Blog Hop!

Hello everyone I hope that you are all well! Today I have been lucky enough nominated by the lovely Vivienne over at Green Rabbit Designs to take part in a Blog hop!

A Blog hop is a fun way to network in order to introduce your audience to new creative blogs that you love, but that they may have not discovered themselves and if they have to find out a little more about the people behind them. So if you haven't discovered Vivienne's lovely little blog yet please hop over and take a look, as she makes the most gorgeous crochet bunnies! Thank you so much for the nomination Vivienne!



So as part of the Blog hop there are four questions for each Blogger to answer and they are as follows:

What am I working on?

I am trained as an Illustrator and have a card range named Bobby Bunny & Friends! At the moment I have lots of prints and designs in the pipeline in order to expand my range but I am not currently working on anything specific, as August is peak trading time at my retail day job it doesn't leave much spare time. But I will be able to show you all something new within the next few weeks when things have calmed down a bit! For now though I will give you a taste of the sort of work that I do.

 

My work always involves my character Bobby Bunny who I originally created on my HND Illustration course, or his best friend Bella Bunny. At the moment my range consists only of cards which I have been selling on Etsy since the end of last year, but in time I am hoping to expand into other Bobby Bunny related products and would love to eventually illustrate some Bobby Bunny and friends books.

How does my work differ from others?

This is quite a hard question to answer as it is difficult to view your own work objectively, but due to the fact that Bobby Bunny is my own character and that all of my work revolves around him, I imagine that this consistency would make him quite easily recognisable. I also work using coloured pencils amongst other things, which is an unusual medium to be found within the greetings card industry.

My work is designed to be cute and childish in a sense, but in a way that it would appeal to adults. I also try to keep my card designs relatively simple in order for the image to stand out, and to give the cards a more modern look. The designs contain a lot of me and my personality and are a little nostalgic, evoking childhood memories. I love to just pick up a pencil and be transported into my little Bobby Bunny and Friends world!

Why do I write/create what I do?

Predominantly I write/create what I do because I like doing it, but I would love to be able to do it as a full-time job one day. I find it a bit of an escape and love working on new projects and ideas from start to finish. I get such a buzz from finishing a project, and there is something very satisfying about putting pen to paper and making nothing into something. Equally it can be frustrating if I can't get something to look the way that I want it to, for example if the pose is difficult. But I think that the fact that I still stick with it even when things don't go right, shows how my creative side is ingrained within me and is part of who I am.

How does my writing/creative process work?

Sometimes I write/create depending on my mood, for example if I feel like creating a Christmas card illustration then I will I will do a Christmas card illustration. But other times I will create a card idea especially for an event i.e. a family birthday or Wedding, which will then eventually be put on line in order to be sold to others.

When coming up with ideas I usually gradually put a multitude of inspiration together in my head to eventually come up with the image that I would like to create, which can take weeks. I find this easier than using sketchbooks, as my inspiration usually comes from all over and can involve anything from an advert that I see in the street, a pose, or a pattern etc. The only time that I tend to use sketchbooks for gaining ideas is when I think of a card design that I want to make, which I will then jot down so that I can come back to it at a later date in order to jog my memory.

 

Once I have the idea of my card design together in my head I will then set about researching the subject matter, and finding reference picture for things such as clothes, poses, objects and colours to use within my images of Bobby and Bella. I usually use such as Google, Pinterest, and iStock photo to do this, as well as magazines and again sometimes this process can take weeks to get right.

From here I then set about sketching out my image which I usually do within an A5 sized sketchbook, as for some reason my Bobby Bunny images only every seem to come out right when I drawn them small. It can take me anywhere from a couple of hours plus in order to get the sketch right. I will then scan my sketchbook image and enlarge it, before printing it off and transferring it onto cartridge paper.

 

From here I will then begin to work in the colour, always starting with the ears and ending with the eyes by using a mixture of watercolours, colouring pencils, pastels and acrylics. I also work into the image from the background to the foreground until I achieve the finished piece, which usually takes another few hours or so depending on the complexity of the image.

 

After this I then scan my image into Photoshop and touch up the colour so that they look like the original piece, as the scan never looks the same without doing this. This probably take me about an hour to do.

  

The final stage of the process is to then mock my images up onto cards. I do this by adding the image onto my card template within Photoshop, putting in the relevant sentiment and then printing it off onto Linen effect card which I score, fold, trim, and add a pretty little button by hand. The process is then finished by printing off the envelops with my logo, and packaging them up with a handwritten note ready to go off to their new homes. In all this process usually takes around fifteen minutes to half an hour per card.

 

The last part of the Blog hop is to nominate someone who's blog that you  enjoy for others to find, if they haven't already. I would love to nominate Julie from Little Cotton Rabbits, as if you haven't already come across her she creates the most beautiful knitted little bunnies! Julie is also the one who inspired me to start blogging about my own craft, after I stumbled across her blog quite by accident. I enjoyed reading about her Little Cotton Rabbits and how she used her knitting as an escape from caring for her autistic son, and liked the idea of making creative friends whist blogging about my craft. So if you haven't already please pop over and see what you think.

Likewise if you want to take part in your own Blog hop then please do, as like I said it is a fab way to network and meet new friends!

Thanks for visiting my little blog! x