In the Making

The first ink card I made was the Skye Cuillin sketch, which was then shipped all the way to South Africa for my Grandpa’s 90th birthday. Thankfully I saved a copy! As with all the best cards it not only took a huge amount of love half way round the world, but it also inspired me to make more. A further 11 drawings made up a unique calendar for 2018 and became my Highland and Lake Districts sets.

When making my cards I usually start with a photograph or collection of shots that I want to combine in some way. I love the freedom of drawing in that you are not bound by what you see in front of you and there are an infinite number of ways of adapting an image to better capture a mood or a memory.

I try to complete all of my drawings in a single sitting as I find that my style changes slightly with my mood (and patience!). The initial pencil outline becomes a warm-up and putting permanent ink onto the page takes a surprising amount of courage. My best tips for drawing in ink are to always use the full range of contrast from pure black to pure white and, my favourite quote from my school art teacher “less is more”.

Sketches are only half the process and, while some of the originals also get posted, the vast majority of the cards I make are prints. The whole process is done in my own home and the images are scanned and edited to make them resemble the original artwork as much as possible. I usually have a few trial runs at printing to get it just right and then there’s a final photo shoot to get the images for the folksy site. This can add a surprising amount of time as I have to wait for a sunny day to get the lighting just right!

If you decide to buy one of my cards they are then printed to order on 100% recycled card and I always do my best to get them in the post the same day. Your final gift pops through your letter box in a recycled envelope containing just paper and ink and absolutely no plastic.