Trying some brush lettering

* This post contains items that were gifted by the London Graphic Centre

It was good to take things a little slower this last weekend, and it gave me the perfect opportunity to test out those dual ended Brush pens and pigment liners which I received as part of the parcel from the London Graphic Centre, which they sent for the purposes of this review.

As I said in yesterday’s post, lettering - or calligraphy, as we called it then - has been a craft I’ve always been partial too, but along the way, a bit like actually writing it’s fallen by the wayside. There’s a new magazine out which I’ve been eyeing up, which has reignited my interest, so when the London Graphic Centre asked what crafts I liked, there was no hesitation.

I’m a bit rusty though. But that hasn’t stopped me, as they say, practice makes perfect. And if it doesn’t bring perfection, it definitely brings confidence and enjoyment and improvement. I’ve seen that even in a just short time. I started small, and then moved onto some practice sheets - the less said about the Fs the better.

As impatient as ever though, I wanted to try to create a quote and add some colour blending. It may sound like running before I could walk, but I was pleased with the results - friends and family can now expect ‘lettered’ cards. Just saying.

I decided that I could create beautiful results, and build my confidence, by tracing the quotes and the Marker Pad sent by the London Graphic Centre was just the thing as the outline of the quote was easily visible, and with it held in place by some pretty washi tape, I was off.

There is beauty in everything.

it’s true, there is - and this was something I reminded myself as some of my lettering was wider than the quote I was copying from - but I’m human, not a machine, and even the neatest writer has variations in their lettering, I’m sure. As you can tell, I was keen to move onto the colour blending part.

For the quote above I went freehand adding the yellow and lilac pastel colours on top of the pastel pink with great results. If you know me, you’ll know pink and orange is one of my current favourite colour combinations, including my hair (only a section of it as all over might be a bit too much even for me). My hairdressers have a bowl of retro sweets on the reception desk, and I always fish out the Fruit Salads, giving the Black Jacks a wide berth. On my last visit my hairdresser made the connection between the sweets and my hair dye combo, which really is quite unintentional, but no bad thing!

Realising that I’d hit on this winning colour blending combination through pure chance and personal preference, i wondered which other colours would work. Not wanting to mess up any great (or even not too bad) artworks, a key was needed, and quickly created.

COLOUR BLENDING - MY PASTEL GUIDE

It’s already proven to be really useful. And I suspect as my brush pen collection grows, let’s face it - it’s going to, it will be added to.

I wanted to try more though, so found another quote - Today is the perfect day to be be happy - and off I set again. I thought I’d try this one using the pigment liners, but being such a colour fan, I couldn’t bring myself to do a plain black and white version.

Overall, I’ve had a productive weekend, and a great reintroduction to lettering. I’ve done more than these two, and am already seeing improvements and bravery with the colours, but more on that another day.

And look, I even attempted to conquer my fear of Fs. Perfect (well, good enough).

* With thanks to the London Graphic Centre for providing the materials used in this post, for the purposes of this review.

Love this #89 Blooming wallpaper

It’s been a while since I’ve shared some wallpaper on here, but when I saw this one drop into my inbox I fell in love with its drama. And the flowers of course.

Since then I’ve seen it elsewhere - no idea if that’s online, or in a magazine, it’s been a busy week, but it’s not an image you forget easily, though as demonstrated, you may forget exactly where you saw it.

All images in this post are courtesy of Murals Wallpaper

Looking at their site, Murals Wallpaper aren’t wrong when they say:

There's something different about these designs from regular floral patterns. Beautiful bunches of in-season flowers and greenery have been photographed to create the collection, resulting in flower wallpapers with an abundance of shadows, depth and crisp details.

There’s more on their site, but I’m smitten, are you?

A bit more than a hint of lavender

For this burst of lavender and today’s flowers on Friday we’re heading back to the Chelsea Flower Show last year, and into the Grand Pavilion, which if you’ve been to Chelsea will know it’s an assault on your senses. Often a pleasant experience, but confusing at times too with the sheer array of exhibits on display.

And while we’re not in traditional lavender season, there is some rhyme to my logic, as in the autumn sun on my morning walk to work, I’ve been smelling lavender. There’s bushes edging the boundary of a development as I head towards Greenwich Park, and when the sun’s out the air is filled with lavender, which I’m sure the insects, and residents alike are enjoying as much as me.

So when I headed into my flower photo store and stumbled across, rather than brushed past, this lavender from that moment on there was only one flower I was sharing today. And when I say one flower, I clearly mean one sort with many varieties. No longer is lavender just purple, or lavender.

But often wherever there’s lavender, there’s bees and the Chelsea Flower Show was no different, although these were probably the best behaved and inside their hive, or it was empty. One or the other. Though imagine if you were a bee and stumbled upon the whole flower show, surely too much for one bee to cope with.

But, ah, just breathe in - can you smell the lavender?