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Moira Carter
- Jan 3, 2021
- 1 min
Inspiring Artist of the day - Serizawa Keisuki
Superbly drawn and full of dynamic movement, this is just fantastic! Kimono shaped comforter, Edo period, 19th century, indigo dyeing, cotton created with stencils in the traditional Japanese manner Serizawa achieved fame as a textile designer and was designated as a Living National treasure by the the Japanese government for his outstanding work using the Katazome stencil technique for dying fabric. He was a major exponent of the mingei — people's craft movement. He was al
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Moira Carter
- May 17, 2018
- 2 min
Process : From the top! Part 2
Now sometimes things do not go to plan, I start on one track and end up on another ...with something quite different. So I left you in Process : From the top! Part 1 just after pointing you to a Pinterest collection of inspirational images, and short deviation on how inspiration works for me. I thought lace, and after a bit of fiddling in Coreldraw came up with a vector image of a lace snowflake which morphed into the image below. In part this was inspired by a previous desi
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Moira Carter
- May 17, 2018
- 2 min
Process : From the top! Part 1
Or how I created my latest fabric design for Spoonflower. I read the contest brief – Using at least two of the colors from the palette provided (#2B061E, #5A001C, #AAB5A8) & optional accents of black & white, create a repeating design inspired by a sophisticated winter dinner party. Don’t forget to think about how your design could be used to complete a picturesque party on Roostery’s finished goods. Color variations and colors outside of this palette will not be accepted. –
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Moira Carter
- Apr 23, 2018
- 3 min
Process - STOP sowing, START sewing
Indulging in more Bootcamp loveliness with Lilla Rogers over at Make Art That Sells, and this month's mini assignment had us drawing/painting sewing accoutrements using three different media. So I sort my sewing drawer and basket and take some photos to sort of get me in the mood. Well I admit right now that I got out four types of pen – I know it should have been three – and started doing line drawings, and that is where I stopped! Here are the initial drawings: Lilla also g
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Moira Carter
- Mar 27, 2018
- 2 min
A Heroine - Madeline McDowell Breckinridge
Bootcamping again with Make Art That Sells, and this months assignment was Suffragettes. I was given Madeline (Madge) McDowell Breckinridge, from Kentucky, to draw for an imaginary Magazine. I went down several rabbit holes whilst researching her, and the suffragette movement: Google, Wikipedia and Pinterest, before finding the the Kentucky Digital Library with some lovely sepia photos and the Kentucky Kernel with some interesting newspaper articles, including a great quote
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Moira Carter
- Jan 28, 2018
- 1 min
Elephant on Holiday!
The brief was to create an animal for a small child's T shirt. My first idea was a giraffe saying Hi! and the second was an elephant in a swimsuit with painted toenails ...well why not?! I decided to go with the elephant, she had more instant appeal, and drew her using a dip pen and gouache. Neither of these were working for me, the colours were all wrong — the first version too dark and heavy, the second too bright and bold — for a small child. I decided to draw her again, s
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Moira Carter
- Jan 18, 2018
- 1 min
The Sketchbook Project 2018
Part of a Global Interactive Art Library which contains over 36,000 sketchbooks, from more than 100 countries, within the walls of the Brooklyn Art Library. Their exhibitions and projects are interactive, allowing anyone to participate and creating an approachable museum setting that inspires creation, discussion and education and my work is now part of it, at least it soon will be as today I finished filling my sketchbook ...and it is ready to pack and post. Here are some o
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Moira Carter
- Jan 15, 2018
- 1 min
How to illustrate a children's book : Part 3
Week four: The next decision was which part of the book I should illustrate, and I did these rough sketches of a scene where Eleanor slides down a giraffe's neck, has a bath with a sea lion, and looks out of the window of the apartment and watches swooping swallows. I went with the double page spread with Eleanor and the sea lion. I'm particularly pleased with the two vignettes on the left. Week five and the cover. I went with the plain background, but afterwards thought that
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Moira Carter
- Jan 9, 2018
- 1 min
How to illustrate a children's book : Part 2
Weeks two and three I drew Eleanor some more and got to know her and how she would look when she laughed, smiled, cried or when she was in a temper! What next? Hands and feet! A little known fact - I LOVE drawing feet! I still wasn't feeling too confident about drawing Eleanor so I got a leaflet out of the bin and drew the children in it ...very quickly. I thought "That's more like it!". I drew Eleanor again several times really quickly. The image on the right is when I felt
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Moira Carter
- Jan 2, 2018
- 1 min
How to illustrate a children's book : Part 1
It seems ages since I told you all I was taking an online course with Make Art That Sells in Children's book Illustration, it was in October, and some of you may be thinking "OK, what did you do?" Week one and I drew... and I drew, and I drew ...first I drew some things: Next came some animal drawings. Zoe Tucker who wrote the book - Pet Problems - mentions that Eleanor loves animals. Here's my very first drawing of Eleanor with her favourites things. I feel quite squirmy lo
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Moira Carter
- Dec 12, 2017
- 1 min
Merry Christmas!
I was talking to my Aunt the other day and she reminded me that she has kept every Christmas card I have made and sent to her ...and that must build to quite some collection! So for those of you who haven't got your own collection here are a few of my personal favourites: You may have noticed that I often do a bit of a wrap around design, and more recently I have included a block of one of my Spoonflower designs. This years card is a hand drawn design of a blue tit with her v
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Moira Carter
- Oct 18, 2017
- 1 min
Inspiring Artist of the day - Cliff Roberts
Cliff Roberts was an animator for Sesame Street, The Smurfs, and The Pink Panther! He also published comics in The New Yorker and in Playboy and had two syndicated newspaper comic strips ...he also illustrated books Thomas written by Mary Harris Click on Thomas to see this out of print book in its entirety. ...including his own The Dot. To find out as much as you possibly can about Cliff Roberts click on the images above to go to a splendid blog page – We too were childre
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Moira Carter
- Oct 13, 2017
- 1 min
Inspiring Artist of the day - Werner Klemke
I have to admit I know exceeding little about Werner Klemke which is a shame - and the internet tells me very little more but here are some excellent examples of his gorgeous line and colour work on the theme of Little Red riding hood! Loving that cat on the magazine cover – now that's character! I also love these – so very stylish and typically mid century. #art #artist #moiracarter #moiracarter #moirarae #moiraraecarter #illustrator #wernerklemke #Inspiringartistoftheday
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Moira Carter
- Oct 12, 2017
- 1 min
Inspiring Artist of the day - Miche Wynants
I came across her work on the internet and adored at first sight... Stunning characters, texture and pattern ...definitely one for the library. Click on the photos for more information about this book - although sadly not it's author and illustrator. #art #artist #moiracarter #moiracarter #moirarae #moiraraecarter #illustrator #michewynants #Inspiringartistoftheday
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Moira Carter
- Oct 10, 2017
- 1 min
Inspiring Artist of the day - Jim Flora
'The Day the Cow sneezed'... I wish I'd had a copy of this when I was a child! Enough said... off to amazon to see if it's still available! #art #artist #moiracarter #moiracarter #moirarae #moiraraecarter #illustrator #jimflora #Inspiringartistoftheday
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Moira Carter
- Oct 5, 2017
- 1 min
Inspiring Artist of the day - Мирко Hanák
Another illustrator whose work I have come across on the internet but know very little about. Czech Artist and Illustrator Мирко Hanák (Mirko Hanák) whose illustration technique has a lot in common with Chinese brush painting. His free pen and ink line work is simply beautiful and the wet-on-wet watercolour looks soft as the fur or feathers he depicts in his animal illustrations. ...but I particularly love his illustrations of fairy tales. #art #artist #moiracarter #moiracart
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Moira Carter
- Oct 2, 2017
- 1 min
Inspiring Artist of the day - Jiří Trnka
My favourite book as a child was - Han's Anderson's fairy tales illustrated by Jiří Trnka. It was bought brand new for me in 1967 - please don't do the maths! This was the book that made me long to illustrate children's books... an unfulfilled ambition which – as I mentioned in my previous blog – I'm taking steps to rectify by taking a Children's book illustration course with Lilla Rogers and Zoe Tucker, at MATS.com But... I digress ...Jiří Trnka was a puppet maker, illustra
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Moira Carter
- Sep 27, 2017
- 1 min
Inspiring Artist of the day - Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone
Whilst taking the Make Art That Sells courses I have become reacquainted with the work of the Johnstone twins, as they illustrated The White Cat – set as an assignment in week three of MATS A. I say reacquainted as one of my favourite books as a child was 'Jason and the Golden Fleece', also illustrated by the Johnstone twins. If you want to find out more about the twins click on the image above. I adored the illustrations, probably more than the stories which were pretty gre
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Moira Carter
- Sep 14, 2017
- 1 min
I made it!
As you all know I've been indulging in some CPD – Continuing Professional Development – with a wee twist, five fun and information packed weeks on how to present my illustrations, specifically for use in the Home Decor market. The most important lesson being "People buy your Joy" so have a ball and do what you love. So if you are an illustrator, and want to find out more about the courses Lilla Rogers offers over at Make Art That Sells, just click the button. #art #artist #il
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Moira Carter
- Sep 13, 2017
- 1 min
Inspiring Artist of the day - Wayne Thiebaud
As you may or may not know I've been involved a in a slice of Continuing Professional Development with Make Art That Sells, a series of online courses for illustrators, and have just completed a presentation for Home Decor products. Maybe you've seen my Facebook page and have seen the artwork, or been following on Instagram and seen some of the hand drawn images ...and may have noticed some cupcakes. Cupcakes by Wayne Thiebaud N.B. look a those shadows! Which brings me to Way
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