Books or blogs

Day 30 #MarchMeetTheMaker is #books or blogs

Here are some of my favourite books. Danny Gregory's Everyday Matters inspired my drawing a day originally.

Beatrix Potter is a huge inspiration, as is Quentin Blake and I love the drawing style of Ptolemy Dean.

I like blogs too but it's hard to beat curling up with an inspiring book.

In Action

Day 29 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is in action
Voila!

Organised

Day 28 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is organised

Inspired by @janeheinrichs I made my own diary/ planner this year from the loveliest Rhodia notebook.

At the back I've done a month to view and each week has the dates on the left and a to do page on the right. Each month also has a few pages for extra lists and ideas.

The pages are super silky and were lovely for the dip pen pen to glide over

Routine

Day 27 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is Routine

Everyday is a little but different in terms of routine. It varies with the day of the week and time of the year.

My day 16 picture of my cup of tea would have been more suitable to use today really as I love a cup of tea first thing. Sometimes I start drawing with that first cup of tea, or soon after and then realise a couple of hours have past. At that point I'm so hungry that I go in search of food. This is exactly what happened on Thursday this week. I had a Marmalade on toast break and made a coffee and then I carried on. 

The most consistent part is that I love to get out for a walk- to stretch my legs and have a some fresh air, usually in the afternoon. I don't feel good if I'm inside all day.

(this could have been a colour and texture pic too with my springtime coloured nails!) 

Colour and Texture

Day 26 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is colour and texture...

Recent pictures have shown lots of my work and the colours used. The texture mainly comes from the paper and so is very subtle.

So today is a photo, not of my work but the inspiration.

While thinking about this yesterday and tree gazing (as I do) I was struck by the colour and texture found on the same larch twig. The old and the new, side by side.

I have a twig in a jar of water awaiting drawing...

Packaging

Day 25 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is packaging.

I've been using cardboard to prevent bending (safety ruler and stanley knife from art college leaping back into use after years of dormancy!), then making an envelope (scissors and tape) around this and then employing the dip pen for a spot of hand lettering for the address...

Milestone

Day 24 | MarchMeetTheMaker is Milestone

I wasn't sure what to put for today as it's still so early, but I think it might be my first commission as Alice Draws The Line. 

This is something I'm currently working on and triggered the spring modern botanical illustration studies I've been doing. I know most have appeared on here already but here's a short flick through the sketchbook to show them together.

Playlist

Day 23 | of #MarchMeetTheMaker is #Playlist

This is a mixture of a tiny bit of my Spotify playlist, the 6 music morning schedule and my 'favourites' from the iPlayer radio app.

My favourite radio shows to listen to as I draw are hands down Jo Whiley (Mon-Thurs evenings 8-10pm Radio 2...regularly giving a shout out to the evening makers... including me recently!) and I love Dermot O'Leary on Saturday from 3-6pm on Radio 2. I often catch up on both these shows while working if I've missed them.

Desert Island Discs I love ... I am always trying to work out what my discs would be. I love hearing about people's lives and the story behind each piece of music.

And the Archers, well, I may have started listening to that too...

Best Seller

Day 22 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is #Bestseller

 

Having not planned ahead well enough I actually featured my all time best seller as Day 17- my Twist and Sprout Christmas Card.

 

So that I don't put the same pic up again today I've chosen this week's best seller for which is this collection of 3 handdrawn cards. Bunting and hand lettering both done with my trusty dip pen.

 

These can be personalised with the addition of a name, can be all of the same design or the selection shown. Additional option of these being small or larger cards.

More details in the shop!

 

 

Work Clothes

Day 21 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is Work Clothes

 

Really I can draw wearing anything.

 

However if I'm doing any printing or anything particularly messy (-am hoping to get my oils out again sometime soonish) then I'm likely to look like this.

 

My sewing machine and I created this apron -that used to be a pair of jeans until they got a hole. It's perfect for the job and has pleasing ink all over the skirt (much better than on my clothes!). 

 

Sketchbook

Day 20 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is #Sketchbook (See also Day 5- my 'can't live without'!).

 

I do a drawing a day ...everyday. Mostly these are directly observed.

 

Here are some of the archives. As today is also the first day of spring I've opened a couple of books to pages featuring daffodils or sheep / lambs.

 

Drawing everyday means I am 'Sketching The Seasons', something I plan to focus even more heavily on in the future. These are in effect diaries- I sketch where I go, or what I see, and always have a sketchbook with me.

 

People seen here are people walking down my road, a band at a bluegrass festival and a quick sketch from Good Life Experience last year. Eagle eyed will also spot the food and drink...

 

This is my comfort zone (rather than technology), moving these to the product and the shop is my next focus.

 

Helper

Day 19 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is #Helper

As it's such early stages for me I don't yet have the need for an official helper.

However many of my friends and family have been helping by providing encouragement in my illustration adventure...

...and patience as I stop to look at yet another tree !

You can see the dip pen in action on the Facebook page ...just click here!

Shelfie

Day 18 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is #shelfie

This is the top of my bookcase that I use as a holding bay for things to draw (pretty much a nature table really) but also as a display space for new ideas/designs. They lurk the where I can see them regularly until I've made up my mind about what to do with them /if I like them /how to tweak them!

Photography

Day 17 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is #photography

My fab friend Louise Mary Designs helped me photograph my first few items in my etsy shop.

Pictures were taken with her lovely camera in her equally lovely studio. Since then however I've been attempting to recreate the feel using my kitchen table and mobile phone camera... got to start somewhere! 

Time to relax

Day 16 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is #TimeToRelax

I find drawing relaxing but this month has had a lot of shots of that so here is something different.

I've started seeing my alarm an hour earlier than I used to. I now wake at 6 and have created a secret early hour that I didn't have before. I make a big cup of tea and enjoy it thinking about the day ahead and what I want to get done. Sometimes I manage drawing then or address an envelope for an order if letter to a friend (gives the ink enough time to dry before I venture out to the post box). This week though I've been mainly sitting on the bed with the curtains open enjoying the fact it's light outside!

Inspiration

Day 15 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is #Inspiration 

There are lots of pictures I could post for this. It was almost this picture of the sycamore I took yesterday...

It could be of artists, friends and family that inspire me. Words and humour are also up there as sources of inspiration.

However I settled on this, a fairly ordinary subject- brambles and their friends on a woodland floor.

The woods, nature and the predictable yet awe inspiring seasonal changes that happen all around us inspire me. I notice something new each year and am regularly fascinated by the often overlooked detail in the 'ordinary' subjects.

Creative Friends

Day 14 |#MarchMeetTheMaker is #CreativeFriends

I love how creativity can be in any medium: 

- Stunning silver (Louise Mary Designs), 

- Linen Loveliness (Wild Flora Clothing),  

- through to Culinary Creatives (...check out this Banoffee Bear Birthday Cake 😋). 

Many friends of mine insist they are not creative. Labelled that way or not, they inspire and motivate me. (These three are just the tip of the iceberg!).

Alice in Action!

Here are links to two short clips of me drawing some Blackthorn this afternoon (both on Instagram)...

Blackthorn Part 1

and...

Blackthorn Part 2 

And this is the end result...

Feedback

Day 13 of #MarchMeetTheMaker is #Feedback

This is my first piece of #Etsy feedback - I was thrilled!

First Ever Sale

Day 12 of #MarchMeetTheMaker is #FirstEverSale

Although not my first sale as Alice Draws The Line, this was the first sale of my work. Sadly I only have a rather grainy image of it - a photo I've taken from a booklet that had a photo of it featured in - so excuse the quality. I drew it as part of my Art A'level but can't quite remember what the brief was. I later had it framed and entered it into an exhibition and sale and it sold - I was thrilled... but do wish I had taken another photo of it before it went.

I remember really enjoying doing the picture, in pen and ink... about 15 years ago. A friend mentioned this picture recently and said it was the style she always associated with me - and one that returned to feature on my 2015 Christmas Cards... Twist and Sprout (see here) and We Three Cones (see here). 

This was called 'Marching Vegetables' - a landscape piece featuring directly observed vegetables, given personalities and limbs. The runner bean was always my favourite - late and having to run to catch up with the procession. I'm quite tempted to revisit this.

I'm working on a bigger piece again at the moment which I'm enjoying. .. more about that soon! 

Post Run

Day 11 #MarchMeetTheMaker is #PostRun 

As regular followers will know, it's very early days for me so I don't have a regular post run yet. 

However, I adore post and posting things to others and always have, which is part of the appeal of designing greetings cards. 

One of my favourite things is addressing envelopes- sadly many can't be photographed as they are private addresses. 

Here however is a card sent to a very lovely fine stationery shop & pen emporium that people can only benefit from knowing the address of! Have a look here... Bartrums Stationery and Fine Pens

Favourite Small Business

Day 10 | #MarchMeetTheMaker is #favouritesmallbusiness 

For me this is Alice Palace . I was sent one of Alice's cards in about 2008 by a friend. Since then I've read the blog, been a customer and enjoyed seeing how the business has grown and developed. 

Before Christmas when I decided to try and take the idea of developing my own illustration into a business I asked Alice Palace if I could come and help in their Christmas rush as work experience. 

Alice and Liz are just as lovely as they appear in the blog and were so welcoming, helpful and encouraging- I had a fab time. They also helped give me the confidence to give Alice Draws The Line a real go. (My visit features on their blog here...)

Do check them out- personalised gifts, greeting cards, illustration, prints, wedding stationery and more! ... Alice Palace Shop!

Here is a perfect example - a bag they made just for me! (it is full of my creative kit!)

Goals

Day 9 of #MarchMeetTheMaker looks at 'Goals'.

I've given myself a year 'to try'... to see if the dream of earning enough through illustration and hand lettering to supplement my part time job can become a reality. Otherwise the reality is finding another part time job...

How and why...

Day 7 of #MarchMeetTheMaker is 'How and Why?' 

I draw because I enjoy it. I also love to draw so that others enjoy it. Usually this is in the form of a birthday card - I like thinking about where it is going and what the receiver might like. I particularly like trying to do something that is particular to them. Sadly it isn't always possible or I don't leave myself enough time to do this. 

This is a recent card for a fabulous five year old who really knows his sea creatures. I had to look up Angler Fish to draw it - this is another element I like - finding out about things through drawing them.

More recently I've been working on a couple of commissions - more about that soon!

Another 'why' is that due to a reduction in hours in my day job I'm now looking at whether my love of drawing can become more than a hobby - there is only one way to find out!

Raw Materials

Day 6 already of #MarchMeetTheMaker and we are looking at Raw Materials.

Here is a picture of the table the other day when I was working on drawing buds. I had been collecting them from different species as I saw them and keeping them in water at home to draw. 

The initial drawings are done straight into the drawing a day book, as a study, drawn in pen and coloured with watercolour. I can then scan them and use them all together is designs using the computer. I'm also working on a couple of bigger pieces and am collecting seasonal studies to work into the final composition of these. 

Can't live without...

Day 5 of #MarchMeetTheMaker...

Can't live without - I think I'd be really lost without my Drawing A Day book now. I first did my Drawing A Day challenge in 2008. I filled two books during that year. I then had a 5 year break and in 2013 I started it again and have continued since. Last year I used 4 books - it was fun to experiment with different size and shape of book every few months. 

I try and take my sketchbook with me when I venture anywhere, with the aim of sketching whenever and wherever. If I don't manage to sketch when I'm out I like to try and collect something from wherever I am to draw with a cup of tea when I return. The challenge of drawing something there and then is one I'm trying to embrace and do more of.

Tools

Day 4 of #MarchMeetTheMaker... today it's tools...

These are my current favourites (although this changes!). I love the colours in this mix. 

A closer look...

1 - 0.38 Pen from Muji (lovely thin, even line)

2 - Water brush - this comes everywhere with me in my pencil case

3 - Paintbrushes, a lovely thin one and a slightly thicker one

4 - Small watercolours - these fit in a handbag easily. I've topped these up with tubes of watercolour. there is a pink where a paintbrush should sit, and black and purple share a square too.

5 - Black India Ink. Waterproof. (Dr Ph. Martin's)

6 - Water pot - this was in a seconds box in a pottery I visited on holiday once. Sadly the label has washed off it and I can't quite remember where I got it. I often take this with me if I'm going away. 

7 - My Grandmother's watercolours. These mainly stay at home, partly because they are quite big, but mainly because they are special to me. I'm not a fan of cleaning this, I like to think there may be a colour that she mixed still on the palette somewhere.

8 - Two dip pens - the wooden one and the green nib holder. 

9 - A mechanical bic pencil - nice and soft to draw with but nice and dark when I want it to be 

Workspace

Day 3 of #MarchMeetTheMaker and the topic today is Workspace.

I have 2 workspaces that I have been using recently... 

          - A little desk in the sitting room. Which is where I'm typing this. It's one I've had since I was small. Just deep enough for the laptop to sit on, and with 4 draws to keep the essentials by my side. The desk is against the wall which gives me a handy place to prop things up and see how they look, or for cards to dry when I'm working on another. I often work here in the evening, under a lovely bright light so I can see what I'm drawing.

          - The coffee table / sofa combo. This is guaranteed to be terrible for my back. But it's often in the sunshine, is mobile - so if I have my huge sketchbook out I can push the table out into the room so the book doesn't lean against anything else. It's a lovely wooden table that's also good for photography. Incidentally it is also in line with the television if I happen to put a well loved film on - usually more to listen to than watch as I'm normally looking at the page. 

However, depending on what I'm doing I could also have everything out on the floor, or on the kitchen table... and I'm really looking forward to it being warm and dry enough to sit out for long enough to draw (a quick sketch is possible at any time of the year!). 

Me!

For Day 2 of #MarchMeetTheMaker the challenge is 'You' (me!)!

I've recently written a bit about me on my 'Joining the Dots' post...

March Meet The Maker

Today I stumbled across a hashtag on Instagram that sounded like it might be just right for me to get involved with. Let me explain - over on her blog, illustrator Joanne Hawker (http://www.joannehawker.co.uk/) decided to create #MarchMeetTheMaker 

She writes; After getting a little frustrated that I couldn't find an Instagram Challenge that I wanted to take part in, I decided to make my own instead! This is how #MarchMeetTheMaker was born. 

This challenge is to help small businesses such as myself to tell the story behind the brand. It also aims to give an insight into the face, process and hard work that goes into creating all of the beautiful products we have to offer.

(see it all here)

So, for the month of March, she has suggested the following:

http://www.joannehawker.co.uk/2016/02/marchmeetthemaker-instagram-challenge.html

Being a brand new small business I thought it might be a really useful exercise for me to participate in. I'm not sure how far I'll get but here it goes! 

1. Brand Image

I have chosen to use my hand lettering, using my dip pen to write 'Alice Draws The Line' and my illustrations of cones to be my brand image. This works best as my website header (above) and e-mail footer when I use it in full like this...

It is a little Larch cone, a Black Pine cone and a Douglas Fir Cone (working left to right from the left!). These I drew at Christmas for one of my Christmas Card designs (which you can see here!) and I like the fact that it combines my love of both the woods and illustration.

However, the long thin brand image doesn't suit all formats so, on my shop image there is a reduced-cone version! I'm working on a version for my Instagram and Twitter accounts.