Guinea Pigs and Sketchbooks

I may have mentioned before that I draw quite a lot while watching television in the evenings. I do find it a useful exercise as I have to observe and draw quickly. 

I have a lovely brush pen which is fun to use for this and it makes me work more loosely.

I watched a film about James Brown called Get On Up and it was very good. This is one of the sketches I did while watching:

I also started work on this and also finished it. So here are some progress pictures:

Working with a limited palette:

Another sketch I want to use for something:

Chickpea has had a very short temper recently:

I'm working on some new designs for my Etsy shop and fairs. I have two definites and another possible one or two before Christmas - check my Facebook page for information:

https://www.facebook.com/tsillustrator

I am very much enjoying drawing guinea pigs at the moment:

I have a lot to do and with a commission and working with a school too that should keep me busy!

Thanks for reading my blog,

Teri

Family Pirate Portrait

A while ago I said I'd been working on a family portrait and it was all hush-hush as it was a surprise birthday present. 

The portrait was to include lots of different things that they enjoyed doing together, places that meant something special to them, as well as pirates, farms and princesses.

The family are happy for me to share their portrait and here it is.

I was so pleased at the reaction it received. It's always good when the reaction is so happy!

Thank you to the Malloys. It was fun working on this project with them.

Thanks for stopping by,

Teri

Pirate Day (ITLAP) 2014

Today is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. We like to celebrate this date each year in this house, as me and Chickpea are very fond of pirates. Yarrr!

This week I have spent some time experimenting with the way I paint and also using mixed media. It's been fun and strangely I found myself drawing a pirate ship. Here's the finished piece:

This is taken with my phone's camera. I will scan the picture and get it on my website as I'm really pleased with it. It's a little bit messy but I like that.

Here are some progress pictures:

A messy start

Experimenting with layering ink with sponges

Loose brush painting on the waves

Adding stars and highlights with pencils and extra sails

Adding depth and shadows

And the finished piece again:

Happy Pirate day and thanks for looking at my blog.

Teri

Daily Doodle Round Up 31st May

Well that was a fun week! I've been on holiday and took a travel sketchbook and my bag of pens and also a travel watercolour set. 

This week's Daily Doodle topics were set by Top That Publishing and I managed to do all of them from my sunbed by the pool (it's a hard life)! The only danger was getting my sketchbook wet due to the amount of huge water pistols being used in the pool.

Anyway here are my week's Daily Doodles (follow Daily Doodle on Facebook and Twitter - @Daily__Doodle):

Monday - What did the Jabberwock look like:

Tuesday - Fight Like A Pirate:

Wednesday - what did Hattie Peck hatch (based on the book by Emma Levey):

Thursday - A character wearing pants:

Friday - A very noisy fox (based on the book by Amy Husband):

I've really enjoyed filling my sketchbook with these illustrations and it's also been interesting working over two pages for most of them. 

All illustrations were badly photographed on my phone.

Chicks Etc.

I've been having fun in the sun and brought my sketchbook with me (of course). Apart from drawing some lovely, funny little birds that rove around in gangs and hop on the sunbeds, I've been doing the Daily Doodle (@Daily__Doodle). 

This week Top That Publishing have been giving the day's topic and it's been really interesting. Monday's was the Jabberwocky, Tuesday we had Fight Like A Pirate and today's was What did Hattie Peck Hatch.

I remembered to bring my travel watercolour set. Even though I don't usually paint using that medium it's a handy little set and colour pencils just aren't doing it for me.

Here are some pictures from my sketchbook this week (I shall do a Daily Doodle round up at the end of the week):

Pirates Ahoy!

From my sketchbook: 

Chickpea is getting quite excited about her birthday this year. She is still very much into pirates and has asked for a themed party.