Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

A huge thank you to all who have followed my blog in 2010, and loads of thanks to those who have shared their blogs and inspired me over the past year! Have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year - hope to see you here in 2011! Best wishes, Angie x

Web Banners & Avatars for Wild Wood Crafts

Lately I've been on a bit of a roll with web banner and avatar designs, which is wonderful because I have great fun creating them. I recently completed this little set for Wild Wood Crafts. Please check out their website at www.wildwoodcrafts.co.uk for a selection of charming creations all lovingly handmade from reclaimed wood.

Look at what has come back from the printers!...

Having shared the story behind this particular commission with you I thought you may like to see the finished canvases. Well, here they are in their finished glory!...and the printers did a brilliant job as ever. It is a shame the photographs just don't do the print quality justice - the colours on the real thing are stunning.

Look at what has gone to the printers...

I am very excited today, as I have a few new canvas portrait prints over at the printers this week and I can't wait to see them all finished.

The lady who commissioned the set of 4 portraits above kindly gave me permission to 'show and tell' all about the job on here. The inspiration came from a very plain wall in a recently decorated bedroom. The new dusky pink, sage & dark green, shabby chic style textiles in the room were crying out for some kind of focal point on the wall. My customer has two beautiful grandchildren who, to quote her directly "are her world" - she handed me a set of photos which she'd had taken at a photographers studio a couple of years ago and gave me free rein to come up with something for her based on those photos. The result is as you see above.

The 4 images will be printed onto 30cm x 30cm canvas and hung as a set with alternating background colours (as shown above). I've also posted above some scamps and sketches so you can see the journey this piece of work has taken. Enjoy!

Jobs Done!

Here are some finished items I've worked on over the last couple of weeks. From bespoke family Christmas cards to glamourous party invites - lately its all been about the personal touch.

If you have commissioned me to do a portrait in the past, the original line drawing exists and it is fairly simple for me to adapt it into designs for other items such as the Christmas cards and invites shown here.

Illustration Friday - 'Burning'

Its been weeks and weeks since I've had a chance to squeeze in an Illustration Friday offering. So, this week I decided to fit in a quick illustration as a break from other jobs.

Besides, this weeks topic, 'Burning', is a great opportunity to create a bright and sunny image to counteract the icy cold November weather. So, here comes the sun, 'burning' brightly, keeping us all warm, making us all cheerful.

A New String to My Bow - Web Banners & Avatar Design

A couple of weeks ago I launched the Artwork By Angie facebook page. Today I logged on to see I've already reached 100 fans (very encouraging!). One of the great things that has come out of launching the facebook page is that I'm meeting lots of interesting and inspiring people online. One such person is the lovely Rose from Victoria Rose Crafts. Rose contacted me to commission a re-design of her craft website banner, blog banner, blog button and facebook avatar so that her busy craft business had a consistent, recognisable look.

So please, pop over to her website and have a look at what I've created for her (she's got some rather lovely crochet pieces on her site too!):

www.victoriarosecrafts.co.uk

This job has definitely sewn a seed of an idea in my mind. Once I've got through the pre-Christmas madness I'd like to develop this further into another design service I will offer through my website. Thank you for the inspiration Rose!

A Cheeky Peek at Work Done Last Week!...

This past week has had me putting in some 'quality time' with ink pens, illustrator & photoshop ;-)

I've got a number of commissions to work on at the moment. Most are personalised portraits and a couple are Christmas themed commissions for businesses.

I've had a very productive past week and have enjoyed getting stuck in to all the work. However, as everything is all work in progress at the moment and will not be ready to reveal on here for a number of weeks, I thought it might be a nice idea to share a quick 'cheeky peek at work done last week'. In fact, I may make this a regular feature, so watch this space!

Hope you enjoy having a quick peep!

Oh, and if you spot something I'm working on for you, please remember these are works in progress - I'll be in touch very soon!

New Christmas Card Designs

This Christmas I'm running with 'The Days of Christmas' theme, especially the days when 'my true love' gave me birdies!

These are the A6 cards I've just received from the printers. They're printed on a premium 350gsm stock and come with a plain white envelope in packs of 4 for £5.50 inc postage (UK), packs of 8 for £8.50 inc postage or packs of 20 for £19 inc postage.

New Greeting Cards Designs

They've arrived - my new range of

greeting cards & Christmas cards are available to purchase directly from my online shop.

I've also filled my online shop with a range of ready to purchase prints and ready to order Artbox prints - please check them out (there's a link on the right of the screen).

Its been such a busy month for me what with setting up my new website shop and fulfilling orders for portrait commissions - not to mention my usual graphic design work for businesses. So, it really was a treat to unwrap the packaging on my greetings card delivery from the printers - they've done a fantasic job, I'm completely delighted with them. The colours have come out so much richer than I'd imagined - that's the satin coating the printer used. I'll definitely be using this finish on all my cards in the future.

Illustration Friday - 'Transportation'

Here's a greeting card design of mine which I believe fits this week's topic 'Transportation' quite well...my little tortoise is very pleased with his choice of transport.

Illustration Friday - 'Old Fashioned'

You can't beat a bit of 'old fashioned fun' - this week the fun fair has come to our town. Here is my quick illustration as I'm far too distracted by the lure of brightly coloured rides and the aroma of hot dogs and candy floss!...hold on tight girls and boys, and scream if you want to go faster!

Illustration Friday - 'Acrobat'

Who isn't an acrobat these days? The demands of modern living makes jugglers of us all. I don't know about you but I feel like I'm performing a delicate balancing act every day. There's so much to do and so few hours in a day... then again, that is just how I like things.

Illustration Friday - 'Proverb'

This is an illustration I already had which fits this weeks topic 'Proverb' very well. As a child, I loved the book 'Rosie's Walk' by Pat Hutchins with it's fascinating, quirky, decorative style of illustration - it definitely had an impact on me and has influenced my style of drawing. This is my little homage to a wonderful book which my children now enjoy as much as I always did.

Illustration Friday - 'Dessert'

Mmmm, this weeks topic is dessert - yum, yum, yes please!...can I interest anyone in a tasty treat from my trolley?

Latest Pieces of Work

Here are a couple of portrait pieces I have recently worked on.

The portrait of the dogs was printed onto artbox and is a tribute to the late spaniel and labrador featured in the portrait. Both were the hard working, loyal companions of a game keeper.
The family portrait was a birthday present designed specifically to complement the furnishings in a particular room. There are alot of personal symbolic images included in this portrait. For example, the tartan skirt the little girl is wearing is the tartan for the family name of the lady this portrait was created for. The owl in the tree symbolises a past family member who was a RSPB member and particulary fond of owls. The ice-cream van is of a van belonging to a favourite ice-cream company well known in the part of North-Devon that this family originate from.

As you can see, I love putting as much subtle personal detail into my work as possible so that the person receiving my portrait will treasure it forever.

To find out more about commissioning a canvas or artbox portrait from me, please visit my website: http://www.artworkbyangie.com/

Thanks

Angie

Illustration Friday - 'Immovable'

Here is my quick doodle for this weeks Illustration Friday. I wanted to make it topical with this being the week that many children are going back to school after the summer holidays.

Have you ever tried to move a child that doesn't want to go anywhere?...if you have, you'll know there is no better example of immovable!

Illustration Friday - 'Atmosphere'

The topic for this week's Illustration Friday is 'atmosphere'. So, here is my 'Party on the Moon!'...a little bit of nonsense from me this week. I've enjoyed playing with line drawings, photoshop layers and old jokes!

My On-Line Shop - Under Construction

Hi, I'm a very busy lady at the moment, I've been focusing on updating my website and getting my on-line shop sorted out ahead of all the school autumn craft fairs and the lead up to (ahem!)...Christmas.

Please have a look at what I've been up to by clicking on the Gallery Shop link on this blog - some of the areas of my website are still under construction, but feel free to have a nose around - I'd welcome any comments or feedback.

Many thanks & ciao for now!

Angie

Illustration Friday - 'Star Gazing'

This weeks Illustration Friday topic is 'Star Gazing'. It comes at a time when my thoughts are turning to creating Christmas themed work to sell over the next few months through my website and at craft markets.

What a gift this topic is!...being as pragmatic as ever, I'm able to use my response to this weeks topic as a design for Christmas cards.

Lets face it, those three wise men were the ultimate 'Star Gazers'.

Illustration Friday - 'Caged'

This week's Illustration Friday topic is 'Caged' - for me, its an opportunity to experiment with watercolour and a bit of photoshop.

The obvious spung to mind of a caged bird ...and then I remembered 'The Birdcage' a film based on the play 'La Cage aux Folles' ...basically, in case you are unfamiliar with it, its about a gay couple - a manager of a transvestite cabaret club and the star of the fore-mentioned club - who pretend to be straight in order to impress the extremely conservative parents of the fiancee of the son of the cabaret club manager (Phew!)...needless to say its a farce and hilariously funny too. In my view, pretending to be something or someone you are not is like being caged. So, here's my tribute to the fabulous 'The Birdcage'

Illustration Friday - 'Artificial'

The theme for this weeks Illustration Friday is 'Artificial'...it made me think of all the treasures I'd find in the sweetshop on my street when I was a child in the '70s. I remember describing sweets as 'red flavour' because I couldn't work out whether the fake flavours were meant to be cherry, strawberry or raspberry!...and don't get me started on 'space dust'!

Illustration Friday - 'Double'

Here is my first ever attempt at Illustration Friday. The subject this week is 'Double'. I'm a big fan of finding fun ways to educate my children so I liked the idea of doubling up numbers...and what better way to illustrate that than the way rabbits quickly multiply!

Artwork By Angie - The Blog Starts Here!

Hi,
As this is the first post on this blog, please allow me to introduce myself.
To put it simply, I draw. I have always drawn, from the moment I could hold a crayon for the very first time. What I love most of all is drawing people and places. So, I am delighted when I get commissions for personalised maps and portraits for special occasions.
For a completely unique gift to make any occasion extra special, my illustrative portraits are an ideal present. If you send me some photos of your loved one with a bit of detail about their interests and hobbies, I will create a beautiful, framed portrait of them. I like to work with you to bring to life any ideas that you may have.
My portraits and bespoke maps are all hand drawn then scanned and digitally coloured, and cost from £20 each. Portraits can either be presented mounted and framed or printed onto canvas. I also print to order my quirky, whimsical illustrations as limited edition framed or canvas prints.
For more information please have a look at the Artwork By Angie website: www.artworkbyangie.com

Angie