Pretty Embroidery

 

Happy Easter Sunday, everyone!

A month or so ago,  I came across a wonderful speed-painting (cookie-decorating) video by a lady who goes by the online alias of Mezesmanna (her Instagram is here) - she paints with royal icing onto gingerbread 'canvasses', and her traditional Hungarian-inspired ones are simply incredible! These days, a lot of my creative output is needlework-based, so I was inspired to do some studies of Hungarian embroidery using watercolour paint on card. I still had a bunch of flowers in a vase on the dining room table from my birthday, so I did some studies from those, too. I'd love to get out some graph paper and turn some of the paintings into cross-stitch patterns.

The embroidery uses lovely bright colours, but they look really sweet toned-down, too. The shapes used are so simple but fit together so well, the overall pattern is detailed and intricate - I could sit and Google-search these embroideries all day!

Mezesmanna's Instagram is here, and her YouTube channel is here - you can also follow her on Facebook. A really interesting site on Hungarian embroidery is Folk Art Hungary - take a look!

FEATURE: Florrie Clarke

Today, I'm going to feature a very lovely and talented artist: Florrie Clarke.

Florrie is a personal friend of mine (we met at stage school years ago, then met again about three or four years later when she joined our local Lolita fashion community!) and while her main blog Intrinsically Florrie is quite well-known, I'd like to draw attention to her beautiful artwork.

This second one has to be my favourite - everything from the colour scheme to composition is really beautiful. Florrie was a debutante in the 2010 London Season, and was inspired by the beauty in the clothing and jewellery, as all the ladies prepared for the Queen Charlotte's Ball.

I really want to try painting with oils one day (it's a bit of an issue right now thanks to space), and this is partly thanks to Florrie's beautiful work. Be sure to swing by her Tumblr or her main blog and check out more of her work, particularly if you're into fashion and photography! If you're ever near Stafford, England, also drop by the R N Clarke Fine Art Gallery - Florrie's work is exhibited alongside her father's, and it's well worth a visit.

Links:

Intrinsically Florrie - especially for fashion and photography fans!

Art Tumblr

R N Clarke Fine Art Gallery

All images in this post are © Florrie Clarke, 2013.

Mother's Day - Vintage Cards

It's a coincidence - I finally got a chance to scan these tonight, and there's no better time to share them! My grandmother and I are currently spring-cleaning her house, and last week she was going to recycle a lot of the old cards she'd received on various occasions. As I love vintage paintings and illustrations, and am researching old postcards/greetings cards for my current project, I asked if I could keep a few, and the ones that I kept were mainly congratulatory cards for the birth of my aunt, two uncles, and my mum. Sadly I do not know of the artists - there aren't any signatures on the illustrations nor details on the back of the cards as far as I can tell, but if anyone does recognise them or know how to find out let me know in the comments!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mums, and to my own lovely mum :)

I really love all the rich colours and attention to detail - I really hope to get some of this in my own work for the upcoming degree show!

REVIEW: The Mad Art of Caricature by Tom Richmond

So, on the 7th May, I received something rather wonderful in the post. I'd take photos before unwrapping it but I was too busy ripping the envelope open while running up the stairs to my flat. There's nine flights of stairs. Yeah, I was pretty excited.

This little beauty is The Mad Art of Caricature, by MAD artist Tom Richmond. He's someone I really admire - I've been reading his blogs for a good few years, and keeping up with what he does. As soon as I found out how to take a subscription out to MAD from the UK, I did - it's one of those magazines I'd adore to work for, one day.

The book is illustrated with lots of examples, and Tom goes into a lot of detail about what should go into a caricature: the structure of the face, the personality of the "victim" and the context. It makes for some very interesting reading, and a good book to refer back to again and again. If you think this is something you might be interested in, Tom has some tutorials on his site. You won't regret taking a look - his work is brilliant and his explanations are easily understandable and informative. 

This was the icing on the cake. I had it signed along with my very own Alfred drawing!!

And finally, I'll end it with this: good advice for anybody at any point in their art career:

Links of interest:
MAD Magazine
Richmond Illustration Inc.
Order the book here

FEATURE: Morten Morland

This month has been extremely busy, and it's been quite taxing on me. I really need to kick myself back into shape (mainly physically - Easter is like Christmas in that it is a "time to indulge" in all manner of Naughty Food™, and has given me a bit of a podgy tummy, but there's some mental kicking as well). Literally kicking myself doesn't do much good, I've found, but I digress.

When feeling a little low or lacking in inspiration (which unfortunately has happened recently), nothing cheers me up further than looking at funny illustrations. Not only does it make me laugh, I also hope to do something like it when I graduate so it also gives me a lift and some encouragement. One of the illustrators I'm highly influenced by is Times cartoonist (and very nice guy) Morten Morland.

I really love the use of lines and typography. The colour here is relatively simple, but it's the lines that really carry the piece off. As someone who also really likes to emphasise on lines, this jumps out at me straight away.

I just laugh every time I look at this one.

I also really like the emphasis Morten puts on facial expression, yet none of the caricatures lose their identities. I especially love the ecstatic Obama jumping for joy and Cameron throwing himself into his musical performance above - it's really worth checking out Morten's animated sketches (if you'll mind the pun). The great thing about cartoons is that you can make them do anything and really have fun with the settings and colours and humour, and the cartoonists I enjoy studying really revel in this. Makes it all the more fun and motivating to study! Morten was also very kind and helpful with answering a few of the questions I had on working in the industry, which makes me even more determined to succeed. Many thanks!

If you'd like to see some more of Morten's work, here are a couple of links:

Portfolio Website - MorlandCartoon

YouTube channel - MortyDraw

Wordpress

Twitter

All images in this post are © Morten Morland, 2012.

FEATURE: Steve Bell

I've been getting back into the swing of things at university this week, so this feature is here rather late - however, it's good timing, as I'm looking at this term's brief (editorial illustration) through a more humorous light. Today's feature is Steve Bell, a prominent political cartoonist here in the UK. His style inspires me, both in its humour and use of media, and is always a source of great laughter.

(This week I also managed to pick up a copy of If ... Bursts Out, and it does not disappoint.)

The use of traditional media just adds to the cartoony style Bell uses - it's detailed yet has a great texture to it. Even on the occasion I might not get a political cartoon at first sight, I always catch myself examining the details whether it's background jokes, the artist's style of caricature, or media techniques.

An interesting series to check out is Bell's sketchbook videos on the Guardian's website - not only do you see the process from blank page to fully-coloured cartoon, but you learn a little bit about the artist himself and his way of working. A must-watch for anyone who is thinking of going into political illustration or caricature, it's very informative.

To wrap up this feature, I leave you with this: Bell's answer to "what do cartoons mean to you?" - and I totally agree.

Steve Bell's main website, Belltoons, is here:
http://www.belltoons.co.uk/

His Guardian profile, where his most recent cartoons are published online, is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/stevebell




The images in this post are ©Copyright Steve Bell 2011- All Rights Reserved.

FEATURE: Paul Kenton

I've been meaning to write this post for a while, especially as when I first saw these paintings - in the ICC, in Birmingham - I was completely taken in. The free flowing lines to the shining paint, to the sheer energy coming from the canvas just enthralled me. If a painting can be 'delicious', these would be top of the menu.

Enough of my waxing lyrical - let's look at the goodies.

I love how the various painting techniques are used here to create a bustling city. The smudges of yellow and red just give out all of this energy, and the intricate, well-placed lines forming the stationary buildings just emphasise it.

This one - Piccadilly - is my absolute favourite. There's something warm and comforting about it, yet I think of it as set towards the end of summer where there's that slight chill in the air that warns you of the colder months. The light and yellow tones contrasting with the blue sky and dark lines (as well as the reflections of the passers-by - he notes in the influences section of his website how the interaction of water and light fascinates him) make this piece amazing.


What are you listening to me yammering for? If his work is at a gallery near yours, go see it!

His main website is here:
http://www.paulkenton.com/

And his Twitter feed can be followed here:
https://twitter.com/paulkenton/

All images in this post are © Paul Kenton, 2011.

FEATURE: Ad, the Hell's Medic

The first artist I'm going to feature is Ad - Addy to his friends. This guy is a good friend of mine, and an amazing artist - he is a huge inspiration for my collaging and journal work. The wonderful work he produced (and still does!) got me to start up the Embodiment challenge a year and a half ago, a challenge that's still going strong to this day.

I love how vibrant the colours are, especially in those skies - this got me digging out my gouache paints to try out similar techniques for clouds (which I've always had trouble with).

My personal favourite is Webbed, pictured above - I just can't get over how intricate yet free-spirited the lines and brushstrokes are.

You can visit Addy at his Wordpress blog, Hell's Medic. Go have a look - it's a great read with lots of artwork to ogle over. If you're interested in buying some of this delicious artwork for your own collection, he also has an Etsy here.

All images are © Hell's Medic, 2011.