I had a wonderful time away at a family wedding last weekend, and took my 'Colours of Nature' travel palette with me in case I had a chance to sketch during the trip. The weather was very grey but the autumn colours on the trees still looked fantastic! I managed a couple of sketches and will share these in the blog, along with a sneak peek at some of the items I'll have for sale at the upcoming Hospice Christmas Fair and Grenaby Christmas Open Studios. It's only a short post this week though as I still have lots of Christmas Fair prep to go!
I enjoyed sketching this tree from the hotel car park. It was amongst others, but I singled it out as I liked its shape. The palette (see last week's post) gave me a good choice of greens, although it took me a while to find the right mix. I ended up using the Cobalt Green Light and Field's Orange, along with a touch of the Mars Brown. The Aureolin Hue was lovely to work with and I mixed this with a little Raw Sienna for the yellows. The orange colour is Field's Orange with Raw Sienna and the brown on the ground is Madder Lake and Mars Brown. For the sky, I used the Ultramarine Ash, which provides a lovely soft blue.
I thought I'd try out the greys on this misty scene of buildings in Liverpool. I took the picture from the car as we were driving through, and then worked from the photo while we were on the ferry back to the island. The linework is a bit wonky due to the motion of the boat, but I got enough done give the general idea. The Rügen Chalk was too pale to use for the background sky on its own, so I added some Ultramarine Ash and Aquarius Grey. The Aquarius Grey is a very dense paint and I found it quite difficult to work with. Its opaqueness was useful to sit over the buildings though, to give the impression of the mist. Mineral Grey was used on the building to the right, along with Aquarius Grey.
Now for news of the Christmas Fairs! There are lots coming up now, with each weekend offering a choice of venues to get that festive buzz and pick up some presents. This weekend there's the Christmas Hygge at Artreach in Peel, Milntown Christmas Market in Ramsey and King William's College Christmas Market in Castletown. I won't be selling at any of those, but I will be at the Hospice Christmas Fair the weekend after. It's on Sunday the 24th from 11am - 5pm at the Roundhouse in Braddan and is my first time selling at a fair, so it'd be great if you could come and say hello!
The Laxey Christmas Markets are on the Saturday and Sunday that weekend, so you could get very Christmassy and visit both!
The week after that, on Saturday the 30th, we have the Grenaby Christmas Open Studios. It's one of the highlights of my year and is such good fun. Debs at Isle be Creative will have mulled apple juice and mince pies and I'll have more originals for sale at this event than I can bring to the Hospice Christmas Fair.
I've finally had the Isle of Man beach series of artworks printed as greetings cards. I'll be selling these as a bundle at the Hospice Christmas Fair, and at Grenaby if I have any left. The Ramsey pebbles cards will also be available individually.
I'll also have a few coasters of these images for sale, although I don't have many and so expect them to sell out quickly. I will be able to take orders for these though.
I've had a couple of the bird sketches that I've done for the IOMNJ blog turned into cards although again, my stock of these may well run out at the Hospice Christmas Fair, so make sure you come early on the 24th if you'd like some.
I'll also have lots of other cards for sale and prints of many of the artworks that can be viewed at emmabutlerart.com. The prints will be mounted and wrapped so they're perfect to take away and give as Christmas presents.
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