The last two illustrations from my Folktale Week on Instagram. For day 6, Key, I made all the keys in Procreate, and used a photo of textured wall to suggest a baronial castle setting for Binky the cat detective to demonstrate how to find the correct key. I very much had in mind Miranda Hart’s Pussy Poirot, from her hilarious BBC series Miranda: “dressing pets as famous detectives” (Series 1.3. Job). The last day’s prompt was Crown, and I chose a drawing from my archives to use. I made it about 4 years ago and never did anything with it. It was a simple matter to bring it into Procreate and tweak a crown and call it “Stary Mary had the biggest crown in the land”. The beautiful warm quality comes from using oil paint on gold leaf over red bole. It creates the richness of oil painting even though it is on paper. This was my most popular Folktale Week illustration this year, perhaps because of the colours and brooding yet whimsical nature? I never can find any rhyme or reason to Likes on Instagram.
Well, I can't believe it is the 26th of November already - less than a month until Christmas! My next move is to start making cards, and at the weekend we will be getting the decorations down from the attic. I am looking forward to the cheer of sparkly lights and candles and glitter, it has become very dark here in Scotland as we creep closer to the solstice. Thanks for visiting, see you next week! My illustration for day 4 of Instagram's Folktale Week: the prompt was Smoke and I chose to use a drawing I made a little while ago collaged with outlines of trees on different layers of semi-opaque paper. It provided a good smoky backdrop to work on. I brought it into Procreate and added the smoke-dragon monster which made me think of the song Puff The Magic Dragon (1963) by Peter, Paul and Mary. I loved that song so much when I was little, and my Dad used to sing it to me all the time, but only the chorus and a few lines. He never got to the last verses, and I realise now it is really a sad song and I feel so sorry for Puff. It is still one of my favourite songs ever, and I found myself singing as I worked:
"Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee ..." Don't assume the song is about puffing drugs, as many did at the time (well, t'was the '60s). The band insist it contains no reference to drugs, being about loss of childhood innocence. The song was based on a poem written by Leonard Lipton in 1959 (the year I was born). I love the images the song conjures all the way through. There is a charming video with lyrics on You Tube, although be advised the sealing wax clip is a bit of a jump-scare - a bit visceral at first glance! I'll write a little bit about the last two days of Folktale Week in my next Weekly, then after that it's going to be Christmas card making and picking up where I left off on the 100 days project - another 47 cats to go, I think. I should have it done some time in 2020! Thanks for visiting, see you next week! PS Most of my links are to Wikipedia pages. I love Wikipedia, and donate to keep it free from commerce and advertising whenever I can. They are fundraising at the moment and you can donate here from as little as £2. "Wikipedia is something special. It is like a library or public park. It is like a temple for the mind. It is a place we can all go to think, to learn, to share our knowledge with others." - founder Jimmy Wales says it all. If you can, please do help with whatever you can give. One of the perks of working over so many years is an extensive back catalogue to dip into as required. It was a big help over Folktale Week this year as I was so busy in the weeks before it started I ended up with only Sunday 3rd November to work for the prompts, with yet another busy week ahead for Folktale Week itself. Keeping the prompts in mind, I trawled through my archives and came upon illustrations from 5 years ago which resonated with the folktale vibe so much they could have been made specifically for the purpose. I hadn’t ever used them for anything else; the drawing above of a secret door for snails was perfect for Day 2, Secret, especially after bringing it into Procreate for some up-to-date tweaks. I made this one for Day 3, Path, in a similar way and altogether got the first five days done, catching up the following weekend making ‘Key’ for day 6, and ‘Crown’ for the final day on Sunday. I made it by the skin of my teeth, and thoroughly enjoyed the process.
Thanks for visiting, see you next week! Folktale Week began on Instagram this week, I love seeing all the different interpretations of the prompts! This is my post for Day 1, Home: the wanderer returns to a warm welcome. This year I am working with a hybrid technique, this is a watercolour with drawn plant shapes and frosty roundels in white Rotring, with gouache colour accents. I scanned it and and worked it further in Procreate, adding the cat and a few other elements to suit.
Look for #folktaleweek2019 and follow the hashtag to see hundreds of super-talented illustrators all working in different ways! Thanks for visiting, see you next week |
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Welcome to my illustration and patterns blog.
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 - allegedly about 40 of them during her 94 years of life. I changed the website address a few months ago, so some older links on previous posts are broken. If you click one of those and it takes you to a strange page, simply replace the .co.uk after the binkymckee. with weebly.com and it will work again. 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.
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April 2024
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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 ...
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