Thursday, 30 July 2009

A Beavy of Mermaids

I'm sure that should be the collective term for a group of mermaids. Sounds just perfect to me. It may have taken me over a week to draw up this little lovely, but here she is. I've been experimenting with a limited palette today. At the weekend I'm going to have a go with full colour.

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Wednesday, 29 July 2009

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby, Right Round

This is what you get when you add the "Polar Co-ordinates" filter in Photoshop to a panoramic photo:

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You can also see some awesome examples of the same effect here along with a tutorial on how to get it.

Tuesday, 28 July 2009

I Wish I Could Go To This On Saturday...







































...and I REALLY wish I had created this poster. It's FAB with a cherry on top.

Monday, 27 July 2009

Awesome Teatowel

By Stuart Gardiner. Too beautiful to use, think I'll have to put it up on the kitchen wall. Very inspiring, too.

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Saturday, 25 July 2009

Rock On

Last night Boyfriend and I went down to the re-opening of Brighton's Victorian "Birdcage" bandstand, last used in 1974. We saw some great performances, snuck off for ice cream and waffles in the middle, and returned to watch the grand lighting-up ceremony and catch the last band (whose name I can't remember but were awesome anyway). I managed to take this photo from behind as they played:

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Read more about the bandstand on it's official website here, and on the B&HCC website here.

Thursday, 23 July 2009

BOGOF!

I don't mean that in a rude way of course, I'm just letting you know that from 10am today until 10pm on Monday 27th July, all prints in my Etsy shop are Buy One Get One Free! A crazy bargain, I think you'll agree.

Go shopping

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Tuesday, 21 July 2009

Mermaid

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Strawbz

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This morning when I took these photos it was nice and sunny, and I had planned to take more when I went out this afternoon, but, alas, the heavens hath opened.

There are FAR too many tourists in town already. I'm going to have to start avoiding it for the next six weeks or so. I know I should be happy that other people think my city is awesome - it is, after all, and a few years ago I was one of them - but, bloody hell, it's annoying having to pick/push/side step your way past a bunch of people just wandering about!

Monday, 20 July 2009

NnG III - Evolution

Last one of these for a while, I think. These are two I grabbed while working at Coldean Library one day.

This one, "Dogfish" was actually brought to my attention by Sister no.3 a while ago, who was concerned it was a bit too much like my "Fish Don't Play Ball" book for her liking. Although I can see there are obvious parallels (like a dog, a fish and a boy), it's not all that similar in storyline. There are no original ideas, after all!

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I love the retro-yet-modern feel of this one, (written by Gillian Shields and illustrated by Dan Taylor) and I particularly like the way the backgrounds are just suggested. I rarely put backgrounds into my work these days, and when I do I find it difficult. I'm definitely inspired by the simple blocks in the one above that just say "New York" (or similar) without being too obvious or detailed or distracting from the characters.

This one I picked up just for its sense of fun. This is "Hattie The Bad" written by Jane Devlin and illustrated by Joe Berger.

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I often get a bit bogged down by making sure arms and legs are positioned in a realistic way, but what I like here is that you read the limbs as limbs without them being too anatomically correct. I love the one above where she's flashing her knickers. I know I'd freak out about how to show the position of her head here, but the way Joe has done it is great. Simple yet effective! That should be my mantra. Nice typography, too.

Well, that's it for now. I come across great picture books all the time - perk o'the job - so I'm sure I will be putting more up here as soon as I find them.

Now I suppose I ought to create some new work of my own to put up as I've been a little lax lately. I have a session booked for next Tuesday at the print studio where I'm going to print up "Wicked Witch" and "Unicorn". They tell me that they are running lots of courses there over the summer, so I might not be able to go back for a while after that. I shall have to work on setting up my own print studio at home....

Tuesday, 14 July 2009

NnG Part III - Revenge of The Hardbacks

I'm going to devote this post just to one book as I think it's BEAUTIFUL and illustrated by one of my favourite artists. A present from Boyfriend, this version of "Hansel and Gretel" is written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by the amazingly talented Jen Corace, of whom I have wittered on about at length before, but about whom you can read more on her website.

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Isn't that turquoise empire-line duffel coat with the orange lining just gorgeous? I'd love a real-life one of those.

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60's Swedish chalet Gingerbread House. Love it.

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And Gretel's hair! And the pattern on the vegetable basket behind her! I love how Jen's work is stylised and Victorian and detailed, yet at the same time very simplistic.

I'm going to stop waffling on now, and let us all just enjoy the illustrations. According to Amazon, Jen has many more books coming out over the next six months. I can't wait to see them. Her work makes me want to draw Edwardian ladies in long, sweeping dresses and elaborate hats. Watch this space....