B&B(WIP)

December WIP:

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A Festival Guide to Not Getting Scurvy.

I'm working lots of music festivals and events to pay my rent and meet new people over the summer and the staff food is pretty dire. I usually pack loads of extra bits to make sure I'm not a malnutritioned zombie by the end of each event.

So I made this fun friendly guide leaflet:

(click for resolution)

Thats me. In the portaloo...

I'm trying to find a way to print it right now, so I'll stick up some images as soon as I do. 

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Swimventures!

I recently got back into swimming having been plagued for a good few years by silly body image insecurities and all the stuff that does no one any good. 

Still, getting in is always a bit of an event. I swear I don't know how people can look so good whilst I'm trying not to drown or blind anyone else. But now I've got over it all I'm kinda enjoying the swimming part too much to care.

Its super lovely and everyone should go! You get to smell like chlorine for what I'm assuming is the rest of all time. Totally worth it. 

Colour

I've recently re-fallen head over heals for colouring pencils. 
I rediscovered the pack I had to buy at new blood to make temporary business cards and recently had a colouring in powered tea party. It was the bees knees.

The chickpea soup is AMAZING!

We've also had a bunch of birthdays around here so I've been busy scribbling horses and buddhas and whatnot. I feel like it looks like I don't care if I don't make them myself!

I'm trying to figure out how to get a better finish on some and then I can start working them into my bigger illustrations. Exciting!

That jacket though. 

I need it.

A lot more detail in this one and all the better for having previously practiced the technique. I found the hair a bit of a sticky point but I think thats to do with it being a magazine scan and thus textured. Really a whole lota fun though :) Want to do more!

(also note complimentary puppy hair...thanks Cass. I know how you like to be part of everything I do.)

Experiments in Fashion.

I've been wanting to do a project like this for such a long time. It's been on every to-do list for the past year so I finally decided to see if it would work. And it does kinda. I think the colours might need to be toned back and I'm gonna have to be super savvy with my shadows and textures but I'm pretty pleased!

Now I just need some lovely collaborators! (I think using vogue pages might be stealing...)

It's also gonna have to be crazy Hi-Res to limit pixilating and maximise details.

UK Vogue Dec 09 - Emma Summerston

I drew a lady last night and I liked her moody face so she's blue. tru story bro.

Also I like how it looks when you make you're eyes go all blurry...

Chunky Coloured Crayons!

Heres some lovely pencil drawings to make up for not doing much for pretty much the whole of january.  (sorry)

I've kinda been in a massive 'oh god what am I doing with my life' period for a few weeks. I think my post-graduation meltdown has finally arrived.
I'm giving up my studio as it just hasn't worked (although I did dream it was inside howls moving castle last night so maaaybe I'll reconsider...) and I'm now seriously planning my move to the big smoke even though I can't really support myself yet. It's super scary and possibly stupid but I've reached a 'something has to change' point and I can't back away from that. But things are cool now!

Today I did lots of drawing that is outwardly productive and not just scrawls in a sketchbook and I'm feeling super inspired and all I want to do is draw all day again. I think its just hard to stay enthusiastic and continually full of creative beans. Look at all these beans. 

textures schmextures.

I don't know why but I love this. Just some textures for...textures.

cool.

Who needs kidneys anyway?

My mum has always had problems with her kidneys since she was a kid but during the summer their 'functionality' dropped to a dangerous level and so it seems that she needs an extra one soon!
In the meantime she'll be starting peritoneal dialysis. Its scary stuff but shes got lots of love and support around her. 
For Christmas I was browsing potential dialysis safe cookbooks (recipes with low potassium, no fresh or dried fruit and no chocolate or marmite! etc, etc and etc) And there were bugger-all nice looking or well designed books to be had. 
I think it makes the whole restricted diet thing much more depressing when the design bores you to tears so I designed a happy colourful and fun cookbook! 
Bon Appetit!

Potassium is the major baddie in this. And its in lots of stuff that everyone likes to eat lots like potato and crisps and chips and lots of fruit and veg. Its sucks. But you can get rid of it via the Double Boil. It just means meals take a little while more to make.

I actually made and tested all these recipies and the the Pantzaroslata was by far the most fun.

Lots of pink and beets!

I'm massively happy with this, its a really lovely little (actually huge) book that I can give to my mum. It's not much but it feels like something towards everything. 

(I'll get better photos up soon! Promises!)

GROW! Seed Packaging.

Hello!

These happy chaps are a range of seed packets designed to fold out and grow! 

They'd be sold to children in newsagents like Pokemon cards as an alternative to sweets and as a little gardening projects to encourage environmental awareness.

Basically there'd be some sort of compact soil within the character and then you just add water, let it grow and then plant the whole thing in the garden or a big pot!

Suspiciously carroty looking cress...

Bagatelle Comic book Cover.

So it turns out my comicbook piece for the anthology is going to be printed in black and white... sooo it was suggested that I design a possible cover for the anthology as well using the same style and colours. And here it is. Super cuffed (:

 

Luckily the comic book colours do convert to black and white well and the contrast means that everything is still visible and identifiable.

Terry Reid - Brickyard Poster

Finished Terry Reid poster.

Without being all 'my life is woe and I hate my work' I honestly feel awful about this design. More the finish than the design. It's done now and I've learnt my lesson. I really need to work on my lines. This has got far too much texture and spontaneity, which is usually a good thing in my work but here it ruins the illustration. baghh.

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?