Carsington Water: fairy tale wood hut

I spent this weekend celebrating my auntie's 50th birthday in the Peak District.

We stayed in a higgledy piggledy cottage right on Carsington Water!

We went for a walk around the lake and hidden in the bushes was a little hut full of wonderful things!! I was in my element!! 

I hope you like my little find!!!

David Sparshott

I came across David Sparshott whilst doing some research, he is an excellent drawer! Absolutely brilliant! Really nice to see some 'proper' drawing, real skill.

I admire this guy!

You can see more of David Sparshott's work on his website www.davidsparshott.com

Just Brilliant!!

Hope you like!

Back To Basics: My Work

I've had the urge recently to do some drawings, just pencil and nothing else! I often like using collage and anything I can get my hands on but want to go back to basics!!

 I studied Fine Art in St Albans when I was 18 (prior to Graphics and Illustration), I want to use the skills I learnt  there, just basics of drawing and composition.

Here are some of my drawings from my sketchbooks.

Just pencil!!

Sketch of a Bill Brandt photograph

James and the Giant Peach: My final design for book cover

Here is my final design for the Puffin competition.

All of the elements are hand cut using a scalpel. I considered type, I wanted it to look hand generated and playful because it's a children's story. I wanted to create a whimsical feel to my design, which I feel I have achieved. 

If i could change my design I would focus on the skyline, but as this is a photograph I obviously cannot change this in Photoshop and so it would mean me having to set up and photograph the whole front cover again! I am working on a new project now and unfortunately I don't have the time!! It was my first time experimenting properly with photography and I have learnt a lot, which I can take with me when doing future projects.

I will be entering the Puffin competition after seeking advice about the computer generated text on the back of the cover, as this is not my strong point!! 

My personal work: cushion cover design

My design for a cushion cover, (pencil and sequins). I will photocopy this and make it into a screen, which I can then use to print onto fabric (screen print).

Here is one of my screen prints on fabric. This was made into a cushion. I made a few in different colours and sewed lots of pearly beads on for added detail..this took me ages but I loved doing it! 

I love designing cushions, I am currently working on more designs!

Penguin Design Award 2011: book cover for 'James and the Giant Peach'

I am currently working on a design for the Puffin Design Award 2011.

 The brief is to design a book cover for Roald Dahl's 'James and the Giant Peach'.

I had several ideas for this brief regarding techniques. I wanted something 2D but layered or suspended (I love hanging things!!) to create shadows and a feel of depth. I want to keep it naive as it's a children's story but at the same sophisticated.

I tried to create a little scene like a stage, I set it up in the photography studio with adequate lighting and then took some shots. It's been a productive day today!

I am happy with these shots! My design is still in progress and the next step is to play about on photoshop, I think I will add more of the New York skyline. I also have ideas for the text on the spine and the back. These photos are very clean which is my style however, I will experiment with adding some collage to add extra detail.

I will upload my final book cover very soon!

Berlin...Olaf Hajek

Sorry for my absence!!! I have been so busy doing many things over the past couple of months.. which i will update you about later!

I recently visited Berlin which was so exciting! Really, I had the absolute time of my life!

Whilst I was there I was lucky to have the opportunity of meeting the very talented illustrator Olaf Hajek at his studio. He is one of the world's most successful illustrators, so meeting him was a huge inspiration to me. He was great at giving advice and so friendly!!

Olaf Hajek is a painter, his paintings are amazing, they are so colourful and detailed. There is magical feel about them, they are dreamy. Olaf has a broad range of clients; his work has been displayed in publications such as The New York Times, and even on postage stamps. I looked around his studio and just wished it was mine!!! 

I came away from his studio feeling totally refreshed and inspired, it made me think that anything can be achieved if you try hard enough. This was definitely the highlight of my visit to Berlin.