Mother's day prints

It's been a while since I've written on here - and it's because the app on my phone doesn't seem to be talking to the blog! Normally I upload the photos for the blog posts quickly on my mobile and then do the writing and editing on the computer. 

So - it's just a longer (and therefore a bit off putting!) process to do it all on the computer but here goes. 

I've recently had more prints made, three of which I think would make lovely Mother's Day gifts (end of this month!). 

These three are all A5 in size and printed on recycled card. They don't have a specific Mother's Day message and so can be used for anyone, and at any occasion. You can find them all, and all the other prints by clicking this link which will take you through to the online shop.

Shrewsbury

Just a little postcard from Shrewsbury - looking particularly picturesque in the frost the other January morning... and then again at sunset the same day.

Notebooks...

There are a range of A6 notebooks in the Etsy shop now. From the back row, starting at the top left, we have the tree identification one with tree species with their names accompanying the species. In the middle at the back is the fungi notebook. At the back right is the garden birds, this, like the tree book has the species identified on it. 

In the middle row, starting on the left we have woodland animals, in the middle; a collection of ferns and bracken, then honey bees on the middle row, on the right.

Finally on the bottom row is the pheasant notebook. 

All of these are made from 100% recycled paper, and there are 36 blank pages. You can shop for them all by clicking here. 

Sketchbook kit

I have been using the same kit for my drawing a day sketchbooks for a while now and thought I might share it in more detail here. 

As you may already know, I do a drawing a day, everyday. Very occasionally I miss one but, thankfully that is rare. In 2018 I didn't miss a day. The idea was to do a directly observed drawing each day, to improve my observational and drawing skills. 

In order for it to be as likely as possible that I'll take my sketchbook / sketching kit with me, I've refined it over the years so that it is now really compact and fits into any bag and often a pocket. 

I'm not really a fan of pencil. I don't like it smudging - or rather, that I smudge it with my hand and from being on my hand it then goes everywhere. So now I only take a pen. The pens themselves have changed over the years. Muji used to make a bargain one that I loved, which you could use and then almost instantly paint over and it didn't smudge or bleed. But the last few I had did both of those things which made me more wary and I started looking at other options. 

This is the one that I've settled on. The UniPin fine line, which is water and fade proof, pigment ink. This one is a 0.1 and my favourite thickness. I do have some 0.05 (I think) which I sometimes use. 

The little paint palette I've had for years. I can't remember where or from who I had it or when it was. I know I had it for a long time before I actually used it. The box is Rowney, but many of the paints aren't the original ones. I'll do another post just looking inside the palette and talking through the colours I use / rarely use. 

Next up is the waterbrush. Again I'm not sure of the make of this one, but it is round tip rather than a flat brush which you can also get. It might be one that I got when I visited the Seawhite of Brighton Factory Shop a while ago. 

These are brilliant as you fill the barrel with water and therefore have water with you wherever you go. To change the colour / wash the brush you just squeeze more water through and it cleans the bristles. 

Lastly, and possibly the most importantly is the book itself. For a while now I've been using a Seawhite of Brighton hard-backed A6 sketchbook. I like the size for the reasons above - big enough to draw in but small enough that I can actually take it anywhere - out for a walk or to the pub, no issue. 

The paper is thick enough to hold watercolour, but not so thick that there are too few pages in the book. I had started using just one side of the pages in previous books, in case I sold the artwork, but as I haven't been selling originals from the sketchbooks I've reverted back to filling it all, both sides of every page. 

I've also started putting stickers on the spine to say the start and end date. This is particularly helpful if I'm looking for a seasonal study, I can work out what time of year I would have drawn it and hopefully look in the right sort of book. 

Some of them I've also started putting stickers from my Sticker sheets (available in my Etsy shop ;-) !) on the front covers, this is just to tell them apart and also hopefully jog my memory about which book I drew what in. We had Seawhite of Brighton sketchbooks when I did my Art GCSE (1999) and A'Level (2001) - I've been a fan since then.

I have a little stash of A6 sketchbooks to use over the coming months, some portrait like this one and others landscape. The bulldog clip helps keep it closed in my bag/ pocket so the pages don't get damaged, and also to hold the pages open when I'm drawing - handy if out and about and it's breezy. 

For some lovely sketches from people out and about do look up the hashtag #walktosee on instagram, started by the illustrator Helen Stephens.

Favourite books

At Christmas, after I had posted the final orders from the shop, I collected some favourite things from around the house to enjoy over the break between Christmas and the New Year.

I went through my bookshelves and selected books that I've been thinking about but not got as far as to get them out and have a good look at them, re-read, or even start reading them. It's a big and heavy pile and I didn't get through them all and so I'm still working my way through now and thought I'd share here.

I'm going to work through the pile as you see it above.

 First up we have a sketchbook. This is a brand new A6, hardbacked, landscape book by Seawhite of Brighton. It's the next one in my pile - I'm not quite able to start it yet as I haven't finished my current one but it's there, poised ready for whatever might fill it's pages. These are my current favorite. Small enough to fit in a bag or pocket and to be closed by a bulldog clip to save the pages from scuffing, or being kept open while painting with the same bit of kit (I'll do another post about the sketching kit I think).

 Beatrix Potter is a hero of mine. I have a collection of books about her and this is the latest. I haven't read it yet but am planning on carrying it about until I do!

After hearing a lot of people talking about this one and Tara Mohr herself being mentioned a lot on podcasts I listen to and instragram feeds that I follow, I thought I would investigate for myself. So far, so gripping. Interesting and thought provoking. I'm nearly finished but think I might just start again when I'm done and make some notes. 

 This is Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory. This book is responsible for my Drawing a Day habit. I got this book for Christmas in 2008 and also received a sketchbook. I'd been considering doing a drawing everyday and had asked for the book but actually receiving it and enjoying the pictures and accompanying writing made me actually do it. Danny talks about drawing what we actually see rather than what we think we see, and draws a lot of very ordinary, everyday objects (hence the title). The apple on the back cover is a favourite - how many times do we eat an apple and not give it a glance? I couple of times I've tried to recreate this - drawing quickly after every couple of bites - causes you to work quickly and to eat fruit - win, win!

 As some of you may know, as well as my illustration and hand lettering work, my career used to be teaching and training outdoors - specifically in the woods as a Forest School Leader and Trainer. Although I no longer do this full time and have recently been made redundant, I have a huge passion for being outside and in woodlands. Last summer I took a course in Mindfulness in Woodland Settings and it's opened up a new way of working outside. Following that course I bought this book - Shinrin-Yoku; The Art and Science of Forest-Bathing, how trees can help you find help and happiness. It's interesting and has lovely photos, and just like the woods, I find it nice to dip into and out of.

 Emma Bridgewater - another hero of mine. This book, 'Toast and Marmalade and other stories' also has lovely photos - lots of home life and holiday pictures as well as her iconic designs. It is her story of how 'Emma Bridgewater' the brand came to be and I loved reading it - shows that dreams can become reality if you put the work in.

 This book 'Keeping a Nature Journal' by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth is one I found in an art bookshop years ago. I think it might have been in a bargain section - it was a lucky find anyway and reminds me how valuable sketching is. Quick, seasonal studies, documented in any way -these have the lovely addition of handwritten notes and details which I adore. There is something very appealing about handwritten words that accompany pictures I think.

These two magazines I've had a subscription to for the last few months. The Simple Things has nice imagery (although I'm not that keen on this cover!), recipes, and nice, seasonal articles. In the Moment magazine is newer to me, but has had some nice articles about creativity, mindfulness and the seasons which crosses across many of my interests. 

 This is a big book. It's lovely. Many of the illustrations fill double pages. It is Britain's builds, Place and Spaces: the unseen in the everyday by Ptolemy Dean. Stunning drawings - all done in wobbly inky lines with generous watercolour. Accurate interpretations of just as it says - the unseen in the everyday. Lovely normal views that he has taken time to capture through drawing.

 I like the endpapers alone in this one. There are many books I love the end papers of - maybe that'll be another blog post one day! This is 'Pattern' by Orla Kiely - again just a lovely insight into a brand. Such iconic designs and style and nice to see a bit that is behind that - like the colour swatches on the right hand picture.

That's all for now - I'm off to pick one of these back up and continue where I left off with it.

Lovely orders and new packaging

I've been slowly making some changes to my packaging over the last couple of months. I have started to use corrugated card instead of bubble wrap, brown paper instead of plastic mailing bags and eco paper tape instead of parcel tape. 

The below two pictures show the wonderful selection of orders received over the Christmas period, and the same but parcelled up and ready to go. 

Happy New Year!

As some of you may know, this year I created a botanical wall calendar from seasonal studies in my sketchbooks. 

This is the January image with added identification labels.

Calendars

The 2019 Wall Calendar featured seasonal sketches drawn in a wreath shape with the date written with a dip pen in the centre. 

Each of the illustrations were from my sketchbook studies and were drawn in the month that they feature in. 

Each month in 2019 we will have a closer look at each of the images and identify the flora. 

The 2019 wall calendars all sold out, but there are Birthday calendars in the shop still. You can find these here. These are perpetual calendars that feature the dates, but no days of the week for each month with a seasonal botanical illustration.

Festive times

A festive study from just before Christmas - I confess I like to draw sprouts more than I like to eat them. I make sure I buy some each year, and it always feels like it's definitely nearly Christmas when that job has been done. Here I drew the sprout quickly and then turned it a bit and drew again until I'd turned it 360 degrees on it's base. 

Fast but accurate studies are one of my favourites - something this drawing reminded me. I plan to do more of these next year.

I'm having a little break from Alice Draws The Line, my studio and house this Christmas and have gathered a collection of bits with me that I have to inspire me. The above shows some of these - first up, the Miss Potter film. I will sometimes put this DVD on in the background for a bit of inspiration. I love the scenery, the colours, the story and Beatrix Potter is a bit of a hero of mine. Next up is Quentin Blake. This greeting card I put in a frame years ago and I walk past it daily. I love the use of the ink and the colours in the watercolour wash and find the two ladies chatting while walking in the rain, under a shared umberella wonderfully normal.

On the table is my current sketchbook and pen and waterbrush (portable water and brush), as well as my notebook and biro for ideas and lists (I love a list). 

I also have the current Simple Things magazine and the In The Moment magazine to peruse - hopefully on the sofa, by the woodburner. The Earl Grey is an essential accompaniment to them all - in fact I'm off to make a brew now.

Pheasants galore

The Shop has had an update of Pheasants recently - here are some of the products that you can find there. 

First up we have the cards; Pheasants greeting card (top), blank inside and so suitable for any occasion. Below that we have the Pheasant Christmas card and the newer pheasant birthday card. 

Here is nearly the whole pheasants range! (notebooks to arrive soon). There are recycled tote bags, enamel mugs and also china mugs shown here, and also the new shoot cards - see next picture.

And here are the new shoot cards as well as the mugs that are available in the shop.

October 2018!

Happy October!

I filmed this one as I drew it and have added it to my YouTube channel...

Hand Lettering

Something I don't post about much on here is hand lettering. It has always been a love of mine and it mainly ventures out now when I'm writing a thank you on an order or addressing an envelope or label to post parcels. 

However, recently I've been playing about with it a bit more in the hope of developing new products and run some workshops on this. 

I had great fun doing this piece:

and even filmed the whole process to put on Instagram TV... sadly the file won't upload and so, despite it being filmed in portrait rather than landscape, I've popped it on YouTube - you can watch it here if you fancy: 

Temporary tattoos- flowers, bee and ladybird

The Temporary Tattoos are really fun to play about with. I can never resist making a little scene with a mixture of the sheets - a bee visiting a flower, and a ladybird walking by on this one.

Summer sketching

Here are a few of the summer sketches from the sketchbook. Mainly from June (which seems quite a long time away now!)

Seashore studies

One of the only things that Shropshire doesn't have is a beach (the largest land-locked county in England) and so I don't visit very often. Last time I was there I selected some shells to study to build a seashore collection - here is the start, the razor shells and mussel shells. 

Fungi enamel mugs have arrived!

Sorry for the silence! Things have been pretty busy here. Now it's the summer, by teaching work has stopped and so I have moved the drawing up a gear and have produced a couple of new enamel mug designs. 

The first is this fungi design, which is already proving popular. I have had a couple of requests to stock this as a China mug too so hopefully that will happen soon. 

If you like this design, you can find it here in the shop!

Scots Pine

Every year I spot something new, despite always having loved walking in the woods, working in the woods over the last 12 years and being outdoors generally!

Here is a female flower on a bit of Scots Pine and a new cone. 

Spring sketches

The botanical drawing a day continues - I keep an eye out during the day for a fallen treasure to find and bring home to draw. The sycamore leaves were on the floor as I walked home along the river.

This dandelion was given to me by a child at the end of a Forest School session, and so I brought it home to draw...

The vetch was growing on the verge on the lane at the weekend, I collected a little posy of wildflowers