Alphabet Series - "L" No. 2

This was one of the earlier alphabet ladies I embarked on, but it has taken until now for the recipient to receive it, and thus allow for me to share it with you!

There were many things I was proud of with this piece, and it's safe to say that I still like it now, which is a good sign! For, usually artists look back at old work and think that they were terrible, and can't understand why they were so proud of it at the time :P

I really experimented with creating colours for this one. I mixed a jacaranda colour for her eyes (inspired by Odette), a mint for her dress and a reddish-brown for her hair...I love the layout of the dress, it really captures a strong, yet graceful movement of fabric, as she dances the night away...I also love the look of the hair with its swirls and tonal graduation...

She was inspired by Anastasia, and she makes me want to draw more dancing ladies! But alas! I have another piece to show you soon, which is of a quite different project theme, and I think I will be doing a few more pieces for the new project, before I can go back and experiment more with the alphabet series!

Happy Spring-time! =D

Alphabet Series - "T"

Here's another one of my Alphabet Series illustrations, which I gave to my sister for her birthday. I used 185gsm paper as opposed to my usual 300gsm, and surprisingly it went well! I was worried that being thinner, it would buckle too much in the areas where I use a lot more water (i.e. layering up the dress to get the gradual shading), but it didn't! So it shows that you can't be skeptical, but need to first give new things a try :)

There is so much I love about looking at this piece; her barrel curls swept to one side, the 50's style dress, her bambi-green eyes, the style of the letter "T", and the sky-high heels :) After preparing this post, I really want to embark on another piece, but also as it is formal season, and I have naturally been looking at all sorts of gorgeous dresses! Thus, I have come across many a picture with some point of interest, be that a hairstyle, body-pose or style of dress...so hopefully there are some illustrations in the works :) I would however, like to build upon this current look by adding a little something extra, but I don't know what direction I'll go yet, as I'm a bit stuck in my current comfort zone. So, I need to follow my own advice, and just experiment, and not worry about producing a frame-worthy piece every time I use a piece of paper!

Happy fairy dusting your life!

Alphabet Series - "L"

So Valentine’s Day has come and gone once again, and yet I’m still thinking about throwing a “sweet hearts” soiree, where everything is pink, red and white including the food, which is also cut into heart shapes where practicable =D

However, posting this illustration has to suffice for the time being to fulfil the ‘pink’ component. :) This piece used the same process as my other illustrations, but I particularly love how the hair turned out, and the fresh dance-like pose being captured. She is quite doll-esque, but it makes me smile to look at her :)

On a different note, the tertiary academic year is upon me, and I’m reluctant to let go of my current lifestyle, which is filled with exploring and enjoying all of my favourite cultural pursuits…I have appreciated it though, utilised it well, and achieved much, which is more than I can say of holidays past where the time flew past yet I had little to show for it!  

So as I go back to school, I'm conscious about how we all have to ensure that we stay balanced, and not neglect doing those things we love! So if you tend to lose track of the little things in life which bring you joy, schedule them into your diary, as you would any other appointment. As the most important appointment you can make, is the one where you give yourself time to you! :D

Happy Fairy Dusting Your Life! =D 

Alphabet Series - "K"

Valentine's day will soon be upon us, and whilst the societal focus of the day seems to have shifted towards dating-status, I have adopted a different approach. I use it as a reminder to take the time to let those who are integral in my life, know that I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to know them...Celebrating those who are special to me has re-ignited my art-making, as I loving giving to others, and bringing joy, and luckily my hobbies have the ability to bring joy to most people :)

This alphabet illustration is a lot more simple than the others I have been making, it was however the first one I had drafted back in July, before I dove into the project in November with more developed characters. Nevertheless, I still love it, as it is such cute character and the look is quite sweet and perfectly suited to the recipient, a most genuine and lovely young lady :)

There are many ways to give, with words and acts often being much more meaningful than other forms of gifts. So embrace the day as an opportunity to acknowledge the special people in your life...

Happy Giving :D

Alphabet Series - "S"

Here's another illustration from my alphabet series which I made for my Aunt's christmas gift. I really enjoyed making this one, because I was in the zone, and having fun with doing a 70's style dress, seeing as that was the time of my Aunt's youth :)

I got the pose idea from the Snow White DVD cover and used a couple of different magazine clippings to develop the wavy hair design. The hair worked out a lot quicker than previous illustrations! I used cerulean blue for the dress, using the faintest of washes and then layering countless times and slowly doing more in the shaded areas to achieve the ombre look. The hair is a reddish-brown I created using burnt umber and alizarin crimson. The skin uses faint washes of burnt umber, with tinges of rose on the elbows, hands and feet.

The letter 'S' is so much easier to work with than other letters, as you can pretty much use whatever pose you desire, whereas with others you have to be careful in the body's placement for it may be difficult to tell what the letter is!

It's currently raining cats and dogs here...so my question is what are your go-to rainy-day activities? Mine are pretty much the same as those I generally enjoy doing! But I do love bunkering down and watching a good movie with some hot chocolate too :)

Happy Fairy Dusting! :D

Alphabet Series - "A"

Just a quick post of another one of the illustrations I made as a christmas gift. I tried a number of different things with this piece, using smooth watercolour paper (which I didn't like that much as it shows up mistakes), did a shorter dress design and tried to make it look like she was swirling it. Also, because of the different pose it took me ages to develop the final layout as the hair, dress, limb and head positions needed a lot of tweaking to sit 'right'.

I still have plenty of illustrations to keep showing you, but I've been having a break from drawing and instead been reading and researching quite a bit. This has been great for my imagination, developing new ideas and getting enthused about being creative again!

Enjoy, and happy fairy-dusting your day! :D

Alphabet Series - "G"

This is an illustration I gave my sister for her birthday...only 4 months later :P *artist's problems*

I took her love of africa and the letter of her first name as my starting point, and then I found a picture of a zebra-print shoe and knew I wanted to incorporate zebra-print into the dress somehow...I was surprised with how easily the design for this piece came to me, seeing as how with some which seem simpler take so much more planning!

I'm rather pleased with it, design-wise, there are flaws I see, but I didn't want to re-start it for a third time! And yes, painting the stripes did take as long as it looks! Hope you enjoy it :)

Happy Drawing :D

Alphabet Series - "J"

Hello to all my fellow little pinch of fairy dust followers! I know it has been far too long since we have been able to hang-out, and I am very sad for it :( Alas, here we meet again!

I have been meaning to post this artwork for some time now, but time has slipped past at an alarming rate! I can't believe that we are nearing August already!

The works of Shirley Barber were my first exposure to the realm of fairy-art, as a wee four year old. She uses such intricate and beautiful detail in her works, and brings the mysterious world of fairies to life! I love her exquisite butterfly wings, and dresses which drip with gorgeous gold embroidery and transparent sections, reminiscent of lacewings and spiderwebs...

She is also known for her fairy-alphabet, where there was series with a fairy accompanying each letter of the alphabet. I have always loved the idea of making a gift of art personal, thus the concept of incorporating the letter of the recipients' first name is perfect :)

Here is one that I gifted earlier this year which I love. In addition using my friend's first letter, I also modelled the figure's hair on her colour and regular style, and made the dress her favourite colour :)

I hope that you like it, and that it makes up for the absence!

Think about all the little things you can do to make gifting art or baking more personalised... it is easy to remove gift-card guilt by adding a handmade card or even just writing a non-generic message can lift someone's spirits! (I rely on this often!) And if you're a keen baker, I also love the idea of baking something scrumptious, including the recipe and boxing it in lovely packaging :)

Happy Drawing :D