Artwork by Leanne Ellis

Hold on tight, this blog is moving!

2009-06-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

After much deliberation, I've decided to relocate my blog! I wanted to move away from the 'Illustration' tag, so I've created a new blog at www.leanne-ellis.blogspot.com

Thank you so much for all your support and lovely comments on this blog! I'll be leaving this one in place so that previous artwork can still be viewed.

I've uploaded the images from the recent exhibition over at the new blog, so hopefully I'll see you all over there! xx

2009-06-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

I'm painting like mad at the minute for a group exhibition this month! I'll be uploading pics of the final artworks and the exhibition once it's all up, but for now I thought I'd post some of my sketches! :)

P.S. Thank you so much to all the lovely people who've left comments and awards these past few weeks - I'm soooo sorry I haven't had a chance to go blog hopping lately and leave replies, as soon as my workload eases up later on this month, I'll be able to spend lots of time visiting all your gorgeous sites!!! :)

2009-05-30T02:17:00.000-07:00

I was recently contacted by the absolutely lovely Shelley from Artful Achievements, requesting that I answer a few questions for a post on her blog, and needless to say I was completely honoured to be featured on her beautiful site! :)

You can find the interview here.

Shelley also plans to run a challenge, to create a design using one of my stamp designs from Sugar Nellie, so that will be exciting!!

A few days later, Shelley e-mailed to say she was sending a little gift as a thank you for the interview (which in itself was really touching as I felt that I should be thanking her, not the other way round!!) I was completely amazed when, the following morning, I opened a package containing this:

WOW!! I would not describe this as a 'little gift'!!! It's gorgeous in the picture, but it's even more gorgeous in real life! The attention to detail is really beautiful, and I love it! Thank you Shelley!! x Check out all of Shelleys stunning creations on her blog! :)

*** The challenge will begin on the 5th June, and Funkykits have donated a prize for the winner!! :) ***

2009-04-16T23:57:00.000-07:00

And the winner iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis...

Milla!! :)

I used the random number generator to ensure objectivity on my part! (I wanted to give one away to everyone who left a message!!) Thank you so much for all your lovely comments. And congratulations Milla!! Send me a quick email with your address and I'll get it in the post! xx

Entry for Illustration Friday, and a giveaway!

2009-04-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Right, first things first! This is my entry for this weeks Illustration Friday topic 'Poise'... I used a similar colour scheme to the artwork in my last post as I'm a bit addicted to jadey blues and oranges at the minute! :) It's a bit of a different approach to the figure, slightly more realistic, as I'm attempting to add a few more contemporary style Illustrations to my 'ever in progress' portfolio!

Also, it's been a shockingly long time since I added any new treasures to my Etsy shop, soooo I've been working non stop for the last few weeks making lots of lovely things to tempt you with! ;) Here's a little preview of some of the things I'll be listing:

There's 63 new items in all, including Pendants, Magnets, Bookmarks, Butteflies, and ACEO's, and also my original painting 'Whisper'! I'm in the process of uploading everything today and early tomorrow so they should all be in the shop by tomorrow evening! *** All uploaded now... Phew! :) ***

To celebrate my GINORMOUS shop update, I've decided to do a giveaway with one of my artwork pendants! (Click on the image for a supersized view!) Apologies for the less than perfect photographs, the light wasn't great! This pendant is so much nicer in real life, even if I do say so myself! ;)

This particular pendant features my artwork ' A little Bit of Pruning...' and is one of a kind as this is the only pendant I've made so far with the image set under glass! The Pendant setting is a gorgeous antique bronze filigree frame which measures 5 x 5cm. I've taken a crisp reproduction of the artwork on heavyweight paper and set it with glaze under a lovely flat glass nugget which measures just over an inch, then I securely attached it to the pendant base. It hangs from a short length of antique bronze chain accented with a beautiful off white pearly flower button, taking the entire length of the drop to a whopping 9cm!! But trust me, it looks really delicate and elegant on! The matching necklace measures 18 ins and closes with a lobster clasp. So, if you can see yourself wearing this then leave me a comment and I'll draw the winner in the next week or so! :)

Good Luck!! xx

'Subtract' on Illustration Friday...

2009-03-26T18:58:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for this weeks Illustration Friday topic! I've been thinking a lot lately about how essential it is to give your life a little 'prune' every now and again! :)
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p.s. Stay tuned for a hoooge shop update, I'll be listing loads of new goodies in the next day or two, and there will also be a giveaway with one of my artwork pendants! x

Répondez s'il vous plaît...

2009-03-03T14:40:00.000-08:00

This is my entry for the Illustration Friday topic, 'Breezy'. :)

There's Always Time...

2009-02-12T17:23:00.000-08:00

My (very late!) entry for 'Time' on Illustration Friday.

Pale

2009-01-20T10:43:00.000-08:00

Entry for 'Pale' on Illustration Friday.

2009-01-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

There's been a severe lack of posting around here!! So much so that I've neglected to write about my lucky encounter with the lovely Sugar Nellie stamp company! They very kindly asked if they could turn some of my artworks into rubber stamps, and I said YES PLEEEEEASE!!! So, here's the first batch!

I'm working on the next set now, so hopefully they should be available soon! And I'll be doing a new batch every 2 months so there will be lots more to come! :) If you like them, you can click on the Sugar Nellie link on the left and it will take you straight to the online shop. And this is the Sugar Nellie Blog, always full of lovely goodies and lots of inspiration! x

2008-11-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

Just a few pics of a new character style I'm exploring at the moment...

I've been feeling a bit dissatisfied with my approach to the characters in my work lately - I've sort of been boxing myself into a corner by being to restrictive with their proportions, and trying to make their faces look 'perfect', etc. Sooo, I've been trying to get out of some of my nasty habits over the past week or so with these ladies! I'd love to hear what you think :)

Late

2008-10-24T06:12:00.000-07:00

This was my response to the Illustration Friday topic 'Late'... but by the time I'd finished working on it, it was too late to enter!! :)

(Updated version with flowers!)

2008-10-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! You're probably so bored with my endless apologies for the hoooooge gaps between posting, but I am genuinely sorry for being such a rubbish blogger! Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my last post. My only excuse is that I've been really busy lately, as I'm working this year as an Artist in Residence at Swansea University, which is great! I have my own studio space to work in, which makes a nice change from my tiny bedroom in my tiny house!! And it's so nice to be in amongst that creative atmosphere again! I've also been working on some gallery pieces and a commission. I finally got around to changing the appearance of my blog aswell! I think it needed a bit of sprucing up! I'll probably change it another 10 times before I'm happy with it! :)

Below is a piece that has been accepted for the ING Discerning Eye exhibition at the mall galleries in London. It opens on November 13th so I'm hoping to get up there and see it! All the entries will also be shown in the online gallery that will run alongside the main exhibition. It's a little bit different from my usual style, I painted it mainly with gouache which I've never really used before. The original, entitled 'When', measures around 15x15ins and it's in a lovely heavy white-washed wood frame. I did try and get a good pic of it framed up but they all came out fuzzy!

* 'When' now belongs to a lovely little girl called Ruby :) *

I also had this piece accepted for a local exhibition called Works On Paper at the Elysium Gallery, Swansea:

It's drawn on crumpled vellum and it's slightly bigger than A3. I've been really enjoying working in pencil lately, you can achieve so many lovely effects. Here's some other pieces I've done recently in pencil:

'Pick Me' - Pencil on cartridge paper , approx A3.

'Where Next?' - Pencil and digital

'The Escape' - Pencil and digital

Hmm, I think that's everything! I'm off now to visit all your lovely blogs! :)

Illustration Friday - Sail

2008-08-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

Inspired by this week's topic on Illustration Friday, this little lady has appeared in my sketchbook, bobbing around in her porcelain 'boat'!

A winner, and a wavering mind!

2008-08-08T05:15:00.000-07:00

I decided to let the giveaway run on a bit longer so more people could enter!! First I printed the names of all the lovely people who left a comment :)

Then I put them all in a bag and picked out the winning name:

So, the brooch will be heading off to a new home with Michelle!

Thanks so much to everyone who left a comment, and I'm planning more giveaways soon!

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Also, this is a painting I just finished early this week. It's entitled 'The Wavering Mind' and it's acrylic and pencil on board (12 x 16 ins).

I've donated it to a charity Art auction (Shelter Cymru) so fingers crossed it will raise some money! I got it professionally scanned before I waved goodbye to it, and I've also acquired a delicious new Epson printer, (after my other one decided it'd had enough!) so it's now available in my Etsy shop as a print! x

Lots to catch up with!

2008-07-27T05:36:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I've been away from my blog for a while so this will be a bit of a long post!

Firstly, I really want to thank Amy Short, Vintage Palette Art and The Cart Before the Horse for passing on some lovely blog awards to me. I really am honoured to receive them from such talented artists - Thank you so much Amy, Lori and Jo! (I'll pass them on at the end of this post!)

Secondly, here's some pics of the big painting that I was 'whining' about in my last post! It's too big to scan so I could only manage some dodgy photo's (you can probably see more of the reflection on the glass than of the actual artwork!!)

The 'detail' photo's were taken from the side to avoid glare so that's why the proportions look a bit strange. It's entitled 'The Reluctant Magician' and it measures 22 ins x 31 ins, which is pretty whopping for me! Ha!

I entered it into our local Open Exhibition here in Swansea, along with the original 'Patience' painting - Patience got in but this one was rejected! :( Ahh well, never mind, she's happily hanging on my wall for the time being!

Thirdly, (I told you this would be a long post!) I've updated my Etsy shop with new Moleskines, ACEO's, Pendants and an original artwork.

My printer is playing up lately so I've had to suspend all my prints for a while, but I've filled it with other goodies instead!

And finally... I've got a lovely silver metal picture brooch that I thought would make a perfect GIVEAWAY! It has a little print of my Whisper painting inside. (she's got a little bit of sparkle on her wings)

On the back of the bow is a brooch pin, or alternatively you can take off the bow and stand it as a tiny frame (there's a little rest at the back that folds out so it can stand it up). So, if you'd like this pretty brooch, just leave me a comment and I'll draw the winner next Sunday! :)

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The blogs I'd like to pass my lovely awards to are:
Colleen at Green Frog Graphics

Colleen's blogs always inspire me so much! I've put this link to her main website as I think it's great, and really shows off her amazing talent as an Illustrator! Her posts are some of the funniest things I've ever read and she never fails to make me smile! :)

Anne-Julie at Ma Petite Theiere

Her beautiful images, pocket mirrors, jewellery and much more are SO breathtakingly beautiful! I honestly can't explain how amazing this lady's work is, you have to see it for yourself!
x

True Love...

2008-07-03T03:25:00.000-07:00

This is a piece on wood that I've just added to my Etsy shop. Trying to finish a big painting for a looming deadline at the minute!! Noooooo, will I ever learn?!!! ;)

Sit with the flowers...

2008-06-25T15:34:00.001-07:00

This is a painting I've just finished on canvas, with the text added on photoshop. I've decided she's called Frances (a name I love sooo much!) and I'm thinking of creating a little series with her! :)

My quest for crisp photos!

2008-06-18T04:44:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Hope all's well with you! I've been trying to take decent photo's over the past few days, of various things like pendants and canvas work, but whatever I do I can't get them crisp and clear!!! I've got a fairly good camera - 8.1MP. I've tried it indoors, outdoors, artificial light, natural light, with a tripod, without a tripod... you get the picture! (No pun intended!!) I've even attempted a photo box... the less said about that the better... Soooooo frustrating! All the blogs I visit have lots of lovely crisp photo's on them so I thought I'd ask for some advice... anything you can suggest will be much appreciated!! x

Sample book spreads

2008-05-29T05:09:00.000-07:00

Apologies (again) for the huge gap in updating this blog! I've been busy with freelance work for the past few weeks! I'm in the middle of a few new pieces, so in the meantime I thought I'd post these:

I did these two sample spreads a few weeks back for a book company (unfortunately the project didn't go ahead) but it was nice to use a combination of traditional painting and digital!

Whisper

2008-05-03T05:51:00.000-07:00

This is a painting I've just finished on canvas. :)

Digital collage

2008-04-22T05:17:00.000-07:00

I've been busy with work recently and I haven't had any time to paint my personal projects, so I've been trying my hand at digital collage! I've been meaning to do it for ages, and the commission that I'm working on now has taken me down this route so I decided to have a play about with it and create a print for my much neglected Etsy shop! I took my sketch for the painting I'm (still!) working on and merged it with a lovely old frame. I'll definitely be doing more of these, I think there's effects you can create digitally that are impossible to get otherwise, or they'd at least take you forever to do by hand! :)

The Dreamer

2008-04-12T13:51:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone's having a good weekend! Here's a little piece that I've been working on! She's painted on a smooth edge wooden panel (8.2cm x 11.4cm) She's a mixture of acrylic paint, pencil and collage (her hair is damask patterned print, worked over with acrylic). It doesn't show in the picture but I've outlined the flowers in the background with a subtle shimmery sparkle which I've smudged slightly to give it a bit of a magical feel! Then I sanded the edges to give a soft distressed look. I'd forgotten how satisfying it is to paint on wood, it holds the paint so nicely. I've attached a vintage button to the back with a copper wire hoop ready for hanging and also I pasted on a lovely quote from T.E Lawrence:

Dream your dreams with open eyes and make them come true...

I was pleased with how she turned out so I've listed her on ebay! (There's more pics on there!)
~SOLD~ to the lovely Joy of Jamjar!

Something different to look at!

2008-04-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't updated this blog for SO long!! You must be so bored of seeing my 'new homes needed' post - I know I am!! (Thanks for all your lovely comments about the pendants, I was really pleased!) Apologies for being so rubbish with this blog, I've had loads of work to do lately that I can't post on here for copyright reasons, but hopefully I'll be able to give you at least a sneaky peak soon ;) In the meantime I thought I'd post a couple of sketches just to get something different on here! The first is a little sketch from my moleskine that I plan to do something with soon. I've only recently discovered Moleskines. I've always felt a bit daunted by the 'glowing' white pages of a new sketchbook! But Moleskines are great because they're so small and inviting! The second sketch is a rough (and little bit crumpled!!) drawing for a painting that I'm working on now called 'The Memory'. I'll post the finished piece as soon as it's done. I'd love to keep that little bit of sketchy 'freeness' from the rough drawings in the final paintings, but it all gets really tight and detailed! I love loose, free, expressive sketches and paintings, and I used to fight against the tightness of my painted work and try to loosen things up but it always ended in disaster!! I've realised now that what you admire in other people's work isn't always what you're destined to create yourself!

New Homes Needed!

2008-03-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Hope you've all had a great easter! Aside from eating vast amounts of chocolate, I've been busy making some pendants from different sections of my 'Wish' painting! I was really pleased with how they've turned out so I've decided to list them for sale on ebay (now on Etsy) I've also made some little matching gift boxes to package them in. They were great fun to make, hope you like them! (I've been swamped with work over the past week but I will be updating this blog soon, promise!)

Make A Wish!

2008-03-19T16:28:00.001-07:00

Thanks Barbara!

2008-03-19T16:19:00.001-07:00

I was lucky enough to find this beautiful pendant by artist Barbara Lang. It's one of only two that she made in the series so I was sooo pleased to have it! Barbara creates the most gorgeous polymer clay jewellery, check out her site here! I was inspired by it's loveliness, so below is a small piece I did and sent to her as a little thankyou pressie!

Learning to fly!

2008-03-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

Continuing the 'girls with wings' theme...! This was a gallery piece, so I thought I'd go the whole 9 yards and paint the frame aswell!

Entry for 'Garden' on Illustration Friday.

2008-03-10T07:23:00.001-07:00

This is my entry for this weeks Illustration Friday topic! ('bout time I posted something new on here, sorry guys!) It's one of the portfolio pieces I've been working on, and it's original title is 'Patience'.

*Update!* I entered this piece into the Cheltenham Illustration Awards 2008, and was 'Highly Commended' in the Emerging Talent category! Woo hoo! :)

I've been Tagged!

2008-02-28T01:55:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by Lillian at Anna's Dreams! Thanks Lillian! So, I have to tell you six things about myself, then tag six more people.

Ok, here goes:

1. If I could fill a swimming pool with something and dive in, it would be silver jewellery! I know what your thinking - ouch!! But I just love it so much! Anything that looks old, as though it's from a different time, I can't resist it! I've got it all over the house, hanging off doorknobs, over picture frames! It's all stuff I've found in charity shops, nothing pricey, but I love to look around and see gorgeous things everywhere. And of course, I wear it too! I'm thinking one day when I'm an old lady I'll pass it all on to someone who'll love it as much as I do! (I used to love rummaging through my nan's jewellery!)

2. I've got a 14 year old brother called Joe who is a computer whizz! Half of the stuff he shows me just goes straight over my head. I've only recently figured out how to add a link to my blog! (Thanks Diane!) Honestly, sometimes I think someone has swapped his brain for an intel pentium processor!!

3. I'm working on a portfolio at the moment so I haven't put any new work on here for a while, but I will be adding lots more to this blog very soon, and also opening an etsy shop!

4. I am constantly AMAZED by the work that I see on everyone's blogs! I've been so inspired by the love of creating and the passion everyone has. Before I discovered you all I had fallen into the trap of just producing artwork as a job, but I realise now that even though I Illustrate for a living it's so nice to create work just for yourself, and to share with other people. So as I said in number 3, I'm going to make it my mission to produce work just for this blog!

5. I'm so addicted to chocolate it scares me!! If I know there's none in the house I get twitchy!

6. I'm 28 and I can't ride a bike... The shaaaaaaame! I will learn though, I'll just have to find somewhere completely deserted! I don't want any 7 year olds wheelying past me while I'm wobbling along with my helmet, knee pads, arm pads and a layer of bubble wrap!

So, that's six things about me! Some of the people I'd like to know a bit more about are:

Nacho Gomez at Estrellasycaracoles

Tapegirl at The Blank Tape Studios

Debbie at Debbie Egizio's Creatively Inspired Blog

The Friday Frog at Oh Thanks Goodness It's Friday

Scott Cuzzo at My Illustration Blog by Digital Scott

JamJar at Jamjar

Also, I've been given a lovely award by Meredith at These Are The Days! Thanks Mere, (loving your georgeous little bunny girl and Alice paintings!)

So, here's what this award is about: "This prize has arisen from the daily visits that I dedicate to many blogs which nourish me and enrich me with creativity. In them I see dedication, creativity, care, comradeship, but mainly ART, much art. I want to share this prize with all those bloggers that entertain me day to day, and to share this prize with those who enrich me every day. Doubtlessly, there are many and it will be hard to pick just a few - the people I will name today deserve this prize, as do the very long serious list of bloggers I also enjoy to read, but I will name the first 4 and leave the rest of the work to all the bloggers that visit other's blogs and are nourished by them."

The rules of passing on this award are as follows:- post award in your own blog: [Post who gave it to you]- indicate its origin and a link to the site.

These are some of the blogs that enrich me with creativity!

Deena at Can I be Pretty in Pink

Denise at sparkle seahorse smiling

Alicia Padron at My Place Over The Hill

Nacho Gomez at Estrellasycaracoles

PHEW, I think that's everything for today! This is my longest post so far, I'm off to lie down...!

The Search!

2008-02-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

Acrylic and collage

Choose

2008-02-09T03:13:00.001-08:00

I posted this picture a few weeks back, but I've altered it slightly for the 'choose' topic on Illustration Friday!

Make My Day Award!

2008-01-27T05:02:00.000-08:00

I was kindly given this award by both Diane Duda and Adriana Whitney so I'm passing it on to five blogs that 'make my day'! Thanks again to Diane and Adriana! :-)

Danita Art

Vintage Palette

Marmee Craft

The Cart Before The Horse

CCS Whimsies

2008-01-14T08:23:00.000-08:00

2008-01-14T08:22:00.000-08:00

2008-01-14T08:16:00.000-08:00

2008-01-14T08:15:00.000-08:00

2008-01-14T08:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the lovely comments!

2008-01-13T04:33:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Thanks for all your lovely comments on the 'STITCH' picture, I really appreciate it! I'm new to this blogging business, but it's so nice t0 get feedback from other creatives, and to see all the amazing work everyone's doing! :-)

'STITCH'

2008-01-11T06:31:00.000-08:00