Sketching...

Despite the fact that I am relishing the freedom of drawing without thought of pleasing anyone but myself, I really did very little of it in Italy. Just a couple while on the beach. I think I put myself off because I didn't like what I did do. So much for this only pleasing myself thing! I am, as ever, my harshest critic and the one hardest to please. However, I'm going to post them here for the sake of honesty. We're all allowed a few mistakes, right?

Spectacular, Spectacular!

I haven't posted in a while now I know but I've got a pretty good excuse: I've been in Italy! and also working on the farm quite a lot too but that's not as interesting! I did manage to do a little sketching while on the beach (oh yes! ON. THE. BEACH! it was still warm and sunny enough in October to lie on the beach!) although that's not why I'm posting today. Italy will have to wait. Today I wanted to share this: The Tate's Pre-Raphaelites:Victorian Avant-Garde exhibition. It looks spectacular and I for one can't wait to go. This will be a family outing for sure. Ever since I can remember my world has been imbued with the imagery of the Pre-Raphaelites. Mum and dad took me and my sister to many other exhibitions, we had a calendar, bought post cards, read the plays, poems, legends and myths that many of their works illustrated. If I had a wall of inspiration, these paintings would tread a merry path across the entire length of it.

Fred and Ginger get a feathery make-over!

Just two very quick sketches I produced to go in the Plaw Hatch Farm newsletter. They are to accompany a written piece about the many colourful animal characters that often wonder into the shop there (Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers being two of them obviously!). I can tell you that drawing poultry on a tight deadline is pretty hard and I struggled with these two. I don't think I quite managed to capture their toe-tapping skills! But I would just like to say here and now that Bantams (that's Freddie) are officially my favourite breed. They look so smart with their fluffy trousers! I think Fred Astaire would be pleased to know his namesake was keeping up with his style.

Goodluck little envelopes being whisked through Royal Mail!

So, I've been all productive! Tomorrow I'll be taking my first steps to actually contacting potential clients by sending these 11 babies off into the scary world of art directors with business and post cards inside. It's not an extensive list, only really A-B of publishers and a couple of other magazines etc. but it's a start! To be honest, as I cut out all the envelopes individually by hand, it would have been difficult with much more...well, not so much difficult as time consuming and laborious which is what the tutors were always telling us not to do but....I want to make a good impression darn it! I just have to keep telling myself that the worst that can happen is that I'll hear nothing, but I also have that horrible voice in my head that's telling me they'll turn around and tell me that I'm a fraud! As I asked you to cross your fingers for me before, maybe you could cross your toes this time?

Brave New World.

The House of Illustration have launched their new competition to illustrate a book for The Folio Society. Last year the book was Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber and this year it will be Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It's the chance for illustrators who have not previously worked with The Folio Society to get their work seen which is great for people like myself. I know little about the book in question except that it would probably not be on my ideal reading list given the choice (dystopian prophesies of a new age isn't quite the thing I'm used to reading, or indeed, illustrating! as former posts will show) but I think because of that it could be a unique challenge to set myself. Certainly the cover of the book I've been lent by my dad is in dire need of redesigning (although dad argued that you can't go wrong with Masaccio! It's true but there's a time and a place and a thumbnail size version of The Expulsion on a plain chocolate brown background is definitely neither). In the same way that you can learn something from arguing the opposite point to what you believe in a debate, I feel that I just might do the same from trying to illustrate something that I would usually not even look at twice. In a way, you become less preciouses about the result that way and in these cases great things can sometimes happen. I am flexing my fingers in readiness. This could be fun!

Yay is me!

Yesterday I could not find the prit-stick I knew was somewhere on my desk! This made me endlessly happy :)

Cushion covers and competitions.

As promised, new artwork as it comes off the desk. All these designs I did for competitions, some using old work and some new.

These illustrations were for a clothing company who were looking for a design to put on their Christmas pyjamas. I chose the theme of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker to come up with these Christmas-sy figures.    

While these two cushion cover designs are for an online company selling illustrated products called Ohh Deer

Keep your fingers crossed.