Mixture of Ponies,Snow,Mud Skiing and some FUNKY GeeGee's!

This week while the kids have been at school i have kept myself busy with a mixture of Ponies, snow, mud skiing and some . . . 

 . . . Funky GeeGee's too! 

Middle of last week we were thrown into a Christmas scene. The ponies thought it was great and they had a real SPRING in their step when i went to visit them.

The only problem is, white snow makes my horse look YELLOW!! And well every colour in between, he really is such a mucky pony, good job i don't have plans for him to be a show horse haha!! He is SUPER CUTE THOUGH, I love this pony.

Sparky pony looks fabulous in ALL SEASONS, Her black coat is striking against the snow.

It didn't last long, it was gone by the night time and it has been replaced with MUD!

Walking across the fields to check them requires skills on one's feet, mud skiing is the new walking!

So whats been happening in the studio?

Well the pencils got dancing and the sketchbook is beginning to come to life. I have lots of ideas but i'm trying to bring them together in themes. Now that we are in winter the GeeGee's are modelling their clips and rugs. Cozy scenes are starting to make it feel more like Winter as the GeeGee's brace themselves for the dark long cold nights.

This GeeGee has it sussed though . . . 

The weanlings are learning about their world and having some fun exploring and growing independantly without their mother.
This little guy is having great fun!

Some of the GeeGee's however are not having the best of times getting used to the winter routine . . .

I have been busy also creating some FESTIVE GEEGEE'S. I do this every year and i do hope you enjoy them as much as i enjoy creating them. This years theme will be Landmarks of the North east and i hope i can recreate the ideas i have wizzing through my head.

I painted this piece to get me in the mood and also because i haven't used the Acrylics in so long to paint a Funky GeeGee so i felt that need. Smurf and Sparky are the stars in this painting, HOW CUTE! They got some presents from Santa.

Christmas Gifts ~ 10" x 14" Acrylic on canvas paper. 

I will share the Landmark pictures nearer the time, I'm still working on them and hope to have them ready for a FESTIVE and FUNKY December.

Hope you are all well and having fun practicing that art of MUD SKIING . . .

 . . . Catch up soon ~ Miss Funky and the GeeGee's xxx

Lots of doodles, scribbles and notes

There have been oodles of doodles and many a colour,
The sketchbook is filling from cover to cover.
Ideas, Ideas and more rattle round,
googley eyed GeeGee's waiting to be found.

Hello, and i hope you are all well and enjoying the beautiful Autumn colours! WOW, this year the colours of the earths canvas have been magnificent. The trees stunning as they changed from green to brown or yellow or red, the contrast on some of the leaves is almost that of a masterpiece painted on canvas, each its own individual abstract painting and when in among the rest that have fallen with it, simply stunning.

The Mini Funky's have been enjoying kicking up the leaves and picking them up throwing them over their heads, we are going to try and do a photoshoot over the next couple of days and im going to try and capture the leaves as they fall over their smiley little faces. Its like magic watching these simple pleasures of nature being enjoyed by them both, they too seem to connect to it, see the beauty in each season. They have asked to go out with their cameras and take some photos of the trees. Its going to be a busy end of week! Lets hope the sun stays out and plays fair.

We had our first frost this morning, it was gone by after breakfast so i didn't get a chance to capture any photos. I cant wait for the first hard frost, hopefully with a little sunshine to make it sparkle in the photo, a little low fog maybe over the valley . . . Not too much mind, enough to look spooky, Oh and a horse or sheep or something in the foreground, and OK, Now im just being picky haha, But i really can't wait to get those photographs when the crisp frost covers the meadow. 

I did however get a one the other morning of the sheep, and some fog, AND a little sunshine . . . 

Spooky isn't it, Wooooooo ooooooooo ooooooo!!

The ponies are looking FLUFFY!!! 

Winter is ON IT'S WAY!! Dig out those thermals and layer up like an onion!

It has been the school holidays and the beginning of them it rained LOTS! Infact at times it literally poured. BUT we held tight and filled our time indoors with well STUFF. Thankfully by the back end of the week we were blessed with some sunshine, and dry days so we could FINALLY ESCAPE and do some stuff outdoors. 

The weekend came and it was time for HALLOWEEN . . . 

Party food, Mmmmm Mmmmmmm!! Gotta love a good buffet. The kids all had a fantastic time, lots of SPOOKY FUN had by everyone, and tummies FULL to the brim. Our homemade gingerbread spooky biscuits went down a treat, the kids were happy with their bakes! Bless them.

Thankfully the rain had stopped by the weekend so the GeeGee's could get out on their broomsticks! Heaven knows what they would have done if they hadn't got out and done their 'around the county race' that they do every year!!

Some of the less adventurous of the GeeGee's opted for keeping their hooves firmly on the ground, and well, they went out and done a spot of trick or treating . . .. 

Awwww don't they look AWESOME !!

This week i have spent d-spookyfying our home and i have given it a good once over, from its bombardment over the holidays. Fun can be well . . . MESSY?!! That is i suppose why it is so FUN :)

Then i have settled back to some writing and doodling, as well as enjoying some quiet time reading a new book i have just recently bought. The peace and quiet has been bliss. 

I have many new ideas of cartoons that have been rattling round upstairs and i'm trying to file them into some sort of theme or order so that i can bring them to life in the best way possible. So far i have a sketch book almost full of ideas, and nothing as yet has been brought to life.

 But i am on with one, it is a WIP, still lots to do but i have been squeezing the odd hour in here and there and slowly building up the layers to give it that FUNKY-NESS!

Hope you like it so far, it's making me giggle each time i work on it, and of course giving me EVEN MORE IDEAS!

CRIKEY, I'm going to need office staff soon upstairs in funky studio (Aka my head) to help me sort through it all, the files are building up quicker than the pencil can dance!

Well i'm going to take a leaf out of this GeeGee's book and go dig out my warm PJ's, and grab an hour with my book. Catch you all soon ~

Love ~ Miss Funky and the GeeGee's xxx

Autumn cartoons

Here we are in the depths of Autumn here in the Derwent valley. The tree's have all changed their leaves and the ground is covered in a carpet of burnt orange and yellow, truelly stunning time of the year . . .

 . . . Well in-between all the RAIN SHOWERS!!

The ponies are both layering up, they have lost that shiny gleaming coat in favour of thermals and fluffy boots. Smurf is starting to get his moustache back which he gets every winter, so cute! Mud is starting to build up in gateways and around water source and the ground is becoming slippy to walk in many places. Oh how i haven't missed all this mess haha!

It is that time of year now when i see friends horses and ponies start to be clipped out and their fluffy coats replaced with brightly coloured, sometimes very FUNKY patterned rugs. Many are coming in on a night now, all cosy in their thick fluffy beds, that smell of haylage and garlic that fills the air!
Our two ponies will live out this year, the meadow they are on is 13 acres with ample natural shelter, a fresh running water source and a nice sized herd to all huddle and keep warm. The farm will start to hay them when the grazing dies back, but for now the grass is still green and they are thriving on the grazing they have. I love these two so much, they really do make me SMILE!

As you can see, they are FLUFFY! Unlike the Funky GeeGee's, 

YES, some of them have been for their hair cuts, and OH HOW SMART!!

Don't they look smarty pants, don't worry they all got plenty of blankets to keep them warm, they were shivering like i'd robbed them of their skin! I did tell them they would thank me when they go out and do their exercises, they looked at me like exercise was a good winter plan and asked when they would be supplied their hot cocoa's and onsies. WIMPS!!

I have been painting again, i forgot how much i missed my acrylics, i tend to mainly work in watercolour pencil now but there is something special about the feeling you get pushing paint around the canvas, It's not a horse . . . But its close to one ~

Its not quite finished yet, but i'm enjoying working on it. I'm also enjoying working on a rather FUNKY halloween GeeGee and also getting the Funky GeeGee's into the Christmas spirit in preperation for our Christmas 2016 collection of pictures. Lots to come over the coming weeks.

I also had a play with colour and texture and created an abstract piece.

I hope everyone is well, and i shall catch up real soon with some 'Seasonal GeeGee's' and some more cartoons of my best friend 'SMURF'. Meanwhile HAVE FUN WITH YOUR HORSES, and enjoy their FUNKY SIDE.

Catch up soon ~ Miss Funky

A spring day followed by WINTER!

Teasing us, that is my theory on the current weather!!

We have had a two day Spring to be thrown directly back into winter, There is only one thing for it, I'm going to start drawing some Spring and Summer time cartoons, cheer my Funky butt up!!

The school holidays are almost over and for the middle of the week we were given a real treat, SUNSHINE, yes you did here me right, SUNSHINE! So what do you do when you are blessed with a sunny day? Get out in it of course.

Good job we did because today we were welcomed on awakening with high winds, showers and a bitter nip in the wind threatening us with snow. Not so fun. The wind is ROARING so angry, my garden is playing music like it is part of a band and the trees? Well i'm sure they are practicing YOGA! The trampoline is pinned down with everything that has weight, so far it has stayed where it should be. It is just so noisy and fierce out there, i really hope the wind drops by tomorrow, the weather forecast doesn't seem to think so. To switch off from the noise i decided to draw, just a quick one inspired by my racing heart each time there is a gust of wind and how our GeeGee's must feel at times too when expecting the fetlock eating monster.

I'm not expecting the fetlock eating monster, but i am expecting some sort of damage, I'm hopeful everything is tied down enough and the winds pass soon. Until then i shall no dount keeping jumping everytime a sudden gust lifts up a plant pot or something similar and flies it across the pavement. YIKES!

The couple of nice days i suppose were just a teaser and a reminder that actually WINTER isn't done with us yet. So i have been thinking about Spring and Summer Funky drawings and seeing palm tree's, GeeGee's in grass skirts eating ice cream in my mind, well it has made me smile. I was looking at some of my previous Summery paintings and it gave me that warm fill the air with coconut kind of feeling.

Here is a couple for you to get that warm fill the air with coconut kinda feeling . . . 

I have just finished making Sparky pony her door sign, I asked the Mini Funky's what they wanted Sparky pony to be doing, they said DANCING!! Hahaha, Sparky pony dancing, now that would be a good one to see, she is a very laid back little thing i'm sure to Sparky dancing is TOO MUCH LIKE HARD WORK, Hahaha.  So I set to work making her Funky version DANCE . . .

 . . . What do you think? FUNKY? Well the Mini Funky's certainly think so, they LOVE IT and we cannot wait to see it up on her door and see what Sparky thinks of it. My Guess? She will gulp hard and hope that is not our training plan. The Mini Funky's thoughts? Sparky does this kind of stuff all the time while we are not around. Hahahaha, TOTALLY!

I also did a sign for Mr Funky's Dad, he wanted me to make a sign for his friend who owns a tiny little dog, he wanted a dogs head illustration in caricature style and me to write on it somewhere along the bottom 'Little but Lethal'. I doodled a few ideas, but they looked boring, So i FUNKY'd it up a bit and i doodled the design for this one and showed him it as a watercolor pencil sketch, His face said it all, FUNKY ENOUGH?I asked him. Like that yes was my reply . . .

 . . . Father in laws, tough customers hahaha, But TOTALLY WORTH the critic :)


Here is the finished product, well once it has been varnished and has it's house number put on. I think its quite COOL, and as i don't draw dogs very often, GOOD PRACTICE for me :)

I have another doorsign to do for a friend of mine, she has a little grey Welsh pony that keeps her Welsh cob company. She has a sign for her other horse i did a couple of years ago and He was running a bar so to match we have come up with a great design based around a coctail bar a pink fluffy clubbing boots, hahahaha. I can't wait to see this one finished :)

I'm also working on a page for this blog which will be WIP (Works in progress) From sketch to Finish. I think it's nice watching the cartoons go from a vague pencil sketch to jumping off the page to become FUNKY. I shall let you all know once i have it sorted.

Well i'm off now to wind down and switch off from the chaos outside. Tomorrow i plan to do some varnishing and work on the other sign, i also want to try get some ideas of something nice to make Nanna's for mothers day so the Mini Funky's can give something nice and homemade by their own little tiny fingers, bless them.

Catch up soon ~ Miss Funky xx