Thursday 31 December 2020

Find Joy: An Elephant Fridge Magnet Painting

 Hello there, and hope you're doing well and thriving despite all. Couldn't post this photo before now as it was a present. But this "watercolour elephant in a fridge magnet," has become, not just what was right to send then, but an idea that keeps floating around for me...

Watercolour fridge magnet in which a happy grey elephant is spouting rainbow dust from its trunk, and the message Find Joy, is hand-lettered i black.
The elephant fridge magnet in question (please excuse my bad photography)



'Cos let's face it, if 2020 has proved anything, it's that deciding to find joy can help to keep us sane, healthy and happy. So that's what am planning to do, whatever happens in 2021. You're welcome to join me in this, if you'd like.

And although am not officially posting as a 100 day challenge anymore, will be posting regularly, because have missed it in the last week. Nothing has, or will disappear (I just need more time at weekends, and for projects that take longer to complete).

So there will be more very soon. And in the meantime, I wish you health, happiness, and all the joy you can find, whether you're reading this at New Year, or any other time.

Friday 25 December 2020

Day 100/100: Thank You (and Thank You Ecard)



Yes, it's Christmas Day. Yes, it's the final day of my "100 day challenge. And yes, I did draw and pre-post this a little ahead of time, so as to be able to enjoy the holiday period too. (Suspect I didn't think it through by making my "100 days" end quite so dramatically on Christmas Day :-)). Be that as it may though, my overwhelming feeling towards this challenge, and you, is gratitude.


Thank you for sticking with me through it. Thank you for your support, and thank you just for being there at the end of this strangest of years.

And just in case, as is likely at this time of year,you're in need of sending some thank too, please feel free to use either the static thank you jpg or the animated gif to do so if you would like.

Thankyou in Hand drawn text, flashing



I'll be taking some time off now, but will see you in the new year. In the meantime, enjoy the holiday period, however and wherever you find yourself this year.

And thank you, again.



 

 

Thursday 24 December 2020

Christmas Snowmen Cartoon (and Day 99/100)

Christmas Snowmen cartoon, in which one snowman is dubious about having been given a fitness watch for Christmas...

Yes, it's Christmas Eve, and yes, am owning up to the fact that, I drew this Christmas-themed cartoon ahead of time. In any event, hope you enjoy it, and your day.

PS. This card is available at CartoonsbyClare at Zazzle, but obviously, you're looking at it for 2021 and beyond by now ;-) .

Wednesday 23 December 2020

Day 98/100: Two Things Today...




Originally, today's post was going to be a video run-through of some of the things that have been visited the most on BoundingSquirrel this year. 

And then I ended up sketching (or attempting to sketch) this variegated holly in watercolour and pen. It turns out that getting the creamy edges to show up really well is quite the challenge, so will give this another go at a later date.

In the meantime,  if you'd rather watch the video instead, you still can. It seems that the most whimsical illustrations came out on top this year.

Click here to watch the video on YouTube...


More tomorrow.



Tuesday 22 December 2020

Day 97: Blue and White Tiles...

 

Day 97/100 and have started to get new ideas for next year. Rather than waiting until then, thought would just make a little start on the project,  which will involve a need for blue and white tile patterns.

So, these were my first attempts...




If it feels like the idea still has legs when things re-start in January, will keep you posted.


In the meantime, there'll be another post tomorrow,

Monday 21 December 2020

Day 96/100: Winter Solstice Illustration or Ecard

Winter solstice illustraiton with the i letters in the word as candles and a sunrise as the o.


 Today's offering is an illustration for the winter solstice (with apologies if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case you may prefer the Summer Solstice illustration here

It combines lettering and illustration in ways that I'd love to explore further next year. In the meantime, happy solstice, and if this resonates with you, feel free to share this version.

 More tomorrow!



Sunday 20 December 2020

Whimsical Rainbow Winter Birds In Birch Trees Pattern (and Day 95/100)

 Following on from yesterday, it turns out that those rainbow birds did have a little more adventure to go, but not in quite the way I had thought.


I didn't add more to the picture, but I did turn it into a pattern. Which ends up looking like this... in my Redbubble shop...


Whimsical rainbow birds on birch trees patterned clock

Whimsical rainbow birds on birch trees patterned comforter

Whimsical rainbow birds on birch trees patterned laptop skin

Whimsical rainbow birds on birch trees patterned throw pillow

And the nifty thing is, they're a lovely way to treat yourself and brighten up the winter, rather than being just for any festive season.


Update 22/12/20: The design is now also available on fabric:

More tomorrow.

Saturday 19 December 2020

Day 94: Whimsical Rainbow Birds and Winter Birches Digital Painting (Work-in-Progress)

Day 94 and these birdies were inspired by my watching a "squirrelly" video on Youtube (oh, I know how to live...oh, yes...;-) . In one "background" shot, there were also snowy Scandinavian birch trees, full of birds. 

The birds in the video were not of course, anything like these colours, being mostly small and brown, bless them. 

But watching that made me think about what it would be like if they *were* rainbow-coloured, (like my robin from Day 85)...

Which was just a hop, skip and a jump (or in this case, flutter) away from adding in rainbow  splats too, and more snow, twigs and trees, And before you know it (really fast, by my standards) this digital painting in Krita was the result.


Am still calling it work-in-progress though. Am leaving it here for now, but suspect there's something more to come here.

More tomorrow.
 

Thursday 17 December 2020

Day 92: Happy New Year Card

 It's been the strangest of years. So it feels a bit odd daring to look ahead even this close to the end of the year. And the humour (humor!) in this New Year Card design is darker than I would normally go. But the extra words are fully changeable and removable, So you can actually make it send any new year message you want, in any year.


Hope you're well, and thriving, not just surviving, in any event. More tomorrow!

Wednesday 16 December 2020

Day 91: Alternative Christmas Colourways

 Hope you're well. If you're reading this in "real time", we've come to the point when Christmas normally takes over and reading blogs isn't uppermost in most people's minds.


So, if you're actually here, thanks so much...

Watercolour drawing of a parcel in pink and gold


And whenever your reading this, this time of year (when it's too late to offer anything for this Christmas, but everything feels soooo Christmassy) gives me a fabulous freedom to experiment. With things that might work for next Christmas. With tutorials I've wanted to try out at other times of year...And with new ideas that might (or might not) take firmer root next year.

Watercolour drawing of bells in pink and gold.


So, in that spirit of exploration, here in this post are three Christmassy drawing in pink and gold watercolour and pen...This is a a colour pairing I love, and would so love to use more at Christmas, but which isn't often seen as "commercial"...

Christmas watercolour bauble drawing in pink and gold

More tomorrow, anyway...


Tuesday 15 December 2020

Free Christmas Wreath Printable (Day 90/100)

 Hello again. Hope you're well and thriving in the very best way possible at this time.

Today, I started playing around with the clipart elements from Day 81, and wanted to demonstrate how versatile they can be. 

They turned into this printable Christmas wreath...



Christmas wreath with hand-drawn fir, hplly and ribbon elements

Which it seems only fair to offer to you as a free printable because a) the elements of it are free and b) It's Christmas (or almost so).

So you're welcome to use it in line with the normal angel policy here. If you'd like to, just right click and save, or click, or tap, depending upon your device.


More tomorrow.

Monday 14 December 2020

Free "Merry Christmas" Web Graphic (and day 89/100)

 

Merry Christmas in snowy hand-drawn letters with a robin

Hello there, and hope all's well with you. Today's offering is this quick little doodle in Krita, born of an experiment with drawing "snowy" letters.

It isn't big enough to look good for printing, but if you want to use it for your website or similar, feel free (click, right-click or tap and save accordingly, depending on your device).

As ever, credit and a link back here is *greatly* appreciated, but never required.


More tomorrow!

Sunday 13 December 2020

Free Email Animated Gifs (and day 88/100)

 In haste, today's offering is more practical than anything (and you're free to save and use either of these images on your own site too.

Over the next few day, one of these two images (or something very like them) will be appearing on BoundingSquirrel.Com, to make it easier to see where you can sign-up for blog updates. In the meantime, these graphics are also available for you if you'd like them






More tomorrow!

Saturday 12 December 2020

The "Winter Festivals" Collection Is *New*...

 Today's offering is my "Winter Festivals Collection"...





( Click here to see the collection on Redbubble .)


This "Winter Festivals" design is  a first for me because it's much more modern in design, and came about in unusual way. In a nutshell: I dreamt about this pattern. True, my recreation of it is not nearly as complicated or ornate as the one in my dream. But the idea of it, being the essence of all winter festivals, has somehow still come through. And gives you the chance to have décor  and gifts that work for a longer and wider winter and festival season than just Christmas.

As ever though this is still part of the "100 day" project...Day 87, to be precise. And there'll be something different  tomorrow.

Friday 11 December 2020

Happy Birthday Animated Gif to Share (Day 86/100)

 For Day 86, there was a birthday I didn't know about. ( You know who you are, and am really sorry, as have loved reconnecting virtually this year...).

Anyway, now that I have this gif, it seems only fair to share it. Sooo, as usual if you right-click, or click or tap and then save, depending on your device, you're welcome to use this, whether you're being organised, or find yourself needing it in a hurry.



Happy weekend also, anyway, and more tomorrow.

Thursday 10 December 2020

A Rainbow Watercolour Robin... (Day 85/100)

 

A rainbow watercolour Christmas robin, in traditional pen and wash.
Oh life is so definitely, as the saying goes, "what happens when you're making other plans..."

Today's was going to be a *massive* post, all about how it's 10 years to the day since I first attempted to draw anything. (With a mouse,  because I didn't have a fancy graphics pen. Feeling like an idiot, and completely mystified about why I was trying this thing I ,"couldn't do". And it really was a "first-time" feeling...Prior to that, I'd decided, pretty firmly, that I "couldn't draw," when I was about three).

So, telling that story in detail was the plan. Then the internet went down. Now, this wasn't as bad as it seems...Am lucky on so many levels to be with The Computer Man.

But  our internet was down for just long enough that all there's time for is.... 1) Huge gratitude to my past self that I took that leap, and to you all for sticking with me...

And 2) sketching this little rainbow Christmas robin, in traditional watercolour and pen, but a "rainbow style, " that's as new to me in that medium as was trying to do art at all, a decade ago.

So I'm looking backwards and forwards today. Which turns out to be the perfect way to celebrate, after all...

More tomorrow.


PS. Have just added this design to my Redbubble shop. Depending on where you live, you may need to act very fast if you want this design to be part of your Christmas this year. (Obviously, this won't apply if you're reading this at a later date...;-)




Wednesday 9 December 2020

Day 84/100: "Potatoes Gone Bad..." Cartoon

 Day 84/100: Hello again. This could quite possibly be my silliest cartoon ever, but thought it may make you smile anyway. More tomorrow.

Cartoon: "Potatoes gone bad..."


Tuesday 8 December 2020

Christmas Card Design For Men, Take Three (and Day 83/100)

 

Christmas card design featuring hanging screwdrivers


It's a bit unfair for me to ask you whether you prefer this take on "male" Christmas card, (and/or, cards for mechanically-orientated women or anyone else who might like it, of course).


After all, these screwdrivers are a more complete design, rather than just the main picture, as was the case with the wrenches and footballs.

But if you do have any thoughts about which you like best, please do share it on the Facebook page.


Many thanks, and more tomorrow.

Monday 7 December 2020

At Last-The Christmas Foliage Pattern (Day 82/100)

 This Christmas "Leaves and Berries" foliage pattern has taken a while, and almost didn't happen, as you've seen. But am now loving the results. It's got the potential to give you Christmassy décor and items that are cute and fun, but still classy and restful enough actually to be part of your home during Christmas.

Take a look at this throw pillow...



Or the design on a shower curtain and bathmat...


Christmas leaves and berries bathmat

Christmas shower curtain







It's lovely as a cute Christmas clock...

Christmas clock





But also cosy on this comforter...

Christmas comforter



And finally, as ever, if you enjoy sewing and would rather make your own creations, it's also available as a fabric on Zazzle...




Thanks for dropping by, and more tomorrow!

Sunday 6 December 2020

Free Christmas Printable/ Clip Art Motifs (Day 81/100)

 Hi all. Following on from yesterday's post, the motifs now have colour. But as am not sure yet (mostly owing to the time of year) whether will use them in a pattern, can be certain, they'll make great Christmas printables/clip art for your projects.




Just right-click, click or tap (depending on your device) and save and you can use them in your projects in all the (many, many) ways set out in my "angel" policy for crafters, small business and personal-educational users.

Have fun with this-more tomorrow.

P.S. Update: for an example of how they can be used (and another free Christmas printable) click here.

Saturday 5 December 2020

Christmas Foliage and Ribbon Motifs (Work-in-Progress and Day 80/100)

 Hello there. Today is a Saturday (when I seem to have less time, bizarrely...) So, anyway, this is stage one of a new pattern, involving Christmas foliage and nature items, and ribbons. Kind of the bits-and-pieces you might be looking at if you were about to assemble a Christmas wreath.




So, as ever, the first stage is drawing motifs in outline (in this case digitally, in Krita.

Hope all is going as well as it can for you. More tomorrow!

Friday 4 December 2020

Friday Funny: "Online Delivery," Cartoon (Day 79/100)

 

Now, let's face it, few of us could have done without the amazing efforts of delivery people during 2020, and huge thanks are due to them.


So, having made clear that I love delivery people, am publishing this because suspect this situation may have happened to more people than just us.


Hope it makes you smile, anyway. Happy weekend!

Thursday 3 December 2020

Day 78/100: A Christmas Cactus Watercolour Sketch

 

So today's offering is just a quick sketch in a corner of my  sketchbook. But it felt *so good* just to do something for the fun of it, which this Christmas cactus bloom absolutely is.

My mum had a Christmas cactus when I was small, and we both loved it for the way it was so defiantly exotic in the midst of winter, daring to be pink and green, when everything else was standard Christmas red-and-green at best.

And I liked it because, as a small child, the blossoms on the end of each stem reminded me of  twirling ballerinas. (Actually, even 40 years later, they still do...)

So that's the story behind this sketch (in ink and watercolours). May well be posting more that's just fun and (hopefully) nice to look at rather than overtly Christmassy, over the next few days.


More tomorrow.

Wednesday 2 December 2020

Day 77/100: A Christmas Design for Boys/Men, Take Two

 I have another (non-displayable-sorry!) project today, so almost no time for the challenge. However, can offer you a second take on yesterday's, "male cards" theme, this time for men or older boys...(And yes, women too, if they, unlike me, know the difference between a spanner and a wrench. These are wrenches, apparently).



Update 11th Dec 2020: This is now available as a customisable Christmas card, though depending on where you live, you may need to act swiftly to get this recipients if you're looking to send it this year.

And if these kind of designs aren't your thing, I hear you. There'll be something different tomorrow :-).

Tuesday 1 December 2020

Day 76/100: A Christmas Design for Boys, Take One

 As someone who doesn't have, and never has been, a boy, I find cards for that group of people particularly tough. Especially as my deep suspicion is that many souls in that group aren't really into card designs anyway, but rather, the monetary or other contents inside ;-)

However, there are still family members who need something to hold their Christmas treats. So, this is my first attempt at same for this Christmas, involving footballs (or soccer balls, if you're reading this in the USA):



More tomorrow.

Monday 30 November 2020

Day 75/100: A Christmas Ecard

 So, yes, I know it's only Nov 30th, but it's been that kind of year where it helps to raise the flagging fun level by calling in Christmas a bit early, I reckon.


Anyway, in this ecard attempt, at least you get to see what became of all those partridges, pears, etc.

  (and as am having some problems getting this to embed, am also including the link to where you can see it on the BoundingSquirrel Facebook Page: https://fb.watch/24W7XDNMPT/

More tomorrow


Sunday 29 November 2020

Day 74/100: Yep, It's a Partridge...

 After yesterday's pear, unsurprisingly, today's drawing is a partridge. Watch out for the next stage of this tomorrow (where, with luck I might even have time to finish this project).

Hope all's well with you...More tomorrow.




Saturday 28 November 2020

Free Pear/Clip Art/Printable...And Part of Something Bigger (*and* day 73/100)

 

This pear is destined to be part of a bigger project (to be completed over the next couple of days). Can you guess what it is?


But for now, if you're looking for a picture of a pear to use as a printable or clip-art, feel free to right-click and save (or click and save, or tap and save) this pear graphic (which is a digital pen and wash drawing, created in Krita

More tomorrow.

Friday 27 November 2020

Friday Funny: "Working From Home" Cartoon (and Day 72/100)

 It's Friday, and so seems like a good day for a cartoon.

This is the "no-specific-name," version of a cartoon card I did for a family member this week. Who, like many this year, has spent a lot more time than usual working from home. Happy weekend, and more tomorrow.

This cartoon shows a man working from home. He's on a laptop, with one beer beside him. The picture below is identical, except it says, relaxing at home, and the picture shows him smiling, and with two beers.



Thursday 26 November 2020

Thank You For Being You Illustration (Day 71/100)


Day 71 is a private thank you to a group of people online, to whom I owe many thanks. (plus a chance to practice my nemesis...hand lettering). I'm not from the US, so am not celebrating, though my good wishes to you if you are.

However the need for gratitude and our ability to express it is universal, so if you're reading this, you're also included. Thanks for being here, and more tomorrow. 





Wednesday 25 November 2020

Day 70/100: Cosy Christmas Cat and Jumper Patterned Fabric & Gift Wrap

 And now the third stage of the process is complete. The cosy cats, Christmas jumpers and other relaxing (or even "hygge"?) motifs have been arranged, given a background...and even popped onto their first products.

So the pattern ended up something like this (though this is not the repeat, and is a lower-res image, obviously...



And has ended up looking rather good on (for starters), Christmas wrapping paper and fabric...






And if sleepy cats and Christmas aren't your thing, never fear. There'll be something different tomorrow...

Tuesday 24 November 2020

Day 69/100: Look What Turned All Christmassy...

 Day 69/100...And in a surprise turn of events, these motifs became Christmassy. (I was expecting an Autumny colour-way to emerge, but these motifs were having none of it).


More tomorrow, when with luck, there may be a finished design.

Monday 23 November 2020

Day 68: "Cosy Cartoon Pattern," Stage One Sketches (Work in Progress)

 Remember a while ago I promised honesty about how long things take? Well, here it is again.

This is just a collection of drawings and sketches  of outline shapes and ideas. They're for a possible pattern featuring cosy motifs, but in a cartoon style. Which is all I can offer up today, as have also got some other projects going on that are still under wraps.


Watch this space. More tomorrow.

Sunday 22 November 2020

Day 67/100: This Really Happened...

 

Hi again. Hope you're thriving, in all the circumstances.

Today's cartoon is based on a conversation I had recently which first led me to question my sanity, and then to want to publish this cartoon in order to defend joy. 

If you're genuinely feeling joy at a given point, please don't do what I did in this situation. Let it shine, because we need it more than ever now, not less.

Enough waffle. More tomorrow