My name is still Laura Mossop, I am still a painter and illustrator and I still have a terrible sense of humour which sees me laughing through all the crazy. My blog however HAS had a wee bit of a makeover. It's now called 'From Windmill Hill' after a place I used to live, where I created many of the ideas I want to create now that I finally have some time to explore them. I feel this is a more appropriate name...plus it sounds whimsical and rolls right off the tongue delightfully!
As a creative practitioner, I am also exploring traditional and digital arts and how they can be combined into participation events! As a creative however I still want to create whimsically, funny illustrations that people like to buy to put on their walls and chuckle at every now and then. This is where this blog, my etsy shop, Instagram and tumblr site come into being! It allows me to have fun, continue to express myself through these things and keep exploring the ridiculousness of my life without confusing people. These people may just want to learn about projection mapping and plein air painting and instead see a fabulous girl sitting on a giant cake...Not the worst thing on the internet but also not what they're looking for.
So if you're an old follower who for some reason still has me on your list, stay tuned for alot of major new developments, and for all new readers...welcome! Have a look through the archives and checkout my old artworks.
Speak to you again soon!
<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14774419/?claim=nuzqmfm8wqz">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>
Here's the second card to be printed and added to the christmas card range i'll be selling this year. I've taken inspiration from family gatherings and christmas parties where you'll always find this couple, slow dancing together, the envy of young couples everywhere.
What do you think, does this remind you of what Christmas is all about?
I recently teamed up with Avery by Wang to do a series of illustrations depicting various ways of styling their wonderful shirtdress. Here is the first final illustration! This was the first illustration I finished for the series and it set the tone for the rest of the designs.
To give you an idea of how the process works when I create my fashion illustrations, below is the initial sketch that I showed Annching the founder and designer of the fashion collection.
Also a lot of the time you guys just get to see the final piece, but I know I always love to see peoples sketch books so over the next week or so i'll be going through my process of how I created these illustrations.
I hope it inspires some other budding fashion artists to pick up the paintbrush!
It's really hard to be everyone. I've tried, believe me when I say you really don't get very far on the whole finding happiness challenge.
It should be much easier to just be yourself although I KNOW it looks easier to just copy someone else.
Definitely take what you like from them, let them inspire you, guide you into the things you find fascinating but don't compare yourself to them and find yourself constantly lacking.
You will always have things someone else doesn't have and vice versa.
It's really really obvious but sometimes when you're sitting looking at pinterest or facebook or tumblr and filling your head with things you want but others have, it's really really easy to forget.
Plus! I don't know about you but I have endlessly recreated my wardrobe mentally when browsing pinterest...nevermind the fact I don't even want to really wear half the outfits, they just look so goooood. Its so draining...I forget the style I feel happiest in.
Also, if i actually got an industrial style, minimalistic kitchen i think I would be hopelessly unhappy and probably quite cold. I'd end up sneaking in doilies to place over my vintage 10ft metal crate/ kitchen table!!
Its good to experiment but its great to know what you like and can always come back to.
It's one of the hardest things i've had to overcome as an artist and its something i think the upcoming generations of artists are having to deal with. Instead of comparing your drawings to the masters and trying harder, studying more techniques and driving yourself forward. You can now also happily compare yourself to a 16 year old who is doing amazing things with photoshop in California. Plus theres the 23 year old who is mastering portraiture and character design in germany!
At times it can feel so overwhelming and pointless, and it is so so easy to compare your work to other artists and see everything it lacks because it's not the same as their work.
When you're trying to find your own voice you naturally look around to how other people are expressing themselves and start copying what you like. This is fine as practise...but you have to remember to take the training wheels off and leave their styles behind and develop your images through your own style filter.
Just stop...take a deep breath...and switch off the computer.
There is just you in the room, with your favourite music of the moment playing, and all you need to do is pick up a paintbrush or pencil and focus on what you want to create. It can be emotional or technical or dark or colourful. It really doesn't matter. It can be inspired by another picture or it can come completely from your own mind but it has to be drawn as you see it
At the end of the day, you create artwork from within to show others how you feel and see something. People will buy your artwork because they see something they love within what you create.
What is important is that you're doing the thing you love.
These thoughts have been running around in my head for a while so i thought I would share them as i feel they're important.
Everything looks so darn pretty on the internet its so easy to just dream your life through its pictures.
I'll leave you with a few beautiful words written by Charles Bukowski and spoken by Tom Waits
I found this link via Gala Darling who is always inspiring when trying to be yourself.
I will be posting all my fashion illustrations here on this blog and then transferring them at a later date to my Fashion Illustration Portfolio on Tumblr! So if anyone has a tumblr account and wants to follow the action, my address is http://happycreativity.tumblr.com/
Pretty straight forward!
I think this will help people to find old images of mine they like and to see all my artworks at once.
I am a freelance illustrator but i don't want my blog to be all about my artworks which is why i think this is the best way forward as i update my blog more and more with other content. :)
