In February our MATS Bootcamp assignment was to design a cover for a journal on the theme of reading tea leaves.
I didn’t know anything about tea leaf reading so I did a bit of research and decided to illustrate some of the symbols that are often looked for when reading someone’s tea leaves. I also hand lettered a quotation about tea from Arthur Wing Pinero.
Since I love making patterns I also used the images I drew to create a new pattern. I couldn’t decide whether I like the dark blue or the pale background so I ended up with one of each.
I’m excited to let you know today that there is a new greeting card available to purchase in my Etsy shop. I designed this one with Christmas in mind but it is blank inside so can be used for lots of different occasions.
Unlike the other cards in my shop, each of these cards will be printed by hand using a lino block that I carved. That means that no two cards will be 100% identical.
I also have a special offer available now on ALL cards in my shop so make sure you take advantage of that with the holiday season fast approaching.
Find my new card, the special offer and all my other cards, prints, notebooks and original works in my shop.
I still haven’t managed to get my energy levels back on an even keel since the end of the 100 Day Project (this is life with M.E sometimes!) so I was appreciated the slower pace for the 365 project over the summer. I created one new illustration each week rather than 3 and enjoyed being able to take my time with each one.
As you can see, I made 2 new repeat patterns (one of my favourite things to create nowadays), a simple fish illustration and a self portrait.
As well as these 4 pieces I made an illustrated map of the City of London, which you can see on They Draw and Travel.
Now September’s here and I’m back to creating 3 new illustrations each week. Since my energy’s in short supply I’m experimenting with ways to keep things as simple as possible to avoid overwhelming and exhausting myself.
Right now I’m planning on sticking to my paper sketchbook and avoiding doing too much digital work. Digitising my work is fun but it can be really time-consuming for lots of reasons so cutting out that stage feels like a good plan right now. I may even use a pocket-sized sketchbook for some of my illustrations, just to keep things really simple.
Do you find it helpful to keep your work process simple and straightforward or do you prefer to spend lots of time on a piece of work?