Te i'ch croesawu i'r ty!

This was my tea advert for Illustration Squared. Paned Gymreig does actually exist (it's what I was drinking at the time), and I decided to make mine based on Victorian advertising posters.

And, we're off!

Head on over to the grand opening (as it were) of Illustration Squared!

Victoria and I are kicking off our weekly illustrations with tea adverts - come take a peek and let us know what you think.

Have a lovely day!

-Meghan

Illustration Squared Tea Adverts

The lovely Miss Victoria Belisle and myself have started a new collaborative blog: Illustration Squared!

Every Friday we will each post an illustrative response to a prompt. This is our first week, and we're starting with advertisement posters for tea. I thought I'd post my initial sketches below, and invite everyone to check out Illustration Squared as we get it under way!

Welsh Pronunciation

So, the following project began recently when I decided to start learning to speak Welsh. I quite enjoy learning languages, and it occurred to me that an interesting study aid would be to make comics utilizing the phrases, grammar and vocabulary I learn as I go. It would help me get used to using them in context, and would be a fun excuse for drawing.

And thus it was decided: I would make foreign language study comics for myself! Since I will be posting them here, I will also include vocabulary lists and translations. But, I thought that the best way to start would be with basic pronunciation.

So, here we are, starting with Welsh (Cymraeg):

That's all for now. I will start posting the actual comics soon, so stay tuned! They'll be rather short on plot at first as they're really meant to be educational aids. We'll see how they progress, though - I've a fair bit planned!

Also, I've promised my mother I'll help her learn French, so you may be seeing some French comics and worksheets from me as well.

Sketches!

I come bearing more excerpts from recent sketchbooks!

First off, a few Regency-era folks:

I rather like this one, actually. I might incorporate him into a finished piece, but I haven't decided yet.

A cat related accident involving a paintbrush managed to splatter this page (with surprisingly minimal damage), but I've decided it works. We'll just say that this is a drawing of Stephen Maturin, and you likely don't want to know what he's got on his waistcoat! ;-)

A sneak peek at a sketch for some upcoming illustrations based on various plays. This, shockingly, is shaping up to be the end of Hamlet.

Fencing is... surprisingly difficult to draw. So, clearly, it requires practice. I'll be doing a lot more sketching of fencing poses before I tackle putting it into an actual piece, but it's proving to be a great deal of fun to explore!

Americana Box

My mom keeps all of her addresses in a box of notecards rather than a book, which is actually much easier to edit and add to as necessary. However, she decided earlier that she wanted the box to be a bit more attractive looking. So, as a surprise, I painted it for her in a folk art-y style. This was fun - I might do some more folk art soon.

Here is the top of it. ^

And, the front of it. ^

More work to be posted soon!

Bookmarks

Recently, I doodled a few bookmarks for friends and family. They're just ballpoint pen on oaktag, but I enjoyed making them. Besides, I can't speak for anyone else, but I always seem to be in need of a bookmark! Where do they all go?

Anyway, some bookmarks: