A couple of weeks ago, my talented friend Della made these fabulous mugs, handed me a ceramic glazing pencil, and told me that I could draw anything I wanted on them. What a brilliant opportunity to try something new (thank you, Della).
Because the mugs are so deliciously quirky, I decided that the designs had to be quirky too and opted to decorate them with some of my little ‘Thank You’ stick figures. I took photos of the mugs and played around with size and placement possibilities in Affinity Photo (yes, that’s right, NOT Photoshop… but that’s a story for another day) before committing to drawing on the mugs with the special glazing pencil (see below). I’ll post more photos of the mugs once Della has glazed and fired them again. I can’t wait to see how they turn out.
Flinders Street Railway Station, Melbourne — ink and digital colour, 2016
“Drawing makes you look at the world more closely. It helps you to see what you’re looking at more clearly. Did you know that?”
I said nothing.
“What colour’s a blackbird?” she said.
“Black”
“Typical!”
Bamford (private commission) – acrylic on canvas, 150 x 305 mm, 2015
This small canvas was my last commission of 2015 ~ and it was a wonderful way to end the year. When I was asked to paint this version of my little stick figure illustration, I had no idea how it would look (given that the original figures were ink drawings on paper). I needn’t have worried. This painting now has pride of place on my new Commissions page.
Friday will be the third anniversary of my little blog. My, how time flies!
Three years ago, I graduated from Design and Arts College NZ with a Diploma in Communication Arts and Design (graphic design). I started this blog as a way of putting my student projects online ― and then I wondered what to do next:
‘The Great Job Hunt’ 2012 (click on image to embiggen)
There were graphic design jobs (logos, business cards, posters), a couple of research projects (when I considered becoming a children’s book illustrator), and I even entered a few design competitions (which I didn’t win):
Love the shape you’re in – mixed media, poster design competition, 2012Lilac Wolf NZ – mixed media, logo design competition, 2012
Nothing motivated me quite like my blog, though, to experiment and really explore my options. In particular, there were the ‘Shoot it, Sketch it’ posts…
Straven Road photograph with ‘tilt shift’ effect – Christchurch, 2013A letter to my teenage self, 2012
Two years ago, I started getting more serious about painting. I taught myself about underpainting and painted on canvas for the first time:
The colour of snow – underpainting and final painting, 2013
I began my ‘In the Style of…’ posts and was inspired by some of my favourite artists and illustrators to experiment and see things differently:
Gold – acrylic on paper, 2013. Inspired by André François.Tram – ink and digital, 2013. Inspired by Fougasse.
I was thrilled when, out of the blue, I got my first commission…
Peonies triptych – acrylic on canvas, 2013
…and over the moon when someone asked to buy one of my ‘Shoot it, Sketch it’ paintings:
Sparkle and shine – acrylic on canvas, 2013
About a year ago, I opened my Etsy shop… and sold my first painting online!
Redwoods – acrylic on canvas, 2013
2014 was also, rather astonishingly, the year I passed the ‘1000 followers’ milestone on WordPress:
Thank You, 1000 followers, 2014
Since then, it’s been more of the same, really ― I’ve painted and sketched, posted ‘Wordless Wednesday’ photographs and inspirational quotes, I participated in my first craft market late last year…
Art and crafts mini market, Christmas 2014
…and I’m still happily working from home as a graphic designer:
Cashmere Road Studio Flat, business card design, 2014
Phew!
Now I’m getting ready for my first big (proper big) art show… but I’ll tell you more about that next week. Thanks for reading : )
The brief was to design a business card to advertise a self-contained studio flat for rent in Cashmere, one of Christchurch’s prettiest suburbs. The flat is separated from the main property by a fabulous wrought iron gate. I was asked to make this gate the main feature of the design.
One of my photographs of the property.
For the curious, this is what the gate and geranium sketch looked like prior to adding the red and green watercolours (painted, scanned and edited) in Photoshop:
And for those wanting to visit Christchurch and stay in a beautiful location with friendly hosts, here is the link to the Cashmere Road Studio Flat.
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 