my illustrating process

I always find it really interesting to see how other people work so today I thought I'd quickly share with you my working process.

The way that I work developed throughout my studies at university but it has continued to change slightly over the years and I now have a process that I feel works best for me.

I start with a very rough drawing, usually based on ideas from my sketchbook.  This helps me to work out composition and scale.

I work on a drawing, refining it until I have something I am happy with.  Because my work is based on shape, colour and pattern it is important that this final drawing is right so that all the pieces fit together properly at the end.

I then trace the drawing and transfer the areas that I want to be painted onto stretched paper.

I start painting, filling in one colour at a time.

Once the painting is finished I start adding details and patterns using coloured pencils.

After this is done I cut out paper shapes from my stash of pre-painted papers for the final details.  I then add extra details to these pieces using coloured pencils before gluing them in place

The final touch is to add the eyes.

When I was at university I used to cut out ALL of the pieces.  This took such an awfully long time and some illustrations would have hundreds of pieces to cut out, add details to and stick down.  Pieces inevitably went missing and things would often go awry if I didn't glue things on in the right order.

Over the years I have refined my process, I began painting more of the larger shapes and it felt more like creating an illustration rather than putting together a puzzle.

from my sketchbook: crocodile dance

Lately I have been having a long hard look at my portfolio and it is definitely lacking in some areas.  As a result I have put together a (rather long) list of things that I want to work on for it.

This week I have made a start and been working on some character development pieces.  I can honestly say I have done very little character development since I left university and I've really enjoyed doing it this week.

I found a piece of work that I did in my second year at university and used that as a starting point for a family of little crocodiles.

Here is a little crocodile dance from my sketchbook.  Hopefully I'll get some time this weekend to start painting these happy little chaps.

#twoodle

I came across #twoodle on Twitter last week when up popped up in my feed.  The hash-tag was created by illustrator Alicia Padron. 

It's a pretty simple idea: twoodle = Twitter + doodle.  Every week you can join in by tweeting random words along with #twoodle.  Then on a Wednesday you search the hash-tag and choose two unrelated words and create a little doodle combining the words and then share it.

Last week my #twoodle words were squirrel and queen.

And this week I chose parrot and guitar.

You can find out more about #twoodle on Alicia's blog.

It's good fun and also a great exercise for getting you thinking and doodling, especially if you have been feeling a bit stuck and staring at a blank page.  Go on, give it a go.

howdy

Howdy everyone, hope you're all having a great weekend so far. 

Unfortunately I have missed a couple of days on my blog every day for a month challenge, ooops *slaps wrist*, so I'm playing catch up today.

"and now," cried max, "let the wild rumpus start!"

Today would of been Maurice Sendak's 85th birthday and Google have honoured him with an inspired animated doodle.

I have done my own little doodle of Max in celebration of the great illustrator and story teller.

And if you have a spare 40 minutes or so watch this.  In this intriguing documentary Maurice talks candidly about his youth, family, thoughts on death and his career and some of the controversies that came from his books.

May the wild rumpus never end.

Happy Monday everyone.

it's friday

It's Friday and I've completed a whole week of bloggin, good times :)

We're off out tonight to watch a band so I'll make this quick and share a new illustration with you all.

It's Friday, so lets par-TEA.

little, little thee

When I was little the one thing that I remember people commenting on the most was my hair.  I really had a lot of hair, it was super thick and curly and had a mind of it's own.  It was so unruly even the hairdresser didn't know what to do about it.

That's me, see what I mean, loads of it.

Combs would get stuck, warm weather made it worse and I hated the hairdressers with a passion.  Fortunately it got better and thinned out a bit as I got older and started growing down rather the out.  Below is a little illustration I did a while back about how I felt when I went to the hairdressers when I was a kid. I don't think I ever got stuff stuck in my hair but sometimes it felt like anything could get lost in there. 

Any-who, enough about my hair woes, hope everyone is having a super sun shiny week.  I've really surprised myself that I have managed to blog 6 days in a row and I'll be super chuffed if I make it to the end of the month.

illustration friday: storm

This weeks Illustration Friday theme is storm so I thought I'd share this illustration I did a little while ago.  What really happens when it rains?

darwin doodle

Today is pancake day.  But it also happens to be International Darwin Day in honour of Charles Darwin's birthday.  He would of been 204 today!

So to celebrate I did a little doodle...

At first I drew this guy, I know dinosaurs weren't really Darwin's thing but I really like them.  After a little thought and a helpful comment on Twitter from Loubilou I had another go and came up with this...

A Primate Pancake Party to celebrate Mr Darwin's birthday!

Happy Pancake Day (and International Darwin Day) to everyone! *nom nom*

colour inspiration: tea time pastels

I am currently working on a new set of illustrations and wanted to try a new approach to colour.  My work tends to be quite bright, using strong, bold colours, but for this set of illustration I felt that a different approach was needed.  So I have been collecting some colour inspiration.

Lately I have been drawn towards a much more muted palette, dusky pink tones, pale blues and and soft greys.  A simple but pretty combination ready for Spring, which I think will be perfect for what I am working on!

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6

illustration friday: wheels

This weeks Illustration Friday theme is wheels.  This illustration is from my final degree project, which was a counting book for children.  This was done a few years ago and looking at it now I can definitely see how my illustrative style has developed and improved since graduation.

brilliant birds

I love birds.  All types of birds.  From the humble British garden bird to the flamboyant and tropical birds of paradise. 

Birds have always fascinated me and I have grown up with a great love for them.  I think this was mainly due to my dads enthusiasm for them.  When I was little we would take trips to Bempton cliffs to watch the puffins most years, my dad set up a camera in my bedroom so I could take photos of the birds in the garden and I would spend hours copying pictures of birds out of wildlife books.  The bird garden at Lotherton Hall (near Leeds) is still one of my favourite places to go.

Birds feature quite a lot in my illustration work, the colour and variety of them, not to mention their habitats, are an endless source of inspiration.  Parrots, owls, penguins, peacocks and flamingos are some of my favourites to illustrate.

Below are three of my most recent illustrations of birds (which I am hoping to make available as prints in my shop soon) and it just so happens that this weeks Illustration Friday theme is Wings so it seemed like the perfect time to share them with you and submit my illustration this week!