Spotlight On: Woodland Creatures

Now autumn is in full swing, woodland creatures are being featured in designs for clothes, stationery and jewellery, just to name a few.

Here we'll help keep you up to date on which creatures are leading the woodland trend.

To give a better variety, i've mixed both high street and handmade, as both offer very different options.

Bag from debenhams  -  Mask by Lupin Handmade

Owls

Owls are arguably the most popular woodland animals at the moment; you're bound to see them online and in most high streets in some form or another.

Ranging from cartoon to realistic, there are hundreds of different ways to incorporate owls into your work. There are many aspects to focus on; the feathers, the huge eyes and the wide range of owl species.

The great thing about owls, is that you are just restricted to browns and greys. Lots of owl designs include pink, blue, yellow and red to spice them up.

Of course, due to the popularity of the owl motif, it's already been done before, so avoid owls if you want to stand out a bit!

Jumper from John Lewis  -  Necklace by Celtic Shore

Squirrels

Cute, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, squirrels practically scream woodland and autumn (not literally, that would be creepy)

They're not as easy a shape to work with as owls, but they aren't as overused and really bring a sense of autumn, especially if a couple of acorns/nuts are included in the design.

You can always experiment with bright colours, but greys, golds and browns, as shown above, work really well.

T-shirt from ASOS  -  Cushion by Rustic Country Crafts

Stags/Deer

Antlers or no antlers, stag/deer really invoke the forest look and unlike other animals, don't need bright or even autumnal colours to look good.

The silhouette is very powerful compared to owls and squirrels and if you decide on a stag design, the antlers are very eye catching and can add some much more detail.

If you're not too confident on designing the body, some designs only focus on the head and the antlers, as they're considerd the stand out part of the animal (as horrible as that sounds)

Orla Kiely Bag from ModCloth  -  Card by Little Paper Gallery

Foxes

The bright orange coat, the white tip of the tail and those adorable ears make foxes are popular choice for the woodland trend.

It offers some of the brightest natural colour combinations and no one can resist it's cheeky charms can they!?

The fox isn't as "awww!" as say the squirrel for example, but it can be used in a more modern way, without going over the top in the cuteness department. Heck, you can go the other way and make them sexy!

Beanie from Dorothy Perkins  -  Brooches by Elizabeth Pawle Illustration

Other Animals

As well as the ones listed above, there are many other animals that can be considered for woodland designs.

Badgers, hedgehogs, rabbits, hares, raccoons and skunks can also work in wonderful ways. Definitely do some research to see what other animals you can incorporate in your designs. 

Well, there you have it! Hope this has been of some help and look forward to seeing what you can come up with this autumn ;)

x x