Sarah Yewman's Amazing Mini Dudes

I first came across Sarah Yewman's work a few months ago on twitter - Sarah's a lovely local creative here in Chelmsford and is a childrens writer/author, painter, drawer and vinyl junkie! Her blog is really inspiring with lots of wonderful ideas, projects and commissions. Here's a few of my favourite pieces of her work all created on vinyl toys by Dudebox. There's something very satisfying about these little guys , they're so lovely- Sarah also runs childrens workshops creating them for Just Imagine (wish I could do one!)

This was a commissioned piece and I love the detailing on the scarf and beard - so intricate, love how they all have little personalities too!

Davina McCall is a big fan of Sarah's work and signed her mini Davina Dude which was auctioned for Comic Relief this year. To celebrate this Dudebox ran a giveaway to win your own DIY mini dude to create your own - and I was a lucky winner!

.....and here is my attempt! It was so much fun to do - but so hard! How on earth Sarah makes hers look so flawless and detailed is beyond me! I was a bit impatient and just wanted to dive right into it without much planning, so my first attempt at using watercolours as a background colour didn't work at all! So I needed a quick rethink and what did I turn to - my nail varnishes!! A bit odd I know, but I figured they should sit on the surface well which they kind of did, and I sort of liked the blobby marks the brushes made. I then thought I was using a permanent pen and it turned out it wasn't! So the result is a somewhat smudgy affair! But it was so nice to do something without knowing how it was going to turn out - and something very different for me also. I've been a bit stuck lately design wise, and sometimes I really think that making anything even if it's not directly linked to your practice really helps, and this really has. Thanks so much to Sarah and Dudebox for the mini dude and inspiration!