rough

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

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!

over the hills...

Really enjoying this image and a couple of others by Riikka Sormunen.  The way they are composed is beautiful and so clever and I'm in love with the sepia hues in this illustration.  Awed.

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!

christmas on the cobbles

Bring along your shiny pennies and stock up on stocking fillers at the Frome Artisan Market!

There will be illustrative prints, gift wrap, cards and lot of other treats for sale in the fabulous Poot, which is chock full of beautiful dresses (including Orion London), vintage knits, shoes, accessories and waistcoats.  If that's not enough to entice you, the Catherine Hill Christmas lights will be brought to life at 5PM!  All proceeds from the Bath Spa Christmas Fayre will go towards financing our final year show, which we want to be a big hit.

winter warmer

Today I bought myself a nice cosy fair isle knitted cardie with little reindeer faces stitched on the front in preparation for the colder weather and my (imminent) second yurting experience.  It made me contemplate how content a reindeer would feel in a people print jumper...

It could work.

away it goes

This little chap will be journeying to Germany on Monday.  Inspired by the ever lovely Claire, I have signed up for a fun project which guarantees exciting post (as an alternative to Dominoes pizza promotions and pointless communications from BT) for me and someone else around the globe.  All you have to do is request an address of another postcrosser from postcrossing.com and send them a nice postcard.  They will register your postcard as being received and then it's your turn to receive one from somewhere else in the world!

I have bought myself a pack of brightly coloured blank postcards from Paperchase's Spectrascope range and affixed a drawing to the front (by way of inkjet label).  It's entirely up to you what you send, whether its a charming vintage postcard, a pretty design or one of those amusingly drab looking townscapes, which are probably considered to be quite kitsch these days!

 The cold is on the mend and I have ducked out this afternoon to enjoy a rare spot of October sunshine and a stem ginger cookie at the local veggie cafe.  Mmm mm.

inspired by nature

If you are local to Bath, I recommend you make your way straight over to the Rostra Gallery on George Street to gape at some beautiful screen prints by Graham Carter (illustration above).  Lots of striking colours and endearing characters to muse over (my personal favourite being the enormous owl).

work (experience) and play

I have been doing a lot of learning this week.

And what a lovely week it has been.

I have been encouraged to add a little bit of 'play' into my work, whether it's in ripping things up, drawing with my left hand, creating layers and textures or embracing wonky lines and pritt stick.  Why?

'What happens in life is that we become attached to doing "what works" or what is comfortable.  We get stuck in a comfort "habit".  This is fine if we want to have the same outcome over and over, but if we want to create something new we must always venture into the unknown.'  Keri Smith