Fais de beaux reves...

    I stumbled on these india ink and watercolor 

paintings I did a few months ago.  Playing around 

with different media is really fun and a great way to

fuse inspiration.  Hand cut and purchased rubber stamps

helped to create a dreamlike world for this little gal.  

Stickers, gems, flowers and other kid-like goodies like 

glitter can really make my heart beat faster.  

Silly but true.

So from this I was inspired to paint these two, 

which are a little more serious and sophisticated.  

Like the way they came out a little ghost like?  

India ink sort of gives that look.  Still not super confident with it.  

Memories of high school calligraphy class and pools 

of flubbed ink may have instilled the fear!  Maybe it's just my antique pens. 

Love them, but maybe it's really time to find another method.  Micron pens work well 

but it's hard to get the varied line quality.  Pentel brushes are a bit testy and tend to go 

a bit too bold for my style.  I know I have asked before on twitter but anyone know an alternative?

Until next week, sweet dreams....u-u zzzzzZZZ

Times are hard for dreamers.

I watched Amelie today.  
Sweet, quirky film with surprisingly few stars 
on Netflix, but what do they know about great art?  

Very inspiring film in many ways.

It's a bit hard to draw 

while reading subtitles but came up with this

girl...not really sure what her story is.  

Perhaps she is preparing to write a mysterious

note to a handsome young man, or maybe digging

into her water lily bag for her sketchbook. 

There must be a bench around here somewhere.

Who could resist sketching in a quaint 

little village such as this? 

Pas moi.

Pop! goes Easter

    Last Saturday I was cleaning like Housewife Dementia

(my friend Krissy's alter ego) and neglected to post.  Here is

a little belated apology in the form of a Easter card sketch I 

did on Easter Monday...

    When I create a character sketch I have been drawing 

that character in different poses.  This is an important element 

in children's book illustration. 

Check out the what is going on at the little girl's feet!  

Another fun technique to use in illustration is to have a "secondary story".  

I wanted to add color, it being spring and Easter, 

but my time has been devoted to working on print patterns. 

(You may be interested to know her dress is a jelly bean 

print, which may be hard to tell without color.)

The color addition will have to go on the back burner until next year I suppose.

Hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Easter!   

Bookbinding, Book Making Skills!

    Picked up this great book at the library and thought I would try to
learn a new skill.  Bookbinding!  The book is called Bound
(Over 20 Artful Handmade Books) by Erica Ekrem. Find it here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Bound-by-Erica-Ekrem?keyword=Bound+by+Erica+Ekrem&store=book
 
    First it was a little hard to wrap my head around the actual binding
process but with the help of the wonderful diagrams I was able to catch
on pretty quickly using the Coptic Stitch.
 
    I have a few rolls of vintage wallpaper which I have been wanting to
use to make books.  The directions on how to make the book covers are
excellent and also easy to follow.
 
    Anxious to make some of the other books, I ordered some leather scraps
on Etsy.  I received a beautiful assortment of various colors and textures
from ORTULeather.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ORTUleather/search?search_query=scraps&order=date_desc&view_type=gallery&ref=shop_search
 
    The leather books will make beautiful sketchbooks for my personal use and
gifts...a couple below have already been claimed by very anxious little hands and
are filled with drawings/secrets I am not permitted to see! :(
 
    I have also been working on a brochure for my illustration work.  I plan to
send it to be printed this week.

If you love this wallpaper (striped and floral)
and would like your own free sample leave a friendly comment below then email me raradesign@yahoo.com.
While supplies last!

Gift tag bookmarks are fun to make too...

This simple book has a fabric cover and gift tag pages
I dyed with tea and hibiscus flowers at Christmas.

Love Note to Reading

 Found a bookmark sized scrap laying around blank so I was
persuaded to paint.  

  Thought it would be interesting to tell a little story, 
to have a story within a story.  

  A love story.  

 Who better to tell it than a foxy fox named Scarlet? 

Copyright Rachel Bollman 2015

Anyone hungry?

  Working on several creative projects right now.  I wanted to paint
the two Little Miss Big Ears sketches I posted last week but didn't have
time to finish this week.   I started one and will try my best to share
with you soon.  Lately I have been working mostly digitally and
I miss painting with watercolor.
   Here is a painting I did in January for a picture book workshop.
Reworking this story based on comments from Lindsay Ward and
Laurie Knowlton.
    Have a great week!  *V*  Happy Spring!  ~Rachel

Ready or Not

  Super busy and forgot to post yesterday.
Working on several projects at the same
time and my head is spinning.  Apologies
to those who checked in yesterday.
  Nothing finished that I can share so
thought I would give you a glimpse of
some delicate sketches for a story in progress.
  Introducing Little Miss Big Ears, babysitter
extraordinaire.  You may have gotten a peek
of her already on twitter.. a few ink
drawings.  If you want to see those check
out my twitter page.
https://twitter.com/RachelBollman

  I must go, Downton's about to start!
Cheers!