First Movie Poster!

I've had a crack at making a film poster and I couldn't think of a better film to be inspired by.  My Neighbour Totoro is by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki.  First time I watched this film I was a little girl and it was in Cantonese.  It was truly magical and the dub is much better than the English one.  Hopefully I have captured the same magic in my poster!

Book cover take two!

So I've listened to everyone's thoughts on the previous cover and I've made some alterations based on what people have suggested.  Thank you to all those who commented!  I really appreciate it!

Here is the new design!

This is only a rough design.  I have not put any textures or shadows and highlights yet.  For those who haven't seen the finished images here is a sneak peek.

Rough Book Cover

This is my rough for the commission I am working on which is coming to and end soon!  It is a book cover for a children's picture book (age 5-8).  I would really love peoples' opinions on this.  Colour, composition, typography etc.  Just anything you want to throw at me!  Criticise away peeps!

First Commission!

I was in London with a friend when I get a rather odd phone call.  I wasn't quite sure where it was going but I soon realised that I was being asked to do some illustrations for a new children's book!  So a month later here I am...working on my first illustration!  I won't go into detail about the book but it's about a boy and a cat and it is aimed at 5-8year olds.  The book is by Sali Childs who is a retired teacher and has now taken up writing children's books in her spare time.  Here is a sneak peak of the illustration.  It probably still needs work but this is the style I'm going for.  When the book is done it will be self-published by Sali.

I'd really like some feedback on this illustration! :)

Fondest Childhood Memory

My friends and I decided to get together to and set each other fortnightly illustration briefs.  The idea behind this blog is to share work and help each other to improve.  I think it's such a good idea and I believe it's important to keep producing work and keep work fresh.  There's nothing worse than showing potentials clients a stale portfolio.  The blog is Unicorn Illustration if you wish to check out what's going on!  Bare in mind it's only recently been set up so there isn't a vast amount of work up there.  But if you click on about us you can see the who's involved and check out their work too!  Thank you Sam for coming up with the idea!  What a genius!

Here is my recent submission.  The brief was to illustrate your fondest childhood memory.  Mine was when I first got my dog.  She's a tiny little Chihuahua and I love her to bits.  I got her when I was 7 and now she's at a grand old age of 14!  (That's 98 in human years)  And besides the odd bit of blindness, deafness and weak legs...she's actually doing alright!

There was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly

And of course you all know she died.  A bit morbid but absolutely fantastic!  Parents nowadays are apparently worried about stories being ‘too scary’ for their children which is rather stupid.  There’s a reason why it’s called a children’s classic.  DUH.

When I received my package from Amazon today I was extremely excited!  I quickly scoffed my poached egg on toast and opened up the box.  Can I just say, the amount of packaging used to transport the books was silly.  There was enough paper and card to probably produced the same books in the box!  (I also bought Animal Farm.) Sort it out Amazon.

So after wrestling through the waves of paper packaging, I got to the book I’d been waiting for with great anticipation…and it didn’t disappoint.  It was bigger than I had imagined but that didn’t matter to me.  It had a beautiful linen-finish card jacket that was tenderly hugging the book.

The attention to detail is brilliant and the format is faultless.  The pictures of the book don’t really do it justice.  You NEED to have the book and play around with it to appreciate the effort that has gone into producing it.  This book is the reason why devices like kindle will never be king.  Yes it may carry thousands of books for you in a handy device but it will never replace the special feeling and aesthetic quality that a book has. 

I haven’t felt like this about a book in a long time.  It’s a bit like going out with someone for the first time.  You get those butterflies and every page turn is like the next exciting date.  It’s just incredible.  This is the first review I have given to any book that I’ve bought.  That is how impressed I am with this.  The genius behind the illustrations is Jeremy Holmes.  Not only is he an illustrator but he also is the owner of Mutt Ink, the multidisciplinary studio.  If you love the look of this book you should check out his website. 

Below are images that I’ve taken of the book.  Enjoy!

P.S. How awesome are these shoes! Who said old people don’t have style eh?

Snowy Totoro!

I love snow.  Not only does it look pretty but it's also an amazing medium to use for art!  It's unbelievable versatile and fun to experiment with!  Last year I made a snow dear but this year...I thought I'd give a Totoro a go!  And here is the result!  Enjoy! :)