AliceNACT

I’ve been preoccupied these last couple of weeks with trying to be a business woman so the current major project is not going as quickly as I’d like it to, but hey ho! I’m back! . I love drawing trees. How do I draw trees? Well, I have a postcard of an E.H. Shepard tree on my wall, and all the trees I draw are just variations of that one. What was that saying about good and great artists again? Hey, if it’s good enough for Picasso, it’s good enough for me 🧐 . Not shown in the video, me dancing to the new Raconteurs songs while drawing. #art #illustration #drawing #timelapse #wip #workinprogress #pencil #pencilling #sketch #sketching #tree #trees #treedrawing https://www.instagram.com/p/BwsK-Jmg5QQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=gi0qc928e2xs

A WORK IN PROGRESS - STAGE 1: SKETCH Working on the last of the Folk Ballads! I normally only start documenting the process for social media starting from the inking phase because I’m not sure how visually the previous stages are, but I thought I’d give it a go! A piece of work starts with deconstructing the text, working out what kind of images I want to make with it. I rarely work on a single image at a time but rather the whole set, that way I won’t get bored, and my skill level is even across all the images (you’d be amazed at how much your skills improve just after one painting). The second part is a million thumbnails that only I can understand, gradually moving towards a coherent rough. This is the hardest part. This is where all my brain power get invested. This is when I procrastinate because it’s so hard and whinge to anyone I can get ahold of. Coming up with the right composition is the key to absolutely everything! Sometimes I’ll do a colour palette at this stage, sometimes not. Since this is the third of the series, I have a pretty good idea what I want the colours to be so I didn’t bother. Then it’s sketching out the image onto taped and measured watercolour paper, and adding any final tweaks. For this series specifically, I pencil out exactly how the text should sit on the image despite inking it separately. Things aren’t too sexy at the mo, but I promise, the tasty level will improve once the inkwell get busted out! #art #illustration #workinprogress #wip #sketch #process https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXcx2pg8ZI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=yon9t14a1rej

Normally I put my time lapses on stories, but let’s try something new today. #art #illustration #artoninstagram #illustrationoninstagram #timelapse #wip #workinprogress #ink #drawing #inkdrawing https://www.instagram.com/p/BvaYsU8ggHu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=69x1pibjwcgf

Sometimes I’d listen to a song and would be overcome with the urge to letter out the lyrics. This was one of those times. @hozier #hozier #hozierlyrics #lyrics #inaweek #art #illustration #lettering #calligraphy #words #quote #letteringart #handlettering #songlyrics #buzzards #foxes https://www.instagram.com/p/BujKHrIACHp/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ovqvc1g6es16

The end is nigh, folks! So, this was my entry for the @goodomensprime @talenthouse poster design competition! Though it didn’t get selected, the idea that for however brief a moment, my work might have been seen by @neilhimself is already winning enough for me. And can I just say how excited I am? Between this and American Gods series 2, I am willingly sacrificing the rest of the time I have not working on the major project to the god that is Neil Gaiman. Amen! #art #illustration #poster #goodomens #neilgaiman #terrypratchett #crowley #aziraphale #psyched https://www.instagram.com/p/BuhRBhDgEXI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1xounmrj9xcki

Got myself some new ink and nibs, so I decided to paint a cute little shroom to test them out. About to dive into something massive! #art #illustration #watercolour #mushroom #artofthemushroom #drawing #mushroomart https://www.instagram.com/p/BuG8rSiA5Ba/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=178wp2c25h2fo

And here they are, my illustrations for Howl’s Moving Castle, made for this year’s Book Illustration Competition by @foliosociety and @illustrationhq . Sadly I did not make the long list, but I still had a great time working on these and am very happy with the final outcomes! . Illustration No.3 “At every archway a splendidly dressed person wearing white gloves - still somehow white inspire of the heat - inquiring their business and then led them onto the next personage in the next archway.” . #art #illustration #foliosociety #houseofillustration #bic2019 #bookillustrationcompetition #bookstagram #howlsmovingcastle #dianawynnejones https://www.instagram.com/p/Btg3XRiA9dN/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=aymv2cnlu23j

And here they are, my illustrations for Howl’s Moving Castle, made for this year’s Book Illustration Competition by @foliosociety and @illustrationhq . Sadly I did not make the long list, but I still had a great time working on these and am very happy with the final outcomes! Illustration No.2 “So you ate hearts, did you suit?” #art #illustration #foliosociety #houseofillustration #bic2019 #bookillustrationcompetition #bookstagram #howlsmovingcastle #dianawynnejones https://www.instagram.com/p/Btg3DC4AL-T/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ehn8zpneahno

And here they are, my illustrations for Howl’s Moving Castle, made for this year’s Book Illustration Competition by @foliosociety and @illustrationhq . Sadly I did not make the long list, but I still had a great time working on these and am very happy with the final outcomes! . Illustration No.1 “And when a young man in a fantastic blue and silver costume spotted Sophie and decided to accost her as well, Sophie shrank into a shop doorway and tried to hide.” . #art #illustration #foliosociety #houseofillustration #bic2019 #bookillustrationcompetition #bookstagram #howlsmovingcastle #dianawynnejones https://www.instagram.com/p/Btg2216g6VP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=3slrwkj8afev

I wanted to embroider some text next, so who’s best to pay tribute to than my main man, Mr. Poe himself. And is there a Poe quote more iconic than this one? #art #illustration #embroidery #embroideryart #quote #edgaralanpoe #poe #theraven #nevermore https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs2472QACsR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=fq4ht0b7sfz5

My second embroidered hoop. Inspired by Klimt’s lost mural “Medicine”, and the witches of old. Notice how the witch’s identifying mole has been transformed into a star 😉 #art #illustration #embroidery #embroideryart #witch #redhead #bluetattoo #moontattoo https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs24FKpgyHM/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=kumexj8notp4

If you’ve been following my Stories, you’d know that I’ve been using this new year so far to be very sick and making use of my bed ridden time to get obsessed with embroidery. This was the first hoop I made. Embroidery thread on denim, with lyrics from the gypsy soul goddess herself. I feel like this is the beginning of a beautiful love affair between the needle and I! #art #illustration #embroidery #embroideryart #lyrics #stevienicks #fleetwoodmac #sisterofthemoon #moon #woods #redhead https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs22djEAsiE/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1m35jomnyqhfo

The Licking 5/5 - based on “Wolf Alice” by Angela Carter “Little by little, there appeared within it, like the image on photographic paper that emerged, first, a formless web of tracery, the prey caught in its own fishing net, then in former yet still shadowed outline until at last as vivid as real life itself, as if brought into being by her soft, moist, gentle tongue, finally, the face of the Duke.” Hard ground and aquatint etching. #art #illustration #etching #hardground #hardgroundetching #aquatint #aquatintetching #printmaking #angelacarter #wolfalice #mirror https://www.instagram.com/p/BqfdbvbAnAg/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1vxkwu00px5yp

Alice the Bride 4/5 - based on “Wolf Alice” by Angela Carter “When they saw the white bride leap out of the tombstones and scamper off towards the castle with the werewolf stumbling after, the peasants thought the Duke’s dearest victim had come back to take matters into her own hands.” Hard ground and aquatint etching. #art #illustration #etching #hardground #hardgroundetching #aquatint #aquatintetching #printmaking #angelacarter #wolfalice #castle #gothic https://www.instagram.com/p/BqfcyQvAsqP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zysjd9od31p8

The Duke 3/5 - based on “Wolf Alice” by Angela Carter “He carries on his frail shoulders a weird burden of fear; he is cast in the role of the corpse-eater, the body-snatcher who invaded the last privatise of the dead.” Hard ground and aquatint etching. #art #illustration #etching #hardground #hardgroundetching #aquatint #aquatintetching #printmaking #angelacarter #wolfalice #stairs #window https://www.instagram.com/p/BqfcgYlAsSJ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=glcqs3t8mq0u

The Mirror 2/5- based on “Wolf Alice” by Angela Carter “She pokes her agile nose around the back of the mirror; she found only dust, a spider stuck in his web, a heap of rags.” Hard ground and aquatint etching. #art #illustration #etching #hardground #hardgroundetching #aquatint #aquatintetching #printmaking #angelacarter #wolfalice #mirror https://www.instagram.com/p/BqfcKkxARIa/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=da1b3aaj4h1g

The Capture 1/5 - based on “Wolf Alice” by Angela Carter “When they found her in the wolf’s den beside the bullet-riddled corpse of her foster mother, she was no more a little brown scrap so snarled in her own brown hair they did not, at first, then know she was a child but a cub.” Hard ground and aquatint etching. #art #illustration #etching #hardground #hardgroundetching #aquatint #aquatintetching #printmaking #angelacarter #wolfalice #forest https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqfbs9dgtx7/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=cl3il6eazpkp