christmas eve

Both kids are at home now, yayyyyyyy!

Christmas can begin!

winter solstice

We made it!!!

Past the deepest darkest winter day!

Shortest day yesterday....daylight, sunshine and summer here we come!

Woohoo!!!

ready for Christmas?

Who's ready for Christmas?

Not me.

I spend so long getting irritated about Christmas in September, determined not to be one of "those people" ... then all of a sudden it's Christmas week, the shops are rammed, everything is sold out, the post has gone tits up and I really cba with it any more!

Summer holiday anyone???

christmas shopping

My shopping this Christmas has been sporadic.

I really can't face doing it all at once (or at all, if I'm honest 🙈)

So I've bought stuff.

But not all the stuff.

And not enough stuff, with a week and a bit to go.

But I did go shopping for a birthday present today for one of those people who doesn't need anything. I bought him a rather splendid plant in a pot that's wearing a pair of glasses. 

So all is well.

foxy

There was a fox in our garden this morning! It was taking a casual stroll across the grass. Then the dog spotted it and went beserk. So it scarpered. 

Anyway I've looked up the spiritual meaning of spotting a fox in your garden and basically I'm gonna be a millionaire by next year.

So that's nice.

postal strikes

The Royal Mail is on strike today.

Santa's Mail is not.

So don't panic. The big man will still see your demands in time for Christmas.... if you've been good... 👍🏼🎅🏼

tree shopping

My usual Christmas tree helper, Alf, is still living his best life away at uni. So this year I roped in my favourite nephew to come choose one with me.

As luck would have it he passed his driving test a couple of weeks ago, so he actually came and picked me up!

I had a chauffeur driven tree experience this year.

And all the pine needles are in the back of his car, not mine.

Winning!

christmas catchup

I forgot I had a blog! 

Well I've only had it 12.5 years so it's no surprise.

Anyway I held off on Christmas till December.

I'll do a little catchup.

November is long gone, cba catching up with that!

folktale week 2022

I love Folktale Week on insta. I love looking at all the fab illustrations that people post from the prompts. I love how people interpret them so differently. I even did the full lot myself once. In the olden days.... 2018....when the prompts were nice and easy.

I soooo wanted to do it this year. I love illustrating kids books so really it's something you'd think I should be doing. And something I should enjoy. But honestly, I read the prompts and did not feel an ounce of inspiration. Not one. I felt like this instead 🤷🏼‍♀️

I do realise that my job as an illustrator is to come up with something fabulous no matter what the subject. But I felt zero inspiration from most of the words and I was just stressing myself out trying to think of something. Cos any old something wouldn't do. It had be be the best something. And my mind drew a complete blank.

So I stopped shoulding and decided just to do the first two. Cos they seemed easy enough. So here I am. Finished!

And now I feel intense relief that I don't have to think of something for the others. Because REBEL 🤷🏼‍♀️ and COSTUME 🤷🏼‍♀️ are not for me 😬

Here's FOOL and TREE....

The End x

art licensing portfolio

I'm in the process of adding new work to the licensing portfolio on my website.

If you're an art director on the lookout for new patterns and illustrations email me at dawn@dawnmachell.co.uk and I'll send you the password.

 

more dinosaurs

More dinosaurs. More moaning about the dark.

Do I do this every year? Moan about the dark?

As if it's something new?

Don't answer. I know I do.

weekend weather

Along with the sunshine, there's gotta be a little rain sometime.

But not on a weekend thanks.

Sunshine only on a weekend!

dinosaur

Bored of drawing all the autumn shizz?

Completely over the Halloween?

Not ready to start spamming everyone with Christmas yet?

Has to be dinosaurs then....

november colours

 

happy halloween

I kind of missed going trick or treating with the kids tonight.

Till it chucked it down.

Then I was kind of glad my kids are grown up and I didn't have to go trick or treating.

dark

It's dark.

And the clocks go back next week.

So that'll be me ranting about it for the next 6 months...

hibernation weather

I don’t know what it’s like where you are today, but where I live it’s cold, very dark and absolutely chucking it down. It’s the kind of day that would make you decide to hibernate for the rest of the year if you weren’t going to Portugal on Sunday.

But I am. 

So hibernation is on hold for me👌🏼😁

minnie the dog

Remember when I said NO to getting a dog?

So Neil took the kids to see a puppy?

Yeah well it was 11 years ago this week.

I've forgiven him.

from the weekend....

Birds

And ladybirds.

another autumn pattern

Favourite month for patterns: Autumn.

Favourite month for weather: Still summer.

cosy?

To avoid the rising cost of gas and electricity spiralling out of control whilst working alone from home, Neil has suggested turning the heating off.

He offered me two options as a solution to the risk of freezing to death:

1. Wear warm clothes and learn to light the wood burner.

2. Take my laptop and go to work with him every day as he "has the heater on anyway."

He's a driving instructor 🤨

I went for option 1.

making patterns...

I made a pattern out of my latest little characters.
And then I made a mockup of a notebook.
I don't make many mockups. I had to google how to do it.

I need to go for a lie down in a dark room now.....

Pattern available to license 

more autumn stuff

Stuff I drew last week. I got a bit carried away with more autumn animals. I mean how many times can you draw a rabbit and a fox before you get bored?

Also.. that's an autumn deer, NOT a Christmas one. Definitely not a Christmas deer!

crow

Found a #tober prompt I actually wanted to do, "crow" from the SCBWI. Yay!

#scbwiartober

procrastination

I've set myself the task of updating my website.

So far I've drawn a bear.

Website updates aren't my thing.

#___tober

I thought I might join in with one of those things that begin with a # and end in tober. Cos they seem to be all the rage in October.

So I did mucho research into the various prompts that were on offer for today.

The best I could find were:

scallop

clean

tacos

bundle

tiger

bats

So I drew a hedgehog.

october colour palette

New month...new colours...

 

a couple of autumn patterns

Made a couple of patterns from the autumn stuff.

All this range is available to licence.. email me dawn@dawnmachell.co.uk to get first dibs!

autumn legs

A fox with short legs and a hare with zero legs...