Summer is on it's way!

Welllll,

It's been a while.  So rather than dwell on that I feel it's time to just get on with writing another post :D.  If you're reading this ta very much!

Today as it's getting warmer here, and we've had a run of really lovely sunny weather here in the UK (which as everyone knows is something to celebrate here), I thought I would share some work I made last year in the summer which I haven't yet revealed here.  It's also some of my favourite work.  

Last year I did a lot of markets.  It was an experimental year on that front for me, some worked, some didn't.  I still do think generally speaking the best time for markets is in the lead up to Christmas but I did do pretty well at some summer ones too. 

I made these two prints mainly for my shop, and I wanted them to work well together so if people wanted a pairing these could do the job.  Both of them have proved to be my best selling prints for sure which is great for me obviously.  I'm also hoping they show my food illustration style well as I would like to get more commissions in that area.  You're always welcome to email me sharon@sharonfarrow.com if interested.

I thought I'd share them now as they have that summer vibe (I think) I hope they resonate with you too!

I'm selling them in my etsy shop SharonFarrowArt as both A4 and A3 prints and I'm also with the stockist Deptford Does Art in London so you can find them there too.  

I am have been working away since then even if I've been very slack on here.  I'm working on some new things now which hopefully I should be able to share with you soon.

I do really appreciate you if you've stayed around to read my blog.  I do think I've been on here longer than anything else online now so it's good it's still going.

See you soonish for more updates, until then have a good one!

Sharon :)

It's all about the mushroom

Hello,

My good intentions of more frequent posts have appeared to have gone out of the window!  Life gets busy and so this blog takes a bit of a back seat.  I do want to keep it up though and will strive to get better!  

A lot has happened since my last post back in....well, whenever it was.  I've been creating some new work and taking part in several creative/makers markets which I've really been enjoying.  I've got some more of those coming up so I'll aim to write about those properly nearer the time.  I'm also going to be having a piece of work in a group exhibition coming up shortly which is very exciting for me.  I haven't exhibited anything since my college days so I'm delighted to be a part of a show now.  I will post about that soon.

In the meantime I'll share my latest piece of work all about mushrooms.  They fascinate me and are something amazingly fun to draw.  This work did go through a few iterations before I settled on this composition and colour palette, but I'm so happy that I stuck with it and I'm really pleased with how the final piece turned out.  My intention was for it to have a vintage kind of feel to it, and I so enjoyed playing with all the textures in this one.

I WILL be back soon with more updates.  In the meantime I hope you're having a good week.  It's Saturday so I'm getting out and about in (hopefully) the sunshine!

Sharon :).

Final December market of the year!

Hello!

I hope everyone is doing well.  I thought I'd pop back with an update as I've now done my final fair of the year.  

This weekend was the @designandcraftfair held as part of the Truman markets in East London.  It was my only entire weekend market of December.  One of the really good things about having a stall here is that it is huge so I can really spread out and bring some framed prints which I can't normally fit on a table, (although my arms are not so pleased with this 😅).  Unfortunately though, it wasn't as busy as I had hoped.  The area in general didn't seem as busy as it is usually, as it's normally very buzzy.  It was a bit of a shame but, I still made a profit and sold a lot of cards in particular so that is the upside.  Sadly footfall is often something that is totally out of a traders control, however, I got to chat to some of the fellow stall holders which is always a lovely part of trading.  

So, that's my December markets wrapped up!  It's the first time I've done a market each weekend and I would do it again.  Over the past year I have increased the amount of markets I've done and next year I definitely would like to do more.  I enjoy them, inspite of the schlepping of stuff around London (which is always a challenge), the days are really fun.  I've met lots of people doing similar things with similar struggles and wins! and that is one of the best bits, as well as people liking your created goods enough to buy which is always a joy.  

To round up my busiest market was definitely the @illustratorsfair.  Very well marketed every time, and the location is itself is busy and has a really good vibe.  The second was the @ktmakermarket and for their first one it really was a huge success, so again great marketing I think.  I really want to do more with them. Even though this last Design and Craft fair was quieter than I hoped, I would still do another.  The last one I took part in in September was much busier, and I still really enjoyed my weekend there.  

I'll just pop in that if there's anything that tickles your fancy in the photos above have a look in my Etsy shop SharonFarrowArt.  I have now sold out of some stock, but most of what is on display here is still available.  If you want in time for Christmas though as I post by second class, the cut off for guaranteed delivery has now passed but....maybe you want to surprise someone for New Year!

This will more than likely be my last post before Christmas so, if you are celebrating, or just having a break, I hope you thoroughly enjoy yourself 😊.  Also just to say, thanks for reading my ramblings I really appreciate it!

See you soon

Sharon x

December Markets and Fairs

Hello,

It is a very dreary rainy day Tuesday here in London.  I've already been out and got drenched so I'm happy to be back in the warm and dry.

To brighten up the day I thought I'd share a bit more about the markets/fairs I'll be doing and sharing flyers for the events.  Firstly I'll share the flyers I've made.  They're all made for Instagram so they're square in shape.

This first one I've created is for all the markets I'll be at, arranged around my shop logo for SharonFarrowArt shown in the middle.  

SharonFarrowArt

Kentish Town Makers Market

Illustrators' Fair

Design and Craft Fair

The next is a flyer specifically for the Illustrators' fair.  For every fair they do, all stall holders are invited to create a flyer for the event a #festivalofflyers.  It's a great way of showcasing the work of the illustrators' involved and it makes for a beautifully diverse gallery over on their feed.  I was thinking of crisp and frosty December days for my flyer and I'm really happy with how it's turned out.

Here's the generic flyers for two of those events :

I'm getting ready ensuring I have everything to display all the items I have.  It's not that long until the first one now.  I will be bringing all my Christmas cards, wrap and gift tags but I'll also have prints, greetings cards and small illustrated gifts.  These markets are the perfect place to find something really original to give as a gift or keep for yourself 😀 (well, why not)?  I'll be posting more over on Instagram if you'd like to follow me there to keep up to date. 

If you do come by come and say hello!

Ok, that's me done for now.  Have a great rest of the day.

Sharon

New festive shop goodies

Hello!

Once again, it has been a while since I've last posted, whoops!  Still, I have a bit to share right now so I think today is the day for more of my scribblings.  

I've been busy getting ready for......I daren't say it, because it is early, but, yes, for Christmas.  It's tricky, but as a person making and selling things for that time of year you do have to start gabbling about it early!  It's been quite exciting for me really because I've tried out a few new things this time.  Foiled cards is one. They've been something I've wanted to try for a while, and I'm really happy finally to have made some.  I've also ventured into making wrapping paper and gift tags this year.  

My original plan was to make one set of cards, the foiled ones, but once they were done I was in the swing of festive ideas (you know how it is), so I made another card featuring partridges (any excuse to draw a bird), and seasonal foliage.  I'm really happy with all the designs, I've realised it's a very green coloured Christmas in Sharon land but that's ok I think :).

They are now all live in my Etsy shop SharonFarrowArt

Also, if you're in London in December I will be selling in the flesh at various markets every weekend throughout that month.  I'm going to save all that information for another post though.  That means I will be back soonish with all those details.  I'm very excited about all of them.  Markets and fairs are something I started doing in the last few years and I've really been enjoying them.

So, I will leave it there for now.  I hope you're having a lovely week and I WILL be back soon!

Sharon :)

A bird fest

Hello,

It's been a while (again) since I've written a post but better late than never!

I've been busy over the past few weeks creating new work and it's been an exciting and productive time.  I came back from a short Christmas break full of energy and enthusiasm, ready to flesh out some ideas that had been brewing for a while. 

For the purpose of this post I'm going to focus on three recent images I made.  My plan was to make a small group of images with a similar subject matter and colour palette.  I don't often make sets of work so I thought this would be a good challenge for me and I'm really happy with how they turned out. 

The starting point for each image was a linocut bird.  I love the textures you can achieve with linocut whilst still achieving an all over pretty even covering of colour.  I am a basic linocutter I guess but as there's no real right or wrong way for my purposes (so I've told myself), I feel that's ok.  I wanted each bird to be surrounded by a strange plant land, and I really enjoy creating fantasy plants and landscapes that are a little strange and perhaps unsettling.  I always like to imagine living in those strange worlds and whether I'd feel entirely comfortable!  I wanted the images to be retro-mid century tinged, and I hope my chosen colour palette reflects this.  Once the linocut print was down, I worked into the landscape building it up with coloured pencil, acrylic and gouache.  I get totally absorbed in creating, working up the layers, making the textures, it's a real joy.  I've started using gouache after leaving it for a long time (lots of dried tubes that have now been re-discovered and bought back to life, not always successfully)!  I find for larger areas it scans better that watercolour for me (although that may be my bad scanning technique, who knows, if anyone has any tips I'm all ears)!  I took inspiration from sketches I made from one of my many visits to the V&A Museum in London (love it so), and of course natures delights, birds, are always a lovely subject.  The V&A has a huge amount of beautiful and sometimes strange objects and artwork.  I especially love the medieval period rooms and get lost in time when I'm there.  

Well, I think I've rabbled on for long enough.  I hope you've enjoyed this post.  I'll aim to get more regular at this, although I can't promise anything!

Enjoy your day and I'll see you soon. 

Sharon :).

Medieval musings

Hello,

I hope you're all having a good week.  Today I'm sharing another new piece of work that's been inspired by my museum sketches.  I had a real desire to draw a dragon.  I saw so many of them in my museum wanderings, and there is something very magical about them that really captures my imagination.  It took quite a bit of sketching to get the dragon that I wanted to create, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I hope there's a sense of personality captured in my creation!  I've been enjoying drawing fantastic, strange, mythical creatures over these past few months, adding to my usual bird and animal creations.  It's been a bit of a shift for me in terms of subject matter, and something I'm hoping to continue with.

The dragon was transformed into a linocut image and then the rest was a combination of acrylic paint, coloured pencil, charcoal, and pen.  I wanted to take elements of stone work, carvings and fire into the illustration and I loved creating all those textures and patterns.  I also indulged my love of a limited colour palette sticking to three main colours.  

I like to keep the lino smudges in my work and not leave things too clean, just a personal preference really, does that work?  I'm never too sure.   

Just finishing up my coffee now and then I'll be busy organising for an art market tomorrow.  It'll be my first outdoor market and it's for artists based in my London borough of Barnet.  I'm hoping I'll be able to get some pictures of the day and I'll post them here hopefully next week!  

I hope you've had a lovely week and enjoy your weekend :).

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 :).

My recent way of working

Hello,

I hope you're all having a good start to September.  Can't quite believe it's here already and as it's been a lovely summer here in the UK, I'm hoping some good weather will continue as I've loved wearing shorts pretty much everyday all the way through.  That's been a real treat for my legs and a nice change from them being cooped up.  So far it's still good so all is well.  

Today I'm sharing a new image I've recently finished.  I've been working a lot with ideas just from my imagination over the past few months which I've then made into prints or cards.  I guess it's a bit of a change for me to just create work where I feel I have complete freedom to experiment as it's all been work that will potentially go into my Etsy shop or just be created as portfolio pieces for my website.  I've mentioned before how enjoyable this has been for me and it's also meant I've allowed myself time to 'have a go' at new processes, one of which has been incorporating linocut into my work and I'm really happy with the results.  I've been combining it with my painted/penciled/stencilled areas and I love the variety of textures I can get from it alongside my regular combinations.  

This is the most recent work.

The sea creatures were created from the linocut and then I've used a combination of acrylic paint, coloured pencils and oil pastels to create the plants and shapes.  The idea stems from a combination of conversations with friends....yep! feelings, music and a desire to create a moving, swirling image with a limited palette.  

Over the past few months all of the below images have been created incorporating linocut into my work.  I really do enjoy the process and the finish it gives combined with the looser marks created by hand.  All of these illustrations are available to buy as Giclee prints over in my shop too.

I thought I'd share that little insight into the way I've been working, I hope it's been of interest!  I'm now off to get some sketching done working through some new ideas.  

I hope you're all ready for the weekend and I'll be back soon :).

12 Olympians - Greek Mythology illustrations

Hello,

Today I'm going to share a project I've been working on over the past few months.  I think I actually started it at the end of 2020, but I've worked on it on and off since then and it's now finally complete!  I had an idea in my head for a while beforehand about creating a series of illustrations that would work together as a distinct set.  I'd also had the idea about doing something around Greek mythology for a while.  It's a subject I find interesting and I wanted to embark on a project where I would learn.  I decided to create the images of the 12 main Olympian Gods.  I thought this would be a project that would be achievable (12 illustrations), but also would be long and involved enough to be a challenge.  I stopped and started many times, worked on other things in-between, almost threw in the towel on a number of occasions but I did persevere and I'm really happy I did.  

I set a few style and image parameters from the start.  Each illustration would feature the full length figure and would include some of their attributes drawn in black and white.  I wanted a uniform colour palette and I wanted it to link to the ancient pots, vases and plates which I always loved looking at from museum trips and photographs, so I chose rich red brown and yellow ochre/raw sienna to be the accompanying colours.  

I'm really happy with how they've turned out.  I haven't done too much figure drawing over the past years so that was something I was keen to work on and was another part of the challenge.  I spent a lot of time especially early on, going back and forth abandoning images and re-creating them, but I definitely found once I'd created a few more finished illustrations I got into my flow, (as tends to happen) and I started to speed up and see consistency in the images.  I hope you enjoy my take on a selection of the Greek Gods!  Here they are in no particular order :).

Finishing that project has been the start to 2022 for me.  I'm excited for what the year ahead will bring and I'm looking forward to getting started on some new work.  One of the first things I'm planning to do is make some design changes to my website.  I've wanted to do this for a while but I also know for me this can be quite a task! It's on the top of my list though so I am going to start on it soon.  I'll let you know when it's complete.  

Have a lovely rest of the week :).

Cards, prints and Monday sun

Hello,

The start of another (so far, sunny) week.  It is always nice when Monday begins with sunshine.
I hope everyone is keeping well.  Today I'm going to share a couple of recent things I've done.  The first is I've added some products to my Etsy shop.  There is now a range of cards (birthday, thank you, any occasion,) and prints on a variety of themes.  There's nature, London and wildlife.  Here's a little selection :-

Last week I also was very kindly featured on the Feast Norfolk Magazine website.  They did a little interview about me, my work and of course food! 

I'm guzzling down coffee as I write this, keeping it brief.  I hope you're all having a good start to the week and I'll be back soonish with more of my goings on. 

London

Good morning!  It's a rainy morning here in London...again!  Still, March is almost here so I am confident that will mean things are on the up.  I can spy a lovely array of spring flowers from my window out in the garden, and that's always a highlight for me at this time of year.  When it stops raining I will pop out to pay them a visit.
I wanted to share a recent personal piece I completed of some London 'things'.  It comes as no surprise that I do love drawing iconic London buildings and bits and pieces.  There is such a wealth to draw from, and many places I've drawn a lot, Tower Bridge is a prime example ;).  I feel I know it very well now!  When you live in such an impressive city with so much history it is tempting to take it for granted, but I still get awestruck when walking around, crossing the Thames and so on.  I still will make many more drawings of London, there are always ideas pulsing away in my head, but for now here's the latest.

I made a lot of preparatory sketches which I then copied and scaled up and down until I was happy with the composition.  In the end I removed the purple and used brown as the additional colour, I wanted mainly to use red, blue, black and white.  

I hope you can tell this is a corgi!  I'm sure that in their spare time the Queens doggos love to have a good run-around in their own crowns :).

Ok, it's Friday which means a drawing day for me.  I've been working on some commissions which I can't share but today I should be able to work on something new that I've been doodling with for a few days.  Have a lovely Friday and weekend!

Under the sea

Hello,

I hope you're having a good week.  Today I'm sharing another sea-themed work (I think I really need a coastal visit!).  I had a very specific colour palette in mind when I started this and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Drawing all the creatures for this was such fun and I hope it conveys as sense of the movement of the sea.  

Below is one of my work in progress sketches.

Also I picked up a copy of Uppercase Magazine which features an illustration of mine.  The illustration was for a They Draw and Cook challenge.  The theme was 'Food Geometry' so I created a food pattern.  I was delighted when it was one of the entries picked to appear in the magazine.  

Ok that's it for now, keep warm!

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.