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 :).

New prints and an Illustration Fair

Hello,

I thought it's about time I shared something new here.  Over the last few months I've been working away creating images, just taking my time and not putting too much pressure on myself to post anything until I am ready to do so.  It has meant being more relaxed with my social media (not that I was every an avid poster really) and I feel ok with that.  I know lots of people have been doing the same thing and feeling a similar way too.  It does mean I have collected a few images together, many of which will never be seen by anyone other than me, and it's been a great time for me to experiment and really make what I fancy.  So it's been a very enjoyable time work-wise.  Some of those images have now become new items which I've put into my shop SharonFarrowArt and I want to share those with you.  

First up are some Giclee art prints.  The idea behind these illustrations was to give a positive vibe and message.  I love incorporating text into my work, and the text used in these images was inspired by music I've been listening to, things that were happening personally to me at the time, and in the general goings on of life.  I feel that the words are open enough to be interpreted in anyway that relates to you personally.  I also experimented with adding linocut areas on some of these designs.  I always have a lot of fun creating textures but lino helps me to get an even coating of colour in some areas, whilst still providing subtle texture, I like that contrast.  I had a lot of fun (and made a lot of mess, always a bonus)!

The unicorn and peacocks images are also available as small A6 cards.  I usually make square shaped cards so I thought I'd try something a bit different. 

The other new product I have is a new home card. 

Also, a couple of weekends ago I took part in the Illustrators fair at Granary Square in Kings Cross, London.  It's my second fair with them and I'm hoping to do more.  I still feel very much a fair novice but with each one I learn a little more, and it is lovely to meet people and chat about my artwork.  It's lovely to have that face to face interaction with people.  The Illustrators fair organisers have been amazing at promoting everyone and making the fair a huge success, so a big thank you goes out to them and to everyone that came along :).

All of the products shown here are available now in my Etsy shop, SharonFarrowArt.  

So that's some of what I've been up to recently.  I'm now ready to start with some new ideas which I'll share soonish :).  Have a great week!

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 :).

Illustrators' Fair

 Hello!

I thought I'd give a quick update to let you know I'm participating in this years Illustrators' fair! alongside some very talented illustrators.  I'm very excited, and am busy planning my stall and checking all my stock.  I'll be selling a variety of prints, cards, mirrors, notebooks which are also all available to buy here in my Etsy shop SharonFarrowArt.  This is my flyer for the event.

Hope to see you there!  Now it's time to get caffeinated and continue with the planning!

Have a great weekend.

Sharon :)

Festive shop update

Hello,

It's been a while my friends, but I've recently updated my Etsy shop with my new Christmas cards so thought it was time for a post.  They're available as single cards or as a pack of four and feature running reindeers surrounded by festive plants.  I created the image using a combination of paints, coloured pencils and pens and used a limited palette of greens and blues with the odd pop of rich red.  You can take a look here.

I also have other festive cards available to purchase.

These are all available alongside my prints, greetings cards, pocket mirrors, notebooks and a few festive tree ornaments.  

I hope you're all doing well.  I'm enjoying watching all the lovely leaves continuing to do their beautiful autumn goldening whilst I get wrapped up in all the cosy clothes :).

Summer shop update

Hello,

Ohh it's been a long time since I last wrote one of these.  Sometimes I guess you just need to do what feels right at the time.  Today I feel like the time is right for a little update.  I won't go on though!

I've been working away creating new things and I've now got some new items up for sale in my Etsy shop SharonFarrowArt, so I thought I'd share those. 

First up I've got some new Giclee prints.  I've wanted to get some new designs printed up for a while and when they arrived from the printers I was delighted with how they look.  The paper has a slight texture and a lovely feel, and the colours were just as I hoped.  Two of the prints are nature themed and one is made up of a variety of vegetables.  They are all A4 (297mmx210) in size.

I also created a couple of new birthday card designs.

Both of these cards are now available to buy with free UK delivery, hooray!  

So, that's a little shop update from me.  I'm in the process of creating some new things that will hopefully become additions to the shop at some point in future.  Today it's lovely and sunny but thankfully a little cooler with a gentle breeze, which makes it much more comfortable to work :).

Have a lovely weekend!

Sharon

Pre lockdown 2 Museum visiting

Hello,

Just before lockdown 2 here, I headed out to a couple of museums before they shut again for a few weeks.  One of which was the Victoria and Albert Museum.  This is one of my favourite museums to wander around in.  At that time some galleries were closed but it didn't matter, I didn't have time to get around all that were open anyway.  I knew I specifically wanted to look at tapestries on that particular visit, and that I could do.  When I came home, I started sketching a few ideas for an illustration based on what I had seen and this is the final piece.

I knew I wanted to feature a unicorn, and I also knew I would find them within the tapestries on display.  That was my one 'rule,' I could only feature something I had seen in some form, but I was free to change it as I wished (I always like to give myself a few boundaries).  I took a lot of inspiration from the beautiful wrought iron work on display (there is a pretty large collection there).

I do love wandering around museums and seeing all the amazing things they have on display.  I love everything about it, the quietness, learning, and of course seeing all the beautiful crafted objects.  A visit to any museum for me can really transport me somewhere else, and give me so much to think about.

I had so much fun creating this and I have so many ideas have been sparked off in my head from what I saw, so there will be more to come I'm sure.  With everything that is going on right now it was so good to escape into my own world of fantasy :).  I hope you're all doing well.