New Designs, too many ideas and a mega art block. Again.

So this week I've created two new designs! They are also both now up on my redbubble shop!

I had so much fun with these guys as they're both completely different even though they are done using similar techniques. Ziggy the lemur was sketched and inked traditionally before being scanned in to the computer and coloured. He was so much fun to do and I couldn't help but smile at his smug, cool dude face. He's available to buy here.

Papa bear is a second part to Mama bear (obviously) and is based on a black bear. He was sketched out traditionally before being scanned in and added to a blue background. I'm not sure whether I prefer the more traditional style or the 50/50.
Papa bear is now available here

I'm going to admit after completing these designs yesterday I'm left feeling a little overwhelmed. My mind is racing with what I'm guessing to be too many ideas that I can't keep up with.

I keep thinking about the business sides to things, finances, marketing, research, the list is a long one. 

I keep thinking about promotional things and how I'd love to be involved in an exhibition someday, group or solo. 

I keep thinking about selling prints of my work, looking at how to go about it.

You may notice in those ramblings that I'm missing something quite big out... Creating more artwork.

I'm suddenly realising that I need to build on that. I need to create as much as I possibly can. I need to focus myself on a subject or something similar.

There are so many things I need to do.

These things I need to do aren't horrible though, unlike many people I enjoy most parts of this job. I love the numbers and charts and records as much as the creating,

Just sometimes I get so buried in the business side that I forget I'm also meant to be creating!

And the worst thing right now... I have so much racing through my mind that when I sit down to create something I either sketch something my 15 year old self could manage or I find myself growling at a blank page unable to get what I want out.

Enter my fourth art block of the year! Hoo-ray. I am so pleased.

It's starting to get frustrating when I start getting creative and once I've gotten a few ideas out I run out of ability. The motivation is there, gosh is it there, like a roaring fire inside of me wanting to spend hours with ink and charcoal, making fun colourful sketches of animals and anything else.

I just can't get it out and it's frustrating me along with all of the ideas I have.

Art blocks suck. End of.

So now I'm left sitting here and wondering what I'm going to do. Of course there are a few things that take priority but those are mostly finance related. When it comes to art... I'm lost.

On the bright side the OH is feeding my fox obsession... Maybe I should work on foxes...

Fingers crossed I can start the creative buzz up once more!!

Also! Thank you to everyone who liked/shared my work for the wraptious competition. I didn't make it to the shortlist but some awesome artists did!! Go check them out!

Have a great week!!

Mondays...

Today has not been the most productive, nor the most creative or exciting... I'm blaming this on a busy weekend which has left me feeling extremely knackered!
I'm not complaining, it was an awesome weekend, I'm just using it as a bad excuse for my sorry lack of work.

I have however played around with this sleeping beauty and he's now uploaded to my redbubble shop!

You may recognise him from last year when I entered him in to the Ohh Deer cushion competition. He needed a small bit o tweaking and I made him a more foxy red than he was before and am now much happier with him. He's currently available on everything.

I've spent so much of today starting sketches before tearing the pages out of my sketchbooks in pure frustration. I get an idea, try and go with it and then don't even get past the ugly sketchy stage, my heart really isn't in it today. I've been more in to working on previous works and getting them right.

It's really frustrating when you just can't muster the motivation to get ideas on to paper, they're not give up days they're just... blank days. 

They're annoying but they don't last forever and with all the work I've been churning out lately I have nothing to feel bad about. I just need to take things slow and actually enjoy a day where I'm not run off my feet... or more to the point there isn't steam coming out of my fingers! :P

Looking back over the past month I've realised that I'm slowly developing a style that's very focussed on nature and colour. It's the first time a theme has really begun to show itself and the whole traditional lineart followed by digital colouring makes life so much easier and is actually lots of fun.

I'm hoping to focus more on birds over the next few weeks, I'd taken a break from them and I'm really starting to miss the feathers! So I'm hoping to update this kinda thing...

A made this a while back for the background for this blog, gosh that was a while ago now! I'm really happy with the designs but I'd prefer the sketchy pencil outlines I'm doing now rather than the clean digital inking I've used here. I'm also loving doing repeat patterns so these will be another thing to focus on!

And then the reappearance of this baby...

I also made this a while ago, back when I was better at backgrounds that foregrounds. I absolutely love this piece, it's probably one of my favourites from the past few years but and there is a but, I'm not completely happy with the buzzards so I'm hoping to go back and recreate these beauties and actually make them more interesting. If this goes to plan I will be offering prints! 

Gosh I've rambled so much today! That just shows how with it I am not!

Hopefully my mind will be back to it's normal motivated, butt kicking self soon and I can churn out even more work!

Have a great week!

More stars!

It seems I have become almost obsessed with the stars right now, spending hours looking at the constellation app on my phone, doodling as much as possible, studying galaxy images... I'm not sure what's gotten in to me!

But two more constellations have been added to the mix, this time Chamaeleon (the chameleon constellation) and Vulpecula (the fox constellation)

These were fun but I seemed to lose my technique halfway through and ended up having to lighten them up a lot before adding the stars and animals. Luckily these are done in watercolour, a quick wet brush and towel and paint is lifted with ease!

The thing that drove me insane whilst working on these two was not doing a red fox, painting him blue/purple felt ridiculously wrong! You can see the small splashes of orange where I was desperately wanting to add something :P

These guys will be scanned soon and may end up on my redbubble page :)

And on the mention of redbubble I've added Ursa Major and Corvus to my shop! I have to admit Corvus looks fab on so many products, my favourite has to be this cushion!!

If you're interested in my designs please use the link to my shop at the top of the page! :)

I also managed to complete my raptor designs! And was lucky enough to recieve a surprise voucher from redbubble so me and the OH have ordered our designs for free!!

I'm super excited for them to arrive!

It's always an amazing experience to see your work printed on to a product, whether it's a print or a tshirt. I love it, I love the buzz of joy that zooms through me :)

So the moment these tops arrive I will probably be bouncing off the walls!!

I will be posting more about my raptors before the end of the week including the designs and a bit of an explanation to why they are appearing and taking over my life.

I also have a rather huge project planned which needs to be started over the next few months to be available by the end of the year to early next year, this is currently all I can say on the matter, you know.... just to be annoying!

Now, the sun is out, the birds are singing, I've hit my limit of work for the day! Time to go relax and enjoy the world!

Have a wonderful day!