From Woolly to Wooden Sheep

Yikes, it's been ages since my last blog post...apologies! I've been up to a lot creatively this year and it's certainly kept me on my toes. For one, I have a little something new on my website that's not spun cotton related - wooden ornaments! 

After recently sharing my first design for them, sheep, I thought it'd be fun to also share the journey these fluffy ones have made through the years. It felt fitting to make it my first "product" since my woolly sheep have been so well-loved..

I made my first entirely needle felted sheep around 2015. I really had a weakness for colourful wool locks, so you could find a rainbow of colour in my Etsy shop back then. 

That progressed into my woolly spun cotton sheep in 2019, after I had learned the art of spun cotton and realised it'd be an interesting direction to take them (and to be honest, needle felting those skinny legs could be tricky!). It warms my heart knowing they have found  homes in so many countries..

I've always been a one-of-a-kind artist, but admired other artists who are able to create designs that could be put on products. SO many possibilities. As I've shared in a previous blog post , I'd let my fear of giving it a go myself take over (I've always found illustration very intimidating even though I loved drawing as a child and into my teens).

A couple of years ago, I decided...enough. 

I returned to drawing often...drawing random things, drawing things I love, took an excellent online class on the foundations by Mimi Chao and just enjoyed the process. I had fun with it!

Then my lovely friend Sharon (of over 10 years) came along, and with her kindness and  encouragement, really helped guide me towards digital art. Seriously, without her I wouldn't have been able to make my first product this "quickly". You can check out her Etsy and website , where she creates all sorts of wonderfully whimsical Scottish designs - and if you love sheep you'll probably love her tartan sheep enamel pin!

It opened me to a new world of possibilities!

Here's a peek at my first product...wooden ornaments UV printed with my own artwork...

Creating these was quite the learning experience for me! First, I chose one of my many sheep (that I sketched over and over) as a starting point...

I then added a lil' friend and traced them onto Procreate (a digital illustration app for iPads). I kept drawing over my sketch until I was happy with the basics.  From there, the fun really begins! I added lots of colour and details (and bow ties, my sheep always get a bow tie..right?). Texture's also important to me since I love a more traditional look when it comes to digital art. 


[By the way, for those much more skilled than I am (and who may be cringing looking at the messiness above), I'm still trying to wrap my brain around clipping masks and alpha lock. I'll get there one day...hahah]

All being well, I plan on making wooden ornaments for Halloween and Christmas too, so keep an eye out!

You can find my wooden sheep here       

and my woolly spun cotton sheep here

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Take care, friends!

Jessica