anna bhushan

I came across Anna Bhushan's work in a Folio Society Magazine and really liked the illustrations she did for The Bhagavad Gita.

happy xmas

1 x child decorated, cat mauled xmas tree in our new home = HAPPY XMAS!

heart home

I have just come across this great online magazine - heart home magazine. I can thoroughly recommend it if you like illustration, design, interiors or fashion. Enjoy! Oh, and there is a blog too, happy days!

compton verney

img099, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

This is a sketch I did during our visit to Compton Verney. It is of the head of a clay horse from their collection of Chinese artifacts. (The Rocking Horse Winner brief is still ticking over in my mind.)

compton verney sketches

img100, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

There is a fantastic collection of artifacts from China at Compton Verney. I did some sketches of clay figures, this was a Chinese warrior on horseback.

compton verney sketches

img098, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

We were encouraged to draw whilst at Compton Verney. I did this sketch of a weather vain to practice perspective. The weather vane forms part of the Folk Art collection at Compton Verney.

quentin blake and compton verney

We had a lovely trip with college today to Compton Verney. I would really recommend having a visit there. Highlights were their Fireworks exhibition, which was great from a graphics perspective and the Quentin Blake which included some beautiful mother and baby pictures and some great drawings in ink and water colour of ageing circus performers. He is just brilliant at characterisation. I wanted to post some of my favourite pictures but I am afraid you will have to check the out on Quentin Blake's website or at the House of Illustration website.

petra borner

I am still thinking about how best to do The Rocking-Horse Winner book cover and saw these lovely book covers by Petra Borner, very inspiring!

New Yorker - science section

img083, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

This might be part of the science heading for the New Yorker project

New York - travel section

img079, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

This suitcase will probably form part of my New Yorker project at college. Will post the final layout next week.

the rocking-horse winner

img043, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

We have been doing book cover designs for D H Lawrence's The Rocking-Horse Winner. This image is of a painting I did (approx A2 size) as a possible cover design. I have been working on another idea as well which I will post soon.

more machine part characters

img069, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

sewing machine part characters

img064, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

I have just had a lovely day looking after potential students. We were making little characters while chatting about the course.

editorial - cats again

img027, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

This was another version I tried.

editorial cont

cat3, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

I think this is my favourite - would love to hear your thoughts.

editorial - more cats

cat1, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

editorial - more cats

cat2, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

Another version.

editorial cont.

img029, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

Working on my "9".

editorial - cats having 9 lives

img030, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

We are doing a module about editorial work. I will be posting some of my ideas for illustrations to accompany an article about why we talk about cats having 9 lives. This is one of the initial sketches.

alphabet

img012, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

I really want to do some alphabets, perhaps as artists books. Finally, I have a beginning.

food

img018, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

Surprise, surprise!

sofas

img016, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

The water colour and ink experiments continue...this time it is sofas of various shapes.

clock

img010, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

Having a play with ink and water colour. My knibbed pen is still in a box so am currently using a cut down lolly stick!

summer potterings

img013, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

Life has been somewhat complicated! Anyway, I have finally got some bits and pieces scanned and uploaded. This I did one day over the summer when the girls and I had a painting day.

lubna chowdhary

gorgeous tiles

I have been busy doing up a house over the summer, and now that we are coming to the end of the messy bits I have started thinking about the fun bits. Check out Lubna Chowdhary and these gorgeous tiles....

I'm back!

The summer is definitely over and it has been a busy one. Still not quite back into our normal routine but I hope to begin posting again. About time I did some art work!!!!!!

postcard1

postcard1, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

One of my postcards for the summer postcard project.

akkie bosje and transylvaniaish

Two more fantastic illustrators for you. One was last weeks winner on Illustration Friday, and the other I came across on Bloesem. 

de wind draait 

Akkie Bosje has a background in Graphic Design and has recently switched to being a full time Illustrator; and she comes from Friesland. 

perennial

The second Illustrator, whose name I am not sure of is in her last semester as an Illustration major at Cal State University Long Beach. She "got into Illustration hoping to become an Animation major but simply fell in love with Illustration instead". I am slightly embarrassed to say I am not sure of her name , but have a look at her blog, "the answer to life is 42".

samuel ribeyron

Le grand papa et sa toute petite fille by Samuel Ribeyron

I have recently discovered the talented writer/illustrator Samuel Ribeyron. Go to his website to have a look at his beautiful work. He also has a blog and a shop in case you are interested!

yellow owl workshop

Something else for you to do! Pop on over and watch this demo in vimeo. It is from Yellow Owl Workshop and if you follow the instructions you come out with some really cute stationery and envelopes made from Junk Mail. It was created by Christine Schmidt of Yellow Owl Workshop for Uncomsumption Project.

diy retro postage stamps

diy retro postage stamps on bkids

I just had to post this brilliant "how to" that I found over on Bloesem Kids. I love the idea of making my own stamps, and as it says over on Bkids what could be better for  game of "post offices" than having your own stamps? Guess what I'll be doing with the kids later? Purely for their benefit of course! Click here to see the post. Have fun!

books and bunny

books and bunny, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

Random thought for today.

texture girl

texture girl, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

pattern

pattern, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

This is the pattern I made for the girls scarf and bag.

bird

bird, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

I found some paper plate litho prints that I had done towards the end of term and spent some time yesterday playing around with the colour.

kerry lemon and liberty

I have found another great illustrator - Kerry Lemon. I like the way she mixes line and colour. She is very talented and successfully tackles a wide range of subjects from architecture to nature, and people to patterns. She takes on a wide range of projects which excitingly include workshops (something I would like to do) and she has even done a mural in Liberty. Oh, and the Liberty blog is worth checking out too.

owl and the pussycat

O&P final flat, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

Water colour illustration with text as requested by client.

thomas campbell

I was very excited to discover the wonderful colourful work of Thomas Campbell. There were several reasons that I was so excited - the colour, the use of free hand embroidery and the print - or so I thought. But watching the film on his website I discovered that marks I had thought were the result of printing with lino had actually been painstakingly (I can be rather impatient!) painted one line at a time. Turns out he is also a film maker and sculpture.

There is an interview with Thomas here and this along with his blog will tell you more about his influences and what he is up to. His creative life was as he puts it "spawned from skateboarding" and music is a big part of his life. Enjoy!

one little bird studio

I found another lovely blog today, one little bird studio. It is the blog of a Mum from the UK living in Greece who does really lovely prints which are available via her Etsy shop.

the owl and the pussy cat

The Owl and the Pussy Cat, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

I am working on some illustrations for the Poem The Owl and the Pussy Cat this week.

wo and wé

Lamp by wo and wé

I came across a website this morning, wo and wé, that is filled with fantastic images. Also it links to their collections site which is all about the "adjustable vintage restored lamp(s)" that they make from "re-assembled from industry components". Have a look!

final image

final image, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

Have finally finished my Collections project. The folder is all tidy and the final image (preview above) will be printed off first thing. The images are a mixture of drawing, monoprint, lino, painting and photography. (With a little help from Photoshop!) Also, I love that I ended up with some mini collections as each technique produced a selection of images. I even did one image using machine embroidery just to see how it would look.


I am looking forward to seeing it framed and on the wall. It will be between A2 and A1 (the image was put together on an A1 background but will be trimmed. I am really happy too that this piece links aesthetically to my film.


I can't wait to see what everyone else has done too. The little glimpses and chats that I have had were really intriguing and exciting. Private view tomorrow, bringing my girlies along - should be fun! 

where line and colour meet - midwinter pottery

A Terance Conran Chequers plate from Midwinter

My tutor Jonny, very kindly pointed out that the Elizabeth David book cover I said I liked actually comes from a design that Terence Conran did for Midwinter Pottery called Chequers.

Midwinter stylecraft 'Savanna' coffee set, by Jessie Tait

After a bit of research I have discovered that I like Jessie Tait's more abstract and geometric patterns too. And also the amazing shade of yellow that reoccurs in work of the same era.

Hay Festival

Sorry I have not posted on here in a while. I have had the best (if slightly crazy) 10 days working at the Hay Festival, as well as having a fab time with family and friends and keeping my college work ticking over. I did manage to spend a bit of time in the college workshops, so will have some prints to show you soon.

But I just wanted to tell you about some of the amazing experiences I have had over the past 10 days.

First, I got to see the actual Oscar won by The Lost Thing which was based on the book by Shaun Tan, who I happened to write about for college. The Passion Pictures producer Andrew Ruhemann was discussing the 2011 Oscar-winning short The Lost Thing and talking about working with Alexander ‘Simples’ Orlov and the Gorillaz, amongst others. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the event, and was more excited about spotting The lost Thing dvd than the Oscar, but never mind!

One of Hannah's books

I would like to say a big thank you to the lovely author/illustrator Hannah Shaw, Hay Fever’s official illustrator for 2011, who met me for a cup of tea and a chat. She was so easy to talk to and gave me some really valuable tips and advice about how to make a living as an illustrator. Thank you Hannah!

Next was a talk by the wonderful Judith Kerr, who is possibly best known for Mog and The Tiger Who Came to Tea. She told us about her life, from her birth in Germany in 1923, through her influences and experiences, to her latest book My Henry. It felt like a real privilege to have the opportunity to listen to her and to here her read My Henry to us. 

Friday was Kate Wilson, the managing director of Nosy Crow. As described on their website - Nosy Crow are "a new, independent company, publishing children’s books and apps" who "publish high-quality, commercial fiction and non-fiction books for children aged from 0 to 14 from both well-known authors and illustrators and new talent". One of their illustrators is Axel Scheffler, and it was Kate Wilson who suggested him as the illustrator for Julia Donaldson’s first picture book text, A Squash and a Squeeze. This was the start of a hugely successful partnership: their bestselling modern classic, The Gruffalo, has sold over three-and-a-half million copies worldwide.

Nosy Crow also "make innovative, multimedia, highly interactive apps for tablets, smart phones and other touchscreen devices. These apps are not existing books squashed onto phones, but instead are specially created to take advantage of the devices to tell stories and provide information to children in new and engaging ways. The talk was about whether Appa are the new picture books. It was really worth going to, and Kate has been kind enough to summarise her opinions and put some useful links on their website if you want to find out more. 


I was attending as both a mother and an illustration student. As a mother it was really interesting to hear Kate's arguments for allowing children to interact with technology in a constructive way. Her argument that they will choose to engage anyway and the benefits of providing a constructive interface I found very compelling. As an illustration student, it has certainly given me food for thought about what I choose to investigate whilst at college, and potential future directions for my work.

We are just dashing out now as it is the last day of the Hay Festival  and we have tickets to see Viv Schwarz and Lynne Chapman. Can't wait!

where line and colour meet

IMG_0822, a photo by only lucy on Flickr.

This is one of the pictures I did of the orange coffee pot. If you want to have a look at some of the other sketches then they are all on my flickr page.