#BeInspired Cass Art Challenge Part 2 - My Artwork

Yesterday I shared a review of the materials I received from Cass Art for taking part in their #BeInspired campaign.  Today I can share with you some of the art work which I made using my new materials!
Some of the materials are similar to things I already use and some have been completely new to me but I have really enjoyed trying all of them out.  It has been great just to play around and see what happens and not to worry so much about what the finished piece will be like.  I definitely want to do this more and am planning to get some new sketchbooks and spend more time in 2017 experimenting with different materials in them!

#BeInspired Cass Art Challenge Part 1 - Art Pack Review

I'm so excited to be taking part in Cass Art's #BeInspired campaign!
Making art brings so much pleasure and anyone can be creative.  It doesn't matter if you think you're not very good at making things, you can still enjoy the process - and just like anything else, the more you practise the better you get!

Cass Art wants to encourage everyone to explore their own creativity - they are on a mission to fill every town with artists!  They are dedicated to supporting artists and keeping their art supplies affordable - so that making art can be accessible to everyone, which I think is great! (You can find out more about Cass Art here, I found the history of their family, which they recently blogged about, really interesting too.)

The #BeInspired campaign is all about inspiring people to get creative and finding out where people find their inspiration from.
Cass Art have sent me a Drawing and Graphic Art Pack filled with new art materials to play with! I'll be reviewing the pack in today's blog post and sharing some artwork I made with the materials in another blog post tomorrow.

Before I go on to tell you about the art materials, I have to say that I was really impressed with how the pack was packaged.  First impressions are really important and receiving a package sent with care is such a joy to open!  The items inside had been wrapped in tissue paper and the shiny blue padded envelope just added to the excitement!

Painting Cats

Just before Christmas I received a commission to paint this pet cat portrait.  I enjoy the challenge of capturing animals on paper and it’s lovely to be able to make something special for someone.

When I paint a portrait I work from several different photos to create a unique piece – so I can change the background or combine  different images to get the right pose.  Once the rough sketch has been approved I can start work on the final painting.  I work with pencil and watercolours, gradually building up layers of paint.  I also used masking fluid in this portrait to keep highlights such as the whiskers.

I recently updated the ‘animal art’ page on my website which has a little bit more information on how my pet portrait commissions work.

Yay! New business cards :) and discount code for Moo

I had another exciting package in the post today - some new business cards and mini cards from Moo! :)

I'm always impressed when I order from Moo - the order wasn't due to arrive until next week so it was great to receive it early.  The quality of their cards is always excellent too - more like mini art prints than business cards.  I'll be using these cards to send out with orders I post and to give away at craft fairs over the next few months :)

I've been given a special referral code - if you order from Moo through this link http://www.moo.com/share/5jnnc7 you will get 10% off your first order!

Test piece - I would love your feedback!

I recently sold out of some of my clockwork bird prints and thought that before stocking up again I would try out something slightly different.  I've had good feedback and people seem to like my bird illustrations but I was wondering if people would prefer to buy prints of the birds without text on - what do you think?  Photographed above is a 5x7 inch print of my Nuthatch without text on, and below is the illustration as it is available now, with text.

If I started selling the prints without the text I would also include a little certificate...

On the certificate would be the model number and name of the bird along with a short piece about Edwin Cracknell and the print, I would hand sign each certificate too.  I quite like the idea of the certificate and sending a little piece of the Hexley story with each print - especially if the prints are given as gifts and the recipient hasn't seen my work before.

If you have any feedback please let me know!

Clockwork Kingfisher - from sketchbook to finished illustration

If you saw the picture on my facebook page yesterday you might have already guessed that I was working on a Kingfisher as my next clockwork bird.  I thought I would share some photos to show you my working process from sketchbook to finished illustration.  I did try to make a slideshow but it wasn't uploading properly so here are some still photos instead...

All my illustrations start life in my sketchbook.  I use reference photos to get an idea of the birds shape and test out some colours.  I've developed a sort of formula for turning real birds into clockwork form but things like the colour patterns, wing, body and beak shape makes each bird unique. 

Once I have a rough idea of the design I start working on watercolour paper.  I use 140lb, extra smooth hot pressed paper - it's great for detailed pen work and watercolours.

When I am happy with the bird in pencil I can start drawing in pen.  I use a dip pen and brown ink - it's waterproof so won't be smudged when the colour is added and I like the quality of line the dip pen produces.

When the ink is completely dry it's time to start adding some colour...

I use tubes of watercolour - but I like to squeeze them onto my palette and leave them to dry, making my own set of watercolour pans.  Does that sound like an odd way of using watercolours?

The colour is built up slowly with layers of paint...

Normally I leave the painting to dry overnight before scanning it - watercolours become lighter as they dry and obviously I don't want wet paint on the scanner!  I made sure that I didn't paint the blues too pale as scanners sometimes have trouble picking up very light shades of blue.

Here's the scanned version of the Kingfisher... 

Now it's time to work on the illustration digitally in Photoplus.  I add a background using various scanned textures and clean up the scanned bird, removing the white paper from the scan.  I will use the finished illustration for different sized prints, the largest will be 8x10 so that's the size I work with now.  It's better to reduce the size of the orginal later rather than to try and enlarge it which might reduce the quality of the image.

Almost finished now - I add the text 'Edwin Cracknell's Clockwork Birds' which appears on all the clockwork bird illustrations.  I also write the title of this piece (Model No.13 Alcedo atthis ~ Kingfisher) in dip pen and ink, scan it and add to the illustration.

And here is the finished Clockwork Kingfisher! :)



Clockwork Chaffinch

'One of Edwin Cracknell's favourite finches is the colourful male Chaffinch.  It's distinctive markings and powerful song make this little mechanical bird an attractive addition to any collection!'

I like drawing birds with bold markings so thought the male chaffinch would be a good choice for my next clockwork bird illustration.  He's been on my 'to do list' for a while, so it's good to have him finished :)

After such a long gap since my last bird I'm on a roll now and am already half way through my next one!   I'm just waiting for the paint to dry before I can scan it.  Hopefully it should be finished in a day or two (if you want to see a sneak peek I posted a picture on my facebook page: www.facebook.com/HazelFisherCreations )

London sketchbook

My new London themed printables are almost finished now - I thought I'd share a peak at my sketchbook with you before the finished designs are ready to post...

Something fishy

I've been working on some new fish illustrations and thought I would share some pictures of my work in progress...

I started with lots of sketches of different types of tropical fish...

I chose a mixture of freshwater and marine tropical fish, focusing on colourful ones or fish with bold patterns. These illustrations were drawn in pen and watercolour pencil...

I then scanned these drawings and finished colouring them digitally...

I'll be using these fish in scrapbooking papers, greeting cards etc. - more on the finished designs soon!

Spending so much time drawing fish made me want to visit the fish shop again - yesterday I bought 2 mollies and 2 panda corydoras for my tank.  The Panda corydoras are my favourite corys - they're the sort of fish I based my DORA illustration on. :)

To celebrate reaching 100 likes on my facebook page I have decided to hold a giveaway - look out for more on that later this week!

Pick of the Week

I was just starting to get on top of things again after the computer problems, then this week I've been ill with a cold :(  It's getting better now but I had a couple of days of doing nothing.  It did give me a chance to have a proper look at a stack of Artist and Illustrator magazines I was given though.  Now I can't wait to get my paints out again!  One of the magazines mentioned the Google Art Project - I've just had a look and it's amazing!  You can take a virtual walk around galleries from around the world and zoom right in to some of the art.

Go to www.googleartproject.com to see more

Firstsite

Although firstsite (Colchester's new art gallery) opened a couple of months ago, today was the first time my sister and I have visited it.  Unfortunately it's been a wet day so we didn't spend long looking at the outside of the unusual building - we'll have to come back on a sunnier day!

Some facts about firstsite...

• The building is on a Scheduled Ancient Monument site so has no foundations, instead it sits on 24, 000 tonnes of hardcore from garrison buildings demolished in the town.
• In 1923 a Roman mosaic was discovered on the site of the new gallery and has now been reinstalled in it's original position in the new building.
• The building is clad in a copper and aluminium alloy that oxydises to a matt golden yellow (the aluminium stops the copper from turning green).

The gallery's first exhibition; 'Camulodunum' is inspired by Colchester's history as Britains' first city.  There were a mixture of pieces on display - the items we most enjoyed looking at were from Colchester's history; posters and photos from the 1909 Colchester pageant, seeing the Roman mosaic and the history of Colchester's oyster feast.  Although some of the other exhibits were interesting to look at I'm afriad I'm not a big fan of a lot of modern fine art; things that look like piles of rubble on the floor.  I was a bit disappointed too that one of the rooms was closed due to technical problems - that will teach me to leave visiting so late.

I quite like the building - it's odd to walk in at first with walls leaning at different angles it makes you feel slightly dizzy but I liked the open lightness of the space.  The gallery is being promoted as one of the largest contemporary art galleries in the UK so it seemed a shame that the curving, leaning walls limited the space for hanging artwork and we felt that overall there wasn't a lot of work on display.  Also we had to hunt around for some of the labels for exhibits as they were quite far away from the actual work.

My last complaint - and this may just be me - but why are the toilet doors made of glass?  They were frosted so you couldn't see through clearly but you could still see the silhouette of people through them - is this normal for public toilets?

We left with mixed feelings about the controversial gallery.  It's been the cause of much debate locally having gone way over budget and opening later than planned due to building problems.  I'm glad it is opened now though and I'm sure we'll be back - I'll be interested to see what exhibitions they have in the future.

For more info see the website: http://www.firstsite.uk.net/

Clown Fish

I painted this ACEO of a clown fish before Christmas but have only just listed it in my shop.  I love the brightly coloured fish in marine aquariums and the bold markings on clown fish inspired this painting.  It was drawn in pencil and pen then painted in watercolours on 140lb extra smooth watercolour paper.

Ginger

I felt like drawing a guinea pig today... so painted this little ACEO :)

This original pencil and watercolour painting of Ginger the Guinea Pig is available to buy from my Etsy shop.

Kitty

It's been a while since I painted an ACEO so thought it was time I made one!  They're quicker to do than my other illustrations and it's fun to try something different too.  I took inspiration from a cat that likes to visit our garden for this painting.  We don't know what her name is so just call her Kitty.

Kitty first started visiting our garden this spring - she was so sweet and obviously quite young still as she was very playful :)  Now she's grown up she doesn't think we are as interesting to play with any more but she does still stop by our garden sometimes!

Pick of the Week

Can you believe this drawing is only 1 inch square?  Amazing!

Doctor's Treatment - miniature by `Cataclysm-X on deviantART

Cute animal art

I had to share these Etsy treasuries that I've recently had work included in...

'For The Love of Another' - the polar bears in this are amazing!  See the treasury in full here.

In Loving Memory of Hammy - see the cute hamsters in this collection here.

Etsy Treasuries (and front page!)

I'm always so happy when someone has liked one of my items enough to include it in their treasury and Saturday was even more exciting as my buttons were on the UK front page of Etsy! :D  I love the bright blues/ greens and yellows in this treasury. (The treasury above was on the front page)

 

Treasuries are a fun way to stumble across new items from other people too :)

Here are a couple of other treasuries which also include my items... Bold bright reds...

and a lion themed collection (these are so cute!)...

Postcards are now in stock!

I have been taking new photos of my postcards to list in my Etsy shop, I think they look nice hung up on a line with my pegs decorated with scrapbooking paper :) 

New Year, New Work

My first post of 2011 - Happy New Year!

Here are a few new ACEOs...

Sammy the Hamster ...

Badgers ...

Panda Corydoras

I have two corys in my tank (with guppies) at the moment. I've been admiring photos of some amazing planted aquariums online and can't wait to get some new plants and fish for mine! When my tanks are looking a bit better I'll share some photos of them :)

These are not macaroons...

I was planning on sharing some photos of my latest baking project from the new 'Making' magazine, but it turned out to be a macaroon disaster! Hopefully I'll have better luck next time... for now though, here are some new paintings instead :)

These budgies and guinea pig are all ACEOs, drawn in pencil and painted in watercolours.

This is Basil, my pet guinea pig, who loves to eat parsley amongst other things! Drawn in pencil and painted in watercolours (a 5x7 inch painting).

I'm currently adding new ACEOs to my Etsy shop and will also be adding listings for pet portrait commissions.