can sign up here (it’s an affiliate link), there is still time to register!