Rabbit ACEOs No.32-37

A new set of rabbit ACEOs! All drawn in pen and pencil and painted in watercolours these were great fun to make :)

These are all part of my series started this year and are numbers 32 to 37.

I've started adding these original ACEOs to my Etsy shop, so if you don't see them there yet they should be soon.

The return of the internet and new ACEOs...

Don't you always find that you appreciate something more when you don't have it?

For half of last week I had no phone line and therefore no internet and it's really reminded me just how much I use the internet! It seemed that half of the village was cut off and the rumour was that it was because the copper cables connecting the village were stolen (again). I hope they catch these people - it's not just an inconvenience, some people who don't have mobile phones rely on the landlines and could need it in an emergency.

I probably got more work done without online distractions though and knowing that if would be off for a few days I could plan around it, but running an online business means that it's important to have the internet as I didn't want to disappoint any customers. At least it's back now! :D

Now that I'm back online there's a bit to catch up on, so here are a couple of new ACEOs:

No. 24 Welsh landscape (pencil, watercolours and acrylics)

No.25 Swans (pencil, watercolours, acrylics)

ACEO 365 - No.17 - 23

Here's an update on more of my recent ACEOs :)

No.17 - Border Collie dog in pencil and watercolour (Sold)

No.18 - Arthur Brown, a resident of Hexley, works at the Climatology Centre and sits on the Town Council. Drawn in pencil and painted in watercolours and acrylics.

No.19 - Chimp in watercolours and Quink with dip pen/ ink line work.

No.20 - Squirrel drawn in pencil and painted in acrylics.

No.21 - British landscape in pencil, watercolours and acrylics (Sold)

No.22 - Hexley pier, pencil, watercolours and acrylics (I'm planning on painting a larger version of the Hexley pier too)

And finally No.23 - Emperor penguins; pen, watercolour and acrylics (Sold)

These ACEOs (unless marked as sold) are for sale in my Etsy shop. I will be listing prints of the penguins and squirrel but if there are any of my ACEOs you would like prints of which aren't listed in my shop please let me know!

The next ACEOs I'm starting are of a swan and another landscape. I always like receiving your comments/ feedback :) - what are your favourite ACEOs or is there anything you think would make a great subject which I haven't done yet??

Hexley houses

Here are some more ACEOs from my 365 series. I am using this series as a good excuse for experimenting with different subjects and techniques, so here are 3 ACEOs of houses...

These are the sorts of houses you might find residents of Hexley living in. :)

No.14 Pen on watercolour paper

No.15 Pen and watercolour on watercolour paper (in the distance you can see a Solo Dirigible Balloon in use!)

No.16 Collaged pen drawing over red and gold wallpaper - I imagine that the wallpaper is decorating one if the rooms in these houses, and the garage on the left could be home to a Hexley carriage or is possibly a little workshop for one of the town's inventors!

As usual, all of these ACEOs are for sale in my Etsy shop :)

What's new?

It's been a while since I last posted here so there are a few things to catch up on.

Firstly; the free advertising space on Craft Count. My advert was on the site for about a week (longer than the 3 days I was expecting) and from Google analytics I can see that it led to some extra views in my Etsy shop. This was only 2, 3 or 4 extra views a day though and I don't know of any sales I had from that, although some of those views may turn into sales in the future.

As the Craft Count site is still new that probably affected the number of views I had. So my conclusion is that although it didn't lead to any sales now it was free, so worth a try, and I wouldn't rule out trying fee charging advertising on this, or a similar site, in the future when a more established site could lead to better views and hopefully sales.

I also wanted to share more of my recent ACEOs from the series of 365 ACEOs for the year - which I am quite behind on already :( Maybe 365 was a little ambitious!?

No.8 - An ink (Quink) drawing of the Invisible Man based on a project I did a while ago. This has sold already, but I might do some more on a similar theme. I like how black Quink, when mixed with water, splits into different colours from blues to yellows -it reminds me of the chromatography we did it chemistry lessons at school :)

No.9 - 13 are all kaleidometric patterns (patterns made from circles). When I was about 8 or so I was given a book about these patterns and have enjoyed making them off and on ever since. They are quite time consuming to make - each starts by drawing a pencil grid: drawing a circle with a compass and dividing that circle with other circles and lines. Then the patterns you see here are made by drawing shapes and lines based on, but not restricted to, the grid.

These are all mixed media pieces and I have used them to experiment with acyrlics (which I haven't used much for a long time), watercolours, different pens and ink.

These kaleidometric ACEOs and other ACEOs are for sale in my Etsy shop. :)

I haven't forgotten about my buttons either - they just take a long time to sort but I'm hoping I can post more on them very soon!

ACEO 365 - No.5,6,7

Three new ACEOs, all drawn in pencil and painted in watercolours :)
No.5 (meercat)

No.6 (rabbit)

No.7 (bird)

If they are not in my Etsy shop already they will be very soon!

ACEO 365 - No.4

Just a quick post for now of my latest ACEO; No. 4 in the series...

As with my other ACEOs it is for sale in my Etsy shop :)

ACEO 365 - No.2 and 3

Here are the next 2 in my series of 365 ACEOs for this year:

The originals of both of these are for sale in my Etsy shop.

This year is turning out to be a good year for Etsy treasury features - my work has been featured in another treasury! :) This time it was my Storytelling of Crows ACEO in a treasury titled Pearled Snowflake by buttercupbloom.

ACEO 365 - No.1

One of my many art ideas for this year is to make lots of new ACEOs - 365 to be exact! I want to try to reach a total of 1 ACEO for each day of the year - although that will be reached by making more than one some days and none on others.

The plan is to make ACEOs on any subject and in any medium as a way to experiment with different ideas. I also want them to be produced a bit faster than my usual watercolour ACEOs which can take several hours to paint.

So here is ACEO No.1; a postbox painted in gouache on collaged postage stamps and envelopes on mount board.

The original ACEOs in this set will all be for sale in my Etsy shop.