Happy Valentine's Day

Spreading the love...

Visit to Seven Stories

This weekend, I took full advantage of a free Sunday by taking a trip into Newcastle to the magical Seven Stories. Their current exhibitions are the Mr Gumpy and Other Outings: 50 Years of John Burningham’s Work  and There's Nuffin like a Puffin!


I am a huge John Burningham fan! The opportunity to see a collection of his original artwork so was so exciting and inspiring! There is a huge range of images on display from doodles and sketches to huge finished pieces. I was actually suprised at how large some of his illustrations were. This exhibitions closes on the 23rd March, so if you haven't been down there yet, I would definitely advise you to do so before it's too late!


The Puffin Books exhibition was also a treat! There were some amazing illustrations on display from classics such as 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', 'Stig of the Dump', 'Each Peach Pear Plumb' and 'Meg and Mog'. There were even a few rejection letters on display, which is comforting to young hopefuls out there! 


Unfortunately I was unable to visit Seven Stories when Oliver Jeffers was creating his amazing installation in the Attic Space in November 2010. The installation is based on the award winning 'The Incredible Book Eating Boy'. During this visit I trekked it to the very top of the building to see it! It was well worth the climb :)


Very much looking for to their next exhibition of Through the Magic Mirror, the World of Anthony Browne which opens on Saturday 9 April 2011.

Part of the Oliver Jeffers Installation

Part of the Oliver Jeffers Installation

Part  of the Oliver Jeffers Installation

Me in the book shop, next to Pooh

Sky Blue Red

For the last couple of days I've been working on an EXTREMELY FUN website design for Sky Blue Red as part of my day job with Big Bang Creative.

Sky Blue Red work with artists in the Tees Valley and surrounding areas, providing their services to schools and community events. Their new website needed to represent the creative and magical experience that they provide.

I was SO EXCITED when I was briefed on this project, as I'm sure you can imagine! I created all of the illustrative elements from little doodles in my sketchbook and scanned them in. I added some flat colour in Photoshop to some of the elements to 'pull' them forwards. The overall feel that I tried to get across was one of colour, texture and fun - all characteristics that sum up the Sky Blue Red boss, Miki Rogers! :)

I hope you enjoy these sneaky little peaks...

Illustration Friday - Reverse

Just about squeezing this one into this week's Illustration Friday topic of 'Reverse'.

Little Fellas

It's quite nice finding stuff that you haven't seen for a while.

I came across these little fellas today when flicking through one of my sketchbooks. They were part of a flash animation project that I did last year.

Illustration Friday - Reverse Sketch

Here is a taster from my initial sketches for this week's Illustration Friday topic of 'Reverse'.

Illustration Friday - Surrender

Here it is - my very first submission to Illustration Friday! Hope you enjoy!