Winter Is Coming

Considering that Britain has just had its hottest ever (recorded) Halloween, the title of this post may seem pretty inappropriate. It should probably read: 'Winter is Coming...Sort of...Eventually...Really...We Promise!'
Regardless, the shorter, infinitely more catchy title is relevant to today's project: Project Tote Bag.


A few years ago, I discovered the joy that is customising canvas shoes. For some reason, I find shoes are much easier to draw on than paper. Anyway, not content with one variety of custom canvas accessory, I recently decided to branch out, and purchased some plain canvas tote bags from amazon (you can also get them pretty cheaply on e-bay).



1) Bags purchased, it was just a matter of deciding on the design. After a bit of 'hmming' and staring vacantly into space, I decided on the Stark sigil. However, I was also feeling pretty inspired by the use of patterns in a colouring book I'd recently seen: 'Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom' (see opposite). So, I thought 'why not try fusing the two?'.






2) Now, when I'm working with canvas and I'm drawing something I've not tried before, I tend not to simply have at it with a pencil. (Although you can use erasers on canvas, if used excessively, the surface of the bag turns bobble-y and you get black smudges everywhere.) Instead, I sketched out my design on paper and, using a craft knife, made myself a template to trace round.





















3) After tracing my design onto the bag with pencil (I find mechanical pencils work best), it was time for the ink outline. I use DR pigment ink pilot drawing pens. Then it was just a matter of adding the details.
Don't forget to put a sheet of paper or two inside your bag to prevent any ink from bleeding through the canvas!







4) After finishing my design, I sprayed it with water-proofing spray (you can get it from most shoe shops) and voila! The finished product.