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Alene β€” At the Window

Published: 2011-10-01 18:16:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 2731; Favourites: 99; Downloads: 34
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Description A Christmas Card design for this year – I do my designing early, when I have time, rather than waiting until they really need to be done, and finding that I'm swamped with work.

The original sketch was done on an extremely hot day in January (that's summer down here, and snow seemed like something we could very well do with), and I pulled it out a little while ago, tidied it up and painted it.

You can see the original sketch and my process at my blog: [link]

Size: A4
Materials:0.1 Artline Drawing System fineliner, Winsor and Newton watercolours.
Time Taken: About 10-12 hours, all up
References: My own
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Comments: 23

GrimDreamArt [2013-03-21 05:34:45 +0000 UTC]

Such a lovely card! I like the mood you created here

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Alene In reply to GrimDreamArt [2013-03-22 06:53:36 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, and thanks for the too, I'm glad you like it!

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joolita [2013-02-05 02:05:28 +0000 UTC]

I love the colour scheme

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Alene In reply to joolita [2013-02-05 14:54:02 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! I'm fond of muted colour schemes with a pop of colour. Thanks for the too, I'm glad you like it!

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casparofambrose [2011-12-04 03:07:59 +0000 UTC]

I love this! Your illustrations are so charming and skillfully done. I can't help smiling as I look closer to study details I missed at first glance. I love the limited color pallette here too.

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Alene In reply to casparofambrose [2011-12-04 11:18:01 +0000 UTC]

Oh, thank you so much! I'm always especially glad when people like my illustrations. I love to do portraits, but I like to illustrate even more, and put in little details; I love children's books. Thanks for the and the too!
Your portraits are just lovely, I shall watch you too!

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casparofambrose In reply to Alene [2011-12-07 00:05:47 +0000 UTC]

You're very welcome! It's easy to tell you have a passion for it, because your illustrations all have such heart to them. And the colors you use are fabulous! Anyway, thank you for the watch! I really appreciate it.

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VFreie [2011-10-05 14:33:31 +0000 UTC]

Very nice winter-y colours! They make the sparse bits of red stand out in such a subtle way, I love it.

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Alene In reply to VFreie [2011-10-05 16:58:23 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! I wanted something really wintery, to combat our hot summers; but I always like to have a bit of a bright, contrasting colour in everything, just to lift things (and I'm a sucker for red )
I'm so glad you liked it, thanks for the too!

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VFreie In reply to Alene [2011-10-05 17:55:46 +0000 UTC]

Aww, you're much welcome!
Haha seriously this quite fits my need for some winter feel right now, as our own hot summer is still dragging on and on

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Baroquecat [2011-10-03 20:57:03 +0000 UTC]

Very pretty! Love how you place those touches of red here and there.

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Alene In reply to Baroquecat [2011-10-04 12:35:03 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much! I like to add colour accents, I find it lifts everything.

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olde-fashioned [2011-10-01 21:40:36 +0000 UTC]

Oh wow Alene...I hope you'll forgive my brain for immediately jumping to "Jane Austen!!!!!!!!" when I saw this update in my dA messages, LOL, but this is exquisite! I would SO buy Christmas cards like this. Have you thought about doing a green version, instead of blue? I love the little touches of red; the birds (not cardinals, what are they?), and her ribbons. Her teeny little shoes are absolutely perfect!!

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Alene In reply to olde-fashioned [2011-10-02 04:32:50 +0000 UTC]

I thought you'd like this! ^.^ I was actually listening to Heyer's The Talisman Ring while I was painting this, which is close enough.
I went blue because the last two years my Christmas cards have been heavily red and green and gold, and I wanted a change. Plus blue looks cooler, and by the time Christmas rolls round here we really quite like anything that reminds us of cool weather! Certainly, making it green (I fiddled with the colours in Photoshop) makes it very Christmassy.
Of course, I generally have to get some red or some bright colour into everything, just to liven things up. Those birds are hitherto unknown to science.... I wanted robins, but when shrunk down to A6 they'd be too small-and-mainly-drab to really see, so I decided that they would be a mysterious breed of entirely red bird (maybe her red-factor canaries got out )

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olde-fashioned In reply to Alene [2011-10-02 08:29:32 +0000 UTC]

Oh you mean you thought about my reaction to this beforehand? And yes, definitely close enough!

Got it. I'm wary of the RED AND GREEEEEEN thing too; last year for my Christmas cards I avoided both and went for white and silver.

LOL, I love those birds, invented or not! They're really cute and finish off the painting in a lovely way.

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Alene In reply to olde-fashioned [2011-10-05 17:04:56 +0000 UTC]

Invented birds can be fun. I've just been doing actual birds for more Christmas cards – one set with (Australian) scarlet robins for a client, and then another bunch with splendid fairy wrens for us, after my parents got jealous when they saw the robins. So now we have two sets of cards, and I'll be alternating when I write in them, which, thank heavens, is not something I have to do right away. But I've managed to keep this year with a colour scheme of blue and grey, with accents of red, on black card. No scarlet robins to go with my blue curtains!

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olde-fashioned In reply to Alene [2011-10-08 09:26:07 +0000 UTC]

LOL, I can definitely understand their jealousy--you should sell your Christmas cards online! I would buy something like this "At the Window" print in a heartbeat.

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Alene In reply to olde-fashioned [2011-10-08 17:44:22 +0000 UTC]

Aw, thanks!
I am actually planning on selling some cards and things – there's a good deal on at Moo so I'm trying to get a few of my designs together to get them printed there; 'trying' being the operative word, among the newspaper ads I have to do for one client, blackline master illustrations for another, blue wren painting for another, really really needing to finish the new portfolio illustration I'm doing so I can send it all off again.... *flop* At the moment however I'm designing an engagement card for a cousin, so with luck I can use that as a design too.

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olde-fashioned In reply to Alene [2011-10-10 03:50:42 +0000 UTC]

I honestly don't know how you have time for the internet...LOL! What with work and all, I'm lucky if I get to all my messages every 3 days!!

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Alene In reply to olde-fashioned [2011-10-10 07:34:56 +0000 UTC]

I check messages and stuff while I'm waiting on progress bars in Photoshop and the like. Big files can result in very boring waits for saving to occur!

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olde-fashioned In reply to Alene [2011-10-11 10:55:44 +0000 UTC]

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foreverbeginstoday [2011-10-01 18:51:31 +0000 UTC]

this is LOVELY!

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Alene In reply to foreverbeginstoday [2011-10-02 04:16:27 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much, and for the too, I'm glad you liked it!

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