taking shape...

Currently designing a piece of wooden bunting for Bristol's forthcoming BUNT exhibition, for Bristol's Big Green Week.  Each wooden triangle, designed by lots of different illustrators, will depict an endangered or threatened species found in the South West.  I have chosen to screen print the Cornish Chough, and am looking forward to giving him a glorious red beak...if I can only get the drawing right!!  I will update you with my progress...(eek).

In other news, it's your last chance to enter my little bag giveaway!  Just post a comment here for your chance to win a hand-screen-printed tote bag.   I will be deeply flattered.

I hope you're all having a glorious sunny day!  I will be getting a taste of the sunshine at the recycling centre (exciting, I know.  It is worrying how much I am looking forward to ousting the huge mound of recycling that has been slowly taking over our kitchen while the car has been out of action.  We cannot move for empty plastic bottles).

STUDIO BAKE DAY

I may have neglected to mention that I've moved into the wonderful little creative hub that is the Drawn in Bristol illustration studio in Stokes Croft (pictures to follow, as soon as I can find room in my bag for my camera!), nestled inside Hamilton House (a big melting-pot inhabited by lots of talented and creative artists, designers, musicians and filmmakers).

One of the lovely ladies on my floor initiated a Bake Day as incentive for her to leave the house and do some work on a Friday.  Well, today the oven gloves were passed over to me, so I thought I'd share a recipe with you (I may have had a helping hand from the Asda mag).

1) Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius (I couldn't find the little circular symbol).

2) Beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric whisk for around five minutes, or until the mixture has a thick but light consistency.

3) Mix in the mashed bananas (I used a mixture of slightly spotty, overly-ripe bananas and just-right bananas so that the loaf was flavoursome, but not too over-powering), milk, honey and vanilla extract.

4) Sift in the flour*, cinnamon, ground ginger and baking powder until just combined.

5) Stir in a handful of chocolate chips.

6) Spoon the mixture in a non-stick loaf tin and place in the oven on the middle shelf to bake for one hour, until the loaf is golden brown on top.

7) Put the loaf on a wire rack to cool it down.

8) Enjoy with a nice hot cup of tea.

*The recipe actually specified that the wholemeal flour should be plain, and not self-raising, but I bought the wrong type, and therefore also abandoned the bicarbonate of soda.  It didn't rise terribly well (none of my loaves do), but was perfectly delicious and generous in size!

Also, I was reminded of this today, and thought I would share it with you.

treasure hunting

Hello world! It's been a while, and I do apologise. I drew this colourful fella for a very special lady who gave me the best news I have received all year not so long ago (I'm going to be a bridesmaid!!), so I hope she won't mind if I share him with you. I feel like he should be integrated into an illustration of some sort...watch this space!


Having been in a sullen, sulky mood for most of yesterday, it was a relief to get out of the flat and do some treasure hunting around Bristol's finest second hand book shops and vintage outlets...I'm sure these beauties will come in handy at some point! (You can never have too many flower books, in my opinion.)

Also, I had to by the latest copy of Bone-shaker for this illustration by Rosie Gainsborough...

Little bit in love with her website now, too.


Currently reading: The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
Currently enjoying: Lizzy Stewart's thoroughly beautiful and entertaining London diary
Currently looking forward to: First Aid Kit at Rise next Wednesday

sketchbook

My desk is covered in pens and mugs once again, and I am enjoying the heat from my angle poise lamp and the sound of Jono McCleery, and the smell of spices coming from the kitchen...

...Quite relieved that my attempt at a raspberry was chopped off in the scanner.

Not to scale

It's coming...

Winter is on its way...it's almost acceptable to wear woolly hats again and I'm getting excited about hot soup, and Christmas shopping (okay, it's a little early for that).  But let's not forget about Autumn, my favourite season.  There are certain songs that sound even better in Autumn (like this one).  And the sun is shining but it's refreshingly brisk.  Bristol looks especially good in Autumn.

the cowshed

New stuff is materialising every day in the mad rush that is the final month of my degree!  Just gotta finish it!

Had fun with Joanna in the studio today.  Although I'm guilty of grumbling sometimes, I will miss being draped in fabric and trekking out to desolate fields with you when all this is over, Miss Cranwell.

Enjoying image making whilst sipping orange juice and listening to folky tunes this morning...

around the world

I am having lots of fun generating book cover roughs at the moment, even if it is preying upon my desire to travel!

closing time

Thank you to everyone who wandered down to the Chalk and Cheese exhibition this week!  I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed watching people peering at the artwork whilst chomping on stilton and cheddar.  I am in deep admiration of Amber Grayson (and her team of helpers) for fusing the whole thing together.

If you missed it, please have an ogle at the blog to see what the illustrators of Bath School of Art and Design have to offer...!

isn't it good, norwegian wood

I thought I'd better let you all know that I'm still here!  It's been a busy old month of screen printing (don't get me started) and quick deadlines.  I've just completed a magazine cover for a competition (watch this space) and a quick entry for Don't Panic's Norwegian Wood poster comp.  I'm not hugely proud of this one, but the book was so beautiful, I felt compelled to give it a shot!  

And I feel a little guilty admitting it, but I'm pretty massively excited about the film adaptation!

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WORKING ON: Chalk & Cheese exhibition

ENJOYING: Lizzie Stewart's London adventures

LISTENING TO: Radiohead's new album, The Tallest Man on Earth

This week I've been getting really stuck into my Black Swan poster project, for which I have been hastily illustrating twenty five stamps.  So, I thought I would share with you some of my favourites...

salamano

I have just finished illustrating Salamano, Mersault's old callous neighbour in The Outsider, who is transformed into a delicate, melancholy soul when his poor mistreated dog finally runs away from him.

mr. mersault

* Note: Sorry for re-posting this so many times...there was a very irksome spelling mistake in the title and I just had to get rid of it!

I am sad to say that I missed yesterday's deadline for the Folio Society's illustration competition for Albert Camus' The Outsider.  But here is a quick illustration I've put together, post-deadline, in response to Mr Mersault's prison experience, upon remembering the familiar sights and sounds of Algiers from outside his cell.


I am mainly just pleased that I've managed to put a person into one of my pictures that isn't a silhouette or a tracing, at last!  This guy was inspired by Petra Borner's lovely figure drawing.  She may have saved me from an on-going struggle.

a hint of summer

After a couple of truly unsuccessful attempts, here is the image I've clawed together for my Fringe poster submission!  I'm up against some pretty stiff competition and there are more than a couple of niggling tweaks I need to do, so I don't know if this will cut it, but it should add some vibrancy to my portfolio at least!


I will update you all on my New Year adventures in Scotland very soon...I am eagerly awaiting the collection of my photos tomorrow (though I fear they may be reflective of the grey, dreary January weather) and of course, the hand-in of the dreaded dissertation (I can recommend these guys for binding, they seem to have done a splendid job).  In the meantime, I have a scary amount of work to do and a kettle to boil!


Happy New Year!

the gardener's studio

For the man who has everything (or rather, insists he wants nothing for Christmas)...something to hang on his wall. Or my old bedroom, incidentally, which has become a drawing studio for my dad's landscape gardening business.  But it still looks a lot like it did when I left it (bless them) so I thought it could do with a touch of personalisation.

  

inspiration etcetera...

There's nothing like being ill and guiltlessly drawing a whole bunch of animals for fun to coax yourself out of a major design slump.  The little bunny is for a lovely girl named Issie who turns fourteen today.  Happy birthday, you!

In other news, I saw Karolin Schnoor's work featured on Print & Pattern today and can honestly say I am gutted I've never come across her work before!  It's amazing (I think you would like it in particular, Amber).

Also, I'm thinking about setting up an Etsy shop to sell some of my remaining Christmas Fayre goodies like these notebooks, so watch this space! (Please forgive the awful quality of the photo, my cameraman has left the house leaving me with only an analogue SLR at my disposal...good old Photo Booth.)

That's all for now folks.

it's a cold one.

I'm not sure why I haven't blogged this yet, but it seems appropriate today!  Brrr.

I'm excitedly making plans for what I'm hoping will be a white snowy birthday next week...but I'm anticipating a sludgy, blustery one.

I've been a major victim of procrastination today.  The dissertation draft is in!  Now I need to try and disengage my writing brain and get on with some well-deserved doodling!  A cup of tea might help me along, we shall see!

a small comfort

I have had to remind myself of this constantly today.

What's more, there's rather a large type-free gap in my portfolio, so as well as trying to cheer up soggy pedestrians with my cheery window "ads", I've been delving into a little bit of hand drawn text.  What do you think?

I have also been excitedly penning vintage shoes in my sketchbook ready for our collaboration with Poot.  I don't know if it's the cold weather, or the emergence of Christmas lights, or the fact that the shop on the way into Bradford on Avon has been counting down to Christmas for well over a couple of months now, but all I want to draw is Christmassy things!  I will share them with you very soon.

But for now I am off to Bath for a Thai feast!

Note: I would like to take this opportunity to express my upmost affection to the kind of people who take time out of their day to offer Photoshop advice to frustrated souls like myself.  I no longer have ugly white lines around my images.  Thanks Yahoo.