Sunday, October 26, 2008

Christmas Is Fast Approaching

This is the coloured version of my pen and ink drawing posted last week. It didn't take too long to colour either. Not sure why blogger is making it blurred. You may need to click on it for a larger version to see it better.
I love the old retro cloche hats of the 30s. I wish they were still popular today. These two are definitely over-the-top but I think the idea is ok.
This is just a quick fantasy drawing I did today. I love these colours and may use them for other pictures. This piece is entitled The Headdress.
This is another Christmas card design using the same tree I posted previously under a different guise. I am not too sure whether the gold star looks right but otherwise I think it is quite a pretty image. This is an actual London tree.
This is the finished Christmas card which I am using for my brother's cards this year. Quite minimal but wintry I hope.

Lovely contemporary image of deer by Caroline Gardner cards. Lovely modern palette.

This was a previous Christmas card from Caroline Gardner cards but far too nice to send to anyone...lol.

This is an Oxfam Christmas 2008 card. Not sure who the designer is but it is beautifully detailed and full of inspiration for those of us who love trees and leaves. Oxfam seem to have gone over to much more contemporary cards this year and I think the designs are a great improvement. I overheard one of the elderly ladies who serve behind the counter saying she hated them though. Still you cannot please everyone.
The following images are paintings by the English artist Clare Shepherd. You can find here website here.



















Christmas is getting ever closer and I have been on the lookout for new and interesting Christmas card designs. There was a time when I used to buy lots and lots of packets of cards, usually charity cards. But times is 'ard these days and now I only purchase the designs I cannot live without and leave the others on the shelves for wealthier members of the population. I find greetings cards on the whole to be extremely expensive, especially when you think that they cost mere pence to produce en masse. I don't mind if a decent amount of the profit goes to the charity concerned, but sometimes I wonder if that is the case. Why am I buying cards anyway, I can hear you thinking, when I have the means to produce my own. Don't ask. I think it is something to do with the grass being greener on the other side of the fence or perhaps other designers' images being better than mine.


Anyway, to cut a long story short, I have long admired Caroline Gardner cards and I have posted a couple with deer images. One is this year's and one is from a previous year but was too nice to send...hah hah. I don't think you can beat a nice coloured deer at Christmas. You might want to check out her website. She is another person who seems to revel in lots of lovely colours.


How many sketch books do you possess? I have a few and some of them have pristine pages. Why? Because I find it very difficult to sketch in a sketch book. I tend to sketch and draw on lots of odd bits of paper and old envelopes etc and then I may stick those in the sketch book. Alternatively, I will do my first sketch on rough paper and then produce a slightly better sketch in the sketch book. I find it nearly impossible to do a completely new sketch in the right place first time. I think it has to do with not wanting to mess up lovely white pages and also worrying about filling up the book too quickly as I produce a huge amount of sketches at a time. My brother's partner, Lesley, has just given me a lovely sketchbook with beautiful quality paper but this time I am determined to draw in the right place. Hmmm.... we'll see.


My featured artist this week is Clare Shepherd who is an English artist living in Dorset. She also enjoys teaching art. She has a wonderful colour sense and her paintings are very contemporary with lots of light and colour. She uses shapes to advantage and these veer slightly toward the abstract. Her work covers a very wide spectrum and on her beautiful website here you can find a huge quantity of artwork. I especially enjoy her landscapes of Dorset and Exmoor.

10 comments:

Sandy Mastroni said...

I love those hats from the thirties ... I've often thought the same thing ... wishing they were still in style
and YES I do the same thing , I draw on old envelopes and scraps of paper too .
or tracing paper and then I transfer it to good paper
I can't waste good paper either
I like your rooster card very much !

Cathy said...

Thanks Sandy. Glad to know I am not the only compulsive drawer on scruffy bits of old paper...lol Sometimes I use them to mark pages in books and then forget they are there. I wonder what the next person reading the library book thinks of my artwork...ha ha.

Gillian said...

I love all your drawings - especially the birds! Beautiful

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Gillian. Your work is lovely too. I have added you to my blogroll.

~ Phyllis ~ said...

Cathy,
I love the blue tree. I think the star is perfect. Thank you for posting all the beautiful, colorful pictures. Yes, indeed Christmas is just around the corner. The weather has turned cold here in Alabama. Burr! I wonder if we will have snow this year. It would be nice for Christmas.
As a result of reading your blog posts I have a new found appreciation for greeting cards. Thank you.

Cathy said...

Glad to have been of assistance Phyllis...lol. I must admit I can spend ages looking at displays of greetings cards. The trouble is I always buy the ones I love and then I don't want to part with them. Otherwise I have to buy two -one to send and one to keep.

suze said...

Hello Cathy...I wanted to thank you for your kind comments on my blog. Your art work is fantastic! Makes me want to get out my pen and ink supplies.

Laura said...

I have 6 sketch books/ journals. Some for doodles, sketches, sticking found things, water colours and one for lists! I love your first artwork in this post! The colours are so fresh and the tiny details :)

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Suze. I love your blog too.

Cathy said...

Thanks Laura. You do have your sketch books well organised. I will have to borrow a leaf out of your book - excuse the pun...lol.