WHEEL - Illustration Friday

Here's my offering for this weeks Illustration Friday topic WHEEL. I couldn't resist drawing this steampunk style mecdhanical birdie with cogs and WHEELS making him a bit of a bionic bird! Hope you like him!

Have a great week! xx Jen

lino print - fur fin & feather

Having spent an obscene amount of time surfing Pinterest (severe time waster alert!) I have become increasingly enchanted by the wonderful lino prints being produced by some very clever peeps.

Well being unable to resist having a go I purchased some sheets of lino the other day and dug out some old cutting tools that I'd had from college days....  it's funny sometimes I seem to have tools for things I don't even remember doing...... unfortunately this stems from the collector-holic nature of this beast.... I just love tools and gadgets of all kinds. Anyway I digress, I sketched out the design below. I thought it best to start simply and transferred this onto the lino. After much mess and cutting I ended up with the lino cut I've called Fur, Fin & Feather.

 

 I feel quite proud that I took note of all the warnings to cut away from myself and didn't spill a drop of blood once! A miracle! Below is one of the first proofs I pulled from the lino.... as the keen eyed among you might notice the lino cut is different from the print as I've done a bit of tidying up. I'm quite keen to add some background colour to the final prints so I might have a go a making a collograph plate to get some extra texture in there too. 

We shall see! Hopefully if the collograph idea comes together I'll update this with some images of the final prints. If they are nice I might stick them in my Etsy shop!
Ta ta for now. x x Jen

Illustration Friday - Myth

Here's a little sketch I knocked up for this weeks Illustration Friday topic MYTH.Just a couple of characters from Greek Mythology.We have Medusa the snake haired Gorgon, Polyphemus the cyclops, blinded by the hero Odysseus and finally the Minotaur, half man, half bull kept by King Minos of Crete in his Labyrinth once again a hero, Theseus saves the day and kills the Minotaur saving the Princess Ariadne from certain death.
It was quite difficult to make a choice of which characters to draw for this weeks topic. I love mythology and there is soooo much to choose from. I love the Green Man, Herne and Pan and then there's all the lovely mythological animals such as dragons and unicorns, centaurs and griffins. I have touched on many mythological characters before so if you're interested take a look at my Flickr photostream where you can see many of the above.

Have a great week my friends. x x JEN

Ocean - Illustration Friday

Here's a lovely creature whose home is in the Ocean.

Here's my illustration for the Illustration Friday topic this week of OCEAN. This modest mermaid sits on her favourite rock in the middle of a stormy sea. 

Have a great week folks.

Love Jen x x

Illustration Friday - New

Well I'm sure most people are aware that recently we have gone through what the Mayans refer to as the End of Times, meaning that we have reached the end of one of their long count calendars, although not the end of the world as many interpreted it!

 We have also transitioned into a NEW AGE. Moving from the Twin Fishes of the sign of Pisces to the New sign of the Water Bearer, Aquarius.Yes this was what that song was about although they were a tad ahead of the game.

 

Anyway I thought I might use my Horoscope designs for this post and Aquarius in particular to for the Illustration Friday topic of NEW. I think that Aquarius seems quite appropriate at the moment as it hasn't  stopped raining here in the UK for quite some time. I'm thinking I'll have to learn some carpentry skills soon if it doesn't stop as we're going to need an Ark.

Anyway folks enjoy your New Year celebrations and may the energies of the New Age of Aquarius bring about some changes in our lives. May LOVE, JOY, COMPASSION and EMPATHY replace the HATE, GREED, SADNESS and IGNORANCE that has taken hold in so many areas of our world.

Have a peaceful and creative 2013. Love Jen

A couple of Landscapey type things for you!

Well here I am again with some more pics of some of the things I've been painting lately. I've had a go at doing a few landscapes inspired by the local landscape of Devon and Dartmoor. The above is extremely loosely based on a local landmark - Brentor, which is located centrally between Okehampton, Launceston and Tavistock.  It's a beautiful and rugged place, riddled with my and legend. (apologies for the photo - trying to get the colour right is a nightmare!)

The three landscapes below are all from my imagination but pulled together from so many of the lovely patchwork landscapes we have here in Devon.

All of the above have now been listed in my Etsy shop - As the Crow Flies Are -, as well as a few of my more crafty creations. I've also added a new post to my other blog Craft Fetish, so if you have the time and the inclination, feel free to take a look!

Anyway with all this activity I need to have a cup of tea so I'm off to make a brew.

Have fun! Jen

I'm Back.... Yes Really!

Hi Peeps! Wow it's been a couple of lifetimes since I last blogged.....So much stuff has come and gone and is still here.... good and bad but it's time to jump back in the blogging saddle and get some artwork out there in the blog-a-sphere! So here's ARTicle number one for 2012. Yep! It's one of my favourite architypal  characters ... the green man.... painted in acrylics on canvas....ah so mysterious and wild..... you've got to love him!

I got the inspiration to paint the acrylic version of the green man after painting this watercolour of him. I really like the intensity of the eyes in the watercolour version. I guess they've both got their good points. I've put the acrylic painting up for sale in MY NEW ETSY shop...plug plug and I will hopefully be able to get some prints sorted out for these and other paintings some time in the not too distant future.

Anyway I don't want to run out of steam on my first outing so I will bid you adieu! and hopefully I'll be back again within a few days. P.S. I'm also going to be resurrecting my Craft Fetish blog as there are a few crafty bits and bobs in the offing!

Have fun peeps and see you soon! Jen

Haunt - Illustration Friday

Here's a little Spooky number for this week's Illustration Friday topic HAUNT. Again it's one of my older digital works but I couldn't resist it as this little dark angel is more than a little creepy don't you think! Sorry about the lack of posts of late folks but hopefully will be up and about in blogland a little more now!

Here's another quick sketch for the spooky theme. I imagine we can all remember watching a horror film and being too scared to look behind the chair in case the bogeyman was there!



Here's wishing you a spooky weekend...... in a nice way of course
Have fun! Jen

One Lovely Blog Award!

What can I say. I was reading my comments and saw that Jessie had nominated me for One Lovely Blog Award!.....Me!....... to say that I was a little gobsmacked is an understatement. I mean there are so many lovely... beautiful.... charming blogs out there in blogland and she chose to nominate little old me! So thanks to Jessie who would be one of the blogs I would have on my list but I don't think it works like that!

So here's my list of 15 of my favouritest bloggies that I wish to nominate for a One Lovely Blog Award (Go check them out.... go on fill yer boots.... you know you want to!) Isn't this is such a lovely way to introduce people to great blogs!

Moonlight and Hares

A faerietale of Inspiration

Joojoo

Leen Christens

Love Stitching Red

Fairysteps

Notes from the Fae Side

Karen Krings

Kel Murphy

Chase the Crayon

Eugenia Nobati

Elvie Studio

Lillalotta

Decor8

Julie Fletcher

Acrobat - Illustration Friday

Here's an older illustration that I just couldn't resist posting for this week's Illustration Friday topic, ACROBAT. Tatjana twirls and spins on the high wire in her death defying acrobatic act for Zippo's Circus! Click here to see my original pencil drawing!

Sorry she's not new but I've been rather busy making some 3-D bits and bobs in polymer clay. I'll post some piccies when they are ready!

Anyway everyone have an amazing and totally creative week!

Bye for now Jen.

Proverb - Illustration Friday

Hello all! Well here's my offering for this week's Illustration Friday topic, PROVERB.

I have to say this was a cracker...... so many ideas..... unfortunately too little time to really explore this at the moment but it has given me food for thought for possible future illo's!

As you can see I've gone for the proverb ' Birds of a feather flock together'..... a bit like us creative types who flock around the Illustration Friday website!! All birds of a creative feather!

Anyway must dash..... have a great week!

Byeeee! Jen

Dessert - Illustration Friday

Here's my offering for this week's Illustration Friday topic, Dessert.......(what a yummy topic!)
Like my bunny, one of my favourite desserts is carrot cake....... look's like there may be a bit of a scuffle as to which one of us is going to get the first slice!
Hope you have a fantastic week and remember..... don't eat tooooo many desserts!
Bye for now Jen!

IMMOVABLE- Illustration Friday

Here's my offering for this week's Illustration Friday topic, Immovable. God this was a toughie! Having researched the word the reality is that nothing is actually immovable..... so I ummed and ahhed and decided on the nearest thing I could think of........ Yep your friendly neighbourhood Nightclub Bouncer! He's pretty immovable unless you are on the list to get in..... if your face doesn't fit... watch out!!! Anyway just a bit of fun! Hope you like it?
Have a great week! Jen

Atmosphere - Illustration Friday

Here's this week's attempt at the Illustration Friday topic which is Atmosphere.
I love thunderstorms myself and have been known to sit out the garden, sniffing the lovely charged air that you get during a storm..... a little nutty perhaps...... but I never said I was a completely sane person..... did I??? Anyway someone else who must love thunderstorms too is little Frank N. Stein. Hope you like him!
Have a Super Dooper week! Jen

Star Gazing - Illustration Friday

Well here's my post for this week's Illustration Friday topic, Star Gazing. Here I thought I'd go for probably three of the best known star gazers......Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar.... otherwise known as The Three Wise Men .....watching the night skies they saw the unusually bright star which led them to make the journey toBethlehem bearing gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.... Hope you like it!
Have a lovely week all! Jen

CAGED - Illustration Friday

Here's my offering for this week's Illustration Friday topic, CAGED. Not your immediate idea or concept of the word caged, but having looked up various dictionary definitions the one that appealed most to me was; Caged - anything that confines or imprisons.

To this mermaid the sea is her home but also her prisoner, she is unable to visit the land of the men that she spies from the briney foam or her solitary rock. It makes her sad as she yearns to see where the sailors call home. Well that's my idea anyway!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Bysie bye! Jen

Mousey Mousey!

Here are a couple of little mousey watercolours I played with the other day! They didn't turn out too bad considering I hardly touch my watercolours! In fact I might entertain the idea of doing a few more!

The trouble with me is that I enjoy exploring different mediums. (Oh to have a distinctive style of my very own........maybe one day..sniff!)

Anyway hope you like them..... maybe I should vow to do my next few Illustration Friday posts in watercolour!

Cheerio! Jen

Double - Illustration Friday

Well here's my little sketch for this week's Illustration Friday topic, DOUBLE. Maybe a little tenuous but I've gone for the possibility of a DOUBLE date! The two doggies could be about to fall in love? ....maybe!
I seem to be favouring pencil work at the moment but that's not a bad thing!
I've had a bad tummy the last few days so I'm hoping that's going to improve..... not nice at all...... no!
Have a great week peeps! Jen

The elves and the shoemaker

Here's a little sketch of an elf industriously stitching together a beautiful new shoe. His nimble fingers work quick as a flash to produce the neat little stitches for the shoe. And here are a pair of elfin or fae slippers. Although please don't look too closely at the stitching as my fingers are nowhere near as nimble and neat! Hee Hee.

BREAKFAST - Illustration Friday

Look's like someone can't wait to dig into their breakfast! Just a really quick one for this week's Illustration Friday topic, BREAKFAST. A simple line drawing, imported into Photoshop and coloured/textured. Will hopefully be able to muster something a little more substantial in the next day or two... I'll add it to this post.

Here you go I promised something more substantial...... and here it is........ it's a monster breakfast! Now I always wondered if a Monster Breakfast was for monsters or just as big as a monster?!! Well in this pic I guess it's both!! Hope you like him?!

Cheerio my dears! Jen