Friday 16 December 2011

End of Semester

Display of  "work in progress". My desk in the MA/MFA Illustration Studio

My exposed screen... ready for printing

Experimenting in the print studio (Edinburgh College of Art)


Prints in the drying-rack


Completed Print


I have just completed my final deadline and first semester at Edinburgh College of Art, so I thought I would share what I have been up to.

I have used this initial research semester to explore the representation of Multicultural Britain in children's books and the process of screen-printing. I have carried out two focus group sessions that have supported this work, which involved analysing both old and new children's books that aim to represent characters from different ethnic backgrounds. 

Some of this research time was observational, in which I spent Dame Dorothy Primary School in Sunderland. This was a great opportunity to study a classroom environment and see how children interact with each other. I didn't get as much done as I had hoped however, as the children were so interested in what I was drawing and asking me lots of questions! I also spent some afternoons studying the wonderful displays at The Museum of Childhood on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh.

Alongside this research, I am developing an idea for a children's book. I look forward to sharing more about this with you soon.

Thank you for reading.


Thursday 20 October 2011

Illustration Friday - Scattered



A true representation of my work methods :P

How do you like to work?

Sunday 16 October 2011

New project

Thought I'd share this little sketch from a new project that I have started. Hope to share more with you soon.

Wednesday 28 September 2011

Big Bang Creative - NEW SITE





Here it is!! Big Bang have just launched their funky new site. Do you recognise the illustration work..??

Looking good Big Bang! Miss seeing your cheeky faces every morning.

** BIG WAVES FROM EDINBURGH ** 

:)

Friday 9 September 2011

Paris!


It's been a very busy few weeks for me all in preparation for starting my Masters of Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art and training up for the World Karate Championships. This is why I have been a little quiet on my blog.

I thought I would share this recent creation that followed my trip to beautiful Paris to visit my dear cousin.

Thank you to the lovely Angela Muss for some great suggestions of places to visit. We managed to fit in stops to The Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees and Montmatre. One of my favourite places was Montparnasse, where we got to see the Tower of Montparnasse and eat some amazing crepes!!! Another beautiful place was le Marais. It was such a lovely place to walk around some cute shops and restaurants. Here we enjoyed a sit in the park, followed by a scrummy hot chocolate.

Although it was only a short visit, we managed to get quite a lot of site seeing in. During our final day, we stayed more local, outside of the city centre and enjoyed a walk around the town. We explored the local woodland where we had fun 'fighting' dragons and monsters with my cousin's four year old son.

Tuesday 9 August 2011

Birthday Gift


I have recently been working up some of my hand drawn illustrations up in Adobe Illustrator. This little character was originally created for the Illustration Friday topic 'toy'. She is now going to become a birthday gift for someone very special! :)

Friday 22 July 2011

The Big Bang Studio








We have recently been making some exciting new changes at Big Bang Creative. One of those exciting projects includes decorating the studio space with lots of playful elements. 

We have created some lovely moo postcards with examples of our recent work. I have also painted our big bang superhero on different focus walls. 

Our hero features on our branded window on a large decal that we had printed by the help of Antonio Spinozzi and Robert McCarthy. Many thanks for the wonderful product!

I would also like to say a big thank you to Christian Mawlam from 90SecondStory for helping me with the photography and even letting me experiment with his super amazing and very very expensive camera!

Monday 11 July 2011

Goldilocks



I have recently been working on a fun project involving all of your favourite fairytales characters. Goldilocks is one of my very favourite characters because she is such a 'little cheeky chops' and 'super cute' all at the same time!

Goldie and her other little friends will soon be available for purchase as prints on my shop, which is also soon to be launched.

Can't wait to introduce you to everyone else!!!

Friday 17 June 2011

Big Bang Superhero



At Big Bang Creative we have been working on some exciting new illustrations. This fella is our little superhero. Dressed in the Big Bang black and green he works hard to create some wonderful work for his lovely clients.

He is super cute, super efficient, and absolutely adores cake! (He gets that from me) :)

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Illustration Friday - Asleep



I recently created this sketch as part of a personal project and thought it would be perfect for this week's Illustration Friday topic 'Asleep'.

Tuesday 24 May 2011

Inspiration

For my day job I produce a variety of design work that varies from illustration to website design. I am always looking for new inspiration and ways to unite different design/creative disciplines.

Over the last few months I have come across some lovely websites that I wanted to share with you. They have such a beautiful quality that if they were edible, you would want to guzzle them up!

Whatever your creative interest/discipline, I am sure you will be inspired!


Tuesday 17 May 2011

Illustration Friday - Safari


Thought I'll pull these fellas back out for this week's Illustration Friday topic, Safari.

Sunday 15 May 2011

Balloon Print



I was recently commissioned to create this illustration as part of a birthday gift. One sunny weekend, whilst on a lovely walk in the beautiful British countryside it dawned on me that this birthday illustration could actually become my first ever etsy product!?

Watch this space... my balloon print will be available for purchase shortly ;)

Thursday 28 April 2011

Royal Wedding Celebration



There are so many excited children around Britain who have been dressing up as little Princes and Princesses, to celebrate the British Royal Wedding.

I thought it would be nice to highlight this special occasion with my own little bride and groom surrounded by red, white and blue.

Wishing you all a happy celebration!

Monday 25 April 2011

Illustration Friday - Bicycle


The sun is out and the cobwebs have been dusted from the bicycles...

I haven't submitted an illustration to Illustration Friday for a couple of weeks due to me being here there and everywhere but at home.

What a lovely topic to come back to! Thank you to Glenda Baker for the lovely suggestion :)

Sunday 10 April 2011

Japan


Konnichiwa.

I thought I'd create this little illustration as a mark of respect, while we are all thinking of the recent disaster in Japan.

You can help by making a donation through the British Red Cross and Save the Children.

Monday 4 April 2011

Illustration Friday - Duet


For this week's Illustration Friday image I used a little character that I created a few weeks ago and gave him a little friend.

Thursday 31 March 2011

Illustration Friday - Toy

I'm not quite sure how I fit her in this week, but she is here and I'm pleased!

I used to have a bright green hula-hoop when I was younger. My sisters both had their own too. We used to stand outside the house hula-hooping for AGES, which used to amaze our neighbours :)

I think I might have to hunt it out when I next go back home and see if I've still got the moves...?? he he.

Monday 28 March 2011

Inspirational Illustrators

There are so many talented illustrators on the internet it is crazy!!

Although the amount of competition is always going to be a little intimidating, it is also extremely inspiring! I love keeping up-to-date with interesting blogposts and tweets and thought it would be nice to share some of my inspiration with you...

Here are some of my favourites... I'm sure you'll love them as much as I do...


also find her at @kristynalitten


also find her at @callyjanestudio





also find her at @marloesdevee 


also find her at @Kayles_87

Thursday 24 March 2011

Illustration Friday - Cultivate


For this week's Illustration Friday topic 'Cultivate', I decided to use my little character from last week's post. I quite like her as she was inspired by my adorable little niece.

This image also represents my back yard in the summer... full of colourful pots! I would love to have my own hens one day! So if you are wondering why those little fellas are there, now you know why ;)

Hope this illustration puts a smile on your face :)

Monday 21 March 2011

Sky Blue Red - Character Illustrations

Two of Sky Blue Red's creatives

As part of my day job I have recently designed a cute website for Sky Blue Red.  Most of the elements have been hand drawn giving it a lovely touch-feely quality. This was a lovely project to be apart of, combining illustration and web design skills.

In addition to this design work, the client asked if we could create personal character illustrations that represent their working artists/creatives. Here are two of the character illustrations that I have recently been working on.

Find Sky Blue Red on twitter here and find out what lovely projects they are working on. The website should be going live shortly so watch this space :)

Thursday 17 March 2011

Illustration Friday - Stir


For this week's Illustration Friday topic I decided to illustrate a cutie little fairy stirring up some magic. This little character is inspired by my energetic little niece who is always prancing around the house like a little fairy :)

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Recent work at Big Bang Creative

During February, I had some interesting illustration projects at Big Bang Creative. The sorts of projects that put you in a good mood as an illustrator and get you all excited for Spring!

Our Valentines Game - Love Ewe
Here is a screenshot of our Valentine's Game 'Love Ewe'. I loved designing this game. It was a bit random combination of sheep and hearts, but I think it's quite cute :)

Have a play and see if you can catch your wooly valentine! Watch out for the naughty little wolf dressed in sheep's clothing!





Big Bang Creative have just launched its Spring Offers. For this page on the Big Bang site I decided to add some illustration elements with the bright, cheerful colours of spring. A nice project to get you in a very very happy mood!





I have also been working on a NEW Easter flash game, which will be coming out very soon. Here is a little taster of the illustrations that I have been creating for it. Fun fun fun!! :)


Wednesday 2 March 2011

Illustration Friday - Swarm




























My illustration for this week's topic 'Swarm' developed naturally over an afternoon of painting and doodling with my two nieces.

The session started fairly clean and tidy with just me and my ten year old niece 'being very sensible'. My three year old niece wanted to join in the fun, and things soon became a bit messy! The finger painting came out to play - yellow dots everywhere! The genius in me decided to turn these exciting yellow dots into BEES. This humoured the little one in particular :)

Hope you enjoy them as much as we did our finger painting session!

Tuesday 1 March 2011

The Milkhope Centre, Blagdon

Cane and Pine Design

Cane and Pine Design
Cane and Pine Design
Cane and Pine Design


I had a lovely visit to The Milkhope Centre in Blagdon on Sunday. This wonderful place offers specialist shops including garden machinery and furniture, ladies fashion, soft furnishings, farm produce and fine artwork.

The most exciting place for me was Cane and Pine Design. It was like walking into HEAVEN! So much to explore between different styles of furniture, accessories and small gifts. I did manage to treat myself to two small decorative hearts to hang in my studio. I have a funny feeling I'll be visiting again soon for round two!

If you live in the North East and have a passion for beautiful things - you must make it there!! :)