Boff's Tale - Sketchbook Project 2012

This tale comes courtesy of my friend Beth. Just simple ink or papercut illustrations and very much inspired by silhouettes.

Close up of final image

Lola and the Dancing Poodle

1st illustrated Story - sketchbook project 2012

Sketchbook project - Fill me with Stories

Yoo Hoo! I was excited to receive my Sketchbook from the Sketchbook project back in November to take part in 2012 version. I much preferred this year's theme compared to last year's "Boys and Girls". You can see some of the pages from the previous year, here, via the Art house co-op.

With "Fill me with stories" I wanted to use stories that were personal and from family and friends. So a little shout out of help circulated around to loved ones and they came to my aid. The next few posts will be of the stories that I'd illustrated for this project. But for now here is the front cover, cover page and back cover.

Poppies

Latest papercut for a wonderful friend's birthday. By the way she's a November baby, hence the poppies!

Framed in lovely wood

Close-up of details

Beautiful vintage box found at an antiques fair

Homemade vanilla fudge by moi

Islington Art Fair and more papercuts!

 Here's some photos of some papercuts finished and some I'm still working on.

Mixture of collage and papercut

Little illustration on a special message to a friend

Last Sunday I decided to visit my friend Laura Harvey as she was exhibiting at the Islington Contemporary Art and Design Fair. Last weekend it was an exhibition of painting and sculpture. It was a really interesting show with lots of amazing work. Here are a few that really caught my eye...

"Kevin" image from www.andrewnewtonart.co.uk

"Green Shavings" image from www.carolinemccready.com

"Head Study #2" image from www.nataliadavis.tumblr.com

And last but not least is Laura Harvey's work. Unfortunately my photos do not do justice to her work but there were some lovely pieces.

If you're interested in any of the artists' work mentioned in this post please feel free to contact me or you can contact the artist via their website mentioned under the images.

Everything will work out because it has to...

Another papercut commission. This was on gold card with bright orange highlights.

The Whale's Way

Been meaning to post about this piece! It's a mixed media/collage/papercut piece based on the poem "The Whale's Way". Unfortunately the author of this English poem is unknown but it is from 9th century.

The Whale's Way

My heart leaps within me

My mind roams with the waves

Over the whale's domain, it wanders far and wide

Across the face of the earth, returns again to me

Eager and unsatisfies; the solitary bird screams,

Irresistible, urges the heart to the whale's way

Over the stretch of seas

Below are some pictures of the work in progress, from sketching and planning to final image.

   

Unfortunately this didn't get into an Art show down south but gonna enter this bad boy in some more art shows. Fingers cross peeps!

Sweet Blossoms

Another papercut gift but used fuchsia coloured hand made paper with gold design. Difficult medium to work with in this format but still liked the overall effect.

Papercuts and birthdays

The last months have been full to the brim with birthdays. I have been carving and cutting away to make some birthday cards/gifts! Here are 2 examples, one for a special "Cheer girl" and the other for my Uncle. I hope they will enjoy them as much as I did creating them.

I sketch the image in reverse onto the back

My workspace... yes, I do have lots of stuff!

Final image

Framed and happily residing next to my uncle's decks