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...

Buzz Buzz

Hello dearhearts, back again. It seems like I might be able to churn out a post every fortnight, so for now i'll try and stick to that. As per usual not much has happened over the past few weeks, I really don't do much or go anywhere anymore.

So instead it's another post debuting my latest illustration. And yes you guessed it, it's another Candy Doll, so without any further ado, here she is...

Oh honey honey! She sure was fun to work on, i've spent the past few evenings (and some of the days) finalising the colours and I think i'm about as content with it all as i'll ever be. I'm also fairly sure that her hair turned out this way because it's how i secretly want my hair to look! Pink fading into Blue = BEST!

And only one tattoo! Initially the plan was to cover her arms in inked sleeves but by the time all the colours and patterns were down it was looking a bit busy so I thought this girl didn't need the tattoos creeping up and down her wrists, so she just has the one, a quote by Victor Hugo - "Life is the flower for which love is the honey.”

She's also a lot brighter than most of the recent girls, the first colour draft had her in pastel rainbow shades with frosted pink lipstick. But once I altered the hair colour I knew she was going to have to be decked out in bolder hues than candy pastels.

recently people have asked me why my Candy Doll girls always have the same or really similar expression on their faces and the answer is kind of simple, A) artist laziness, it's easier to duplicate the same face over and over again than to keep coming up with new ones, B) it keeps them looking similar and part of a series, which is the whole point really.

The idea is that they're this bunch of anonymous girls, different but with similar intimidating stares regardless of their hair, skin or outfit colours. They stare out at whoever is looking at them, so sometimes the easiest way to get that across is to keep the face the same (or barely different) for each girl. 

It's also because my method of working has changed a lot since I first started drawing the Candy Dolls (in 2012) back then I would draw the entire lineart on paper then scan it in and alter it in Photoshop and Illustrator, now I still start with a pencil sketch but it's usually just spaced out bits and pieces on a sheet of A4 and I often don't know what i'll use it for until I actually start working on it. At which point i'll add in all the necessary elements until I have a finished piece.

For example, (sorry if you're not interested because I'm going to explain it anyway!) the latest illustration was almost entirely drawn in photoshop using the trackpad on my macbook, the only part I drew on paper was the hands and wrists, the scan of which sat on my desktop for over a month before I randomly starting adding to it last Friday evening.

Here is the image I spotted on pinterest that originally inspired the piece + the lineart I drew and scanned in next to it on the left.

So as you can see I didn't really have much to work with to begin with, I just knew that I wanted to draw a girl holding up a frame, peering through the gap. So when I finally started adding in a body shape, a face and a cascade of hair, I didn't know what the theme would be. It wasn't until I drew in stripes for the skirt (to make a rainbow) that I thought about bumblebees. Ironic for someone who has a massive fear of bees and wasps and doesn't like the taste of honey!

Regardless, I added in some flowers to mask the frame and it seemed to work so I tried out the honeycomb pattern and this is how she ended up. I also spend an inordinate amount of my time in the early hours of the morning reading stuff on Buzzfeed so who knows, maybe it subliminally left the word 'buzz' flying around my mind.

As you can see the end lineart is dramatically different to the original sketch/scan. I like seeing what i can accomplish on a computer though, it makes me feel slightly less troubled by my crappy real-life drawing skills! I mean i'm still drawing the illustration, just not with an actual physical pen or pencil.

But that's just how I work now, i've always been a clumsy drawer and I find it easier to get a neater line on my macbook than on paper with pencil and pen. I've tried using drawing tablets but I can't get as good an effect with those as I can with my trackpad. It's probably just my stubbornness to change, hopefully one day i'll find it easier to draw looser and messier, i'd love to have a go at a comic but it would take me even longer in my usual drawing style.

Anyway she's now available in my Society6 shop on tees and bags and cases and stuff + there's currently Free Worldwide Shipping on all the cool stuff in my Society6 shop for the rest of the day!

So what else has been happening, well like I said at the start, not much. Oh but I was nominated for the Ice Bucket Challenge by Mama Boylan, which I dutifully did, here's proof of my drenching! i can confirm that there was half a bag of ice in the water which came from the garden hose, brrrrr!

I also took the opportunity to donate to ALS and the MND Association (for the UK). I know it's a gimmicky thing to do the challenge but it's for a really good cause that's increasing awareness of the disease and it's amazing how much money has been raised so far to help with research and people living with the disease.

the only other thing of any note was that I got 8 new books last week, and new books are always cause for excitement in my world! I've already read 4 of them so I should probably save the other 4 for my trip to Coventry this week. I can't wait to see my family over there. It will be nice to get away for a bit, if only for a few days.

Here's a snap of the bookstack on my desk.

Speaking of my desk, it's getting a bit out of hand! I keep rearranging it but the 'things' are beginning to stack up into dizzying towers of clutter, I think i'll have to invest in a new (and much bigger) desk soon!

Although I still managed to find room for this little fella, Norman the novelty Cactus, such a dapper chap!Seriously i cannot begin to convey how excited i was when i spotted this freaking cactus while shopping in town. It's a cactus wearing sunglasses. it has a moustache and a party parasol. it is BRILLIANT!

Ok well y'all can probably expect a post during my stay in Coventry or one once I get back to the island, either way I will hopefully find something to post about over the next couple of weeks. I'll no doubt be posting a heap of pictures to my Instagram feed while i'm away, it's probably where I post stuff the most, so if you want to keep up with me on my trip then I suggest you go click 'Follow'.


Alrighty then, time for me to shut up.

So until next time, thanks for stopping by!

May Drawing Challenge - Day 8

hi folks, the theme for today was 'a stickman with a blue balloon' so here's what i doodled...

obviously it was going to be kind of simple what with being a 'stickman' and all :)

my friend Jennie had a go at the theme while we were at college so i thought i'd share hers as well since it was so cute...

and until tomorrow, that's all folks... xX

plushies and stuff ★

so over the past few days i've been jumping back and forth between commissions and college work, so far it's not been going too much to plan since i keep going back to my commissions! (well... college doesn't pay me to draw does it!!!)

anyway, i've also been extra EXTRA distracted by some stuff that arrived in the post.

i've decided that when i make and sell my little handmade plushie necklace charms, i want to send them off to their new owners in as sweet a way as possible so i've invested in some little sparkly gift pouches + funky tags featuring my illustrations

and voila! these are the ones i had a go at today at college, (we had a great lecture from Juan Moore this afternoon but i did these in the break)

i chose purple for the bags since it's girly and bright + most of what i make is pink so pink bags might have been overkill! and as for the tags... well they're just a candy coloured rainbow of fun!

+ i think they work quite well with the little bags, the organza pouches are sheer enough for you to see the colours of the cupcake charms so the tags help spread the colourfulness!

* * *

lately i've been having a go at a little bit of sewing. however it seems that i really need to practice getting back into it because i can't seem to make anything properly anymore!

here are my 3 latest creations...

and for some inexplicable reason, in the small hours of Tuesday morning i made these 3 little palm sized creatures....

 there's a bunny, a cat and a dog... although whether they actually look like the animals they're supposed to be is debatable...

they kind of suck... i'm still not very good on the sewing machine! for some reason i can only make stuff neatly when i stitch it all by hand!

* * *

i promised i'd share a picture of my college work space so here you go

this is how my desk board is looking so far this year...

a bit different from last years pinup fest but colourful nonetheless! 


there's some local inspiration up there as well though, with postcards and business cards featuring the work of Manx artists Adam Berry, Karen Tomlinson and Juan Moore + stuff from some of my fave British illustrators, Lauren Child, John Tenniel and Sarah McIntyre.

* * *

not much else to report on for now my lovelies, but i have a funky new creative café feature to run at some point over the weekend so look out for that!

and until then, i guess that's all folks... ◕‿◕ ★ xX

PS - have you spotted the new 'grab code' banners yet??? there's 2 to pick from at the moment and they're in the sidebar up near the top underneath my 'about me' section, so feel free to pick one and add it to your blog reel or sidebar :D

ribbon rosettes and Pepe Lapin ♥

Hello there sweeties!

Right so . . . I did it again didn't I! disappeared for a few days etc etc

But like always I have a very good excuse

i've been busy making some more ribbon rosettes. I think i've moved on from the ribbon flowers since they don't really sit right (and they kill my brain a lot) but these three were bespoke orders from a lady on Twitter who asked for ones in green, pink and purple.

I just hope she likes them!!!

but that's not all i've been up to because you see, on Thursday I popped into Ramsey in the afternoon to quickly meet two friends and they had a big bag of crafty goodies for me including a lovely plushie making kit they wanted me to test out

so obviously I did as I was told! It's a gorgeous kit that teaches you how to make 2 lovely little rabbit plushies called Pepe and Sophie

you get all the materials you need to make the rabbits, everything except a needle and stuffing (which I already had on hand . . . unsurprisingly!)

for now i've just made Pepe and I will attempt to make Sophie in a week or two when i'm a little less busy!

it took me about 2 days to make him but he's all finished now so here's you go, meet Pepe

* * *

so what else?

well my new business cards arrived yesterday . . .

I know I KNOW! I seem to spend far too much time (and money) getting new fancy cards printed out but I couldn't resist these little round edges beauties 

+ believe it or not but the first lot I ordered last month are already dwindling a bit, i've still got plenty of the mini cards left but the business cards seem to be vanishing into thin air!

Look looook though! Some new designs

+ lots of new pretty little stickers

I have no immediate plans to get more business cards or anything of that sort but you know me . . . I have some weird obsession with them, apparently!

* * *

in other news . . . as I may have mentioned lately I have a busy busy busy couple of weeks ahead of me

but more importantly . . . check out my new desk!!!!

I finaaaally have a desk in my room, ok so it's actually an old kitchen table but I don't care, as far as i'm concerned it's a super duper desk meaning that I don't have to leave all my arty junk all over my bed

+ it means i have a gorrrgeous view to glance out at every day while i'm working

it also means I won't have to keep sleeping in the spare room due to aforementioned stuff covering MY own bed because now i can just leave it all on the desk

long live the desk!

* * *

there's yet another Bank Holiday tomorrow since it's May Day so i'm heading back to college on Tuesday to beg my tutors to let me spend the next few weeks making things

Good Friday, Easter Monday, the Royal Wedding and May Day = 4 bank holidays in 2 weeks . . . we Brits sure are lucky!!!

ok well i'm off to keep making stuff now

that's all folks xX ◕‿◕ ★