Sunflowers

The flower made most famous by Vincent van Gogh, the Sunflower, was a compelling subject to draw. Having recently seen the painting in the flesh at the National Gallery and having an abundance of Sunflowers in the garden, it felt like an apt time to make these an addition to my summer sketchbook.
The bottom study is a Helenium, not strictly anything to do with Sunflowers, but they're planted in amongst them in our garden.

Here are a few photos of studies within my sketchbook:

Documenting Nature

As nature seems to move faster than I can keep up with I am largely relying on my camera to keep me up to speed with the developments in my garden.
Almost every day I ferrit around in the garden, looking for new arrivals sprouting, blooming or dying. Summer seems to be a constant barrage of new flowers springing up left and right, my drawing skills would be in overdrive if I tried to study everything first hand, so Im relying on detailed images of every plants stages of growth for refrence when the flowers are long gone. Here are a few of the more artistic results: (Its bees galore at the moment, which Im enjoying)

Reading of another kind

Not the finest start to summer I could have hoped for. Yet another accident involving my toe (No, I didnt stand on a razor this time, I dropped a bowl of strawberries onto it, ridiculous I know) means hill walking is out of the question for the moment, and it remains a mystery at present whether my toe is broken or fractured. But I can confirm that it is painful, swollen and bruised (one week on!).
So 'The Once and Future King' is reciving lots of attention, one drawing project is complete and Ive begun reading for my dissertation and some note taking. Keeping busy at least!

Bird studies

As I am eager to use birds within my design work I have been studying them extensively. Below can be seen some examples from my sketchbook:

Year One, Semester One ...

The resulting Practical work from my first semester at University studing Textiles Design.

'Money doesn't grow on Trees' collection ...




'Lest we Forget' collection ...




'Don't forget the label' collection ...



During my first semester studying Textiles Design at Derby University Knit, Print and Weave were the topics of study. I gained a basic knowledge of these areas and learned skills which enabled me to create considered samples relating to the given topics. The best of my final samples for each area can be seen above, Here are some examples of the favourite parts of my work from semester one: