Floating Lemons: Bit by Bit Blog

Flat Nectarines, Alexander & A new art book!

Two oddly shaped nectarines from the lady who has a wonderful organic fruit & vegetable stall every Wednesday and Saturday morning in the nearby village of Lauris. I love imperfectly shaped fruit, so when my mother (who has been an angel looking after me) brought these back I knew I just had to draw them.

It took me three days to draw them! Though that's probably due to the fact that I still tire easily ... and perhaps because, in some places, there are over twenty layers of colour in this drawing. I'm still not completely happy with it but knew that if I didn't finish it off I'd end up destroying it, so I finally stopped.

A special request, for the name Alexander. I'm quite enjoying doing these names. I have another one waiting so I'd better get onto it.

I'll have to blame my illness and recuperation for the fact that I'd forgotten to mention that this book that I'd ordered before getting so sick was waiting for me when I returned from hospital. I have been going through it with pleasure and pangs of hunger when I come across the too-yummy food drawings. Altaglich Folio: No Five contains beautifully delicate and detailed drawings by the extremely gifted Megan E. Bluhm Foldenauer whose artwork can be found here www.megalo-media.com or at her Flickr site. I've been a fan of hers since I discovered her drawings and am now determined to acquire books No 1 - 4 too! Cheers.

Flat Nectarines products at Floating Lemons at Zazzle
Alexander lime products at Floating Lemons Type at Zazzle

Life is a ... Trio of Cherries?

Three Cherries products at zazzle

Well, I obviously tried to tackle far too much last month ... what with so much extra work and the arrival of my shipping, etc, I ended up sacrificing my daily walk with the dogs, stopped eating healthily, stressed out completely -- and as a result my defences went down and I ended up being taken by ambulance for an emergency operation as I was attacked pretty viciously by an extremely happy internal bacterial infection.

Won't mention the gory details but I essentially suffered from quite massive blood poisoning and am now still recovering though I'm finally home from hospital and what a relief that is. Still have to keep my feet up for another couple of weeks but at least I finally found the energy to start drawing again!

So here is my interpretation of Life is A Bowl of Cherries. Not a bowlful perhaps but I am truly appreciating every little bit life has to offer, so a trio seems apt enough :)

I was able to work slowly on a few text designs as well ... primarily requests for names, and here are the ones I've completed so far:

Shireen pink products at zazzle

Juarez blue products at zazzle

Angela hot pink products at zazzle

I'd like to thank very much everyone who sent me prayers, good wishes and positive thought. I've been too tired to write emails or respond to messages personally (general anesthesia truly leaves one exhausted) but I shall now slowly go through them all so that I can personally thank you.

Meanwhile, I have a close friend who has also landed up in hospital after an accident so if any of you reading this know Ida Nerina please please send her all those wonderful prayers for a speedy and FULL recovery.

Wishing you good health! Cheers.

Magicked Frog, Turn Over A New Leaf, Bertha, Bella & Hello!

It's not that I haven't been trying to make time to draw, but Life keeps getting in the way so I doodled a few type designs and then finally managed to draw this "Magicked Frog" to accompany a sweet story by a friend of mine. Had loads of fun doing them all but am still at my wit's end where time is concerned, reorganizing my home now that my shipping finally arrived from Australia ... here is what I've been playing with in between cleaning, clearing, unpacking and running errands:

Go Green Leaf cards and products at Floating Lemons Typography at Zazzle

Bertha blue cards and products at Floating Lemons Typography at Zazzle

Bella pink cards and products at Floating Lemons Typography at Zazzle

Hello purple cards and products at Floating Lemons Typography at Zazzle

I'm hoping to finish up household tasks and errands as soon as possible and get back to more drawing and blogging. WIsh me luck. Cheers.

Feliz Cumpleaños & Happy Mothers Day

My shipping arrived from Australia so am knee deep in boxes and STUFF. The house is in chaos once more but it's slowly taking shape again though it's slightly more difficult keeping clutter to a minimum now! Things will have to be thrown out ...

Meanwhile I'm having (surprise surprise) Blank Page Blues. No inspiration. sigh. So doodled a couple of type designs, a Feliz Cumpleaños (that's Happy Birthday in Spanish for those who don't speak it ... a nod to my Peruvian half) and of course Happy Mothers Day to all of you out there who have to cope with the kids! Cheers.

Mothers Day pink products at Floating Lemons Typography at zazzle

Feliz Cumpleaños  lime products at Floating Lemons Typography at zazzle

Purple Iris

These gorgeous flowers are springing up all over the place, so imagine my delight when I found bunches growing in my front garden! I have them in white as well but these purple irises are just so wonderfully vibrant that I had to draw one of course, so went out with my trusty little camera and took tons of pics. I haven't done it justice but here's the result.

Purple Iris cards and products at zazzle

Mystery Murder : The Butler

The butler did it, didn't he? He has a tray of poison and a suspicious looking drink in one hand and a bloody dagger in the other ...  is he just cleaning up?

Another in the Murder Mystery series of characters. More will be appearing eventually ...

Check out The Butler card and range of products at zazzle.com

3 Pink Rosebuds

Have spent the last couple of days catching up on 'real life' stuff -- it tends to intrude every once in a while, unfortunately. Was exhausted yesterday afternoon and my mind was far too fuzzy to tackle any serious drawing (or the work that's piling up again!) but my fingers were feeling fidgety so they decided to doodle this while I blankly watched the small screen ... I didn't completely disapprove of it so thought I'd post it ... a sweet, simple doodle :)

Pink Rosebud products at Zazzle

3 Pink Rosebud products at Cafe Press

Murder Mystery: The Ingenue

I really hadn't planned on turning her into such a flapper-type character but she insisted on it, and who am I to argue with a sweet innocent ingenue holding a bloody dagger in one hand? So here she is, the second in the Murder Mystery series. I'd watch your step if I were you ... :)

Murder Mystery: The Ingenue cards and matching products are here at zazzle.com!

Murder Mystery: Mob Boss

I've needed to practice drawing characters and faces as they're a huge weakness where my overall drawing is concerned, so when I received a special request to draw some for a Mystery Murder project (more on that later!), I jumped at the chance. I'm a huge fan of detective, criminal investigation and murder mystery stories anyway, whether on paper or on the screen, so this was tons of fun to do!

So here's the first one, the Mob Boss. Once I'd scanned it in I felt it was a bit too light and perhaps had too delicate a touch for the subject matter, so I played with levels and contrast on photoshop and this was my final result:

Better, I think ... off to work on the next character now :)

Mob Boss cards and products at zazzle.com

Candy Doodle

Blank mind today. And for the past few days too, really. Am in the middle of a job but what little imagination I do have decided to flee and is probably having a great time somewhere without me.

So, with blank page before me I cruised through old photos and found one that I'd taken of some candy as I'd told my niece Lara I'd draw some for her. Decided to pick up my coloured pencils and just doodle ... this is the result.

Candy card at zazzle