As the seasons change and the Christmas lights go up in the city, everything becomes cosy and warm! It's a very special time for me and my family, to come together, to remember and to keep memories alive through gingerbread baking, decorating the Christmas tree and making new memories. This year I decided to create three new greeting cards that celebrate these memories.
I was inspired by the little creatures, we often overlook - the little vibrant ladybugs that wandered onto my window sill as the world outside turned cold and grey. Their bright red shells, speckled with perfect dots will make anyone smile! My mom used to have ladybug stickers, and at the end of her cards she put stick one down and quickly scribble, " lieb dich so viel, mama" those little ladybugs dotted on my window sill remind me of those stickers. Little bursts of love.
And so - they inspired me! To create a small little range of greeting cards! I've really been wanted to focus on my character design and my observational skills for a very long time, unfortunately my ladybugs were gone before I could sketch them but I still wanted to create little characters. I decided to join in Ella Beech's, #100daydrawpeople drawing challenge on social media. The faces, body language, shape and moods are influenced my drawing greatly, drawing a nose, eye and shape everyday has helped me to focus on the shape of my ladybugs. So small but filled with character!
I started off by doing some research, inspired by my old childhood picturebooks by Franz Baumgartner and books like Die Wurzelkinde ( Root Children) these imaginative worlds I grew up with have inspired me profoundly - a memory almost forgotten!
Following my routine of drawing everyday - or attempting to! It's very tricky when you're juggling work - masters and life! But I started with sketches, many of them! Once I was happy with the shape and characters, I played around with colours, opting for a more muted colour palette. Playing around with gouache, crayons and pencils till I was happy with the outcome - this was really through trial and error! I made made many many versions until I felt it was complete but even now - looking at it I think "whoa - I could have chosen those colours or done that" I guess it's never ever truly complete is it?
I recently fell in love with watercolour pencils - they are incredibly soft, juicey and lovely to draw with! So smooth! And they create absolutely lovely texture. I added the details using pencils and neocrayons. Once all the fun was done, I scanned it in and digitally edited it using my favourite brush, Ultimate Pastel Palooza. And finally - ta-da! I try to add most of my details by hand instead of digitally as I find my drawing becomes quite tight digitally and I didn't want to lose that loose hand element.
Thank you for reading my story on my greeting cards! If you're interested in purchasing some, please feel free to have a look at my online shop or pop me a message! xxx
コメント