Squinty Eyes
Good day to you.
Yes, you, the very one who is saying, 'who me?'. I hope you are having a great day and that everything about it is going right!
My day started when I took Hector for a walk in the beautiful wood behind our house. The spring sun was dappling through the trees and it was a glorious morning. The terrain is very steep and as I walk higher, monolithic, ancient rocks jut out in crops of said terrain and you can walk a path through them amid the trees. I swear if they were to make a film set, it wouldn't come more dramatic and beautiful as this. In fact, they did make a film on location here called 'My Summer of Love' with Emily Blunt playing a lead role. It captures the ambient landscape with insightful and beguiling cinematic photography befitting of a place like this; watch it if you can. After the walk I had some breakfast and for the rest of the day I've been sat in my atelier beavering away drawing and created my second speed drawing video.
I call them live drawings. I'm not actually drawing at speed, but I'm filming 'live' and it seems more apt to call them that. However, in my excitement to publish it I didn't actually finish the editing, so the film comes to a bit of an abrupt end in a rather ungracious manner. However, onwards and upwards and plenty of room for improvement, I've posted it below for you to watch. If you enjoy watching it please like or share or leave a comment or all three and help spread the word. Also, leave a comment if you have any questions or if you have advice on improving the quality of my videos! Thanking you most kindly.
Hector's Head
This blog is coming to you a bit late. I don't know why, guess I just forgot to blog about it.
Oh, I know why..........
Happy April everybody! This blog is coming to you a bit late. I don't know why, guess I just forgot to blog about it.
Oh, I know why..........
So, anyway, here he is my beautiful boy Hector shown to the right of us. My dear nephew, who is a great chum of Hector since he dogsat for us last year, wanted a drawing of him on a teeshirt. Bally good idea, I thought, and set to. Many hours later I came up with a classic Hector expression.... well, at least that is what Mr Q said.
It turns out it is very costly to print one of teeshirts. But I have found an eco friendly company that do. The images are not silk screened like my vegan sheep but printed digitally but that is OK. Despite the cost, as a one off for the sake of convenience, that has to be good for me. Just think, if you can do your own design with one off's, sky will be the limit. As long as you are not breaking any copyright rules. Anyone out there want a portrait of their dog on a teeshirt? Just an idea.
And the reason why I didn't write a blog earlier is because I have set up shop on the website of this company, but was waiting to put a few more designs on to the site before actually telling any one about. We could be waiting forever for that to happen, so shop is open to you and yours and here is the link where you can buy a teeshirt:
https://harrietquiltyartteeshirts.teemill.co.uk/
First there was the Logos
And now for something completely different. I have put my colour embargo on hold and gone for bright, juicy delicious colour as if making up for lost time and living as if there was no tomorrow! The colours definitely brighten the day because when I look out the window, the weather is overcast and the water is splashing down in such a way that you might think you were out at sea, sailing in choppy waters. Sadly, this is Yorkshire and not the Caribbean. The logos are not my brain child, I have to admit, I am just the humble illustrator who is able to realise an idea specific for my client. I just love the collaboration process, it's a fun creative journey, a coming together of minds.
If you want to know more about the event and the subsequent events, click here:
http://www.summeroflove3.com/
Julia at Glastonbury
Last week I was working on a portrait for a client who wanted to incorporate some of the little things that made up the whole of that which is his lovely partner, Julia. Working this way makes for a fun and interesting collaboration,
Last week I was working on a portrait for a client who wanted to incorporate some of the little things that made up the whole of that which is his lovely partner, Julia. Working this way makes for a fun and interesting collaboration, throwing around ideas and seeing what we come up with. They get two images, the original drawing and the coloured edition for print. The original version was drawn in pencil on A4 Bristol smooth surface 270 gsm.
For special occasions, if you would like a portrait of a friend or family member or your cat please get in contact with me, I would love to hear your ideas and we can make it a really fun collaboration!
Todmorden Open Studio
Last September Mr Q and I spent an enjoyable day visiting local artists and venues and seeing their fabulous work on display. We had lots of interesting discussions and lively debates and I was amazed to discover there were so many artists living in such a small town.
Rogues Gallery
Last September Mr Q and I spent an enjoyable day visiting local artists and venues and seeing their fabulous work on display. We had lots of interesting discussions and lively debates and I was amazed to discover there were so many artists living in such a small town. The town centre was buzzing and there was a feature wall given over to graffiti and we watched the artists as their talent unfolded in front of us. We enjoyed the day so much we thought that we would also partake this September coming and hopefully visitors will come and enjoy our pop up exhibition in our own home (and have a few lively discussions).
Since then I have become involved with the Todmorden Open Studio group by helping with the organisation of the next event. It is a friendly and welcoming voluntary run collective as well as creative process in it's own right. Right now our aim is to encourage more artists to open their doors and exhibit. Last week we were in the Hebden Bridge Times and Todmorden News paper (last week I managed to get my ugly mug in the paper twice, but that is another story) as a call for artists within Todmorden area.
Could you be a Todmorden artist and would like to exhibit? If you are interested and would like to know a little more about it please email todmordenartists@gmx.co.uk or call 01706 815065, we would love to hear from you.
Vegan Fair in Todmorden was a Great Success!
Just a quickie blog to say that so far our teeshirts have managed to raise £50.00 for the 3 Valley Vegans, Yorkshire, so a big thank you if you bought one. There are, however, still more teeshirts to sell, so please buy this beautiful teeshirt, so we can continue to fundraise for 3VV.
Just a quickie blog to say that so far our teeshirts have managed to raise £50.00 for the 3 Valley Vegans, Yorkshire, so a big thank you if you bought one. There are, however, still more teeshirts to sell, so please buy this beautiful teeshirt, so we can continue to fundraise for 3VV.
The actual day itself was a huge success and was opened by the Mayor of Todmorden, who pledged to go vegan for 30 days. The event was packed and there was a real buzz about the place. It's so exciting to know there are many vegan supporters out there who deeply care for the wellbeing of life other than that that is human.
Publicity has been good, the fair got a double page spread in the Hebden Bridge Times and Todmorden News paper, but even better still, you can get to see what it was like with this lovely Youtube film of the day with the opening speech by the Mayor x