I’m having a really nice day today. I walked out in my favourite type of day; bright, blue, cloudless sky, sun, and cold air, enough to make your cheeks pink. I wondered along the pavements, all ready for a meeting about some branding I’m working on at the moment. The meeting itself was a brilliant combination of productive and creative. Not only that, we met at one of my favourite places, the Hart Lova Bakery – amazing buttery croissants and coffee, as well as a very tempting range of cakes. I also picked up a Spelt/Rye loaf.
After walking home again, under a slightly cloudier sky, I settled down with tea, cheese and bread. I think good cheese and good bread is the perfect meal. I couldn’t give up either. Now I’m settled in for an afternoon of work. I’m working on a birth announcement for a couple, having designed their wedding stationery. I have a few podcasts lined up to listen to whilst drawing, including the next installment of Serial.
Otherwise, over the last couple of weeks, I have been…
1. Spending some lovely time with family
A couple of weekends ago, I headed back out west, where the air is fresh, the hills are green, and mobile signal is hard to find. It was cold and misty outside, so I spent most of the time inside a big warm house, eating excellent meals and entertaining the gorgeous tiny Rubester, my nephew. He’s a fan of being jiggled, being sung too, and looking at new things, and chewing – all much fun, apart from perhaps the chewing, which is a bit dangerous on the fingers, with his new, extremely sharp teeth.
2. Keeping up with Inktober
I tend to do a lot of sketching in pencil, and drawing with colour digitally, so I’ve really enjoyed getting back into using inks and brushes. It’s definitely be good for me, and is helping me develop some prints for next year. I am continuing to draw more, away from a screen, and back into using real life brushes, so thanks Inktober!
3. Celebrating Day of the Dead
I spent Saturday night, celebrating a Day of the Dead themed birthday. It was lovely; from catching up, painting faces and drinking a bottle of bubbly before leaving, to chatting, drinking and dancing the evening away, and a chilled out morning, watching documentaries in our pyjamas and sharing breakfast. The birthday girl looked amazing, with face paint, headdress, tattoos and corset. We had a birthday tea on Sunday too, complete with scones and cake and sandwiches. Then, Mr Story and I headed home to curl up on the sofa, and watch a couple more documentaries, and fill ourselves with Thai food from the tiny restaurant at the end of our road.
4. Getting used to my hair!
From spring, over the summer, and along into October I had shoulder length pink hair. I had been thinking about getting it all cut off for a long while, but it still felt like all of sudden when I suddenly had no hair, and it was a spiky dark brown, rather than soft, bright pink layers. It’s taking some getting used to. My hair is thick, and stays where it dries, so I’m learning to flatten it down with industrial quantities of different products – otherwise it sticks out at all angles. I need some short hair guidance, but I’m working my way through at the moment, with good old trial and error!
5. Working on some branding
As I mentioned above, I’ve been working on some branding and logo work recently. This colour wheel was one of the ideas that came up in development. I’m working along similar lines for the final branding design, but the colour wheel itself wasn’t quite right. I’m pleased that the bright colours and celebration of food is sticking around though!
