CHARLENE LIM

MOOD OF THE WEEK: Rain, Hail, Snow, Wind, Sun

charlenelim — Sat, 19 May 2012 10:09:18 +0000

The week has gone by in a very slow blur. We have had every type of weather, and this is typical for someone living in Britain to be yakking about the weather, but you know, it is difficult not to talk about it seeing as it dictates what you can and can’t do on a second to second basis. Which can be total frustration when you say, need to cycle 6 miles from work to come home.. or plan a weekend out climbing. I wanted to make an illustration to reflect the mood of the week. I will be doing this every week as a reflective summary, more as a visual filing system for my mind rather than anything else. Pastel colours have made a big comeback this year in clothes and general usage in design. I completely love this- pastels remind me of My Little Pony and Care Bears. I wanted to create a board that was melancholic, grey, dull but yet not so dull in places, and with a texture of ink splash. Thrown in the mix is a photo of a shadow on the road of Sash riding his chopper, because despite the rain and hail, we’ve been razzing around having a splishy whale of a time. Dullness, my friends, is merely perception.

POW POW!

charlenelim — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:20:47 +0000

She’s back! I am fully aware that this has been neglected for a fair few months (someone say 6 or more..?) but I have found my mojo in a floating bottle in a passing cloud and Pow Pow she’s back. Hiatuses are always strange – you never intend to take them but they sort of come by in unexpected waves. They are never bad; not always welcome at the time, but always good on hindsight. 2012 has been a fresh new start for me, and I am loving it (particularly my cats, they are too cute). Am setting my sights on pushing myself yet relaxing a whole lot more. Smiling, laughing and doing things I wholly enjoy. Alright mojo, it’s good to have you back.

HOUSES EVERYWHERE

charlenelim — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:29:06 +0000

Brochures! How I miss thee. Going through previous work samples, looking at the stunning property and remembering designing and mocking these up. Really can’t beat a good solid day working on layouts. I know many who would disagree and would rather spend the day on illustrious web work, but there is something so satisfying designing for something you will receive in a big box in a physical, hard copy format. Kerning, hyphens, paragraphing, uv spotting, photo layouts.. fun work indeed :)

TABLET ALIEN

charlenelim — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:17:50 +0000

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll see that I received one of the best Christmas gifts ever!! Brought by the postman early this morning and bought by my lovely Sash. A graphics tablet!!! I have wanted one for so long, but weirdly I have never bought it. I think I always figured it was abit excessive, and I’d buy one if one day all paper ran out or something to that extent.

I have spent the past hour getting used to the pen, just if anyone wants to know, it is a Genius M712X. Pen control is abit unsteady still.. as you can’t easily get lines out when it is tilted too far, and im bit wobbly with using it to click things like a mouse.. but I will get used to it and I absolutely love it! And here is an alien to prove so. xx

BEATRICE

charlenelim — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:57:14 +0000

It is getting colder and colder, and despite the weather reports that the temperature is rising.. it is still very much chilly all round! That is my excuse for not updating over the past week plus.. I’ve been busy defrosting my iced up blood in my fingers…

This illustration is of my best friend, Beatrice. I have known her since 1997, first meeting over a tasty bowl of noodles.. ^_^ It is more difficult drawing people you know really well, I realise! Had alot of fun on this one, I especially love the pink tint and subtle colour gradients.

Hope you like it Beat- my contribution (albeit very late!) to the art session for your birthday party. Merry christmas lovely xx

CHRISTMAS DIY

charlenelim — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:05:00 +0000

The Christmas spirit has got me this year. Got me and made home inside my brain! These are a Christmas present for my mum.. it is a surprise, so ssh, don’t tell. These are made out of felt, embroidery thread, and the use of my sewing machine for the thin straight stitch.

Very simple to make:
1. Cut the christmas tree shape. Cut this as neat as possible to make it easy for your sewing later!
2. Straight stitch the line pattern on the trees
3. Join up the shapes, and whip stitch it around, leaving a little space at the end to put the stuffing into it, and then finish stitching.
4. I added a simple knotted string hang tie on the top, hand sew this on.

Perfect for a heartfelt gift this Christmas. Now onto my next Chrimbo project to satisfy my festive cheer. Alas I don’t have space for a tree at home, but the fairy lights are certainly sparkling in my imagination.

THE ALBION

charlenelim — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:59:05 +0000

My boyfriend subscribes to a bunch of magazines each month, all for which makes great browsing when it’s a lazy, rainy day in. The Albion mag is one of those and I love its simple design- chock full of great photos and really interesting reads. So much so I usually finish all the articles long before him.. Not to mention their covers (now on Issue 5) are awesome. Flipping through yesterday I found an article written by Hoang Tran (pictured) and loved the first photo. Brilliant article too.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE

charlenelim — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:10:45 +0000

A fun little .gif animation for you all for this weekend. ♥♥♥