Summer is almost upon us and the hotter weather has made its presence felt here in Australia. While enjoying a refreshing bowl of sweet strawberries in the garden, a ladybird landed nearby. This little encounter inspired this whimsical illustration. It also brought back happy memories of going strawberry picking and looking for the best ripe fruits to bring home.
Art materials for this piece included coloured and watercolour pencils, along with acrylic paint, watersoluble crayons, chalks and spray inks.
Do you have a favourite summer fruit? What are your happy memories? Lastly, just to let you know society6 have FREE shipping worldwide, now through to the 30th November midnight PST on all products in my shop. Stop by and have a look, more designs available, great for Christmas gifts! http://society6.com/serenabridgeman
Have a great week! Until next time, Happy Creating!
Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead, is a joyful Mexican holiday to celebrate and honour the lives of loved ones who have departed. The holiday's origins date back nearly 4000 years! It takes place on the 1st and 2nd of November each year. What started out as a quick art piece turned out to be a very personal tribute. The three butterflies represent the three family members that I have loved and lost with one red rose for each of them. In paying homage to the Mexican tradition of using yellow orange marigold flowers, I included these in the bodice of her dress and in the decoration around her eyes. The imagery of the skulls in the butterflies and pendant are a representation of times past and of change. I didn't want to make up her face too elaborately, so as not to take away from her gentle reflective mood.
I was hoping to finish and post this 4x6 copic marker artwork during the days of Día de los Muertos but I was finding it difficult to blend the original copics I had on hand. After a quick search online, I realised that I needed extra colours within the colour families to allow for smoother blending. I had to wait until I purchased some copic ciaos, the only type the craft store stocked. If you have not heard of copics, they are double-ended alcohol-based dye ink markers.
With any new art materials I am not familiar with, I have to practice and experiment with them in order to see what they are capable of, and what cool effects I can possibly achieve with them. In hindsight (always a wonderful thing!) I made mistakes with this copic artwork. I think my problem was that I tried to take the same approach with the markers as I would with paint. To pull it all together, I had to resort to using a white sharpie paint pen to correct or add highlights here and there. However, I will use the copics again, but this time in more of a mixed media context. Comments are welcomed and encouraged. Until next time, Happy Creating!
Yes Christmas is just around the corner! In an attempt to organise myself a little early this year I have joined Society6 to offer my artwork on a variety of products. To be honest I really wanted a couple of items for myself and I thought it was a great idea for giving gifts to my family and friends also! My order is in the post! You can avail of this terrific promotion from Society6, you get Five dollars off everything in my shop and Free shipping worldwide. *Offer excludes framed art prints and stretched canvases. It is for a limited time only, so be quick!! Use this link http://society6.com/serenabridgeman
I put two designs up for now that I felt would suit the products. I have heard good things about the quality of Society6 items. I will be like a kid in a candy shop until they arrive!
Apart from the prints, I think the artwork looks gorgeous on the tote bags, cushions and phone cases, what do you think? Have a great weekend! Until next time, Happy Creating!
