More artwork

Completed a few days ago - makes me think of someone all dressed up waiting for her date to arrive. Perhaps a blind date... so she is trying hard to look just right, as he may pop-up just about anytime...

Remembering camping

A piece that I've just completed. The background photos were taken while camping a few years ago. It was our first camping trip, and I enjoyed it so much -perhaps it was the simplicity of having just a tent to separate ourselves from the outside and not having to do anything at all - that we went back again the next few years.

The image on the top was our "home" at Why River campsite , and the image below was taken from the Great Ocean Road.

Out in the garden - recent photos

Recently completed stenciled T-shirt

I have just completed this design and stenciled onto a T-shirt. This design was originally a digital piece, comprising photos and vector art (colourful piece below, top image). I simplified the design and "adapted" it into a stencil (black and white image, 2nd from the top).

 

It's a rather big image, requiring multiple pieces of transparency and lots of careful cutting to make the stencil, and of course patience when painting (stippling actually) onto the T-shirt .

The completed T-shirt is shown below - the design wraps around from the front to the back of the T-shirt. As shown in the bottom 2 images, the larger part of the image is on the front of the T-shirt (the girl sitting on the chair); and from the front, this image continues to the right, then to the back where the cat sits.

Stenciling T-shirts - also a step by step guide if you are interested to make your own

I've been exploring using stencils to paint on T-shirts. My first design was based on a picture of the monk in the real tennis court (pictured below, left). This quirky design is instantly recognised by other tennis players, and has been quite popular.

 

Here's another design; the stencil was created based on my digital illustration (below, top left). I used the stencil on a T-shirt today, and am quite pleased with the result; the sweet image reminds me of a 1950s housewife.

A quick snapshot of the process

1. To create the stencil, I had to first simplify the image. I guess because I have not made many stencils, I was careful to not include too many details that would make cutting too challenging.

2. When I was happy with the new image, I printed it onto a sticker...

3. ...which I then stuck onto a transparency sheet. I am using a transparency sheet (rather than paper) so that the stencil can be used more than once (note that the image will be reversed, so take care if you have text in your design, or if orientation is important).

4. With the image on the transparency sheet, I began cutting the stencil, which was rather tedious. But once cutting was completed, the fun began :).

5. I placed the stencil onto the T-shirt and secured it by taping along the sides (The stencil can be used for any surface that you wish, but you have to use the right medium. For example, you'd want to use wall paint if you are putting the design on the wall...  In this case, because I was painting on tshirt, I used a fabric medium with acrylics).

6. I prepared the paint, and used a flat stencil brush (I customised an old brush by cutting it flat across, but stencil brushes can be purchased from craft shops) to apply the paint by dry brushing (that means that when you pick up the paint, smear the paint onto a piece of scrap paper until the brush is almost dry and then stipple, initially from the edge of the stencil. It's better to apply a few layers of dry brushing than one layer of wet paint. Dry brushing provides an interesting fine texture and a neat finish with minimal smearing. This is a test of patience, so if you find yourself rushing, take a deep breath and slow down, walk away for a few minutes and continue later!).

7. When you are happy with the result, remove the stencil carefully (ensure that you have clean hands) and it is done (unless in the case of my T-shirt, the design had to be ironed so that the paint stays after washing).

Have fun!

My new work on the web: Reality Bites

Three innocent and happy young faces appear in these pieces. They are drawn a few years ago while I was in Asia. The young do not have much to worry about; ignorance is bliss at that age, and it's great I think. The harsh reality is life does have it downside, and life can be hard... A snapshot of my view of the world at the time the work was completed... I'm sure you have your own interpretations.

9 pieces assembled as 3 sets horizontally. Medium: Chinese rice paper, ink, watercolour, paint, graphite.

Click on the images or the links below to have a closer look, all available for purchase: Reality Bites 1 , Reality Bites 2, Reality Bites 3

My online shop just opened!

(Update on 27 December 1010: The shop is still there with nothing for sale. Unfortunately for me, having a shop meant that I have to ensure that it is constantly updated. This took away my time and energy, which I think is better focused onm creative activities.)

My online shop just opened: www.evelynyee.etsy.com



Here's a snippet 0f my ceramics pieces! There is also a section on 1. cards, where I've uploaded some greeting cards, and 2. wall-art, where I've only got one piece at the moment...

Only 17 items for sale at the moment, and I'm building it up slowly. Today, I've been busy experimenting: cutting papers and hanging stuff off the staircase. It was great - feels like I'm back in art school exploring with ideas!



Do check it out if you have time, it is a fun place - it's also rather addictive. Most of the stuff sold on "etsy" are handmade so you will see things in all sorts of materials and purpose.

Have fun surfing: www.evelynyee.etsy.com

Shoe series, number 1

This is my latest completed piece, the first in a series of work that I'm planning along the theme of shoes or footwear. Click here or the image above for a larger version. Hope you like it.

New design for www.evelynhoward.com!

Very very exciting! One of the labour of love during the months recovering from my broken leg was redesigning my art & design website, www.evelynhoward.com. The previous design was completed a few years ago, and I never got round to refreshing it or updating it with my newer work as much as I would have liked to.

This new design went live a couple of days ago, obviously with updated content and links to my other sites :). I take full credit for the design, but not for the implementation. Jeremy implemented the site, got stuck into codes and got it all done for me... I'm very grateful for that :)

Check it out if you have time, let me know what you think.

Sunshine and happy

This was completed while on holiday in the Whitsundays. The sun and the sea were such an influence on what I drew while I was there :D. It was completed mostly with colour pencil with some digital effects. Click here to view a larger image.

A glimpse into my world...

Some of the stuff on my desk placed on a globe... a new tshirt design I've just completed... click on the image to get a better view.

Winter bloom

If this looks familiar, you may have seen it in my previous post in its original form. I've used photoshop to make it more expressive :)... click on any of the images below for a close-up view. Enjoy :D

Visiting Hobart, 22-25 Aug 08

We just had 4 beautiful days in Hobart, where the weather was surprisingly not as cold as I expected. It was actually mostly sunny during the day.

Jeremy was part of the Melbourne real tennis team to Hobart, but unfortunately Melbourne lost to Hobart 12-8. I had a nice time watching the tournament, and walking around the city. The Hobart real tennis club is situated close to the Salamanca market, which operated every Saturday. We went there to browse and to get some food during lunch. It was busy but lots of fun.

Here are some photos taken around the city.

Paradise Bay, Whitsundays, Queensland

17 to 22 Aug 08

The weather in Melbourne turned pretty cold and wet recently so we thought we'd escape to sunny Queensland and booked into Paradise Bay in the Whitsundays. We had 5 nice days in the sun, eating lots, going sailing, snorkeling, reading, drawing, kayaking or just doing nothing much in particular. There were cold bits but they were "bits"... :)

Jeremy was pretty pleased... enjoying a glass of wine in a hammock on the verandah of our bungalow.

Seen too many movies...

The nite before we left for our holiday, my silly mind wondered if the resort would let me enter. LOL. I've seen too many movies. After all they are a smart sort of place and having someone around with crutches might kinda lower the tone... and the type of people who goes to resorts in the middle of nowhere in the Whitsundays must want to go on cruises, snorkeling, walking and lots of other exciting activities. I recalled a movie I saw (Hot Fuzz) about a city cop going to a little town where the neighbourhood watch or committee killed those who did not meet a certain standard and the troublemakers, so that the town will be judged a good town and be given an award! So having to use crutches would be pretty unfashionable and hence, I will be at risk of being killed.

Anyway, at the time of composing this, I was at the verandah of our bungalow, where the resort is preparing a candlelit dinner. Dinner was not yet ready, but the table was laid and it was rather nice :) (pictured left). The bungalow faced the sea so we could hear waves lapping... And I was very much alive... and my leg was doing well, despite having walked a lot at the airports, and even climbed onto a helicopter from Hamilton Island to get to the resort!

My first helicopter ride

... and it was sensational, especially the lift-off. I took the front seat and felt my heart sink seeing the ground pulled away from us as we ascended... In my amazement, I had forgotten about the camera in my hand! Most images from the helicopter were taken by Jeremy on our return trip to Hamilton Island to catch our flight back to Melbourne.

I love this photo (above) which shows how expansive the ocean is. (LOL, you can see my reflection in the photo)

The above is Hamilton Island from the helicopter

And finally, us standing by the helicopter (left) and me in it...

The resort has a catamaran, and we were out most days on it.

We'd leave after breakfast and by lunch, arrive on a nice deserted beach for our packed lunch and some sun... then we'd snorkel and head back to the resort. I did not cope well with snorkeling. I don't like the sea or swimming pools and having a bad leg didn't help. Jeremy had to swim for me and dragged me along in the water...

That's me reflected in Jeremy's glasses! You can see my crutches on the left!

Spotted 2 humpback whales!!

Spotting two humpback whales within close proximity was definitely a highlight. They were up and out of the water showing their white front, and were flapping their gigantic tails in the air. The spectacle lasted quite long, possibly 5 minutes, from when we saw them in front of us, then on the side of the boat as we passed them, until they were behind the boat and out of sight.

Other animals we met

The were lots of birds at night having conversations and keeping me awake some nights. There were 3 curlews (one pictured on the left) which lived in the resort. They were all named Edgar (don't know why) and they were rather scary looking... and would come around especially during meal times.

We saw some eagles, some wild goats too, some dolphins in a distance (I could barely make them out as dolphins) and some turtles poking their heads above water.

Here's are pictures of Edwina and me. Edwina is one of the resident wallabies. She had a piece of banana in her hands.She would take the food from the hand of the resort staff but was quite wary of the guests. I had to leave a piece of banana on the ground, and then move away before she would take the food. She has a joey (baby wallaby) in her pouch.