Freeze Tag

Ok, I am terribly busy like everyone right
now and I neglected you last week.  Truth
is I had no new art finished.  I also forgot to
post the African art I mentioned.  Well, I am
here to make amends...pics of African textiles
on my Facebook page if you want to check
those out and like my page if you please:)
https://www.facebook.com/rachelcbdesign/
I drew and painted these little gift tags earlier this week.

I have done these in the past and
love that they are inexpensive ways to showcase
tiny illustrations.  Really fun to do!
Which is your favorite?

I won't be posting for the next two weeks due to the
holidays.  Please join me the second week of January,
most likely Sunday Jan. 8th.
Can you believe it will be 2017?
Peace, Love, and Happy Holidays!  Rachel B.

Waka Waka Africa

Hello Everyone,
Running a little late.  Projects wonderfully
overflowing!
Working on a group of print patterns to
coordinate with the festive deer I posted a
couple  of weeks ago.
You might know I am nuts about thrift stores
and often I am inspired by items of the past.
This is a batik napkin I found at one of my
favorite spots, Judith's Attic Antiques
(Judith's attic antiques on Facebook).





















Here is a painted sketch.  I loved the shapes and
created two of my own based on the napkin.
I thought this would be a nice quilt fabric print.
You can see how it becomes a different story,
softer and more simple, which is more my style.

(I would like to note, however, that I think there is
a cool African/Jamaican/batik/ethnic print trend
simmering!  Found a nice collection of items recently
that I will post a pic of later in the week so tune in!)
Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving and all is well
for you and yours:)  Rachel

A Little Lilac

This is a sketch of Lilac Bunny, she one of
the furry friends represented in my new home
decor group for baby's nursery.
You might notice my new logo;
I've officially registered
Rachel Christina Design as my business
name.  I kept thinking Rachel B. sounded
too dated.  Christina is my middle name.
I'll sign my illustration work Rachel C. Bollman
Is that confusing?  What do you think?
All for now, busy, busy!!!
Faith, Hope, Love,  Rachel

P.S. I was just practicing Photoshop and did a
few revisions on Lilac.  The eyes were bothering
me a bit and the dark shadow on her head.
The only thing is the color changes when I
brought the jpg into Photoshop:(

Festive Fawn Holiday

Hello friends!
I didn't get a chance to post yesterday or earlier 
today, if you checked in I apologize.

My obsession with drawing all these cats has 

been worthwhile.  Besides getting practice, I am 

happy to say I recently was asked to illustrate one 

of our furry friends for a book cover!  

The author is Chris Beckwith, who typically 

writes serious books about the history of Asia. 

This book is very  quirky and funny.  I may give you a 

sneak peek in the next few weeks.

In the meantime here is a festive fawn of the ceramic
persuasion to bring in the holiday season.  I used the 
awesome water soluble Derwent drawing pencils, 
watercolor, a little gouache and colored pencil.

Have a Happy Turkey Day!  ;)Rachel

Granny Goes Wild

I really don't know what it is about cats lately,
but I have been drawing them a lot.
I do love those fur faces!
Here is Granny on her shopping trip,
leaving behind an odoriferous gift.

Have faith, keep hope in your heart,
and laugh; laugh a lot:)
Rachel

Party with a Cattitude

Last night I had a little "art party" with my kids.  
We sat down with various pencils, papers, brushes, 
and paints, (plus a bit of junk food;).   It was really
fun, and we all had great results.  I might have to
make this a weekend ritual.  Who needs movies
when you can make art with family or friends?
I was a little stuck and felt under pressure at first,
but decided to use pen and ink to draw a few
comical cats.  I then sneaked away and scanned it 
into the computer. 

Late into the night I live traced it in Adobe Illustrator 
and cleaned up some of the strays-
lines and cats (that needed some cosmetic work). 
I added some bright color, splotches,and here you go, 
a display of cattitude.  Who's your favorite?

Have a great week!  Rachel :o)

Here are a couple little sketches I did at this time last year.  

This is Little Miss Big Ears at the beauty parlor.  

She got a bit spooked by her new hairdo! 

Have a safe and fun~filled Happy Halloween!!!

*As you can see I am working on updating my blog, website, and logo as well. 

Please be patient with me, so much to do!

Rubber Puppy You're the One

I'm having a little case of the

Sunday night blues.  How about you?  

I thought a bit of puppy might cheer me up.

This one is a vintage lover's dream, 

copyright by the Edward Morley Co.,

manufactured by Arrow Rubber and 

Plastics Corporation.  No date on the 

belly by the maker's mark but I am 

guessing 1950's? 

The moment our blinking eyes met I was driven to
draw this sweet guy-or my version anyway.













This one came out with a mischeivious look in his
eye, like he may be about to doggie doo something,
which ultimately does the job of making me smile.

Have a great week friends!

1 Little, 2 Little, Love Little Indian Dolls

Hello everyone!
As you might know I am a huge fan
of flea markets and rummage sales.  This summer I
scored when I found a collection of vintage Native
American Indian dolls.  I recall begging for this
same kind of doll when we went on family road trips.
Anyway, I only bought 6 out of the collection and was
kicking myself for not buying more when not long ago
the church had another sale and they were still there (!)
so I bought the rest plus some funky,
amazing Jamaican dolls.

They are really fun to draw.

I have become a bit obsessed and have them in baskets around my studio.

I painted this one with gouache,
which I haven't used in quite a while.
I love the brightness compared to watercolor.

Still warm enough to get out there and scour those sales!
You never know what you might find,
maybe even a piece of your childhood:)

Grab a Coke!

Well, I'm finally back!  I know it has been a long hiatus, but I

guess I need to sort some things out.  I've decided to shift gears

a bit and focus more on my textile work. I am still trying to

adjust my style so my textile and illustration work can skip along

merrily hand in hand.  There are quite a lot of artists who do this,

one of my favorites being Helen Dardik (http://www.oneluckyhelen.com).

Her work is super cool, and she has a wide range of work in her portfolio.

One thing writing my blog did was to push me to finish illustration sketches.

I know I need that again, so here I go.

Continually inspired by Lilla Rogers (http://www.lillarogers.com/) Studio.

Lilla gives these free inspiration prompts.  One recently was something

like "What is your favorite beverage, and why?"  It immediately made me

think of drinking Coke as a kid at Grandma and Grandpas.  They had

these cool plastic cups that had little straw textured "fabric"inside them.

(I was thrilled to find some at an antique store- Judith's Attic Antiques,

in Ripley, Ohio.)

Grandma would load it down with ice and pour in the Coke.  We rarely

got soda, so this was a big deal.  Now when I pour cola, the scent takes

me back.  Summer weekends playing behind Grandma and Granpa's house in

Cincinnati.  Grandpa would fill the aluminum boat up with water 

(if we were lucky) and we got to cool off in our dry dock pool!

Above is my rough sketch of that moment, and a tracing below.  

I decided to add the adults having cocktails because that is usually

what was happening and it adds to the story.  

    Here is my final watercolor and pencil painting.  I am interested in collage and 

      thought it would be neat to add a piece of lace (scanned and printed onto paper) 

            to look like the tablecloth grandma always had on the dining room table 

beneath the Roseville vase of gladiolas.

What are your fondest memories of childhood?

Grab a Coke and sing along with me..."I'd like to buy the 

world a Coke and keep it company..."