London

Good morning!  It's a rainy morning here in London...again!  Still, March is almost here so I am confident that will mean things are on the up.  I can spy a lovely array of spring flowers from my window out in the garden, and that's always a highlight for me at this time of year.  When it stops raining I will pop out to pay them a visit.
I wanted to share a recent personal piece I completed of some London 'things'.  It comes as no surprise that I do love drawing iconic London buildings and bits and pieces.  There is such a wealth to draw from, and many places I've drawn a lot, Tower Bridge is a prime example ;).  I feel I know it very well now!  When you live in such an impressive city with so much history it is tempting to take it for granted, but I still get awestruck when walking around, crossing the Thames and so on.  I still will make many more drawings of London, there are always ideas pulsing away in my head, but for now here's the latest.

I made a lot of preparatory sketches which I then copied and scaled up and down until I was happy with the composition.  In the end I removed the purple and used brown as the additional colour, I wanted mainly to use red, blue, black and white.  

I hope you can tell this is a corgi!  I'm sure that in their spare time the Queens doggos love to have a good run-around in their own crowns :).

Ok, it's Friday which means a drawing day for me.  I've been working on some commissions which I can't share but today I should be able to work on something new that I've been doodling with for a few days.  Have a lovely Friday and weekend!

Brrr....London Frost Fairs

Hello,

I hope you've had a good start to....September!  I can't believe we are here already, the year is speeding past.
Today I'm sharing something I've been working on during these sunny days but which is on a wintry theme.  A while back I came across an article about 'London Frost Fairs' which took place on the river Thames when it..gasp! froze over.  Hard to imagine I know, but in those days the river was wider, slower flowing, and of course winters were much colder.  The last recorded fair was in 1814 and the best records are from the early 17th century.  The frost fairs were like parties on the ice, lots of games, food, drinks, King Charles II came to join in the fun at one of them, and there was even an elephant walking the ice at the final fair so the ice did get pretty thick.  There must have been a great sense of excitement and also quite a lot of risk I would imagine, as it could all end very suddenly.  My frost fair is based in the 17th century, I hope you can tell from the clothing and it meant I got to imagine my own version of the Old London Bridge which I wish I could have seen with all the buildings along it.

I did a lot of sketching beforehand then took copies and began to figure out the arrangement.  I find this is the best way for me to do it ;).

Just because I took a nice sunny walk along the Thames last week, here's a pic of the river as it is today!  It was such a beautiful afternoon :).

I hope you have a lovely start to the week, I'm off to start work on a new project and I'll be back soon!

London

Hello,

This week I want to share some London themed work I've been doing recently (I love drawing London things!)  The first is an illustration of an area of Carnaby Street and around.  It's an area I feel I know quite well.  I wanted to stick to a particular colour range and include places and items that have stuck out to me as I've walked around.  I do enjoy drawing the Liberty building, it's so iconic and beautiful, and I really enjoyed selecting what else to draw for my kind of map.

The second illustration I created after reading a book I received for Christmas called 'Underground Tales for London'.  It contains twelve stories from twelve different authors all inspired by, yep, the Underground.  I created an image for each story and then centred them around an image of a tube train.  I had fun creating this little project for myself and it also encouraged me to draw more figures which is something I haven't done that much of recently.

I hope you're having a good week.  It's pouring with rain where I am at the moment but I'm happy that now it's staying lighter longer at night, I'm always excited to see that change.  Right, back to the desk with a cuppa for some more drawing :).

Have a great weekend.

Out for a walk

Hello,

It's a lovely sunny Saturday :).  I'm sharing another illustration completed after a little break in the countryside.  I went walking through Sheringham Park where luckily some of the Rhododendrons were out at that time, lots of glorious colour.  I made this inspired by the walk which led to the coast in the end, and also to fish and chips and later an ice cream, yum.
Have a lovely weekend whatever you do, I'm about to start sketching for some new nature themed work :).

A little break

Hello,

I've had a lovely week.  I finally took a proper few days off and incredibly picked the week with the best weather so far :D!  I went to visit my family back in Norfolk and spent time in the countryside, and by the coast, in what was permanent sunshine, I really could not believe my luck.  As the weather was so good it was also the perfect excuse to try several varieties of delicious ice cream, yum.  Below are some pictures of my time there.

I really enjoyed getting away, I've come back full of new ideas, and got to work on some new illustrations inspired by my travels.  I love creating work in this way.
In honour of the sun (which is not with me today :(, it has been a day of rain) here's a recent sunny Illustration I created all about bees.  I wanted a really limited sunny warm toned palette for this one.

I hope you've had a great week and enjoyed the sunshine if it was around where you were :). 

Travel commissions

Hello there,

I hope you're having a good weekend.  It's been a very dark and rainy day here in London in contrast with yesterday which was cold but bright :).  I decided to treat myself yesterday and headed off to the Barbican to see the Basquiat exhibition which was fantastic, (I've been really looking forward to this so it was great to finally go and well worth it!)  As I was early I also popped in to see the John Akomfrah installation which was both thought provoking and mesmerising, well worth a look I would say.  I always wish I had more time to go to more exhibitions, it's so important to see things and I am determined to find more time in future!
On another note I wanted to share some recent work I've completed for Cox and Kings Compass magazine.  I created two illustrations, one for their letters page which was about an evening cruise on the Huangpu river, and the other is for an article about travelling with a huge supply of books.  I really enjoyed drawing the Shanghai skyline, I hope you can recognise it! and I'm really happy with how the books illustration turned out.  I loved drawing the old fashioned suitcase and I'm especially happy with the shoes (based on a pair of mine :)).  The magazine is out soon and should be available on their website if you want to take a look and our not a member.

That's it for now.  I'm back to working on a Christmas illustration whilst being all wrapped up with some huge woolly socks!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Editorial Illustrations

Hello,

I thought I'd share with you some recent work I completed for Cox and Kings Compass Magazine.  These illustrations were for their spring/summer issue which will be out soon.  Both of them were lovely briefs.  One was for the letters paged inspired by Greece, and the other was based around an article about literature and the Thames.  I had a great time drawing these.  Thinking of Greece really took me back to holidays there (I must go back soon!) It also meant I got to draw a goat which can only be a good thing!  I loved working through ideas for the for the Thames piece, it was a beautiful article.  I always enjoy drawing London landmarks and I'm really happy with the colours I choose for this one and how it turned out.

It's a bank holiday weekend in the UK this weekend and for once I am actually escaping the capital and going to spend a few days away in the countryside, I can't wait!  I realised I haven't left London since Christmas! so it really is about time.  

I hope you have a lovely weekend whatever you do x

Hello again,

I thought I'd share a piece of work I've completed just recently.  I could carry on making endless work about my travels I have to say as I've really enjoyed taking inspiration from my trip and creating illustrations on that theme.  I still have lots of ideas left to explore.   Travel is just the BEST thing for inspiration especially when you visit somewhere for the first time.
I really wanted to be able to sit and sample tapas at one of the little bars at La Boqueria but it was always really busy when I went there.  I did end up buying some tasty snacks though (of course, sampling local food is always a highlight of any trip!) and I loved the displays, the fruit and vegetables in particular were always pretty impressive.

That's it for now I'll be back soon until then have a great week x

Hello and happy new year!  It seems like a very long time ago since Christmas and New Year now, I can't believe it's already one week since New Years.  I had a lovely break spending some time with family and then I came back to London full of enthusiasm to get back on working.  I hope you all enjoyed your break if you had one.
I'm sure you know by now my trip to Barcelona was one of the highlights of last year for me.  I found it so inspiring and have been making work about it ever since.  Below is something I completed recently based on a beautiful square Placa Reial (I especially liked the fountain and lamps).  I came across it whilst out walking on my first afternoon and instantly knew I wanted to create some work around it.  I hope it conveys some sense of the heat and light of a summer afternoon.
Just a quick post today, I'll be back soon with more.  Until then Happy New Year and I hope you've had a great start to 2017!

Hello there,

I thought I'd share what I've been up to just lately.  So below is something based on my recent-ish visit to Barcelona (it seems a long time ago now!)  I really wanted to restrict my use of colour for this one and I loved doing the ink line work.  This piece is inspired by the area around the Cathedral and the museums around there that I visited.  One of my first stops was the Cathedral as I'd been walking round the gothic area on day one locating myself.  In the cloisters there actually are geese (apparently they've been here since medieval times) they make quite a racket too.  

The dolls, keys and Saint come from the fascinating Museu Frederic Mares which I loved looking around.  Museums like this are great as they're not as well known so you can really take some time to have a really good nose, and you're practically alone in doing so.  Frederic Mares was a collector and the range is huge, fans, clocks, sculptures, ironwork, all beautifully arranged.  On the top floor was the toy room, I was the only one there alongside the guard (who had to put all the lights on for me).  It was full of old mini theatres, and old toys along with lots of dolls all in glass cabinets....my horror film mind was in overdrive ;).  I loved it!  It's set in a lovely courtyard which houses a cafe which of course I had to have a coffee at (there is always time for a good coffee).

I also visited the Museu Historia Barcelona where you get to walk around roman ruins including a laundry and wine making area.  I love things like this and I really enjoy having the time to really look around.  

Apart from that I've been visiting several exhibitions just lately.  I finally got to have a proper look around the extension at the Tate Modern which I'd been intending to do for ages.  I also went to see Opus Anglicanum at the V&A which was amazing, such incredible detail and beauty, I really recommend it.  Finally I went to Bjork Digital at Somerset House which was incredible.  I didn't really know what to expect but it blew me away.  I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I went so I'm really happy I got to go.  I think it's touring so if you get the chance go!

Ok I've waffled on long enough, back to work!  Have a great week and I'll be back soon :).

Hello there,

In case you haven't seen my instagram I've recently just been on my first visit to Barcelona.  It was an amazing trip, I absolutely loved it.  I hadn't been out of the country for a pretty long time so I was desperate to go and see something new, I couldn't have picked a more perfect place.  There was so much to see, beauty and colour everywhere, plus lovely sunshine everyday.  Of course all the Gaudi architecture was amazing and I adored Park Guell.  I had a list of everything I really wanted to see and I saw all the major sites and museums, but as always when you travel there are always extra things you find when you get there and there are some great museums which are pretty quiet and fascinating to go around.  The Museu Frederic Mares is set in a lovely courtyard and houses some of his collections of pretty much anything.  Near to that is the Museu D'historia de Barcelona where you take a walk around Roman excavations.  I spent a lot of time exploring by foot stopping to see anything that took my interest, plus I got to go in the sea :) it really couldn't have been better.  I'm planning to create some work based on this trip so I'll come back with that soon.  Now I'm just thinking where next!

Here's a few photos :).

Museu Nacional D'Art De Catalunya

Park Guell

Park Guell

Fundacio Joan Miro

Casa Batllo

Casa Batllo

La Pedrera

Museu Frederic Mares

Have a great week!

Hello,

I hope you're having a good weekend.  As I mentioned previously a few weeks back I had a few days away back in Norfolk.  Whilst I was there out and about visiting lots of lovely countryside I couldn't help but get inspired by what I saw.  There were some lovely wildflowers just blowing gently in the wind, such gorgeous sunny colours.  I came back and really wanted to do something floral so I created the piece below.  It was lovely to draw and paint this in the sunshine back home in my flat :).

Enjoy your week! x