Truly Outrageous ♥

hey dolls! I'm back AGAIN! what's going on?! two blog posts in one week!!! EXCITING!

anyway I have some new stuff to share with you all. I've been working on commissions and other projects recently so it has been a while since I drew a new member of the Candy Doll Club. But I got a day off last week so I started doodling and the next thing I knew it was 2am and I'd finally cleaned up the linework enough to start adding colour.

 this was the result...

now if you grew up in the eighties or early nineties you might remember the animated show Jem and the Holograms. Personally I LOVED it! Mainly because of the wacky outfits and candy coloured hairstyles, but also the cheesy songs and general air of Girl Power that the show was all about.



well a few months ago someone left a comment on my Instagram asking if i'd ever do a Jem fanart. My first thought was ABSOLUTELY YES, but then I sort of forgot about it and drew other stuff instead. So this week I started drawing a girl in denim shorts and a leather jacket, gave her some retro styled hair and it wasn't until I began adding colour that she magically transformed into Jem aka Jerrica Benton before my eyes!

So as you can probably tell, my take on Jem is a little different to the original cartoon. For a start mine's a bit curvier and gone is the 80's hair, with some retro candy pink curls and a ribbon bow instead. The make-up is pretty much the same + she's still wearing her hologram projector earrings.

This doll doesn't have any visible tattoos, mainly because her arms are covered. Oh and if you're wondering what's going on with her super bright outfit,  the wacky pastel leather jacket is actually based on a real one that I always see online and secretly LOVE! I'd never be able to wear it myself but I like the sweet sugary colours so it definitely inspired this Candy Doll's retro style!

the original jacket via DOLLS KILL

my version of the jacket

 Naturally she's showing off her band with a 'Jem' crop top! I like to draw women of all shapes and sizes but I do sometimes come under flack online from people accusing me of only drawing 'skinny girls'. First of all, I draw skinny girls AND curvy girls, I don't always have a specific plan in mind when I sit down to draw so sometimes they might turn out skinny sometimes not, it all depends on how the image develops in my mind. When I drew the lineart for this I didn't know it was going to end up a Jem fanart piece. It was fun to draw a girl with more curves but it wasn't until I added colour that I realised it reminded me so much of 'Jem and the Holograms' that it couldn't be anyone else!

now 'my' Jem is inspired by the cartoon I watched as a child, but if you're a fan of it as well then you'll probably know that there's also a Live Action 'Jem and the Holograms' movie coming out later this month. Now I haven't seen it yet, obviously, but I didn't really want to base my drawing off the trailers for it...

so instead it's a sort of mix of the original cartoon AND the amazing comic series brought out earlier this year! The artwork is BRILLIANT and so are the stories, it's a new take on the classic series but also a whole new take on the characters. Definitely worth a read if you're into comics, especially ones about kick-ass female characters. Read more about the comics HERE.

so yeah, there you have it. Another new Candy Doll and fanart piece. I'm not sure what i'll draw next, I kind of want to try a few more fanarts based on some of my fave female characters so we'll see!

and on that note i'll sign off. I just got home from another lovely Christening (the cake was AMAZING) but I didn't eat much (other than cake) and i'm pecking so i'm going to rustle up some dinner.

until next time, thanks for reading, come and visit again soon!

Candy Girl

Hello dearhearts! If you read the last post then you'll know i've been away for a week. I actually got back last Wednesday evening but i've been verrrrrry busy trying to organize my room (and my life) as well as attempting a massive clear-out of old stuff I no longer need!

Anyway it's taken me since then to think up a new blog post + to conjure up another new member of the Candy Doll Club... sort of

here she is

i know, i know... she's tooth achingly sweet! What did you expect?!

now when I say 'new' what I mean is 'reworked', since this one is technically a re-working of an old Xmas Candy Doll illustration I completed last December.

Back when I drew the lineart (and yes, I did DRAW most of this one on paper first) I couldn't think of a theme or colour palette for her so I ended up coming up with the Candy Cane polka dotted madness that you can see above.

So yesterday evening I was scrolling through some old illustrations and I thought about how much I liked the pose so wouldn't it be fun to turn her into a proper CANDY girl?!

So I did.

For this radical redesign, I was actually inspired by v brilliant French Blogger and style maven extraordinaire Katia aka LazyKat

I've followed (in a non stalkerish sense) most of her online profiles for a few years now (her Instagram is particularly epic - iamlazykat) and i'm always amazed by and insanely jealous of her pastel pretty style and very gorgeous (and highly enviable) wardrobe of clothes and accessories!

She always posts fabulously put together outfits and she's basically a real live human version of a 'Candy Doll'!

As well as being an all round Pastel Babe, Kat also has heaps of candy cute tattoos including a few My Little Pony ones, hence why the latest illustrated member of the Candy Doll Club has her two fave Ponies on her arms + another on her shirt.

And i chose My Little Pony because come on... who doesn't love some classic My Little Pony?!i grew up with stacks of the toys (i've probably got some up in the attic still) and i used to love watching the cartoons on TV.

so BIG thanks for the pastel inspiration Kat! merci beaucoup, tu es magnifique!

* * *

in other slightly less colourful news, i had a WONDERFUL time away visiting family in Coventry, a really lovely week which included a particularly laughter filled visit to Leamington with my two darling nieces Madison and Daisy

i managed to snap this pic of them in a Fancy Dress shop, they always cheer me up no matter what!

and... i can't think of anything else to talk about so that'll have to do for now!

so until next time, whenever that may be, cheerio and thanks for reading!

Colours and Crayons ♥

i wasn't planning on doing a post today but then Mike told me he was writing a new post... so how could i not do one as well!!! 


his post was actually pretty interesting, i'm not much of a Photography nerd (like i am when it comes to Art History... ah i'm a nerd, so shoot me!) but i still like learning about new photographers almost as much as i like learning about new artists. 


anyway, it was a good post, well done Clarkey - 50 photographers of tomorrow.


another gloomy day today really, i'm still ill... you know, just for a change! ah but... it is also my darling little niece's 10th Birthday today! yaaaay!!! so i would like to give her a special shout out and wish my gorgeous niece Daisy, a very super duper Happy Birthday. 

in other news... i was browsing some random blogs today (you know... as you do) and i saw this amazing little picture of some hand carved wax crayons by super duper Vietnamese born artist Diem Chau. 

aren't they amazing! so detailled, such a clever idea as well! 

i've always adored wax crayons, there's something about them that automatically takes me back to my childhood. i'm sure it's the same for most people. for me wax crayons conjure up art lessons in reception class (aged 4) scrawling marks that were supposed to resemble trees and flowers but in fact looked more like rainbow vomit on paper...

ah good memories! i was always naughty though... i used to deliberately snap my wax crayons (well it was ridiculously easy to break them) or rip the paper labels off them. though of course... the worst thing was when i worked out that heat... melted the crayons! 

cue my mum and dad finding hideously melted multicoloured streaks of wax crayons on pretty much every radiator in the house! it fascinated me! the way the heat of the radiator could melt the crayons right before my eyes! come on... to a 5 year old THAT is verrrry cool!

suffice to say... i wasn't allowed wax crayons after that! at least not at home...

didn't stop me luuurving them though! in fact i'm going to have to get myself a box of them i think! anyway, after seeing the image above it made me wonder... there must be other 'crayon carvers; out there, so i did some research...

now this truly INCREDIBLE set of carved wax crayons is by a guy called Pete Goldlust. he's also a sculptor and painter but it was his crayon carving skills that really grabbed my attention. aren't they fabulous! check out his website here for more examples of his awesome work - Pete Goldlust

they're just SO intricately detailled! the spiral one is definitely my favourite! very, verrry magnifique! 

then i also found these marvellous little crayon sculptures by... Diem Chau (again). now if i thought the little totem pole style carvings were good... these are just truly gorgeous! these tiny little figures are so, soooo cute!

aren't they just darling! i'm tempted to buy a box of them myself! 

or maybe not... 

these easily destroyed wax crayon sculptures created with a deft hand and a carving knife can cost up to (and beyond) $199 each!!! but they are adorable! and rather super duper i must say!

Diem Chau is clearly one very super duper and genius lady! check out her gorgeous website here - Diem Chau 

check out her truly adorable little miniatures as well (the origami table one is my favourite)  

and that's it really, i guess the point of this crayon ramble is that... crayons make me happy! 

why?! because they remind me of a time when i didn't have to worry about college logbooks and commissions and the scary SCARY future! 

a time when the only thing i ever had to dread was having to visit the dentist (i still dread that) or being poorly enough to need a spoon of calpol... 

ah childhood, where did you go? 

COME BACK!!!!!!!!! 

.............please?!

and on that highly nostalgic and amusing note, i shall bid you all adieu!

that's all folks...

◕‿◕ ♥ xX