Just to let you know, as you'd expect, I earn a royalty if you purchase any of my designs, plus on some sites a referral fee (at no extra cost to you). Thanks so much, both for your purchases, and your understanding.

Thursday, 26 June 2025

New Digital Pastel Painting: In the Poppy Meadow...

Image sows a digital pastel painting of a poppy meadow, that's also studded with daisies and other wild flowers,.
"In the Poppy Meadow"

Hello there, and hope that all is well and thriving with you.

This week, I've been celebrating. Specifically, there was delight to be had in:

1. All the wildflowers that  are making their way back to to so many spaces here in the UK. Not just in meadows, or even field margins and by the roadside. 

No, they seem to be appearing in ever space, including even more by our local reservoir...

Photo of a wild red poppy, daisy and grasses
(Photo by Jim Fernbank)

2. Finally capturing all of the feeling of that beauty in the way, and at the size, I've really wanted to for years. Hence the digital pastel painting at the top of this post. Why all new things seem to start with poppies for me, I'm not sure. But they do. Perhaps it's their beauty, and my love of them. And/or their being beloved and familiar, when trying something otherwise new). Anyway...

If you're into this kind of thing, here's a quick time-lapse of the different stages of the process I went through in digitally painting "In the Poppy Meadow " (which took about two hours in real time).





And  all of this led (via a route with which I won't bore you) to the realisation that:

3. I can (finally, and thanks for your patience) add paintings and designs to...jigsaws! Here's what "In the Poppy Meadow" looks like as a jigsaw puzzle (which can be of various sizes):

The image is a picture of my In the poppy meadow floral landscape digital pastel painting, converted into a jigsaw.
"In the Poppy Meadow" Jigsaw Puzzle".
Click or tap here to find out more.


That's all for now. But hope this post was a fun boost one way or another-and thanks *so* much for being here, and taking the time to read this.

More soon.
on
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Thursday, 19 June 2025

Happy Sun Illustration and Animated Gif Free Download

Hello there

Just in time for the summer solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere, here's a shining sun illustration that you're welcome to download and use if you'd like.


Image is a hand drawn smiling, happy sun in bright shades of orange and yellow.
Click, right-click or tap here to download this 
"Happy Sun" Illustration.



This bright and fun sun will add light and warmth to any social media post, newsletter or website. Use to represent summer holidays, the summer solstice, or any time a post needs cheering up. 

 It's free to you as a subscriber or visitor to BoundingSquirrel.Com, to download for personal and small business use. 

Credit and links to Clare Walker at BoundingSquirrel.Com are always appreciated, but never required. Just please don't sell it separately (my full "angel policy" terms are here if you need them).


Get this a moving gif image if you prefer



If you'd prefer the moving version of this image, then please click or tap  here to see and download it.

Most of all, I hope this is as fun and uplifting for you as it was for me to create. Thanks so much, as ever, for being here (and for reading down this far).

Update after posting...

I wasn't going to do this, but something told me to pop this illustration onto some items at Redbubble...And they looked like this, for example...

The same Happy sun image from the rest of the post is shown here on a throw willow with an azurite blue background.
Happy Sun Throw Pillow


And now I really am going. But there will be...

on
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Thursday, 12 June 2025

A New "Digital Gouache" Style and Nature Journal Illustrations

Hello there

First of all, hope all's well with you. Second, thanks so much for hanging in there and waiting whilst the blog has been...sporadic, shall we say? :-)


Image shows bright yellow gorse flowers in a flat colour inkled style. Some are along a gorse brand, one is a bud, and the third is a clos-up of a gorse flower.
"Yellow Gorse Flowers"
Nature Journal Page



Now though, I'm feeling (a bit!) happier and less nervous to unveil a new (to me) art style, that just turned up without warning and definitely seems to want to stick around. (AKA, I can't seem to do anything other than this at the moment). It started when I wanted to draw the flowers from a recent trip to Cumbria...And resulted in the gorse nature page above...

And these more dramatic Welsh poppies (also plentiful on the roadside in Cumbria a few weeks ago) that turned into a card for a friend.

Image is a square on which orange-yellow poppy like flowers, some scrubby vegetation and a white butterfly, are inked and arranged as an illustration , on a ble background.
"Welsh Poppies on Blue"




What is this style?

I'm not even sure how to describe this style yet. So instead, I'll just tell you how it appears to want to be done. It isn't gouache (ie completely opaque water paint). No, this is digital, using just a fat ink brush in Krita, few layers, and a tiny bit of blending.

As for what to do with this new style, I don't have a clue about that either, (yet). 

But as it does seem to want to stick around, I thought it only right to share what I know, so far.

So, please watch this space as things evolve. And thanks again (soooo much) for your patience.

on
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