Penguin

If I had a penguin I'd make sure he stayed warm in a little jumper.

Bring on winter!

Cuckoo! Cuckoo!

Christmas card number 2 is done! A festive Swiss inspired cuckoo clock. We had one once, although the cuckoo-ing did get a tad annoying at 3 in the morning... but they're so gorgeous I think it's worth it!

Christmas Carousel

Although it's only October, Christmas is coming up pretty quick. I decided to go all Victorian-esque this year with my card designs, so here's the first one of a carousel horse (or 3!) With the two compositions I have the choice between a square card or a tall thin card, plus I can go over the original drawing but change the pattern or the colours if I feel like it so lots of variations are possible!

'Crooked' - Illustration Friday

This piece I originally did for the Illustration Friday topic 'Swamp', and as I've been super busy and haven't taken part in months I thought I'd pop it up for this weeks topic 'Crooked'! So here's my higgledy-piggledy swamp house once more :)

'Proper Job' Woes...

Finally, a finished piece! It's only taken me about 4 weeks to actually do some work. Unfortunately recently my 'proper job' has taken over and finding time to do any arty bits has been near impossible. So I'm really pleased I've managed to finish this!

Based on a photograph I took in Malta, I decided to make it more of a 'scene', adding the man in the coat and setting it at night with the orange street lamps.

Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be able to do a lot more work and get back into the rhythm I had before!

Over and over...

Oh I do like a good pattern... this one took me a while as mirroring the birds correctly was a bit of a pain! But I'm really pleased with the outcome. The process involved a dodecahedron split into 12 isosceles triangles (yes it's rather maths heavy producing these!) and each of the 12 triangles has one image within it. It's then mirrored back to back around until the entire dodecahedron is filled.... phew! Quite labour intensive work but I adore the fact they grow almost organically in the paper. And who said maths wouldn't help in the real world?! I based the colours on oriental drawings and paintings, as I thought it would suit the delicacy of the pattern, particularly the pink against the jade :D

Stag-sketch

Apologies for the lack of posts, it's not been the best couple of weeks for doing work with my proper job getting manic, and the Olympics stuff happening! But I managed to sketch out this guy yesterday using just plain old HB pencil. I'm hoping to do a bigger piece maybe in mixed media so this is only a sketch for part of it. I just need the time to sit down and do some 'proper work'! Hopefully this weekend :D

Hope everybody's enjoying the London Olympics so far, it's all been pretty exciting over here as I'm sure you can imagine!

Sugar Skull

So, I've wanted to do more patterns for a while now, but always put if off and put it off until eventually I forget about it. Today I had the idea of doing a Mexican Sugar Skull, but with one of my patterns in the background. This is the result! The colours were tricky to get right and the initial drawing took me forever (I hand draw all of it, which involves a lot of working out and pattern plotting before I make the pen marks!) I think it works really well, and I could see it as a print. So, procrastination over! Hooray!

Blue Sunday Blue Tit

The weather in the UK at the moment is beyond dire, it just keeps raining! And to top it off I've not been well at all, so feeling a bit sorry for myself currently.
To cheer myself up I got my felt tip pens going again, and out came this Blue Tit who I think is rather cute. This one only took me 15 minutes, still striving to loosen up my drawings and I think it's paying off!
Here's hoping to a better week this week!

Bzzz...

Just a simple bumblebee to distract me from the stresses of a manic Monday. A quick sketch drawn on my lunch-break that I actually had a bit of spare time to do something with! Have a good week all :)

Foxy!

I was going to make this little guy into another constellation, but I like him the way he is!

I've been freeing up my drawing a lot more recently, and working more with pencils in a loose style which I'm really enjoying. It's good to change your processes once in a while, however daunting it might be.

This drawing took me around 15 minutes, so just a quick sketch but I added a hint of colour in Photoshop.

'Space' - Illustration Friday

For this week's topic 'Space' I wanted to do something based on constellations, and I thought I'd create my own!

I started with the sketch of the wolf, then made a constellation from it. Quite a fun little process really!

Day 3 - Favourite Food

Now I don't know whether a sauce or condiment counts as 'food', but thinking it over I don't really have any actual food that I could call my favourite. I like lots of different foods, but none I would technically call my absolute favourite.

So, I settled on the one thing that I could not live without... sweet chilli sauce. I put it on everything! You name it and I will smother it in this stuff. It is the condiment of the Gods and I won't have anybody tell me otherwise!

This drawing was a fairly quick sketch using coloured pencils in my Moleskine, which I scanned and quickly touched up using photoshop. I mean quickly too as today has been rather busy for me.

This challenge is becoming more difficult day by day but I'm determined to do it!

Day 2 - Favourite Animal

It just had to be ducks. They're so damn cute!! The little noises they make, the way they stick their bums in the air when they're looking for food under the water, and the colours that mallards have are just gorgeous. Although, I'm a bit of a hypocrite, because I think duck is the tastiest thing too. Damn you ducks! I don't want to eat you but you taste so good!

30 Day Drawing Challenge!

I've wanted to do one of these for ages but kept putting it off, however I think it's high time I just did it!

I found this on one of my many travels around the internet, and thought 'ooh that looks like fun!', but forgive me because I cannot for the life of me remember where I found it!

So for the next 30 days I'm going to be glued to my sketchbook, I hope I can do it!





As this is my first day I had to do a drawing of myself, so here it is!

'Secret' - Illustration Friday

First of all, I'd like to say a biiiig thank you to the lovely folks at Illustration Friday for picking my entry for 'Shiny' as pick of the week! I've been beaming all week!

Now onto this week's entry for the topic 'Secret' and... more magpies! This old nursery rhyme about said birds popped into my head:

"One for sorrow,

Two for joy,

Three for a girl,

Four for a boy,

Five for silver,

Six for gold,

Seven for a secret,

Never to be told,

Eight for a wish,

Nine for a kiss

Ten for a bird

You must not miss."

Seven for a secret never to be told... :)

'Shiny' - Illustration Friday

This is a piece I did a while back (actually, nearly a YEAR ago, crikey!) of Mr.Magpie with his hoard of shiny things! Therefore I felt it appropriate for this week's Illustration Friday contest :)
It was drawn freehand, then scanned and made beautiful in Photoshop. 

Mr.Quail and the felt tip pens...

... and now for something completely different! 

I bought a bumper pack of Berol felt tip pens a while back thinking I'd give them a go and see what would happen. Well I finally got round to it, and I'm so glad I did! I've been working on images of birds recently for a very exciting project/business idea (super excited, more news to come soon!) so once I'd done the pencil drawing for this little quail I thought 'why not use those felt tip pens?'

It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, you just have to pay more attention to the colours you're using and layer them to create subtle shades (like the brown, grey and blue made this really nice purpley-grey colour that was perfect for parts of it!)

Really happy with the results, so I'll be getting my felt tips out again soon I reckon. I love it when you try something new and get a positive out of it, so motivating!

'Sight' - Illustration Friday

This is a loose style drawing done from a photo I took in Malta.

In Valletta and Mdina they have horse-drawn carriages that take you around the cities as they're no car zones, and the horses have all this get up on them. They're very well looked after and kept to the highest standards, but I can't help but think 'how on earth do they see with all that stuff around their faces?!'

I really tried to free up my drawing with this one, which worked well. Sometimes it's good to just let go with your lines and be confident!

Dachshunds!

Apologies for no updates this week, it's been a pretty manic one for me! Anyway, I thought I would share progress on a project I'm working on. It's for Canadian Dachshund Rescue, who approached me to produce some images for them and I jumped at the chance! So here is the first one, I may tweak the colours but apart from that I'm really happy with it. The legs were a bit tricky as was getting the movement right but I got there in the end!

Mdina

Finished! Hooray!

I really like the colours in this one, looks almost vintage. No instagram used, just the awesome colours of Malta :D

This one is on the list of prints to get printed (when I have some money!)

'Hitched' - Illustration Friday

An ode to caravan lovers everywhere. My childhood was full of weekends away in our trusty caravan, we'd hitch it onto the car and travel to different parts of England, Scotland, Wales and sometimes even France! It's one of the best ways to escape and get back to nature and I miss it! 

Phew!

Here is the A3 sized beast, finally scanned in. I know A3 isn't that big when you look at it, but for someone who is so used to A4 or smaller it's rather daunting!

It's of a street in the walled city Mdina in Malta, one of the most inspiring places I've ever visited. It really is an incredibly beautiful place.

There's a few lines I want to change, and it needs some cropping and tidying but all in all I'm really pleased with this drawing. Now to colour it... that might take a while! But I think once finished it would make a nice print, what do you think?

Oh to be back in Malta...

It's horrible and grey here in the UK, so day-dreaming about holidays past is definitely a must. I've finally started work on the photos I took whilst in Malta in April. Here's progress... albeit a little progress but still! This one is going to take a while...

'Jump' - Illustration Friday

Origami is a love of mine, and whenever I'm bored I find myself folding paper into all kinds of shapes. For this weeks topic 'Jump' I thought of these origami frogs that jump if you press on their backs, so made a couple and played with them trying to get them into a bowl. It was pretty damn hard! Their cool shapes made me compelled to draw them, and this is where this illo came from. A strange process to get to an image, but I like its simplicity :) It also harks back to a piece I did a million years ago (at least it seems like it!) which you can see here: http://louisetaylordrawings.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/cranes-dilemma.html 

'Heights' - Illustration Friday

I had such fun doing this one!

I don't have much of a head for heights, but I do love going up in skyscrapers (being inside it isn't as scary really is it?) So this week I created my own skyscraper, modelled slightly after the Chrysler building with the art-deco features.

I'd love to go to New York and head up to the top of the Chrysler building, but money-wise that sort of trip is a long way off yet! One day :)

Red-fish

This believe it or not started as a doodle, but as I added more to it I felt it becoming a nice little image. A recent observation by a friend was I don't use any red in my work, so hopefully this is enough red for him!

'Puzzled' - Illustration Friday

I was, appropriately the topic for this weeks Illustration Friday, a little puzzled on what to do. I thought maybe a maze or a puzzle etc, but still didn't get inspired.

Then I remembered I always loved dot-to-dot's when I was growing up. When I went to the newsagents and bought a magazine it was the first thing I would do when I got home. So this week I decided to make my own!

It was more complicated than I had anticipated, but once I'd done my first one I'd got the hang of it. I took a few of my sketches (that are from older blog posts) and played around with them using tracing paper to see which would work well. I decided on these two and I'm super happy with the results. The poodle in particular turned out really well, although not for a dot-to-dot beginner as it's a bit complicated.

I also made sure they were correct by completing them myself (which was probably the best part of the whole process!)

I'm going to work on some more and put them up here as PDF's for people to download for free, everybody should be entitled to free dot-to-dotting!

Mini Malta

Here's a little doodle I drew sitting on the balcony of the hotel in Malta :)
I liked its simplicity so I coloured it digitally, I wish I was back there I can tell you! Malta never ceases to inspire me, where in the world do you find inspiration?

'Vocal' - Illustration Friday

Finished this in the nick of time!

This week I was inspired by a video my boyfriend showed me (who, like me, has a soft spot for all things cute) of a cockatiel singing 'If You're Happy And You Know It...'

You can watch the video here: http://youtu.be/U9NZnpleU0s?t=30s

Too cute! So here is an equally vocal cockatiel, singing something a bit more challenging.

'Return' - Illustration Friday

Doodling on my lunch break I came up with this and thought it made a cute little piece! Don't you find that packing to come home NEVER works as well as when you leave? And then the suitcase you bought specially comes through baggage claim all beaten up and knackered from being thrown about by the airlines? Hmph.

Still, nothing beats a good holiday! :D Back in a week!

Lundi Lusting

Source: severinmillet.com via eva on Pinterest

I'm absolutely loving these little guys! Made and designed by Severin Millet, an Illustrator from France. The shapes making up these abstract little sculptures look amazing, and I love the colours! I've been seeing this style around a lot recently and am a bit addicted to the graphical look it gives. Mixed with summery colours it's a winner for sure :D

I'm off to sunny Malta again tomorrow, a good chance to do some more drawing and get a bit of inspiration back (i've been struggling a bit recently due to illness and general 'I have no money' woes, don't you hate it when life gets in the way of your creativity?)

Have a great week all, and bring on the summer!

'Swamp' - Illustration Friday

Here's my finished entry for this weeks Illustration Friday prompt 'Swamp'. 

I wanted the house on stilts to look slightly run-down, but also lived in. I think the colours plus the light coming from the windows do this quite well. I wouldn't mind living here actually (well, apart from the dodgy flooring obviously! :D )

FINALLY some personal work time!

My poor blog has been a bit neglected lately due to a rather big commission I'm currently working on, but I've made it a priority to also work on this weeks Illustration Friday too!

Here's my quick little sketch for what I want to do for the prompt 'Swamp'. A higglety-pigglety house on stilts in a murky and slightly spooky swamp land (with private jetty and boat of course!) Like I said, quick sketch for now, but hopefully it'll transform into a lovely finished piece today!

Pattern time!

Yes! More patterns! Seeing as spring has pretty much sprung in England and currently the sun is shining, I've had the urge to make some more patterns.

This one I did using squares divided into quarters diagonally, then drawing it like a kaleidoscope (mirroring each section over). It's a labour of love because it's all hand drawn and doing it like this is like completing a difficult puzzle, figuring out where each shape goes in correspondance with the other shapes. I did this A LOT in my degree work, but because I was doing it every day non-stop for a year I kind of got fed up with it, but I really should do more as they'd make pretty funky fabrics! I'm going to play around with some bright colours and see what it'll turn into :D

'Intention' - Illustration Friday

I recently on a weekend away to Brighton with the sole intention of getting more than a bit drunk and enjoying the nightlife there. However, I found I wanted to explore the seaside more, and do the proper British things like chips on the pier, and going on funfair rides whilst eating candyfloss. Which we did and I had the most fun ever!

This is the helter skelter at the end of Brighton Pier, looks like it's fresh out of the 1950's doesn't it?

The drawing I did with pen on paper, which I scanned and coloured digitally. It was quite a challenge and rather fiddly though!

'Capable' - Illustration Friday

If only he was capable of telling his owners... but alas, he'll have to put up with the Sex Pistols for a while longer.

'Fluid' - Illustration Friday

A quick sketch this week! This time of year in the UK is always two things: rainy and cold! And working at a property management company in my spare time this means a nightmare. Leaky roofs and burst pipes makes some unhappy tenants :(

'Popularity' - Illustration Friday

Sheep likes the fact he has so many friends to talk to! Even though social networking has changed how people communicate, it's not all bad. I've reconnected with people from childhood and far away places through the internet, and blogging has changed my creative processes for the better. Although, nothing can beat a 2 hour phone call to catch up with a friend in my opinion :)

I am the Walrus...

Scrolling through some photos I took way back in October time at the Natural History Museum I found a snap of this super cute but MASSIVE walrus, and felt compelled to draw him. Whilst drawing, I got 'I am the Walrus' stuck in my head and it's been there ever since! Goo goo g'joob!

Super-fun Scribble Time!

Having a nosey at my blog reading list, I found this post by Amber at She Sure Is Sketchy (clickedy-click the link to see her original post) and I had had had to try it again for myself! So here are a few of my squiggles and scribbles...

I used to do this all the time as a kid, literally my school books were covered with them, and I'd get told off for 'graffiti-ing' on and in my books! So I gave it a go at work today and it was just as much fun as I remember it. Thanks Amber for sharing your post, it's made me feel 6 years old again :D

'Suspense' - Illustration Friday

Drum roll please!

Ode to Birdie

We currently have a pheasant residing in our living room... to cut a long story short we rescued it from being flattened on the road and it's nowhere near well enough to go back into the wild :( poor thing! Once the suspected broken leg has healed and it's ready to fly again we shall set him/her free (it's only a youngster so the sex is still unknown, hence the gender neutral name 'birdie'!)

Birdie has the most beautiful feathers, and some of them fall out as he/she is grooming. So i scooped some up and decided to do some studies on them. Here's my first one which is just water-colour straight onto paper, I want to loosen up my painting so no pencil sketch first (eek!)

When Birdie has been grooming again I'll collect some more I think...

'Twirl' - Illustration Friday

A really really quick pen and pencil sketch for this weeks word 'twirl', as oh boy it's been one of those weeks!

We have a miniature toy poodle called Saffy who, when excited or pleased to see someone, twirls round and round and round and round, sometimes on her hind legs! Which inspired me to draw a circus dog, as I sometimes think our poodle belongs in the circus - she's a very little but very cute performer!

Re-working some work!

Looking at my blog stats (which always gets me very excited and happy!) I noticed one of my most popular posts was for an Illustration Friday contest 'artificial'. I did the clockwork heart for it, and thought the other day it would be fun to do more of them based on other organs. So here is the lungs pumping away creating puffs of lovely breath! I kept to the same style and colours, and may try and do the stomach next :)

'Prepare' - Illustration Friday

The Ant and the Grasshopper

In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"

"I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same."

"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew:

It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.