Bird and cats at Hillview

 I managed to get my camera out just in time to snap this Kingfisher through the car window this week!  Not a terrific shot,  but good enough to see those beautiful blue feathers and extra long beak!

It's been while since I took photos of  my cats.  So without further ado ....

Tia likes to sit beside me on the printer.   Here she is objecting to my choice of music this afternoon - Phil Collins 

 

 Boooorrrring!

before long though she was fast asleep...

and a little later I asked her if I could use the printer  ........  I didn't ask again!  I know when to leave well alone!

Bob, on the other hand, shares his possessions!  He enjoys a game of football with us.  This is his  favourite frog (it's a dog toy, but don't tell him!).

One-eyed Bob is very relaxed and enjoys Phil Collins ..

and chillin on the kitchen floor right beside my feet!

Have a lovely relaxing weekend!

Cards

 These are a couple of the pieces I've been working on recently.  Two collages of cats sitting on paper quilts.  I printed the design onto cards.

 

These are some of the other cards I made to sell at a Xmas Bazaar.  I've been too busy to upload these to Etsy and it's a bit late for Xmas now, but I'll put the non Christmassy ones in the shop soon.

 

I've been updating my children's name pictures too - more about these in another post!

 

Illustration Friday and GIVEAWAY

Fuel ©Caroline Soer

This week's Illustration Friday word is 'fuel'.  I decided on a bird and berries theme and actually painted two similar versions of the same illustration this week.  The one above started life as a watercolour on which I'd used quite a lot of masking fluid.  I was aiming to get a sort of outlined, batik/silkpainting look.  Well, needless to say it wasn't a successful experiment so I tweaked it back to life with with a good helping of acrylic, some gouache and watercolour pencils!

 After I finished that yesterday,  I started on a second painting.  I've taken photos of the work in progress.  This first shows the mountboard ground with torn paper and hole punched collage covered with gesso and the first brushstrokes.

A little more detail added.

 Some final details added with coloured pencils and a craft knife to (carefully) scratch out some highlights.

Fuel II ©Caroline Soer

The final piece - it has lots of texture.  I'm not sure which one I prefer, how about you?
Well, if you're better at making up your mind than I am, you could stand a chance of winning a print of your preferred illustration by taking part in my  GIVEAWAY!

How do you take part?   Anyone is welcome to join in - regular followers or visitors alike - I really do appreciate all those of you who follow my blog and take the time to leave me comments - but it's ok to be a quiet occasional visitor too!  All you have to do is first quickly hop over to Facebook - I've recently set up an art page there and would love it if you would  'LIKE' my  page  - the link is here in the sidebar on the right.   Yes, you're right - a little shameless self promotion !!!   To be included in the draw next TUESDAY NOVEMBER 1ST you'll also need to come back here to leave a comment on this post to say which of my two 'Fuels' you prefer.  Easy! Oh, and you could DOUBLE your chances by promoting my giveaway on your own blog or FB page,  and becoming a follower here (if you aren't already) if you like.  Just don't forget to mention that in the comments section here!  Thank you and good luck to everyone - I'll be back next week with the winner!

Illustration Friday - Mesmerising

 Magpie - ©mixed media Caroline Soer 2011

 Magpies love to cache - they seek out and hide appealing oddments.  This one has found a broken string of beads - Magpies seem to find shiny objects mesmerising.   Mixed media - Oil pastel, ink, gouache and glass beads on paper for Illustration Friday.
P.S.  Clicking on the image may take you to Blogger's new photo viewer (a new feature that doesn't always seem to work at the moment!).  If it does and you still want to view the image larger, right click, select 'view image' and then use the magnifier to enlarge again for greater detail.  Hopefully that will work!

Sketchbook Project

I signed up for the Sketchbook Project months ago and realised this week that I need to get going with it as the deadline for handing it in is January! So, without further ado here are my first few pages.

The front cover - my theme is 'In Flight'

Front and back covers



First double spread. I glued a map over the thin pages and drew this bird on top.

The pages are so thin that paint and glue will cockle the paper . Almost everthing but light pencil shows through on the other side, so this is going to be a challenge! On the left, I've collaged items to sturdier paper and glued to the other side of the map page. I then drew with coloured pencils. On the right I tried a carved rubber stamp - it shows through on the other side a little, but not too badly.

Feathers in pencil.




And here's who was watching me whilst I was drawing - a grumpy ol' black and white cat sitting on a black and white mat!

Illustration Friday - Fearless

'Fearless ' - watercolour pencil & collage

Watch out little birdie!

It's been several weeks since I participated in Illustration Friday and as I haven't had time this week to create something new, here's a little something I made a few months ago for an ATC swap with my blogging friend Mônica. I think this little bird looks quite fearless up there on his high branch with Tia eyeing him from below.

Another page for a travelling book

Blackbird feeding on berries

click to enlarge

I've been working on the travelling books pages again this week. They seem to be arriving all at once and now that I have three to do, I've got to get my skates on!! This painting is for Katie Jane's nature themed book. I tried another new technique this time; it's a watercolour painting with a difference! If you're interested - you can read about this on the Artysoulsisters blog.