Birds and plants

Hello,

Following on from my last post I wanted to share some work I made inspired by the sketch and my museum visit.  My idea for this image was to create something inspired by ceramic work, carvings and tapestries that I saw on my visit.  It's a combination of linocut, handmade stencils alongside painted and pencilled shapes.  I've mentioned before that I love using limited colour palettes, that way of working really suits me.

I've just finished another image in a similar vein, using that sketch and museum visit as my inspiration which I'll share next time.  

Have a great rest of the week :).

January cosy time and the outdoors

Hello,

So the first week of January is in the bag, which is good news for me.  I'm always glad when we're at week two!  The first week feels a little unsettled.  Now back to normal, full of plans.  So, I've been planning, organising, thinking, getting the body back to it's regular state after the increased Christmas sugar intake!  I've also been feeling cosy and homely so I drew this...

There were a few different colour combos, but in the end I opted for this calm green and pink.  Looks nothing like my home by the way, purely imagined.  

I think I may have mentioned before I love walking out in nature, it really clears my head, so yesterday I went with some friends to visit Wimbledon Common, my first ever visit there.  It was a lovely sunny day and the sky was a perfect blue :).

It was great to have several hours stomping around, and the light is so pretty at this time of year.  Afterwards (of course), we went for food, always essential after a good walk.  Need to keep the belly happy :). 

That's all for now, I'm now thinking what to make for tea, something soupy and spicy I think, yum.  Have a good week and I'll be back soon.

Bargains in the shop!

Hello,

So December is now upon us.  I don't know about you but November/December always feels pretty busy getting organised for Christmas, I tend to have a lot of lists!  Illustration wise, I've been working on a couple of commissions which is great, and alongside that organising my Etsy shop (SharonFarrowArt) so it now has a few more products.  I've added some original mini nature-themed canvasses and I've also made those canvasses into A6 postcards.  Plus, I also have a sale on, hurrah! so right now there is 20% off everything.  The four images below are the canvasses.

It was fun to work on these.  It's been ages since I painted on canvas, so it was an interesting challenge to paint on a different surface and I'm really happy with how they turned out.  

Right, time to get organised again.  I've got an early start tomorrow so I need to go to bed!

Have a great week!

A November update

Hello,

So it has been a looonng time since I wrote on here.  I guess other things just took over.  Anyway, I'm back now and so I'll share a few things I've been up to.
Firstly, I've got some Christmas themed cards and decorations up in my Etsy shop SharonFarrowArt. I've created six new cards and some stocking and star decorations.  It does feel a bit strange to have kind of completed Christmas things before I've really started thinking about it (if you know what I mean).  I have started my shopping though, I like to get that done early :).  Without further ado here are the Christmas things.

Making the decorations was a bit of a departure for me but I had the ideas and the materials so I thought I'd give it a go.  It was fun to do something a bit different too. 

Today I've been working on a bit of personal work which I will show soon.  It's been a hibernation day :).

Have a lovely week and I'll be back sooner next time!

London love

Hello again,

I'm back once more with all things London (again).  I love creating maps of anywhere really but it's always special when you feel you know the place.  I also really enjoy drawing London's iconic buildings and places.  I've drawn a lot of the ones shown here over and over again, and I never get tired of them.
For this illustration I was really strict with my colouring.  I wanted something really vibrant, and I'm really happy with the colour choices and the reduced palette.  Tombow and micron pens have become some of my favourite materials to work with alongside paints.  Tombows have amazing colours and coverage and microns give a lovely line and don't bleed which is perfect for my way of working.
I definitely want to make more maps.  They're challenging but so enjoyable to work on.

Right back to work, lots to do this week as I've got a couple of days break at the end in the countryside, so lots of lovely long walks in nature.  I can't wait :).

Heatwave, fruit, birds and flowers

Hello,

Phew, it looks like the super hot weather is over for now here.  I've been working with the fan on trying to cool down, popping to the pool, enjoying the air con at the gym, (coolest place) and eating food that requires no heating (including ice cream).  It is rather nice to be feeling a little cooler today, although I have loved leaving the house without having to lug any 'just in case' clothing with me and to feel sunshine.
So, something else I have been doing just lately is adding some products to my Redbubble shop.  I really wanted to make patterns with some of the work I made whilst doing the 100 day project over on Instagram.  I've made florals, birds, and fruity prints and stickers so far, and I'm intending to add to it over time.  Here's a selection, the first are stickers available in several sizes.

 These images below are all patterns available on a variety of products from duvet covers to notebooks.

I really enjoyed making these, it's really lovely to be able to make work from recent sketchbook creations, and it's giving me all sorts of ideas for the future.  

I hope you've had a lovely week and I'll be back soon :).

Patterns, stickers and my shop

Hello,

I hope you've had a good week.  I wanted to share a few more of the images I created in my sketchbook which have now been scanned and cleaned and some of them have become products in my Etsy shop.  I'm also starting to make patterns from some of the images, more to come about that soon.  I found doing this work so useful in terms of experimentation.

Below are the original illustrations for the sticker packs which are available here.  I have some other images which I'm planning to make into stickers soon.  

Right, back to work with a cuppa.  A lovely new roll of paper arrived this week all ready to be sketched on :).  Have a great weekend!

My 100 Day Project

Hello,

For the last three months or so I took part in the 100 day project over on Instagram.  It was something I had been considering for a while but as it was a big commitment I wanted it to be something that would really benefit me, and keep me enthused until the end, 100 days is a long time after all!  In the end I decided to do '100 days in my sketchbook'.  I do have sketchbooks, but to be honest a lot of them are more full of notes and general mess and not something that I consider to be a nicer looking sketchbook (you know what I mean).  I thought this project may help me get down some ideas on any subjects that I wanted to pursue, (I did have several in mind), I also hoped I may get some work that I considered half decent out of it, and some potential future work ideas.
I'll be honest it did take me a few days to get into the swing of things, relax a bit and go with the flow.  Some of the work I was not happy with, but I posted anyway, as that is all part of a challenge, right?  Some I was pretty chuffed with, and some are ideas that I'm going to come back to and make work from.  On a personal note it has also become a visual diary of a time in my life which was something else I hoped for.  When I look at the images I remember where I was, what I was listening too/watching, thinking and feeling at that time.  So for me it's a good personal record.
I'll share some of my favourites over a few posts starting with the earliest.  I hope you enjoy!  Did you take part (or are you taking part) in the project?  How did you find it?

I've been spending the time since finishing scanning and cleaning up the work.  I still have a few to finish.  I've also got plans for some of it and I'll share that when they're finished.  

Have a lovely week and I'll be back soon :).

Coastal walking

Hello,

So now the first week of January is well and truly over, Christmas and even New Year feel like a lifetime ago!  I've been getting back to work and life, (as has the body,) and so far I'm enjoying 2019, and I've been making lots of plans for the year ahead.
Today I am looking back though to my time post Christmas when I went for another very lovely walk at one of my favourite places, Wells-Next-the-Sea (it has the best name).  I have a lot of lovely childhood memories from there, and I love to visit.  I've drawn lots of illustrations inspired by Wells in the past and I'm sure I will continue to do so.  I especially loved drawing the bark and the seaweed.

I have taken so many photos of beach huts over the years, but it can't hurt to have a few more.  I love the pop of colour they bring no matter the weather.  

I hope you've been having a good start to 2019, and have a lovely cosy weekend :).