This is a study I made (one of many), exploring the female figure blending with a freehand pattern.
I don't like the splurge around the fingers and I was tempted to tidy it up in Photoshop. But then I weighed up the time it would take and decided it's probably best to move on and keep the creations flowing, rather than dwelling on the details in one image.
Going forward, I might digitally scan the pattern before I apply the water (which creates the body surface). That way, I have an option to edit a digital version in Photoshop. I can have two layers: a before version and an after version as a base layer. This will make it easy to erase splurges in the foreground and reveal the clean background pattern behind.
It's easy to get water drop accidents as well, and I'm tempted to clean these up. Sometimes mistakes add energy to the piece. But in this case, the splash near her right eye is just confusing. Conversely, if the edge of the figure is too neat, it deadens the spirit of the picture.
Control and precision versus spontaneity and flow are a big consideration.
]]>A video popped up on my facebook feed with some quotes from Eva Hesse that tied in well with lines of thinking Estelle and I discussed at the Art Parlour on Friday. Unfortunately I can't find it anywhere. In a tired moment after Scottish Borders Life Drawing Zoom this afternoon I trawled Facebook and YouTube trying to find it. No luck. Trawling Facebook and YouTube is like wading slowly through a sickly breeding pond of those leeches recommended in the 17th Century.
It was something about unresolved art being better. It's not a plan executed. Or I should say I don't want it to just be a plan executed. I'll come back to the topic.
On the upside it's been a good few days of art bracketed into the month. And eBay sales are double the dismal month I had in November, so less money worries.
Here are the drawings.
Trinidad @trinidadmodelovivo
The face annoys me on this one and the spindly right arm. But I like the gist of what I'm doing with combining the line drawing and the coloured background.
Model is Elya @arte_muse
If I drew this again, I would make the felt tip lines (which were the first 'pass' at the drawing, less angular and stick like).
Trinidad @trinidadmodelovivo
Model is Elya @arte_muse
Tina @tina_artmodel
Tina is also an actress. She has a very expressive style of modelling. And she uses bright coloured fabric in her backdrop and draped across her chair.
The session on Saturday night was organised and hosted by Judith Yaws (an artist based in North Caroline USA) https://lifefiguredrawing.com/
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Seriously suffered from FOMO - the feeling of missing out! Especially as there were only 10 minute breaks between each set.
The figure drawing marathon schedule looked like this:
12:40 PM - 14.10 PM Poppy
14:20 PM - 15:50 PM Ludmila
16:00 PM - 17:30 PM Tina
17:40 PM - 19:10 PM Frankie
19:20 PM - 20:50 PM Melina
21:00 PM - 22:30 PM Haley
22:40 PM - 24:10 AM Anabella
00:20 AM - 01:50 AM Anna Uchiyama
02:00 AM - 03:30 AM Tatiana & Jonathan
One of my favourite models is Ludmila. She has a tendency to start laughing randomly at odd moments (feline antics in the background?) and her state of repose includes a cupid bow smile.
I seem to have created a strange albino Ludmila here, with red eyes. It's mainly down to the quick poses - it can be a bit rushed for colour work.
Here are a couple more that I drew / painted of Ludmila. She chose a red fan as a prop which was great. I like the red, blue and yellow image best.
Finally, a drawing that I liked but lost faith for a second and splotched her face to try and cover a 'wrong' line.
If you would like to join one of Judith Yaws figure drawing sessions online, you can find the upcoming sessions here. I don't think there will be another marathon for a while. Not sure how frequent they are - possibly Spring and Autumn only.
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So I've been trying to paint with colour during the online figure sessions. Here are four from Saturday's marathon figure drawing session, organised by Judith Yaws
The model is Frankie @floorlengthfrankie who has floor length, black hair. She chose to wear cerulean blue stockings and an electric blue feather fascinator. Her pregnancy made her figure even more interesting to draw. Oops I mean paint.
Work flow is an important part of the creative process, especially with the limited time frame of online figure sessions (usually 5 to 20 minute poses). For example: having the right size and type of materials to hand. I found myself stumbling along with a work stutter when it came to painting the figure. Inexperience means I'm not even sure what size brush I want to use, and where.
I have a limited number of brushes and some of them are too soft and floppy. I found myself grabbing the right size and texture of brush, only to find it loaded with the wrong colour. So then, I needed to clean the brush and dry it a little before dipping it into the correct colour. Which used up a good portion of the timed pose. Wastes paint as well.
A good work flow plan might be to pick 3 each of 3 sizes of brush and 3 colours. Then I could keep them loaded with one colour ready. On the other hand, buying extra brushes would be costly.
Should I switch to using my iPad? Pros and cons all round. I'm new to the iPad also, but on the plus side there is an almost infinite array of brushes. You can change brush sizes quickly. It's easy to switch colours. I think I will try this next time I want to paint directly with colour.
Another saving grace would be to practice before the online session and build up some methodologies ready for the timed poses.
Also can't decide whether I want to use pen on top of the paint. It seems to work in some instances and not others. I don't like the one below much. It looks too fussy. I prefer the looser style of painting. But that doesn't match my drawing style, which is more precise.
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I review each quick sketch, crafted effect or hard-graft production with an appraising eye. Does it deserve space in the overflowing drawer of drawings? Or shall it be recycled, composted or ditched?
It can be a rash move to lay waste right now, so I may stash it for a while. Sometimes that while turns into years.
Rifling through an old box of work, the grating disappointments present like sparkly treasures! I can see the gifts inside. And the meaningless stuff falls away from the outside like corn husks or peels.
I like to cull my Instagram feed regularly. Hopefully pruning it will help it grow.
So what am I judging for, or against? I'm looking for life, harmony (or maybe discord). Animation is key. If it has that I will keep it. A moment about to play out. Sometimes it's just in the weight of the lines. A heavier weight of line around a figure might carve into a tomb like symbol. Hesitancy, or a light touch might bring it to life.
I'm really happy with this. Technically a good achievement as I drew it straight off with no corrections, and that felt good. Like an acrobatic jump and landing on both feet. The brief lines, convey roundness and depth. There is a story there, the middle of something. Overall, she hangs together, in balance. There is no 'hands are difficult' stubby mash and you can recognise her face. So that's nice.
Having focused and mulled over this particular drawing, I suddenly remembered "Tekkonkinkreet" (an adaptation of a Japanese manga series by artist Taiyō Matsumoto) and realised how much I have been influenced by this beautiful film.
Here is a screenshot of a scene in a dressing room in Treasure Town.
and another of the main character crouched atop a telegraph pole.
The film is based on a manga series by Taiyō Matsumoto, a Japanese artist who studied in France. His style evolved with a strong influence from European comic books.
Culture and influence circles up and around through the centuries. Wikipedia entry on Japonisme:
Japonisme[a] is a French term that refers to the popularity and influence of Japanese art and design among a number of Western European artists in the nineteenth century following the forced reopening of foreign trade with Japan in 1858...
From the 1860s, ukiyo-e, Japanese woodblock prints, became a source of inspiration for many Western artists...
Including Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh and I would also, say Egon Schiele: all my absolute favourites and also Goyō Hashiguchi who made wood block prints in the ukiyo-e genre.
Woman Washing Her Face by Hashiguchi Goyo (1880-1921)
Here is a wonderful review of the film Tekkonkinkreet with background insights and clips.
Have you got any recommendations of Japanese artists? Or artists influenced by Japan?
How do you decide whether to keep or to cull?
Read more about Japonisme on theartstory.org
]]>An article in the Art Newspaper described the 1992 exhibition of Calder at the Royal Academy in London UK as being small! It had a massive impact on me and I remember it being huge! I found his work so playful, joyful and elegant. I was moved emotionally to the point of crying. Well I shed a tear or two of sheer joy and thrill at the bold colours and delightful puppet show made of wire. Beautiful and wonderful.
So lyrical. The commitment to the line is something I practice and aspire to. When you can look, and draw without corrections, magic happens. The drawing lives, as the person lives. As the moment!
I lived in central London for many years and at one time, an elderly lady lived above me who was part of Cocteau's crowd in the 1930s. She was an actress and a very vivid character. She owned one of his drawings and it was in her flat!
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Here is an article published by Iowa State University, entitled Vision In The Equine about how horses see.
I love this note about a mini 'sun shade' in a horse eye:
An unusual feature of the equine eye is the corpora nigra. It is a knobby structure that juts out from the top of the iris and functions to shade the pupil from glare.
Here is a wonderful article on the British Natural History Museum website about 17 of the most amazing different ways of seeing, from eyes the size of dinner plates (colossal squid), to 28,000 lenses per compound eye (dragon fly).
I'm wondering if technological developments could allow humans to experience vision like another creature does. If our brains were 'wired up' to input extra data could they process that data and see in a different way?
Apparently bionic eye technology for humans has not developed as far as cochlear implants for hearing loss (which can allow a sense of sound for some profoundly deaf people). The aim is, of course to allow a person with sight loss to see.
But meantime, there have been some interesting experiments with human perception.
There is a well known experiment, by Ivo Kohler and Theodor Erismann in which people are given glasses which flip everything upside down. At first they fall over and stumble, but their brains adapt the visual input and eventually they can act completely normally with the upside down glasses on. The experiment is described nicely here in the Guardian.
Could our brains be capable of processing 'extra' visual data beyond the range of our current input mechanisms (aka our eyeballs)? If we can process upside down and reverse writing then perhaps we could process other colour ranges or wider vistas?
What do you think? Would this be useful? Could it ever be possible?
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I started out calling it an art residency, and Sonder Coffee (the host), posted on Instagram calling it a sick pop-up.
It's not like I've never heard that slang before, but maybe a first time I've actually been sick.
So from now on it's billed as a pop-up (fun) as opposed to an art residency (fusty).
The Slang Podcast about the word 'sick'.
This word stems from the US and its early uses have been traced to jazz slang popular in the 1920s onwards.
Nice!
All of the remaining spaces of the original 36, were booked by the middle of the event.
Stats:
So I've been feeling VERY excited ever since about doodles, drawing portraits, cartoon sketching and character design. These have always been close to my heart, but it's a true joy to create something that people actually need and are willing to commit 30 minutes of their time for.
I'm totally obsessed with my products and that's my comfort zone. So putting the product aside and focusing on people was the kernel of this project.
Consider my surprise when people actually turned up for the experience as much as the finished portrait! It really never occurred to me that being there could be of equal (or more) interest to people than actually getting the portrait at the end of it.
Here are some of my favourite portraits from the sessions. I didn't draw them at the time with the doodly frames - added those yesterday as they present nicely.
The nice thing about the word 'doodle' is that I can mix up the styles of drawing and they still fit the description. Here is a scribbly portrait. Very loose and free.
This one looks a little Elizabethan Tudor, with the high, frilly collar and hair curls at each side.
I do love drawing hair styles. Maybe the next pop-up should be in a hair salon?
This style would be particularly good for using in a pattern design because it's moving towards abstraction. Still clearly a face though.
A quick experiment with his daughter's portrait as a checked pattern. Quite fun - another creative item on my infinite TO DO list.
Since I love drawing these, and the concept captured people's imaginations I have big plans for more doodle portraits. Both live in person, and direct from photos. Watch this space.
Schedule of live Doodle Portrait drawing events >>>
If you live in Salisbury you might like to follow @sondercoffee35 on Instagram for more sick posts and stories.
And to see daily doodle portraits @shimmyshimshop
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It would be cool if there was a wooden stool in the studio to go with the decorative chair. Maybe I will look out for one in a charity shop. Or take some fabric in as a drape.
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The name of the cafe - Sonder - is described beautifully on their our story web page. Here it is quoted almost in full:
"It is the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—filled with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once."
There is a lovely connection with doodly portraits which touch on that random vividness and trace it in a moment on paper. I plan to keep the work quick. I will do three 8 minute portraits of each participant. I've found the quick ones have the best energy and spirit.
I will be in the cafe for about an hour everyday (except Saturday), for 3 weeks starting on Monday 23 January. The hour is divided into two half hour slots (one per participant).
As a thank you to participants, I will be giving each doodle poser a free A4 print (to be collected from Sonder Coffee the next day).
High quality (archival ink) prints will also be available in the shop. Through the partnership with art printer Contrado, I can also offer prints on various products. Watch this space...
My aim with the residency is primarily to connect with people and share creatively. It's no good working away in your artist's garret and never sharing anything in the real world! Much as I enjoy social media, life needs real world experiences as well.
Like 'Open Studios' a residency is also a good way to exhibit work.
Sonder Coffee shop has just freshened up this January with a lick of deep midnight blue paint on the first floor. Ebony is hoping that some of the Doodle Portraits will fit in with her art selection for the walls, which include black and white street photography by a local photographer.
ShimmyShim.com/dpatsonder (link goes through to Eventbrite)
High Street Gate to Cathedral Close, just across from Sonder Coffee, Salisbury UK
]]>The nice thing about Photoshop is you can create and switch between variations.
She now has a fluffy jumper (I used a Photoshop paint brush I'd imported called KYLE ultimate pencil hard).
This evening I'm about to relax and watch this interview about a colourful house in New York.
I'm dying to paint my beige and grey home. I've made a start by collecting a selection of free paints from the local recycling centre. This is a great rubbish tip (excuse the pun): collect unwanted wall paint from the waste disposal. Paint is hard to recycle and dispose of, so people drop it off at the Council run waste depot and the best pots are stored in a metal cupboard. You just browse and take your pick. So I'm less worried about making mistakes because the paint was free. But honestly I feel rather frozen by the sheer choice. I love all colour so it's hard to choose.
I'll watch this video for ideas on how to use multiple colours. It is very over the top. I'm not sure I could live with that much colour stimulation. My brain might trip out.
Talking of trips, there is a podcast on BBC Sounds called Acid Dream - The Great LSD Plot about how pure LSD was accidentally discovered by a scientist in the UK and sold from a secret farmhouse in Wales by goat rearing hippies. Worth a listen.
Just finished watching that rainbow home video. WOW. I love the calm confidence and charm of the couple that live there and what an amazing home. If you're feeling the January blues, swish them away with a rainbow.
]]>What a fun business! Ab Fab all the way. I joined them on Wednesday evening for their weekly Happy Hour which is funded by the National Lottery and free to attend.
The idea is to draw each other in a Zoom meeting and the host issues challenges such as 'create a new hairstyle'.
I was captivated by the direct gaze of this model and drew diamonds in her eyes. She also got flamingo earrings and updo.
I experimented with the sketch in Photoshop adding a background and some flamingo feathers.
A splashy portrait.
This is the same girl. Loved drawing her mouth with her teeth showing a little.
We were challenged to draw Naomi Campbell from a photo. It's that famed moment where she collapses, in a crumple on top of Vivienne Westwood platforms.
Have you ever tried drawing in an online arena? How did it go? Comments below.
]]>It's been staring me in the face all this time, but I hadn't noticed that Libra, Aquarius and Sagittarius were missing faces. No wonder they were missing that 'je ne sais quoi'. Well now I know what.
So Libra is now a plate spinning cat, Aquarius is an octopus and Sagittarius just gets a bearded face since he already has the body of a pantomime horse.
Sketch for Libra
Libra before the head.
Libra's cat head sketched in.
First colour way for Libra cat.
Aquarius octopus. With cat eye glasses.
Transparent Aquarius.
Blue Aquarius. I might turn him / her / them green.
Much prefer this shape. It has more feeling.
Sagittarius gets a head.
Sagittarius with skinny neck.
Fitting the Sagittarius head.
So that's a quick peek into the behind the scenes for the zodiac set.
Did I choose the right animals for Libra and Aquarius? What do you think?
My new octopus Aquarius looks very phallic. I think that's a good thing. People can't help relating positively to archetypal images. It's interesting the way there is a feminine shape inside the phallus. It's like those cartoons of little people pulling levers in people's brains. A penis operated by a female without a brain?
]]>I feel spellbound by this AI generated fashion: dissonance cut into a jewel. The models are a parade of shining starlings and ravens. When their beaks part, metallic facsimiles of human speech sing out. They live in magpie kingdoms, where cities are infinite clusters of nests. Each nest is a tangle of glitter and shiny paraphernalia. Shards of tinselly jetsam flick into the static aura of the cities and accumulate there in crystalline lumps. Eventually they solidify into tangled planets and spin out, into orbit around the sun. They darken our world.
It's not everyday I get inspired to write poetry so these images are worth a look.
You can find more of Jonas Peterson's AI work on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/jonaspetersonphotography/
He explains here, how he makes the work. It's a lengthy quote, as not everyone has access to Facebook.
"I’m a photographer and interested in both styling and fashion, but these aren’t photos and the clothes are not real. Instead I’ve used artificial intelligence to create the scenes, the people and what they’re wearing. I give specific direction using words only to a program, lenses, angles, camera choice, color theme, colors, styling, backgrounds, attitude and overall look and the AI goes to work, it sends back suggestions and more often than not it’s completely wrong, so I try other ways to describe what I’m after, change wording, move phrases around and try to get the AI to understand the mood. It’s frustrating mostly, the AI is still learning, but getting any collaborator to understand you can be difficult no matter if it’s a human or a machine. After a long stretch of trial and error I get closer to a style and look I want and after that it comes down to curation, picking the renders I believe go well together, I start making it a series. To me the process is similar to that of a film director’s, I direct the AI the same way they would talk to an actor or set designer, it’s a process, we try over and over again until we get it right. Should I get all the credit? God, no, the AI creates with my help and direction, it’s a collaboration between a real brain and an artificial one. But it’s also just the first step, I use a number of other applications to finesse the first crude results I’m getting. I’ve been open with that and you don’t need to go back many posts to realize I’ve used AI for this. I answered comments, but no matter how many times I said it was created using AI through MidJourney, other people asked the exact same thing over and over again, so I simply stopped. I’m not here to debate the process, I’m a professional photographer, writer and artist myself, I understand the implications, how this will affect many creative fields in the future. I’m simply using a tool available to me to tell stories, the same way I’ve always told stories – to move people. To me that is the point of this, not how I did it. Dissecting something will almost always kill it. "
A few months back I saw some work by Chi Hsuan Huang. Incredible imagined bird costumes. I'm not sure he considers himself an artist. He just 'commanded' the work, posted it on Facebook, and didn't seem to have too much to say about it. I did see a comment that he used https://www.midjourney.com to create it.
Here are some of the images. They may not have been posted on this platform by the actual artist as there is again, no information.
https://patineto.smugmug.com/Art/TEXTILE-Art/Art-Work-by-Chi-Hsuan-Huang/i-8mZp3bv/A
I originally saw the images posted on the Facebook group AI Art Universe. https://www.facebook.com/groups/aiartuniverse/
Found this artist today. Toy designer by trade, they have experimented with toy designs in AI. It's interesting how nostalgic they are, despite being new.
A lot of AI artists seem to be very mysterious with no real name or bio. Here is another rather beautiful sci-fi style selection. All I can find is the Instagram tag @thevisualdome
Franck Gerard
"dalgieri
Hello, I wonder which Part of the process in this picture is AI? How do you use Artificial intelligence to Produce your Art work? Or is it only a hashtag?
franckgerardart
@dalgieri I use AI to produce these images but sorry I don't communicate my process or the tools I use. The only important thing is that you enjoy them😉
ai.circus_icarus
@franckgerardart Magic never reveals itself👏❤️"
My Dad loved these sci-fi helmets which are a concept art collaboration between @coldstar.art and @flybyartist on Instagram.
Also love the fantasy food by @coldstar.art on second Instragram channel @fantasyfood.art
.
]]>So I put together a proposal for an art residency in a cafe. The idea is to draw people's portraits every day throughout a single month.
Excited! It's going to be a challenge.
For anyone interested in doing something similar, here are some details.
I had a rough idea for the residency: to work in situ everyday, in a public, easily accessible location. The aim - to hone my portrait drawing skills, connect with people and market myself as a creative person.
By now I've lived in Salisbury for a year and explored so many cafes. I'm a big cafe fan. So many to choose from. Cafes by the river, with views of Salisbury Cathedral, with snug sofas, with wood burning stoves, in the middle of the market square, in ancient buildings 600 years old... each has it's own character and special featutres.
I picked my top three, researched those online, and then homed in on my first choice. I decided to submit to one cafe only, in the first instance.
I stapled the sheets together, popped them in a C4 envelope and dropped off the proposal in person. As described in the video, I was feeling bouncy after a vigorous and frosty walk into town, and emotionally energised by that 'releasing your idea into the real world where it can be rejected' transition. So I bounced into the cafe and sort of bounced the proposal at the owner. She did look a little bit surprised by my 'hello, I have a proposal for you' announcement, but she was very gracious about it.
So afterwards, I was doubting myself, hoping I didn't come across as totally eccentric. On the other hand, I am a bit eccentric and what can you do about it?
So all is well that ends (or in this case, starts well): early this week, I received a very positive email from the cafe owner saying 'yes we love the idea', and 'let's meet after Christmas to take it further'.
So I won't divulge any further information, but next year hopefully I will be in a position to reveal the location and set up a booking event where people can book slots to come and have their portrait drawn at the cafe.
Watch this space, especially if you live in Salisbury.
]]>I designed a funky, Halloween inspired raincoat that you can wear all year round - to festivals, carnivals, fetes and - of course - for Trick or Treating (it has two side pockets - one for tricks and one for treats). But if you are a truly funky person, you can wear it on any everyday excursion when rain threatens. Prowl the shops, haunt the bus stop or claw back street cred on the school run.
Here I am, unboxing the black coat and trying it on.
Halloween is a lot of fun, but it can get wasteful with heaps of cheap, ghoulish decorations in all the shops. They have such a throwaway feel. It is so much more sustainable and eco-friendly to re-use your Halloween treats.
So I propose Halloween all year round! Why keep that dapper skull in the casket when you can haunt the catwalks any time of year?
And I'm not the first! Mr and Mrs Halloween agree with me:
“For us, Halloween isn’t just a holiday that comes one day, once a year. It’s a feeling and a spirit of merriment and nostalgia that can be recreated anytime you’re in the mood.”
Well said.
And with that, here is my first listicle:
It's Saturday morning, you are sipping your coffee and wearing some big fluffy slippers. Add a funky skeletons raincoat, and log on to:
Get busy answering burning questions such as:
“How do I secure tombstones easily?”
“Giant foam skull - suggestions for teeth?”
“Help me customize my Bog Zombie”
Having floated through here myself, back in the day, I recommend Tyneham in Dorset. It was deserted within days, in 1943 after being officially requisitioned during plans for the D-Day, World War II invasion of France. But beware, Tyneham is not well signposted, it has no postcode for satnavs, and poor mobile phone service. So you are at serious risk of getting lost. You might not be able to find your way home before nightfall, as the full moon rises... yikes.
Pitchfork for example.
Mas, short for 'masquerade' is one of the 5 key arts which form the core of the annual festival. Read all about the deep Caribbean history of the Mas
One of London's Magnificent Seven, this graveyard is a stoney grey and mossy green marvel of the world's deadliest dead people.
From the Whiskered to the Barbastelle, bats like to fly at sunset in the Summer so, don't wait until Halloween to go bat watching.
Apparently, Kind Charles III offers lodgings there in the Carpathian Mountains. Don your skeleton jacket and scare off any bears along the trail. Check the Lonely Planet guide first and remember to pack your garlic and a stake.
At least you won't get any more junk mail, but you might receive a visit from Places of Suffering photographer Christian Lipovan.
Just don't expect to see your children again.
This mini fest is one of the best off-the-beaten-track events in the UK to drink beer, eat pasties, stay dry and show off your skeleton skull kegs whilst perching on a giant pumpkin. They really are big.
I know some people are a little modest, so I created two raincoats. One with a lurid design and one with a dash of lurid (hood only).
Give each one a twirl.
Like this? Buy the lurid raincoat and Halloween ALL YEAR ROUND
Or Buy the modestly lurid raincoat and Halloween ALL YEAR ROUND but only when you put the hood up.
As ever, have fun. Let me know any All Year Round Halloween recommendations of your own.
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To witness a woman through seven decades on the throne and see her progression through life has been something remarkable. I was born long after the Coronation, but my Grandmother had an illustrated book of the Coronation so I was familiar with the history. Recently the Netflix series The Crown absolutely fascinated me with its chronological portrayal of the Queen and British Prime Ministers.
My favourite fact this week:
The Queen's 'first' Prime Minister Winston Churchill born 1874.
The Queen's 'last' Prime Minister Liz Truss born 1975 over a 100 years later!
The series is a great blend of drama and history - worth watching and Series 5 and 6 still to come.
Because I love fashion and colour, I felt inspired to draw the Queen earlier this year and I created a kind of Queen Cartoon Icon of her. Following from that, I had to design a special outfit for the Queen this week! Entitled 'Angelic Queen'. All in white, of course except the handbag, sensible shoes and stockings. The main feature is a hat with angelic wings.
Here are a few versions I sketched.
I love the smile of drawing number one, but I like the wings of drawing number three best as they really look as though they are flying. Drawing two hasn't got quite the right expression (she seems to be thinking 'how long will the queue be at the Heavenly Gates?). I will blend the first and last drawings together in Photoshop as it is sometimes impossible to draw the 'perfect' image freehand.
The freehand drawings each have idiosyncracies. Not that perfection has to be the aim, but the meaning of the lines is really important. For example the ruffle neck needs to be a bit neater and less organic. Everything was very formulated in the Queen's outfits. Not exactly a uniform, but there was a firm structure.
I would love to know how much input the Queen had into her fashions and how much input the 'Firm' had. I like to think it was down to her. I love her comment:
"I have to be seen to be believed."
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Finally pulling this post together after getting diverted by research into Pink Panther backgrounds, fairground scrolls design and 1970s sewing pattern covers. All relevant but a rabbit warren of distraction.
I've been sketching cartoon style and I arrived at a Pink Panther colour scheme. Here are the pinkiest sketches of a 1970s fashion doll called Action Girl by Palitoy.
I like everything about this except for the border which isn't quite right.
I have found a good pen combination which lets me combine wishy-washy with confident permanence. I block out a shape lightly with water-based Ecoline brush pens and then blend them with a little water. Not a huge slosh, just a touch. I then draw directly on top, almost immediately (no drying time required) with an alcohol based permanent pen.
I'm experimenting with Winsor and Newton Pro Markers and Sharpies. You can see in the picture I also have a precursor of the Winsor and Newton when it was a Letraset Tria pen. Almost the same but the Tria had 3 nib sizes! One fine point hidden in a double cap. I've had this pen for many years and I can hardly believe it hasn't dried out yet. Still going strong.
Here is a screenshot of some Pink Panther research. I love the sketchy watercolour style of vintage animation backgrounds.
After the pink schematic I wondered how rainbow coloured hair would render using the same pen mix.
The colour quickly leapt out of control and I had a confused moment where I tried to use contrasting black water colour paint as though it was an acrylic or gouache. Watercolours are almost completely new to me. They are probably too sophisticated and versatile for this project. I will stick to the Ecoline pens for now, as I have a quick grab box of colours.
Comparing the rainbow images with the pink ones, I prefer the pink. It can all swirl into a sickly pyschedelia too quickly! But I'll carry on experimenting.
I will leave you to the jazzy delights of "Pink Phink" with theme tune by Henry Mancini.
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Just wondering. This isn't literally a quiz but something I've been thinking about.
I've noticed that some artists have been successful, partly because they have cultivated an eccentric look. They've been memorable and they have stood out from the crowd. If eccentric means 'outside of the circle' - or non-conformist - then wearing a lot of different colours, textures and patterns can fit the label. Most people don't wear a lot of clutter - if only for practical reasons. It's harder to go about your daily life if you are wearing an armful of chunky bangles. And black and grey clothes are easier to match together.
Iggy Pop talks openly about how his eccentric stage antics were performed to create a persona or image that would get the right kind of attention.
On the flipside, being playful is a big part of being creative and maybe these artists were dressing up and flouting it way before they were working. Way, way back in their childhood years. Or maybe that's just something a lot of kids do and creatives are like children that never grew out of it?
I'm not sure. I just know I love colour and I want to fight the grey.
In my shop I want to offer something a little bit eccentric. I'm offering designs as an artist and not as a desk bound, grey corridors conformist.
From the age of about 8 I spent a lot of time rummaging in old clothes piles. My aunt had a lot of used party dresses. Oh I wish I could see them again. They're all gone now. A black 1950s number with a hundred layers of net. And a stunning 1970s silk maxi dress with shocking pink diagonal stripes wound around it like a barber's shop pole.
I wore outrageous clashing colour clothes and clownish outfits right up until my mid twenties. I remember one of my favourite outfits was made of lurex and trimmed with rhinestone braid. It was a thrill and something to hide behind.
These are some bits of Edwardian lace I found in a jumble sale in Cambridge.
I have barely any photographs of that whole period but here's one of me aged 14 wearing a pair of Aviator glasses.
Many years later, Tatty Devine released an Aviator Goggle necklace - loved it for the nostalgia kick.
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David Hockney - Cropped photo of David Hockney by Francis Goodman 1970
Andy Warhol By Jack Mitchell, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Iris Apfel - MiamiFilmFestival, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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There seem to be Hockney shows all over the place. You can find a long list of them on Hockney's website. I'm a fan, so I went to see the "Hockney’s Eye: The Art and Technology of Depiction" at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge UK.
It's my home town and I've been visiting that museum all my life so it felt familiar and warm. I'm quite a lazy visitor. Or perhaps it's just that I get rather overwhelmed with the amount of visual input so I often skip quite fast through a show. Also, when there are a lot of people queuing to see a picture that makes the experience challenging. There's just so much to see.
The show is scattered over numerous galleries throughout the museum. I would guess as a way to promote the dustier but worthy items that people might otherwise walk right past on their way to see a contemporary household name. It's well curated and I enjoyed the link between Hockney's work and the historical pieces. There was lot of text and information about optical devices but I skimmed it. I was very engaged by the large screens with recordings of Hockney's drawings in progress on his iPad.
I do like Hockney's recent figurative work. I like the light touch, the speed and the bright colours. I'm looking at Hockney, Toulouse Lautrec and Egon Schiele as inspiration for figure drawing.
On the way back from the Hockney show, travelling through London I dropped into the V&A to try and get some nice cheeky bottom drawings. Not easy to draw in a Museum packed full of holiday makers with their kids but I quite enjoyed it. In the middle of the afternoon there was a huge downpour of rain. Everyone dashed from the quadrangle (The John Madejski Garden) except for a little girl who ventured back out in the rain barefoot and then her parents let her take all her clothes off. The museum attendant at the door on the other side said something like "and no-one is going to complain!" I think she meant she hoped no-one would spoil the moment by complaining. It was endearing. This deluge of heavy rain and the little girl just exploring it happily. After the drought I think a lot of us felt the same.
The ideal statue for me had her back to the wall so I couldn't draw her bottom. And the Three Graces is a bit over complicated. Here are a few of my felt tip sketches.
Meanwhile, I have been going to figure drawing on Thursday afternoons for a couple of hours each time. I haven't found the right pen or pen combination yet. I just can't help experimenting with this that and the other. Hence the yellow Simpsons style figures that look a bit sickly. To save on paper I sometimes wash away the drawings and draw on top of them again.
This week we drew another long timer at Studio 53. Studio 53 is an art space run by artist Matthew Dean. He's been running life drawing sessions there for around 20 years. I'm really enjoying them. He selects some music which I usually like and there is often a bit of irreverent banter and chat so it's not too stuffy and serious. Although I like to concentrate as there's only a couple of hours and lots to do!
So yes, we drew a senior model who has been modelling for some years at the Studio. He was amazing to draw. Very angular.
I think this is my favourite drawing. I am trying to commit to the lines - by that I mean making one line and not correcting it. Also, I'm focussed on being gentle and more detailed with the pen. A bit more tentative.
You might notice that some of the drawings are pairs: I have walked around the figure and drawn the person from the other side.
I was pleased with this one as well because the weight of the lines had the right meaning and emphasis. Or maybe I mean it just feels right. In any case, I like the drawings that show a likeness of the person.
p.s here is a good interview with Hockney in the New Yorker magazine.
]]>I started drawing the Queen back in April 2022. I love colour, I love brightly coloured clothes and I love senior women who wear brightly coloured clothes! So Her Majesty was my perfect drawing subject (or am I the Queen's Subject? This could get confusing).
I had a rough idea to create a fabric design based on her hats, but I let my creative head get carried away and she began to turn into a cartoon. I think you can see the progression in the samples of drawings below. And I drill down deep into the design process in this blog post.
Guess what? You can get the T-shirt 😃
And the apron, the dress, the mug, the bone china mug and the bunting.
Special request for another product? Contact me and I’ll see what I can do.
Look for the purple Jubilee emblem on the products - it has been issued by the palace for use on Jubilee collectibles for a short time period during 2022.
Sip your tea, spread some cream on your scones and have a browse.
This once-in-a-lifetime Platinum Jubilee is the best excuse for a party to bond with your family, neighbours and friends. String up some gorgeous fancy bunting, step into a Summer dress and share a pot of tea in some collectible mugs.
A close-up look at the joyful and fun cartoon character of QEII.
Her Majesty can be seen on both sides of the mug. Each different coloured Queen cartoon is flanked by a pet love of the Queen such as her Corgi dogs.
I recently got into the freedom and spontaneity of drawing with felt tip pens and decided to upgrade from the low cost kid's packs to an artist pen. So, as a treat last time I was in London, I dropped into The London Graphic Centre in Covent Garden. They have an array of artist pens to try and they're happy for you to scribble on bits of paper to test them out. [Warning I discovered later that the shop is twice the online price - but OK for a small purchase!]
After a few testers, I settled on a pack of Ecoline brush pens. They just glide across the paper and you can create water colour effects with them! If you use them on watercolour paper, you can scribble and then really slosh on the water. I use both brushes and a special transparent blending pen that comes with the set.
All this water and colour, gave me the idea for a Summer pattern based on drawing and splashing.
I started by drawing the stripes.
It's very therapeutic and relaxing. I must have drawn about 20 pages of them.
If you enjoy ASMR videos (a form of soothing relaxation) you might enjoy this real time video of the meditative art process:
Next, I taped down the striped sheets and splashed them with water droplets.
For this pattern, I have chosen a selection of Summer themed products. Here are two of my favourites - the double deckchair and the wedge espadrilles. It is really rewarding to see a finished design magically appear on a fabulous product.
I absolutely love this double deckchair! It is a very unusual product. I can imagine people using it to take selfies - trying to fit everyone onto the chair.
For the shoes, I angled the pattern and used two different scales to create the final effect.
During the creation of this design I had a lot of little swatch papers that I had printed on to test the scale and colours. I took them along to my weekly figure drawing session and drew right on top of them. I really liked the effect. How do you like this cheeky bottom?
I have been busy drawing new bottoms today! You can see me drawing on Instagram @shimmyshimshop
What product would you like to see in the shop?
]]>The Queen Cartoonified products are now available
Since this first post about sketching her Majesty I've had another three drawing and design development sessions with the Queen as my subject (hee hee). Not quite finished yet but getting there.
These are the aims I had for each session:
So quite a lot happened and I wanted to share as I'm excited! Hope you will be excited too when you see the ideas growing and shifting across the drawings.
Testing a background using a complimentary colour. I felt this might work better if the background was a pale shade.
Imagine Queen hats like emerging submarines in a pond. Why not? Or Benny Hill style, behind bushes and phone boxes?
Once I'd drawn the Queen a few times, I started to realise the importance of the bosom. Think of Brimful Of Asha by Cornershop - "everybody needs a bosom for a pillow". The Queen has a lovely figure and her beautifully tailored clothes harmonise with her figure and her personality. I think she has a very warm look. She places her hands comfortably under the bosom in a way I decided to accentuate in the drawings.
I took the exaggeration to an extreme - just to see how it would look. I ended up with a female, royal version of Fred the HomePride man. Could be good for a version of Monopoly? Board games producers get in touch!
I want to be able to draw the character fluently. It's harder than it looks to keep it consistent because I'm not aware of the exact formula that makes it appealing. For example - if the coat gets a little too long it loses something. And just how big should the hat be?
Just keep on drawing and hope it will fall into place.
Couldn't help trying a royal gloved hand waving, but decided to put that aside because - too many variables.
Enourmous red hat?
Or medium enormous hat?
Another anomaly as the face is revealed so I will set this one aside too.
Like a theatre, the actors need props.
A rough sketch of Queen shapes on green strips of lawn grass.
Decided against this as I feel the background is too overpowering and dominant.
This one is more appealing - little round areas of green grass with flowers. Easy to repeat this pattern and I think a floral touch suits the subject.
This is so sketchy it's hard for anyone else to see what it refers to but basically I was imagining each Queen to have some different props around her. Flags, or spitfires, or corgis - that kind of thing.
Multiple flags (like a crowd scene) are quite intense.
What do you make of the outcome? Do you like where I'm going with this? Does anything in particular appeal? Let me know in the comments.
]]>He very kindly allowed me to draw with these work pens when I was around ten years old. Of course there were no computer graphics in those days so he used an array of tools to aid technical drawings. I loved to create patterns using the felt tips and special plastic stencils with oval and circle shapes in them. I still have a couple of the originals of these patterns - I will have to dig them out.
Anyway this is a preamble to say that having picked up the felt tips again, I am drawing dolls as well as the Queen. I thought it would be lovely to pay homage in felt tip form, to some of the most inspiring doll scenes shared on social media by you the wonderful doll collectors out there. You are all bursting with enthusiasm and creativity and drawing these scenes is a great way to savour them.
So I plunged in and drew one or two before suddenly wondering if there was any copyright issue - and there is. Making a drawing from a photo is called a 'derivative' artwork and since it calls heavily on someone else's original you must ask their permission first. So I will be scouting for inspiring scenes and you may receive a request from me to draw you scene. Feel free to request a drawing from me!
Follow #idrewyourdolly to see more drawings as I create them
I will include here some of the out takes as well so that you can see the process. I find I have to warm-up before I can place the lines in what you might call the 'right' place. Although somehow the 'wrong' place has a charm of its own.
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Range of Queenie human sized goodies now available
It's raining the whole spectrum of Royal coats and hats in my world. I've been studying the public wardrobe of Elizabeth II in the run up to the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Imagine a poker face polka of multi colour little old ladies with posies and glossy handbags. That's how my next fabric design might tesselate into existence. Although to be fair to her, Ma'am often has a generous smile to bequeath upon her subjects and realm whilst she does her duties, which must truly be taxing for a 95 year old. The duties, not the smile. Or maybe both. I don't know but I'm fascinated, especially by the cohesive styling. The strict styling of the wardrobe array is almost military in precision.
The Queen is so proper, with her gloves, hand bag and perfectly placed jewelled accents. At the same time, the sheer vulgarity of those fluorescent colours and hats! Full of pertness and purpose. Almost like beautiful fungi poised to spawn a billion micro Queens into the cosmos. Exciting. Royal. And just a little bit funny.
This is the first batch I drew - I realised I needed to draw her face first and then add the hat at an exaggerated size.
]]>Worked on some QE11 themed fabric designs today. Here's where I'm up to and how I got there. Thought I'd share a bit of my design process.
I had made a few dolly mini dresses using this rather nice Warhol inspired fabric last week.
So I felt inspired by it, and decided to design some of my own fabric using the Queen's face in a similar style.
I started off by creating the black and white contrast images using Photoshop and Illustrator combined. I started in Photoshop and then jumped into Illustrator to create nice smooth graphics which can be easily resized.
Next step - I decided to match all face sizes in a similar way to the inspiration fabric. But I have kept more head and shoulders - as of course a Queen needs her crown! I love the sashes and jewellery as well.
Next stage I tried another style - hiding the hard edges of the borders and making the shapes around the portraits smoother.
Also you may have spotted that I filpped some of the portraits upside down, so that the fabric works in two directions. This makes it more flexible when you're laying out patterns.
I decided to try some neater borders and started with ovals.
I was quite pleased with this and felt a bit closer to something exciting. Having felt a kind of slump in the middle of today. That messy moment when everything seems to be taking ages and you can't see any good results for all the time you've put in! But a break helps so much and you come back with fresh eyes and ideas.
I tried filling in the diamond shapes but I realised my repeat only has 3 columns so far and I would need 4 columns to make colours, or black and white repeat correctly. Tesselation can get a bit technical - I tend to rely on trial and error and the powers of automation in Illustrator!
Here is the same pattern with a black background.
So next I did a few trials by digitally cutting out the fabric in the shape of a mini dress. It's amazing how different it looks when you 'zoom in'. Here's a few. Interestingly the messy first designs actually work nicely when you crop in close on them. They look intriguing somehow. An interesting mixture of hard and soft edges.
I wanted to create a room without the usual Sindy furniture, based on the salons in Pre Revolution 18th Century France, with a modern twist where anything goes. I also wanted to tattoo a doll so found some nail stickers and thought they might work and they did! I am thinking of getting some willow and delft patterned stickers to apply to Sindy plates to customise them a bit.
I have eight still from childhood and once I joined one of the Sindy groups, I was inspired to get them restored and re-rooted. I have a brunette sad faced ballerina somewhere in the house (still haven’t found her) and bought my first eBay Sindy of the very same doll. I then began searching and watching more and have been buying ever since. They give me so much pleasure restoring them and I think they are therapeutic. It has certainly kept me entertained and busy during the pandemic.
I feel like it might have taken over somewhat and I have become Sindy obsessed especially finding things - miniature things that work and would look good for setting a scene. I have also bought a Fleur, a Susi Estrella and a Bibi Bo and I have the full set of the newbies from Kid Kreations [the collector range of Sindy dolls released in 2020].
I have made so many acquaintances and friends through collecting and seeing what other people enjoy. Sindy has certainly been a tonic and has kept me happy during a very strange couple of years. I have also learnt so much from the other collectors and I had no idea there were so many other types of Sindys.
I don’t really have a theme… I just like the vintage dolls, preferably the more poseable dolls like the ballerina and the gauntlet. I like to collect the clothes as well and have most of the furniture. As I like antiques and vintage stuff (since the age of fourteen) I like my Sindys to be vintage but I also like the modern clothes and think the Creatable Deluxe sets [Mattel Creatable World] are great.
All my dolls are called Sindy! I don’t name them, I may have done in childhood but I have nearly 80, so too many to name. But I think they all have their own little personalities and each one is so different to the next.
Yes I create scenes from famous movies or adverts or things I remember from my childhood.
I haven’t started yet but I am working on two things: a Priscilla Queen of the Desert scene and a Paul scene. I also want to create a riad Moroccan roof top scene.
My Mum knits for me but I mostly just restore faces and restring. I would like to do re-roots as well which is something I will try soon .
I simply use my iPhone and a few apps and that’s it. I might consider doing something more professional when I have time.
I currently have my collection all over. I haven’t been collecting [dolls] long. My scenes tend to be set up and dismantled within a few hours - although I am making a cabinet into rooms at present. I have five Sindy houses but I find the simple small house with the cross section of four walls more suitable for scenes, as the rooms are bigger and the light is so much better.
My spare room has most of the dolls and furniture and accessories stored away in various locations in the house so no, no tips and I could do with some to be honest .
I am trying to do them myself and getting more brave. I wish there were more spares about - especially the bespoke rubber fittings for arms and legs. However I am going to try and attempt to replicate again when I get chance (I am a full time working mother so it’s hard to fit it all in).
Yes, I have all my childhood dolls and I have restored most of them that needed it. I have a brunette sad faced ballerina which was my fave and she was placed somewhere safe and I can’t find her at the moment. She has broken arms. I have a new set to replace them, so I am going to start hunting for her again soon. However I have bought some more along the way.
No, they think I am bonkers! Well, I think some can relate especially those who had Sindy as a child as she was so special. I know some friends are thinking of buying the houses and furniture for their children as its so much nicer than some of the modern things.
I can recommend The Little Sindy Museum in Sweden. I follow a few people on Instagram and Facebook, there are some talented people out there. Sindy snap is great and there are some useful videos on YouTube you can follow for repairs and tips. Anything else doll related that you’d like to share? Just think its great to restore these lost dolls and give them a new lease of life plus stops plastic going to landfill. I think many people have become a little nostalgic in my age group and since living through this pandemic
]]>I've been meaning to design some 1970s style fabric for a while and today was the day! Actually today was something like the third day - I procrastinated for a couple of days doing shop admin.
These are done in Photoshop, using a One by Wacom tablet and pen. Tomorrow I will try the same thing in Illustrator and see if I can get a smoother work flow.
First step was to draw some of the classic five petal flowers with circles in the centre. This shape is almost as iconic as a love heart! I wanted a hand drawn look, so instead of building the flowers using duplicated graphic shapes, I have hand drawn each flower. I like the way the petals are irregular.
Next I filled the flowers and added stalks of varying widths. For some reason I couldn't figure out a way to fill the shapes easily with the Paint Bucket tool, and ended up having to colour them in felt tip style. It's odd drawing on a screen and tablet compared to a sheet of paper, because you can't turn it around and draw from different angles. Or perhaps you can? I will check the tablet settings.
Next step - add colour. I used a blend called 'multiply' to make the colours mix where they overlap. This gives a vintage feel as it mimics the effect of a registration error (which can occur when layers of colour are printed one over another). It is a hallmark of the cheaper fabrics used for doll's clothes.
I tried various different centres for the turquoise flowers. Here are dark centres.
And here are tiny white centres. With background colour centres for the daisies.
Hmmm but maybe remove the daisy centres?
So many decisions. At this point I have to put it away as I just can't 'see the wood for the trees'!
Before finishing for the day I added green stalks. I'm not sure about them though.
Tomorrow I plan to shift the colours.
Well I was quite pleased with the day's work. I like the way the stalks became a key element to the design and gave it a unique touch. It is easy to copy an existing vintage design but more challenging to start your own from scratch. Well, I hope I can add a bit of value by creating something new.
What would be a good name for this design? Which version do you prefer?
]]>It really reminds me of the Bay City Rollers, who were a popular British boy band in the 1970s. I have to admit I really didn't like them at the time and nothing has changed there! Watching them on video, they were such little puppy dogs! They rocked the tartan look though.
One of the earliest boy bands I guess, if you go with the definition of boy band as 'a pop group composed of young men whose music and image are designed to appeal primarily to a young teenage audience'.
I have to confess that I loved ABBA though. I went through a phase of carrying around a battery operated portable cassette tape player 'blasting' out ABBA one Summer. I think it was mono and about 12 inches long with a handle at one end and big push buttons to record and play.
What was your favourite teen band?
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When I think of umbrellas, two works of fiction come to mind: the well known children's book "Mary Poppins" set in 'Cherry Tree Lane' London by P. L. Travers and "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" 1964 film, written and directed by Jacques Demy. Mary Poppins is about the grown up world experienced magically, by children, and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is about two young people growing through the magic of youthful hopes and dreams, into the reality of two mature people. Anyway, both of them feature umbrellas and the winds of change! And another connection - the first Disney film adaptation of the Mary Poppins was also released in 1964.
Here is the wonderful - original - trailer for the "Mary Poppins" film.
And here is the trailer for the Cherbourg film (it's a musical by the way). If you love 1960s fashion and style this is a fabulous film to discover. It features a wonderful umbrella shop in France, packed with parapluies and lavishly papered with hot pink and green striped wallpaper. If you catch it over Christmas, it does include a Christmas scene towards the end. A real gem. Keep your tissues handy though!
Well, I mention all this to set the mood, as I'd like to introduce a fantastic set of truly magical umbrellas that I just added to the shop. They must have been made by elves, as they're exactly like human umbrellas on a tiny scale. You slide the metal centre of the spokes up to the clip and the umbrella bounces into a taut shower proof dome of perfection, just like a real life size version.
Buy 1:6 metal spoke umbrellas >
Scale 1:6 working umbrellas are really very hard to find. It's much easier to find scale 1:4 versions but they are too chunky for Sindy and Barbie sized dolls. I've never seen a scale 1:12 'doll's house size' working umbrella except for a paper cocktail umbrella, but perhaps they exist?
Buy 1:6 metal spoke umbrellas >
Buy 1:6 metal spoke umbrellas >
I also have a couple of Takara Tomy umbrellas in pink with white polka dots. These have plastic spokes, but they're equally satisfying.
Buy 1:6 plastic spoke umbrellas >
Buy 1:6 metal spoke umbrellas >
Buy 1:6 plastic spoke umbrellas >
Next time you are in London (hopefully some time soon, in the post-covid future) track down this marvellous umbrella shop James Smith & Sons on Oxford Street. It's been in London's West End for nearly 200 years.
Of course, after the fame of the film there must be some umbrella shops in Cherbourg! But I'd like to finish this umbrella inspired blog post, with a link to an article about Thierry Millet "The Last Umbrella Fixer of Paris" because a broken umbrella deserves to be mended and tended, just like a broken doll.
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