Yaffle

I had a lovely day in the woods in the sun yesterday and returned happy and smelling of woodsmoke.

I've hardly ever seen the Green Woodpecker... but he laughs and laughs whenever I'm there! Yesterday was no different.

I'm really enjoying learning a bit about each species- I've been looking them up in the evenings.

Also known as the Green 'Yaffle' - a name given to it as it sounds like someone laughing.

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! 

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! 

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!). 

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. 

Pistachio!

I have to confess, I'm not sure where many of these National Days come from, but today is 'National Pistachio Day'! ... and here are a few to help us celebrate!

Spring is Springing

I love this time of year as everything slowly turns green and comes into leaf. 

For my Drawing A Day this week I've been looking at different tree species - drawing their buds as a sketchbook study. I'm a bit of a tree geek and love how you can play detective and work out which trees are which. At this time of year the buds are one of the ways to identify the species (as well as the bark, remaining seeds and silhouette). I'm hoping to draw a few more this week and build up my collection. 

I also really like being able to tell what time of year it is in my Drawing a Day book when I flick through - maybe one year I'll manage to do a whole year as a nature journal...

Here is the process...

These studies are the starting point for another project I'm working on... but that's for another day!

A new range

I've started working on a new range of cards that combine my love of trees with my love of illustration and hand lettering. At present I'm affectionately referring to them as my TreeGeek range. This is one I've been tinkering with today...

National Breakfast Week

In honour of #NationalBreakfastWeek this week (24th-30th January), here are some breakfast-y drawings. All of these are from my Drawing a Day books. 

First up, an oldie... boiled egg and soldiers

And next we have another favourite drawing (and breakfast), Pain au Chocolate (I know two is very greedy, but they are fairly small...)

And lastly, the drawing I did on Tuesday to celebrate #AustraliaDay, some Vegemite, delicious on toast for breakfast (or any time!).

Joining the dots

I can vividly remember sitting in the careers room at school, being asked what job I'd like when I was older. I wasn't sure. I was told to have a look at the helpful A-Z of Careers poster on the wall above the desk and say which ones appealed...

I looked through them all and read out three that interested me. The careers man asked me to go away and have another think.

After A'Levels I did an Art Foundation course, I loved Art and it gave me some thinking time before making a career commitment in the guise of a University course. At the end of this great year my tutor decided I was destined for Mixed Media Illustration... I decided Education was where I was heading, and that I'd keep Art as a hobby (although I was very tempted by a degree in Calligraphy, my favourite wild card at the time).

I'm now 11 years into my career in Education, more specifically working with children, young people and adults in woods through Forest School. I love it. Being outside is part of me. It doesn't feel quite right if I haven't had my daily dose of fresh air. Checking in on what is happening outside, where we are in the year, what is growing, blossoming, coming into leaf or going over. 

Illustration has remained a hobby throughout. I have done a Drawing a Day for several years now as regular blog readers will be all too familiar with! Now however, with a change in my hours at work, I've decided to see where the illustration can go. 

So, I'm going to join the dots and combine the two... here goes!

And finally... I'm braving the world of Facebook, do 'like' my page