Painting the rooftops

It's going to be an ultra speedy post this week as I'm right in the middle of painting trees on the Thames map!

Here's a little peek of how the colours are going on so far. The green was by far the hardest, because to get a smooth colour with watercolour you can't let it dry in the middle when you're painting a large section. I had to work steadily from one side of the map to the other, painting around each obstacle as I went.

It took a solid five hours to paint all the green! Tonight I've been working on the red rooftops of the houses.

Last week we were in Cornwall and in the evenings it was lovely to relax and doodle something which didn't require any thought. I created a mandala which I shared in my last post, and since then have drawn another one in biro.

This time I used a compass to draw the rings and sketched out spokes underneath to give it a more symmetrical structure. You can just about see them in this photo.

I like the biro as it's possible to achieve different tones, but I think I prefer solid ink lines, like the very first one I did below.

I did this one completely freehand, starting in the middle and working outwards by eye, hence why the spacing is a little dodgy in places!

Finally I'll leave you with these photos from Newquay Zoo which we visited on Friday on our way back up from Cornwall.

These capybaras are actually a lot bigger than they look in the photo!

The zoo was really quiet and most of the animals were snuggled up inside - who can blame them really! These mongooses (mongeese?) were very inquisitive though and came out of their little hut to observe us watching them!

I remember the red panda's at Paignton Zoo being very elusive one time we went, but this little guy just sat around while I took his photo.

Last but not least, these were my favourite little critters of the day; the otters. They were playing tug of war with their straw bedding in their little hut, tumbling and squeaking. Then they went outside for a swim!

Thank you to all of you who voted for my blog in the UK Blog Awards, voting is now closed and you will be the first to know when I hear anything!

Today I'm linking up at Handmade Harbour and Paint Party Friday.

It's all in the detail

I just want to start by saying thank you for your lovely comments. Normally I try to reply to them all, either on my blog or by email, but this week has run away with me a bit and I haven't had chance. I do really appreciate each and every one though, so thank you!

This weekend has been one of those lovely quiet ones. We had no plans so I've had lots of time to get on with my Thames map commission.

It finally feels like I'm getting somewhere, but before I show you the progress, I wanted to share this doodle which I started ages ago for an art swap with portrait artist Debbie from Portraits of Treasured Memories. Debbie's going to give it to her daughter, Kyrie, for Christmas.

I think it's finished, but that's the trouble with these doodles, it's really hard to know when to stop!

The little characters I've picked out in colour are Debbie's daughter's favourite toys.

The fairy isn't one of Kyrie's toys, but I felt it needed a splash of colour in the bottom left corner to balance it out.

I hope she likes it!

Now on to the serious business of the Thames map. This week I finished sketching out the second 'half' as it is so long I've had to do it in two separate. Yesterday and today I've been outlining the half which has already been checked by the client.

I was so nervous to start in pen at first - what if I went wrong? Once I got in the flow of it though, I enjoyed seeing it grow.

I'm not sure how many hours it took me in total over the two days, but I was very relieved to have finished this half without making a mistake (touch wood...)!

Here's a few little close ups, on the left is the Dorchester area, on the right is Pangbourne at the bottom, leading into Reading at the top. Mapledurham House is on the left hand side of the river.

I think when I've finished this project I'm going to have a pretty good knowledge of the Thames!

That's it for today, I also want to say thank you to all those who have voted for my blog in the UK Blogger Awards. If you haven't, it would really make my day if you could pop across to my page and vote - if you want to of course! Voting closes on Wednesday 3 December.

I'm sharing this post on the following blogs:  Handmade Harbour and Sunday Sketches (Blue Chair Diary Illustrations).

My first work in print!

This week has been very exciting for various reasons and I've been working on a few lovely commissions. Unfortunately, I can't share any of it with you just yet, so I thought I'd show you this piece which has been featured in Doodle Arts Magazine.

It's a Filipino publication, but you can view a free digital version of their teaser magazine Doodle Arts Collection online.

My doodle and a short bio was featured in the 'Spotted' section on page 44 so go and have a nosy if you want to find out a little more about me!

This piece is meant to look like a landscape, with the sea at the bottom, land in the middle and sky at the top.

As always, I had great fun drawing it! I love the way the white windmill stands out so much against the brown.

Here's the drawing in progress!

...and here it is in the magazine.

See you next week peeps!

I'm sharing this post on the following blogs:  Handmade Harbour, Manon Popje's Illustrations, Nifty Thrifty Things, Be Different Act Normal and Tatertots and Jello.

My heart is complete!

We've had a FANTASTIC weekend! Sailing, a night out, cinema, beach and breakfast out - but it's gone far too quickly as usual!

In between all that, I have had chance to fit in some artwork though. This heart doodle is now finished and I'm relieved because it's been on my drawing board for far too long!

I've been picking it up and putting it down every time I've had a few spare minutes.

It's the most intricate I've done yet and I've enjoyed filling in all the little patterns and details.

Some little bits are quite realistic, others are completely from my imagination. I drew the heart outline first and build up the rest of the doodle around it.

Some doodle artists are able to go straight in with pen, but I find I need to sketch everything out in pencil first and get the order of objects clear.

I'm thinking of adding this doodle to my (currently empty) Etsy shop as a downloadable colouring page. If I were to charge about £1.50 to be able to download the doodle for printing and colouring, would anybody be interested? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments, both good and bad!

That's all for now! See you next week :)

I'm sharing this post on the following blogs:  Handmade Harbour and Manon Popje's Illustrations.