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.

Happy New Year!

Hello and Happy New Year!  I've had a lovely break away for Christmas and am now enjoying being back, sorting out a few things, and doing some drawing :).  I always really appreciate a break at this time of the year.  It is so nice to just slow down a bit, relax and spend time with family.
I wanted to share an illustration I completed just before Christmas still on a sea theme.  I've really been enjoying drawing sea creatures, they are so fascinating.  The colour palette I hope gives it a vintage feel.  I didn't get to spend much time at the coast on this visit home, just because it's Christmastime and it's a little more difficult to get out.  Next time!

When I got back to London I spent a beautiful day out walking from Hammersmith to Richmond.  It was a glorious sunny day and the light was sooo pretty.  

It was such a lovely day :).  

Finally, as it's New Year, and 2020 I've also got a sale on in my Etsy shop SharonFarrowArt 20% off everything.  There are prints, xmas cards, originals, stickers and postcards to choose from so please come and have a browse.

I hope you've had a lovely break and I hope you have a wonderful 2020.  I can't believe we're at that date already!  I'll be back soon, now it's time for coffee and some drawing :).

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!

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 :).

Christmas nibble time....almost

Hello,

Brrr it's been a pretty chilly week here.  I've been all togged up whenever I've had to face the weather, definitely hibernation time!
So Christmas is almost upon us which means Christmas food!  I haven't actually eaten either of these....yet.  I know that I will be having some homemade mince pies once I go home to see the family though, yum!

Just a quick one this week as I've got a big to-do list to complete before Christmas.  Now, I need to start wrapping those presents :).

Have a lovely weekend.

The crow

Hello,

I hope you're having a good week.  This week I've been working on lots of fun new work which I will show soon.  I also finished a large scale drawing I'd been working on.  It's been an age since I did anything this size and it was so nice to get back to large brushes and lovely large marks.  If I'm honest I'd wanted to create this illustration for ages but didn't have the time to really focus on it properly, I wanted to give it all my energy rather than just dipping in and out.  I really enjoyed it and I'm definitely going to do more.  My subject was a crow because I find them so fascinating.  I wanted to use blacks, greys and a hint of gold leaf as once again it's been so long since I just created a piece in black and white.  I did do numerous large studies before committing to the final and I am really happy with the result.

That's me at the bottom, for the purpose of scale and being a bit silly I know :).  I would love to create more work like this so if you're a business/person with a space on your wall that needs filling why not give me a shout (shameless plug). 

Have a lovely weekend, it's going to be a nippy one methinks, a great excuse to find somewhere nice and cosy to have a lovely hot drink.  See you next week :).

Summery delights

Hello,

I thought I'd share some recent summer inspired food I've illustrated.  This year in the UK we are having a proper summer, which is very exciting!  So everyday has been warm and sunny for weeks which is lovely (although today is cloudy, but hopefully that's a one off, it's still warm!).  My flat gets very hot as it's on the top floor and gets the sunshine in the afternoon and evening, so it means I can't be cooking and creating more heat, so there's been a lot of yummy salads.  One particular favourite has been courgette with pine nuts and basil or my version of pesto (minus the cheese) which I have to say has been delicious.  It's super light, fresh and yummy.  I've been having it with another cannellini bean salad which I'm going to draw up soon, and sometimes potato salad.  Maybe that sounds like quite a lot of food.....hmm, eating is good.

I loved working on these in the sunshine (with the fan going obviously).  I really hope this weather lasts, it's just a joy to feel the sun on your skin and not worry about taking layers wherever you go.  I'm really enjoying it.  Today I'm working on another coffee illustration and then I'm hoping to get to a local park researching for some new work.  Have a lovely weekend :).

Out for a walk

Hello,

It's a lovely sunny Saturday :).  I'm sharing another illustration completed after a little break in the countryside.  I went walking through Sheringham Park where luckily some of the Rhododendrons were out at that time, lots of glorious colour.  I made this inspired by the walk which led to the coast in the end, and also to fish and chips and later an ice cream, yum.
Have a lovely weekend whatever you do, I'm about to start sketching for some new nature themed work :).

A little break - part two

Hello,

If you saw my post from last week you will know I'd been on a few days break out of London.  As soon as I came back I knew I wanted to make some work inspired by what I visited there when I can. One of the places I visited was Sutton Hoo in Suffolk.  It's a place I'd been wanting to visit for years and it was great to go during the week, on a beautiful day, where I could have a good walk around in the sunshine :).  It's fascinating to think a lot of the objects found here lay dormant for so long (minus the rabbit disturbance!) and it must have been so exciting when the finds were revealed.  There was so much detailed patterning on a lot of the items, it's incredible to think how they were made at that time.
For me, making work in this way means I can choose exactly what elements really stood out to me on my visit, and I wanted to make sure I incorporated the earthy feel of the dig all those years ago.  This also meant I was able to use all the gorgeous brown inks I have keeping the feel of the earth very loose in contrast to the lined work of the rabbits.  I was lucky that at this time of year bluebells were out, and after days of visiting places where the bluebell displays weren't quite as anticipated I walked into an area of woodland here and they were everywhere.  It was a real treat!

It really was lovely to have a break, get out into the countryside and just walk.  I think I really needed it.
So, back to work.  I have a lot I want to get done today.  It's a gorgeous day so a great way to spend a day of drawing looking out at some lovely sunny weather :).  See you soon!

A little break

Hello,

I've had a lovely week.  I finally took a proper few days off and incredibly picked the week with the best weather so far :D!  I went to visit my family back in Norfolk and spent time in the countryside, and by the coast, in what was permanent sunshine, I really could not believe my luck.  As the weather was so good it was also the perfect excuse to try several varieties of delicious ice cream, yum.  Below are some pictures of my time there.

I really enjoyed getting away, I've come back full of new ideas, and got to work on some new illustrations inspired by my travels.  I love creating work in this way.
In honour of the sun (which is not with me today :(, it has been a day of rain) here's a recent sunny Illustration I created all about bees.  I wanted a really limited sunny warm toned palette for this one.

I hope you've had a great week and enjoyed the sunshine if it was around where you were :).