A piece for the portfolio

You may have noticed that over the last couple of months my work has become increasingly aimed towards children. Well thats because i'm really trying to break into the children's illustration market. For a long time i've felt my illustrations have been heading in that direction and its something i've always wanted to get into, but was never really sure whether my work was good enough. Recently i've had the opportunity to do some work for children's books, such as the picture book illustrations, the gift book images and the collaboration with a friend which is great.
Now I want to try and get my work on the radar of some kids' lit publishers, so i've been tailoring my work for that market and i'll be putting together a promo booklet of my work to send off to loads of publishers and agents. As the geordies say 'shy bairns get nowt' and I think its time to stop hiding away and playing it safe and get my work out there. And if the rejection letters flood in then so be it,  i'll still be here drawing because thats what I love to do :)

This piece is the final new addition to my portfolio for inclusion in the booklet along with some of the other recent bits i've done. I was hoping this new illustration would have been ready in time to post up on the blog yesterday but it wasn't quite there. Still its now done & here it is:

A lot of my children's illustration work is centred around animals as this is what I specialise in really, but I wanted to produced something with several child characters to show that I can draw kids too.
I thought it would be nice to put one of the children in a 'Wild Things' clothing outfit. This is one of my favourite Folksy sellers and if I ever have children of my own i'll definitely be getting some clothes from there. To be honest if the clothes were big enough i'd be getting my own outfits from there, as they're totally ace! Hahaha.

I'll be updating my website next week to reflect my new work which i'm quite looking forward to, but I know after a few hours of html/Dreamweaver madness i'll be on the verge of chucking my computer out the window. Wish me luck!

Quick draw results

Eeeek is it that time already?! Got so engrossed in work that i totally forgot about posting today's results. Slapped wrists for me.
Anyway at least i didn't forget entirely, so lets feast our eyes on some lovely plant life offerings -

Mine's a cactus. I love cacti but unfortunately i'm so crap at looking after plants even a cactus is too much so i'll just have to make do with a drawn one. Oh and I pushed the boat out today and added a touch of colour:

And heres some other ace entries from dedicated quick drawers:

Many thanks to quick drawers in order of appearance @BigeyesWorld, @pressfordesign and @RedtheCardinal for your greenery.

Till next time!

Quick draw challenge

Hey there Tuesday drawers :)
Another quick draw is upon us so lets get down to some serious doodling business. Every glorious Tuesday for the last month or so i've been hosting a little drawing challenge on here from which works thus:
10am-ish I post a thing to draw which is selected by a 'random word generator' and there are 3 rules to be followed before drawing can start:

1. Drawings must be done without any external visual reference, so from mental reference only.
2. Drawing has a time limit of five minutes.
3. The drawing must be in ink from the off. So no drawing in pencil and then tracing over the line.

I will then draw the thing and if any of you keen doodler drawers would like to enter you can send me a photo or scan of your drawing 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. Or if you wish you can tweet me a link to the pic on Twitter.
I'll post all the submissions at the end of the day for the world to see, normally around 5-6pm (UK time). No prizes, its just for fun.

The object of choice today is...drum roll please - brbrbbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrup (hope you approve of the drum roll sound effect):

PLANT

Yaya its nice easy one! See you back here later.

Card designs & an itchy nose

Yuck - as I sit here typing this post my eyes & nose are streaming and my face is prickly.
After using some face cream, which used to be fine (although i've not used it for a while) my skin has decided to show me how much it dislikes it by coming up in red blotches. Plus I now appear to have what I can only think is hayfever and my eyes feel like they're full of grit & are insanely itching as is my nose. Marvelous! All in all its a good start to the day and as i'm sure you can imagine I look a total state.
Oh well enough moaning, instead let me share with you some nice pretty stuff for you to wrap your eye holes on. The new card designs i've been working on are now all finished...whoop whoop! I posted a couple of them a little while ago on here and how here are the last few all done and dusted.

The Narwhal one is a get well card (which is pretty appropriate for the way i'm feeling right now) and the other two are birthday card designs -

Hope they make you smile. Oooo i think the anti-histamine might be kicking in. Oh good now i can stop feeling sorry for myself and get down to the business of drawing - my favourite business!

Happy Friday x

Wibble wobble! Its the quick draw results

Today's tasty random word was jelly. Which i now realise must have been why i've been craving jelly sweets hence getting through most of bag and now feeling sick. Damn you quick draw word!!
Anyway lets see what we have today.
Heres my jelly drawing -

Now heres some other nom nom jellies:

Mmmmmmmm now all we need is some ice cream and we're good to go.
Thank you to lovely regulars (in order of appearance) @pressfordesign, @CatPalStone and @RedtheCardinal
Toodle pip!

Quick Draw Challenge

Hello friends!
Guess what today means?? If you don't know by now then you've been missing out on the action packed Tuesday drawing fun...and you should feel very sorry for yourself indeed. But never fear you can  check out previous quick draws here, here and here.
Every Tuesday I hold a little drawing challenge on here from 10am-ish for myself and any other keen drawer/doodle folks who would like to take part. A thing to draw is selected at random by a 'random word generator' and there are 3 rules to be followed before drawing can start:

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.

I will then draw the thing and if any of you would like to enter you can send me a photo or scan of your drawing 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. Or if you wish you can tweet me a link to the pic on Twitter.
I'll post all the submissions at the end of the day for the world to see, normally around 5-6pm (UK time). No prizes, its just for fun.

Today's special word is:
JELLY

Have fun!

Quick draw results

Time for the results of today's quick draw. Had quite few today so i'm chuffed to bits.
It was a nice and easy one today and there are some lovely entries, so without further ado here is some cutlery for your viewing pleasure:

A knife, fork and spoon, from you to me -

I couldn't resist drawing a smiley face on the spoony.

And now for the fab additions to my cutlery set -

Wow aren't they all ace!! Muchos gratias to (in order of appearance) @BrittCoxon @pressfordesign  @CatPalStone and @janetedavis for your superb submissions.

Have a good one!

Quick Draw Challenge

Eeek! I can't believe its Tuesday again already! That last week whizzed by.
I have an excuse being late today (well kind of) as i had an appointment at the dentist and i've just got back. However i say "well kind of" because I actually wrote a quick draw post yesterday to put up before going off to the dentists - only I forgot to publish it didn't I. Doh!!
To prove my attempt at being organised heres what i wrote:

I'm early today with the quick draw word as I had to post this up before going off to the dentists for a 9.30am appointment. You see i'm just so committed to the quick draw cause that even a dental appointment won't stand in the way. An appointment which by the way I am dreading as I have a real fear of the dentist. What can I say - i'm a wuss. Any sympathy (genuine or false) will be gratefully received.
Okay i'll stop whining and get on. 

See I tried. Oh well lets begin with the obligatory recap:
Every Tuesday I hold a little drawing challenge on here from 10am (or thereabouts) for myself and any other lovely art folks who would like to take part, whereby a thing to draw is selected at random by a 'random word generator' and there are 3 rules to be followed before drawing can start:

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.

I will then draw the thing and if any of you would like to enter you can send me a photo or scan of your drawing 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. Or if you wish you can tweet me a link to the pic on Twitter.
I'll then post all the submissions at the end of the day for the world to see, normally around 5-6pm (UK time). No prizes, its just for fun.

Today's word is not picked by our random word generator friend as for some reason the site wasn't working, so instead I plucked a word from a load I put in a hat and this is it:

CUTLERY

Finished designs

A couple of weeks ago I posted a few new card designs I was working on which are part of a series of five illustrations I wanted to create using traditional media rather than going down the digital route.
I've really enjoyed working on these designs away from the computer and i'm hoping to have them all finished the next couple of weeks. Ideally I would like them done sooner but I upped my hours at the other job and am now working three days a week which only leaves two full week days now to concentrate on the illustration. This was so i could earn a bit more cash which will enable me to visit my dad and sister down South more often.
Well i've now completed two of the designs at least. One is for a thank you card and the other for an valentines/anniversary card:

When i've finished them all i'm hoping to get a batch made up. I'll put the other designs up on here once they're complete.
Byeee x

Quick draw results

I'm having a bit of a mad rush around day today, so please forgive this second late posting.
So today's word was MONSTER and there are three interpretations including my own.
This is my little monster:

And heres a couple of other scary monsters -





Yaya love it!!
Many thanks to @RedtheCardinal and @Paulxthompson for your mad monsters.
For some reason whenever i attempt to draw a monster i always produce something that is octopus influenced. Hmm i'm not sure what that says about me :/

Bye for now

Quick Draw Challenge

Sorry folks i'm a bit late today. I think the clocks going forward has thrown me off a bit.
Anyway better late than never. As you'll probably know by now every Tuesday I hold a little drawing challenge on here from 10am (or thereabouts) for myself and any other lovely art folks who would like to take part. It works like this:
A thing/object/item is selected at random by a 'random word generator' for me/us to draw and there are 3 rules which must be taken into account before drawing can start:
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.

I will then draw that thing/object/item and if any of you would like to enter you can send me a photo or scan of your drawing 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. Or if you wish you can tweet me a link to the pic on Twitter.
I'll then post all the submissions at the end of the day for the world to see, normally around 5-6pm (UK time).  No prizes, its just for fun.

Today's word is particularly awesome as our lovely random word friend has picked:
MONSTER
Which leaves much scope for interpretation :) Enjoy!