Gemma Lukers Illustration

Centerparcs Getaway

2012-02-06T11:37:00.000Z

Ive been very quiet on the blog front lately, due to being very busy! I have just finished artwork on not one but TWO childrens stories, one which will be published as an E-Book shortly!

I will share a sneeky peek from one of them soon, for now wanted to share some pics from the other reason I have been MIA and thats a wonderful get-a-way break at Centerparcs in Wiltshire, in aid of my sisters 21st birthday!

Staying in a woodland lodge in the middle of forest, its a peaceful change to the hustle and bustle of London!

We even saw some deer pottering around our patio area one morning!

The rapids on the outdoor swimming area.

On the last day we were even blessed with snow (!) which made it look beautiful.

Although was very happy to be leaving, wouldnt like to be stuck there in the snow now!

Grrrr Ticket Inspectors - What I Saw On The tube Today

2012-01-15T18:21:00.000Z

For the days when you decide to risk not paying your fare, you can guarantee that is when you will run into these babies!

You can see the article on the blog now:

Read it HERE.

The Rejected Stories of Nicki May - Im on Amazon!

2012-01-11T09:32:00.000Z

Very excited to share with you a book cover I designed a while back that is now released and listed on Amazon!!

'The Rejected Stories of Nicki May' are a collection of short stories aimed at women, and its such a thrill to be seen listed as an illustrator on Amazon!

It was a great brief to work on, you can buy the book on Kindle HERE.

What I Saw On The Tube Today - New Blog Series

2012-01-09T10:28:00.001Z

Ive just started work with a great blog writer, who writes a serial blog titled 'What I Saw On The Tube Today'. Its a great read, especially for people who regularly use the tube for their commute.

Ill be illustrating his blog posts, and the first one has just gone live!

Based on what he sees on the tube, its an intriguing read, so go check it out!

Here is the first image, illustrating the first time he sees a man on the tracks:

You can read it HERE.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T10:31:00.001Z

Happy New Year Everyone!

This last year has been crazy, I have had the opportunity to do so many things illustration-wise, and have learnt many new things, I feel more comfortable with my 'style' of work, and really do believe it is looking good in comparison to when I first started!

At the moment I have quite a bit of work going on, including a new blog series of illustrations for a great writer and 2 children's books, one to be published as an E-Book!

So lets hope this year sees many more interesting and fun projects for me!

To start off the year I thought I would share an illustration I created recently for a New York publication, although it wasn't used in the end :-(

For an article written about by a woman who recently moved, she reflects how life is different in the 2 communities while collecting her morning paper.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Sneek Peek of 'The Bubble Dragons'

2011-12-14T18:29:00.000Z

Im very happy to give you a sneek peek of my first illustrated childrens book with Flying Books - 'The Bubble Dragons'!

Teen Book Issue 2

2011-12-12T20:13:00.000Z

Teen Book have launched their second issue, and used some of my illustrations for their music section.

Its a cracker of an issue, check it out HERE.

Meet Sergeant Nutty

2011-12-07T14:48:00.000Z

Meet Sergeant Nutty . . .

He likes to command armies from inanimate objects.

A pitch I created recently for a childrens story.

Christmas Card Design!

2011-12-01T15:29:00.000Z

Its official! The first day of December so I will give in and accept that christmas is on its way!

So I recently created some christmas card designs, which I entered into Stack Magazines Christmas card hunt.

The brief was to feature christmas and magazines, as they plan to send the cards out with their magazine subscriptions.

Although mine didnt get shortlisted, I quite like them, might send a few out to some special people!

First Children's Book on the horizon!

2011-11-17T20:09:00.001Z

Im pleased to announce that I am now working with Flying Books Publishers, working on my first picture book due for release next year!

They release childrens picture E-Books, created for iPad, iPhone etc, and I am collaborating with a great writer, the first story being about dragons!

Really looking forward to getting stuck in!

Veggie Vampire?

2011-11-14T12:04:00.000Z

Maybe? Maybe not!

Doggy Birthday Party

2011-11-10T09:17:00.000Z

Some examples I created for a client recently for his picture book about a dog that likes to eat lots of food!

Play Time!

2011-11-07T18:26:00.000Z

2011-11-03T13:56:00.000Z

A hamster in space . . . . why not?

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T08:26:00.000Z

Submitted this Halloween illustration to Illustration Rally which you can see HERE:

'Oopsy Daisy Katie' on Illustration Rally

2011-10-24T09:45:00.001+01:00

I recently started working more on children's illustration, and entered some of the work into the Illustration Rally picture book competition, which was a great competition where the winner gets to meet with Mike Jolly of Templar publishing and discuss their portfolio!! A great opportunity im sure you would agree!

So I've been working on some spreads for a story based on the silly things my cat Katie does (and there are quite alot!). During a uni project many moons ago, I created a pop-up book called 'Oopsy Daisy Katie', and decided to start with this again and create still illustrations for it.

These are the first 2 spreads I created, and entered into the competition, which you can see on the Illustration Rally blog:

HERE

Ive also completed a few more since then:

Im having great fun with this book, and all the things Katie gets up to, so fingers crossed for the rally!

Illustration Friday - Scattered

2011-10-20T12:26:00.000+01:00

Scattered Memories . . .

New Suit

2011-10-17T15:45:00.000+01:00

Illustration Friday - Contraption

2011-10-13T12:28:00.000+01:00

Stylist 100th Cover Competition

2011-10-10T12:26:00.000+01:00

Last week the brilliant 'free-mium' magazine 'Stylist' was running a competition to design their 100th issue cover, as they plan to launch their 100th issue made entirely by its readers!

So despite suffering from a massive cold (sob!) I designed a cover to enter, the theme had to be 'celebration' and needed to have the number '100' somewhere in the image, and so to celebrate a great magazine, I designed them a great cake:

They actually had an open office day on the final day for entries, where you could go and visit their offices and see the magazine being put together. It was also a last chance to hand in entries! Here are a few pics I took from their facebook page where you can see my entry on the wall ready for judging:

And here is the cover in all its glory:

Fingers Crossed!

Jane Hissy at The Illustration Cupboard

2011-09-21T10:31:00.000+01:00

To celebrate 25 years of 'Old Bear', The Illustration Cupboard are showing a collection of Jane Hissy, with many original drawings on display, her rough sketchbook work, and Old Bear himself!

A lovely exhibition space over 2 floors, the Illustration Cupboard have dedicated it to showcasing illustration in the heart of Piccadilly Circus, London.

Having been a big fan of Jane Hissy and her Old Bear books (these were the first I read as a child, and was amazed at the pictures, I think this is the first time I looked at a book and thought about making pictures for them myself) I was very excited to go and see these childhood illustrations in the flesh.

I wasn't disappointed. There were many of the large scale illustrations dotted around the lower ground floor and they are beautiful. Created with pencils, the detail on them is amazing, with every stitch of knit drawn in, or crease or shadow.

You can also see some of the sketches and roughs created for the books as well as some of the toys themselves.
This video created for the event is brilliant as it shows Jane talking about how she creates her illustrations (she actually sets the toys up before drawing them!) and showing you the lovely toys!

As well as Jane Hissy and Old Bear, they also have a continuous display of illustration upstairs, with prints and originals ranging from Lauren Child to Shirley Hugues:

(another childhood favorite - Where the Wild Things Are)

Its a great space full of inspirational illustration on show, well worth a look if you are in the area. Jane Hissy is on display until the 30th September, and they have a great line up after with animation of Mr Benn (more childhood favs!) and childrens illustration from John Veron Lord's Alice Through The Looking Glass.
For more info you can see their website HERE.

Oliver Jeffers at the Apple Store, Covent Garden

2011-09-16T14:58:00.000+01:00

Last night I had the opportunity to go and see one of my favourite illustrators give a little talk at the Apple Store in Covent Garden.

You may remember I was very happy to receive a copy of his book 'The Incredible Book Eating Boy' (see post here), and have since read 'The Heart and The Bottle' which is beautiful:

Some spreads from the book:

So last night started off with Oliver telling us about himself, and about the work he does, as he also paints as well as some editorial work and now some typography (he has a great handwriting style!).

He went on to explain about his picture books, how he goes about putting them together, creating the artwork and writing the story, showing examples from sketch to finished art work.

He even gave us a sneak peek of his new book 'Stuck'

And took us through the putting together of one of the spreads on Photoshop. He brought up a point which has crossed my mind many times - he has lots of 'original' illustrations, but had never took to Photoshop to create his work, fearing that digital/traditional could never be mixed. However due to circumstances at the time, he actually had to create most of the work for this book in Photoshop, creating the basics by hand and then scanning them in, and manipulating them, very similar in process to how Ive been working lately. He found that there is a lot more you can do when you combine tactics, and the work looks great so if it works for Oliver then it can still work for me!

I also picked up a few sneaky Photoshop secrets!

He also gave us a preview of 'Lost and Found', the animation being created from his picture book, which looks pretty amazing:

as well as showing off his amazing story book app for 'The Heart and The Bottle' which looks very fun, a new move for picture books!

And he even stayed around to sign books for people after, I wish I had had the sense to bring mine!

It was a great talk, fun and informative, its great to see how other illustrators work, and even better when they get up to the same things as you!

You can check out his website here.

Print style illustration

2011-09-05T11:08:00.000+01:00

Ive been working more on creating 'printed' style illustrations and think its coming along quite nicely! Although it doesnt beat getting all messy and doing the printing yourself, which I have been working on lately for some new work . . . .

The AOI Images 35 Exhibition at the Bankside Gallery

2011-08-30T16:44:00.000+01:00

Over the weekend I took the time to visit the AOI's latest images show at the Bankside Gallery, and very glad I did as there was some excellent work on show, as well as some entries from several people I know!

Loved this huge papercut illustration, the detail is brilliant!

There was some good children's illustration there as well.

I was very happy to see several Middlesex University people in the show, including my previous tutor Andy Baker!

Its on until friday, so would recommend visiting if you can!

Banking Images + Cover!

2011-08-25T10:17:00.001+01:00

Images created for articles involving banking crises, and changes that they go through.

I have also completed my first cover!

You can see the preview online, and printed versions available beginning of September!

New Work

2011-08-23T16:36:00.000+01:00

A big post showcasing some of the new styles of illustration Ive been working on lately.

First Olympics Illustration

2011-08-04T14:42:00.000+01:00

I was recently asked to create another image for the lovely people at Edu-Play Theater, this time for one of their new plays for next year about the Olympics!

Ive built up quite a collection with them, its always a joy to get their brief!

You can check out their new website HERE.

Supply Chains article & New Style!

2011-08-02T14:25:00.000+01:00

Another new style, a cheeky way of creating print-type images!

These were created for an article about supply chains, pretty boring but I think these make it feel alot better!

Jacques Townhouse Event

2011-07-27T20:11:00.001+01:00

It seems like I have only posted work for such a long time, but in the mist of hard working I have had time to get out and about! Now I have the joys of weekends off I have been making the most of them and this previous Sunday was no exception!

I managed to get tickets for the Jacques Townhouse event in West End and although I had no idea what wonders it would hold I wasnt disappointed!

Me and one of my besties headed out on a beautifully sunny evening (a brief glimpse of summer!) to the townhouse located just past Oxford Circus and was greeted with beauty before we had even set foot in the door.

(My bestie Nichola, looking very sunkissed! You should check out her blog, very girly!)

Upon entering the townhouse, you enter a wonderfully decorated foyer, complete with butlers and maids all playing their part very well. The aim of the evening is to enjoy a girly evening of pampering and Jacques, which is a perfect combination in my book!

Playing their parts well, we were handed a key to the bar, which provided 2 free glasses of Jacques!

We were then escorted to various rooms in the townhouse, each one beautifully decorated and filled with great girly experiences! Me and the bestie hit the beauty room first, where you could enjoy various pampering, such as having your hair done (me!), having your nails or make done, or getting a massage (have never seen my bestie more relaxed than with this choice!).

After this we decided some munchies were needed, so headed upstairs to the banquet hall, where we decorated cupcakes (and sneakily ate sweets yum yum!) to our hearts content, all with our glasses of Jacques by our sides!

After passing through the bar (which had a HUGE pile of cute cushions!):

we headed to the dressing up room, where there were rails and rails of various clothes, wigs, accessories and props for people to dress up in, and have their picture taken by a photographer from Vogue (his name escapes me sorry!).

We didnt stay here too long as it was so busy, so no pics!

But instead we made our way out to the Enchanted Garden, which was like something from Alice in Wonderland, beautifully decorated and with fresh popcorn on hand!

Strawberry Popcorn no less!

Sadly our few hours in the townhouse flew by and soon it was time to go back to the world, but not without a goodie bag (yay!) containing a bottle of Jacques (what else?!) and a lovely canvas bag with a wonderful illustration of the townhouse and its magical rooms!

It was such a great evening, so relaxing and fun, so a big thank you to the wonderful people who played their parts so well!

Apparently its been held for the last few years, so im deffo on the look out for next years invite!

New style work!

2011-07-20T11:31:00.001+01:00

As mentioned, Ive been working on some new styles of illustration while at EBR to give the journal a great variation of work, and I must say I have really enjoyed it! Ive picked up some tips and tricks and starting learning alot more about photoshop, you can never know enough!

So here is the first of a new style, for an article that talks about the '7 keys to a successful business'.

You can see the new issue of the European Business Review HERE

Bermuda

2011-07-19T14:49:00.000+01:00

Apparently Bermuda is now the hot spot for businesses to locate to . . . maybe something to do with the tax system?

Engagement Banking

2011-07-12T10:43:00.000+01:00

Engagement Banking is a new wave of banking that uses new media, such as phone apps, to change the way we do our banking.

Lessons from the Chalkboard

2011-07-08T10:58:00.000+01:00

These images accompany an article about how new media is emerging in the classroom, can it be beneficial or a hindrance?

Social Media and The Middle East

2011-07-08T10:46:00.000+01:00

These two images accompanied an article about how social media helped with the exposure of the recent conflict in the Middle East.

Stirling decline

2011-06-23T10:17:00.000+01:00

Created for an article about the decline of the British Pound. . . . what a sad thing to have the dollar take over!

Ive also been working on new styles at EBR Media, to add a bit of variation to my work and to the illustrations in the journals, here is a sneak peek at one of the new styles:

2011-06-16T11:05:00.000+01:00

You can now read the "Hidden Needs" article on the 'The European Business Review' website:

Check it out HERE.

You can also see another article I illustrated about extroverted leadership:

It basically talks about bosses that do not know how to listen to their employees!

Check it out HERE.

Tantrum magazine has Launched!

2011-06-13T14:22:00.000+01:00

A few of the lovelies I worked with at Sketchbook have branched off and created a new edgy magazine all of their own - Tantrum has landed!

I was asked to contribute an illustration for them for an article about hologram print handbags!

It looks amazing, very edgy yet beautiful, would recommend checking it out HERE.

Hidden Fortunes

2011-06-10T12:45:00.000+01:00

Some more images for 'The European Financial Review'. This article was about the hidden fortunes in chocolate, now that China and Japan seem to be entering 'the chocolate race', with the 5 big chocolate brands fighting to become household names there.

Birthday and Social Banking

2011-06-02T12:03:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was my birthday (wooo!) and what a lovely day it was, filled with family, presents and cake yum yum! I cant believe what a difference a year can make, this time last year I had just had my accident and was incapacitated in a leg brace, now I have a great freelance career, and new full time job as an art director at EBR Media, my god-daughter, a great bf and the health and success of my family and friends! What more could a girl ask for?!

So here are some more images I created, this time for an article on Social Banking:

Hidden Needs - Good News!

2011-05-27T10:23:00.000+01:00

One of the first images I created for The European Business Review, for an article about 'Hidden Needs'.

Great news! Im going to be staying on with EBR Media as a full time illustrator, and also taking on the role of Creative Director as of next month!

So alot more images to show in the coming months . . .

Illustration Friday - Safari

2011-05-17T10:09:00.000+01:00

TeenBook is Launched!

2011-05-16T11:13:00.000+01:00

The first issue of TeenBook has gone live today!

It looks really good, and you can see one of my illustrations on the beauty page:

Check out the issue HERE.

New Love Interest - Mandy Smith

2011-05-12T11:20:00.000+01:00

Totally in love with the work of Mandy Smith, paper manipulator extraordinaire!

The Move, Paper Animation from Mandy Smith on Vimeo.

Check out her amazing animations - made entirely from paper! Beautiful!

See more of her work on her website.

Royal Wedding Fever!

2011-04-28T14:51:00.000+01:00

With the Royal Wedding practically on us, its only right that it gets illustrated at some point! Sketchbook asked me to create a few illustrations for them with the wedding as a focal point, and somehow I managed to fit some in!

You can see other examples from illustrators on the Sketchbook Blog.

Wish you were here . . .

2011-04-27T15:13:00.000+01:00

Ive been making the most of the British sunshine (you never know how long its going to be around!) and the string of bank holidays (great time for a royal wedding!) by spending some time with the boyfriend, where we went away to Kingston for the weekend.

Such a beautiful place, a lovely stroll by the river in the sun followed by a great meal in an outside restaurant and some cold rose with the boyfriend - absolute bliss!

The Kennedys Program

2011-04-26T11:18:00.000+01:00

I recently applied for the Kennedy's program, a great opportunity to work in amsterdam as one of 'the 6 kennedy's' for Wieden+Kennedy for 6 months!

A huge 938 people applied, with only 6 places thats tough competition!

To apply you needed to create any answer to the question 'What does the Future look like?', and here are a few designs I first came up with:

I was thinking of a more personal approach, after all moving to a new country for 6 months is a very big step!

However, I then settled on a more humorous idea, and came up with this:

Cant wait to hear who is selected!

'Handbag Therapy' Article Images

2011-04-18T13:01:00.000+01:00

I recently completed some images for ICON magazine for an article about 'Handbag Therapy'. There is a woman who is a handbag therapist, who can know all about you as a person from the contents of your handbag . . . .

Quite an interesting read, especially with the stories of the strange things women carry around in their handbag . . .

AOI illustration competition

2011-04-07T10:27:00.002+01:00

Two illustrations I created for the annual AOI's Illustration competition in conjunction with The London Transport Museum.

This years theme was 'The River Thames'.

My New Desk

2011-04-05T19:54:00.000+01:00

My little mac looking a little small in comparison to my new iMac . . .

Internship News

2011-04-04T10:07:00.000+01:00

Im very happy to have joined the team at Global Media Publishing for the next 4 weeks as one of their new illustration interns! They publish several high quality business journals, with articles written by some of the top people in the industry, so lots of informative and juicy briefs to get stuck into!

Here is a sample of one of the journals they publish:

Illustration Friday - Toy

2011-03-30T11:24:00.002+01:00

Some more TeenBook Image Previews

2011-03-29T08:18:00.000+01:00

Some more of the illustrations I created for TeenBook, these are for the beauty sections.

Mouth London News

2011-03-28T15:39:00.000+01:00

You can see one of my images created for MouthLondon over on their newly launched website promoting one of their competitions (HERE).

Im currently in talks with them about the launch of their clothing range, which is hopefully going to happen very soon! And then you can wear my designs with pride! Cant wait to see them, when all the paperwork is done and dusted all will be revealed!

More TeenBook Image Previews

2011-03-25T07:35:00.000Z

Some more illustrations I created for TeenBook magazine, this section is for book reviews, art news etc:

Summer Knitting!

2011-03-24T08:35:00.000Z

Now that spring is in the air I felt it was time to divulge in some short sleeved cardies for my wonderful god-daughter!

I love how this one came out, it looks really pretty but is actually quite a simple pattern once you get used to it! And the yellow just shouts 'SPRING'!

TeenBook Image Previews

2011-03-23T09:54:00.000Z

Ive recently been spending time creating lots of illustrations for the first issue of TeenBook, SketchBook's sister magazine which is due to launch in May this year.

Ive had several sections to illustrate, here are the images I created for the 'music' section:

The Little Epic Zine Arrived

2011-03-18T10:21:00.000Z

I finally received my copies of 'The Little Epic Zine' and was totally worth the wait, they are beautiful!

The Little Epic Zine Artwork 2

2011-03-16T13:33:00.000Z

The second poem I illustrated (written again by Lauren Addicott) was called Pitter Patter, and is an emotional poem based on love.

The Little Epic Zine Artwork

2011-03-15T11:15:00.000Z

Now that the Little Epic Zine is officially published (cant wait to receive my copies!) I thought I would start sharing the artwork I created for it with you.

I illustrated 2 poems by the wonderful Lauren Addicott, the first one being about the wonderful (!) Royal Mail. I decided to show the various recipients of mail in the form of little postage stamps:

The Little Epic Zine is Here!!!

2011-03-09T11:08:00.000Z

Im very excited that one of the projects Ive been working on recently is finally revealed!!

The Little Epic Zine is finally printed and ready to be released. As mentioned earlier on my blog, its a collaborative project initiated by the wonderful Katie Green and her sister Jemma, a 44 page zine that brings together talented poets and illustrators from all over the world.

Contributors Page (You can just make out my section at the bottom, 2nd up on the right!):

A few sneek peeks:

When Ive received my copy, I can reveal the work that I created for the zine, I know Katie is already taking pre-orders in her etsy shop for the zine, which you can check out HERE.

Very excited!

DJ Logo

2011-03-02T10:40:00.000Z

A logo design I recently created for my boyfriend, who just happens to be a DJ.

Knitted Baby Dress

2011-02-23T10:48:00.000Z

I cant believe how fast time has flown and my beautiful god-daughter is now 6 months old! She is a right little play-pot, it amazes us each day what she gets up to, not sure where she is learning these things from!!

Here is a little dress that I have just finished for her, a cute number she can wear over her little leggings whenever spring wants to show us its face.

Eat Me Magazine Recipe Cards

2011-02-21T10:39:00.000Z

Got my issue of Eat Me over the weekend, check out my pull-out recipe cards in print:

New Eat Me Magazine Images - Onions And BBQ Sauce!

2011-02-17T09:38:00.000Z

New images I created for Eat Me magazine, to illustrate a very funny short story about a man whose girlfriend has a great hate of certain foods, such as onions, seafood and bbq sauce!

The Little Epic Zine!

2011-02-14T08:58:00.000Z

Im so excited to reveal a little project Ive been working on the last few weeks, as part of a collaboration of writers and illustrators started by the wonderful Katie Green of Green Bean (you may remember I did a post on her wonderful zines that I ordered several issues of, which you can re-see HERE).

Katie and her sister Jemma have started a new zine that involves many creatives, and I was asked to contribute some illustrations for several poems (written by Lauren Addicott)! Although Im still finishing up the artwork, I can show you the Cover which is completed!

Hopefully it will be out at the beginning of March, once everything is finished up more news will follow! Its such a great little project, which would be great to see more of, and I cant wait to see the finished zine!

Many Thanks to Jemma and Katie for asking me to get involved!

Designs for MouthLondon

2011-02-11T12:10:00.000Z

A few days ago I was contacted by MouthLondon to create some designs to be used on bags, hoodies etc that will then be auctioned off for charity!

Despite the short time frame, I gave it a go and came up with a few designs, and I think they look pretty cool!

The Brief was pretty open, about writing and literature, while incorporating the MouthLondon title.

I cant wait to see what the look like!

The event also coincides with the launch of the next issue of the magazine, and looks to be a brill night. You can check out details on the Facebook Event Page, for location and events and what not, make sure you put yourself on the guest list if you wanna go!

Sneak Peek

2011-02-10T09:12:00.000Z

Buildings created for a piece for Eat Me Magazine.

Revealed: TeenBook!

2011-02-07T10:46:00.000Z

Im very excited to reveal SketchBook's latest venture in the magazine world: TeenBook!

The official line:

This year will see the launch of a new magazine, ‘Teenbook’. Focusing on fashion, music, art and culture, Teenbook Magazine will provide the perfect publication for teenagers of the 21st Century. As sister magazine to the existing and successful ‘Sketchbook Magazine’, Teenbook provides a platform for the young creative mind to indulge. Identifying new youth attitudes and shaping the future, Teenbook is a new edge magazine. Available quarterly to buy online and in print from May 2011, Teenbook Magazine will be the must read for teenagers aged 13-19 years.

Im going to be one of the illustrators for the magazine, and have already been given several sections to get my teeth into!

Cant wait to see how this goes, it sounds very exciting! You can keep up to date with progress over on the Facebook Page.

My card in Marks and Spencer!

2011-02-03T14:20:00.000Z

I was very happy to find my card on display in the Valentine's Section this morning in Marks and Spencer!

It looked really good, standing out from the usual red stuff!

Very chuffed, I actually brought one for my bf!

Marks and Spencer Valentine Card!

2011-01-27T11:40:00.000Z

This morning I was very happy to receive a sample of the Valentine Card I have in the Marks and Spencer range from the lovely people at Tigerprint!

Its soo beautiful, much more gorgeous than I expected!

Its not too girly so perfect for both sexes, I love the bow and little sparkly bits on the cage, just the kind of thing for me! The words are really nice, just the kind of thing I would like to say to my other half this valentines!

Im totally in love with it, and cant wait to go and hunt it down in the shops and see it on the shelf!

New Screenprint

2011-01-26T13:43:00.000Z

Here is the latest screen print!

As you can see, the printing has got much better, the only problem I have is with the screen block still, as some wears off and means you get the 'dirty' look when printing! Mmmmm!

Sketchbook:The Book PREVIEW EXCLUSIVE!!

2011-01-24T15:54:00.000Z

As Ive mentioned a while back, Im currently working as a freelance illustrator for Sketchbook, and part of this is creating the first book all about the rise of Sketchbook. Its been a hard slog, but Im pleased to say I can finally give you an exclusive sneak peak at what Ive produced!

With the help of my newly appointed writer Sophie Amono (I think ive blogged about her before, as she completed an interview about me for her blog! Shes a brill writer and defo worth a read check her out!), Ive been working on spreads for the chapter about the first issue of the magazine.

These pages form the '5 Mins With . . . ' sections, interviews that Sketchbook have completed with an array of different people, from illustrators, to fashion bloggers to photographers.

These pages showcase the magazine.

'The Fashion Cupboard', created by the Sketchbook team to house all the samples sent to Sketchbook and used in the various shoots for the blog.

The Press Pages.

Sketchbook is keen on blogging about everyone, and in return get blogged by them!

These pages tell all about the theme of the magazine, and the completion of the cover by John-Paul Thurlow.

I totally love these pages, and cant wait to crack on with the rest of the book. There's 17 chapters in all, so plenty for you to read!

All comments are greatly appreciated, and you can head over to the Sketchbook Facebook page for more info!

Food (or words!) for thought . . . .

2011-01-24T10:11:00.000Z

Posted on Creative Boom today is a great article about freelancing. Gave it a good read and particularly like point no. 10:

10. Freelancing is fun and hugely rewarding

Yes freelancing is hard work. And yes there are times when the going gets tough. But overall, freelancing is lots of fun, hugely rewarding and different every day. It brings a huge amount of freedom and your earning potential tends to be a lot higher than if you were working for someone else. You can work your own hours and choose the way you want to work. You can take week days off and work weekends instead, if that suits. Nothing beats freelancing and for many of you, you'll never go back once you've gained the freelancing bug. So what are you waiting for? There's really nothing stopping you except yourself, so go for it!

Creative Boom Directory

2011-01-21T10:44:00.000Z

Very happy that Im now featured in the Creative Boom Directory:

Theres loads of great illustrators featured there (cough cough!), perfect place to find all your illustrative needs! Check it out!

The Secrets of The Tomb . . . .

2011-01-20T16:25:00.000Z

You can now see the latest image I completed for Edu-Play Theatre on their website, titled 'The Secrets of The Tomb'.

The ScreenPrinting experiment so far . . . .

2011-01-17T11:59:00.001Z

So, as previously mentioned, I received a screenprinting kit for christmas, and have spent the last week or so getting to grips with it! And finally:

Ta Da!!

It might not be the best looking print, but it took me a while to reach this stage! Many an hour was spent scratching my head trying to figure certain parts out, and surfing the net trying to find guides or hints (of which there isnt actually many, so most of the help came from taking small parts from each site!).

But now I think I have finally got the hang of it, and to help fellow people out have decided to put together this post to show how it went.

So this is the great set I received:

The great thing about this set is that its water based, unlike when at uni when everything is oil based (this made everything so much harder, such as cleaning, and in the long run more expensive I would guess). This means you can clean the screen with good ole' soap and water when you done (and PLENTY of elbow grease, its hard work!), and use normal acrylic paints, which is much easier at home.

First up, to create your design on the screen you can use the drawing fluid which comes with the set. This can be diluted and painted straight onto the screen, I found it easier to print my idea on paper first and trace this from under the screen.

Please excuse the messy table!

Bare in mind that what you draw with the fluid is what the ink will print on the screen ie your pencil line if you were drawing.

The next step is to block out the rest of the screen so that only the fluid line will print. Once its dry, you use the screen block that is also with the kit, and cover the entire area of the screen that you do not want paint. This is the messy part!

To mention, the next few photos are from my first experiment run, where I realised I had put way too much screen block, it took over a day to dry, and was so thick it wouldnt wash away at the next stage, so when I tried to print it was coming off in flakes all over my paper, trying to scrape it off then affected my image as it left gaps in the block so my image looked more like a lino print!

So you only need a thin layer, just enough to cover the area without going through the other side of the screen.

Once this is dry, you wash out the screen fluid with COLD WATER ONLY. This way you end up being able to see through the areas of your drawing.

Finally, once this is dry you can print!!

Firstly, its ideal to mask out the area around the block, makes it easier with the ink so that it doesnt over run the blocked area and leak onto your paper.

To make the ink, you mix your colour of acrylic with the screen medium in the kit (you also get a medium to use on fabrics as well, so the possibilities are endless!).

The general rule is you mix more medium than paint, this way the paint doesnt dry on the screen which apparently is screen suicide, as once you let it dry it doesnt come off (although I did let one light colour dry on my screen before I read this, and managed to get it clean, maybe with a darker colour I might not have been so lucky?!), the medium makes sure it doesnt dry, as well as making it keep for a long time. This is great, as you can keep paint that you dont use for a while after, keep it in a pot is ideal.

When it comes to printing, I had to remember all my uni tuition! Making sure the screen isnt touching the paper (ie lift it up slightly), put the ink at the top of the image, bring the squeegee down to bring the ink over all the image.

This is called 'flooding the image'.

This is a good photo to make a point about the screen fluid from the beginning steps. The photo is from my second round of experimenting, as you can see the screen block is alot smoother than the first photos, however on this occasion, you can see that my teapot hasnt come out too clean. I didnt make the line thick enough, so when I put the screen block on it faded out the fluid.

So lesson learned: Make sure you screen fluid lines are thick!

When you've flooded the screen, place in down on the paper, and bring the squeegee down over the image again.

And hopefully your print should appear!

With this print you can see how the teapot didnt print properly.

Once I had worked out the print part, I had to work out how I would add colour to my print. This was most difficult, as I couldnt find much information on the web. I decided to work with my skill of stenciling, as this seemed the most viable option.

In uni, we used newsprint to create stencils, not having any of this (or knowing where to get hold of any, does anyone know who sells it??) I had to experiment with different papers, which turned out a lot harder than I thought. Card wouldnt let the ink go through, and normal paper kept getting stuck to the paper I was printing on, so I was stumped.

I uni (and most print studios come to think about it), you have you screen fixed slightly above your paper, so that your hands are free to print. However at home this isnt a viable option for me (I suppose I could try B&Q for some kind of wench that I could attach to my kitchen table but thats for later!) so having to hold the screen, paper and print while attaching a stencil was too much.

HOWEVER while surfing the net for a solution, I came across one blog that was one of the few that seemed helpful, from a lady across the pond that used contact paper to create stencils. Trying to work out what the british equivalent was, I found STICKY BACK PLASTIC!!!

Do you remember this school nightmare??

Having to cover ALL our school books in this stuff, its such a nightmare to use, and by the end of school I can honestly say that I am an expert in covering books without the dreaded air bubbles!!

But it made for an excellent stencil, as it stuck to the underside of the screen, and let ink go through to the printed paper wonderfully (which is what I used to create the brown tea on the print).

Once you've finished the prints, its time to get the screen clean! I found you can only really get 1 decent round of printing from your screen, as the more you clean ink of the screen, the more you loose screen block from the screen, and ink seeps through, making a messy looking print! So make sure you do as many prints as you need first time round.

Cleaning the screen sounds easier than it is, I found warm water and soap did the trick, however I wasnt prepared for the scrubbing involved! I think this is where uni comes up trumps, as they had a high power hose, which cleans so quick, however I had to make do with my little shower hose! But 10-15 mins of scrubbing got the screen crystal clean, so it works!

All in all, I must say Im very impressed with this little kit. I think its amazing value for money, as having shopped around buying the contents individually would cost a bomb. A screen the same size is roughly £33, with the screen block, fluid, and medium ranging from £12-17 a bottle each.

My mum brought this kit for £45 from Cass Art!

Not only that, but you also get a set of paints (5 basic colours), the squeegee (also more expensive than I thought would be, a small one around £13!), an apron and a book about screen printing (although I found this quite hard going, so not very helpful!). Not a bad price!

Did I mention you also get 2 mediums - one for paper printing and one for textile printing?! Brilliant!

If you are already very good at screenprinting, then this kit will be a good investment. However if you dont know how to screenprint, its quite easy to get the hang of it, with most things it is a case of trial and error, and you learn as you go on. It does come with basic instructions on the back of the box, which I found the most helpful. You get everything you need in the kit to get started, and although it is a very time consuming process, I feel once you get to grips with it, the outcome of being able to print will be worth it, with the quality very good.

I hope this post has been helpful, rather than long winded! I know it would have helped me massively when I was unsure what I was doing! Another blog I found helpful was this one:

Anna Laura Blog Post

by Anna Laura, which gave a step by step guide actually using the products I have, which I couldnt really find.

Also, again check out the brill Alanna Cavanagh who makes the best screen prints!

http://alannacavanagh.blogspot.com/

So here I go to work on my screenprinting skills, hopefully the next time I can show something brilliant!

My New Years Resolution!

2011-01-05T10:07:00.000Z

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great festive time, and plenty of food and rest (I know I certainly did!).

But now the celebrations are over I'm so happy to be back to doing some work! And what better way to start a new year with a new project!

I was so happy to have this under my tree (thanks mum!).

So my new years resolution is to get back into screenprinting, I did quite a bit while at uni, but soon tired of it as their screens are massive and such a drag to clean, expose, print on etc! Thats what turned me to stenciling, much more manageable! However, they will never look as flawless as a screenprint . . .

Also from a business prospective, I plan to launch my own ranch of prints for sale! I love hand done art work for my wall, gives a more unique look to a room. So it would be great to offer my card designs, prints, canvas bags (hopefully!) etc and printing them myself would be better, both for the work and business side!

Ive been influenced by one illustrator also, Alanna Cavanagh (who also happens to work on Uppercase Magazine, which Ive worked with). She does the most beautiful prints, which are very simple, yet striking (a point my uni teacher tried to drum into me for a very long time but Im not sure it always worked - "things dont always have to be complicated to work Gemma!).

If your interested in screenprinting, you should go check out her blog as she often shows her work in process, which has been invaluable as I try to remember the way to print!

Her Blog: http://alannacavanagh.blogspot.com/

So while I wait for some current projects to drag themselves into the new year, this is what I will be experimenting with for the next few days! Wish me luck!

New Eat Me Magazine Images

2010-12-16T10:24:00.001Z

I was asked by the people at Eat Me Magazine to create some more images for their new issue, to be used on the recipe cards section.

Chocolate Truffles:

Persimmons with Pineapple Fritters:

Potato dumplings and stew:

Stuffed Roasted Turkey Legs and all the trimmings:

The recipe cards can be pulled out of the magazine, for you to keep on your fridge! Cant wait to get my hands on the new issue, which is out sometime this month.

New Edu-Play Image

2010-12-15T13:45:00.000Z

The lovely people at Edu-Play Theater asked me to do another image for their new play to show on their website.

This one is about the Egyptians.

It will be on their website in the new year.

Kate Slater Collage Extraordinaire

2010-12-15T10:44:00.000Z

Ive been following the work of Kate Slater since I was at uni, always been obsessed with her use of paper to create her amazing works, sometimes in 3D, and have often looked to her as inspiration for my own creations.

So I was very excited at the release of her first childrens book and couldnt wait to get my hands on a copy. When I did, I wasnt disappointed!

Titled 'Magpie's Treasure', it tells the story of a magpie called Magnus who, naturally, has a love for all things shiny and the adventures it takes him on.

The spreads are amazing, take a look at her endpapers:

I cant stress just how amazing the detail is in Kate's work, you must check out her website to believe the amaziness!

Its a beautiful story, with beautiful spreads to boot, a source of inspiration for me!

You can check out her work at her website HERE.

Cracking interview with the brill writer Sophie Amono!

2010-11-29T10:04:00.000Z

Ive been interviewed by the wicked writer Sophie Amono, over at her Fried Eggs Blog!

Ive been following Sophie's blog since she set it up a few months ago, when she was fired from her office job and decided to go back to uni to follow her dreams of doing fashion journalism! Her blog posts are a laugh a minute, and I feel honored to be the first interview featured on there!

I had such a laugh answering some of the questions, (chicken and chips or chicken chow mein??).

Hopefully its informative, so check out the post HERE.

Logo Designs

2010-11-26T12:44:00.000Z

I mentioned a while back that I had been working on some logo's for several companies (see earlier blog posts for character designs), and I can now share the final product!

The first I created for Fancy Furries, a new company specialising in accessories for pets! I created two characters for them, a pretty kitty and smart looking dog.

I then set the characters with the type for their company logo:

I also created a logo for a partner company, Spotlight Locums, however at the last minute they decided to use another designer :-(

The company specialises in hiring out locum vet nurses, hence the uniform on our lovely dog!

I still have a few left to work on, will post once finished.

CreativeBoom LookBook feature

2010-11-24T12:19:00.000Z

Im very happy to see that Ive been featured on CreativeBooms LookBook today!

You can check out the website HERE, they have just given it a re-vamp so would highly recommend a look!

SketchBook @ The Design Museum

2010-11-22T09:18:00.001Z

Sketchbook Magazine presents a night of live fashion events, as the white washed Design Museum becomes a canvas for a night of drawing, talks, exhibitions and interactive VJ-ing projection. Come and join us and be inspired by the calm minimalism of John Pawson and the breadth of style in Drawing Fashion and join the editorial team of Sketchbook Magazine as they curate a series of live events inspired by Hywel Davies’ new book ‘Fashion Designers’ Sketch Books’. Join in live illustration classes, blogging and interviews with designers including, Amy Molyenaux from PPQ, Richard Nicoll, Bora Asku and Fred Butler.

For tickets and more information visit the Design Museum Website:

www.designmuseum.org/design-overtime

or check out the Facebook Event page:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=142959909086464

TALKS
6PM: Richard Nicoll
Richard Nicoll is a London-based fashion designer. He graduated in 2002 from Central St. Martins with an MA in womenswear, and his graduation collection was bought by Dolce & Gabbana. He was subsequently awarded a bursary to set up his own label. For this he has developed a distinctive technique that explores a method of twisting fabric combined with draping influenced by Madame Gres. This results in a sculptural aesthetic to his collections. Nicoll has collaborated with photographers Jason Evans and Norbert Schoerner and has worked freelance for Lanvin, and LVMH in Paris. He has shown his collections at Osaka Fashion Week, Japan and Fashion East, in London, finally showing on the main schedule of London Fashion Week in 2005, where he continues to show his own label. In 2009, Richard Nicoll was appointed Creative Director of Cerruti.

www.richardnicoll.com

7PM: Fred Butler
Fred Butler is a props stylist and accessories designer based in London. She works with art directors, stylists and photographers to create imaginative one-off pieces for fashion stories to enhance the aesthetic of a shoot. Her work is characterised by the inclusion of everyday object to create a kitsch yet elegant aesthetic. She previously worked for As Four and Shona Heath. Her clients include Nicola Formichetti, Patti Wilson, Jacob K, Leith Clark, Susie Lloyd, Patrick Wolf, Selfridges and 3D Creative.

www.fredbutlerstyle.com

8PM: Bora Asku

London-based Turkish designer, Bora Aksu received his first acclaim when he graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2002. Quoted as “the star of the show” by broadsheets such as The Independent, The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, Aksu’s collection attracted not just the press but Domenico Dolce and Stephano Gabbana who purchased pieces as inspirational items for themselves. This same collection also caught the attention of the ARG equation group where he won a sponsorship award from them, giving him the opportunity to make his debut off-schedule catwalk show at London Fashion Week, February 2003. With 10 shows under his belt, his collaborations and projects with various artists carries on. Bora also signed a contract with People Tree-Fair trade organization to design exclusive capsule collections to raise awareness on fair trade work shops

www.boraaksu.com

9PM: Amy Moleyaux, PPQ

In London, 1992, Amy Molyneaux and Percy Parker launched fashion label PPQ creating the inimitable style that continues to set the beat for London’s fashion drum today. From the early days there were zeitgeist design moves; PPQ spearheaded the drainpipe jean revolution dressing music maker’s including Amy Winehouse and Peter Doherty. The label’s signature smocks and modern cocktail dresses soon became fashion insider staples. Fashion’s best kept secret inevitably rolled off tongues and on to London Fashion Week’s official show calendar to continued success. Today, the design duo craft cutting-edge collections in strong shapes and bold prints incorporating elaborate fabrics in a spectrum of directional colours.

www.ppqclothing.com

Illustration Workshops (Workshops will run from 4pm!)

Stephen Stone
Stephen Stone will be celebrating the energy of a live fashion illustration workshop that explores fast paced drawing, expressing the subjects individual style and character using both line and block colour.

www.facethewall.co.uk

Tomomi
Tomomi McMaster works as an illustrator and professionally throughout the Fashion and creative industry, her clients including Vogue Japan. She also runs a short course at Central Saint Martins on Fashion in Film.”This 1 hour interactive workshop is suited to those who have ageneral interest in art but perhaps not have done any drawings in a while. It teaches you how to pick forms from every day objects for illustrations. This exercise can be helpful in influencing and developing ideas in abstract fashion as well as art.

www.suzukimcmaster.com

Gabriela Mot - Fashion Sketch, Collage

The purpose of this lesson is to understand the Fashion Sketch (proportions, technique’s line, to page, movement, mood, attitude), how to use the collage, the development of their capacity to realise a fashion sketch, the development of plastic language and to make sure they use correctly learned notions.

To understand the basic elements of creating a fashion sketch
How to page the sketch on a paper
To be able to work with the pencil to create illusion of movement, to modulate the line, symmetry
Able to realise a sketch with the help of notions learned earlier
To prepare the collage for the sketch and to stick them on the paper, depending on what they are choosing to express
To evaluate their own work and colleague’s work

www.gabrielamot.blogspot.com

Hope to see you there!

Cat Characters

2010-11-09T11:40:00.000Z

Following on from the dog character's posted yesterday, I thought I would also share several cat characters also designed.

Dog Characters

2010-11-08T09:31:00.000Z

I know I have neglected the blog of late, that is due to being extremely busy! At this moment in time im currently working on 2 logos, a restaurant brand, recipe cards for Eat Me Magazine, the SketchBook Book, and have several other projects in talks! Phew!

But I can give you a sneak peak of what I have been working on lately with the logos, these were created for the pitch:

Aren't they cute!?

Although not used in the initial logo, look out for them coming on stationary from yours truly soon . . .

Something else im working on, as if I don't have enough to do!

HelloYou Creatives newspaper

2010-10-22T11:31:00.000+01:00

I was very happy to spot one of my illustrations in design agency HelloYou Creatives first published newspaper spotlight, which they sent out to agencies and designers all over the world!

(middle left!)
They feature my vintage TV image, created originally for a 'Dont Panic' poster submission.

The newspaper looks amazing and I wish I could have been privy to a copy!

Luckily Ive been told they will be releasing a pdf version soon so can take a better look!

Knitted Socks!

2010-10-21T10:56:00.000+01:00

Winter is most definitely here now, and I'm giving in and getting the thermals out :-(

So it was time I knitted something warm that wasnt for baby but for me!

As I get REALLY cold feet (bad circulation apparently!) I decided on socks, and found this really great pattern which is knitted on 2 needles, not circular as most patterns ask! (Which, if you're a knitter would understand as not being the easiest needles to get to grips with!)

They came out lovely, and are very warm, perfect to go over winter boots/converse!

Here they are being modeled by my mum (who has now claimed these once I finish the pair!).

I now have many orders from friends who want some for xmas . . . . .

Oxford/Cambridge Debating

2010-10-12T12:24:00.001+01:00

I recently completed these images for a book about Oxford, which is due out next year.

They focus on the Oxford Vs Cambridge debate, the top image has each universities motto in Latin as its bike wheels!

As an Oxford girl myself, I know which side of the river im on . . .

V&A Visit Part 3 - Peter Rabbit: The Tale of the Tail

2010-10-07T11:31:00.000+01:00

Also currently running at the V&A is a small exhibition about the brilliant Peter Rabbit, created by Beatrix Potter.

Full of drawings and notes, it gives a great insight into one of the best loved children's characters.

There are also several manuscripts, and tells the tales of the beginnings of the books, including the problems getting the story initially published.

(Info taken from the V&A)

Beatrix wanted her picture book to be small (to fit a child's hands) and affordable, with a black and white illustration on every page to hold the attention of even the youngest reader. At least six publishers, including Frederick Warne, rejected Beatrix's manuscript, they wanted a larger, more expensive book with colour illustrations. Beatrix, however, was resolute: 'little rabbits cannot afford to spend 6 shillings on one book and would never buy it'. She decided to publish the book herself. On 16 December 1901 Strangeways & Sons printed 250 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit with black and white illustrations produced by the Art Reproduction Company of Fetter Lane.

Meanwhile a family friend, Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley (a founder member of the National Trust) encouraged Frederick Warne to reconsider Beatrix's book. On 16 December 1901, as Beatrix celebrated her privately printed edition, Warne wrote to offer terms for the publication of the 'Bunny Book', she would have to cut the text and colour the illustrations.

Beatrix used one of her privately printed editions as a working copy, deleting eleven illustrations and re-writing the text until the book was just thirty-two pages. She was interested in all aspects of the book's production, editing meticulously Warne's proofs for both the text and illustrations and designing the cover, title page and frontispiece. She even made suggestions for the colour of the binding.

Publication began in October 1902 with a first edition of 8000 copies, a further 12,000 copies were printed in November and 8220 copies in December. Within a year Warne was already planning a sixth printing. Beatrix was astonished: 'The public must be fond of rabbits! What an appalling quantity of Peter'. Widely considered to be one of the most popular children's books of all time, The Tale of Peter Rabbit has gone on to sell an astonishing 40 million copies worldwide.

The format of the book has changed considerably since its first printing in October 1902. The text of the first three printings is identical but in the fourth printing of April 1903 Beatrix changed just one word, 'Peter wept big tears' became 'Peter shed big tears'. By August 1903 Beatrix had already published a second book, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, with colour endpapers.

In order to accommodate the new endpapers in the fifth and subsequent printings of The Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix reluctantly eliminated a further four illustrations and adjusted the text accordingly. Warne introduced white jackets to all the little books during the Second World War but it was not until years later that they became standardised to distinguish them from re-illustrated and pirated editions. The 1987 Original and Authorized Edition of the series featured rephotographed illustrations and green covers under white jackets.

Most recently, Warne redesigned the entire series of little books for the 2002 centenary of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, including a new typeface on cream paper and Beatrix's preferred plain endpapers. Most significantly, Warne restored the four illustrations removed from The Tale of Peter Rabbit in October 1903 and included two further illustrations produced by Beatrix for Warne's first edition but never used. Warne's latest edition of the tale follows 'faithfully Beatrix Potter's intentions while benefiting from advances in modern printing and design techniques.'

Its amazing to think that so much work went into producing the stories, but they are worth it as the illustrations are beautiful.

The exhibition is on until January so plenty of time left to check it out.

Edu-Play Website Update

2010-10-05T10:27:00.000+01:00

Im very happy that Edu-Play theater company have now fully updated their website and use of the images I created for them recently.

'The Inventors' has now been released for January, and my image is now up on the website.

'The Lady with the Lamp' is still running, and my image can be seen.

Their website is looking much better (check it out HERE) and I cant wait to work on more images for them.

V&A Visit Part 2 - Illustration Awards

2010-10-04T11:29:00.000+01:00

One of the main reasons for my visit to the V and A Museum was to see the winners of the Annual V&A Illustrations awards. Held yearly, they are to highlight the best book and editorial illustration published in the UK. One of the best things about the competition is that it is free to enter, as many of the best competitions do come with a hefty entry fee, and if you are not as established as you want it does seem like a high price to pay.
There are four categories to enter:

Student Illustrator Award

This years winner is Hanshen Gu, with three pieces entitled 'How does transport kill my life?'

Holding a degree in Graphic Design, he is currently studying for an MA in Communication Design at Central Saint Martins.

He explores the uneasy but dependent relationship we have with the machines we use to transport us everyday. 'Most parts of my work are chosen from my sketchbook. There are many illustrations in it relating to public transport … I try to express my feelings and emotions when I spend too much time on it.'

Editorial Award Winner

My favourite winner, Matthew Richardson's Illustration 'Phantom Space Storm' won the editorial award.

The illustration accompanies a New Scientist article which explores the effects that storms in outer space have on the weather patterns within the Earth's atmosphere.
Matthew Richardson studied Graphic Design at Middlesex University (wooo!), Illustration at Central Saint Martins and more recently gained an MA in Fine Art at UWIC, Cardiff. He exhibits his work nationally and has won several awards from the Association of Illustrators. The artist is regularly asked to contribute editorial illustrations to the New Scientist for scientific concepts.

Book Cover Award Winner

Marion Deuchars produced a range of cover illustrations for Penguin's recently republished series of George Orwell titles and it was her cover design for Burmese Days that really won the judges.

The artist creates the cover's identity through a combination of collage and hand-painted elements. The large, imposing panel of predesigned typography that runs through the whole Penguin Modern Classics series is cleverly interwoven into the overall cover design. The cover also contains delicate elements such as the photo printed in pink to create the feel of a Burmese sunset.

I also really like these covers, they seem so delicate yet strikingly eye catching at the same time.

The Illustrated Book Award and Overall Winner

The overall winner this year was Susan Carr with her innovative use of letterpress printing to form the illustrations for her book 'How to Drink'.

Using only two colours throughout, I loved her simple illustrations and her page layouts.

Carr took inspiration from the work of the Dutch artist and typographer H.N. Werkman: 'I tried to create images by abstracting the letterforms. The textured quality achieved in woodblock printing gives character and warmth to the print, which helps the illustrations feel lively and animated.'

arr graduated with a BA Honours degree in Graphic Design from Kingston University in 2003. She currently works within a small team of multi-disciplinary designers at Here Design agency based in east London. She has worked for a variety of design studios dealing with clients such as Waitrose, Green & Black's, Fortnum & Mason, Nude, and We Are What We Do.

The winning work is on display until January, so you have plenty of time to go check them out, although be warned it is a trek to find them in the museum, they are located on the 3rd floor!

Entry for next years awards is open until December, which I'm considering entering . . .

V&A Visit Part 1 - Hidden Gems

2010-10-01T12:53:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I took some time out of my busy schedule to do something I haven't done in a while - visit a gallery. There were a few shows I wanted to see at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kensington, so as it looked to be the only beautiful day before winter took hold, off I went.

I just love what you can find wandering around a place as big as the V&A. Not only did I see the work I wanted to, but I also found some kooky odds and ends, and inspiring places.

I stumbled upon this design display hidden in a region on the 3rd floor. What I loved about it was the contrast of the modern pieces on display against the old antique book shelves which lined the room.

There was all kinds of topics, and the books were huge and cobweb-y! Spooky!

I loved the look of this bookcase, I could so do with this in my room!

I also came across some vintage posters and loved this one for Colman's Mustard, the poor guy looks so ill bless him!

The main reason I visited was to see the Illustration Awards, and Peter Rabbit, however I will have to blog about them in separate posts as I seem to be having abit of trouble with uploading pictures at the moment.

Eat me Magazine

2010-09-27T11:08:00.000+01:00

One of the commissions ive been working on these last few weeks was for Eat Me Magazine, a funky publication all about food (my fav topic yum yum!). I created illustrations for one of their spreads featuring several articles, and was a pleasure to create for!

The september issue has just been released so now i can show you the images.

This image went with an article about choosing wines to go with certain deserts.

This image was for an article about the amount of different beers brewed around the world (quite alot if your interested!). I originally made the image with a banner, but for the spread they used it without, so as not to confuse with type.

This image was to go with an article about the history of cider, which apparently originated from the Egyptians!

And here are the images in the magazine.

I loved working on these images as it was fun to learn about alcohol!

The magazine is pretty good as well, this months cover is Gizzi Erskine, (who cooks good food healthy!), and has some really good articles if food is a passion for you.

You can see more about the magazine HERE.

Little Red Riding Hood

2010-09-24T14:54:00.000+01:00

I received another little package in the mail yesterday, something ive been after for a while.

The wonderful illustrator Julia Staite, who does kooky yet lovely mixed media collages, sent me a copy of her hand made book 'Little Red Riding Hood'.

Its handprinted on brown paper, and a really good mix of hand drawn type and illustration.

This was her last copy for a while, but check out her work anyway over at her website.

Helpful Video

2010-09-23T13:21:00.000+01:00

I want to share with you a video I found very helpful about childrens book illustration.

Lynne Chapman is a marvelous childrens book illustrator whose blog I follow avidly, as she very often has great tips and helpful insights into the work of being a childrens illustrator. She has posted a video (the first of a series) about starting to illustrate a book, and is a must for anyone interested in getting into the book industry.

You can check out her blog HERE.

Uppercase Issue 7

2010-09-20T11:12:00.000+01:00

Im very happy that after being in the Feeling Bookish . . . exhibition my book cover is also going to be featured in the next issue of Uppercase.

Woooo!

Here it is again if you missed it:

Edu-Play Theatre images

2010-09-17T17:22:00.000+01:00

So these last few weeks I've been working on a really great project with the lovely Laura and Lisa of Edu-Play Theater. They are a touring theater company that visit schools and put on performances about historical topics to aid education. They are re-doing their website and asked me to produce several images for the plays they are producing at the moment.

The first is in production at the moment and is about the great nurse Florence Nightingale. Narrated by her beloved pet owl Athena, they tell the story of her work and travels to help the wounded of the Crimean War.

Here you can see the image on their website.

The second is still being written, and is about Famous Inventors . . . .

I loved working on these images and having to learn a thing or two while doing research! Cant wait to produce some more for their up-coming performances.

You can check out the Edu-Play Theater and what they do HERE.

Relaxing Holiday

2010-09-17T17:01:00.000+01:00

Well im back (rather grudgingly!) from a very relaxing break at Centerparcs, I have to say the place is amazing! There is such a variety of things to do, or you can just stay put and do nothing, and its so peaceful. I feel like I've spent the last week in a secluded bubble.

A few shots from the main plaza.

A cute little guy I ran into in the woods.

All in all, I would deffo recommend if you need somewhere to go to get away from the hustle and bustle of London (or anywhere else for that matter!).

Now that I'm back I can get posting on some of the new work I've been working on these last few weeks . . . .

Well deserved break.

2010-09-12T10:59:00.000+01:00

Im off for a well deserved break tomorrow, going to the wonderful CenterParcs Longleat Forest, Wiltshire. Looking forward to a week of doing nothing, doing something and relaxing!

Cant wait!

When I get back I'll finally be able to show what I've been working on these last few weeks as well, until then . . . .