old-fashioned

It’s been a while since I’ve done anythign for Illustration Friday, but when the email landed in my inbox a couple of weeks back, a little sketch that had been sitting in the back of my mind seemed the perfect fit. A sign, maybe, to do something about my lack of creativity. So, texta & pencil in hand, I sat at my desk, and just for five minutes, forgot the housework, withdrew from the world, and did something that was just for me.

 

 

Today, I am childfree. I am 40 weeks pregnant. I am surrounded by a messy office that I need to clean. I want to scrap. I want to sew. I want to clear out some work before this baby comes. I want to get out and take some photos. I want to try to make the block of Tropical Pineapple chocolate my mum just gave me last more than 30 minutes. I want to meet this cheeky little person who refuses to come out and play. Come on baby, we all want to meet you!

 

Happy Friday everyone!

IF: Clandestine (and a late ‘Rambunctious’!)

Dulcie thought behind the grass, in the middle of a novel, was a great place to be clandestine, and observe the goings-on of humans.

(To be honest, I don’t think the vintage paper background really works in this case, but it’s something I’ve been wanting to try. Possibly needs a stronger medium to make it work. Oh well, live & learn!)

 

And better late than never, last weeks:

No matter how often I prune, there always seems to be one rambunctious tendril that evades any attempts at control.

Illustration Friday – Opinion

A week late, but never mind! November seemed to be full of politics. The American election consumed the first half of the month, and the second seemed to be full of talk about the anniversary of the Australian Federal election. So when this topic lobbed into my inbox, the first thing that sprang to mind was the phrase, “opinion poll”. So with that in mind, I set to work on this little collage:

 

In hindsight, I think it would have looked better with the graph smaller & the little man larger, but things like that are all part of the learning curve, aren’t they? My aim with the little man was to make him look like a pontificating politician, sharing his opinion with anyone who will listen. This was my first attempt at a person, and I was quite happy with the results.

Illustration Friday – “Pretend”

As a small girl, she would stand beside her mummy and pretend to hang the washing. Now she is the mummy, and her own small child stands beside her, pretending.

Illustration Friday – “Wise”

An empty chair stands where once a wise old man sat.

Illustration Friday – “Vacant”

The first thing that popped into my mind for this topic was a face wearing a vacant expression, but my abilities (or lack thereof) don’t stretch to faces, particularly those requiring a particular expression, so I grabbed my new watercolours and pulled together this painting/collage/whatever!

Very simplistic, but it was my first go at watercolours. More detail will come with more practice, I hope!

A quick exercise in creation…

I have subscribed to a mailing list called “Illustration Friday” for a while now, it’s an little email inspiration prompter. I haven’t really done much with it, because until recently, I’ve mainly focused on photography as my main artistic expression, plus most other mediums were quite scary, to be honest. They seemed to demand a larger outlet then my mediocre abilities were able to produce. However, since falling in love with a little place called Etsy, I’ve discovered an art form called ACEO or ATC, which is Art Cards Editions & Originals, and Artist Trading Cards. These artworks are only small, 6cm x 8.5cm, so not so daunting. In the spirirt of spreading my creative wings, I decided to give one a whirl. This week’s topic was “Repair”.

 

 

Painted with acrylic paint on cardboard salvaged from an old box I had lying around. The paintbrush is on thick white cardstock, and attached with a double sided adhesive foam square, so it is actually 3D. I was pretty happy with how it turned out – pretty close to what I had pictured in my head.

 

Lots of other creative stuff happening at the minute, I have another couple of these little artworks I want to do, I’m going to have a stab at coptic book binding, and I have some other new endeavours I’m hoping to have a go at. I also picked up my journal for the first time in ages over the weekend, and wrote a bit of (not-very-good) poetry. I’m creative-central here at the minute!