christmas cards

This week has been about christmas cards!  I'm hoping to get them printed before I go off to spitalfields market in london.

I wasn't sure about this one - whether to print it with a blue background or a white one.  most people I asked wither said blue or both so I think I'll go for blue.  I did it entirely on the computer which is unusual for me but fun all the same. 

I just did this one for fun but thought it was quite amusing so I'll get some printed.   I'm not sure who is going to buy them though!

This week has been all about hair! 

It started as a piece for a magazine about fears and I chose trichophobia - a fear of hair.  I was so excited I decided to try out the whole alphabet.  W seems to have got a lot of attention!

Then I made a birthday card but I thought all those little heads looked a bit lonely floating around on their own so I put them in a frame, now they are all happy bobbing around inside it and can't float away...

sock creatures

I've been playing with socks today - first I made a little gopher like thing, with knobbly ears and a bendy tail.  he's a little plump to say the least!

originally I had set out to make a cat, so with a little tweaking here and there (and losing all the legs) I came up with this sleepy cat, he's got one eye open - to check what that pesky mouse is up to.

I've got ideas of how to make them better next time and now I know what I'm up to hopefully they won't take (quite) so long.

circles and stripes

I was searching for inspiration in some old selvedge magazines and I came across this photo of a chinese skirt advertising a textile exhibition.

I thought it was really beautiful and I got slightly addicted to looking at it, hypnotised! 

I wanted to start a new project with no preconceptions - to just start on a path and see where it ends up.  So I started mark making.

I tried using all sorts of pens, pencils, paints, coffee and even nail varnish - there really isn't enough neon in the world for my liking!   

This is the sort of thing I came up with.  I quite liked the idea of eventually turning the circles into a skirt for a model or doll to wear.  I'm not too sure how far I'll get with that though as it's really time consuming and I'm really impatient.  I did play around with using the circles and stripes technique as part of a character design.  

I liked the fact that my circles weren't perfectly round - they had a much more organic feel to them.  I found the drawing process quite therapeutic which is always an added bonus.

I made a mock up of my 3d idea, it wasn't brilliantly executed but I was happy with the process and I worked out how I would do it better next time.

I've been thinking about what to enter for the inkygoodness beer mat competition - all you have to do is turn a beer mat into a character.  So I played around with my new techniques and came up with this.  I'm going to post it off tomorrow.  Exciting!! Fyi  it's a beer mat cat in a hat (just in case you couldn't tell).

paper scissors stone, bristol

my stitch-ink prints and products will be on sale at this amazing shop in cabot circus, bristol, along with lots of other brilliant designer makers.

It opens this thursday and will be open for 7 weeks, we'd love to see you there!

Paper Scissors Stone
Quakers Friars
Cabot Circus
Bristol
Bs1 3BU

I'll be at 11 birch road this weekend as part of the southbank arts trail with the lovely paula bowles, louise cunningham and other beauties - there will be live music and cakes!!! come and see us...

rice monster line up

this is the latest monster line up from which you can choose your favourite critter!

London Book Fair

the london book fair was lots of fun!

I got to meet lots of renowned chinese book illustrators and publishers and they gave me this amazing book.

there is an exhibition on at the british museum this week showcasing the best of chinese children's book illustrations - pop by if you get the chance, it's going to be ace!

colour pages from my book - the fox that couldn't skip

The fox is really cold with a drippy nose, alone in the woods and is trying to think of a way to warm up.

London Book Fair

I was at the Harbourside Market in Bristol at the weekend with my stall - selling my illustrations and other hand made delights and I was visited by a very lovely Chinese lady.  She invited me to the Chinese Forum at the London book fair as she said they are looking for people just like me!  So a few of us from Brillustration are going on a school trip to the London Book Fair!  I've never been before and I'm really excited.

Here are the two new prints I had on sale at the weekend.

printing monsters

                                        

Today I have been printing using the equipment at the drawn in bristol studio where I have a desk.  It's the first time I've done it on my own and once I got the hang of it there was no stopping me - not even the fact that the ink soaked through 2 layers of my clothing and I'm more inky than the paper.  No surface is left uncovered... the monsters have taken over!  

here are some of the finished critters

monster making

I have been making lots of eyes for my monsters as they will hopefully be on sale in the June and July session of paper scissors stone in cabot circus, bristol.  I realised I'd better pull my finger out and get stocked up!

This is where the little socks get their personalities, faces and rice for their insides.  then they are piled up on the floor while they patiently wait for their name tags.

the big scribble

as a member of brillustration I was invited to take part in the big scribble at ashton gate primary school.  a large roll of paper was taped to the floor and children and illustrators were let loose with pens and crayons.  a lot of it actually ended up on the paper - result!

I finally started a blog!

I did start a blog on my own website www.stitch-ink.co.uk but realised that not many people were going to see it - so I started a blogger page and here it is...

this is what I was working on yesterday, I have recently discovered the wonders of drawing and working digitally, I start by making a drawing on paper and then scan and trace it on the computer by hand.  it's quite exciting for me!

some one said that they looked a bit quiet, so I'm thinking of adding some speech bubbles, and trying to imagine what it is that each one is saying.  the little cats started out as drawings of dogs, which I've left at the studio but I'm hoping to show how they were transformed, step by step.