Yes…I’m pretty much staying in this weekend to hit some deadlines but I managed to do a bit of shopping earlier and kind of liked what I was wearing during the day, so I decided to do something fun and sketch out my look! For absolutely no reason but to break up my serious work!! >_<”
And ok…I don’t look as lithe as this in person but…it’s just a sketch! hehe
You may (or may not) have heard of Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration by Amelia’s Magazine. If you have and have submitted work for their consideration then good luck! If you haven’t then let me explain what it’s all about! >_<
As with their first anthology of illustrators, the folks at Amelia’s Magazine are putting together another anthology for the end of this year, of up-and-coming fashion illustrators under an ethical labels theme. I thought this would be a great chance for me to illustrate for Beautiful Soul (one of my favourite ethical labels that combine vintage kimonos into luxury pieces) and submit something and see how it goes. So here are my illustrations, and some lovely photographs of the actual pieces, passed to me kindly by Nicola Woods, the designer of Beautiful Soul:
Obviously the final illustrators haven’t been picked yet, but I thought I’d share with you these illustrations and throw more awareness to the growing family of ethical fashion labels out there who are creating sustainable pieces and fight against third-world labour exploitation and “cheap” fashion (which seems to have consumed our high street shops of late). So here’s a big whoop to ethical labels like Beautiful Soul! >_<
To read Amelia’s original brief visit Amelia’s Magazine website here. To view and buy Beautiful Soul, please visit the official site here.
You can view details of these illustrations on my Facebook page. Comments and feedback welcome! >_< x
So it was going to happen at some point. Yes people, I was always going to collaborate with my partner and illustrate something for his band and now I can proudly say that I have! >_<
May I present today’s illustration of the day and new single cover for “Like a couple of virgins” by Parallel Animals:
I’m not going to put words in J’s mouth and explain what his music is about, but I’ll simply grab this blurb from his site:
Parallel Animals make music with the leftfield pop sensibilities of David Bowie, MGMT, Vampire Weekend, some of the experimental ambience of RadioHead and the raw energy of the Platic Ono Band. Singer songwriter John Hampden combines introspective stories about life, love and urban alienation ala Ray Davis with the quirkishness of David Byrne.
The band have worked with Adrian Hall (The Young Knives, Battle and Ray Davies), Dan Rejmar (Friendly Fires, Foals and Bjork) and ‘less is more’ guru producer Fran Ashcroft (Damon Albarn, Dandy Warhols).
So, now that his latest single has been released please support his work and his band by downloading it on iTunes! If my illustration doesn’t quite make sense when you view it, all the more reason for you to download his single to understand the story behind it! And if you’re wondering, J is the lead singer and songwriter… >_<”
DOWNLOAD “LIKE A COUPLE OF VIRGINS” ON ITUNES NOW
Expect me to be sharing his Facebook page with you soon…and if you want to view it, view photos of him and the band and listen to other tracks, please go here!
Over and out…
Hi Hi! I know, it’s been a while – but I’m finally getting through my workload and can see a vision of pimms-sipping and sunbathing in the Serpentine in the not so distant future-weekend >_<
But first, a roundup of my current projects and exciting things to come!
You may (or may not) have spotted my illos for the well known NYC to London-based fashion blogger The Clothes Whisperer – if not here is a snapshot of the final piece:
This was a really fun project as I created looks around her personality and incorporated her journey from the big apple to the big smoke through the inked skyline as well as illustrated her love of writing through the book and the floating text. If you know about The Clothes Whisperer then you’ll also know that she’s never apart from her adorable, super-cute Pomeranian Butters – how I could not include little Butters in this illustration?! More of Butters below:
Yes, I also illustrated miss cuteness for her own fashion blog and after a few draft sketches we agreed that I should meet Butters to say hello and get to know her more. Now, I’m not really a dog person (you must know how much I heart cats!), but Butters really blew me away with her beauty and cuteness – let’s say, to date, she is the loveliest dog I’ve ever met*. You can’t help but love her – it’s a mystery to me!
To view these illos in context of the blogs please visit The Clothes Whisperer and Butters the Fashion Dog sites. For fellow fashion lovers out there I’d also like to recommend Kristin’s latest book Alexander McQueen, Genius of a Generation. I was very sad to hear about his death earlier this year, I also felt that he was a pioneering artist as well as a designer and this book is a lovely piece complementing his life.
Other news in the pipeline – more fashion illustrations coming very soon to talk about! Plus my online shop is finally opening for business THIS MONDAY! Yes, THIS MONDAY – put it in your diary peeps!
OK, I’m going to sign off now and remind you to read Le Mime’s hot weather antics here!
Zx
*Although before Butters it had to be Max (RIP Max x)
So I guess I need to apologise for the radio silence, but I have been working like a crazy person over the last few weeks and I just haven’t managed to blog as much as I would have liked to… >_<
Anyway, I recently found out that one of my fellow small-pressers launched her very own webcomic and I absolutely love it to bits! It’s called Hemlock and it’s updated every Friday – the story is still in its early stages so please check it out while it’s still a baby!
Josceline Fenton also created Circle and ukin which you may buy here! I love her work, I think she’s incredibly talented and her illustrations just have that extra sparkle which draws you in instantly. Whoop whoop Josceline! >_< x
OK I better get back to the ol’ drawing board…that’s my laziness over for now :p
Tags: Circle, Hemlock, Josceline Fenton, ukin
Hello late-nighters! =_=”
Thought I should post this sketch of me running today at 32 degrees – painful! And I haven’t even tanned one bit =_=”
If you’re wondering where I am I’m running by the Serpentine in Hyde Park, we ran to Kensington Gardens today for a different view, I haven’t included the J in the sketch because he’s about 15 minutes ahead of me!
For more high-brow illustrations (!) you may now view my pieces for #1 of Spindle Magazine on my Facebook page:
To find out where to pick up a copy of Spindle visit their Facebook page here, or their website!
Enjoy!
Zx
Tags: Spindle Magazine
I have some very exciting photos of my work in the very-soon-to-be-launched Spindle Magazine from their printing HQ! Can you spot my illustrations in there? >_<
To view more of these photos visit their Facebook Page here. The magazine is free and will be distributed in the Brighton area and other fashionable hot spots around the UK, this month!
Other photo-related news – I finally have my stickers for the Dino-Saw-Us game for the coming London Expo event! I took a photo with my mobile, it’s not very clear but you can see what my stickers will look like:
The Expo is only a two weeks away! Make sure you book your tickets in advance if you’re visiting! >_<
So here’s the finished piece titled “Harlequin” which will be available to buy as a postcard at the coming London Expo:
I normally white-out the characters in my illustration but I decided to try something different and colour her body tones, actually I think this adds so much more to the contrast and the depth of the inks. The tiny white lights were painted with masking fluid (before I applied colour washes), then covered with white pastel and I enhanced the “sparkles” digitally – ok, I couldn’t help it! >_<
Breaking News! (well, hehe)
Dino-Saw-Us Passports are coming to the London Expo!
As part of the Expo’s Comic Village I will be giving away free stickers of Le Mime and some other stuff for those who have a Dino-Saw-Us Passport. If you have a passport, you’ll be able to obtain a free sticker from all other Comic Village artists who are taking part in this too. To find out where to get your free passport at the Expo and who else will be giving away stickers please go to the Dino-Saw-Us blog.
Here is their official blurb of this exciting game:
DINO-SAW-US is an awesome sticker collector game that will next be played at the MCM Expo comic village May 2010!
Just come along to the MCM Expo in London (link below for details) where you can get a passport booklet for FREE! You can then take this passport to your favourite stalls who are participating and begin your collection of exclusive stickers! It’s like a treasure hunt, but with stickers.
*If you’re a fellow Comic Village artist that’s never heard of this, please visit their blog to find out how to take part or email them here.*
Guys, get stuck in! >_<
Tags: Dino-Saw-Us, Harlequin, London MCM Expo
Just to let you know I’ll be attending this month’s MCM Expo in London – hooray! I can’t wait as it’s a great opportunity to catch up with fellow comic artists and gawp at the amazing Cosplay that’s going to be on display!
I’ll be sharing a table with the incredible Van Nim from Capes & Drapes and cosplaying it myself as Honda Kiku from the manga webcomic and anime, Axis Powers Hetalia. We will have plenty of sweets and an abundance of visual snacks to purchase! Wish me luck!! >_<
I’ll be selling Le Mime series and The Art of Sleep as well as a new (+ at this point, slightly mysterious) picture book. And for today’s illustration of the day, here is a preview of what will be on offer, a first colour washed draft of My Harlequin, enjoy!
Tags: Capes & Drapes, Le Mime, MCM Expo in London, My Harlequin, The Art of Sleep
OK I know I’ve been pretty quiet lately (apart from plugging Le Mime webcomic) but I have been hiding indoors, working on some exciting projects. One being a fabulous 4-page spread for Spindle Magazine’s launch issue! It’s very exciting and very secret but for now, I am allowed to drop you a tiny sneak peek of just one of the pieces:
The magazine will be distributed on a quarterly basis primarily in Brighton, and also other select stylish cities across the UK >_<. It’ll cover all manner of creative and inspiring topics such as art, fashion and music. I’m so proud to take part in this and I’m excited to see the first issue as I really enjoyed creating my paintings for them, so much fun!
If you’d like to find out more you can join their Facebook Page here or visit their website.
Spindle Magazine launches May 2010: www.spindlemagazine.com
Tags: Spindle Magazine