December 2019 - Luing Sunset Paintings

At the end of December, I did two small paintings of sunsets on the Isle of Luing, as possible Birthday presents.

For both of these, I used 13x18cm (5x7") canvas boards, Inktense pencils, water-brushes and fine-liner pens.

The first painting I did is of Blackmill Bay. I tried to get the reflections/light trail to look as natural as possible but I don't think I've quite mastered that yet - but hey, all life is a lesson, right?! I was quite happy with the effects I managed to get on the almost silhouetted land and I really like the posts too.

In the end, this was the one we gave as the present so we got a frame for it and I think it adds something to the overall effect.

I also did a painting of Cullipool, which included a boat. I think, between the two, this might be the more striking image due to the range of colours - from a pale yellow to a vibrant purple. I think the water effects may also have worked better in this painting. Overall, I'm quite proud of this one.

  

I think these both turned out very well and both have aspects that I (personally) prefer. I actually enjoyed doing these little paintings and can't wait to see what the next one will be.

If you have any feedback, questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below...

December 2019 - Nativity Background

Back in December I was volunteered to make the background for CY (Sunday School) Nativity service.

I started with two large pieces of double thickness cardboard and joined them together using gummed paper to create a sort of "book". I also use the gummed paper to seal the edges and make sure they were smooth.

I then drew and painted the scene.

The idea was to have the figures (and the Star) detachable so that the kids could build up the scene as the story progressed, and so it could be used again for future nativities if required. I used self-adhesive velcro dots to attach the laminated figures/Star. I then used a gold sharpie to suggest the other stars (using slightly bigger dots for where the kids would put the star stickers).

Once I had finished painting the inside, I used brown acrylic to cover the outside. It was quite hard trying to get the paint to evenly cover the "book" but it ended up looking a little like worn/distressed leather so it turned out for the best. I also used metallic gold paint to add the writing/details to the cover.

I'm pleased with the way this turned out and might try this idea for some other projects (on a smaller scale!) in the future.

As always, if you have any feedback, questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below...

December 2019 - DIY Christmas Tree Ornaments

In early December, I made some upcycled ornaments for our Christmas tree using corks and cardboard (with a bit of paint to decorate them).

This year we decided our theme for our tree would be "Fairytales/stories" and still feeling inspired by the Toadstool doors in my "Pumpkin" Calendar, I decided to paint some corks to look like little toadstools. I then used 4mm-eye 10mm screws (eye screws? - screws with a loop instead of a flat end) to attach a string so that we could hang them on the tree.

I also decided to make a small Gingerbread house ornament (out of cardboard) for each member of  my family, using the "Advent Calendar 2017" doors as a starting point. To make these even more special, I realised I could leave the door piece unglued which would mean the gingerbread-houses could be used as small giftboxes.

I measured and cut all the pieces I would need and then assembled them with my glue gun. I then used acrylic paint and sharpies to decorate them.

My younger sister asked to have a fireplace in hers so...
(Click on the photos to enlarge)

I thought these turned out really well and decided to make a set for my friend's family too. I found out each of their favourite sweeties and tried to incorporate them into the design so that they could tell whose was whose. With a little more experience, I also wanted to try putting a wreath on some of the doors as another festive detail.

I'm really happy with all of these ornaments and hope to use them again for years to come. As always, if you have any questions, suggestions or feedback, please leave a comment below...

November 2019

I did a few little projects in November, including an elephant drawing (for a birthday card for one of my sister's friends), flower arranging for a Sunday service(first time I'd done that), and new butterfly earrings in preparation for the Caddonfoot Coffee & Crafts morning where I had a stall.

I decided to do a pen line drawing and then use water to spread the ink a little to create a greyscale image which I think is quite effective.

I was also asked to arrange the flowers for one of the Sunday services. It was the first time I had done flowers for a service on my own. I'm about to do my first of three consecutive Sundays arranging the flowers (the second of which is Mother's Day so no pressure(!) - right?!). Anyway these are the arrangements I did in November:

November is also when the "Caddonfoot Coffee & Crafts" morning is held in the Volunteer Hall in Galashiels. Once again, I had a stall there and I wanted to try a new jewellery design which I used butterfly buttons, fine chain and small semi-precious stones/glass crystals to make dangly earrings.

While it was a pretty busy month - arranging flowers, drawing elephants and preparing for the stall - I'm pleased with how it all turned out and I'm looking forward to doing similar projects in the future.

Please leave a comment below if you have any suggestions for posts or projects you'd like to see...

October 2019 - Pumpkin Carving

This year the pumpkin we bought had a mark on it that I thought looked like a dragon's eye so I thought I would try doing Dragon (from Shrek) but the size/position which I had done the template didn't really fit on the pumpkin we had.

So I thought for a while about other dragons I could use and eventually decided to use Sapphira (from Eragon). However, I couldn't find an image of Sapphira in the position I would need to match up with the "eye" already on the pumpkin. So… I free-handed it! This was kind of terrifying but quite a good challenge too. And if that wasn't challenge enough, I also decided to make the design go all the way round the pumpkin!

Without further ado, this was our 2019 pumpkin...

I think this turned out quite well, considering that I didn't use a proper template.

Please leave a comment below if you have any suggestion for future pumpkins or if you'd like to share what you did for your pumpkin...

"Pumpkin" Calendar 2018/19

October 2018:

The idea for this was to make an "Advent calendar" but for October, leading up to Halloween.

Just as for the Advent Calendar 2017 that I made, I found a folder type piece of cardboard to use as the cover and then worked out the measurements I would need for the "grid" sections and all of the doors. After cutting all the pieces I would need, I put together the grids and covered them in gold spray-paint.

I had been trying to think of designs for the cover and thought it would be quite cool to use (sparkley) orange self-adhesive PVC film for the main colour and then attach black shapes to make it look like a carved pumpkin/jack-o-lantern. However, after searching various craft shops/departments, I couldn't find it anywhere - and so the project got put on hold...

September/October 2019:

Enough is enough! Think of something else to do for the cover!

While I was trying to work out what to do for the cover, I decided to get on with the grid part of the calendar which involved finding relevant activities and jokes, making a background, and painting all of the doors. In the end, I did an autumnal woodland "illustration" for the background and then painted toadstools (Fly Agaric) on each of the doors.

I also managed to find 31 activities and jokes that I felt were suitable/entertaining. I then used my glue gun to attach the backgrounds to the grids and the jokes to the back of the doors. I chose which activities I wanted to do on each day and placed them accordingly.

Back to the cover...

Well - since it's not just for Halloween, maybe something more generally autumnal, like falling leaves. I could use red and yellow tissue paper (layered to make orange) and aged music paper, in the shape of leaves, sort of collaged to cover the cardboard? Then I could use clear PVC film to protect it? Let's try it!

Looks OK, I guess... didn't really turn out the way I'd hoped... and layering the tissue paper didn't really work either... anyway... time to attach the grids... *applies hot glue*… closes the assembled "pumpkin" calendar … *popping sound*… and the grids are too thick for the cover so it just popped off! I'll need to find a deeper folder to use as the cover and start over with decorating it!!! 

*Finds an appropriate sized cardboard folder* How about just using the music paper leaves, aged in coffee, surrounding an autumnal illustration??? I really like this idea... Let's go for it!!!

For the cover illustrations, I did another woodland scene this time looking at a toadstool at the base of a tree. I did the back view of this scene for the back cover.

I used a variety of leaf shapes to make this even more interesting. Once they had been glued in place around the illustrations on the cover (and had dried), I used a 0.8mm fine-liner pen to go around the edge of each leaf to make them stand out more from each other.

Well, my hands stink of coffee but I love how this turned out!! 

When I was happy with the look of the cover, I used self-adhesive clear PVC film to help protect it, and pushed "paper-fasteners" through the cardboard so that I could add a tie (like for the 2017 Advent Calendar). I then used my glue gun to attach the grids to the cover.

I plaited three strands of thin ribbon and then wrapped it around the paper fasteners to keep the calendar closed.

I really love how this turned out and now can't wait for autumn to come around again! I'm also thinking of doing Spring/Easter and Summer themed calendars.

Please leave a comment below if you have any questions about the "Pumpkin" Calendar; if you would be interested in seeing the Spring/Summer Calendars or if you have suggestions for other posts you would be interested in...

September 2019 - Pitlochry Painting

The main project I did in September was a painting of a family cottage near Pitlochry.

(Ok, so with a little artistic licence, I used the weather/colours from the first pic but the composition etc from the second pic... I also turned the house in the background into a tree...)

I planned to do this on a canvas board but unfortunately I got the angles/perspective wrong so I started again on high quality watercolour paper. The painting itself was about A3 in size.

Anyone who knows me knows I struggle to accurately draw buildings - so this project was definitely a challenge! Since I was working from a photo, I decided to use a projector to help me to accurately transfer the image onto the paper.

After the sketch stage, I slowly and carefully added colour to each section making sure each one was completely dry before moving on to the next one to prevent the colours bleeding. I started on the sky and gradually worked my way down the painting.

  

Before moving on to the next section, I added some more detail to the roof and chimneys. I then did the brickwork, sun-lounge, porch and some of the bushes/climbing plants before doing the gravel part of the drive, and the garden.

 

I then moved on to the brick part of the driveway and I did actually take photos as I did it, however the photo after I added the water... was blurred! I think the lens on my phone camera must have been dirty and I didn't think to check the photos or try to find out why it was blurred before moving on.... silly me! Anyway this is the photo before I added the water...

And this is the photo after I had fine-lined everything (except the background trees) and basically finished the painting...

I'm really happy with this painting and I would like to do similar ones of some other family homes but first I need to find reference photos I want to use!

This painting was actually a present so when it was finished, we got a frame for it and I think it really finishes it off nicely. (I apologize for the bad lighting.)

Even though it was a bit of a rough start, I really enjoyed doing this painting. In a way, it was quite nice to look so closely at the details of this cottage, which usually get taken for granted.

As always, any feedback is appreciated so please leave a comment below...