It's starting to feel a lot like christmas!

Right, thats it... it's december, tree is up and with my christmas yankee candle burning away and christmas tunes to boot, i've been busy creating this little character...

#Twoodle for today Hippo and Bench

It's been a while, but today's quick twoodle using the words Bench and Hippo! Here you will find more on how to play :-)

Boo... scanner problems so I had to take a photo!

Silly animals - Some Initial Sketches!

Today I have been drawing animals doing silly things! A pig on a pogo stick??.. why not!? There seems to be a flying, bouncing, 'mid air' theme for some reason today! This is for the next exercise for the course I am studying with London Art college.... The final artwork will need to be in watercolour, so having worked in pastels for so long, time to get those brushes out!... for now, some initial sketches...

Winter is here....

IBloomin blustery out there, time to wrap up! Two very quick scribbles in my sketchbook tonight...

Notebooks

I've been getting all crafty today making notebooks. :-) perfect handmade gifts for any males in the family I thought.

Here is the tutorial! Kirstie Allsopp has made some great programmes about craft projects and home style.

Sebastian's Sink City

Its been a while since my last post as not only have we had family visiting us here en France but I have been busy trying to get my assignment finished for submission two of the illustration course I am taking. http://www.londonartcollege.co.uk/

Anyways, with each assignment we have submit an exercise piece of artwork. This one was to take a squirty bottle from under the sink and make it come to life as a building, complete with characters. I used dip pen and ink and it features a little mouse and very cheeky cat!......

Next, Sabastian's Sink City. It all started here. This did take me a while, trying to draw such small detail with pastels proves tricky! Here is my final artwork....

I learnt a lot from this project. One of the things I am used to being able to do (when I working as a graphic designer) is to change a colour with just a click of a button. Obviously a lot harder when working on paper! I kept changing my mind as I was going along, as you need an over all balance of colour. There is no 'edit +undo' here!! Next time I need to focus more on the shading and shadows to give just a little more depth.

I have grown quite fond of these little green alien creatures ;-)

#Twoodle time!

This week's twoodle... Chicken+rain cloud :-)

Guinea pig cards

There is something about drawing guinea pigs...

They have such cute expressions! I've just sat down to come up with a few card ideas, something I have been meaning to do for a while and this is my first sketch.

I had this idea of when children are asked to sit still and pose for a photo at a party, there is always one looking in the wrong direction, one with chocolate around their chops and for some reason I had an urge to draw guinea pigs as my, er guinea pigs, ha! ;-)

PS that is a party blower thingy he has in the middle, not a cigar... I am aware it needs work! ;-)

♥♥ Hearts ♥♥

This morning I have taken a break from my Sink City project and been getting busy with heart pictures... For the past couple of years I have been creating these for people as a gift or to pass on as a gift. They look great in a cute vintage frame and I don't know anyone who doesn't like to receive a personal present!

The one directly below I gave as a wedding gift earlier in the year. Below this, the picture I created this morning for my mum to give as a 50th birthday present. Happy days :-)

Please contact me if you would like your own personal picture gift (or just for yourself!) - I can create them to fit any frame, although square is best. My email address: amy@amychandlerart.com

One mission on my hands....!

Sink City project.. and this is where I am. I have drawn up my little under the sink alien world, ready to trace up onto pastel paper, but how I am going to tackle something this detailed with pastels in beyond me!.. Wish me luck! Eep....

Twoodle dum twoodle dee...

Wednesday means #Twoodle day!... Here is my illustration for this week using the word 'Balance' and 'Toucan.'

I would not usually use pastels on a pen and ink drawing but with it being a toucan I felt it needed colour!...

Rules for #Twoodle as follows..... Alicia Padron

Next project... scribbles and aliens!

So, onto the next brief... to create artwork for a book called 'Sebastian's sink city,' where a young boy discovers an imaginary world under the kitchen sink. The idea is that squirty bottles become buildings, the pipes could become a crazy transport system etc etc!

 I have had lots of ideas floating around and I am just turning them into scribbles... question is, do I start with the buildings and homes then invent the characters who live in them or the other way around?? 

I was originally thinking mice, but since moved onto the idea of little aliens, and I will make them super colourful, after all its a pretty dark and gloomy place under the kitchen sink! I couldn't resist getting the pastels out today....

Wednesday's Twoodle

My first #Twoodle using the words Mouse+Wigwam! - In pen and ink.  :-)

Animals with personality!

This week I have been going wild with animal sketches! Here are just a few....

Twoodle!

I have just discovered the Twoodle Challenge on Twitter -  #Twoodle. You put up a word once a week and then on wednesday choose two unrelated words to create an illustration.

My forst word: sunglasses.

It was started by @aliciapadron and here is a link to her blog where she tells you how to join in...
lovetoillustrate.blogspot

Such a good idea! - Watch out for my first Twoodle after wednesday.

Getting messy!

I was asked to help a friend by producing a little certificate to give to children having had an x-ray...

I did make life difficult for myself by not drawing the characters bigger (it was tricky to colour in with pastels) - doh and what with the x-ray boards my fingers got rather messy with black, finger prints everywhere! - Note to self - Be more tidy! The ribs were a little difficult to get right, I wanted them to look crude some what and not too precise! Still, having trimmed away the background, some bright text added and a few stars, I think it turned out a-ok in the end :-)

Hope it helps!

Matchsticks!

Today I have been practising human proportions with matchstick men… turns out to be harder than I first thought.. all I can see are lines when I close my eyes! :-) Useful exercise though, I can see how useful this will be to get characters to look less er wonky!.. something I have had trouble with in the past. Next, lets get some flesh on these people!

Jardin de Plantes and some funky chickens

Really sunny today so I took my course outside, and went to the park. Sat near some chickens, they were making crazy noises thought they were going to attack!

Row Row your boat - Submitted!

I have finally submitted the art work for 'Row Row your boat' to London Art College. :) Overall I am quite pleased with how it turned out, and had positive feedback. It is surprising how many things you change or do differently from what you originally planned, you just never know how things will work out.

I had originally planned for the 'dream boat' to be floating up to the sky but I just couldn't get it to work logistically, so along came all the carrots! I am not sure what rabbits dream about, carrots? Not sure but they do add a nice pop of colour to my artwork so I just went with it! :)

The frog was a last minute addition as it was suggested I needed more characters.

What i have learnt - pastels are can be fiddley but I love, love using them, I just love the over all texture they give; Suggestion from tutor - be careful of red, it draws the eye; You can plan an overall illustration to some extent but it may change along the way; I can't wait to get going on the next project! :))

New blog... New course... New pastels :)

Welcome to my blog and first post! I have recently started a course on Children Book Illustration with the London College of Art and although my background is graphic design I am excited to learn all I can about this type of illustration and get back to working on paper. This blog is to map my journey! 

 The start of the course has taken me right back to drawing basics but alongside that I have been rediscovering pastels! :) I love the effect they give on textured paper, especially when then scanned into the computer and printed, I feel the need to run my hand across the page! Its quite tricky to create detailed artwork with pastels but pastel pencils are very handy for this. I am about to start drawing up artwork which will accompany 'Row Row row your boat, gently down the stream... Merrily merrily merrily life is but a dream!' I have been using pastels to create a character for the artwork and so trying to get to grips with how they blend, which paper is best and trying to be as neat as I can.

Yesterday I invested in these beauties :) Rembrandt half length soft pastels, I had no where near as many colours in my old set..

Here is one of my initial little pics;