About
I'm Caro, an independent artist based in Surrey, UK.
I produce an eclectic mix of wildlife art, surreal/abstract art, drawings and illustrations. This sometimes confuses people (myself included), so here's a little bit about it all...
I've drawn, painted and doodled all my life and often used it as a way to learn, remember things or just to relax. After studying art to A-level, I followed another passion and pursued a varied but non-artistic career behind the scenes in Film and TV.
I continued to draw on and off, mainly for fun (and to kill time on film sets) with my experiences in the industry often informing my artwork.
Over time, I received commissions here and there, ranging from cartoons and drawings for private birthdays, special occasions and retirement gifts to published works in TV industry journals.
I taught myself how to draw and paint using digital tools (the transition period was not pretty) and found myself spending more and more time at the drawing board and enjoying it far more than my day job.
In 2015, after 23 years and having lost all enthusiasm for the work, I left the film industry to take up drawing and painting full-time.
Wildlife Art
My wildlife art process consists of several stages:
1) Photography - otherwise known as a) meandering about and trying to get a decent photo of whatever I run into b) sitting on the veranda with a cuppa and seeing who turns up at the generously stocked feeders in the tree opposite or c) hearing strange noises outside (often at night) and trying to somehow get out there quietly without disturbing whatever it is that is making the noise AND get a photo...
To say that I have had "limited success" with 'c ' is an overstatement.
2) Selection - finding a decent image from ALL the photos I took on ProCapture setting (those 8TB drives are coming in handy).
3) The Arty Bit - using the selected image or images as reference to capture the subject in artistic form using digital paints, chalks, pencils or whatever medium I prefer.
No, I don't overpaint the photo - where's the fun in that?
4) Release the artwork into the wild.
In short, I like to use my own material as reference to draw/paint subjects that I've encountered and I very much enjoy the whole process.
And if you were wondering, the strange noises at night are usually badger, fox or deer.
Oh and owls. Have yet to get a photo of the owls though which is a shame; I like owls.
Brain Drains
The surreal and abstract pieces (or 'Brain Drains' as I've always called them) start life as ink and pencil sketches in my sketchbook. I usually keep a Moleskine softcover with a Rotring Tikky Graphic pen to hand but anything will do if I need to doodle and I have neither with me.
More recently, I've been dabbling with Bristol Board as a medium for these along with Sakura pigment fine-liners and brush pens.
Initially they are unplanned, random doodles and sketches that evolve and grow 'til they fill a page. I'll gravitate to this kind of drawing when I need a break from my other art, when I'm bored, restless, travelling or need to relax the noggin.
If any seem interesting enough to take further, I scan them into the computer and render them in digital ink. As the virtual canvas can be increased to a much larger size I'll add more intricate detail along the way, perhaps with a bit more thought involved in the process (but not too much 😜).
My Tools
- Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 pen display is my drawing board/canvas.
- Mac Mini (2018) running OS Catalina (yes, I know, I really need to upgrade my OS).
- Epson SC-P600 printer.
All my artwork is painted or drawn from scratch in Clip Studio Paint Pro (formerly Manga Studio) using their standard brushes along with those made by Daub Brushes and Frenden.
For the wildlife photography, I use an Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII with the Olympus Zuiko 300mm lens - a lovely Micro Four Thirds system that is nice and easy to carry about.
Affinity Photo is my image editing software (I very much enjoy being free from Adobe products these days).
About the name
'Cazabon' is a nickname given to me by friends in part due to my love of 'Middlemarch'. Casaubon (as in Mister) mashed up with a shortening of my first name to Caz resulted in Cazabon. It stuck and is the name I then used for my cartoons.
No relation, no connection to the artist Michel-Jean Cazabon, whom I learnt of years later.
Any questions?
If you have any questions or would like to know more about my art, please feel free to contact me