Easter

We were on the verge of a white Easter this year. There were a few flakes of snow in London, but we trained our thoughts on resurrection, rebirth, flowers, eggs, lambs, sweet things and feasts. In my family, Easter is a very busy time, involving Polish traditions adapted to my Ma’s creative ways. We still paint (organic) boiled eggs. Some years there are new ideas. On this occasion, the onion dyed eggs were first decorated with masking gum, leaving tiny dots and vines. The duck eggs were painted with acrylic paints, and the chocolate mazurek was dedicated to our South African visitors; a marzipan elephant with almond tusks and ginger ears.

Hanging Gardens

A watercolour illustration. Those plants that hang from the ceiling could form a whole jungle. Or a salad. Suspended grazing.

Oeuf

Sweetest polar bear feet for tiny people, by Oeuf.

Adolfo Serra

Watercolour paints create mesmerising textures when applied loosely and with a confident wisp to wet paper. This has been one of the lessons I’ve learnt at the Amazings watercolour class. Adolfo Serra, a Spanish illustrator, displays signs of being a watercolour maestro, at least to a degree that I’d like to achieve.

 

Swimming

I’ve missed swimming. Last year Buttress & Snatch tailor made a special swimsuit for me and I took it for two icy swims in Los Angeles because I was adamant to swim in California, regardless of the autumnal conditions. This comic illustration by David Litchfield reminds me of the wild glimpse of freedom I find when I’ve been underwater a little too long.

Twisted Black Vine

Through a process of colour limitation, I extracted this design from a photograph I used for study, found on Pinterest. Originally I was interested in painting a portrait with strong contrasts. When it was complete, I felt it lacked detail, so designed the twisted black vine beside the portrait using the colours left on the palette. This informed the pattern on the red scarf. Later I repeated the pattern to see if it could be applied as wall paper.

The opulence of vegetables

I just couldn’t stop looking at these. Becca Stadtlander has assailed the ranks of the great food portrait artists in a series for Jamie Oliver’s Recipe Yearbook.