Bear and Cat

Here’s a little something I just did just for fun. I’m not sure how these two became friends, I guess they just are…

August 7, 2015 0

Print and Pattern!

I am over the moon to find that my work has been featured on both Print and Pattern and the Make it in Design blog today! Earlier in the year I submitted work for the “student showcase” after graduating from Rachael Taylor’s e-course The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design and they chose to show my rainy sky pattern alongside the beautiful patterns created by some of my fellow students! I’m thrilled to bits and it just makes me want to make more patterns – in fact here are some below…

August 3, 2015 0

open studios 2015 – the last weekend!

Last weekend was the first weekend of Open Studios for us here at Derby Road and we had a wonderful time chatting with all our visitors! We had a bit of a catastrophe before we put our work on the walls as crazy weather in Cambridge on Thursday night caused a flood in our studio. Friday morning was a scene of soggy devastation at Derby Road but after a long day cleaning up, Nicola, Ian, Neil and I managed to set it all straight and even got it looking rather lovely! If you are in Cambridge on Saturday 25th or Sunday 26th July then come along and see what we’ve done with the place – we are open from 11-6pm both days. We look forward to seeing you!

July 22, 2015 0

interview

I recently had a visit at my studio from Karen Jinks and Mandy Knapp who are the creative force behind Cambridge Creative Network. Karen and Mandy have been doing a series of artist interviews in advance of Cambridge Open Studios and they chose me! It was fantastic to meet artists who are so dedicated to helping people in the creative arts link up as well as promote what they do. Have a look at their website to see my interview and to find out more about Cambridge Creative Network and other Cambridge artists.

July 7, 2015 0

cats and dogs

I’m rather enjoying playing with putting patterns and drawings together at the moment. Here are a couple of creatures who have come into being of late who definitely need to find homes…

July 3, 2015 0

Meet the Mermaid

After helping create the underwater themed mural with children at the St Ives Bookjam recently, I decided to make my own underwater picture! It started life as a simple black and white ink drawing which I then scanned and coloured in photoshop. It’s unusual for me to work in the computer as I usually like to slosh as much paint around as I can, but it just seemed like the best way to do those beams of light…

June 22, 2015 0

Happy Patterns

I have been working on patterns lately and its all going quite well! Here are the (extremely happy) results to prove it:

June 8, 2015 0

Maisie Hitchins – The Case of the Weeping Mermaid

May saw the launch of the last story in Holly Webb‘s wonderful mystery series Maisie Hitchins. This book is called The Case of the Weeping Mermaid and its action centres around dark and mysterious London docks which were the perfect setting for a front cover. I took photos as I was painting the cover so that I would later remember the different stages and here they all are below from the sketchiest beginnings to the final scan. I always find it challenging painting covers, they seem to go through a lot of different stages and look fairly awful for most of the time until suddenly at the end it all comes together – always a bit of a relief!

Here is the sketch for the cover ready to be transferred onto watercolour paper, as you can probably see I changed my mind about how the clouds were going to look!

Here is the cover all drawn out on watercolour paper and I've just begun painting with the most important bit - Maisie! — Here is the cover all drawn out on watercolour paper and I’ve just begun painting the most important bit – Maisie! As you can see the sketch is to hand and I’m working in acrylic ink. There is a lot of empty space here which is to allow for the title and Holly’s name which will come later.

Here you can see the monotone background is beginning to appear, everything is still quite pale.

I've kept on working into the background to boost the colour and tone and to strengthen the shadows, and Maisie is getting more vibrant too. — I’ve kept on working into the background to boost the colour and tone and to strengthen the shadows, clouds are beginning to appear and Maisie is getting more vibrant.

Now the cover is nearly finished; I've added highlights to give the feel of moonlight and everything has an outline to bring it all into sharp focus. — Now the cover is nearly finished; I’ve added highlights to give the feel of moonlight and everything has an outline to bring it all into sharp focus.

Here is the finished image, scanned this time. The tendrils of mist were the last thing to arrive, they were made by painting dilute white acrylic ink over the top of the painting.

Here is the finished cover as it looks with all the text in place - what a difference! — Here is the finished cover as it looks with all the text in place – what a difference!

June 5, 2015 0

St Ives Bookjam

Last Saturday I helped out at the St Ives Bookjam which is a fantastic children’s event held every year to celebrate the love of books and reading. Together with an awful lot of small but enthusiastic artists I helped terrifically talented illustrator Pam Smy in her mission to create two huge murals. The Bookjam was attended by many wonderful illustrators and authors and I was especially delighted to meet Ruth Symes for the first time ever – Ruth is the author of the Bella Donna books which are illustrated by yours truly! Below are the Bella Donna covers as well as some highlights from the murals which featured pirates, aliens, mermaids, a recycling war and many more fantastical goings on…

May 14, 2015 0

Portfolio covers

I recently wanted to create some new work for my portfolio and since I love book covers so much, I thought I’d do some of my own. The books don’t actually exist yet but that may change!

May 5, 2015 2