The Tale of an Encouraging Toucan...

Want to encourage yourself
(or someone else) with this toucan?
Tap or click here...

Hello there

And as ever, I hope you're well and flourishing in these crazy times.

Here, I had so many " Spring wildflower" intentions for you. And this post is the tale of how they got overtaken, by a toucan.

He (and he is a he, because, as I found out, they seem to have have brighter beaks and feet than the females), came flapping into my mind, full of life and joy, about a week ago.

Apart from checking online how many toes toucans have, and their beak size relative to their bodies (answer: huge) this image is pretty much that which I "saw" in my mind's eye from that first evening...Which definitely doesn't always happen. :-).


At first...

At first, I thought this was an entirely private thing, great for sending a boost to a friend. then, as this bird absolutely wouldn't leave my mind, on he went onto some products to inspire and cheer.

Here he is on a fridge magnet...

Being great on a greeting card...

And absolutely rocking it
on a tote bag...

But when he still wouldn't leave my thoughts, I modified this image, and a new toucan pattern was born. So if you're up for happy toucans on, for example, a mug, or cushion/throw pillow, here they are.

Happy toucans on multiple mugs...

And yes, this is how much a toucan throw-pillow

or cushion can brighten up a space...

So...

So, adorable cute and joyous though he undoubtedly is, this is one toucan that clearly wants to multiply, and bring as much joy to people as he can. If he floats your boat, please make him happy too, and grab some toucan joy here.

Finally...

As you can imagine, the "problem" of having an unexpectedly happy toucan is an absolutely excellent one to have. But if you're craving considerably smaller birdy/ easter type designs, if you tap or click here, you should find a selection of all my previous offerings on that theme.

I'm not sure whether they'll be a post next week-it's more likely to be the week after.

(Update on April 9th: Yes, the next post will be on or around April 16th. But if you need even more toucan joy until then, this toucan has joined friends and made his way onto fabric...

Happy Toucan Fabric,
available on Spoonflower.Com

But in any event, and whether or whatever you're celebrating or not at the moment, I wish you lots of joy (whether toucan-related or not) and send you huge love and thanks for being here.

More soon.

P.S To get details of new posts by email, please join the newsletter here. Many thanks.

And a PPS update on June 4th 2026. You just can't keep a happy toucan down, can you? Here he is on a new encouragement card at Zazzle...

Toucan Encouragement Card: You Too Can Do This Card
by BoundingSquirrel

___________________________

A Happy Beach Hut Design...

Hello there, and hope you've been having a good week.

Whether or not you're actually beside the seaside as you're reading this, today's post is all about these pretty summer beach huts, and the lovely things that are now carrying this design.

The inspiration for this design was actually British seaside beach huts. But am sure the beach vibe can travel just as far as it needs to and to beaches and lakeshores everywhere.

It turns out that although I came up with idea as a set of three downloadable craft sheets...

The design (and the pattern that came from it) loves to be on lots of fun beachy items too...

Whether you want to use it at the beach, on a tote or drawstring bag, or blanket...

Beach-Hut Patterned Tote Bag

Beach Hut Patterned Drawstring Bag

Happy Beach Hut Throw Blanket

Or just put a bit of beachy vibe into your life every day, whether in a really watery way (like this shower curtain)...

Happy Beach Hut Shower Curtain

Or a completely different one... This look suits everything it seems, from a desk mat to a mug...

Happy Beach Huts Desk Mat

Happy Beach Huts Mug

Whatever your preference, thanks for reading down this far, and may some seaside happiness be with you, one way or another.

More soon.

___________________________

Like this post? Tap or click here to subscribe to BoundingSquirrel

New Artwork: It's OK to be Happy, People Need Joy

Hello. 

If you're in a space to be thinking about joy today, I have something for you.

(To share this image, retaining the watermark, the link is here)

This was a piece of digi-art journaling (hand-lettering and painting, but in a digital art program...Krita, in this case) I got up to this week. 

If you've read these posts for a while, you'll know that this isn't the first discussion of "can art/happiness be justified when X is happening,". But this just wanted to come out, as a full technicolour reminder that joy helps the world rather than hindering it.

And yes, it's a little brighter and bolder than I might have necessarily done things for a good while. Some of the credit for that must go to the workshop I'm on this week. Am purely a participant, not an affiliate or anything, But if you've been having any kind of creative block, stuckness or general "loss of colour," in your life or work recently, it may speak to you too, and you'll find all the details at:

https://radiantearthstudios.com/unlock-your-artist-challenge

And finally

And finally, pretty much for fun, I did put this image onto Redbubble as well, and am enjoying the look of it on magnets, mugs, and the like, here.

So I'll leave you with some more visual goodies (clicking on the pictures should click you straight through if you're interested.

It's OK to be Happy People Need Joy Magnet

It's OK to be Happy, People Need Joy Mug

It's OK to be Happy People Need Joy Cushion/Throw Pillow

And more than anything, I wish you a happy and joyful weekend.

World Watercolor Month: "Home" Prompt Snail (Becomes an Animated Gif Ecard)

It's been a hot week here. But a hot week in #WorldWaterColourMonth simply means that the paints dried ultra fast.

Snail for WWM prompt Day 23: "Home"

It was one of the first times out for me with the Derwent Inktense travel set of watercolour inks. (Soo many thanks for a great birthday gift!).

And, whilst there's a long way to go, this snail made me smile, so thought I would post him (or her).

Then I remembered that I needed to wish a friend luck with their move, so realised that an animated gif was on the cards (which you can also download and use if you'd like). So...Ta-dah...

Click, tap or right-click here to download this Rainbow Snail Good Luck Wth Your Move Animated Gif

And with that, I'll leave you to what I hope is a happy and lovely weekend for you. 

Take care, and more soon.

Follow

New Digital Painting: Summer Garden With Cat

Take a few moments just to set aside the stresses of the day, and simply lose yourself in a beautiful summer garden, complete with sleepy tabby cat.

This peaceful scene just popped into my head (starting with the boots, actually). And it wouldn't leave until it got painted out in full. (This is a digital watercolour in Krita-all 23 layers of it :-).

Feeling happier is the main thing here...

But of course, as ever, if you'd like to keep a more physical slice of the happy vibe, it will still be here.

As you might expect, this particular design shines as an art print...

Buy "Summer Garden With Cat" as an art print

But you might also love it on a tote bag, clock  or on other beautiful products and prints, here.

 

In the meantime, am wishing you all the peace and joy of a warm afternoon among the flowers.

More soon.

New: Illustrated Byron Quote

Apologies. Thought I'd already posted the illustrated version of an inspiring Byron quote.

Turns out that I'd forgotten to do so... (though it is already in the shop).

It's also one of my answers to the "Rainbow" prompt for "Creative Every Day 2016".

Anyway, apologies again and enjoy. 

New: Cute Whimsical Snails & Mushrooms Design

Nearly all the feedback I've had suggest that whimsical designs are where it's at for BoundingSquirrel.

So when we had nine snails (yup, nine...I watched them for far longer than a grown adult probably should...:-) in or on our window box yesterday, this seemed like the obvious next design.

If you'd like to make things with this design, please favourite it at Spoonflower, and I'll add it to the designs for sale.

If you'd like to buy it (or just see something cute) it's on a huge range of items here.
More soon!

Honeysuckle (New Digital Illustration)

This honeysuckle sketch is quicker than I would have liked. Am working on something new that will be able to tell you about in a few weeks when it all comes together.

For now, just took a break from planning to relax with this.

And by the way, if you're in the US, do you call this a "woodbine" or still honeysuckle? Please do leave a comment if you know!

New Digital Watercolour: Whimsical Pink Clematis

This is a new digital watercolour painting of a clematis flower. I actually took one of the reference photos for it nearly five years ago...and can only now even begin to feel I'm doing it justice.

Back then, the best I could do was some arty processing of the photo.

These days, this is a proper stroke-by-stroke digital watercolour (with the graphics pen and ArtRage 4, as you might guess.)

And if you weren't expecting a post after the end of the challenge on Friday...well...I *did* take a couple of days off. And I still won't necessarily post every day. But I missed this so much, just had to get back to it.

Enjoy!

Daily Illustration #100: Tortoise & Hare (Digital Painting & Final Day of the Daily Illustration Challenge)

It's here. Daily illustration 100. Thought the "tortoise and the hare" was appropriate. not just because it's the end of the challenge, but also because it's been interesting to cultivate patient and slower "tortoise"-like ways and let my "inner, impatient hare" take a back seat.  Plus it's helped me to  cement and build up work in my new style, that now feels like second nature.

Would I do it again? In a heart beat. Would I recommend or help you to do it? You bet! (please let me know in the comments if you would or wouldn't do a 100 day project like this yourself).

And, will I keep drawing? Absolutely.

In fact, as the phrase goes, it feels like I'm, "missing it already".

I'll also still be posting new illustrations and digital paintings regularly, and creating something every day. The only change is that I won't necessarily be posting an illustration onto the blog every day. Which means more time for learning, for developing my own courses and projects for which people have asked or suggested, and for linking and interacting with more people, places and websites than I've had chance to recently.

So this isn't the end. If anything, it's simply the "end of the beginning" of something so joyful (and now so well ingrained) that there will be more.

But right now, it's time to celebrate. And whilst the tortoise in that picture may be delighted with lettuce, it's time to celebrate these hundred days with something a little stronger tonight...

Daily Illustration #99: Forget-Me-Nots (New Digital Painting)

Today's illustration is a new digital watercolour painting of Forget-me-nots in ArtRage 4.

By the wonders of digital art, it comes in two flavours, with and without a background.

Please do let me know in the comments if you have a preference between the two.

Either way-enjoy!

Update on June 5th 2022: There is now a new set of forget-me-not designs and info about them here.

Daily Illustration #96: Zebra

Wanted to draw a zebra weeks ago, but am glad I left it this long, as he was surprisingly tricky. Just like dogs are defined by their fur, this guy is pretty much completely defined by his stripes. (It turns out that even zebra manes and tails are stripey, which I'd never noticed before).

Anyway, this was daily illustration 96. Just four more days to go until the end of this challenge.

(In answer to a query about this, after the 100 days, I'll still be drawing on most days, and posting often. It'll just give me more time for eg, paintings that take longer than a day to complete, and learning new techniques).

More tomorrow.

PS.(April 7th) In relation to the Creative Everyday "Rainbow" theme for April 2016, someone asked about adding a rainbow. This was the thought I had. Didn't like it at first, but it's growiug on me...

What do you think? Do you prefer this zebra plain or "rainbowed."? Please do comment and let me know what you think.

Daily Illustration #93: Rose Floral Chintz Pattern

Can't get over how different this floral pattern is from the original Day 91 picture I reassembled into pattern motifs, as discussed here.

It took so long, and having added in extra bits, it might actually have been quicker to re-draw just the motifs from scratch. But that's another story.

I'm loving how this pattern turned out, especially on laptop skins and many other things available here.

Daily Illustration #90: Berry & Leaf Pattern

This started as an experiment in simpler and less focal pattern-making. (Sometimes I still need to learn that it's OK to whisper, sometimes ;-).

But once the leaf motifs started forming ogee-ish shapes, it morphed into an experiment in making a (geometic-ish) design with organic motifs.

Add in the red and the green, and suddenly, I'm up to my old tricks (ie making a seasonal design (in this case, something quite Christmassy, like napkins do you think?) at an entirely inapporopriate time of year.

But in any event, think I'll keep the pattern. What sort of items do you reckon it would suit? Please leave a comment and tell me. 

Daily Illustration #89: Tabby Kitten Sketch (& New Digital Painting)

Seem to have gone through a range of animals to draw in this project-and forgotten the animal rulers of the internet: cats! So thought would rectify that with this tabby kitten today (still in ArtRage 4).

Daily Illustration #88: Happy Easter Rabbit Digital Watercolour

Happy Easter from a digital watercolour Easter rabbit in ArtRage4...

Daily Illustration #87: A Cheerful Ditsy Tulip Pattern

Just a simple little tulip pattern today, to cheer things up with a blast of spring.

Daily Illustration #85: Quick Sketch of Our Scabious Flowers

So we've just got some scabious (or "pincushion") flowers for the second year in a row-mostly because they are utterly "bee-friendly" and fit neatly into the window-boxes.

What I'd forgotten is how strange they look at the beginning. The weird "saucer" shape has such a straight bottom and a virtual right angle to such a thin stem.

Will probably draw them again later in the year, just to show you how they've changed.

But now all we need is some sun and warmth to keep them growing, and get those bees interested.

Daily Illustration #82: Purple Pansy (New Digital Painting)

OK, so this took *much* longer than  I thought it would. But today's illustration/digital watercolour painting/sketch of a purple pansy turned out OK in the end, and is (sort of) a good sibling for yesterday's iris. Enjoy!

Daily Illustration #77: Cherries (New Digital Watercolour)

Just a digital watercolour sketch of cherries today (in ArtRage4 again).