Durga and the Buffalo Deamon

I've been spending my dark November weekends submerged in the vibrance of hindu mythology. This image was done in response to After the Fairytale Collective's challenge to illustrate the tale of the Goddess Durga and her encounter with the Buffalo Deamon......I think you can gather from my drawing below that it didn't end well for the deamon! An abundance of awesome girl power and Indian patterns made this an extremely enjoyable challenge! If you wanna see the full colour version, then head over to the collective blog. 

Etching at The Art Academy

So, about four weeks ago, I started an evening etching class at The Art Academy in London. Four weeks ago, I also told myself that I would write this post.........oooops! I can verify with some relief that the etching class has been a lot more productive!
It's been over a year now that I last used the print room at Plymouth University, and while I had said I would try to find a print studio in London I could use to keep the etching going, I was worried that I would have forgotten how to use it by the time I got round to making good on the promise I had made to myself. I felt a refresher course was in order. Cue a quick search through Google and an halaluja moment when I found this fantastic six week evening course just round the corner from London Bridge at The Art Academy. Perfect for after work. I'll admit it's been tiring going straight from work to a three hour etching session but I've been enjoing the experience. It's also been good to be reminded of why I loved it before and to gain usefull tips on how to complete diferent stages of the process at home. Who knows, maybe I'll set up my own makeshift studio in the kitchen!
Last lesson I got to the stage of applying an aquatint and then etching for tone and shading. I find that the most nervracking stage because it really feels like guess work! I can't imagine getting to the stage when it won't! Next week will be the big test.....when I actually print. In the mean time, keep your fingers crossed for me and I'll leave you with the drawing of what I line etched. The tone is going on top. After spending a whole evening etching this image onto my plate, I then dreamed about foxes all night!

 

From Masks to Snow White

I started early on the After the Fairytale collective challenge for October and managed to get a bit of sketching in before committing to the final illustration! Well done to me! I don't usually manage to pull that off (cue smug pat on the back)! I thought I'd give you a taster with these images from my sketchbook in the hope that you'll be tempted to look at After the Fairytale Collective's blog to see all the work submitted for October's "mask" theme, including mine which illustrates the moment Snow White's evil step-mother disguises herself as an old crone/witch to trick her into eating a poisoned apple. You can see them here: http://afterthefairytalecollective.tumblr.com/

For Mabel

This image was a collaboration between a writer and an illustrator. That is, my sister, Abra, and me. She wrote the poem/story and I illustrated it...if you hadn't guessed that already I thought I should make it clear! I actually only ended up with a couple of hours to think of and execute the final image which made me feel like a stressed-artist-creature-person for a while but the end result of all that was something I feel reflects the tone and charm of the writing. We made it as a naming ceremony present for a darling baby girl, at the very beginning of her life and her adventures and her loves and passions. This was for Mabel.

New Arrivals!

I'm feeling pretty impressed with myself. You know how I (more than) hinted that I would be selling cards through my website? Well, it's actually happened! I now have a proper shop with a checkout basket and everything! You can see how excited I am just by the amount of exclamation marks I've used in this paragraph alone! If you like the look of any of the cards below then head on over to my website and make a purchase. Happy Shopping :)

COMING SOON.........

These arrived in the post the other day. Let me just take a moment to say...Wahoooooo!!! I was literally breathless when I got home from work and found the brown box waiting for me on the arm of the sofa. Such a treat after a long day. If you're thinking "that's great Merle but..err...what are they exactly?!?" then let me tell you that They are greeting cards which you will soon be able to buy from my website!!! There are seven different designs to choose from, each a Merle Hunt original. I'm just simply tooo excited to keep this one to myself until it is all set up. More then anything (or rather, apart from the anticipation of maybe making a little money from my illustration and this passion of mine finally starting to earn it's keep!) it's the satisfaction of seeing my work actually printed *sigh*.....it's the little things.

 Get those wallets ready and buy all your cards for next year! Then sit back and feel very smug with yourself!

The Start of New Beginnings.....hopefully!

I feel it is about time that I swept out the cobwebs and brushed away the dust from the long forgotten corners of this blog which have accumulated in the presence of such unforgivable inactivity. Has it really been .....5 months?!?! FIVE MONTHS!!!! since I last posted? I'm afraid to say it has. I feel I should apologise although I realise I'm not quite sure who to. Is there anyone out there reading this? More then anything I feel like a neglectful parent. Much work is needed now to make up for lost time.
The reason this blog has been left like an orphaned child on a doorstep for, I'll have to say it again, 5 months! is that the three month internship at Rooks Books which I last wrote about three weeks into it's commencement, has lead to a part-time job! It's great news but does mean my illustration has been put on the back-burner for the last few months while I got into the routine of becoming a Commuter for four days a week. However, I have a few personal projects bubbling on the horizon (hhherrm, may have mixed me metaphors up there but aah well) and so hopefully this post can signal the re-launch of all things blackbird and lemoncurd-y! And in the mean time don't forget that if you're in the mood for an illustrative treat, then there's always the collective which I post to once a month with fellow illustrators Diana Mazuru and Rachel Rawlings. August's offering was all about Jane Eyre and this September we're illustrating Blackberry Wine.
So, I thought I would kick off the start of new beginnings with a few pages from my sketchbook. For the Jane Eyre challenge I was really inspired by the brooding, Gothic atmosphere of the 1943 film adaptation and so I decided to keep my image black and white and use Parker ink. I've seen this medium be used a lot and to great effect, but I've not really used it before myself so it was a bit of an experiment. These pages show the process and if you'd like to see the finished result, click on the collective link above.