Art&Ghosts Blog

closer

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Closer

Digital illustration and photomanipulation.

Of memories and ghosts. 

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Closer ver.2

Best viewed here

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Results...

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I have recently added a sale section to the shop. This will be a permanent fixture, although the items selected will recycle each month.

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And the results of the silhouette sampler set competition: 

Lily van Niekerk

Thank you ever so much for sharing your favourite reads. I think that the list would make a wonderful addition to my regular reading list in the links section of my blog (top left), sort of like a 'readers picks' section? A few of you actually suggested keeping the list live, so hopefully this will make for an adequate solution.

More soon!

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Anoushka....and a giveaway ♥

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Anoushka (Imagined Portrait)

Also this week, I have a set of six silhouette themed print samplers to give away. 

If you should like to get your mitts on a pack, just share the title of your favourite ever book in the comments section below. I am always on the lookout for new reading material:)

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Take care ♥

New additions

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To the shop:

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Quite a large stock update too, at long last. I am finally almost through redecorating back here, it will be such a joy to be able to focus on new works once again! I have a few rather exciting projects on the horizon:)

And do make sure to check out my recent set of film stills over at the Milk Tooth blog - featuring the Beatrix Potter Ballet from 1971:

 

 

Such a quick post, I know, but thank you for your sweet comments on the previous post, and as always, take care ♥

 

 

 

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March Mornings

 

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From top to bottom: Braids and Toast nightshirt, lace shirt on wooden hangers, floral hair bow, fluffy cardigan, dolls house and and illustration by Fifi Lapin, fabric 'artandghosts' book cover made by my friend besides a print of Amy Blackwell's birds, sugar mice and antique handmirror, cotton floral frock, new book stash: inspiration for new imagined animals!.....and the damp wall. Yip! 

I also had the strangest dream about a ferocious tiger two night ago. A beautiful, terrifying creature, which seemed somehow attached to me, although my fear of it caused me to run for my life. I actually felt that the tiger would not actually harm me, although the horror stemmed mostly from the fear of it engulfing me in some way.... my own wilderness, perhaps? I sometimes find it rather difficult to accept the brutality of human beings, the destruction of nature and our lack of respect for other animals, and I begin to wonder if this dream was somehow forcing me to accept being human, for good or ill, reminding me that I belong with human beings regardless of how foolish we may be. Still, this dream was one of those that will stick with me, unfolding its own meanings as I move forward. One of those dreams which stand apart from the regular, not merely a remnant of the previous days musings and events. 

I was born in the year of the tiger, and 2010 is a tiger year. This led me to finally 'adopting' one on my birthday, I suppose. 

Oh, and a swift about-change: there is a fascinating article about Henry Darger in the new Lula magazine. Definitely worth a look!

Take care, I will return soon!

♥

Under Cover

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Under Cover (full version)

For the Singing Tree series. Digital drawing/illustration with floral paper.

Protecting the endangered. I could live this way, under cover, in the wilds. In my heart I already do. Protected from human greed and ignorance. Perhaps paying back a debt to nature; becoming semi wild in order to experience living in an environment made hostile to you by the carelessness of human beings. This is especially so in the next image, 'Come Home' (further down page).

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Under Cover (detail)

Anyway, I used to have a beautiful, Carbonmade portfolio. Eventually I quit displaying my images there because they always appear undersaturated, even after comparisons between various browsers, PC's and Apple Macs. Regardless, I should like to ask whether you see it, too. Here is a link to the above image displayed at Carbonmade. Does it appear paler, less saturated there? I would love to show my images a little larger than Typepad allows, for the medium size tends to lack detail.

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Come Home

Please view larger here

I am quite possibly obsessed with Penny Farthings:

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Topshop

My weekend also enhanced by:

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Carl Sagan and Cosmos (Image source: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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And the following two songs

Beautiful My Monster by Husky Rescue

Swim by oh No Ono

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Thank you also to Pam, for a lovely little feature at Phantasmaphile.com, one of my very favourite blogs!

Enjoy your collective weekends!

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Dream Folk

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Dream Folk (ver.1)

Please see here for a slightly more detailed version.

New works for the Singing Tree series; concerning our relationship with nature, this time with a semi-domesticated theme. I wanted to merge the concept of wild and tame (the pointy teeth and pretty frocks), leisure and responsibility (aesthetic prettifying with the more responsible idea of replanting, etc) The majority of these particular works are mixed media, combining digital illustration, acrylic and watercolour painting, paper and digital collage.

I may create a print sampler set of these images for the shop soon!

EDIT: Individual 10x8 prints of these new works are now in store.

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Lemonade Days

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Surprise!

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Dream Folk (ver.2)

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Stalks

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The Conversation 

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Nature Nurse

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It's good to be back! And thank you so very much for the lovely birthday wishes in my previous post ♥

I had quite a wonderful day indeed, made even more special by finally adopting a tiger with the WWF. 

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And coming to the shop soon: brand new Silhouette prints are due later this week.

EDIT: They have arrived!

Please check out my News page for more details!

More soon, so take care!

lou x

February mornings

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Falling asleep so early this past week or so. Dreams merging with reality. Taking a little bit of time out from the internet to read, catch up with commissions, write journals, and to enjoy the various pleasures of the physical world. My birthday this coming weekend. Hoping to spend more time with family and close friends (eating out, and lots of it!) and to prance around in ivory lace stockings, listening to Saint-Saëns (carnival of the Animals + Danse Macabre), the new Husky Rescue and These New Puritans. A thoroughly incongruous mix, that's me. 

Of course, the Art&Ghosts shop will function as usual: Another fresh stock update this afternoon, and a couple of old favourites have returned for a trial run. If you're interested, do take a look!

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I shall return, a year older, and most likely with new works very soon, so take care and enjoy the crisp winter mornings ♥

Louise xxx

New prints for February!

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New prints have arrived at the Art&Ghosts shop:

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New prints, updated existing prints and brand new print samplers have just been added. 

A very quick update, but I shall return very soon!

xxx

Celene

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Celene  

(please check the Flickr version, which appears a bit truer to me)

My very first attempt at a darker skin tone, so please be gentle with me!^^

I have been working on this image for so long that I can hardly see the wood for the trees anymore. Attention to certain details may have distracted me from the overall image, so I have lots of little fears about whether this has worked out well enough.

She is a digital painting with collaged ribbons and bows, including photo texture layers of crackle and wood. I sampled the skin colours/tones form a photo, then had to blend big blobs of digital paint around in the hope of attaining some sort of visual coherence. Although this is how I often create digital portraits, the new tones are still somewhat unfamiliar to me (the selection of highlights and shadows in particular - how light 'works' with these particular tones, etc) and were pretty difficult to render. Anyhow, I am very pleased with her little nose, which is possibly my favourite nose so far. I actually cheated with the mouth by giving her an already painted one that belonged to Samantha (minus teeth)

I named her in homage to the moon, which is extremely huge here right now - and a sort of golden colour, as opposed to the usual silver.

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detail

She also developed a little bit of personality during the making: I see her as possessing a certain amount of foresight (ESP) which might scare her family silly - but she will be very popular at school because she can see all of the test results in advance;)

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xxx

Dream Wing

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Dream Wing detail

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Dream Wing 

Digital painting and photomontage. Part of my Specters and Dreams series.

'Wing' as in an area, section or space. Recharging psychic strength, or something of that description. An imaginary creature with a spine of nails. Puppet wings and floating glaciers.

All in a dream.

I saw all of this and couldn't really translate it very well, visually. I may work on the theme further, or in another media.

And a new-ish Imagined Portrait:

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Nightingale

I first painted this face back in 2008 (summer, I think, her name was Linnet), she now possesses Miss Lemon's nose and mouth. Inspired by doll imagery, layered over wood with collaged ribbons and lace.

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White Horse Dream

Acrylic and pencil on paper. 

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No title. So citrus-y it hurts;)

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Here we go

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Satellite

Fun with colours:)

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Divination

Acrylic and pencil on paper

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Secrets

These works were originally discarded drawings, around 4x7 inches. I think that I need to purchase smaller brushes:)

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Werewolf

This painting didn't really work out for me, but I do like the transforming creature at the bottom of the picture. It is an idea that I would like to take further at some point. I appear to have become attached to crimson diamonds and hooded figures. And wedgewood blue!

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Werewolf detail 

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Divination

This figure is also undergoing transformation: a mannequin in the process of becoming human. 

Reading a wonderful book by my eternal favourite Leonora Carrington, The Seventh Horse. A huge influence.

xxx

Winter Mornings...cont.

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My Lumi (background illustration my own)

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Please see post below for Imagined Portraits competition results

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And the winner is

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Hello there! 

As promised, the winner of the Imagined Portraits competition (which wasn't at all like a competition really, considering):

Is Jesseline!

I also decided to include a second and third prize, which will consist of a set of 3, random portraits from the collection at 5x7 inches.

So, the runners up are: 

Katherine, and JessieofOz.

Thankyou so very much for joining in, and for sharing your thoughts about the work. This has been invaluable to me, not to mention good fun!

Please contact me via email so that I can prepare the little parcels for you asap:)

Take care xxx

Silent Song...

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Silent Song

Inspired by an older portrait, Samantha

Digital painting, drawing, plus elements from older pieces. I love how her hair has fused with the foliage (I can't find a more fitting way to describe it!). 

The detail:

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Don't forget to take a peek at the Imagined Portraits print competition below! And thanks so much for all of your entries so far: I'm fascinated by which particular images appeal to you, and the reasons why. This also helps me to get a more finely tuned idea of what to include in new print sets for the future^^

♥