Secret Santa

Here are my fabulous Secret Santa gifts : )  Someone has clearly noted well my passion for stationery, and for using water colours!  The little pink cherry blossom notepad has the  palest pink branches printed throughout, while the vibrant sunflower tin contains water colour pencils and will fit neatly into the back pocket of my handbag : ) 

Xmas tree

I've been away from here for a while: I had not allowed at all for the fact that this December marked the tenth anniversary of the death of someone who had been very dear to me, plus what would have been his birthday, and that I would as a consequence find myself grappling ghosts metaphorically and in my dreams for much of the month. 

Anyway, today is the  winter solstice, and I have marked it as usual by decorating my christmas tree : ) I'm looking forward to the days growing longer again, and getting back to my sketchbook and that wacom tablet!

Advent Calendar Day 5

Today's mince pie is still work in progress, even though it is partly eaten!  I'll finish it off tomorrow - the digi painting that is - when I'm less tired, so eye and hand co-0rdination should hopefully be better ; )

Advent Calendar Day 4

Inspired by the news of heavy snowfalls in the north: ) My snowman is "forever blowing bubbles" ; )

Mainly for my own benefit, I'm going to include notes of how I did these. Today I began to discover special types of water colour layers to play with. Again, this started off with digital 2b pencil on the canvas, some of which I erased later on. It was followed by various layers of digital water colour, including the first which I used "wet entire layer" on. This is the layer with the snow laden sky, and palest pink tinged snow. The Hammers scarf and hat were painted on two separate layers to stop the colours mixing! 'Makes a change for having to wait patiently for paint to dry; )

advent Calendar Day 3

'Not sure I'm improving yet ;) 

Advent Calendar Day 2

A small person has hung their Xmas stocking very early! 

My friend Catherine has made a delightful wish list on her blog: www.treacletoffee.blogspot.com! 'Some of her favourite items on etsy.  This scarf Catherine has made is on my wishlist: rose scarf  : )

Advent Calendar Day 1

For my advent calendar this year I'm going to try something a little different: I've set myself the challenge of making a seasonal image each day using my trusty Wacom pen and tablet and Painter! I've had these tools for quite a while now, but not spent the time really practising to become adept with them, so each time I pick them up it feels to me like starting anew. Anyway, the challenge of producing something new for here everyday in throughout advent seems a good way in : ). Oh, and I am sure I will be posting some "real" watercolours here, too!