Inspiration...

I'm trying out some new stuff at the moment-trying to keep my work looking fresh and engaging. Here are some pieces that are inspiring me at the moment:

Babar by Jean de Brunhoff.

I'm not sure who created this but it's lovely.

Laura Park.

Alexis Deacon.

Mike Smith.

Audrey Malo.

Laika the Spacedog.

Sarah McIntyre.

Tor Freeman.

Sarah Dyer.

Beatrice Alemagna.

Viviane Schwarz.

Tor Freeman again (couldn't help myself...bugs with instruments!AHHH!)

Getting Results...

Argument...

Resolution...


Recently, as I have said before- I have been trying to keep my illustrations bright, engaging and fresh as I have a tendancy to overwork my images. Here are a couple of pictures I recently created and i'm so happy with them. I'm going to continue to create my images in this way as it's just so much fun!

What I did today:

Did a lot of playing about with layers,lots of scanning and whatnot. It's been a lot of fun. What do you think of my most recent illustration?

Redone.

Trying something new...

Watercolour on different kinds of paper, using a 5B pencil and hair spray (and water colours of course).

The Mystery of the Grumbles...

I have a tendancy to overthink about writing stories and what to write about. So last night I decided to play about with making Lionel and Terry interact. They were scared of a noise they heard...I then decided to draw what happened next and continued until I had a little story. It's not the greatest story ever but was a great exercise to improvise and see what happens next and it was a great drawing exercise.

I'm hoping to come back to this story at somepoint as I can imagine it becoming something really exciting.

The Fox and the Crow.

I was recently given and Aesops Fable necklace depicting the Fox and the Crow (for my birthday)! It inspired me to illustrate a scene from the short story. If you haven't read it then just look here!

Experiments...

I was recently given some feedback on my work and was told to experiment with my linework- to try and use pencil more, trust my initial drawing more (rather than adding thick lines of coloured pencil and over working the image) to keep the image's sensitivity.

So this is my first go at experimenting...this was a quick drawing using pencil, I painted it using undiluted watercolour inks... I'm not 100% sure about it but it was fun to do. I feel like i'm heading in the right direction...

...Expect to see many more experiments SOON!

Paint splatters and strange creatures...

I was painting with my watercolour inks, and (I leave blobs on my page to mix colours etc)I inverted the image which made some of my paint blobs into lovely colours and I enjoyed some of the textures- which led to the leafy dog.

I named this image "Ghost Farm"...I like to imagine the colourful blobs as little ghosts going about their daily business, admiring the unusual landscapes below.

Pet Portrait...

I created this pet portrait a few months ago in a swap with a fellow blogger (I swapped this image for a lovely camera necklace). I created the portrait in my children's book characterised style as it's what i'm most comfortable doing at the moment.

If you like this little fellow and would like a pet portrait of your beloved pet then please get in touch!

My new desk...

This is my new trestle desk. I LOVE IT! It's the first (and best) thing i've bought from IKEA. It's so big and makes my room smell like pine!ahhh!


It may look a little cluttered now but there's still so much space! I have some notebooks, my snake, some cacti, mugs with pens/pencils in and a few lovely teddies to keep me company. There's also lots of room underneathe which makes a change from the desk I had for ten years!

BIRTHDAY...

On the 25th of August I turned 23!
I awoke early and promptly demanded some presents! My boyfriend handed me my gifts and made me breakfast in bed...

Pancakes with maple syrup and ice cream.

He suprised me with some beautiful flowers.

I got a wonderful foot massager, hair straighteners, Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape on vinyl (we're in love with vinyl right now)and the Woman in Black and Pocahontas on blu ray...

One of my friends got me this awesome lens mug! It looks like a lens but I can drink from it! SO COOL!

One of my other friends made me a cheeky inside joke present which also tasted damn fine! I demanded everyone try it...everyone had a blue tongue!

My best buddy made me a magical box of gifts with sweets, gingerbread dinosaurs (and Alan Grant) some alocoholic jelly shots (which have been devoured before photo, some make up and a little alien charm along with some other great gifts!

We went to Nando's and I wore this lovely little fellow that my boyfriend bought for me last year from the amazing marta dlugolecka!!!

Last but not least, my sister bought me a Simba tattoo. I've loved the Lion King since I was a child and continue to love it...I even watched it in 3D in the cinema and I saw it live in London. The Lion King reminds me of my friends, my childhood and my awesome sister...definitley one of my favourite tattoos now!

Ohh Deer pillow fight competition...

Yet again I am entering an Ohh Deer competition...this time the competition is to design a pillow case/cover...there have been some amazing entries and i'm hoping people like mine:

London Film...

When in London I used my Mum's old Halina Vision Cxms 35mm film camera to take a few photographs. Not all of them turned out but it was fun to use and the photos that turned out are pretty cool.

I couldn't be bothered to scan all the photos so here are my top 4:

The Natural History Museum.

It's a bit dark, but here are two lovely birds having a conversation.

Some awesome graffiti.

Last but not least, a photo of me and Viv. One of the photos got cut in half but they still joined together, so hey Presto! One complete photograph using two photos! I'm easily pleased haha.

Scotland...

Back in 2010 my boyfriend and I went to Scotland for the week. I also took my 35mm film camera along with me (Canon AE-1) and have only recently had the film developed.

So here are my favourites:
PS. It rained A LOT!

These photographs were taken using a colour film...so you can see what a miserable day it was when we went to the beach with the dogs (first three photographs). I like how they look like B&W photos though. I love the third photo as you can see Bruce running along and you can see some seagulls flying in the background.