Claire Likes To Doodle*

If there is one thing I love about being a blogger it’s being able to help out my friends and loved ones when it comes down to promoting something they’re doing, especially a business.

My friend Claire has been a chibi artist for as long as I can remember but she’s also been a great friend to met since the MySpace days which is over 10 years now. How crazy is that? Time does fly when you’re having fun, eh?

As the years have gone on Claire has taken her chibi work from a hobbie to a job and I couldn’t be more proud of her to be perfectly honest with you! She’s worked her arse off to ensure that she can look back and think, “Look what I did!” and fair play to her for it.

At the start of 2019 Claire was lovely enough to approach me to ask if I would be happy to receive a chibi portrait of myself from her in return for a review on her store Claire Likes To Doodle, as well as her amazing artwork.

After months of working with Claire the time has finally come to write the review and share with you guys what an amazing little artist my friend is and why I love her work so much! 🙂

When it came down to Claire and about Claire Likes To Doodle, I decided to conduct a mini interview with Claire about what she does, why, as well as what she hopes for the future! I feel the answers to my questions explain everything better than I ever could.

So Claire first things first, when did you start drawing?

Pretty much as soon as I could hold a pencil! I was a prolific little doodler even from the start, I was always drawing little comics and creating characters and worlds. I actually got into a lot of trouble in secondary school for drawing during lessons in my homework diary… if only my year 9 Geography teacher could see me now.

What made you decide to open your own store?

I did a drawing of a particular wrestling tag team that was very popular on social media, and someone said “Hey if that was available as a print I’d buy it!” So I opened a shop. I’m still tinkering with what to sell on that sort of scale – I tend to do more commissions and things on the fly than anything else.

What’s your favourite things to draw?

I like drawing things that make people go, “What the fuck, really Claire??” followed by a laugh. Recently I’ve found that I absolutely LOVE drawing my daughter – she’s just turned a year old and is getting so funny!

Was there a new style you said you would begin to start drawing in 2019?

I’m really well known for chibi work, but I really want to start working with more realistic illustrative styles. I also want to do some more darker pieces to pull myself out of my comfort zone and explore what else I can do. It’s healthy to venture out of what you know.

What are your hopes for Claire Likes To Doodle in the future?

Honestly, I hope to create the kind of art that people take one look at and go, “Hey, that’s from Claire isn’t it?” I’d also love to really make what I do my full time job. I get to stay at home with my little girl, have the flexibility to take care of myself when I’m not well, and still do something that makes me feel fulfilled.

As I mentioned before, Claire kindly gifted me the chibi artwork she drew for me for reviewing purposes and this review are all words of my own.. Apart from the Q&A, obviously. 😛

Usually Claire would have a chat via emails to determine how you want your chibi character to look, send photos of yourself, etc but this wasn’t the case with myself. She just knew what to draw for me and due to that she did an amazing job! You know you’re working with a good artist when they can just analyse you and work with something great.

For my chibi Claire was such a star and included my Black Milk Clothing leggings and she went out there mixing together colours such as greens, blues and purples to get the iridescent look. She also made sure my chibi was wearing my varisity jacket (because I’m ALWAYS wearing one whether it be my Persona 5 one or one of my Eeveelutions ones from Ohayou! Clothing). She also included my digital SLR camera as well as a cute Eevee on my shoulder. The piece is adorable and I plan to keep it in the office near the gaming PC so I can look at it whilst I play games and such.

So you’re probably wondering by now how you can go about getting your own commission piece done by Claire? Well if you look above there is a price list for all sizes, as well as styles you can have for your commission.

The piece that Claire drew for me is A5 in size and is watercolour – hence making it worth £30 (continue reading for a special discount code).

From someone who has had at least a dozen commissions drawn over the past 6 years, this is an amazing price for so many reasons. Claire doesn’t rush her pieces and always makes sure to create each piece uniquely, with loads of customisation too. She also uses gorgeous watercolours and from what I’ve seen on her Instagram, her colour selection is constantly improving and getting funky! I saw holographic recently and this made me very happy. 😛

Claire is currently open for commissions and can be contacted through either her Facebook page or Instagram. I’ll link her store and all of her social media down below:

Store

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Twitch

Patreon

When it comes down to commissions you can also find Claire over on her Twitch channel Thursday and Sunday from 6pmish GMT where she streams herself as she draws art and occasionally plays games too! Whilst writing this post I’m currently watching her do some commissions for two beautiful blogger ladies I know and let’s just say, they are amazing! 😀

I’m so happy to say that I could help Claire work with some bloggers for Claire Likes To Doodle with the two beauts I mentioned being Estelle from Estellosaurus and Sarah from Raiin Monkey. Honestly make sure to keep your eyes peeled on their blogs and social media for the commissions Claire has done for them, they’re breathtaking!

If you’re a local to Birmingham like myself and Claire then you may be interested to know that on August 3rd 2019 a convention called Not Another Comic-Con will be around for people to attend. BUT that isn’t all! Claire will also be there and she’ll be doing chibi commissions there and then for people, so if you like both the look and sound of her work then make sure to check out Not Another Comic-Con, which I’ve linked.

Alongside everything Claire already does, she’s also recently stepped up her nerdy art game and has started altering Magic: the Gathering cards – a process which involves painting on the cards and replacing the original art with something of her own.

These look amazing and she actually came third place in a competition recently from altering MTG cards, which I’ve added above. Not going to lie, I loved Claire’s design the most… 😉

Overall I really love my new commission by Claire Likes To Doodle and although in the past Claire has drawn various pieces for me, this is my favourite. I didn’t need to ask her what to draw, how I wanted the piece to be, colour scheme, etc. She just did it all from just knowing me as a person, what I like, how I dress, etc and it’s just so personal. Far more personal than any of the commissions I own.

I really do love this piece being in my office by mine and Dane’s gaming PC. I’ve ended up leaving the clear wrap on the piece so that it never gets damaged whilst it sits next to the PC. 🙂

So I mentioned earlier how you can snag yourself a discount through myself to use towards a commission from Claire! The code is “COFFEE10” and is exclusively for my readers. The code will last indefinitely! Don’t worry if you ever want to use the code but can’t find it through the blog quickly, as of now the code will be on the side of my blog indefinitely too – so you can always find it there.

I’m just so happy to have finally worked with Claire Likes To Doodle to not only show you guys her amazing work, but also to talk about how proud I am of my friend. :’)

Do you think you’ll get a commission piece done by Claire? If so what would you choose, how would you have your piece drawn? Make sure to let me know in the comments, I would love to hear what you guys think!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a fabulous weekend.