Nov. "Together" Quick Build Illustration

EliaMurrayArt

Hi! It has been an excessive while since I've posted on the forums but when I got invited to participate in the November prompt finalists... well I figured I should do something....

I have been having a super hard time with burn out lately and haven't felt like drawing much or making much of anything. And feeling quite overwhelmed when I do.. lots of self doubt and apathy.

But I'm actually feeling kind of excited to make something again so I'm hoping this will bring me out of my burn out.

I do not have a ground breaking idea here... since I procrastinated for so long I don't have much time.

But! I recently found this old worn our toy chair and decided to rebuild it and based my idea completely off of that.

Here is the original chair

And how I've updated it!

My idea is simple - a bear poppop reading to his little cubbos

And I've started making the bears

Again, nothing crazy. But I figure sometimes you just do it, and move on. It doesn't always have to be "your best work ever."

Let me know if you folks have any questions. If you saw my other process thread you know how much I'm happy to discuss how I do things!!

Looking forward to all your work

Mara Price

@EliaMurrayArt I love it! Super cute idea. The chair looks great and the bear too. Looking forward to see them all.

Coley

The shape of that bear's face with the little ears on top is genius. I LOVE him ️.

EliaMurrayArt

@Mara-Price & @Coley thank you both! I'm pretty pleased with how he is going so far.

I'll post updates at the end of the day. Trying to bust my butt on this one.

EliaMurrayArt

Little update:

I've started the first of the wee bears

I'd like the little ones to be dressed in pajamas I think. And so I have this striped fabric

But it is much much to stark white. So!
I am dying it in Yorkshire Gold Tea

Coley

@EliaMurrayArt oooh that tea staining idea is fun. I did that for my son when he wanted to be Luke skywalker for Halloween one time, I think we beat up an old white lab coat or something, it came out pretty cool .
I love that the little bears will have jammies! Really looking so sweet already!

Nyrryl Cadiz

@EliaMurrayArt this looks so fun!

Cayleen

This is SO fun! I'm really looking forward to your next pictures!

EliaMurrayArt

@Nyrryl-Cadiz & @Cayleen thank you!

Glad you're both enjoying the photos!

EliaMurrayArt

One more update of the night!

All the bears have recieved their claws (very important for bears, you know. )

These are done by dipping the loose wool into hot wax and then quickly, and stickily, rolling the wool until it forms a nice little point.

And now, here is a bear show.

These little ones are waiting patiently for their pjs which are still drying from the tea bath and need to be cut and fitted.

I'm open to names for the little ones! Poppops name is Mr. Harold Bruninson.

Night folks!

ruth

@EliaMurrayArt Oh these are so cute! And I just love the little bear lying on the tiny cushion. So clever! It's great to see your process and it all coming together. Thanks for sharing.

EliaMurrayArt

@ruth Thank you! I'm so glad you like them - the bear on the pillow is definitely my favorite too.

EliaMurrayArt

Gooood morning!

The Cubs Pjs have been started this morning.

Learning how to do things quicker and dirtier is great!

So the pjs are being cut and glued together rather than trying to stitch... which I have no idea why I always insisted on stitching the tiny clothes that no one would see on camera but here I am just now learning to glue fabric........

I also recently inherited a bunch of old wooden doll furniture- I have a lot of plans in the future to paint/update/repair the furniture but for now I'm excited for a couple of the pieces to use in this scene!

There are even some empty frames that I'll be painting tiny bear portraits for

So far - I have spent a day on this project.. working as fast as possible to get as much done as I can so I can finish in time. Wish me luck!

More updates later.

K.Flagg

This is going to be awesome! I can't wait to see the finished result. Keep up the good work.

gavpartridge

@EliaMurrayArt if you put this stuff on youtube, bit of timelapse and commentary etc, you'd clean up, Its really cool!

Coley

@EliaMurrayArt oh. My. Gawd. Those little portraits are gonna be so cute!

EliaMurrayArt

@gavpartridge thank you!! I have had a few people suggest that but I have yet to figure out a good method of taking photos or videos.... I have looked into some set ups but I haven't found one that seems cheap and easy to build!!

EliaMurrayArt

Alrighty today I experimented a bit. I'm thinking that we shall be seeing the little bears as though we are "outside" catching a glimpse of their happy moment.

So I began making a window.

I'm not sure how well this will work but! That is what experimenting is for

Currently it is just cardboard and hot glue. I'll be detailing it to look like a tree trunk.

Then I made some paintings to hang on the bear family wall, here you'll see Granny Bear's portrait. I just realized I did a similar thing in another my illustrations where I had the main "old male figure" with his wife's portrait hanging on the wall (Mr. McGillicuddy)... let's not dive into a psychological evaluation but I'm guessing it has to do with some mother issues here

Aaannnndddd last but not least. Some bear Cubs in pajamas because

aska

wow, now I want to make a teddy like this too! I bet my kids would love it!
Where can I learn this technique?

EliaMurrayArt

@aska This is called Needle Felting. Fair warning, it can be highly addicting, rewarding, and painful.
You take a long barbed needle, some loose wool, and you stab it into shape. Fingers tend to get in the way often.

There are youtube videos you can watch!