Karen Ruffles
Subject and style
Looking at how and why I work with very different subjects and avoid over specialisation as a creative professional.
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Behind the scenes art blog- drawing tips and techniques
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Karen Ruffles
Jan 8, 20234 min read
Reflections
Regular readers will know that last year was...interesting, with an unplanned relocation to Newcastle halfway through, but as the dust...
Karen Ruffles
Nov 6, 20211 min read
Courting Crows - found 'em :)
New original crow drawings and a bit about an upcoming exhibition about the corvid species in North Yorkshire.
Karen Ruffles
Mar 4, 20212 min read
Heading for the border
This month sees the launch of an exciting new chapter in the Tales in Sombre Tones story. I have finally started work on our second...
Karen Ruffles
Nov 16, 20202 min read
Whitby abbey snow day - a recipe for a happy goth!
Two years ago I stood in St Mary's churchyard here in Whitby with the biggest grin on my face - it had snowed overnight and unusually for...
Karen Ruffles
Feb 7, 20203 min read
Stop motion animation - sounds and special effects.
In this final post on creating simple stop motion animation, I'm going to give a few pointers on choosing video effects and working with...
Karen Ruffles
Jan 27, 20202 min read
Stop motion animation - turning photos into film.
This week I'm going to show you the basic steps in putting your photos together to create an animated sequence. I normally use Videopad...
Karen Ruffles
Jan 20, 20203 min read
Lights, camera, action - how to film stop motion animation.
This week we're looking at how to actually shoot your stop motion animation. There's a few things you'll need and some general tips to...
Karen Ruffles
Jan 12, 20203 min read
Simple D.I.Y. models and props for stop motion animation
Following up from last week's post, I thought I'd start our stop motion tutorials with a look at the things I use to create my models,...
Karen Ruffles
Jan 2, 20202 min read
Stop motion animation made simple
For the last few years I've been making silly, low budget, low tech animations using the desk models of my monsters to tell stories for...
Karen Ruffles
Nov 13, 20191 min read
Cute to creepy
Last week, I posted the work in progress videos of this drawing. I thought it would be interesting to share another part of the process -...
Karen Ruffles
Nov 5, 20191 min read
Clowning around
I've just finished a biannual art exhibition here in Whitby, Art D'Morte and one of the pieces I decided to take was my most recent -...
Karen Ruffles
Nov 6, 20182 min read
Tales in Somber Tones tour is funded !
Two lots of very exciting news here this week (in case you couldn't hear us yelling it from our rooftops). First up, we are proud to...
Karen Ruffles
Apr 25, 20171 min read
More Murder !
On Thursday 4th of May I'm hosting a one night only exhibition at Dillon's of Whitby. Funded initially by a successful mini Kickstarter,...
Karen Ruffles
Feb 9, 20171 min read
Saltwick Bay
Like most artists, I am fascinated by light. This is one of the reasons the beautiful Saltwick Bay is one of my favourite landscapes....
Karen Ruffles
Oct 6, 20161 min read
Murder !
A murder of crows has landed at monster hq this week, with pocket mirrors, prints and stationery added to the range. Featuring some of my...
Karen Ruffles
Jul 16, 20161 min read
Wreck and rock 2
One of my favourite places is Saltwick Bay - black rocks, golden fossils and the remains of the Admiral Von Tromp which ran aground in...
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