Wednesday 30 September 2020

Day 14: "Flower Garden": A Joyful Whimsical Pattern with a Boho Vibe.

And after a very full day's work, Day 14 shows what became of those black and white floral sketches on Day 8.


This is new, and will bring summer closer to you wherever and whenever you're reading this. It's based on the herbaceous borders in English country gardens. But somehow, a more joyful, hippie and boho vibe just came singing in, with all those pinks, purples and golds.



This is the pattern (which is available on fabric here...

And looks great on *so many* gifts, treats and other scrummy items, like:

"Flower Garden" phone case


"Flower Garden" Notebook

notebooks and more,,,


It's not often a design gets this far in one day, even if it's a long one. But hope it helps you feel happy and have more fun, whatever else. 


More tomorrow.

Tuesday 29 September 2020

Day 13: Yes, It's a Christmas Cartoon...

 With apologies to the many people, who probably feel  that it's too early for a Christmas cartoon, if I don't put this into the system now, it'll (unbelievably, I know) actually be too late for 2020.

Hope it gives you a laugh, anyway.




More tomorrow.

Monday 28 September 2020

Day 12: A Squirrel Sketch

 

Day 12 is just this little squirrel, destined for my "about page. You can see him in action here.


More tomorrow!

Friday 25 September 2020

Why PC Problems Were the Best Thing Ever (and Daily Sketches 9, 10 and 11)

 Phew-today's sketch is finally here. Not because of the sketch itself, but because the PC needed fixing.

(Sidenote if you're new here-I'm lucky enough to be married to a computer man.)

The fixing itself was no problem, because the Computer Man actually had a free morning, and bless him, got to the fixing really quickly.

But the PC's initial refusal to play nicely was the best thing ever...

How can I say that? Surely it's just stressful?

Well, yes. But it also forced me to:

a) Do an entire half-day of purely traditional pen and wash art.


Daily Sketch 9


Like this one, which shows the main ingredients of a cheese and chutney sandwich (which I found myself  yearning for at an inappropriate 11am. As with other food, once I'd drawn it, I stopped craving it. Magic!) But I digress...Also had to...

b) Move rooms whilst the PC was being fixed. (yes, we live in London. So the options for moving around the house are limited. But even a move to the sitting room was a move to different light, with different objects to normal. Like our trusty (if somewhat overgrown) rubber plant...



Daily Sketch, yes am ahead of myself, 10


and 

c) Force myself just to draw, without checking reference images on the PC, (Like these highly whimsical fish). Whose scrummy neon pink colours really haven't scanned in well at all. But who are a homage to my Mum-RIP for more years now than I can believe-whose favourite go-to doodle was anthropomorphic  fish. 

Day 11: Highly anthropomorphic fish


Which led to...


d) The discovery that *sometimes*, doing quicker, smaller art (these are all more like 2 inches or 3 inches squareish in a sketchbook) is so much more fun, more liberating, and "do-able all-round) that that's probably where I'll be heading for some of the days of this challenge.

And speaking of the challenge... I could simply have auto-posted these three images to look like they were spread over three days. In the interests of transparency though (and sanity), as discussed yesterday, I'm "telling it like it is," posting all three, and taking the weekend off.

See you Monday. Have a good one!

Thursday 24 September 2020

Day 8: Work in Progress, and Why I'm Daring to Show How Things Really Are...

 


Today's sketch is just the start of a new pattern: an outline of the kind of floral motifs you might find in an herbaceous border or cottage garden.

Social media is so full of perfection that I hesitated before posting this...It is work in progress, and by definition, absolutely imperfect.

But then I figured, all that perfection does have a tendency to lead all of us to suppose that lovely things can just happen, and take no time at all.


Sometimes, occasionally, this is true, even for me. 

But my truth is that these things take time, and sometimes even need to be left (shock, horror) for a few *days* to be considered, before forward motion takes place. And the process is messy, non-linear, and not necessarily even a day-by-day affair. Some days involve more "everyday life" than others.

So I decided to take the pressure off myself (and maybe you too, if you're reading this) and post what's actually happening each day for the rest of this experiment.

The way forward for now

Yes, I'm sticking to the plan, and will be posting daily updates for the remaining days of the 100 planned.

But not every design-maybe not even most can be finished in a day. And to get them to a standard I'm even vaguely happy with, they most often take at least two days.

So, I intend to post what actually happens at each stage and day instead.

This way, you'll get to see what actually happens, the process, and progress (or lack thereof) as well as finished results. More truth, less perfection...but maybe more fun too?

More tomorrow.

Update from Day 14 of this challenge: Just look what those little floral sketches turned into...

Wednesday 23 September 2020

Free Autumn Wreath Printable (Sketch a Day 7)

 



Yes, I know the Equinox was yesterday. But if this autumn printable floats your boat, you can use it if you right-click and save as, or tap and save it.

As you can probably tell (!) it's been hand-drawn in pen and watercolour/watercolor, and yes, I'd also have liked to spend longer on it. But that's the nature of daily art challenges. So if it's of use to you,  it's a jpg you can use in line with my angel policy.

Have fun and more tomorrow.


Update: September 24th. I have replaced the original printable with a more useful, and better, wordless autumn wreath.

Tuesday 22 September 2020

Sketch a Day 6: Cute Aliens (and the Story Behind Them)


Is there anybody there? 

Well, maybe. Apparently a team of scientists in Cardiff have discovered that a certain gas (I think phosphine, since you ask) has been discovered on Venus. The point apparently is that phosphine is incredibly difficult to produce without something living having been involved at some stage. On Earth, anyway.

Which got me thinking about so-called alien life forms, how we tend to assume that they have to look humanoid. And how very Earth-like, and to be honest, "un-cute" most of the current representations of aliens tend to be.


Which got me thinking again. What if there were life on planets that are gas giants? Would they be gaseous beings too? Or maybe just orbs of light. Or beings that look like plants and function like animals, and function like animals?

So that was where I started with the (work in progress) sketches above. And then quickly discovered that it's a "massive" challenge (for me, anyway) to think of beings outside the framework of our own natural history on Earth.

But it was easy enough to begin to make these beings look cute, at least. So, watch this space for where this goes.

More tomorrow.

Monday 21 September 2020

Cute Scottie Dog Sketch in Krita

 


This cute little Scottish terrier is my Day Five Sketch-A-Day (done stroke by stroke in Krita digital illustration  software). And yes, he will be available on lovely items to buy soon. Happy Monday!

Sunday 20 September 2020

Illustrated Thought/Quote/Idea: Dream a New Dream (Daily Art Number 4)

 


After all that, got asked to keep posting more "dailies" here too... (Day four is on Instagram and Facebook). This isn't so much a sketch as a thought that wouldn't go away until it was illustrated in Krita.

Hope it helps and have a good day!

Friday 18 September 2020

Free Pumpkin Clip Art

 Today's offering is free pumpkin clip art. (Digital clip art in Krita).

Just right-click and save (or tap and save this image). Use it however like as long as you don't sell it or claim copyright. (See my angel policy for details).

And yes, just in case you were wondering, this is also Day Three of my sketch a day challenge.

From now on, only a few of those sketches will be on the main site. But you can follow them all on my 
Instagram account and new-look  BoundingSquirrel Facebook Page.


Happy weekend!


Thursday 17 September 2020

Olive Branch Sketch (Sketch a Day, Day Two)

 

I like to research the plants, animals and parts of nature that I draw. Knowing something about them scientifically and culturally somehow helps the drawing to be find and its way more easily.

So, accordingly, I looked into olives. Did you know there are hundreds of different varieties?  In many shades. Some which never turn black. Some which spend hardly any time green. Who knew? Well, clearly lots of people. But it's been an education. (Pen and Komorebi Watercolours BTW).


More tomorrow.

PS. I will only be posting some of the challenge sketches here. But you can find (and comment) on them all on Instagram, and the new-look BoundingSquirrel Facebook Page.

Wednesday 16 September 2020

Sketch a Day | First Day: Amethysts in Watercolour

 


These watercolour amethysts are likely to be the start of a new sketch-a-day challenge here. Why? Well, imagine the scene this morning...

Bouncy promotional email in inbox: "There's only 100 days til Christmas! :-)"

Me: Whaaaaaat?!**! Surely not! 

Followed, after more expletives, by a total determination to get something better, or at least more meaningful, out of 2020.. Or at least uplifting, anyway. That'll be my hope in sketching every day. Just some uplift-for me, for you, for anyone also who cares to look.

And yes, the sketching will likely to digital sometimes and traditional (like the one above) on others.

That's as far as I've got with this challenge so far. But watch this space for more. 

PS. I will only be posting some of the challenge sketches here. But you can find (and comment) on them all on Instagram, and the new BoundingSquirrel Facebook Page.

Friday 11 September 2020

New Feather Pattern Fabrics

These gentle feather patterns have been in the works for a while. It seems appropriate that they've chosen to be ready, and finally uploaded, on a day and a date when, more than most the rainbow, iridescent hues of angelically-toned feathers seem appropriate.

In the first design, jewel-toned feathers fall gently against a dark background...


And in the second design, one of the motifs from the first design is overlapped many times to get a blue "rainbow feather" pattern effect.


In any event-enjoy your weekend, and more soon.

Thursday 3 September 2020

New Digital Painting: Purple Aster Flowers

 



It's a quick post today. But I hope that my new digital painting of purple aster flowers will bring you calm and cheer. It's the first digital painting have done in a while (in Krita) and it's good to feel a return to something like joy in creativity, too. May you feel that too, if it has been missing for you. (And keep it, if it has not :-) ).

Hope all's well for you, and thanks so much for stopping by.

More soon. (Update: If you like this design, it's now available on gifts and homewares, or as a printable craft sheet).