Full Figure Fairies.

Here's a little project I've been working on.  My "Full Figure Fairies."

I've noticed that lately, fairies seem to be rather slender.  It wasn't always that way.  A lot of fairy paintings of the past, fairies were more curvy.  It seems that fairies' body shape follows what ever sells best to society's ideals of beauty.

However, I think that fairies seem to be either mostly imaginary or largely unseen, so we really don't know what they look like.  Being of the spirit world, I'd have thought they could look however they want.

So, I've decided they look a little healthier than the gamine things that seem to be the fashion these days.

These two aren't really finished.  They still have a little masking fluid on them and probably need a few touch ups with colour pencil.  Then I might see if we can sell them as prints or greeting cards.

See you next time.

The Colour Pencil trend.

Alright, let me make one thing perfectly clear.  I was colouring in with pencils before it was cool.

The modern pencils are so different to what most of us used in school.  They are brighter and can be manipulated in more ways.

Prismacolour is the brand I like.  They have more pigment than others and the binder used contains a lot of clay.  This means that you can blend more than one colour very beautifully and smoothly.
They are also much brighter so can build up to very vibrant colours, or used sparingly to achieve paler colours.  Colourless blenders are also available, which means that once the wanted colour is achieved, it can be blended and burnished to high shine.

The pencils can also be used like water colour pencils by painting with odourless solvent, which breaks the binder down and you can paint like water colour.

So there you go.  Have fun with your colouring books!

Here's a link to my work on Red Bubble.  Hope you like it.

Red Bubble/Sharon Dennis

The Soul of a Teddy.

I don't really design teddies.  No.  I think they design themselves.  I just put them together.

I see a piece of fur fabric that calls out to me to make it into a teddy.  I have no say in it.  Sure, I designed a pattern or two many moons ago, but that's the last of my input.  The little teddy personality just happens by itself.

I think, maybe, little teddy souls float around in the air until someone buys some fur and makes a teddy, then the soul comes to reside, offering comfort and protection to a little human soul it's matched with on earth.

Maybe teddy souls are like sparks of inspiration, it's said that they float in the air, being attracted to some people and not to others.

And I seem to be an antenna for more than my share of them!

If you would like to see some of these little souls, and maybe make one your own, you can see them at my Etsy shop by clicking on the kitten to the right.