Illustrating Springtime...

Hand-illustrating beautiful flowers is a huge part of what we do here at abigail*ryan, and something we really love... each and every design, pattern, print and product starts with me photographing beautiful flowers, trying to find gorgeous silhouettes and forms that I know will work well with my style of drawing, and then painstakingly interpreting them in pen and ink...

I love making marks with ink, creating deep hatched details, and how you can show the undulations of papery natural forms with some flowing line-work, building up depth and intensity with each line and mark you make.

I also love seeing them transformed with colour later on - it's such a magical process.

Here are some Hellebore's I have been working on. These are becoming the forth napkin design in a box set we are set to launch very soon.

Yum!
A@a*r

Pen on paper...

Hello there!

Just stopping in to share some previews of some of the drawings I have been feverishly working on for the past wee while... these are in turn currently being worked on by Ryan to turn them into artwork for our brand new tea-towel designs which we will be launching ahead of Christmas!

Above are clusters of Hydrangea buds and opening blooms, and budding Agapanthus... Dahlia is already finished, and we're so excited...can't wait to see them printed... :)

As you can see, the sun was streaming through the window this morning after pouring rain...but I squinted through it and have now totally finished Hydrangea!

Over and out!

Abigail@abigail*ryan

p.s. for more news and updates, you can also follow us on facebook!

This EXACT time last year...

...I had just finished the drawings that would become our Anemone and Rhododendron patterns. It really only seems like a couple of months ago, not a whole YEAR!!!...

So funny that at this exact time in 2010 I am drawing blooms again - this time for MORE teatowels.

Watch out... coming soon...

Dahlia :: Hydrangea :: Agapanthus

We're so excited to get to send them to print soon... but before then... more drawing to do tomorrow!! I'll share sneaks soon, 'kay?

Abigail@abigail*ryan

Birds of a Threader...

Abigail and I both love the work of illustrator Charley Harper (so much that i'm sure we'll do a much longer post on him one day!), so we were both delighted when we saw these wonderful, hand-painted, needlepoint canvases on The Purl Bee, the rather marvellous blog of craft boutique Purl Soho.

Each would make a marvelous wall hanging or cushion, and would be a fabulous way of having your very own piece of Harper's stunning work in your home.

We're thinking very, very carefully about which one we may have no choice but to invest in..!

ryan@abigail*ryan

New drawings for New goodies...

Today has been a busy day! And it's not nearly over yet...

I was in the workshop making lots of jewellery this morning, and so snapped some pictures of our desk to give you a wee hint at some of the drawings I am working on which will become patterns and products galore in the coming months!

I have such a plethora of photos of blooms - from the botanics, the back garden and beyond this Summer I have so much to choose from it's pretty tricky to know what to get started with first. I will be drawing more in earnest next week... so will share more then...

Other happenings at chez abigail*ryan today - quilt number THREE is being worked on (ready to go into the store soon!) and this time it's Coral and Seafoam Ginkgo pattern... so, the sewing machine is whirring away as I type and I will be hand binding this evening no doubt!

I was also working on prototypes for TWO new products today (you may be able to spot the peg-bags hanging in one of the photos, they are set to launch soon too!!) - but more on all that soon ;)

But now? Dinner!!

Abigail@abigail*ryan

p.s. thank you so much to everyone who ordered during my birthday sale! I am working through all the orders as quickly as I can and will be dispatching everything this week... we are run off our feet and delighted to be sending so many of our goods all over the world! :) xo

Here kitty, kitty...

I'm loving these fantastic illustrations by artist Jamie Shelman...each is so full of life and fun that you can't help but smile when you see them. Each cat is so simply rendered, but so full of character, that it's hard to pick a favourite!

Her work is available on etsy and bigcartel, and through her own website...and, if you're in full stalker mode, why not have a peek at her blog, too!

ryan@abigail*ryan

Tiny pleasures...

It's always been said that the best things come in small packages, and this could never be more true than when speaking of the work of artist, Sarah Neuburger and the work she creates under the label "The Small Object".

Cuurently based in Savannah, Georgia, Sarah adorns all sorts of lovely, little things with her adorable illustrations, and allows you to do the same by also producing a large range of wooden stamps...everything from matryoshkas to dust bunnies, and hedgehogs to smiling ice-creams cones is covered in the collection and can be sprinkled as liberally as you please using the tiny inkpads, in glorious colours, she also stocks.

Alongside the stamps, is the most wonderful assortment of other tiny things that add the perfect touch of delicate sweetness wherever you decide to use them- storage containers, cake toppers, trinket boxes, bookmarks and loads of other prettiness besides.

I love her simple, almost childlike style of drawing, and can imagine getting terribly carried away with my credit card next time i'm in a spendy mood! Before long, my house could be completely covered in a glorious confetti of her splendid little characters :)

Enjoy her blog here.

ryan@abigail*ryan

Pyromanic..!

If they were paintings, the work above by artist Lauren Gray would be gorgeous enough, but it becomes absolutely mind-blowing when you learn that it is all done using "pyrography"...the art of burning wood.

As described by Lauren, "Pyrography is the traditional art of using a heated tip to burn images onto natural materials such as wood or leather. It is a challenging medium to work in because the permanent nature of burning requires constant precision an missteps are not easily corrected. It is very much like drawing in a sense, but done with a hot wire tip instead of a pencil. The different tonal values and subtle graduations are created carefully by varying the pressure and temperature of the pen tip."

The level of accuracy, skill, and sheer concentration required to create such stunning works without the ability to re-do areas, or erase any mistakes is utterly staggering!

It would be incredibly difficult to decide which piece I love the most, and it's currently a war raging between my love of bees, and the breath-taking detail of the piece "Cathedral"(the woman's portrait above)...I also adore the image of the knot being untangled... Oooohhh decisions, decisions..!

Lauren's work is currently available on etsy, and you can enjoy her blog here.

ryan@abigail*ryan

Golden Eye...

I'm sure you remember the stunning work by Natsuo Ikegami, mentioned in Abi's post here...

Well, while browsing her website, I followed the link to Gallery Keiko Goto and it's here I first saw the beautiful paintings by Takahide Komatsu.

The delicacy, yet intense vibrancy of the subjects (usually butterflies), is balanced, and even enhanced, by the incredible pure silver or gold backgrounds. They have such lush richness that they seem, somehow, from another time...decidedly oriental, yet also reminiscent of russian orthodox religious icons with their stylisation and use of precious metals.

ryan@abigail*ryan

Hatch...

Ryan showed me these drawings by Natsuo Ikegami last night, and gosh, my boy has fallen hard for them! I have to admit, I am extremely drawn to them too...

Their beautiful textured detail, woven like a patch-work of hatching, adds such depth and interest to the pieces and gives such lovely contrast to the simple white figures with flowing hair. There would always be something to look at in them.

Find more of Natsuo's lovely work in her etsy shop, Chana Bean!

Abigail@abigail*ryan

A whale of a time...

I found the illustration work of Ryan Fowler through his etsy shop, Native Vermont. A Master of Fine Art from the Rhode Island School of Design, he now lives and works with his ceramicist wife in Chicago.

I am totally enraptured with his work, and especially love his collage pieces - scans of his original paintings, pieced onto lovely chunky canvases and hand finished with painted backgrounds and detail... I love the idea of getting something individual, touched by hand (not just a print) but at an affordable price.

His work calls to mind both Charlie Harper, and Eric Carle whose work I also adore, and I am totally taken with both images above...

I think the whale is just beautiful, it's quiet eeriness and knowing look. The two crows, in the forest, sharing the heart made of leaves completely has me - it may be because I have just moved in with my love, but I can't help but think what a perfect home-warming or engagement gift it would make... I know I for one am itching to purchase one for us!!

Please do be sure to stop by Ryan's wonderful store where I am sure you will all find some beautiful work of art to fall in love with...

Abigail@abigail*ryan

Hidden Gem...

I found the amazing work of Carly Waito via Dear Ada and was instantly enamoured of it...

As a jeweller, I think I am just drawn to the beauty of natural stones and I know Ryan is a total sucker for them, too. We have just spent the last hour looking at fabulous gemstones to set into cocktail rings - so Carly's beautiful paintings seem like an appropriate thing to share today!

...view her whole set of beautiful paintings here, and follow her blog here!

Abigail@abigail*ryan

Paint by Numbers...

I love these paintings by Paulina Archambault, a Polish artist now living in Munich with her American husband.

At their best, the stark simplicity, somehow, still manages to evoke an emotional response...a quiet sadness or delicate melancholy...their deep, dark, wide eyes suggesting an, almost overwhelmed, inquisitiveness.

I'm probably getting carried away with myself, but combined with the sadness...much more evident in some than others, and the dark eyes that could have seen too much, deadened but still wide with horror, the numbers scrawled in the corner of each painting begin to resemble holocaust tattoos; the little hats, yarmulkes.

What can you see in them?

Available at Etsy, and Dawanda.

ryan@abigail*ryan

Here kitty, kitty..!

Whilst searching for images for my post about Heidi Burton, I found these wonderful animal prints by Eilidh Borland- they are so simple, yet have such life, that I had to mention them here...anyone who's ever had a kitten will immediately recognise that pose!

Available at Folksy.

ryan@abigail*ryan

Love in the Time of Smallpox...

Heidi Burton works in all sorts of styles, but, by far, the one I love the most, are her totally endearing, absolutely adorable greeting card illustrations...each little person has so much character and charm, yet they're rendered in the simplest of ways.

It's a great skill to know when to stop while you're drawing, and I think her work exemplifies that completely- neither a line nor a dot too many...and they absolutely make you smile.

I even love the style of her blog- each post hand written, then scanned in...it's full of gorgeous little design touches.

Her work is available on both etsy, and folksy, and she has a flickr, too...not that i'm suggesting you stalk her, or anything! :)

ryan@abigail*ryan

Whatever...

I adore children's books, and wondering around the John Lewis toy department a few months ago, I spied this absolute corker.

Billy is a sullen, moody boy with a bad attitude which his father tries to overcome using increasingly outlandish methods- each marvelous spectacle being rebuffed with a churlish "whatever". Until, of course, poor Billy learns his lesson in the most dramatic of ways in the shockingly hilarious finale!

Written and illustrated by William Bee in a subtly retro, but undoubtedly modern, 50's inspired style which suits the tone perfectly, the simple writing and captivating moralistic tale makes the perfect read along book for weeny children, as well as an excellent addition to anyone's collection of lovely illustration (come on! I can't be the only grown-up with a stack of children's books!).

ryan@abigail*ryan