Read, Listen, Learn, Create.

I've been drawing a lot of book covers recently as little drawing exercises to play with my technique. 

I don't really read as much as I should. I'm constantly busy with freelancing and then working my part time job and just being a person and I usually reach for Netflix before bed instead of a book. It bugs me, I used to live in books and I do still love them. It got me onto thinking about how we consume books nowadays. A lot of mine are through the radio or audiobooks while I'm working. Which led into this piece:

I'm trying to vary my colour palette more at the moment. I always grab onto bright bolds and contrast them with cool colours and I find my work doesn't seem to translate well without them. I managed not to use pink, purple or yellow today though. So thats a plus.

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Spooky Shelves

Yeah back to the crazy colours! 

Really enjoyed this one, it felt very natural. (Which might mean that its objectively not great but I like it!)

I also made it into a gif because I couldn't decided on the eyes in the crystal ball. It kind of got out of hand. The voodoo doll is my favourite. :)

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Festive Spirit Infusions

When in the Library last looking for cocktail recipes high off the caipirinha illustrations, I found a super nice book about home-brewing. I got a bit over excited I'll be honest but rather than fill our attic with fermenting bottles and yeast I decided to focus on the rather simple infusions of shop bought spirits. I found some crazy concoctions like lavender and black pepper vodka but the recipes that follow are my favourites.

I haven't made any yet because I want to give them away as christmas presents and none have long lives. The christmas thing fed into forming the illustrations into a book to accompany the bottles. So organised this year!
(P.S. If you are my mum please forget you saw any of this...)

I really wanted to experiment with using a limited colour palette for this project. I'm usually very heavy on the colours and contrasting so I wanted to challenge myself and not rely on it too much. This feels sophisticated but I recon in hindsight the colours could have more pop. Maybe be bolder/brighter. 

At least my eye balls didn't go all 'opening the lost ark' for once...

I'll do a blog post of the process once I'm making the infusions with photos of me wrestling quinces and drinking vodka as soon as I've found some quinces and can afford vodka...

Check out how its going to kinda look when its all lovely and printed:

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Ode to Puzzle Island

PUZZLE/PUZZLE/PUZZLETIME/PUZZLE/PUZZLE

How many birds can you find?!

When I was a kid I was obsessed with a book called Puzzle Island. It is the best.

I want to do more kids friendly interactive illustrations so this is a first attempt. Came out a bit yellow. But then yellow is cool.

I can't decide if I like it better on the dark background or not. I think the birds are a bit harder to find.

I still spend hours pouring over this book. Its so magic.

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A nice bum and some cool tattoos.

A book illustration I'm working on: 

Its going to be a nightmare to colour but I'm looking forward to it!

Peek!

All finished on the far eastern front! 

Go to print on monday. The laws of Repro-graphics decree that I should cry at least once and print something the wrong way up with dodgy registration marks and then cry a bit more.

Can not wait. 

Three pages to be printed into a tiny, tiny zine!

A Thousand Nights

I'm currently working on a short 'comic' commissioned by my tutor who worked with me on my dissertation to be published in an anthology. As my dissertation was all about the illustrated map within literature novels he suggested I explore the maps effect of taking the reader on a journey, acting as a contents page for the novel to follow.  Here I am looking at presenting a story via a non-linear narrative told solely through pictures. 

At the moment it is based loosely on Arabian Nights or A Thousand and One Nights, suggesting the inspiration or origin of each fresh nightly tale.

I'm still trying to refine my technique of combining my chunky infant school pencil drawings with digital colour. I want lovely textures of the final image but without loosing he freedom of the colour tests from the middle two images. It's difficult to find the middle ground. But so, so much fun!

Deciding on colour is hard too. I love the back and white roughs but I'm too much of a sucker for brash rub your face all over colour! Perhaps I'll go back and greyscale the finals?