The end to a very busy first week of 2016! Gosh that one went fast didn't it!
Well this week has mostly been full of organising, budgeting and paperwork so that's been lots of fun as you can imagine. But I have managed to squeeze in art work and got my first work of the year done!

I decided to play with new coloured pencils I got for Christmas from my awesome mr... I was ever so slightly spoiled with my first experience of Faber Castell pencils.
Now I do a very good go at playing the starving artist. I don't really have that much spare cash and when I do have it... I tend to spend it on silly fun things or takeaway (typical 20 something artist I believe!) so I've never splashed out on this brand because they tend to be a bit more costly than what I'm comfortable with. So getting gifted these was a wow moment, I want to say I was completely gobsmacked when I saw them and the feeling continued when I started to use them.
I can't believe how soft and blendable these beauties are! I think I definitely converted whilst colouring this highland cow!

I have been told that this is a slightly amoosing (get it!) self portrait with the fluffy hair and crooked smile... It wasn't meant to but my loving mother decided to claim it was... I guess I do share similarities with these awesome cows :P

 

Next on the list has been a new little project I started. Before Christmas I did a small watercolour painting of British garden birds that I really enjoyed working on. The style is a lot more fun than my others and it was something I really wanted to explore more so I found a small square sketch book that I've had lying around for too long and dedicated it to being filled with British bird illustrations. This will probably turn in to birds of the world at some point but for now I'm focusing on the British variety or at least the species that spend time in this country.

First of was my chirpy little wren. I drew a draft of this cheeky chappy back in December and have been meaning to expand on the idea so it only seemed right to draw him first. It turned out much  better than I'd originally planned!

I used watercolour and coloured pencil here and the outcome was exactly what I wanted.

I liked it so much I decided to get started on the draft sketches for three other bird species. This time the Kingfisher, bullfinch and fieldfare. I just need to get painting them next week! So four down so far! Next will probably include the iconic winter robin and maybe a blue tit.

In other news! I've joined the Etsy Resolution programme! (Anyone else in the UK who is considering Etsy but lacking the confidence/wants to learn as much as possible I can highly recommend joining!) This is a four week programme with mentors and help with setting up a shop, a nice little boost for those just starting out like myself.

I'll admit at first I felt quite nervous and skeptical but you only move forward by taking steps so this is my step. Maybe this time life won't get in the way of opening my shop!

I'm also coming very close to hitting 100 sales on Redbubble which is actually quite exciting! Thanks to the lovely people out there who've already made orders with my designs this year! That was a lovely start to the year for me! Hope you enjoy your goodies!

I now have a busy few weeks getting products created for my Etsy shop! I will keep this updated with that little adventure along with my other adventure... I'm going to be making my own fun little bird book filled with illustrations similar to the above! This is obviously going to take a lot of plotting and planning but it's going to be worth it in the end! 

So much going on right now it's becoming difficult to fit it all in to my organiser! Nice having my life becoming a fabulous whirlwind! Unlike last year I'm in control and loving every moment of this!

Keep your head up, this too shall pass... and you are wonderful!

Ratty People!

Rats are adorable. Fancy rats or pet rats are one of the most awesome rodents you can own as a pet, they are like a mixture of cats and dogs. There's the independence of a cat but also the love and playfulness of a dog. They are fantastic little critters who I've spent my life with for the last ten years.

I am a big rat fan and even managed to turn my partner into a rat fan too. They're addictive and just so awesome.

Unfortunately I have now developed an extreme allergy to them so have taken to drawing them instead! It's lots o fun to draw their cheeky playfulness.

Quick fact! A group of rats is called a mischief.

And boy do they live up to that name! A group of rats are the most cheeky group you can find and will run circles around anyone for fun.

I now have a few of my designs up on redbubble! If you're interested in a sticker or something of the little mischiefs go HERE

Or if you'd like to commission a personal image of your own ratty people get in touch HERE

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!