It's all about Folktale Week at the moment, even though it isn't happening for a month. The combination of Hallowe'en, folktales and spooky fairy tales is a heady one indeed for an illustrator, and the unearthly and the preternatural get into our work, often through the back door or creeping in from the edges. The prompts were released today but I haven't seen them yet. I plan on making an Instagram post on Wednesday or Thursday to share them. It's just such an exciting time, and unites the Instagram art community in a bubble of activity; people share and chat to one another like no other time of the year. I don't think the organisers realised how big it was going to be when they launched the first Folktale Week just three years ago, but well done to them for having such a wonderful idea! Please check out their Instagram profiles listed below:

@jennifermpotter @sofiamoore_studio @deborah.j.stein @nicallanart @laure_illustrations @rachaelschaferdesigns @debrastyer @louve.draws @matejalukezic        @thebrotherskent       @chelslarss       @tanja_stephani

And, as always - thanks for visiting, see you next week!

Yes! It's that time of year again - Folktale Week is approaching! After all the insecurity and doubt about my work last week, I made this image for Folktale Week, and it has been incredibly popular, tripling my likes and engagement on Instagram. It has had several shares, mentions and a repost. It only goes to show decisions about work should never be made in haste!​
Pictured below is the piece I was on the brink of tearing up and binning; thankfully something about it made me hesitate at the last minute, because I had it to work with for the Folktale Week announcement. It was great fun to do, and I enjoy lettering in monotype because you have to do it backwards and it comes out a bit wonky!

I have been working purely digitally for a while, which I love - but I always end up with a hankering for the human presence of the hand, and the alchemy of materials. Above is a watercolour from one of my sketchbooks, with wax resist and simple, free pen lines, which I made a while ago. I am very interested in designing patterns which could contain this freedom, I haven't figured it out yet, but it's something which has been going on in the background of my mind for over a year. Also, I haven't a clue which pen I used to worked on wax! It has bonded perfectly with the resist - experiments required (and possibly a lot of spoilt pens).

Above is a set of six little monotypes from the same sketchbook. I have always loved making monotype drawings. Using a glass plate rolled with printing ink or oil paint, paper is placed over the plate and I draw on the paper. It means when the paper is peeled away from the plate it reveals a mirror image of the drawing plus accidental smudges and textures. These surprises are exciting, and I use the technique both for illustration and in my Heather Eliza drawings.

This week I began to isolate sketches from my book (I did write about getting my jugs out and working with them, but NO, that's SO wrong!! Raised a few laughs on Instagram, though) . Here is a rudimentary something I put together as an experiment. The original monotype drawing was made on hand-made bark paper which supplies the lovely colour and texture for the fuzzy ink lines, cut out and placed over a digitally created linen-weave background. It may take a while, but I'll see where I go with this.

PS: I decided not to do Inktober on Instagram this year, I just have too many pots on the boil at the moment. I was tempted, but focus is required.