Lil Gem Pie Hands!

Happy monday all!

Just a quick update really since it's been all quiet on the Western Front (or North-Eastern Front rather)...

Got looooaaaads of art on the go at the minute, which is pretty unusual for me as I like to stick with one piece or collection at a time, but things just seem to keep appearing! Anyhoo this is what I'm doing at the moment....

* I'm doing a seven piece collection involving Disney Princesses, two pieces are finished, the rest are waiting for detail to be added 

* I'm doing a collection of small (A5 to be precise) mounted cartoon-esque animal pictures

* Although I haven't started yet I will be doing a portrait of Robert Downey Jr for someone I work with (I requested a pie as payment - true story)

* I am slowly doing a painting of my parents dog for them for Christmas (mentioned in my previous blog) I'm a bit further on now though...

Look! He's nearly got a face now! The Westie With The Face!

* And of course with it coming up to Christmas I have had a few requests (5 I think) for sets of my custom made baubles. Glad these requests have been made so early, last year I had people asking me for them the week before Christmas! Here's a few examples anyway....

Marv and Princess Violet - done from a photo

Set of Hedgehog baubles

Santa Cow bauble

Set of Cat baubles

Jack Russell bauble

Set of multi coloured Cow baubles

Sooooooo, busy busy times coming up, lots of art, lots of baubles....then lots of chilling! (I hope!)

Enjoy what's left of your monday all!

Gem xxx

Immortalised fuzz!

Happy Saturday all!

Mega cold has been defeated (just about) so I'm back and fighting!

Decided to put my latest collection on hold as my mother recently commented that I should do her and my dad a picture of their dog for the house....soooooo, I have decided that they can have a proper painting as a christmas present. 

So, bought the canvas board (which is a tad bigger than I was expecting, but hey, just means more dog to love!) and have done the basic outline. Figured I'd get it done as soon as I can really as it gives me plenty of time to start again if need be!

Here's what I've got so far.....

I'll start painting it tomorrow (since it's saturday night and I can't be bothered to do it now) and we'll see how it goes!

Just as a side note - I just watched the film Precious (2009) for the first time and thought it was awesome! Mo'nique was amazing! I would thoroughly recommend it (to a certain type of film fan, certainly not a film for everyone)...Just thought I'd share that!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend all!

Gem xxx

Gremlins and Westies and Germs...Oh my!!!

Morning all! 

Not really got all the much to say actually! My latest art collection WAS going well but has been put on hold while I try to battle THE COLD FROM HELL! I'm more germ than human at the moment and it doesn't appear to be letting up any, which is unfortunate considering I'm supposed to be going to my work mate's engagement party on saturday night. I WILL be better! Oh yes!...

Had a nice visit from the little fuzz on saturday though. I sat and ate giant pretzels whilst he watched 2 of his favourite films, Gremlins and Gremlins 2: The New Batch.

"Oooooooh, she's put Gremlins 2 on...."

"Maybe I can see better if I get a bit closer....."

"It's Gizmo!!! Look!! GIZMO!!!!"

He's easily entertained! Although trying to get him to go outside to 'do his thing' when he's trying to watch a film isn't the easiest task in the world!

Anyhoo, since I have managed to get a rare day off from work I'm off to lie down with a tissue stuck up my nose!

Have a nice wednesday all!

Gem xxx

We all go a little mad sometimes...apparently

Hello hello, nearly the weekend all! Yey! 


Anyhoo, I've just finished my latest art collection today, which I have sooooo enjoyed doing! It's a horror movie collection, which is great coz I'm a huge horror fan. I tried to stick to more mainstream films so people will hopefully have some vague idea what's going on in each piece!


I have enjoyed doing this collection so much I might actually extend on it in the future, but I'll leave it how it is for now I think. Anyway, time to take a look!

An American Werewolf In London (1981)

"I didn't mean to call you a meatloaf, Jack!"

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The Fly (1986)

"Am I becoming a hundred-and-eighty-five-pound fly? No, I'm becoming something that never existed before. I'm becoming... Brundlefly. Don't you think that's worth a Nobel Prize or two?"

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The Exorcist (1973)

"You show me Regan's double, same face, same voice, everything. And I'd know it wasn't Regan. I'd know in my gut. And I'm telling you that 'thing' upstairs isn't my daughter"

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Wolf (1994)

"The worm has turned and is now packing an uzi"

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Maniac (1980)

"This has got to stop. It's silly, and it's not getting us anywhere"

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Don't Look Now (1973)

"This one who's blind. She's the one that can see"

And that's that! As I said I may add some more, there are too many good films out there to ignore, but for now it's on to the next collection!

Sleep tight, don't have nightmares...

Gem xxx

He's a maniac....maaaaaniac!

Evening all....


Just finished the fourth piece of my latest collection, my horror movies collection. A collection that I must say I am thoroughly enjoying doing! 


Having already done The Exorcist, An American Werewolf In London and The Fly I thought for my fourth piece I would do something a bit less main stream and do one of my favourites, the classic 80's slasher 'Maniac', starring the ever wonderful Joe Spinell (RIP dude, love you!) as Frank Zito. 


The film has recently been remade starring Elijah Wood (very strange choice! Apparently they wanted John C. Reilly who would have been great, but hey...) but I don't think it will come close to the original , so this is my tribute anyway!

Once my collection is finished I shall put them all up for the world to see, but for now it's on to the next piece!....

Gem xxx

Visit from da fuzz!

....And by da fuzz I mean .... Ki!

Isn't he gorgeous?!

Yes my little dude is coming to stay with us on saturday while my mam and dad are elsewhere, so we'll be chilling together and watching films (can't do art while Ki's about coz he keeps putting his face on the canvas! Plus he loves a good film!). 

Me and my baby :)

Nothing to declare but my genius! (although my head isn't that big!)

Happy rainy evening all! Thought I'd give the world a step by step demonstration of how I do my art (also on my facebook page) just to show how I roll really! And if anybody else feels like having a go at doing their own work hopefully this will be some help!

1. I always draw out a very basic outline of what I'm doing, that way I know the dimensions of the whole piece is right. Doesn't need to be perfectly neat or anything, just so you know what's going where! (See pic below)

2. Start filling in with basic blocks of colour (I used acrylic for this piece), no shading or texture yet. I also always tend to start with the bit that I think will be the hardest bit to do, there's no point getting a whole painting done then messing up on the hard bit at the end! (See pic below)

3. Carry on adding colour. The black around the guys head will be blended properly later on. (See pic below)

4. Whole canvas is covered with basic solid colour. Don't panic if it looks a bit like a cartoon at this point, that's why you add the detail later on! I left the area around the wolfs eyes as I didn't want to use paint for such fine detail. (See pic below)

5. Using ink i added in the detail around the eyes, nose and mouth and added texture to the fur around the face. (See pic below)

6. Using a mixture of ink and coloured graphite I added texture to the rest of the fur and the paw. )See pic below)

7. Using ink I added the detail to the dude's face and shaded it with a pencil. I added the thin lines of blood by dipping the end of a clay cutting tool into the acrylic and dragging it over the face (far more accurate that using a brush I find). (See pic below)

8. Sorry to dwell on this dude's intestines but they do need to be done! I didn't want them to be too realistic really as...well as it's someones insides hanging out, so using black acrylic I put in very basic outlines. (See pic below)

9. I then went back and added the reflections on the eyes, nose and teeth using my clay cutting tool again and some white acrylic. (See pic below)

10. Sorry, back to the guts again, using the same tool I added the refections, also, using a white pastel, added slightly less defined reflections. (See pic below)

11. Once all the main detail was done I did the background which simply involved blending pastels over the (very important, DRY) paint. (See pic below)

12. Once completely finished I cover the entire canvas with a fixative. This prevents the ink/graphite/pastels from smudging and rubbing off (make sure this is done in a well ventilated area!). (See pic below)

And that's it! All done and on to the next one!....

Until next time...enjoy the rain folks!

Gem xxx