Snow in the air?

Now autumn is pretty much done and dusted I think it is time to crack out the x word. Christmas is coming and I am working on a new card. Last year was a squirrel, previous year was a wee deer, this year I am going arctic with  a polar bear or two. I had a vision of the bears in the night on the ice but thought it was too dark and then cut round the bears to make an outline. Now I am worried I have made a mistake and should go back to the dark image.

Badger, badger, badger, hare

I blame autumn watch! At this time of year I find myself sketching we animals and woodlands. Aha, I will do a badger I said to myself, how cute, how lovely. How wrong, difficult wee beasties to draw, esp. if you are aiming for an adorable 'Don't cull me' look. I tried for about a week and seemed to end up with a series of fairly horrible bears with face paint.

Thankfully perseverance paid off and I ended up with an image that works. I have decided to stick with the colours and collage effect used for the stag. So I am creating a series of animals using the gold/silver tissue paper with the animal outlined in black and highlighted in white. This combo seems to capture the twilighty autumnness of the atmosphere I wanted for my creatures.

The hare image came relatively quickly, I wanted a sketchy illustration of a hare about to bound off into the distance.

Next up a hedgehog but he is proving nearly as tricky as the badger...

Red Fox

And so here is the last of my woodland creatures!

The Swift Golden Hare Jumped over the Lazy Fern.... or something

'Do you do hares?' asked someone at a craft fair last year. Sadly the answer was no but now it is yes! I really enjoyed the squirrel print process so I have decided to try and do a few 2 block prints with Chine-collé for texture. As with the squirrel I have played around with a few different colours comments and opinions welcome.

Next up a fox....

Final Proof of the 'Red Squirrel' print

I am really pleased with how this has turned out. I love the byzantine quality of the gold tissue paper.

The Fridge of Indecision

Welcome to the fridge of indecision. I have tried various permutations trying to get this image right. I have printed completely on red tissue paper, then gold tissue paper. I reversed the light and dark to make the squirrel less insipid, I then made both layers dark, then piled on chine-colle in gold and silver. Tried thick paper and thin paper. Basically I have had a bit of a lark today! The Fridge of indecision awaits my husband and daughters opinions and anyone else who has tuppence to add.