Practicing Flower Illustrations

I've been trying out something one morning a week. I try to do a practice painting before any other work, not just to practice skills but to get into the rhythm of the freelance working day. I cannot tell you how hard it can feel to get into the grove of things when working from home, so engaging my brain with something creative that's not to do with normal freelance activities in the morning seems to do the trick!

I don't know if this is something that I'll keep up as a regular occurrence, but for now I find it fun. I've recently started painting flowers in these mornings, mostly because when I'm out walking or traveling in general, I see beautiful flowers and either take a photo of them or take a note of what they look like. They're so nice that I just want to capture them in a painting.

If you would like to see more morning practices or other illustration practices in general!- I post a lot of my progress on my Instagram :)

Illustrating for Your Cat magazine

So I'm a huge cat lover, I used to have a cat of my own who I loved dearly and I love the species to no end. When I first saw Your Cat magazine I knew it would be a fantastic publication to be a part of- with adorable articles and incredibly helpful tips! So actually getting a chance to illustrate for the magazine was amazing.

I currently illustrate for the short story segment of each monthly edition, creating artwork for each talented writer that is featured. I wanted to share the process that I use to make these illustrations, sharing some of the past segments I have done.

For my first illustration in July 2016 I was asked to illustrate a story for 'Talking to Ghosts' and each story is a double page spread. Firstly I either draft up ideas in my sketchbook or sketch it out in Photoshop, all of which are in black and white unless there is anything else I need to convey in the design before the final painting.

I normally illustrate across two A4 watercolour sheets if a border is needed, if it's separate illustrations across the two pages I'm more likely to put them both on one A4 page and then edit it later in Photoshop.

I draw out the final design with a pencil, ink it out with different thicknesses of fine liners and rub out the pencil lines below to create the final outline of the illustration.

 

For this illustration, as it was to do with ghosts, I wanted to play with purples and blues. More ethereal colours. Using my watercolours, I built up the colours from light to dark.

I was very happy with how the illustration turned out in print! I'm so inspired by every featured writer that I illustrate for in the magazine. If you want to check out future short stories and some more of my illustrations, Your Cat magazine is out every month in most UK retailers! http://www.yourcat.co.uk/

Here are some other editions I have been a part of!

And another example of another feature I did in November about how to care for your cat over winter.

Fluffstache: Web Comic

I wanted to practice storytelling and during my time as an illustrator with watercolours, I haven't explored this genre with this particular medium. So here is Fluffstache. The name was with a list of random names and ideas on my phone notes so I gave it a go. Something small but delightful :) Enjoy!

I did a full Time Lapse!

I normally integrate my videos with some time lapse content and some real time content, but for this YouTube video I really wanted to show the whole process at the same speed. I loved the drawing this little fox on his daily commute to the sea dock to do some midday fishing (jam sandwiches in hand).

Inktober 2016 - A fairy tale collection

I promised myself that once again this year I would do Inktober- but not any old Inktober! No no. I wanted a theme that would create a collection of work to show at the end of the month. I decided upon a fairy tale genre theme, to take the ideals and typical types of characters and creatures you may see in fairy tale stories (and giving some of them a bit of a twist). So as planned- here is my completed Inktober drawings!!

Redecorating the Office Space! #1

The DIY has begun! So you may remember me mentioning in a past post that I wanted to re-design and redecorate the office space that I use for most of my work time. I wanted something airy and happy in mood so I thought that I should use pastel shades to keep the feeling light! I ended up deciding on mint colours with accents of pale pink on the accessories and furnishings.

So the first wall has been completed, after two mornings and afternoons I got to my striped dream pattern. I painted the base coat of the lightest shade of mint. There were some beautiful swatches in B&Q which led me to the Valspar collection (so many colours!). This was followed by measuring out 7" stripes and using masking tape to keep the lines clean before rolling on the next shade. The masking tape I used was extremely sticky! but thankfully it did not peel much of the base paint off. I painted my shelf the same shade of the lighter mint to make the room feel bigger and more cohesive. I'm super excited to do the other walls but also to decorate this part of the room with bunting and frames. Stay tuned for the next instalment of my interior journey!

 

 

Visiting Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium!

I was lucky enough to be treated to the Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium. You have no idea how long I have wanted to visit and the day finally arrived! I was so excited and wanted to share my experience with all of you. The staff were friendly and warm and being around all the cats made me feel like I was in a Ghibli movie. To say thanks and to show how I felt that day, I expressed myself through illustration. If you would like to see my day, the cafe and how I made my illustration- check out my video!