By The River

The London Transport Museum have been running an illustration competition for posters showing the Thames, my entry turned out slightly unrealistic but optimistic I'd say!

AAF

A couple of weeks ago I went to The Affordable Art Fair in London and I've been meaning to share a couple of my favourite artists ever since...

Ben Hawkes - I just spotted this one print from a distance but it really made me smile

Jo Lamb - the gorgeous hot colours and loose style of this really drew me in

Beth Richardson - already one of my favourites from last year, I loved seeing her new paintings, lots of beatifully painted big expanses of colour. In fact, I stood staring at them for such a long time that the gallery owner approached me to tell me more about them, which I hate to admit freaked me out a bit (as I couldn't even pretend I could afford to buy one) and I didn't stick around for too much longer. I'm definitely a big fan though!

Moi

I needed a picture of myself to give to my illustration agency the other day, and good photos of me seem to be severely lacking, so I drew me instead. So for those of you who don't know me, this is what I look like, down to the last pixel (!).

Flying The Flag Part II

I moved flat a few months ago, and in the redecorating and furnishing process ended up with a LOT of union jacks in the living room/kitchen (on cushions & breakfast bar stools). And when juxtaposed with Penguin mugs and paintings, a Keep Calm and Carry On poster, and some fridge magnets of traditional British products (Marmite, Colman's mustard, HP sauce etc.), it was all suddenly looking a bit, well, patriotic. So, when we needed a new cushion on the sofa, I decided to throw a bit of the US of A in to the mix to take the emphasis off Britain! And here it is (liberties have been taken with the layout, but its an approximation)...

Chop Chop

Do you know the cookware brand Joseph Joseph? They have a lovely bright, witty range of products. Well, they've been running a competition to design glass worktop savers, I entered the other week so just thought I'd share my entries...

Greetings

Here are a few new card designs I've just been working on this evening, going for a screenprinted effect again...

New Look!

If you've been here before, you might notice that I've had a bit of change around on the blog... the new design ties in with my new website (but was easier to do so is a bit of a sneak preview). Hopefully the website will follow in the next couple of weeks, so watch this space!

Nellie The...

Up In The Air

Yesterday I read a story in one of the weekend magazines about a man who crossed the Channel using just helium balloons to carry him. He talked about how quiet and peaceful it was in the air with no engines or propellors, and it just seemed like a nice thing to draw (although neither he nor the balloons really looked like this, I used lots of artistic licence)...

Texturama

I've been experimenting with a sort of textured, printed look... here are the first runs!

Signs

I'm doing some new illustrations for my portfolio and for when I update my website... I thought a horoscope would be a nice start to the New Year (not that I ever read mine, but it's a ready-written brief)!

Back on the Blog!

This blog has been quiet for too long! A mix of moving house, not having internet access and other excuses has meant a terrible gap between posting, but that is over now. One of the things I've been working on, and just just finished, is this website for my sister Sasha who is an artist, and who has owned her domain name for years without having anything to see there. And now she has. Next up is my own website, now that I've learned so much more about how to build them properly!

Queen of Hearts

I've been a terrible poster over the last few weeks, as I've been moving home. The internet connection is still to come, but I thought I'd pop on this illustration I did yesterday. I wanted to do a nice version of the usual playing card designs, which when you look closely at them, are really quite ugly! And of course the romantic in me chose the Queen of Hearts as the one to do!

They Draw & Cook

Have you come across the website/project They Draw & Cook? It's a brilliant idea, set up by brother and sister designers, and the idea is that people contribute a recipe that they've illustrated however they like, and perhaps one day they'll be made into a book. I sent in a recipe a few weeks ago and the other day it got to the top of the list and was posted! Click here for a larger version.

Hair Slide How To

My most recent DIY project for the wonderful Small magazine blog is up (and in fact has been up for a while, I've been somewhat lax) here.