...all things creative

Competition winner!

2012-03-10T22:13:00.000Z

Congratulations to Gina who won my competition last month! For liking my Facebook Page she won two handmade greeting cards of her choice from my Etsy store.

Gina chose my zebra greeting card and my bat greeting card.

Congratulations Gina, and a big thank you to all who participated!

I still have more of these greeting cards for sale in my Etsy store plus many more so check them out!!

Huia Bird - finished

2012-02-21T08:33:00.001Z

Illustration of the extinct New Zealand Huia bird. Created using colored pencils on cartridge paper. See the work in progress here.

Painting Class - week 1

2012-02-16T08:16:00.000Z

Charcoal and white chalk pastel on grey paper.

I've started a nine week painting class to rebuild my confidence in using paints. I've been drawing with colored pencils for years now and have barely touched a paint brush in that time but I really want to get back into painting again.

The idea of these four panels was to get us used to the flexibility and looseness of charcoal in preparation for starting with paints next week. We used a picture of some bottles as a reference and had to choose four compositions within the picture to draw.

I didn't like these when I first did them but they have since grown on me. I like the contrast between the lights and darks.

Goldfish

2012-02-11T23:42:00.000Z

Watercolour on Aquarelle Arches paper 140gsm

I painted this as research for a plushy design I want to do. I don't like this painting very much so it's not finished (and won't ever be finished most likely) I do like the colors, but I think I've overworked the fish too much and now I've just lost interest in working on it anymore.

Tardis greeting card

2012-02-11T09:48:00.000Z

I made this greeting card for a friend's birthday. It's a much looser style than my usual stuff but I'm quite pleased with the result. Created using a wash of watercolor, black ink and white charcoal pencil for the window highlights and text.

Competition!

2012-01-31T07:02:00.000Z

Hi everyone!

I’m currently holding a competition toincrease awareness of my blog and facebook page as well as promote my etsysite.

Everyone who follows my blog

‘likes’ my Facebook page

between now until the end of February willgo into a draw to win their choice of 2 greeting cards from my Etsy store.

If you follow my blog AND ‘like’ myFacebook page, you can choose 3 greeting cards.

You can view my etsy site here.

The winner will be picked at random by meat the end of the month.

Good luck! :-)

Huia WIP

2012-01-12T09:00:00.000Z

Here is a work in progress of the extinct New Zealand bird, the Huia. Created using colored pencils. See the finished work here.

New Facebook landing page

2011-12-16T22:11:00.000Z

I have just finished creating a new landing page for my Facebook page, designed to forward more traffic to my website. You can go to my Facebook page or go straight

to my website using these links.

Wedding jewellery

2011-09-23T04:11:00.000+01:00

For my wedding day I made a pair of earrings, a necklace and a bracelet using freshwater pearls. The bracelet is elasticated and the necklace is held in place with a magnetic silver diamante clasp. The photos seen here were taken by Malin Widstrand, my wedding photographer. You can find her at www.malinwidstrand.com

First attempt at watercolours

2011-02-14T21:58:00.001Z

Here are a couple of capsicum halves that I painted for my botanical illustration class. This is my first real attempt at using watercolours and I'm fairly pleased with the result. I've always been nervous of painting with watercolours but after doing some research on various different techniques, my confidence is growing.

2nd place in online competition

2011-02-13T23:14:00.002Z

My Turtle illustration got 2nd place in an online competition on deviantArt! This is my favourite drawing so far, so I am very honoured at winning 2nd place in a competition! :-) Thank you to everyone who voted for me.

Baby Panda - finished

2011-02-02T19:06:00.000Z

Coloured pencil, white chalk pencil and charcoal pencil on card. Size, slightly smaller than A4. I'm not completely happy with this, I don't like his ears or the background.
WIP

Honourable mention in dA competition!

2011-01-24T22:50:00.002Z

Today I received an honourable mention for my 'Mozambique Spitting Cobra' drawing on deviantArt for the 'African Predator contest'! I did this drawing years ago and it's actually one I want to do again (one day), to include more of the cobra and to add a background.

Penguin family - commission

2010-12-16T22:42:00.001Z

Finished. I like the way the penguins turned out but I'm not happy with the background.

First card sold on Greeting Card Universe

2010-12-05T18:28:00.000Z

I just sold my first greeting card on Greeting Card Universe. It's not my most preferred card by any means, but it's nice to know that someone out there liked it enough to buy it! I haven't been active on GCU for a couple of months - I've been focusing on drawing and making jewellery, but I plan to start putting more cards up on GCU in the New Year.

Penguins WIP

2010-11-22T22:39:00.001Z

This is a commission I am currently working on based on a drawing I did years ago. I love penguins, and Emperor penguins are my favourite! (Sorry about the poor quality photo!)

New jewellery designs now on my website

2010-11-05T15:32:00.001Z

I've been busy over the past few weeks creating new jewellery designs. I've learnt how to do the 'spiral weave' technique, 'African helix' and also how to create safety pin bracelets. I've had a lot of fun making these and I have so many more ideas of things to make. There just aren't enough hours in the day! Click on the image for a larger view.

These ten examples are now up on my website and over the next week I will be putting some of these, as well as others up on etsy. With a bit of luck I may even sell one or two!

I haven't touched my panda drawing for a while because I have been focussing on making jewellery, and unfortunately it will have to wait a while longer as my next project is a drawing of a penguin family which I have been commissioned to do.

First place in DeviantART's 'Spots and Stripes' mini contest!

2010-11-02T11:39:00.000Z

Wow! My zebra drawing won first place in a mini contest on DeviantART! I'm very surprised and extremely happy as I was up against some tough competition. You can see the other placed winners here: 'Spot and Stripes' mini contest

Christmas cards now available on Greeting Card Universe

2010-10-25T21:37:00.009+01:00

Here are my first lot of Christmas cards now available for purchase on Greeting Card Universe. More will be added in due course. All greeting cards can be personalized by the customer.

The photos used in these cards were taken on various holiday's in Switzerland.

I just sold my first greeting card on etsy!

2010-10-12T17:41:00.005+01:00

It was my 'Piranha Die Cut' handmade greeting card. I have one more available which I will put up on etsy shortly.

Happy Birthday greeting card

2010-10-10T18:30:00.005+01:00

Black labrador birthday card now available for purchase on Greeting Card Universe
Other variations also available.

The original illustration was created using graphite on paper.

Facebook fan page

2010-10-06T03:14:00.006+01:00

I have finally decided to get a Facebook fan page

If you like my work, feel free to click the 'thumbs up icon' on the top right of my blog!
Thanks! :-)

Panda WIP

2010-10-04T11:26:00.002+01:00

WIP of a baby panda. Coloured pencil, white chalk pencil and charcoal pencil on card.

It was hard to get a good quality pic of this drawing because so far it is mainly white. It didn't come up in the scanner at all so I ended up taking a photo instead.

Thinking of you greeting card

2010-10-01T12:09:00.007+01:00

One of my latest greeting cards now available for purchase on Greeting Card Universe
The original illustration was created using chalk pastels on black paper.

It's quite appropriate since my gran passed away one year ago today.

Vector Zebra - birthday present

2010-09-29T10:51:00.005+01:00

Here is a digital illustration of a zebra I drew for a friend's birthday. Created in Adobe Illustrator. Photographic reference from a recent holiday snap in Southern Africa.

Greeting cards now available on etsy

2010-09-06T20:52:00.005+01:00

My handmade greeting cards are now available on etsy! Check them out here: www.etsy.com/shop/fatboygotsick
More added daily. (Well, ok, maybe every other day.) Eventually I'll be adding my jewellery on here as well, once I get organised enough to do a photo shoot!

Website now live!!

2010-08-29T23:01:00.004+01:00

Well, it's been a (very) long time coming, but my website is finally live! Check it out here: www.jennymarples.com

Tiger portrait

2010-07-25T20:57:00.005+01:00

Created using charcoal pencil, white chalk pencil and a yellow coloured pencil (for the eyes) on brown paper. Just smaller than A4.

Turtle illustration complete!

2010-07-20T20:06:00.005+01:00

I'm quite excited about this one. It look a long time, but I think it was worth it in the end. Now I want to do an illustration of a turtle completely underwater. That will be a challenge.

Edit: Wow! I got an honourable mention for entering this drawing into an online competition on deviantArt!

Turtle WIP

2010-07-20T20:00:00.002+01:00

Created using coloured pencils on A4 card, although it almost looks like watercolour with the bad photograph.