Saturday 28 July 2018

Exhibition and food illustrations

Hello,

Wow, it's been another lovely hot hot week here.  I can't believe the weather this summer, it's been amazing!  I've got so used to leaving the house without having to worry about taking layers in case it gets cold, it's lovely.
So this week I've been working on some lovely food illustrations for an editorial commission.  I can't wait to show the images as I loved creating them.  I also got out to the Royal Academy to see the Summer Exhibition.  I often miss this but was determined to go this year as Grayson Perry is the curator so I thought I would enjoy it, and it feels like an age since I last went to an exhibition.  I wasn't disappointed.  I took loads of photos so I'll share some here.  My absolute favourite was the incredible knitted and crocheted sculpture Royal Valkyrie by Joana Vasconcelos which fills the octagonal space as you enter.  It's so colourful and delicious, it was a wonderful start to the exhibition.










I also wanted to share a recent iced coffee illustration.  I do love a good coffee, who doesn't?  I drew a load of coffee pots so I thought I'd share those also (I also have a whole bunch of coffee glasses).  I limited myself to only brown rich coffee shades for this illustration.  I really enjoyed drawing the beans and leaves.



After my Royal Academy visit yesterday I also popped to Burlington Arcade and snapped this lovely installation, lots of lovely hanging paper flowers.  Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, they don't do it justice.



So, that's it for now.  I'm off to Bodycombat this morning then back to edit the food illustrations and work on some nature themed work.  I hope you have a lovely weekend whatever you get up to :).




Friday 20 July 2018

Summery delights

Hello,

I thought I'd share some recent summer inspired food I've illustrated.  This year in the UK we are having a proper summer, which is very exciting!  So everyday has been warm and sunny for weeks which is lovely (although today is cloudy, but hopefully that's a one off, it's still warm!).  My flat gets very hot as it's on the top floor and gets the sunshine in the afternoon and evening, so it means I can't be cooking and creating more heat, so there's been a lot of yummy salads.  One particular favourite has been courgette with pine nuts and basil or my version of pesto (minus the cheese) which I have to say has been delicious.  It's super light, fresh and yummy.  I've been having it with another cannellini bean salad which I'm going to draw up soon, and sometimes potato salad.  Maybe that sounds like quite a lot of food.....hmm, eating is good.



I loved working on these in the sunshine (with the fan going obviously).  I really hope this weather lasts, it's just a joy to feel the sun on your skin and not worry about taking layers wherever you go.  I'm really enjoying it.  Today I'm working on another coffee illustration and then I'm hoping to get to a local park researching for some new work.  Have a lovely weekend :).

Friday 6 July 2018

Tea and a tasty sunny snack

Hello,

Today is all about food and tea (never a bad thing in my mind).  These are a couple of illustrations I completed recently.  I hope they feel quite summery as that’s my intention.  The weather has been consistently hot, which is such a treat for us here in the UK, I hope it continues!  
I wanted to use a really restricted palette for the tea illustration and keep it light, airy and refreshing.  I do love tea, although I never drink it in anything as fancy as this, as knowing me anything this delicate would be broken immediately!  I had fun creating all the patterns all and drawing all the leaves.


Below is figs on toast with ricotta and a drizzle of honey.  I haven’t actually eaten this but it looks like a perfect summery snack and I may well have to try it. 


That’s it for today, I’m loving working in the sunshine it’s such a delight although I really need more pairs of shorts!  My flat gets the sun in the afternoon and evening and it does get very hot so it's nice to feel the coolness of the morning.  Today I’m drawing another summer inspired drink, I’ll be back soon with that.  Have a lovely weekend whatever you’re up to :).