Art Process: From Watercolour illustrations to Garden Journal

Art, Creative life, illustration, Sustainable design

Hi all,

I’m going to be sharing more of my art-making and design process here, as well as my tips for anyone who’s interested.

My Patrons get full details on the process as it happens, as well as invitations for their input, and my newsletter gives a monthly run-down of the best bits as well as a heads-up on when things will be available to purchase in my shop.

I’ll be using this space to curate the processes of my most interesting and juiciest projects, and sharing any experience that I think may come in handy to anyone else. I know I’m always eager to see the design process of other illustrators, out of curiosity and to see if I can pick up any useful tips.

I’ll start with my pocket Garden Journal. This was a self-initiated project that I made basically because I wanted to use it myself!

Run-down of Development Steps

Pencil thumbnails and brainstorming ideas

Scribbly first ideas in my notebook, with teeny tiny thumbnai ideas

Watercolour spot illustrations, then scanned and digitally cleaned up

Each page made up and imported into a digital page template

Mini thumbnails of all finished pages, placed in a layout overview document

Mini layout of thumbnails for an easy overview, to check it all works together

All pages assembled in a multi-page PDF template, then sent to the printers

Tips / Notes to Self

// A thumbnail overview is useful~ Even a ‘blank’ journal has a sequential layout that requires pacing. A zoomed-out overview lets you check out that colour-schemes and page layouts all have room to breath and are varied enough to be interesting. Especially with so many pages (mine has 44); that’s a lot of room for error!

// Leave lots of time for a multi-page project~ Give yourself a roomy deadline. I knew what I wanted for the finished journal from the start, as gardening is also my hobby, but if it had been an unfamiliar subject I’d have needed a way longer planning and research stage. I’m also naturally bad at time-management so I had to have a lot of patience when things took longer than I initially anticipated. On top of that it was also a new document format, being so many pages, in a publishing program that I have barely used. Patience!

// Ask for a proof version if you have time~ I DID actually go for a proof this time, and in the end it wasn’t needed. I ended up making no changes. I think this was down to luck though, and the fact I was making up a booklet to my own requirements. If it had been a commission, or anything with any word count at all (I think this journal has maybe 60 words in it, mostly on the back), then I’d definitely double check before approving the full run. These things cost money, especially with the cost of paper these days, and it’s just not worth throwing your money away. Enquire with your printers, if your print run is large enough then they may be willing to throw in a physical proof print for free.

This journal was certainly a challenge, and if you’re thinking of making up your first illustrated book I’d definitely recommend starting with a familiar subject matter as an anchor to grow your skills around.

If you have any questions, or there’s an aspect you’d like further explanation of, then feel free to comment below!

Here’s to a Happy and Healthy 2021!

Creative life, indie business, Sustainable design

I’m crossing my fingers and toes that this year is a steadier ride for everyone than the last.

My business couldn’t have made it through 2020 without the amazing support and encouragement from you, so a big thanks to everyone who bought anything, pledged to my Patreon (Patrons are superstars: without them I’d have thrown in the towel last year for certain), and those who shared, simply ‘liked’ or commented on my stuff on social media. All very important support, thank you. I was able to launch a Patreon page, invest and test new products, invest in a new graphics programme (Affinity Designer) to streamline my work, and even take a bit of time to dabble in some personal sketches. I feel like I could get my business affairs a bit more in order, finally!

I’m also here to mention that I also have plans for this year. How fast I can roll them out depends on what happens with the latest lockdown, and when my son can go back to childcare, and also my therapy schedule. I think we’ve all learnt to be a bit more flexible over the last year though, so I’m sure I can re-jig and fit most of my plans in if needs be.

I have a few new products sat here waiting to be assembled, photographed and listed, which I’m already proud of even if no-one else is interested in them. I already plan to use some of them myself.

On the ‘sustainability’ front I’m also dipping my toes in with a local supplier who hold themselves accountable when it comes to the environment. I’ll be trying new cards and textile products this month, actually.

Stay tuned, and have a good ‘un,

Laura x

Custom wedding illustrations

Art, custom illustration, illustration

Sometimes custom projects come along that are so satisfying to work on from start to finish. Lauren and Stephen very kindly asked me for some illustrated North American animals for their wedding, which they then worked into their table names and seating plans.

The results were a mix of brush pen and ink, plus watercolours. Simple, quick and loose (read: fun to do!) but still cohesive as a set. This was the first time I’d done a series in a while, but I think it gelled well.

Illustrations printed and ready to ship

I was happy with my drawings once I’d passed them on, but boy did they come together with the gorgeous styling of the wedding! The photography by Georgi Mabee also showcased the event to stunning effect, so thank you to her for letting show off my illustrations with her photos.

Illustratorlaura on Etsy

Congratulations once again to Lauren and Stephen!

Laura

My Choice to use an Earthy Palette

Art, Creative life, Uncategorized

You may notice when you look at my art that it is often quite muted and earthy in colours, and that is a by-product of the materials I choose to use. I love bright colours in my personal life, but for my work I’ve chosen to go with a more muted colour palette, as it’s often better for myself, others and the environment. I prefer to keep my sustainable footprint as small as possible by working with found, recycled/rescued or upcycled materials where I can, and in particular ones that were made with as few harmful dyes as possible.

Of course, sometimes nature provides a way of working that gives spectularly pure colours (I’m looking at you, indigo), and some of the materials I’ve used happen to have been bright pops of colour, such as the off-cuts of industrial faux-leather I’ve used in my bags in the past. More often though the less harmful dyes are of course, more earthy. I have used un-bleached cotton and linen in things like my zipped pouches (I’m working on a new range!), which instead of bright white gives a lovely warm beige. Paper from recycled pulp is also often of mixed fibres, resulting in natural melange of soft colours. I also love working with recycled paper for my lino prints and the handmade cards.

Unbleached cotton for one of my hand-painted zip pouches

My pregnancy this year spurred me to make a change to my watercolour paint palette too. After a bit of research I am happy to have found what seems to be quite a varied palette with some rich colours, which is still less toxic to Baby Q and myself. Out went the obvious Cadmium hues and a few of the ‘older’ pigments (they’ve developed safer ones now). You can see a few changes I made in my swatch below. Scribbles look super professional, I know.

My adjusted palette swatches.

It’s not perfectly safe, but at least I’ve chucked out some of the scarier ones. No Vermilion-induced birth defects for us (it contains mercury)! I’d love to hear from you if you know any good resources for checking what are ‘safe’, or relatively safe pigments.

Here’s a recent painting I did for this year’s Christmas cards (the robin one was a very limited run… it’s sold out!)-

My biggest bug-bear is that I miss a bright red. The other hues in my core palette are very lovely, as is Indian Red (or Light Red, as named by some brands), which is the red I’m currently using. You can see the swatch tucked under where I’ve crossed out ‘Cadmium Red’, which I’ve stopped using. Light Red just misses that… pizazz that Cadmium has, and tends to muddy other colours when mixed. Light/Indian Red also varies from brand to brand. So again if anyone knows of any brighter, relatively safe reds, please let me know!

New work

Art, illustration, Uncategorized

In the last couple of months I’ve found that if I can work, I MUST work, for my sanity!

A series of one of my favourite subjects, doors and windows, has been the result of some snatched sketches and painting. The reference photos were taken by me over a couple of years with the theme in mind, so I have a couple of good ‘uns. I’m just finishing up the last one this week, and am pretty pleased with the paintings and also noticed an improvement in my technique. I was certainly quicker, after painting all those bricks and sandstones! Once it’s wrapped up I’ll clean them up and have a limited amount of 2019 calendars made, so do let me know if you’d like one reserved.

Here’s a quick glimpse of a couple (you can see more on my Instagram @illustratorlaura )-

New work illustratorlaura

Small Steps

Creative life, Uncategorized

It’s been very quiet around here, but I’ve been busy. We welcomed our little baby boy, Baby Q, in July!

A common scene at my desk

Over a few months of adjustment I’ve managed to sneak in some illustration work time, and you can see what I’ve been up to over on my Instagram @illustratorlaura.

It’s been tough, having to work around the schedule of a completely new human, who has no clue what a schedule even is. I’m constantly tired, and you can throw any expectation of plans right out the window. Any work is nibbled at in tiny ten minute bites, mostly with an ear out whilst I hold my breath and hope the wee man doesn’t wake up. Luckily there are a couple of hours of babysitting time a week, which is heaven. And yeah: mini human. Super cute.

Having so little ‘me’ time has made me realise that illustrating is such a necessary part of my life, and it’s renewed my drive to fit it in, no matter how drained I feel. I’ve been working on a new series, which you can get a peak at over on Instagram (and I’ll share here shortly).

I’m also a bit nervous about this but I’m doing it anyway: another market! It’s been a couple of years since I was doing them regularly, and it’s a bit of pressure to prepare for it at such a busy time. Markets are always fun though, great to get yourself and your work out there, and I do love a challenge.

If you’re in the Eindhoven area on the weekend 24/25th November (I’ll only be there Sunday 25th) get yourself down to Etsy Made in Eindhoven pop-up market and show some love for local makers and sellers!

Back to work!

Art, illustration, Uncategorized

I’m back in ‘work mode’ after the holidays, finally.

Can’t wait to get stuck in with my ongoing and new creative projects, I’ve so many plans!

I’m trying to share my work more with the world this year, so that people can see what it is I actually do! Some projects are too personal to share, or I can’t share them yet, but here are a few pet portraits I was lucky enough to be commissioned for before Christmas-

Cat portrait, Laura Carter Illustration

watercolour WIP, Laura Carter Illustration

Puppy plaque, illustratorlaura

Dog portrait, Laura Carter Illustration

All watercolour, and the little wooden plaque was gouache.

Do contact me if you’d like me to do something personal for you, human or furbaby!

Happy New Year, and here’s to a creative 2018.

Laura

Home linocut: Part 1

Art, illustration

This is my first linocut in 10 years. The last one I made was at university, in a lovely print studio with a beautiful big press. I recently got into stamp carving, and thought I’d try to up my game a bit with some lino and a small handmade press I made myself (really a glorified flower press). Using a strawberry plant on my balcony as inspiration, I cut a small block to test the best setup.

Linocutting on a homemade bench block

Ink trials

I vaguely remembered lino cutting being painful, and needing to keep plasters close at hand. So I built myself a bench block, which helped a lot and actually (for the record) I DIDN’T CUT MYSELF ONCE. What.

Then I had so many variations on materials that I wanted to experiment with. I ended up dabbling around with two basic black inks: Akua Intaglio and Daler Rowney Water-Soluble block printing colour. I found barely any visible difference between the resulting prints, but preferred the more velvety texture of the Akua ink whilst working with it. Both are water-soluble and make for a quick and tidy clean-up, with no harsh chemicals that oil-based inks need.

Top to bottom, l to r- 1-6 with baren, 7-11 with press

My home-made flower press.

I did the whole session on a big glass plate, occasionally putting the press on the floor to kneel on it so I could tighten the wing nuts, which worked a treat. Definitely an improvement on the low-pressure ”baren” technique. You can see from the photos that I still had issues with the paper creasing around the corners of the block, which I attribute to uneven application of pressure (I pressed too hard at the corners). I think this was worse on the Fabriano paper. I’d definitely go straight to the 100% cotton rag again; the 50% cotton Fabriano paper just gave more problems overall. It just didn’t seem to pick up the ink as well, though I did like the starker contrast between the white paper and black ink. The price difference between the two papers is worth it.

I then wanted to add colour, and kept it simple with green watercolour and red Prismacolor pencil (the red watercolour wasn’t as vibrant as I wanted). Both worked well with the ink and paper.

Original inspiration sketch on the left

Finished lino prints

I’m pretty happy with the results. Of course there’s a long way to go until I’ve nailed a reliable setup and printing process, but I’m already happy enough to have given a couple of these away as gifts. It’s so satisfying to be able to pull multiple originals on my dining table, and I’ll definitely try it again. Small ‘snapshots’ of my balcony garden are something I’ve been wanting to capture for a long time, so I think I’ll be making a series. I’ll update with my progress next time!