03:16

VOTE FOREVER!!

For anyone who doesn't follow me via other social networking sites, I've entered the recent competition over at creativesafari.com and ohhdeer.com which gives up an coming artists a chance to win their own greeting card range (AMAZING!!) and also gives artists a chance to be recognised.

For a while I was struggling with the whole design process, after all I'm entirely self taught and haven't had the education or experience that some of the other entries will have had. Regardless, I powered on through and came up with this...

"Forever"

From the get go I wanted something romantically themed as I really wanted to create something really pretty and quite delicate without spending too much time fussing over detail (as a perfectionist, I often obsess over detail which tends to result in me not knowing when to stop!). As someone who is quite sentimental, I wanted to create something that symbolized everlasting love, and as is commonly known, swans mate for life and that to me is a beautiful concept, finding that one person (your soul mate) and spending the rest of your life together. Of course, I had to add some form of text to kind of summarise the concept so I chose the word "forever", simple and to the point. I embedded the text in the midst of a wreath of Forget Me Not's, a beautiful flower with an appropriate name! Also the circle represents a love without a beginning or an end.

I hope you enjoy my design, if you want to vote you can click here NOW!!

Also, the competition deadline is 12th June, so if you're interested in entering you still have some time left. If you do enter GOOD LUCK!!:) and if you decide to vote, THANK YOU!! It means the world to me!!

Bird is the word...

I absolutely ADORE birds! They are the most interesting, most beautiful creatures you will ever come across, each with their own unique set of characteristics. As such a massive fan of the bird life, I do do a LOT of images around that subject matter (although I do a lot of other animal species too!) and today I decided to draw one of Britain's most beautiful breed, the Chaffinch.

Above you can see my finished piece, "Bird In Branches" (yes, very original!). There were many composition ideas I had for the drawing but something deep inside me called out for branches, LOTS OF BRANCHES!!! Although I'm pleased with the way it's turned out, I can't help but feel maybe the poor little birdie does look a little swamped in all those branches...oh well, when you have a craving you have to feed it!

As well as my overwhelming need of branches, I also decided I needed to play around with the image digitally. At the moment I have an obsession with trying to create patterns but I'm not an illustrator and I lack serious computer skills. Non the less, I gave it a go and this is what I ended up with...