Dwell with your kind....

...or in other words "Birds of a feather flock together"! That is one of those things in my life I definitely find to be true.
    Here it is my project complete and I even managed to keep it safe enough whilst drying so it wouldn't end up getting cat footprints all over it. It would seem that Pablo is not as interested in painty stuff as he is papercrafting. Maybe it's the smells that the paint/glue etc gives off.
   I'm actually quite happy with how it's turned out and will find a spot somewhere to put it up. I'm already thinking of my next one, the best part being getting the background down. This will tell me where to go next. Basically I just want to get my hands on those creamy pastels again and get messy!

Thanks for taking the time to have a look!
Love Jak
xxx

PS. My apologies for the not very good photography. My camera has finally given up on me and I'm having to use my iphone for taking all my blog photos these days and although it does a passable job, it's just not the same as having a proper camera!
PPS. Get yourselves these Gel Pastels! They'd be great used for scrapbooking page backgrounds!

trying out something a bit different... for me anyway.

Howdy crafty friends!
This is a peak at my first go at creativity on canvas. Mixed media art to give it it's proper name although it was called collage when I was at college. What fun! Thing is I'm not sure where it's going but I am enjoying the process and I guess that's more important than anything else.
   I wanted to try something different as I feel it's about time I stretched myself a bit and we don't have any original paintings in our house, just one or two prints, mainly in a graphic style. So, this is my first attempt at a splash of colour. I'm a graphic designer to trade which is a very different thing to being a fine artist - basically I can't draw for peanuts which may or may not come as a surprise. Many designers can but some of us can't at least not well enough to make a living from which is why when I got the chance to specialise in magazine design I grabbed it with both hands. Anyway I'm going off on a tangent when what I want to tell you about is these. Gel Pastels from French brand Djeco! They are similar to Faber-Castell Gelatos but a bit cheaper cos they are for kids. This set I got last sunday from HobbyCraft for under£7 which was a bargain as they normally retail at £9. They are lovely and soft and so easy to blend together. Great stuff. Now, not having had the chance to use Gelatos (no-one stocks them anywhere nearby) I'm not sure how they compare but I'm guessing it's all about the ratio of pigment to carrier. These have loads of pigment, certainly plenty for working on white canvas - haven't tried them on a dark background!

Here's a sneeky peek at my first go...

The background told me it needed some birdies as it was a sky that evolved on the canvas... These main images have been printed and cut out....

This is the corner that I'm swithering over... it needs a bit of lettering or something but I just don't want to overdo it and lose the breathing space. I live in fear of overdoing everything arty and live by the saying that "less is more".  Stay tuned to see what I come up with...

Pop by soon to see the completed project.

Love Jak xxx