Cacti Collage

Cacti Collage

A multimedia collage of monochromatic line drawn cacti over decoupage flower paper, then digitally processed to create the highlight in the centre which blends the background into the foreground images to bring out the effect you see here.

This started life as a serious of cacti drawings and was combined magazines cuttings as I like the idea of combining these different elements together in a collage.

Botanical Origins

Botanical Origins

I enjoy drawing leaves and trailing plants, almost like experimenting with different letters and calligraphy, then stuck to shades of greens to colour the shapes.

A Party of 🎈 Balloons

A Party of 🎈 Balloons

Experimenting with new water colours on water colour paper, I was drawn to the descriptive names of the colours, so worked them in amongst the balloons.

Playful Posing Pangolins

Playful Posing Pangolins

I wanted to try out drawing pangolins in their different positions, from curling their tails to hang off tree branches, curling into balls to avoid danger and stood up, perhaps searching for the nearest ant hill.  They are fascinating mammals, there is so much to learn about them.

Note & Greeting Card Designs

Taking inspiration from my artwork I have digitally duplicated portions of my artwork and arranged them to create more intricate patterns, and they are then perfect for use as the front image for cards.

These were taken from my Solstice Blooms and Flowers and Birds work.

Solstice Blooms

'Solstice Blooms'

Drawn a few days after the summer solstice, I tried using the watercolours directly onto the page without a pencil outline to begin with.  Then completed the inner flowers and stamens with a fine liner when the paint had dried.

Chasing Elephants onto the Page

'Chasing Elephants onto the page'

Have had an idea to draw elephants for a while, turns out I struggled more with capturing their shapes than I thought. When I looked at some of my practice sketches they weren't as bad as I first first feared, so I cut them out of the practice page and stuck them on the page with the ones that I had drawn that I was happy with. I have kept the practice sketch untouched, he's far from perfect but I love his movement.

Words in Dinosaurs

'Words in Dinosaurs'

I liked the idea of making words into the shape of the object I was drawing, I started with the volcano which turned out to be quite effective and expanded it to the dinosaurs and then filled in the gaps around them with prehistoric plant life.

Citrus Studies

'Citrus Studies'

As an avid collector of cookery books I have always loved the illustrations of foods that feature, inspired by them I set about practising drawing shapes and sizes of various citrus fruits at different angles.

Birds and Flowers Pattern

'Birds and Flowers Pattern'

I liked the idea of splitting the page up with drawings that would become part of the whole picture, so drew the flower borders in first, then worked on filling in each square, although each square is different I tried to keep the same shapes re-occurring.

May is the Month

'May is the Month'

I saw an artist use magazine cut out shapes alongside her drawings and became interested as to how I could incorporate that into this drawing, which I had already begun. The first sentence of the piece I cut out from the magazine to form the tree trunk said 'May is the month' and it just fit this drawing and collage.

Van Gogh Quote in the Woods

'Van Gogh Quote in the woods'

Grappling with 'impostor syndrome' and wondering if my drawing was 'good enough' I drew this to remind me that I can draw and paint, for me it's about enjoying the process and not worrying too much about what appears on the page.

Green Leaves

'Green Leaves'

I love the shapes of monstera leaves and large, glossy tropical leaves. I wanted to work with the shapes of the different leaves rather than colours, so stuck to a green pallette when using the colouring pencils.

Multi Coloured Leaves

'Multi Coloured Leaves'

I find drawing leaves and flower shapes calming, this was an experiment in colours and shading and not thinking too much about the overall composition, just sticking to leaves and flowers as a theme.

Under the Sea

'Under The Sea'

One of my favourite films growing up was 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' I collage'd the lyrics from the song that features when they under the sea and surrounded it with sea-life drawings.

Month of October

'Month of October'

This was inspired by bullet journaling doodles and pictures welcoming the start of October. I put an autumnal spin on this and set about filling the whole page with autumnal quotes and small pictures.