Category Archives: Traditional

Traditional Artwork are those which have been created using traditional mediums. For Example; graphite pencil, charcoal, paints, clay, etc.

Current Project: Doctor Who Bookmarks

Artwork, bookmarks, doctor who, Instagram, Traditional, , , , ,

Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge Doctor Who fan. I am what they call a “Whovian”. I have a TARDIS cookie jar, Dalek pepper shaker (RIP the TARDIS salt shaker), mugs, the 4th Doctor’s scarf, a TARDIS blanket, books, DVD/blurays, colouring books, tattoo – oh I could go on and on. Why do I love Doctor Who so much? I feel like this quote sums it up pretty well…

“When they made this particular hero, they didn’t give him a gun, they gave hi a screwdriver to fix things. They didn’t give him a tank or a warship or an x-wing fighter, they gave him a call box from which you can call for help. And they didn’t give him a superpower or pointy ears or a heat ray, they gave him an extra heart. They gave him two hearts. And that’s an extraordinary thing; there will never come a time when we don’t need a hero like the Doctor.”

– Steven Moffat
*most* of my Doctor Who collection

While I haven’t watched all of the classic Doctor Who episodes, I have watched a good chunk of the 1st-3rd Doctors and a little bit of the 4th Doctor. Which is how far I’ve gotten in creating each Doctor’s unique bookmark. Maybe this is why I stopped where I did (much like how I struggle to create bookmarks based on books I haven’t read). My household was also hit with a nasty cold and I’m trying to prep for a couple of local fairs. So I just haven’t really had the time to sit down and make any new bookmarks.

The first 3 Doctors I tried to record and share as much of the artistic process as I could. Recording is something I’ve struggled with figuring out so there are some parts missing here and there. 4

I haven’t drawn people faces in so long I thought that on top of being fun because it’s my favorite show that it would also be a great challenge to draw 14 faces. All of the bookmarks are made using Tombow Dual Brush Pens on watercolour paper.

The First Doctor – William Hartnell

I had an absolute blast creating this bookmark. William Hartnell is just such an icon in Doctor Who. He was the original Doctor. The First. He is the backbone the rest of the Doctors were all based on. His episodes are so pure and honest. The simplicity of the sets and costumes (bubble wrap was used often!) is something I adore. The reference photo I used is the most well-known of his photos and his general look as the Doctor. I really enjoyed trying to capture that look on his face. I created it in black and white of course, to go with the black and white look of the show in it’s 1963 – 1966 run.

The Second Doctor – Patrick Troughton

The second Doctor bookmark (portrayed by Patrick Troughton) I also created in black and white as homage to the early episodes which aired (1966 – 1969). I had some technical difficulties while recording and was only able to capture the early sketch process.

The Third Doctor – Jon Pertwee

The Third Doctor was the first one in colour and this seemed to make it more challenging for me. I decided to skip recording the sketch and just recorded the colouring process. Again, I had technical difficulties and I’m sure some parts of the process were cut off but you can’t tell watching the sped up video.

Jon Pertwee played the Doctor from 1970 – 1974.

Current Project: Stephen King Bookmarks

Artwork, bookmarks, Instagram, stephen king, Traditional, , ,

MENU: | Available King Bookmarks | King Bookmark Portfolio |

The Stephen King bookmarks are an on-going current project. I began creating them in 2020 when I felt inspired by the Pet Sematary (2019) film poster and having read the book the summer before the book was still fresh in my mind. I knew what elements I wanted to combine from the two. After Pet Sematary had me feeling excited and accomplished I moved onto the book I had just finished which was King’s Needful Things. I knew exactly what imagery I wanted to throw into this bookmark with the significance of the sign on the door and the reflection of the fire in the glass.

After Pet Sematary and Needful Things I felt the spark to do more. Creating the bookmarks of King books I’d already read became a full on passion project. Soon I created more such as Gerald’s Game, Cell, Misery, The Dark Half, Under the Dome, The Shining, Christine, Carrie, IT (two of them, actually), Cujo, The Outsider, Thinner, The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon, Duma Key, Lisey’s Story, Revival, Rose Madder, ‘Salem’s Lot, The Stand, The Long Walk, Insomnia and two very different version of The Eyes of the Dragon. I also created a whole series of The Dark Tower bookmarks, which you’ll find more information about below.

I started reading King in my teens but I wasn’t a huge fan of his lengthy descriptions that seemed to go on forever with no point. I put King’s books down for a lot of years until 2018 when I found myself in possession of a large collection of his books that were given to me. I decided if I was going to have 60+ copies of his books I’d better start reading them. I started with some of his old classic horror like Carrie, Gerald’s Game and Cell. The further I made my way through his work the more I enjoyed it. Yeah, he still gets a bit long-winded sometimes but I’ve come to expect it and recognize it as just part of his style.

I had a lot of positive feedback on the King bookmarks I was making and it only fueled my passion for the project. The problem was I’m a really slow reader and I’ve only read a small fraction of his work. I keep collecting them and now have over 70 Stephen King books on my shelves. But I can buy them faster than I can read them. I’ve had several requests for me to make specific King bookmarks and with the exception of a few I have mostly declined if I haven’t read the book. It’s really hard to create an image about something you don’t really know anything about. The most I could do was copy something significant off the covers, Google images from the books or movies, and in the end I just didn’t like doing that. I don’t want to copy someone else’s work but I love being inspired by it.

In early 2020 I joined the Bookstagram community to help me learn more about my King books, keep track of my reading goals and meet like-minded people. I started my journey to the Dark Tower but took a break for a while to recover from how much I didn’t enjoy Wolves of the Calla. This is why you’ll find my bookmarks for the Dark Tower only go up to Wolves of the Calla.

The Gunslinger is the first book in the Dark Tower series and probably my most popular bookmark (especially when looking at the Dark Tower bookmarks).

The Drawing of the Three only made sense to create three bookmarks that each featured the unique doors the travelers go through. There have never been prints made of them and the originals reside in a private collectors home.

The Waste Lands is another set within the set and one of my personal favorites. I did make prints of this set but they are limited edition and I likely won’t make more any time soon. Put together they create one scene. On one bookmark features Engineer Bob and the other features Charlie the Choo Choo.

Wizard and Glass was a commission by a reading group called “Follow the Beam to May 2021”. About the same time I was also commissioned to create a unifying bookmark of the Dark Tower itself. While this bookmark could easily be my official Dark Tower book bookmark I consider it part of the series but it is it’s own entity and not tied directly to any specific book but rather the series as a whole.

Wolves of the Calla was the last one I read and the last bookmark I created. I love the bookmark and instantly felt inspired and knew exactly what I wanted to draw but unfortunately I wasn’t a big fan of the book.

The Stephen King bookmarks will continue to be an ongoing project until I read through all of his books or get sick of making bookmarks. Whichever comes first. To know when new SK bookmarks have been made or when prints are released keep an eye on my Instagram first (@slsartistry) and my blog second. Both of these places will announce new designs.

credit for header image: @morelikelibrarybooked

Shop Opening Delay

Artwork, bookmarks, craft fair, Instagram, markets and fairs, Traditional, Video, WIP

Hey Friendly Followers! I was hoping to have my new Shanty Shop open on Sept 1st. Well, it is now the 8th (as I write this) and I’m still not quite ready to open and am not sure when I will feel ready to open it. There’s only a couple things left to do. I need to add my prints and do a double check over everything to make sure it’s all congruent. I thought about opening regardless and I also thought of postponing it until November.

October and November there are some local fairs I am considering joining to sell my art. The big one is the November Christmas Craft Fair that happens every year and brings vendors from far and wide. The table fees go towards the grads which is also kind of a nice reason to do it. The other one is in October and is the Artisan Fair hosted by Pope Mountain Arts. I use to be really involved in PMA and I found COVID sort of wiped out the visual arts that was happening there. They could no longer do gallery shows which was a huge part of the visual arts involved in PMA. I was in the middle of organizing a group show I was invited to by a few other artists in the spring of 2020 and we suddenly were challenged with having nowhere to hang our art. We decided to make it a virtual event which was a lot of work putting together the page for it on Facebook but it ending up being quite successful. Despite this, we didn’t do any other virtual gallery shows after that. After restrictions were lifted I thought PMA would jump back into the gallery shows and supporting the visual arts locally but they were busy getting the new pottery studio set up, all the renos that were going on with the building and the first gallery show was a group of artists from out of town. So when I got an e-mail from them inviting me to the Artisan Fair I got really excited. I was so excited to see them supporting local visual artists again and would like to support them in turn by joining this fair. But I’m not sure if I have enough stock or if I can get ready in time for this. Which brings me to it might be best to wait to launch my products on my website. I haven’t really decided yet what I’m going to do.

Currently I’ve been working on my Doctor Who bookmark series. I’d been binging the series recently as comfort watching. I’m on The Day of the Doctor right now, waiting for a time when I can actually watch it uninterrupted. The bookmarks have been a really fun way to connect further with my favorite show as well as to practice drawing people. Boy do I need practice at it! It’s been a long time since I’ve even attempted to draw faces. My first one turned out awesome, if I do say so myself, and they’ve kind of gone downhill since then. I am hoping I can redeem myself with the 4th Doctor. My daughter is starting Kindergarten this week and it’s a gradual introduction that so far I’ve had to be there for. Hoping maybe I can find time this weekend to start the much anticipated 4th Doctor. You know I’ll be throwing that magnificent scarf in there!

To make a long story short, I’m not quite sure what I’m doing with myself yet but I think I’m going to try to do these two fairs this Fall. Whether that delays opening my online shop further or not is yet to be determined.

Commissions are still open though! Send me a message if you’re interested. In fact, I’ll give you a wee bit of a sneak peek at what the shop is going to look like… Commissions are currently open for…

Read Along/Book Club Custom Bookmark

Pet Portrait Bookmark

9×12″ Pet Portrait

I also have gift certificates available if you’d like to purchase a custom order for a friend or family.

This is still an art blog, right?

Artwork, bookmarks, Etsy, Traditional

I’m baaaaaaaack! I took about 4 days off work last week. Well… to the best of my abilities. I was still fulfilling orders and I was still keeping track of entries for my monthly giveaway. I tried to step back from the rest of my social media and my goal was to focus on completing some new hand painted bookmarks and cleaning my house. I did manage to finish a 4 piece set of bookmarks which I’ll talk about more down below.

As a stay-at-home-mom I don’t really get to take “days off”. With spring warming us and the snow all melting I ended up spending most of my time taking my daughter outside. I wanted so badly to wash all my floors by hand but alas- I think they’re dirtier than ever. Spring is such an awkward time for housework. Spring cleaning is great and all but not when you have a zoo tracking mud through the house despite your best efforts! Oh well, it is what it is.

my basement is collecting holes at this point

There was also a bit of a plumbing problem in my house so we had to spend the last couple of days dealing with that. A lot of curse words and hiring a plumber later we have free flowing pipes again. Have I mentioned the dirty zoo in my house? Yeah, this is basically the reason for the plumbing problem. Not to mention – our house use to actually be head quarters for the local Humane Society before we bought it (9 years ago) and since then this has happened 3 times. I imagine the collection of animal hair in those pipes is atrocious. Here’s hoping we got the major clog finally and that we just have to deal with our own pets hair in the pipes from now on.

I really did try to get my studio sorted out and just when I thought I was getting somewhere this plumbing situation happened. All the stuff we had stored on that side of the room had to be moved into my studio space and well, at this point it looks worse than it did at the start of last week. I’ll get there. I just have to keep at it.

So, yeah… fun holiday! I think I’d rather be working.

I’m still feeling this blog out. I’ve never taken it very seriously and have always just posted when I felt like it. I’d like to figure out what it’s purpose is to provide weekly content. I feel like it’s more than just a summary of what I’ve been creating or up to. I don’t know how much you guys care to hear abut my personal life (like the plumbing problems or my mom struggles), or if maybe you want me to just stick to the art stuff. Do you want tutorials? Q&A time? Let me know! Leave a comment here or on Instagram, send me a message, I love hearing feedback and it really helps me to figure out what you guys want to see and whether I want to create it or not.

The Stand

This is still an art blog, right? Of course, so let’s get on to the art! Last week I launched a couple of restocks in my Etsy shop; printed bookmarks for ‘Salem’s Lot and the #followthebeamtomay2021 read along bookmark for The Dark Tower. Other exciting news that week was the addition of The Stand printed bookmark to my shop! This is one of my favorite King bookmarks I’ve created. It was so much fun to draw and paint, I enjoyed making this bookmark more than I enjoyed reading the book.

As I mentioned above, I did manage to finish the set of bookmarks I had started working on the week before. This is the first set of 4 I have ever made (making it the largest set) and it was a chance to really explore some new techniques and push some boundaries. It was a lot of fun to create and I took away a lot of lessons I can apply to future bookmarks and other art. I recently got my hands on some masking liquid and have been having a lot of fun experimenting with that! What is masking liquid? It starts as a liquid that you can apply with a brush to all the areas you wish to remain white and not absorb pigment as you’re doing a watercolour. It dries to a sort of rubbery texture that can easily be rubbed off. Not having to worry about going around lines to keep a space white (only to have it bleed through anyway) is such a huge life saver! I can have seamless backgrounds now. I can keep an area white without it getting dirty and mucked up or bleeding through. I feel like with this stuff the possibilities are endless.

This set is available in my shop for $30 CAD (+s&h). You are basically getting one of them for free!

set of 4 unicorn bookmarks

Something else I tried that was different with these unicorn bookmarks was I did not cut each bookmark out before taping them down to paint. Usually the process all starts with using a pair of scissors and literally cutting each bookmark out by hand before taping them down to The Drawing Board. Instead, I measured each one out to include the border and applied tape to the paper as a whole (they start as 9 x 12″ sheets). I was hoping this would maybe result in an easier process to create a set like this and perhaps less warping of the paper from the water but there ended up being even more warping than usual. I’ve decided this isn’t a method I’m going to use in the future, but I am glad that I tried it because I walked away with more knowledge and skills about creating art. Sometimes it’s just as beneficial to learn what doesn’t work as to learn what does.

before cutting out the bookmarks, after removing tape

There is currently 15% off all Goosebumps printed bookmarks in my shop.
Use the discount code SCARE15 at checkout.
Offer valid until March 31st.

Better Late Than Never

Artwork, bookmarks, Contest, Etsy, Instagram, Social Media, Traditional, , , , ,

Oh boy, over 6 months since my last blog post. Sorry about that, guys! It’s not as if I’ve been doing nothing. I’ve been working steadily on the bookmarks (other than a bit of a break at Christmas). I’ve been revamping my website and revamping my studio. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes and I try to share as much as I can but let’s be honest; it’s hard to share everything on social media and still be productive.

I’m up to 119 bookmarks created since 2019. This is exciting and I’m trying to challenge myself to make that number 222 by 2022.

I have a bit of sad news to deliver. I know a lot of people started following me because of my Goosebumps bookmarks, and I had promised more hand painted ones as well as to sell more prints… but I have since changed my mind. I’ve decided to discontinue this series. I have two main reasons for this: I do not like copying another artists work for profit (as much as I intended for them to be Fan Art, the issues with this are obvious); and I prefer to create my own artwork in my own style and design. I enjoy crafting an image based on stories I’ve read because I can put pieces together and make something unique. I had a ton of fun creating the Goosebumps bookmarks. I learned so much about colour and I LOVED working with all those brights and creating creepy monsters. I enjoyed the nostalgia and even did a buddy read with a friend for a few of them. I still have a bunch of prints in my Etsy shop; now is your chance to grab one if you’ve had it sitting in your cart for a while. Once all the Goosebumps prints are sold I will be done with them. There will be no restocks.

I do have TWO hand painted Goosebumps bookmarks left. They are Night of the Living Dummy I and II set featuring Slappy the ventriloquist dummy. I literally HATE ventriloquist dummies. I’ve never read these books because I’ve had this aversion to these creepy dolls since I was a kid. I had zero intentions of drawing him until I had it requested several times. They sat in my Etsy shop for 4 months and expired. I put them in my flash 50% off sale and they still sat there. So I decided to see if I can give them away! See my original post on @slsartistry and @the.eyes.of.the.dragon for entry details. I am running the giveaway across both of my accounts and there will be two winners. The first winner will get the hand painted Slappy set and the second winner will get a pair of the Slappy prints. I need a bunch more followers for this giveaway to happen so please share across Instagram!

The last two bookmarks I’ve made have been ones for myself. It’s been a while since I’ve really done this, and I had never actually made myself a bookmark before. First I made one based on the Stephen King book The Eyes of the Dragon (you can view it and others in my shiny new Stephen King portfolio) and the second one is of my dog Zelda with my favorite book (Christine by SK). This was a good example of taking a reference and changing it to fit my ideas. The original photo Zelda was resting her chin on my hardcover copy of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grardy Hendrix. I have no doubt this is a great book and I really like the cover but I haven’t read it yet. If it turns out it’s not one of my favorite books I might not want it painted on my lovely bookmark forever. So I decided to put my favorite book in it’s place. I don’t particularly like the Viking cover I own and a quick google search told me I wasn’t into a lot of the other covers either. Once I started planning I also realized I didn’t want to put any script on it. I’m not that good at it, my past experiences have taught me I always regret writing out anything by hand in my art and let’s face it; 80% of the cover on King books is usually just his name. I liked the idea of the skull in the blood splatter under the car and I really wanted to just focus on the car rather than the title (or his name). I decided it didn’t matter anyway, I knew what book it was and I liked it without the title so that’s how it stayed. I feel I made the right call. This is my new favorite bookmark – I mean, it’s of my favorite dog with my favorite book so how could it not be!?

Which brings me to a new announcement. I will be adding Custom Pet Portrait Bookmarks to my Etsy shop soon. I will make an official announcement once it’s published (it will be in the next couple of days at least). If you have wanted a pet portrait from me but the large price tag has made you wait then maybe this is an option for you? If you love your pet and love books maybe this is also something right up your alley! I love drawing pet portraits and I had a blast experimenting with this one for myself. I learned some new techniques that I am eager to try out again! Feel free to message me on Instagram or email me if you would like to set up a commission of this type of bookmark (or you can wait until the listing is added, either way I will want to talk to you about it to make sure I best capture your pet).