Gaynor Marshall Designs

Illustration and surface pattern

dobermann

100 Day Project, Part 3

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Welcome to the 100 day project, Juno Part 3. Another twenty five fun illustrations and designs inspired by my beautiful Juno.

In case you missed it, my reasons for doing the 100 day project together with the first 25 illustrations can be found here and part two showcasing 26-50 can be found here.

Finding the humour

Honouring my beautiful, funny, adorable Juno is something I am instinctively drawn to do. I miss her with every fibre of my being and I am finding that creating these little squares of pattern, shape and colour very therapeutic.

I also want to portray her sweet and funny side. She didn’t need to speak to convey how she felt about something. Sometimes a simple look was worth more than a thousand words could ever have been. And don’t get me started on the shouting and foot stamping! I kid you not. If my presence was required next to her in another room and I dared to sit at my desk, she would stand in the hallway, stare at me, then start stamping her foot. If I still refused to follow her, she would start snapping and shouting. WHEN I eventually followed her (not if!), she would pootle off to her bed, lay down and all would be right with the world.

I’d give anything to be snapped at right now.

Playing with patterns

Turning my drawings and illustrations into patterns is something that I find is a natural process. It’s how my mind works.

Juno’s nose, for example, lends itself perfectly to a repeating design. The simplicity of the shape is very striking, it is both a very abstract image and yet at the same time completely recognisable. I think it would look amazing on a range of products, including silk scarves and t-shirts.

The kaleidoscope type images were fun to do. A different concept, and using the image in a completely different way. The silhouette of Juno is almost unrecognisable and becomes an area of colour rather than an object in itself. Playing with reversing the colours changes the design totally and alters the space visually.

Illustrating Juno

I started this 100 day challenge as a way to immortalise Juno and to work on perfecting my style of illustration. It has been an invaluable lesson in perseverance too. To keep going, even when my mind was blank and my creative inspiration seemed to have left the building.

100 Day Project #100dayproject Days 51-75

I hope you’ve enjoyed this penultimate instalment of my #100dayproject. You can follow along as we head towards the finish line by following me over on Instagram. You could even sign up to my newsletter and receive the next post direct to your inbox.

Until next time…

100 Day Project, Juno Part 2

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Well, I’m half way through my 100 day project over on Instagram! 25 more gorgeous illustrations and designs inspired by my beautiful Juno.

My reasons for doing the 100 day project together with the first 25 illustrations can be found here in case you missed it.

If I’m totally honest with you, some days have been tougher than others. Sticking to a theme, even one as close to my heart as drawing illustrations of my gorgeous girl every day, has been quite challenging.

Somedays I haven’t felt like drawing, or my mind just couldn’t catch an idea. Somedays I was just really, really tired. However, I stuck with it and the results are beginning to speak for themselves.

Showing up every day

Showing up every day and simply drawing something is how I got through those tough days. Flexing my creative muscles helped me to free up my mind and to create what have become some of my favourite pieces.

I also now have a lot of inspiration for future designs and I’m only half way through the challenge!

Finding inspiration for the challenge

Pushing through the difficult days has enabled me to explore styles of illustration that I wouldn’t normally try. It’s incredible how flashes of inspiration can strike and then seem to take on a life of their own.

For example, the simple silhouette of Juno has led to some beautiful images that I will work on further after the challenge. From zen doodle inspired images and folk art pieces to my favourite repeating patterns, the possibilities are endless and that is exactly what I was hoping for with this 100 day project.

  • 100 Day Project #100dayproject Days 26-50

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my illustrations. Feel free to pop a comment below or join me over on Instragram.

Until next time…

Catch up on the first 25 days here

If you would like to catch up on the first 25 days of my challenge you can read the full post by clicking the image below.

100 Day Project, Juno Part 1

100 Day Project, Juno Part 1

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I recently decided to take part in an online challenge over on Instagram called the 100 Day Project. #100dayproject

The challenge for the 100 day project is to commit to creating, drawing or painting something for 100 days. Simple. It can be a series of random objects or if you wish, your challenge can follow a theme. It’s entirely up to you. The main challenge is to keep going for 100 days…

Choosing my subject

I chose to honour my beautiful Juno and to create 100 pieces of work that I can use as future inspiration for my designs.

For those of you who are new to me and my work, Juno was my stunningly beautiful, fun and goofy Dobermann. She very sadly crossed over the Rainbow Bridge on 24th September 2019 at the grand old age of 16 years, 2 months and 19 days.

Juno

We had welcomed her into our family at the tender age of 8 weeks and she settled in immediately. For the next 16 years she was my shadow, my companion and a fully paid up member of our family. She truly was a once in a lifetime dog. I will carry her in my heart forever and I will miss her until the day I die.

Getting old brings new challenges for us all and dogs are no different. Senior dogs are a blessing. Even with the medications we had to administer; the changes in sleeping patterns we had to cope with; her failing eyesight; her wobbly legs; the sudden onset of separation anxiety; which all brought changes to our daily routines. I’d go through it all again in a heartbeat for her. It was an honour and a privilege.

Juno was quite the superstar in Dobermann circles. She was the longest lived of her litter from Ferrero Dobermann’s bred by my good friend Karen Barlow, and was a huge ambassador for the breed with her looks, health, temperament and personality. We couldn’t have asked for a better dog.

Juno

The challenge

Taking part in this challenge is giving me the opportunity to keep Juno close and to share her with you. Creating beautiful images of her is a lovely way to honour her memory. Showing what a beautiful and regal breed Dobermanns are.

I have loved mixing up my styles of drawing between cute and illustrative and a more realistic style. I’m discovering more ways of representing my darling girl.

I thought I would share my work every 25 days. This will help me to see how far I have come and how much work I have created. Sometimes you lose perspective scrolling down those tiny Instagram squares just how many pieces there are.

Here are the first 25:

100 Day Project #100dayproject Days 1-25

I hope you like my illustrations and enjoy getting to know my Juno a little more. If you feel inspired, maybe you can join in and choose your own 100 day project.

I look forward to sharing the next 25 images with you. Feel free to follow my journey over on Instagram to see my posts every day.

Until next time…

my signature Gaynor with an illustrated bird