Hi everyone! I have been so looking forward to sharing this post with you all, because I just know you guys are going to LOVE the fantastic artwork I have to show you! I was so delighted when my awesome fellow blogger friend Natalee (be sure to check out her blog here) dropped me an email to tell me that the fabulous Claire from Claire Likes To Doodle wanted to work on a collaboration with me!! I had been following Claire over on her Instagram for months, after falling in love with her super cute art from the first moment it appeared in my suggested feed!
If you've been a regular reader of my blog for a while now, you'll know how much of a fan I am of all things kawaii, and specifically anything chibi. I know that lots of you come to my blog to get your dose of cuteness overload, and today's post will definitely fulfil those 'AWWW!' needs. Brace yourselves for the adorableness ahead!
I wanted to start off by telling you all more about Claire and her wonderful artwork. Firstly, Claire is so lovely!! As soon as I started chatting with her, I felt like I'd known her for ages! She's so friendly and really easy to talk to :) Being a fellow nerd means we share a lot of similar interests, including a love for all things cute and chibified. She is also a feminist and spoonie, as well as a first-time mom, and overall just a fabulous person!
When it comes to Claire's artwork, she is self-taught which is absolutely amazing! Not only does she paint portrait commissions, but she started her career as an artist drawing wrestlers in chibi-style, and also does superb fandom related artwork. Additionally, Claire does the most fantastic alterations of Magic the Gathering cards; they are brilliant!! Take a look at some of her incredible work below.
When it comes to Claire's artwork, she is self-taught which is absolutely amazing! Not only does she paint portrait commissions, but she started her career as an artist drawing wrestlers in chibi-style, and also does superb fandom related artwork. Additionally, Claire does the most fantastic alterations of Magic the Gathering cards; they are brilliant!! Take a look at some of her incredible work below.
There's even an opportunity for you to meet Claire and check out more of her art in person, and maybe even get your own chibi portrait commissioned, because she's going to have a stall at the upcoming convention, Not Another Comic Con, being hosted at Aston University, Birmingham next month on Saturday 3rd August!
I am over the moon that Claire so kindly gifted me my very own A5 chibi portrait*. These beautiful commissions are around £30 each and are hand drawn and painted using watercolours. I am a huge fan of watercolour artwork and so I couldn't wait to see the finished result. This was my first ever experience having my portrait painted as well, so to say that I was excited was an understatement, haha!
Before drawing my portrait, Claire discussed with me over email what I was looking for in terms of personalisation, details and anything else that I had in mind. Something that I think is excellent about getting a portrait painted by Claire is that she also incorporates things that reflect your interests and personality. For me that included adding something kawaii into the mix! We exchanged ideas and thought it would be awesome to showcase the two opposite sides of my personality, alternative meets kawaii, and that's exactly what Claire did :) I described and sent several photos of myself, my favourite outfit, my go-to makeup style and some of my favourite plushies! And here is the wonderful portrait that Claire created for me...
Oh my gosh, seriously though guys... how cute is this portrait!!? It's so gorgeous! Claire did the most spectacular job and I am so happy with what she created! I really like how eye-catching it is, the colours are so bold and vibrant. Watercolour is stunning, and I love the sort of marbling effect that it can create, like on my black leggings. As someone who has never had the greatest self-confidence, seeing the way that Claire has captured my best features makes me look at my new portrait and feel good about myself, which is going to be helpful for my mental health each time I see chibi me :'D
I am so impressed with all of the details on my face, such as my snakebite piercings. My eyes are so bright and the eyeshadow that Claire included makes them stand out even more! I am really glad that she chose to draw me with a big grin, as smiling in photos, etc., wasn't always an easy thing for me because one of my insecurities when I was younger was my teeth. It took me a long time to build up the courage to stop posing for pictures with pouted lips or sticking my tongue out, so having a portrait of me smiling and looking so cheerful is a nice reminder of how far I've come :)
One of the things that I adore about Claire's unique art style, as well as the chibi style in general, is how short and chubby characters/people look. Standing at only 5'2'' and being plus sized, I love that this artwork represents me so well whilst still making me feel cute as heck :p I can't find enough words to express how much I love it!
LOOK AT THESE SQUISHY FLUFFY CUTIES! A portrait of me really wouldn't be complete without one of my favourite things in the world, plushies! And so I'm thrilled that Claire decided to add an adorable plushie into each of my hands. The one on the left is actually a personal favourite plush that I own. He's a pastel rainbow alpaca from the Japanese brand Amuse, and his name is Sherbet and he is the goodest, most colourful cuddly friend ever ^.^
If you didn't know yet, Vaporeon is my all-time favourite Pokemon; it has been ever since I was around six years old! And yet somehow I still don't own a plushie of Vaporeon!! :O Well, the need is even more mighty now that Claire has helped make my dream a reality by giving chibi portrait me a Vaporeon plush!! The shades of blue that she has used are so pretty, and I love how huggable plush Vaporeon looks. Together, these plushies bring a splash of bright and pastel colours to pop out amongst the darker shades surrounding them, and they make me 'squeee' aloud everytime I see them! :D :D
As you can see, Sherbet is very pleased with his portrait too XD I thought I'd include a shot of me alongside my custom chibi portrait so you guys can make a comparison. I think it looks just like me! I especially love how Claire has done my hair, it flows in the same way that my hair does IRL, as it's naturally wavy! The other photo I wanted to show you all is of my chibi portrait before it was painted. I was lucky enough to be able to watch Claire painting it on video over on her Twitch channel. Unfortunately, Claire is no longer streaming over on Twitch but it was a very fun experience to be able to see her artwork really come to life right before my eyes!
Before drawing my portrait, Claire discussed with me over email what I was looking for in terms of personalisation, details and anything else that I had in mind. Something that I think is excellent about getting a portrait painted by Claire is that she also incorporates things that reflect your interests and personality. For me that included adding something kawaii into the mix! We exchanged ideas and thought it would be awesome to showcase the two opposite sides of my personality, alternative meets kawaii, and that's exactly what Claire did :) I described and sent several photos of myself, my favourite outfit, my go-to makeup style and some of my favourite plushies! And here is the wonderful portrait that Claire created for me...
I am so impressed with all of the details on my face, such as my snakebite piercings. My eyes are so bright and the eyeshadow that Claire included makes them stand out even more! I am really glad that she chose to draw me with a big grin, as smiling in photos, etc., wasn't always an easy thing for me because one of my insecurities when I was younger was my teeth. It took me a long time to build up the courage to stop posing for pictures with pouted lips or sticking my tongue out, so having a portrait of me smiling and looking so cheerful is a nice reminder of how far I've come :)
One of the things that I adore about Claire's unique art style, as well as the chibi style in general, is how short and chubby characters/people look. Standing at only 5'2'' and being plus sized, I love that this artwork represents me so well whilst still making me feel cute as heck :p I can't find enough words to express how much I love it!
LOOK AT THESE SQUISHY FLUFFY CUTIES! A portrait of me really wouldn't be complete without one of my favourite things in the world, plushies! And so I'm thrilled that Claire decided to add an adorable plushie into each of my hands. The one on the left is actually a personal favourite plush that I own. He's a pastel rainbow alpaca from the Japanese brand Amuse, and his name is Sherbet and he is the goodest, most colourful cuddly friend ever ^.^
If you didn't know yet, Vaporeon is my all-time favourite Pokemon; it has been ever since I was around six years old! And yet somehow I still don't own a plushie of Vaporeon!! :O Well, the need is even more mighty now that Claire has helped make my dream a reality by giving chibi portrait me a Vaporeon plush!! The shades of blue that she has used are so pretty, and I love how huggable plush Vaporeon looks. Together, these plushies bring a splash of bright and pastel colours to pop out amongst the darker shades surrounding them, and they make me 'squeee' aloud everytime I see them! :D :D
As you can see, Sherbet is very pleased with his portrait too XD I thought I'd include a shot of me alongside my custom chibi portrait so you guys can make a comparison. I think it looks just like me! I especially love how Claire has done my hair, it flows in the same way that my hair does IRL, as it's naturally wavy! The other photo I wanted to show you all is of my chibi portrait before it was painted. I was lucky enough to be able to watch Claire painting it on video over on her Twitch channel. Unfortunately, Claire is no longer streaming over on Twitch but it was a very fun experience to be able to see her artwork really come to life right before my eyes!
Here's what the print looks like on display! As you can see, it grabs your attention even when surrounded by lots of cuteness! I haven't decided yet whether to frame it and keep it where it is on top of my book sets, or put it up on my art wall, but either way, it's going to look marvellous :)
I want to say a huge THANKYOU to Claire for working with me, and for making my first experience getting a portrait done so fun!! Head over to Claire's Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to show your support for her outstanding work. Oh, and here's a link to her store. Be sure to look out for the Claire Likes To Doodle stall if you're attending the Not Another Comic Con event this August! If you're interested in getting a commission done for your own chibi portrait, you can contact Claire via social media :)
You can also find more examples of her work by checking out my wonderful friend Estelle's post, as she's recently worked on a collab with Claire as well! Oh and FYI, the link I shared to Natalee's blog at the start of my post today will lead you to her own post all about Claire's chibi portraits, so go have a read of that too.
I want to finish up this post by sharing a code that Claire has very kindly provided so that all of my lovely readers can get a discount on their very own commission. Use MONKEY10 to get 10% off! Please let me know if you order yourself a chibi portrait, I'd love to hear all about it! Also, it would be fantastic if you tagged me in a photo when it arrives, so I can see how Claire has brought your personality to life on paper :) (Well technically on card, but that didn't have quite the same ring to it, haha).
I want to finish up this post by sharing a code that Claire has very kindly provided so that all of my lovely readers can get a discount on their very own commission. Use MONKEY10 to get 10% off! Please let me know if you order yourself a chibi portrait, I'd love to hear all about it! Also, it would be fantastic if you tagged me in a photo when it arrives, so I can see how Claire has brought your personality to life on paper :) (Well technically on card, but that didn't have quite the same ring to it, haha).
Thankyou for reading!
♥
What is your favourite thing about my new chibi portrait?
Have you ever had a portrait done before?
(*) All posts/content marked with an asterisk signify that the item(s) featured have been gifted or sent to me for the purpose of review. I have kindly been sent the product featured in this post in exchange for a review. See my full disclaimer here.
Such an adorable picture I love the addition of the plushies, so cute xoxo
ReplyDelete♥ Cateaclysmic ♥
I love this artwork, Claire has really captured your personality! The Vaporeon plush is definitely the cutest thing about the picture it's little face is so squishy!
ReplyDeleteJess xx
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I honestly love your little chibi portrait that Claire drew of you! It's so perfect and shows off your personality so damn well. I knew she would do a fab job and I'm so glad you got your plushies in there. Whenever I see Vaporeon I think of you, as I know it's your favourite Eeveelution.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to read that just looking at the chibi version of yourself gives you a boost in your mental health. I'm sure Claire would love to know that. :')
Honestly, so glad myself and Claire chose you and Estelle to take part in writing about Claire. :D
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