The 'Enchanted Darkness' Scarf

Happy Friday Everyone! Hope you've all had a great week and have got something exciting planned for the weekend. I'm going to see Breakfast at Tiffany's in theatre tomorrow, which Pixie Lott is starring in. (And if she's anything like she is during her concerts she will be totally amazing!) Well anyway whether you're a creative soul or not, or maybe you sometimes like to see how designers/makers start a piece of art, I've got a lil surprise for you.

Over a year ago I started my first few paintings based on the sealife collection which you can now view on my website sukisabur.co.uk. At the time I was kind of going along with my sketches and very first ideas and didn't really have a complete idea of what the collection would include. I didn't even have a title! But whilst I was designing and painting I was documenting my progress with each new design. As I'm kind of awkward and like to do things the hard way by drawing everything to scale and painting it by hand rather than using technology that would be much more efficient, it takes me a couple of weeks to finish a painting. (Baring in mind that I still have the editing to do on the final design which can take up to another week.)

So I thought it was time I revealed my first ever scarf for the 'Underwater Escapade' collection! Yes I finally thought of a name for my second collection. Even though I've currently decided that this one won't be getting made as a final product as I felt that the colours weren't quite suited to the rest of the collection and I wanted to refine my designs, I still wanted to share my progress and show how it all began.

I wrote a similar post back in January about the third scarf in the collection, 'Storm in the Sea' which you can read here. I hope you enjoy looking through the pictures and let me know if you have any questions. Happy weekend! xo

The 'Storm in the Sea' Scarf

Happy Friday! As much as I enjoy working for myself it does get very tiring at times as I find it hard to switch off and I'm constantly thinking of new ideas or my mental to-do list, (whenever I'm not writing in my notebook). But it's so important to have breaks and enjoy the time off, so I hope you've all got some exciting plans for the weekend.

So as you may or may not know that I've been working on a new collection of silk scarves which I am now sampling. It's taken such a long time to finish designing the collection and at times I felt like I was going crazy and that I'd never get finished. But I've been documenting all the little things and each step that I've taken. And I thought it would be a good idea to now reveal my designs in the process.

So I know that a lot of print designers do their sketches without colour and then have them digitally manipulated , so placing them at the right scale and size and then adding the colour, which is probably so much more convenient rather than making the exact shade that you've imagined and making sure you've got enough of that colour, as it's impossible to get that exact colour again! And there's so many designers who specialise in printed scarves with each one having their own unique style. But I guess I'm kind of awkward like that and just prefer to do all the designing and painting by hand. I just feel as if I can't really imagine a finished design when I'm working on a screen, whereas drawing everything to scale helps me visualise the finished scarf and how it will be worn.

So anyway I thought about showing everyone my work in progress; when I'm in the middle of painting or mixing a colour; or adding the detail once it's all painted. I decided to start with the third scarf in the 'Underwater Escapade' Collection. This one is called 'Storm in the Sea' and it's a mixture of lots of designs I drew from my research. The idea is all in the name, and I basically wanted to throw in all my small doodles to create a square that was covered with different colours and artwork. I wanted to use a variation of bright colours and have a subtle background in contrast. And even though this was quite a risk to take as I wasn't sure how it would turn out, I'm loving the final outcome.

Below I've added a few photos of the design whilst I was still working on it, so you can see how I do my designing. I hope you all enjoy reading this post, xo

All designs Copyright ©Suki Sabur 2016. All rights reserved.

My Insta-Diary

Birthday cake for breakfast anyone? Since my birthday I've been binging on lots of sugary things, especially as January is a very popular month for birthdays in the family. My breakfast normally consists of anything chocolatey and a strong coffee. I've just recently discovered flavoured syrups for my coffee and they are so amazing for the cold, frosty mornings when you just want to stay in bed all day. I'm in love with a gingerbread flavoured syrup which I've been adding to my morning coffee errryday!

Since Christmas my days have been occupied with me coming up with new designs, sampling products, ordering stock and prepping for the next few months. I've got some exciting things coming up which you guys will find out about nearer to the time. Even my Instagram has been fairly quiet-can you believe it?! So here's a few snaps that I've posted so far this month. I'm loving my plate which you can buy from Art Rookie here. xo

The 'Love & Light' Collection

For my Graduate Collection in 2014 I designed a series of prints that were based on tropical plants. I took inspiration from various plants, although in the end a lot of the finished designs and the consistent features were what I had imagined in my mind. I ended up using Chinese Lanterns as my main inspiration, as they are my favourite plant. I also kept going back to the heart shape of the lanterns, which in the end became the essence of the collection.

The finished collection was then named 'Love & Light' which I thought was a perfect fit! Since then I've continuously based a lot of my designs on a similar shape, and that thread has run all the way through to a new collection that is based on sea life and creatures, which I will be revealing soon. Although these designs were initially made for silk scarves, I wanted to use them to place onto other products which I hoped people would love.

So out of the 'Love & Light' Collection I chose my favourite designs and decided to upload them onto Society6. Below you can see a variety of the designs and the products that they are available on. My favourite is probably the 'Twisted Tropics in Blush' but I also love the 'Summertime Always Leaves' as that deep orange is my favourite! Which design/product is your fave? I'd love some feedback on these designs. If you like any of these products you can buy them from my shop www.society6.com/sukisabur, xo

Round up of the week

So this week has been pretty busy for me as I've been working on lots more designs which will be available very soon in my Society6 shop. I mentioned in my previous post that they're all based on people I've either met or been inspired by. Some of these new illustrations have already been named, whereas some are yet to be completed.

Here's a sneaky peek of a few of the designs I've been working on. These have all been taken from Instagram so if you'd like to see more then be sure to follow me @sukisabur_designs, xo

Looking back on 2015

So I started this blog over a year ago and then gave up posting when I got busy with my own designs. You might be wondering what I've been doing this past year, so I'm gonna give you a quick update. This time last year I remember planning my first trip of 2015, which was to the Scottish countryside. Fast-forward a year later and I feel like I've done so much in just a year, but at the same time it's gone way too quick!

This year was full of so much inspiration, and I'm so glad that for the first time I've actually made time to enjoy moments and not rush myself. I had the chance to visit some beautiful places such as Dublin and Belfast. I also visited Barcelona AGAIN, and although I always end up going to the same places when I go there, I did discover a few gems that I've never seen before. But I think the best trip of them all was Budapest. Everything was so breathtakingly beautiful. This was a place I'd been wanting to visit for such a long time, and I finally did. I learnt so much about history, culture and art, and I came back with so many amazing ideas for future designs, which I'm still keeping quiet about!

But the one thing I'm so happy about is the fact that I finally started selling my designs on Society6 and Art Rookie. Both are platforms which provide for independent and new designers. Art Rookie is just for British Designers, whereas Society6 is for designers worldwide and is actually based in the US. I've always loved the idea of designing and selling my own products, and I'm so glad that people have been loving my designs.

I will go into detail another time about the collections that are available to purchase. But for now I need to get back to finishing off a couple more illustrations which will be added online soon. I've added a few snaps below of some of the designs that I've been working on over the past few months, some which are yet to be revealed. All of these images were posted on my Instagram, so if you'd like to see more then head over there and give me a follow. xo