Welcome to the my blog. My name is Lucy Farfort i'm a freelance illustrator & designer maker. This is where you can find out what i've been up to of late, read my attempts at a decent post & the rantings of a visual addict. Hope you like it. You can contact me to say 'hi' by email on lucy@lucyshappyplace.com
If you would like to take a look at my work (& i would very much like you to) please visit my site:
lucyshappyplace.com

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Quick draw challenge results

Oh well just me today as i didn't get any entries. Perhaps its because everyone was scared of my drawing prowess - hahahah yeah right! One thing is for sure that most certainly isn't the reason.

Okay so this is my rendition of a python:




















Ahem...well yes it went a bit wrong in places, I think its fairly obvious where, but hey it could be worse.
Byeeeeee!

Quick Draw Tuesday

Hello arty, doodley folks its that time again. If you're new to the concept here is how it works:
Every Tuesday at 10am i'll announce a thing/object/item to draw, which has been selected at random by a 'random word generator' - so even I won't know the subject matter until a few minutes before.
I will then draw that thing/object/item and if any of you lovely folks wish to take part, you can also draw it and send it to me as a JPEG image either by email to lucyfarfort@yahoo.com or comment on the post with a link to your drawing that I can download from the internet.
I'll then post all the submissions at the end of the day for the world to see, normally around 5pm (UK time).  No prizes, its just for kicks.

If you want to take part there are 3 rules:
1. You must draw without any external visual reference, so from mental reference only.
2. You must draw it in a time limit of five minutes.
3. You must draw it in pen straight off. So no drawing in pencil and then tracing over the line.

Right here we go!
Today's randomly picked object thing is:

PYTHON
Go go go!!
Look forward to seeing your submissions. Have fun and check back later for the results.

Friday 22 February 2013

Folksy Friday - A triple awesome colour combo!

Pale/mint green, pale pink and white are a winning combination, theres no doubt about that and I thought I would prove it in today's post by way of a Folksy Friday showcase. They're really great colours for spring so perhaps it'll banish the winter chill from your bones for a few brief moments, until you (if like me you live in Newcastle) look out the window at the cold grey sky.

































Ahhhhh... that made me smile, I hope it had the same effect on you :)
Oddly enough looking at those colours has made me want ice cream......maybe later.
Happy Friday and check back on Tuesday for more quick draw action.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Quick draw results

So heres what you've been waiting for the results of today's quick draw challenge! The objet'du jour un 'POULET'.

Heres my chicken licken:




















I said it would be ugly. Cripes, just look at those legs, what was i thinking!

Ok and we have two entries today...which put mine to shame:




















and:





















Thanks to @Noosht and @JessicaDraws for their entries today :)
Tune in next week for more quick draw action ....lets hope its something nice and easy.

Quick Draw Tuesday

Morning folks.
Okay if you didn't see the blog post last Tues here's how it works: Every Tuesday at 10am i'll announce a thing/object/item to draw, which has been selected at random by a 'random word generator' on the www. This way even I won't know the subject matter until a few minutes before.
I will then draw that thing/object/item and if any of you lovely folks wish to take part, you can also draw it and send it to me as a JPEG image either by email to lucyfarfort@yahoo.com or comment on the post with a link to your drawing that I can download from the internet.
I'll then post all the submissions at the end of the day for the world to see. This is normally at 5pm, but it'll probably be 6pm today as i'll be out of the house till then.  No prizes, its just for kicks.

If you want to take part there are 3 rules:
1. You must draw without any external visual reference, so from mental reference only.
2. You must draw it in a time limit of five minutes.
3. You must draw it in pen straight off. So no drawing in pencil and then tracing over the line.

Right here we go!
Today's randomly picked object is:


CHICKEN.....uh oh - this is going to be ugly (right now i can't even think what a chicken looks like)



Check back later for the results.

Saturday 16 February 2013

Its finished....finally

So I have finally finished my first illustration for the book which i'm collaborating on with a friend which I spoke about in the blog post here.
Its taken me a while to complete because i've been distracted with various things whilst doing it so its been quite a bitty process with me working on that for a while and then having to ignore it for a few days etc etc.
I'm starting to work in a more traditional style which was inspired by my work for the gift book I did late last year. Although I love all my bold work I think this more traditional softer style that i've used for this image is better suited to children's book work.
Well enough yabbering on here it is:


Tuesday 12 February 2013

Quick draw results

Right here are today's quick drawn interpretations of 'BRICK':
This one's mine. Uh oh looks more like a breeze block (I hope I get better at this):















Now here are your submissions:



































Many thanks to Carrie (@CardsByMrsG), Ally and Jamie (@JamieLudlam) for your bricky submissions. Tune in next Tuesday for the third installment!
Oh and thanks Jamie for reminding me that its pancake day. Mmmm happy pancake day.

Quick Draw Tuesday

Sorry i'm running a bit behind this morning so this post is a little late as I planned on getting it up at 10am. Anyway so last Tuesday I laid down the gauntlet to myself and did a quick draw challenge see here. I gave myself 5 mins to draw an object in pen - straight off the bat, with no visual reference.
So from now on i've decided to open this challenge up to other artists, illustrators & doodlers as it seems that i'm definitely not the only one who finds drawing in this way a daunting task.

Heres how it works: Every Tuesday at 10am (give or take a few minutes) i'll reveal the object to draw, which will be selected at random by a 'random word generator', so even I won't know the subject matter until a few minutes beforehand. Then if any of you lovely folks wish to take part, you can draw the object and send it to me as a JPEG image either by email to lucyfarfort@yahoo.com or comment on the post with a link to your drawing that I can download from the internet.
I'll then post all the submissions (anonymously, unless otherwise asked) at the end of the day 5pm, for the world to see and, in relation to my drawings... laugh at.  No prizes, its just for kicks.

If you want to take part there are 3 rules:
1. You must draw without any external visual reference, so from mental reference only.
2. You must draw it in a time limit of five minutes.
3. You must draw it in pen straight off. So no drawing in pencil and then tracing over the line.

Right guns...i mean pens at the ready!!
Today's randomly picked object is:

BRICK

I appreciate that it may only be me who actually takes part, but if you do want to submit an entry then the more the merrier. Check later for the result(s).

Friday 8 February 2013

Folksy Friday - Random Pick

Its been sometime since I last did a Folksy showcase and for the theme I wanted to choose something quite arbitrary just to be different and give you some respite from all that valentines stuff.

After racking my brains I decided to use a random word generator on the www to select the theme, an idea prompted by a friend who suggested I use this tool to choose an object for my 'quick draw challenge' (blogged about in my last post).
And the word was....


 
 
 
 
 
 


















MAP!
Bye bye :)

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Quick fire drawing

I often have ideas for various projects, most of which hair-brained and forgotten about, but some of which i'm intrigued to develop.
One such idea was inspired by the Big Draw workshop which I helped facilitate last October you can read a bit about it here.
The day before the event the artists involved met to prepare materials which included each of us drawing the outline of a leaf for a workshop task where the kids had to colour leaves for a tree.
We were each given a marker pen and a sheet of blank white paper and were instructed to draw a leaf outline. In theory this should have been a very basic task given the simplicity of the object in question, but oddly enough most of us found it a bit tricky. Being obliged to draw something on the spot with no visual aids and speedily in pen - such a permanent media, leaving no eraser to fall back on, was actually quite daunting. To be fair there was additional pressure given that this had to be carried out whilst in the company of other artists.

Anyway it got me thinking. Generally in my working life as a freelancer I tend to labour over drawings and often use visual reference. In part this is due to me being a perfectionist, but I imagine that this is also the same for many (if not most) other artists & illustrators. Certainly this doesn't apply to everyone, but from the experience with the other illustrators on that day, it clearly isn't just me that gets fazed by this. 
So i'm setting myself a weekly Tuesday challenge to draw a fairly simple object in felt or pen in a maximum of 5 minutes off the top of my head, so no visual reference allowed. Then posting the result however bad, here on the blog. I'm hoping that over time I may become better at this so the results may improve. Either that or i'll be too embarrassed to post image.
Okay so my first choice of object is ........................

Yeah okay, don't laugh. Straight of the cuff this is my rendition of a car. Hmmm i have a feeling these blog posts aren't going to do my illustration career the world of good. Hey ho!

Friday 1 February 2013

Introducing Burt 121

For many a year my good friend Andy has been writing a children's story which we agreed would be a collaboration of his words and my illustrations. The story, i'm very pleased to say is now almost complete so its time for me to start putting together some images.
Really I should have began work on this project a long time ago, but other things kept on coming up - you know how it is, but now tis time to focus...or at the very least try harder to focus.
Actually sometime ago I did produce an illustration of one of the main characters Mr Torian which you can see in my post here, but I feel my style has come on so much since then i've decided to scrap that one and start anew.

I began my first illustration for it this week. Its not yet finished by any means as i've only done the outline drawing but wanted to share it with you anyway. So here's the draft of image #1 titled 'Introducing Burt 121':


I'm pretty excited actually because for Christmas Santa aka Dave gave me a Wacom Bamboo tablet, you may have remember me harping on about getting one around Nov time.
I was trying it our for the first time last night and so far its  nothing short of FLIPPING AWESOME!! So i'm going to use it with these illustrations. I'm hoping it will greatly improve the way I work and I will keep you posted on progress.
Happy Friday folks x