Altered Clothes

When I was a kid I remember my mum telling me not to tell anyone about my plans before I'd finished, because if I didn't end up doing it or it didn't work people would know and I'd look silly. Well-meaning advice to be sure, but not entirely encouraging. I've certainly inherited some of her self-conscious caution and it stops me from doing a lot of things. I can be afraid to start a project because it might fail and I can't look forward to doing it anymore. And even if I haven't told a single person about it, I still know about it. I witnessed the discouraging failure. That alone can be bad enough.

But even so, I'm starting to push through this rather destructive mindset. Recently I've been reading through the blog of a talented seamstress called Jillian at Refashionista. She takes frumpy, ripped, discoloured or unwanted thrift store finds and alters them so they look like new. I've always liked fabrics - especially the quirky prints you can find in thrift shops. I'm not much of a sewer myself, so I never really considered doing a revamp of something I wouldn't otherwise wear until I saw the projects on her website. Sometimes just taking up the hem and shortening the sleeves is enough to entirely change the look of a dress. 

Here is one of my favourite Refashionista dresses, the Swagger Dress. Go and check out her blog, it's fantastic.

"Swagger Dress" by Refashionista, December 2011, www.refashionista.net

Now that I've seen these kind of alterations, I know it can be done. And if it can be done, then I can do it. I'm going to try making my own clothes. My brother has kindly donated a couple of his old shirts (one black and one purple). I even own a sewing machine. No more excuses. And I'm telling someone (even as vaguely as telling 'The Internet') because I know if I try to back out of it I'll look silly. Maybe that's the point my mum was trying to get across.

If you're going to do something, do it. Don't get lazy. Don't talk yourself out of trying. Don't give up until you've done what you set out to do.

The Forgotten Cow

I'm actually really excited right now. I'm finally biting the bullet and putting scrapbooking papers and clipart into my Etsy store. While going through my art folders (which are extensive and messy) I came across this little gem which I'd entirely forgotten about.

"The Forgotten Cow", Digital, September 2011

Over a whole year ago I drew this cow and a brown compatriot. I'll have to draw another to make a nice set of three. I really love finding old art that you still like. It's encouraging to think you won't shudder to look at your current work 12 months from now (maybe 10 years from now, if my early stuff is anything to go by, but I dunno).

I'd like to print this one out to use as wallart. Would look great with an emerald green scrapbook pattern behind her. My previous interior design efforts have been propped up against my desk since the stick-on-wall-hook debarcle (read: those crappy stick on hooks fell off and dropped my artwork on the floor). Who knew a company famous for sticky notes might use glues that aren't really suitable for holding things on walls long term? Maybe I should get some real hooks on the wall above my bed so I can be sure my new decorative pieces won't fall on my head while I'm sleeping. Just a thought.

Anyway, pleased with my cow, and will hopefully have a link to my newly restocked Etsy shop soon.

Walking Cat

This is a photomanipulation from last year. I was using my phone to take photos of my friend's sister's cat (read: being an oddball) and I thought this one had interesting composition. The problem was, the cat was walking quickly in a dimly lit room at the time and the picture was blurred. After playing a bit in Photoshop, I got this posterised, slightly abstract version which I quite like. Playing with the saturation had some interesting effects too, considering this was a cream coloured cat on cream coloured carpet.

"Walking Cat", Photomanipulation, April 2012

Wow, didn't realise I made this so long ago until I checked the date on the file. My art endevours really were quite  sporadic last year. At least now I have my blog to keep me on track. That is, if I have something new to post before another week has flown by. I've been working on abstracts for scrapbooking papers again today, and though I love them, I don't know if I want a huge streak of blog posts devoted to them.

Maybe I should colour that beagle I sketched yesterday...

Foray Into Scrapbooking Papers

I put together a few scrapbooking papers the other day. I'm trying to figure out what would be better - packs with assorted prints in 2-3 colours or packs with few similar prints in a rainbow of colourschemes. I guess both would be useful to different crafters, but I find the multicoloured packs look messy and cluttered with so many colours, even though each individual sheet looks nice on its own.

This is a damask paper from my green/purple collection. Still putting the rest together, but I think this one is rather snazzy. Might print it out to decorate my phone case.

Sorry for the watermark in the middle, but I'm thinking of selling digital copies of these papers and wouldn't want people pinching them for free. I'll probably offer free sample papers and clipart on this blog later when the packs have been finished.

Butterfly Cataclysm

This is an abstract piece I created late last year. I wanted to see if I could make a long symmetrical mandala image by fusing smaller abstracts. It reminds me both of butterflies...and explosions. Hence the title.

"Butterfly Cataclysm", Pen and Coloured Pencil, November 2012

I should probably post more of my abstracts on here. I'm thinking of doing one of those "One Per Day for 365 Days" projects, but I'm guessing they would all just end up as simple abstracts and wouldn't teach me much. I'd rather work on making my work more complex and detailed rather than give myself a reason to rush though it.

Charlie and Lily

So glad to have this one finished. I've been working on it since before Christmas, but couldn't quite get it how I wanted. This is one of my few forays into using acrylic paint and canvas. Paint really isn't my medium - too messy, too hard to control. I've seen such pretty effects, some lovely glowing, luminescent backgrounds done by some very talented painters. However, that particular effect illudes me, and when I can achieve that so much easier with Photoshop I'm not going to worry about it for now.

"Charlie and Lily", Coloured Pencil and Acrylic, December 2012

The cats in this picture are Charlie and Lily. I drew them for a friend for a Christmas present, which is why I spent so long tinkering with it to make sure it looked right. In the end, I made some colourful collage elements using coloured pencil and glued them on to the background to lighten it up. The cats themselves are also drawn with felt tip pen and coloured pencil.

I might redraw this digitally in future, just to see the difference in style it makes. Will definitely have more background pattern/texture options that way. Either way, Merry Extrodinarily Unbearably Late Christmas, Becky. I hope you like it.

Poppies (Also, My Lack of Botanical Knowledge)

More from my series of Valentines flowers. This time, I've drawn some poppies. Well, I'm calling them poppies anyway. The references I was using weren't poppies but I don't know what they actually are, so poppies it is.

"Not Poppies", Photoshop, January 2013

They were originally yellow, but I think I like the red more. Not enough to get rid of the yellow version, just enough to be very slightly indecisive and annoying about it. Again, if you'd like a print of this image, feel free to ask about it.