Feelin' Thirsty? ❤

Why hello dear readers! It's been a whole WEEK now since I turned 24 and to be honest I don't feel a single bit older. I'll never really grow up so all this birthday and ageing business seems a bit pointless really. I mean i'd have birthday cake and kinder eggs for breakfast every single day if I had my way!

anyway moving swiftly on, you'll be delighted to know that I've just finished another new Candy Doll Club illustration!

 If you keep up with me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook then you might have seen that I've posted the odd sneak peek WIP shots over the past few weeks as I was working on the illustration during my recent trip to France/Spain/Andorra. Well I've actually finished the design now, so let's meet her properly shall we?!

As you can probably tell, she's quite the sultry pinup babe! But don't be fooled by her sugary sweet appearance, she'll mess you up... if you're dumb enough to try and mess with her!

It's been a while since I worked on a brand new Candy Doll and this one was SO SO SO much fun to work on! Especially the tattoos, I spent hours trying to get them as fun and colourful as possible!

 

Intergalactic space babe themed tattoos + a very tasty beverage to relax and refresh in the sunshine, because every Candy Doll knows that nothing tastes sweeter than a carton of 100% fresh boy tears! Yum.

 

Don't forget a pair of cute bleach striped denim shorts to show off those pretty pins and tasty tattoos! Throw in a few neat little pins and badges and you're good to go.

Sassy brooches on a pink lolita sailor girl top to ward off potential suitors, check. Fight like a girl tatts + a busty mer-babe = Girl Power 24/7!

seriously... SO MUCH FUN!

She's available now on prints and tees and bags and stuff over in my Society6 Shop + there's FREE worldwide shipping on today! So it's a good time to treat yourself to something candy coloured! 

oh and in case you were wondering what's going on with the different coloured bunches, the amazing hairstyle is inspired by super lovely and fab youtube blogger Chloe aka xxchlozaahxx who has the most perfect pink/blue split dyed hair. Check out her Instagram for more magical pics.

so, yeah. Lots of fun to work on a new Candy Doll design, I'm not sure what the next one will be like, I'll have to draw some more inspiration from some of the pastel babes I follow on Instagram and Tumblr.


* * *

in other news, last Thursday my dad took me out to lunch in Peel in the West of the island. I don't get to spend much time with my dad, despite living in the same house as him. We're both very quiet and isolated people, preferring our own company most of the time, and there are enough rooms in this house to mean that we can go days without exchanging more than a 'hello' or 'good morning'. So every now and again we head out to somewhere on the island and get some lunch and have a mooch about the local shops, visit a museum or just wander around and look at stuff.

It sounds strange but it's something we've done since I was a little girl. Obviously I spent time with my dad as a kid, we'd play football and tennis and i'd put furniture together after my dad had given up on the instructions and stormed off. But growing up I would spend most of the week talking to my mum and spending time with her practicing my reading or spelling etc, then on Sundays my dad would take me on the electric railway or to the Laxey Wheel or to get flowers and fruit plants at the garden centre. Or sometimes he would try to teach me how to fish off the bridge in our garden (the river Cornaa runs right alongside our house) but after I dropped the rod into the water I didn't get many more lessons!

Anyway, we went to Peel and had a lovely afternoon watching the boats in the harbour and all of the bikers flooding into the town for lunch and to visit the Castle and the museum (the TT races are on at the moment so our normally quiet island has been overrun with bikers from all over the world!) there were people everywhere and the sun was shining, it was a good day for visitors and locals alike.

And since I had such a nice day I decided to snap a selfie when we got home because my mood was so bright and I don't feel that way very often so I have to make the most of it when I do.

I know, I know, if I get any paler i'll turn into a vampire! But so what, I liked how my hair looked, hence a selfie. For more about my thoughts on 'selfies' and why there should be NO shame in occasionally turning into a big poser and photographing yourself in the mirror, check out my old blog post here

and on that note i'll say goodbye for now!

thanks for stopping by dearhearts 

Desk Life ♥

hello chums, just thought i'd throw together a quick blog post before I head off on my annual travels through the UK to France and on to Andorra and Spain. I don't leave until Thursday but i'll be super busy tomorrow packing and stuff (or more likely reading all night and then packing at the last minute!) so I'll do a blog tonight instead.

i've mentioned it before on here a few times but last year I FINALLY bought myself a proper desk so that I have a place to work and also to display some of the random colourful junk i've collected over the years. You might be thinking 'who cares about a stupid desk' but it's my blog and I really like my desk so I'm gonna talk about it a bit and post some photos so if you're dead inside and hate anything fun, then you don't have to stay here...

 

So back to the desk. As an artist i'm quite a visual person (wow there's a surprise!) and I like to have lots of inspiring things near or around me when I work to help give me ideas or just to brighten things up a bit. I'm fortunate enough to have a retired painter and decorator for a dad which means the wallpaper in my room is utterly hideous and won't be replaced any time soon. So I long ago resolved to cover every available inch of it with as much random crap as I can muster. Hence the walls full of stuff!

 

I tend to keep a mix of items around my desk, you'll notice quite a bit of my own work pinned up along with designs from other artists I admire or just general bits n' bobs people have sent me or i've collected on my travels. Although I have a separate space to paint in (which sadly has walls i'm NOT allowed to decorate with cool stuff!) my desk is where I come up with most of my ideas for designs and products. It is for all intents and purposes, precisely where the magic happens.



I know i'm not the only artist that works this way, in fact most of my arty/illustrator/designer friends have similar desks or studio spaces chock full of items they've acquired over the years. I'm not sure about them but I know that I find it really helpful to have a heap of cool stuff in front of me while i'm working on a design or making something.



I'm lucky enough to have some very generous creative friends who've sent me all sorts of nice stuff like fun prints, postcards and groovy stickers! I stick most of this stuff up next to my desk to help with colour palettes and you know, because it looks pretty! And if YOU had hideous skin disease wallpaper then you'd probably slather pictures all over your walls as well.

I'm a big kid at heart and i'll probably never really grow up, so you'll also spot plenty of daft toys on my desk, like my trio of Monster High girls and my mini popobe bear collection. There's quite a lot of Geeky stuff as well, like fanart and other homages to various fandoms. I also keep my 'thinking crown' handy for those times when creative block strikes, I pop on the glitter crown and issues usually resolve themselves. And if they don't, who cares, i'm wearing a crown, nothing matters.

The desk is also home to my beloved Pullip doll and a whole host of other critters including Catbug, Puppycat, Paddy the gnome, my Lego Ghostbusters set, Moomin family, Sailor Moon, Toothless the dragon, Maurice the monkey, Arale, Jack the giant Popobe bear, Tofu Dolls, Dunny figures, oh and a Tardis because why not?!

it might look like a cluttered nightmare but it's surprisingly well organized (for me!) and I have quick access to all of the bits I need to create stuff and if I can't find something then I just shuffle through it all and swear profusely until I can. It's a very successful if entirely inelegant system of organization, typical to most artists. 



you might also spot Tom Hiddleston's face lurking on the desk as well, this was a recent gift from my friend Lorna as sadly the real Tom Hiddleston wasn't available, apparently. You might ask 'but Jade, why so much stuff everywhere?' and all I can say is that as far as i'm concerned, if it's not teeming with stacks of random stuff then it's not a real desk!

you might also think that i'm not left with much space after all that junk, and i'd like to take a moment to ask why on earth you're so judgmental but instead I will tell you that despite the clutter I manage just fine...

Now onto the other reason I wanted to do a post tonight, yes that's right, I lured you here under false pretences only to ambush you with something else entirely! As I mentioned at the start, i'm off on my holibobs this week which means i'll be closing the shop for a bit. However, i'm going to the post office in the morning so if you've been hankering for a treat or need to buy a present for someone, this is your last chance until the end of the month!

And as a special sweetener, i'm throwing in a FREE Girl Gang sticker with every order + EVERY purchase gets a 20% off voucher for their next order!So i'm not sure what you're waiting for, go buy something cute! SHOP NOW

and on that happy and colourful note i'll say goodbye, I won't have proper internet access while i'm away but i'll do my best to post stuff over on my Instagram page so if you want to see what I get up to on my holiday, then maybe you should follow me on there!

so until next time, that's all folks! speak to you all again soon...

Pretty as a Picture

Hello dearhearts, back again with a brand new illustration and yes, you guessed it, it's another addition to the Candy Doll Club!

so instead of wittering on about it (like I usually do) i'll just go ahead and show you...



Now you might have noticed over recent months that lately i've been heavily inspired by a few of the many lovely ladies I follow via Instagram and Pinterest, in fact this new piece is an illustration inspired by a very lovely British blogger named Megan aka Briar Rose and she is basically a real life Disney Princess!



Look at that amazing hair! WOW! I always enjoy seeing Megan's gorgeous OOTD blog posts and snaps on Instagram, she has the most incredible wardrobe, so she seemed like an ideal 'real life' candy doll to inspire a new piece.

I was actually inspired by the photos from this blog post, and although usually I cover my drawings with candy coloured tattoos and pops of neon colour, this one felt better suited to pretty paler pastels similar to those found in Megan's outfit post.


Although obviously in my version that 'Princess' hair has a few pastel shades thrown in for good measure! But then how could I EVER draw a Candy Doll without giving her Pastel hair?! Also, i'm dreadful at drawing hats, they never seem to translate well when I add them so this one gets a flower crown instead!

I also wanted to have a go at drawing a girl holding a camera, following on from my 'time for a selfie' illustration, so when I spotted the pictures of Megan with her nifty little Praktica camera it seemed like time to get out my pencils and pens!

I had a lot of fun drawing this one as you can probably tell, it's been nice just working on aimless projects these past few months while I take some time off from work, I can't wait to see what I conjure up next (maybe something special just in time for Halloween... wait and see!)  

anyway the design is now available via my Society6 Shop on various items + there's Free Worldwide Shipping on stuff in the shop until October 12th so if you feel like getting some early Xmas presents, go have a skeet!

alrighty then i'll stop babbling now. Hope you liked the new illustration, i'm pretty sure that the Candy Doll Club will forever be gaining new members! So thanks for the inspiration Megan!

YOU can keep up with all of her fashionable snaps by following her on Pinterest or Instagram + here she is on Facebook and Twitter and of course, here's her brilliant Blog

* * *

in other news, I FINALLY finished my two latest paintings!

here they are perched on my desk (along with a recent diddy posca piece) waiting to see what i'm going to do with them next, I haven't a clue where to put them!

I suppose I ought to try and sell them but i've gotten kind of used to having them around now, unless someone else were to grow particularly partial to one of them of course...

 i'll do a proper Blog post about them soon + show you the process snaps of how I got from blank wooden board to finished piece!

AND i'm starting two more BIGGER paintings v soon, I haven't decided 100% what to paint yet but who am I kidding, we all know it'll be members of the Candy Doll Club.

so until next time, that's all folks!

One Year Later...

Hello again, wow i'm really starting to get back into this blogging malarkey, here's hoping the enthusiasm lasts! This one will be kind of a personal post but hey, I never said it would all be fun and games and delicious cakes! Before you start reading the rest I feel I should probably warn you that this post is rather heavy on the old parentheses. (enjoy)

Okay so yesterday morning I got a rather groovy email from a chap I haven't spoken to in over a year (hence the title of the post) but it's nothing overly dramatic or particularly too exciting (at least probably not to you, I mean obviously it is to me or I wouldn't be blogging about it would I) it's just that he bought some big ol' paintings from me last summer and wanted to send me an update on their current whereabouts.

For those of you that follow me on my various social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest (shameless plugs I know but this is a blog after all!) you might remember that around this time last year I was just wrapping up my BA degree in Fine Art and showing my work in the degree exhibition. 

Although I took a lot of progress shots for my degree file (and for Instagram) I was going through my prolonged 'no blogging' spell so I never actually documented the process on here. Obviously i'm not about to regale you with a whole start-to-finish essay about something I did a year ago, but I am going to at least explain a bit about what I did.

For my final pieces, I produced four large scale acrylic and posca paintings for the show on 1819 x 607mm (about 6 x 2 foot each) boards and in case you missed it last year, this is what they looked like up on the wall in the exhibition space.

 

The paintings were pretty big, a real pain in the patootie to move anywhere and even more fun to actually put up on the wall. But once they were up in the space they were kind of striking enough that people paused to look at them, which is all I could ask for really! If you can't quite visualise the sizes mentioned, here's a snap of one of the exhibition visitors gazing up in adoring wonder at one of the paintings (actually she's my friend Porscha but I did NOT pay her to pose for the photo, honest!).

Followed by the only photo of me with the paintings in existence, a slightly blurred farce of a photo. Unfortunately i'm blinking like a total moron in the pic, but ignore the fact that I look like a bewildered sloth and focus instead on the paintings in comparison to my height (i'm wearing heels by the way). Now you'll understand why they were such a chore to lug about and why they took me so ruddy long to paint (a full week on each board from start to finish in case you were wondering).

Well, since the degree show was held during the TT festival (more about that HERE) in a public space (a local shopping centre) we got all sorts of wonderful visitors from all over the world and as luck would have it, one afternoon I got a call saying that someone had been in to the exhibition requesting to buy my work.

Initially I didn't think much of this since i've had people ask to buy my work before and then I never hear from them again. I mean I was kind of attached the paintings at this point, i'd spent the last month huddled over my kitchen table slaving away at them night and day. I drank so much Red Bull through curly straws during the painting process that I now can't even look at a can without shuddering or immediately thinking of Lana Del Rey (her music set on repeat pretty much fueled the entire month of painting).

I'd coated aforementioned table in spatters of paint and for a solid month my flatmate couldn't actually use the table at all because it was so covered in pots of paint, brushes and massive flipping wooden boards! They were the biggest paintings i'd ever attempted and I wasn't even sure that I wanted to actually sell them. They were, and still are, incredibly personal pieces of work.

Then I began to realise that if I didn't sell them I would no doubt be stuck with them forever. Which means I would probably either damage them by accident or get really angry one night and set fire to one, or all, of them while screaming insults at the flames. 

I have a strange relationship with my work but these paintings were 'my girls' and however much I loved them (and I did) I knew it would be easier if they weren't cluttering up the place. I was undeniably flattered that someone had even momentarily considered buying my work so I got in touch with the prospective buyer and quickly realised that he was actually serious!

Obviously I was SUPER excited by this news, it's nice to know that someone likes your work enough to want to actually pay money for it! A few emails later and the deal was secured (as it were) and a few weeks after that, I shipped the paintings over to England and met the buyer off the boat (yes it was as thrilling as it sounds). Anyway, at the time when I sold the paintings I genuinely didn't know what was going to happen to them. The buyer said he planned to hang them in his house and that he'd send me a photo, but months went by and I had other things to think about so I just sort of began to forget about 'my girls'. 

The last time I saw them all together side by side was about a fortnight after the exhibition came down, stacked in my kitchen the day I packaged them up for their trip overseas. I bought a funk-load of parcel paper as well as 100m of bubble wrap (possibly the best purchase i've ever made in my life as there are literally hours of fun to be had with a roll of bubble wrap that is 100m long) and I carefully wrapped up the paintings ready to set sail for Heysham.

When we docked in England I met the guy that was buying the paintings and just over a month after i'd first set brush to board I handed them all over and they were no longer my responsibility. Which is probably a good thing since they'd have undoubtedly ended up stacked next to my fridge if i'd have kept them, or more likely plonked behind the sofa gathering dust.

Anyway since then I haven't thought much about them, like I said i've had other things to think about. But over the past few days i've found myself pondering over their sale and wondering whatever became of them in their new home in Cambridgeshire. Did they get put up in a house, did they get sold on, were they shoved away in a garage? So in true nosy-parker style I messaged the buyer just to try and find out what happened to them.

 Well as luck would have it, as I said at the start of the post (before I started wittering on uncontrollably) I received an email from the chap that bought them and he sent me this...

and this - "Hello Jade, I'm sorry that I never got around to sending you pictures before so here you go. As you can see they are hanging on the wall in my house. Have had no problems with them, they been very well behaved! I'm very fond of them and will not be selling them."

So now I know, and now YOU know as well. They're safe and sound in a hallway hanging above a staircase. Which is frankly pretty awesome to know! I like the idea of them keeping watch over the stairs, no doubt intimidating people with their candy coloured ferocity (at least I like to think that's what they do). It's kind of brilliant knowing that my paintings are still being displayed, now all I need to do is crack on and start painting some NEW ones.

 And on that sentimental note I think I shall draw this post to a close. Mostly because i've exhausted the '( )' buttons and I can't really think of anything else to say. Lucky you.

It's not really a great ending to a blog, it's not even a very good ending, but it's an ending all the same.

So until next time, that's all folks!

thanks for reading (or if you just looked at the pictures, thanks for that too)

bye for now... 

some new designs ★

so lately i've been a bit quiet again, i've been working on new stuff for college


(All images featured in this post belong to Jade Boylan© do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or trace ANY of her work without her express written consent. All Rights Reserved.)

these new designs are a bit of a mixed bunch! including...

some candy coloured bicycles!

i sold my bike a few years ago and kind of miss it, a lot! i always found bikes particularly tricky to draw when i was younger so i thought i'd have a new go at one or two ones now!

and somehow i ended up producing some funky 'his n hers' bikes

as well as those, i've also been working on two candy character pieces, featuring the Cupcake Princess

 and the Candy Floss Princess

i spotted an amazing Steampunk book in town the other day so after my somewhat failed Steampunk girls (see this post - News and Stuff ) i had a little go at a simple pocket watch instead

and then for some inexplicable reason, i drew a cuckoo clock and created this piece as well

unsurprisingly though, the clock was a lot of fun to draw! 

also, most of these designs are now available on iPhone cases via my Society6 shop 

* * *

in other news, my lovely little cousin Sienna came to stay over the weekend

as you can see, she got her face painted while we were out! it was painted by the lovely Torie at Imagination Station

anyway, once we got home we did lots of drawing and writing, Sienna also gave me a lovely biro tattoo...

other than that, we filled in colouring pages + a Hello Kitty sticker book, we even found some xmas crackers left over from Christmas!

and then there were the wigs... myself, my mum and Sienna spent a while trying them on and listening to music in the kitchen, here's the embarrassing proof!

obviously dyeing my hair blonde or pink permanently is the way forward! :D

* * *

that's it for now, i'm in college for the rest of the week but i have a very awesome Creative Café post to run so keep your eyes peeled for that!

also, in case you were wondering what had happened to the New Year giveaway, i'm saving it for the blogs 3rd birthday next month!

however, i'm only 20 followers away from reaching 1k on twitter! AND when i reach 1000, i'll be holding a special little 'EXCLUSIVE to Twitter' giveaway!!! you can 'follow' me here - @jadeboylan

so until next time, that's all folks... ◕‿◕ ★  xX

So long 2011... ★

well, it's been a funny old year hasn't it! Some ups, some downs and as my blog will tell you, lots of colour!

I figured that a little look back over the year was in order, i don't normally fuss too much with New Years stuff but this year i'll be home alone, cooped up watching TV all night so i thought, might be fun to have a look back at it all!

2011 has been kind of a busy year for me, i've been working as a freelance illustrator and designer for just about 3 years now but 2011 has been my busiest year ever commission wise!

i've also altered my work style a little bit this year. this time last year i could barely scan an image to edit digitally and now almost everything i do is digitally edited/coloured/finished whether it's based on a scanned drawing or is drawn directly into photoshop or illustrator.

i'm still in college, which is evident from a lot of my posts, shots of my messy college desk and board frequently pop up over the year, but running the blog as a student helps me tick off units for my course as well as being able to share some of the more mundane parts of my day with you all!

i've always been a fan of all things cute, girly and kawaii, but in 2011 my work went to whole new levels of sweetness (i think it has anyway!) and everywhere you look on my blog there are sweets, cupcakes, princesses and lots of pinks, blues and reds!

other than college, it's been a quiet year for me! from time to time i do like to post about my family and friends but although this has always been first and foremost a personal blog, i try to keep family posts to a minimum, however i hope the ones i have posted haven't been too tedious for you all!

it's been a fab year networking wise as well and i'm fortunate enough to have made many creative new friends via Twitter (mostly!) as well as lots of new clients and contacts. oh and thanks for the kind words, emails, tweets and comments from all of YOU over the year as well! 

time for a list! i love lists and to try and cheer myself up i thought a sort of '2011 achievements' list might be a good idea!

so, this year I have...

• gotten some of my pieces and merch stocked in a local shop here on the Isle of Man

• been included in an exhibition at the Isle Gallery at Tynwald Mills, with my artwork hung up the rest of my HND class from college as well as alongside some of the islands best artists, sculptors and photographers.

• completely re-designed my website (along with the help of a local web designer) and set up an Etsy shop to sell my handmade stuff + merch

• designed a winning t-shirt design for 'All Tropical'

• set up POD shops on RedBubble, Artflakes and Society 6 and sold lots of stickers, prints and t-shirts + nearly 60 iPhone cases! i don't who's been buying them but thanks all the same!

• designed quite a few logos, flyer, poster, banner and advert designs for various clients both local and international

• built up my paid commissions portfolio (and subsequently spent most of my commission fees on business cards, postcards, prints and merchandise... i may be addicted!)

• learnt a lot more about 'professional practice' + how to gain new clients and network with artists, galleries, collectives and shops.

so what are my plans for 2012 I hear you cry?

Well next year I intend to...

• finish my HND and get a move on with my last year of the BA at college so i can finally achieve my degree in Fine Art

• produce more' fine art' so that i actually live up to my course guidelines!

• finalise the characters and story for a little children's picture book or maybe even FINALLY finish the pages for 'Where's Charlie?'

• get more merchandise items featuring my work produced to sell in my online shop, in local shops + at local craft fairs

• learn to use my bamboo tablet and further develop my digital illustration skills and techniques using photoshop and illustrator

• learn to drive! 

and i think that's about it! if there's anything else... i've forgotten it so oh well!

thank you for visiting the blog, whether you stop by to read about my artwork, my boring life or even if you just check in to see the pictures i post, i'm glad that you visit at all so THANK YOU!!!

all i have to do now is wish all of YOU + all of my friends and family a very HAPPY NEW YEAR 

may 2012 bring you everything you wish for!

so until next year, i guess that's all folks... ◕‿◕ ★ xX