ellajohnston12

Posted on September 13, 2017 by ellajohnston12

September drawing of the month: Strutting godwit

So pleased to be kicking off my regular illustration posts with my strutting godwit as September’s drawing of the month.

I think godwits are my favourite bird (at least today they are – it’s a bit like picking a favourite song or album for me, it depends on the day, the mood, how I’m feeling etc). You can expect to see godwit bird illustrations coming up quite a few times on my drawing of the month posts.

Work in Progress: Godwit watercolour and fine line illustration (c) Ella Johnston — Work in Progress: Godwit watercolour in the process of adding my fine line

This godwit is sporting his spring/summer mating plumage. I remember seeing an omniscience of godwits (Isn’t that a lovely collective noun? I could have also used “a prayer of godwits” or “a pantheon of godwits”) with their gorgeous russet breasts and soft golden feathers on Iken cliffs and I was practically moved to tears by the birds’ stunning colours and graceful countenance. By the way, if you haven’t been to Iken cliffs it is well worth a visit, it’s one of my favourite places on earth. So atmospheric and serene in any weather.

I created this drawing using Winsor and Newton watercolours on hot-pressed watercolour paper. I then added detail using the Uniball uni-pin pen. These pens have different nib sizes which offer fantastic versatility when working on something like feathers. You can see me start to overlay this pen detail in the video below.

Posted on September 6, 2017September 5, 2017 by ellajohnston12

Monthly Moodboard: September, Simplicity

Although my art is quite intricate I actually strive for simplicity. The bravery and beauty of making a few gestural lines to shapes to convey a subject for me is an incredible achievement. It’s building up to becoming an obsession of mine, as this September moodboard illustrates.

While my desire for simplicity is a long held one, it was compounded this summer by Dr James Fox’s documentary series The Art of Japanese Life where Fox featured Sesshu’s ‘splashed-ink’ landscape (see below), dating back, unbelievably, to 1495. Let me say that again, 1495!

I think this is a glorious painting. I see so much energy in it and I find it exquisite in composition and atmosphere. I’m also drawn to the simple black and white colour scheme (I would be though wouldn’t I?).

Sesshu's 'splashed-ink' landscape — Sesshu’s ‘splashed-ink’ landscape

It’s also coincided with me getting some brush pens (which I used to create my new header btw), so I’ve been playing around with them try to make simple, gestural images. I find minimalism and knowing when to stop more difficult than adding clever little details and additional descriptive strokes – it’s a real challenge for me. I’m using the work of Toko Shinoda as further inspiration as well as ancient Japanese brush painting of bamboo, birds and butterflies.

What do you think of this style of painting? Do you like those simple strokes? The black and white? Or do you need a little more colour and detail? I’d love to know.

Posted on September 5, 2017 by ellajohnston12

I’m back

Yes, Ella’s Place is back after a break that was, I admit, slightly longer than I intended.

I needed to take a break because I wanted to refocus Ella’s Place and really think about what I wanted to do with the blog, so I’ve been doing lots of research, investigation and general musing. I also had loads of illustration gigs on and there were some months where all I did was produce drawing after drawing – I’m not moaning, but it was intense.

I’m going back to basics with Ella’s Place, talking about how a creative couple live, work, eat and have fun in our wonderful Wivenhoe home. I’ll be sharing with you my inspirations and obsessions, my drawings and my edited picks of on-trend themes plus insights into what I’m working on. I’ll talk you through the way I make my drawings and from time to time I’ll also be profiling some of my favourite designers and artists. Some bits of the blog will be quite studied and serious, others will light and breezy.

It’s good to be back, I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.

Posted on May 15, 2017 by ellajohnston12

Monday Moodboard #mondaymotivation – House plants

What better way to brighten up this dull Monday than with a plethora of house plants for this week’s moodboard?

Last week I noticed that the first 17 pictures (I know I counted them) from the people I follow on instagram were of house plants. These images particularly showed off the gorgeous greenery against cream, light grey or blush pink walls. Why not? Lush green leaves are a thing of beauty both indoors and out so I’m all for the botanical house plant trend and for bringing nature’s beauty into every aspect of our lives – even our bathrooms.

I’m even cultivating some monstera plants of my own with varying degrees of success; here’s my efforts so far…

True to form I’m turning this current obsession into illustration too with Monstera watercolours on a blush pink background selling as prints on Not On The High Street, Etsy and Folksy.

Posted on April 28, 2017April 24, 2017 by ellajohnston12

#FreebieFriday Stationery Giveaway!

In celebration of National Stationery Week I thought I’d do a little #FreebieFriday stationery giveaway. Just retweet this or share on Facebook to be entered into a prize draw – remember to tag me in though otherwise I won’t know you’ve done it.
So what do you win? You get your hands on this lovely 12-card boxed set worth £36 containing the following…
– Two A6 Forget Me Not Thank You Cards
– Two A6 Loving Budgie Cards
– Two A6 Lovebird Cards
– Two 15cm square Coal Tit Cards
– Two 15cm square Willow Tit Cards
– Two 15cm square Butterfly Cards
– Eight assorted gift tags and ties
– Matching envelopes
– Mini heart charm.
Giveaway closes on Monday 1st May, winner will be picked at random.

Posted on April 25, 2017April 24, 2017 by ellajohnston12

Drawing of the week: Red Admiral Butterfly

This week’s drawing of the week is of a Red Admiral butterfly.

With the snazzy latin name of Venessa Atalanta (I think I may employ this as a pseudonym at some point), this beautiful creature is coming to a garden or woodland near you! (That’s if you live in the British Isles of course).

This beauty will be part of my every growing illustrated butterfly guide, I’ve got quite a collection of watercolour and ink butterflies now, I’m just trying to decide on which illustrations make the final cut. I’ll show you the finished piece soon.

Posted on April 12, 2017April 12, 2017 by ellajohnston12

The secrets of mindfulness from Ivy Press

A few weeks ago I was sent a beautiful collection of books from the Secrets of Mindfulness series. Published by Ivy Press (a subsidiary Quarto), the books are all written by experts in their field and are designed to enhance well-being and reduce stress.

I don’t go on about it that much, but mindfulness is a subject very close to my heart. After years and years of placing myself in stressful situations and pushing myself at work, I learnt to take a step back, relax, appreciate the moment I’m in and take better care of my mind and body; and boy am I a more pleasant person to be around because of it. My life has improved so much since I’ve decided to take some time out.

The books concentrate on Yoga, Reflexology, Pilates and Reiki.

I did a lot of yoga and pilates around the time when was I getting married and I got really into them in for a while (and didn’t look too shabby either) but then I got bogged down into my work and it fell by the wayside. It’s a real regret.

These books reminded me of how fantastic Yoga and Pilates are and how much I enjoyed it when I did it. The tomes talk me through the philosophy, history and basic principles of the practices as well as giving me to starter moves to begin with. Great for this lapsed yogi and good for beginners too!

I knew a little bit about Reiki and Reflexology through my past life as a journalist where I’ve written some spa features. After professionally having to have many Reiki and Reflexology treatments, I admit that now I generally opt for spa treats that include these elements.

I’m really pleased that these books can allow me to delve into these areas a bit more as they have benefitted me so much when I’ve been in receipt of them. These publications are also brilliant for people who haven’t experienced a Reiki or Reflexology treatments before as they outline what you can expect during the practice, which is really important if you are nervous about that kind of thing (which I know some people are).

You can find out more about the books on the Quarto website.

Posted on April 11, 2017April 6, 2017 by ellajohnston12

Drawing of the week, Stone Curlew

This stone curlew looks so grumpy I had to make him my drawing of the week.

I became fascinated with Stone Curlews after watching Springwatch a few years back where one was brooding her chicks – I was rooting for the whole family.

They are quite rare in the UK, visiting occasionally in areas such as Norfolk and Wiltshire. They are not related to our long-billed friends the curlew, but they do have a similar call hence the name. See that big yellow eye? That’s because this fella is mainly active at night and that peeper helps him see in the dark.

As usual I created this illustration using watercolour and ink with a combination of broad and fine tips to capture the variation in texture. I wanted to keep the bird drawing quite scruffy, depicting him as if he’d just been discovered foraging among the rocks and stones.

Posted on April 10, 2017April 6, 2017 by ellajohnston12

Monday Moodboard: Birds

Well it was only a matter of time before I treated you a Monday Moodboard of birds.

As you know an awful lot of my drawing practice centres around birds. So much of my time is spent trawling and taking images of birds to study and illustrate. This is absolutely no hardship for me. I could honestly spend all my time looking at my feathered friends.

Recently I have been focussing on heads and shoulders to create bird portraits for my show at the Over The Sofa Gallery at Wivenhoe Bookshop. It’s a small space and I wanted to do it as a site specific piece, the show is called Family Portraits so it has a kind of homely feel. It consists of nine A6 watercolour and ink drawings and four A6 pieces.

The show is on until April 30.

Wanna know what each bird is? Well here they are…
Top row from left: Puffin, Long Eared Owl, Starling
Middle row from left: Lapwing, Peacock, Pigeon
Bottom row from left: Cormorant, Robin, Crested Grebe
On shelf: Black Redstart, Budgie, Goldfinch, Dartford Warbler.

Posted on March 29, 2017March 27, 2017 by ellajohnston12

Drawing of the week: Happy yellow budgie

This time my drawing of the week is of a very happy yellow budgie.

I do tend to anthropomorphise the subjects of my drawings particularly my bird portraits as I do find a very deep connection with the animals in my illustrations. I suppose I can’t help but be sentimental about this guy in particular as my sister had budgies as pets.

But it’s true of all of my creature illos; when you spend the time with them that I do studying and scrutinising every feature, you can’t help but feel closer to your subjects. I admit that after many sessions with my watercolour and ink to create each drawing I probably imbue my animals with qualities they don’t really have.

For example I think this yellow fella is smiling at us – he just looks so cheekily delighted with himself.