Molly - Part 1

This is a little peak of a project that I am working on at the moment. I have recently been doing lots of story-boarding and planning but I am finally starting to add colour to my illustrations.

This little girl is called Molly and she has a very interesting tale to tell.

More to come soon...

Cupcake Camp Bournemouth 2012

I have recently been working on this illustration commission for the wonderful Cupcake Camp Bournemouth event 2012.

This wonderful event is taking place on the 17th of March 2012 at the Bournemouth Pavilion and is raising money for the NSPCC charity. If you are a keen baker please get in touch as they are looking for donations to reach a total of 600 cupcakes for the day. If you are a keen cupcake eater and you live in the Dorset and Hampshire area make sure you keep this date free!!

It has been a pleasure to be apart of such a wonderful event!

You can find and LIKE Cupcake Camp Bournemouth on Facebook here, and you can follow them on twitter here.

Thank you x

Holly Surplice @ ECA

This week at Edinburgh College of Art, we were very lucky to have a very special visiting illustrator... the lovely Holly Surplice. Holly is one of my favourite illustrators working in the current children's book market so I was EXCITED when she agreed to coming in.

During her visit, Holly did a little presentation telling us all about her, her work and making it in the industry. She showed us a variety of her work, both old and new. We even got the opportunity to see her screen-printed children's book that she created for her degree show. "Silly Jack" went on to be her first publication with Walker books in 2006.

Those students who are particularly interested in creating artwork for children and children's books also had the opportunity to have personal tutorials with her. What a fantastic experience!

Thank you to Holly and ECA for this wonderful event. I am very much looking forward to the next visit in March.

You can find Holly Surplice here....
www.marblesink.co.uk
www.hollysurplice.blogspot.com

My Products

I have recently been creating products for my own online store. These cute little keyrings and mugs are a sneaky peak at the sorts of exciting things that you will find there.

I had so much fun making them, it became a little addictive. I have definitely found another niche that I would like to create more for. 

So if you need a pretty new mug for work, or a very cute new keyring then check out my store when it is up and running. I hope that my little products all find kind and loving new homes.

Watch this space! :)

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.

Illustration Friday - Scattered

A true representation of my work methods :P

How do you like to work?

New project

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