Illustration Friday: Ink

My submission for Illustration Friday this week was quite a simple one, as I've been busy getting lots of new products up in the shop and preparing for Crafty Fox Markets.

The theme this week was "ink" so I went with a simple scroll and dip pen with the words "Once Upon a Time". This one was again a little bit inspired by the TV show by the same name, and the character of "the author". (If you love fairytales and haven't watched Once Upon a Time yet, you definitely should!) 

Illustration Friday: Prize

This week's prompt for Illustration Friday was 'Prize'.

The idea for this one came to me quite quickly. I've been re-watching Once Upon a Time as the new series begun this week. I haven't watched the first episode yet but I knew that it involves the Sword in the Stone, so I used that as my inspiration for my illustration this week.

Illustration Friday: Mermaid

This week's Illustration Friday topic was 'Mermaid'.

I struggled to come up with a way of relating this to a fairytale, other than the obvious connections to The Little Mermaid. So I decided to do something quite simple this week, focusing on the colours and patterns in the work rather than relating it directly to a fairytale.

I haven't worked with an underwater theme before so this one was quite different for me.

Illustration Friday: Villain

I actually had quite a few ideas for this week's Illustration Friday prompt, 'Villain'. Any good fairytale always involves a villain so there were plenty to choose from! I picked the witch from Hansel and Gretel, as I've wanted to use that story in one of my illustrations for a while but hadn't had the opportunity. 

I've illustrated Hansel and Gretel peering through the window of the gingerbread house (of course complete with one of my favourite sweets, snowies, and my favourite biscuits, chocolate bourbons!) to see the witch cooking up a spell in her cauldron.

I've got plenty of new work to share over the next few weeks as well as another look inside my sketchbook pages very soon.

And of course I'll be back next week with another Illustration Friday piece to show you.

Illustration Friday: Work

I'm nearly back on track after my holiday! I came back to a little flurry of orders in my Etsy shop which has taken up a bit of my time this week, but I'm slowly getting on top of things now.

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is 'Work'. I was a bit stuck with this one to begin with, as work isn't something thats mentioned much in fairytales! The two ideas I cam up with were the seven dwarfs and "whistle while you work" from Disney's version of Snow White, and the woodsman chopping up trees in Little Red Riding Hood.

I went with the Little Red Riding Hood idea but including a little bird with musical notes as a nod to the "whistle while you work" idea.

Illustration Friday: People

I missed last week's Illustration Friday prompt of 'Heart', and didn't have as much time as usual to work on this week's 'People'.

I ended up doing something a bit different. I haven't actually illustrated any people for this piece, but instead have used a lovely quote (about people) from 'Colours of the Wind' in Pocahontas.

"You think the only people,

who are people,

are the people,

who look and think like you.

But if you walk

the footsteps of a stranger,

you'll learn things

you never knew you never knew."

This one was a bit of a rush but I hope to be back on track properly next week!

Illustration Friday: Pointy

This week's Illustration Friday prompt was 'Pointy'. All of my initial ideas were pretty similar to those that I had for 'Sharp' (the prompt for the first week I took part). One of the first new ideas that came to mind was a wolf, with its pointy eyes and pointy teeth, so I went with Little Red Riding Hood as my inspiration this week.

I've illustrated Little Red Riding Hood approaching her Grandmother's cottage, with the wolf watching her from the inside.

I've also included a slightly adapted quote from the story, replacing the word "big" with "pointy" to say "My, what pointy teeth you have..."

I won't be taking part in Illustration Friday next week as I'm away in Norway (unless I really like the prompt next week in which case I might create something for it once I'm back anyway!)

The blog will be pretty quiet next week while I'm away but I'll have plenty of things to share once I'm back the following week!

Illustration Friday: Grow

This week's prompt was 'Grow'.

After last week where I mentioned that I wanted to do something quite different this time (mainly avoiding the use of nature as all of my Illustration Friday submissions have been about plants or leaves so far!) I initially struggled to come up with something.

I did come up with an idea for a portrait of Pinocchio with his nose growing, but then I thought of Alice in Wonderland and the food and drinks that make her grow (and shrink) throughout the story.

I'm already working on a project inspired by Alice in Wonderland so it seemed appropriate to continue that theme into this week's Illustration Friday work too!

This design is available on Art Rookie on a variety of products including cushions and clocks!

If you're new to my blog or my Illustration Friday series you can catch up here.

Illustration Friday: Nature

This week's Illustration Friday prompt was 'Nature'.

I struggled to come up with something for this one. Nature features in most of my work and its one of my main inspirations, but I didn't want to just draw another forest or bunch of flowers.

I also had to find a way of relating it to a fairytale or story which made it even harder not to do anything too obvious. I went through several ideas involving trees, apples, animals etc but they were all something I had done before. In the end I decided to illustrate something with nature where it wouldn't normally be: In Rapunzel's hair.

The idea is that she has been sat in the tower for so long that her hair has become connected with her surroundings, and she is now a part of the nature. I also added in her holding an apple, and a framed picture of a flower on the wall so those symbols were still included.

I realised after I'd finished this that I've ended up using the same colour palette as last week, oops! I'll aim to make next week's one quite different.

I've been enjoying taking part in Illustration Friday so far, and I love opening that e-mail on a Friday to see what the next prompt will be! Hopefully I'll be keeping this up for a while longer.

Illustration Friday: Treasure

This week's prompt on Illustration Friday was 'Treasure'.

I went though a few ideas for this one. Originally I was planning on drawing a "treasure chest of fairytales", with various fairytale objects (glass slippers, pumpkins, flowers etc) spilling out of a treasure chest. But then I had the idea to do a treasure map. I illustrated a map as part of my Final Major Project at University last year, and at the time I was really pleased with and it was something I wanted to do more of. But up until now that has been the only map I've illustrated, so I took the opportunity to do it for this week's Illustration Friday.

I've designed it as a fairytale treasure map, so all the locations are places from various fairytales, such as the woods from Little Red Riding Hood, and the tower where Rapunzel is kept.

Here's a few close-ups of the different locations:

(This design is available as a print in my Society6 shop!)

Illustration Friday: Garden

I'm actually on time with my Illustration Friday submission this week!

The prompt was 'Garden' so I've based it on the nursery rhyme 'Round and round the garden' and illustrated it as a miniature garden.

"Round and round the garden,

like a teddy bear,

one step, two step,

tickle you under there!"

Illustration Friday: Sharp

I've decided to give Illustration Friday a go again. I did it for a few weeks last year but didn't stick to it for too long.

Each week (when I can) I'll be creating an illustration inspired by the prompts provided on Illustration Friday and themed around a fairytale or other story.

This week, the theme was "Sharp" and I chose to use Briar-Rose as inspiration.

(unfortunately I was a little late getting this finished and didn't get around to actually submitting it to the Illustration Friday website! Next week I'll try and be more punctual with it!)

The initial idea for this came from the "sharp" needle on the spinning wheel on which Briar-Rose pricks her finger. However as I began the illustration I remembered that after she falls asleep, a thorny bush grows around the castle to prevent the Princes or anyone else from rescuing her. I included this thorny bush (in the form of a Briar-Rose bush) coming through the windows, adding another element to the illustration to represent the Illustration Friday prompt, 'Sharp'.

I should be back next week with another Illustration Friday image for you!