Blog Archives

27 September

9/27/2020

Birds are everywhere at the moment both in and out of my work. Long skeins of geese gabble across the skies on their way to and from Vane Farm RSPB nature reserve on Loch Leven; and the pigeons seem incredibly tame this year, sitting on the fence eyeing us up as we walk past with the dog. The crab apples are turning red which means plentiful winter fruit for our residents.
I love this time of year, today the sun is shining and autumn colours are starting to glow through the green.

21 SEPTEMBER

9/21/2020

Clipping masks (not face-masks for a change) became an obsession last week when I realised how beautifully different papers and textures sit together in a patchwork resembling a quilt. The scope for experimentation on just one set of shapes is literally infinite, and collecting and collating scans for them is an exciting process.

This ‘Sunday’ illustration uses a bird I drew earlier in the year, together with a garland I painted last year. I deconstructed the bird into separate layers in Procreate, and spent some time working on the garland so I could play around with overlaying a variety of scans. Here, collaged together, are patterns from my sketchbooks, some of the gouache paintings from last week’s entry, a collection of painted textures also from my sketchbooks, pages from vintage books, and a map of Canada (random!)

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

13 September

9/13/2020

I have been studying and drawing my collection of gypsy purses from time to time since the mid 1990s, perhaps to try and work out why I love them so much. The gouache paintings pictured here pasted into a scrapbook were made back then (long before the days of iPad and Procreate).

I painted details of Indian bags and a black papier mâché bowl also from India, bought in the same shop in Cirencester as some of the gypsy purses; and the crackle glaze decoration on a flask which looks Greek - a thrift-shop find in North London, possibly brought to England by a holiday maker, which makes me think of red wine from sun-soaked country vineyards served in a bistro alongside all the colourful, fragrant foods of the Mediterranean.

The paintings are fun to use for throwback-Thursday posts on Instagram, and the comparison with today’s digital versions is interesting; rich colours and a fascination with tiny stitched details live on.

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

6 SEPTEMBER

9/6/2020

These two patterns were spin-offs from the second (blue) drawing in my last entry. Working in Procreate allows for a lot of freedom and experimentation with sets of shapes and colours, and it’s very satisfying to be able to produce new works relatively quickly. I say relatively quickly, but a lot of time this week went into designing the little birds - but I’m sure I will use them again in different works!

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Welcome to my illustration blog, where I share what I have been up to during the week.
I illustrate under the pen-name of Binky McKee, McKee being my mother's maiden name. Binky was the name of every single cat my great-grandmother kept - about 40 of them during her 94 years of life.
Currently I am working on illustrating a children's book, pattern making, and of course I can't resist a good Instagram challenge such as Folktale Week or Inktober.

I hope you enjoy your visit!

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I keep lots of scrapbooks and sketchbooks where I develop ideas and design little creatures. Here's a peek inside one ...

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As you may know, I am also known as Heather Eliza Walker.
Click the image if you would like to find out more and visit my other website.

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Instagrams
HeatherElizaWalker
Binky_McKee

Redbubble Shop
BinkyMcKee

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This time, take a peek into my ceramic design sketchbook. I actually made some of the mugs, but I kind of prefer the drawings! The plate designs are painted on paper plates, a most liberating process.

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These watercolours are from my pattern sketchbook. I used coloured wax crayons to resist the washes of watercolour, also home-made rubber stamps dipped in bleach then printed on crêpe paper - the bleach takes out the paper dyes.

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A sketchbook I used for mark-making with unusual objects - corks, seed-heads, feathers, home-made rubber stamps, my fingers and lots of flicky things ...