Another @yegartwalk in the books, 2nd year in a row 😊 thank you to everyone that came out to support me and the other artists this year! #yegartwalk #yegartwalk2018 #artwalk #artist #supportlocal #thankyou #thanksforthesupport #thanksforcoming
inspiringdesigns
Pink Whale Watercolour
Blog Post, illustrations, shopCompleted this whale illustration I started during #artwalk & it is also available in my Redbubble store
For this piece I used Royal & Langnickel watercolours, watercolour paper & watercolour pencils (see my watercolor post for details on the pencils & paper used here), Liquitex muted inks & Fabre-Castel artist pens.
Please let me know what you think of this piece & don’t forget to follow me on Instagram or Twitter for the most up to date info on new creations & promotions!
Thanks for reading 🙂
My First Artwalk YEG 2017
Blog Post, EventsParticipated in my first Artwalk this year, it was such an awesome experience. I was excited and terrified to see my work displayed next to other artists lol all of the feelings were felt!
There were also some things discovered about me and my work: a lot of my illustrations are more masculine, I still have quite a variety of different styles of work – some people thought there were 4 different artists in my tent lol and stepping out of my comfort zone to engage with people looking at my work – being some one with social anxiety, this was terrifying to say the least, but it is one of those things that help you grow as an individual to better yourself and your skills so you just gotta power on through – which was becoming a little less terrifying each time 🙂
I was on 83rd Ave all weekend (July 7, 8 & 9th, 2017) from 10am-5pm each day. The spot I had was fantastic: right across the park where there was live entertainment, between both the crafter’s market and Farmer’s market; however, the majority of people walking through this area were of an older and a more family orientated crowed – now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with an older and more family orientated crowd, it is just that my sales were not so great. It was my first year, so there have been a couple of lessons learned, one of them being that my work appeals to a younger/more niche crowd. So next year I will see if I can be positioned along Whyte Ave as this is more of where my target market will be; I just hope the weather is as beautiful next year as it was this year!
Special thank you to my volunteers, supporters and @thepaintspot plus all the sponsors for creating this great event!
Follow my Instagram and Twitter for live updates @noelle_fontaine
FAN ART: HR. GEIGER’S ALIEN
Blog Post, fan art, illustrationsOut of the blue I was stricken with inspiration to do some Alien fan art; I love HR. Geiger’s work, in fact I have some as wallpapers on my Mac book pro & pc at work lol
I though about doing this as an airbrush piece at first, but then decided to do an ink wash instead; once i decided this I was debating on doing highlights with the airbrush…but it’s been so long since I’ve done traditional ink (with India ink, water and paintbrush brush) in general so I decided to just stick with the 1 medium.
Ink washing is one of my favourite techniques, the last time I did any was back in October for inktober 2016 which were all relatively quick illustrations, so it was nice to actually be able to spend a bit more time on this than the inktober pieces (October is a bit of a busy whirlwind month for me lol).
I can see some things that I think I could do better but that comes with time and experience lol want to refine and improve my skills and the only way to keep improving is practice, practice, practice 🙂
The substrate used for this illustration was Canson Bristol 96lb (260g), 11″x14″ (27.9cm x 35.5cm). I have been using this for most of my illustrations lately, it is double sided (1 is smooth and the other is textured – prefer the textured side myself but its nice to have the option) and is made from 30% recycled paper #awesome
In retrospect, to really achieve the look I was initially looking for I should of used Illustration board, but I am pretty happy with how this turned out…even though I am very out of practice lol That said this substrate surprisingly holds up really well to ink wash and water colour techniques (posts to come!) with little to no warping of the paper; mind you taping this down to a board does help to prevent this as there is a fair amount of water and ink used on this piece lol but even if there is a bit of warping you can place a heavy book on top and it smooths right out!
I’m not going to lie, since it had been so long I procrastinated on finishing this piece for a little while lol I was afraid to mess up my pencil sketch and inked outline so the first layer of the ink wash was terrifying lol but sometimes you just gotta take the risk, swallow your fear and give it your all!
To see more of my work be sure to follow me on Instagram & twitter @noelle_fontaine where posting happens more regularly 😛
Thank you for reading and please do not hesitate to share your thoughts and critiques on this piece 🙂
PLASTER SKULLS
SkullsHand molded & painted plaster skulls, open to commissions.
These make a great gift!
Want to paint your own design? Blank primed skulls also available!
Details:
• 3.5lbs solid plaster
• 6.5″ wide x 5.5″ high
• Sealed with a clear gloss finish (excluding primed white, please request sealed)
• All skulls engraved with signature mark
• All skulls numbered (1-12, 2016 series)
*Please note colours may vary from photographs
Please contact me if you are interested in taking one of these custom skulls home.
INKTOBER 2016, accomplished
Blog Post, Creative Challenges, illustrationsInktober has already come and gone, it seemed to happen so fast!!
This was my second year participating in inktober, you can check out last years blog post inktober 2015, many random ink pieces were created lol I found it a bit hard to squeeze in time to get these done but I am very happy I was able to complete the challenge and work on my inking skills!
October is usually a crazy month for me (making my niece & nephews halloween costumes, freelance work, full time work, participating in the night of fear festival media promos & event itself) so I decided to get a bit more organized & go with a theme: horror & macabre movies & tv series.
Please let me know what you think!
Check out my 2015-2019 Inktober collection.
Don’t forget to follow me on my social for instant updates 🙂
Playing with Pastels
Blog Post, illustrations 
Playing with pastels at the Inspiring Designs studio, updates coming soon!!
Follow me on my social to watch the progress in real time 🙂
Purse Plastic Bag Holder
craftingIf you read my previous post about my Plastic Bag Holder (LINK) you know that i have a serious plastic bag hoarding problem lol but in all seriousness I have all these bags but always forget to bring bags with me to the grocery store!
So I decided to make a small bag holder for my purse, I actually made this before I made my large tea towel bag holder, to try & not bring so many bags home again lol I have been using it for about a month & so far it is working out great!
I bought the fabric at Walmart, they sell those patterns in however big squares, so you can use any pattern or material you like, the one I used was either 100% cotton or polyester…sorry, I cannot remember.
Finally, the sewing pattern for this compact bag holder is actually a pattern for a no zipper pillow case, scaled down a lot lol
Here is the link to the sewing pattern.
Don’t forget to follow me on social media.
Thank you for reading 🙂
Hanging Plastic Bag Holder
craftingIf you are cheap like me, you reuse your plastic bags for many things, though you find your collection just keeps growing & growing & growing!!!
After I get a certain amount I will put a bunch in the recycle, though for those ones that I may need to use in the future I keep…but these crazy things just keep multiplying!! I tried a “life hack” from Pinterest, putting your plastic bags in an empty kleenex box…then ended up havin 3 kleenex boxes full & was still putting more in bags hanging on the cupboard door knob lol
So I finally had enough!!!
I decided to make a bag holder, turns out it is super simple & you do not need to be a sewing magician to make one! AWESOME!!!
All you need is a tea towel, needle & thread or sewing machine, scissors & thread.
Here are images I took throughout my process:
Finally, here is a link to the site I found the idea from:
Plastic Bag Organizer
Don’t forget to follow me on my social!
Thank you for reading 🙂
Happy New Year, Welcoming 2016
Holiday
a look back to 2015
HAPPY NEE YEAR!!! & a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Mom!!!
Here is a bit of a throwback on 2015 experimenting with ink & watercolour, stamp making, acrylics & pallet knives, digital drawing, facepainting, my first inktober, playin with some tinted charcoal, finally some more acrylic & ink illustrations.
Looking forward to what 2016 will inspire!
Thank you for reading 🙂
Noelle Fontaine Design & Illustration 