Latvian Dark Headed Sheep

I saw a pillow similar to my above “ornament”- well it was a big shape with a small sheep’s head on  broad side. I really liked it and wanted to do something similar but not the same. However this inspirational pillow has been gnawing at my brain for I am sure I have seen something else similar or the same somewhere else and after doing hours of searching I found nada. I am not even sure if what I was looking for was a sheep, or even from this century.  But I know I have seen something else similar that as not the pillow.  Anyway enough rambling. One of my monsters will be graduating from a teacher, who to the best of her ability, has nurtured her class for the last 4 years in some very trying circumstances, and my monster and I decided me wished to make her a personal thank you.  Initially I thought about doing a felted picture but in the end I decided to do a sheep as sheep used to be quite common in Latvia and hold a special place. I am told that about a century ago they had about 330 000 sheep registered.  Also special to Latvians is Latvian symbols. So I decided symbolise in wool ( yes it is a 100% wool and some native wool in that too from my own sheep)   a “native sheep” - a Latvian Dark Headed sheep, and around her base I felted in some Latvian traditional folk symbols ( do not ask what they mean - as I just used shapes I liked and could felt).  This is my first go at this and the bottom is a bit wonky as I was trying to make the base wide enough to stand without tipping over.  Below is an old picture of our Latvian Dark Headed sheep with my kids and dogs cooling out under the trampoline on a hot summer’s day.

winter bear

The little bear gets ready for his winter sleep :) This is almost the last illustration in the book and I think the one I like the best today :)
It is a double spread and text will go in the upper left page and the lower right.

..and finished

I added a bit more colour, some food to the blanket and the double spread is finished - yeah.   I am not sure how bright it looks for the saturation of the green varies between my cintqi and my normal tv monitor . So if the green grass and birch tree leaves look bright green them are meant to be more muted :)  I did this illustration using a variety of brushed in photoshop on my old trusty 15"wacom cintq . This illustration is part of a bilingual children's book written by Lauren Bruzonic.

a bit more colour

a bit more coloured added in between being a mother.

Here we go again

I am really terrible at this blog thing. But I will try again ( and again). At present I am working on a cute little dear called Osvaldo. He is a sweet Spanish speaking bear who is teaching young  kids what he eats.  I am using a looser style in the background this time  with a more of watercolour feel,I hope. Here is a page I am at present working on.

page in progress of Osvaldo. 

Valentine turtle

As Valentine cards are not out as yet and I needed to post one this week for a relatives kid's school project, so I drew this little turtle :) 

Below the card is the line art. It is small, only 1.5 x 3  inches and done is a pencil brush and has a sketchy quality and dark slate in colour.  But if you wish to down load it just right click and save it on your pc. This is ONLY for personal use.  

<3 div="">

all rights reserved Jehanne Silva-Freimane

all rights reserved Jehanne Silva-Freimane
Personal use ONLY

Sheep - a little photo shoot

Finally got around to taking photos of the new felted sheep :)

  Discovered that 2 stones laid not parallel in one shot sometimes lines up rather strangely with the big long one depending on my angle. Thank the heavens for photoshop lol

Freebie Emo Amber - Just because Digital stamp

I know I closed the doors of Just Some Lines in July this year,but here is a little freebie for you to use only for personal use.  If you are unsure what it meant by personal use please email me or ask in the comments below.
*sighg* It seems as if one does not keep a presence online other folks think it is okay to copy your character and call them their own.  So from time to time as work allows I will post a freebie here.
Hope you enjoy it. <3 p="">Right click and save as to download the black and white line art/ digital stamp.

emo Amber just because copyright Jehanne Silva-Freimane

29-09-215 Update: I'm happy to say Unity Stamp Co resolved the situation quickly and to my and Amber emo's satisfaction:)  

bolognese a la spaghetti

The finished rat needle felted rat :)

sniffles

A little sketch when waiting for Gab at gymnastics.

in progress wedding momentum

Working on a little wedding momentum. Have all the pieces in place and now just need to decide how to put them together.  In the background are some other things I have about and my present attempt to felt a rat.

WIP Swallow in blues

Had a lull in illustrating and strained my back so sitting long was not an option and tada an old canvas got primed some paint added. I keep seeing wisteria in the background but  not sure how to go about it as  I do not want to lose the vertical lines. Ack I can't draw a straight line for anything lol.

A little Valais Blacknose Sheep