Mermaids

So.... Been watching The Little Mermaid today (it's been a little drizzly, I did leave the house when I could I promise. I thought I'd doodle some mermaid sand realised I was quite fond of them (found some metallic green fish scale leggings online that ism unfortunately and ashamidly tempted by!) there are much more Brittney Lee or Mary Blair inspired than Arial. Think I shall do a couple more just because I like the colour freedom it allows. Also they're down right adorable!

More flourishing (and trouble with hair)

Since going blonde myself I've had a bit of a struggle with hair on my hands recently. I've decided to give another flourishing art nouveau girl a go. I just can't get her hair to behave! I guess I could just tie it in a bun like I do when my own is unruly. Hmmm it's the bit at the front, I've tried it with and without a fringe and I'm not getting anywhere. The top is my favourite but still isn't just right yet and I can be super fussy about this kinda thing (hair is important!) so I'm leaving it for tonight before I get to angry. Also I was thinking about it and all this figurative drawing I'm doing for this design maybe a bit much. I think I will look into some more basic logos tomorrow.

Flourish

So I've been working on branding work for my universities send of year show. The universities show encompassing all of the faculties is 'flourish'. The animation department however want to do something a bit different. They are considering twisting the theme slightly into 'mutation'. I've had a lot of ideas for both themes. I started with flourish. My boyfriend is also working on some ideas for the uni. We talked about a flowing art nouveau style. I took it quite literally and tried to create a slightly more bold and graphic version of the Alphonse Mucha style. I'm reasonably happy with the outcome, not completely. I wonder if it's too graphic, if the colours are to bold and could have done with being slightly more subtle. Anyway, these are the steps I took towards the final image.

So this is the initial sketch of the layout. I didn't want to fill the page with a full Mucha style poster with borders and an intricate background. I wanted it to have an authentic Mucha look but I also wanted it to feel more like a logo. 

I added text with an authentic nouveau font.

I felt that the space in the bottom corner by the girls shoulder was a little sparse. I also hadn't been able to fit the possible title of the show. I added another semi circle which follows the curve of the hair at the bottom of the design.

I inked the design using my black Japanese brush pen and fine liners for the smaller details.

 I coloured the design in pro and Copic marker. I kept it flat as I wanted to keep the design graphic. I gave the design a spring colour pallet as this seemed the most appropriate pallet for the theme of spring. I am happy with the colouring on the girl but concerned that the blue and the pink are too bold. They could maybe do with being less saturated.

I added a little definition with coloured pencil using dashed strokes.

CV

Here's my brand new CV, all in with my own personal branding! :D

Swirls and curls!

Here's the beginnings of an Art Nouveau inspired design I'm doing for my friend. She runs a salon and needed a silhouetted design for the window that will be made of vinyl. I decided to do her one better, there's a basic version for the window but she's also getting this mad detailed one all inked and coloured up and awesome when it's done. I'm thinking birthday present. Shhhhhh!

Wondeful Pin up

Another super inspired '50's pin up! Actually this one was done as a bit of a costume concept. Thinking of getting a table at the next Cardiff Comic con this year if I can get enough work together. Hopefully, come see me!

Poisonous Pin up

Um yep just a drawing of poison ivy as a 1950's pin up after a day in her garden. I liked it ok but I didn't get the face quite right. It looks distorted and squished slightly. Three point perspective is hard! Oh well I learned something. Want to try it again when I get sometime, just the head and expression.

Mothers day doodles

I made a card for this mothers day just past. Unfortunately I couldn't find an envelope the right size to post it to Mamma Williams but as I'm traveling back to the land of sheep and rain tomorrow she'll be gettin' it then :D Can you tell that I had been looking at the concept art of Elsa and Anna from Frozen as children before I drew this? Lil' Rhi's pretty cute. Not that I look much different now.

Girl on Fire

Off out to finally see the new Hunger Games film. Finally gotten a little bit of time to myself. Thought I'd express my love for miss Everdeen and the woman who gave her life Jennifer Lawrence. Here's a Art nouveau drawing of her in her famous flaming red dress from her interview with Ceaser Flickerman.

I'm not sure how I want to colour her yet. I'm sure I want to do it by hand as I do with the other Hunger Games inspired piece from yesturday. I think that one suits markers as I want it to have a blockier feel. I want to get across a slightly utilitarian feel with those district pieces. I think it well reflects the subject matter. This one I thing should be softer. Showing a slightly sad, slightly scared girl. I'm thinking maybe ink and water colour.

For Finnick

More book related doodeing. I had an idea for comic con. I wanted to Art Nouveau illustrations representing the 12 (and possibly 13...shhhh!) districts of Panem from The Hunger Games. I was going to base them around each districts primary industry. I started with 4, which is fishing because I had lots of ideas, also many peoples favourite character from the series is Finnick Odair. I found some pretty good reference. There was a girl on deviant art who did a lot of reference photos with drappery. As soon as I saw them I though Alphonse Mucha and that's where the idea steamed from.

This is the initial skecth. I want to frame her head with the district seal. Mucha's work often had decorative circles that drew the eye to certain parts of the composition. I think part of the fish tail will turn into a box that will have Panem written in it. Another staple of Mucha's work. I can't wait to colour this! Lovely shades of blue and I intend the background to be a partly deco looking sunset on a beach using golden orange tones.

Crazy Critters!

Here's some doodles I did for a stop motion project. I'm not sure what's happening with them but I'm fond of them so I thought I'd share. I got frustrated with this project for a while. I started off with a bear character and struggled to get much of anything I liked. I warmed up eventually and the got a lot better. Especially buy the duck. I seem to like drawing birds. I did a few bits of graphic design, signs and stuff and adverts for airmail.

Drawing the Green Light

Re-read The Great Gatsby recently and as my favourite book of all time I couldn't stand not showing my appreciation with a drawing. I also have such a massive interest in art deco design and the fashion design from the 1920's. I felt like I could give myself a chance to run a muck with opulance. I looked at the program for the ballet adaptation to get a few ideas.

Oh look it's me!

Working a little on creating a brand for myself. Thought I'd start with a little doodles of me. Think this old design for the blog is looking a little old. Think I'll update it and this little illustrator sketch could be perfect! The inspiration comes curtsy of one of my favourite artist/cartoonist Bruce Timm of Batman the Animated Series fame :D

A little something extra....

I intended Jinni and Gracie to have a moral message that girls within the age range, 6-8, could really take to heart. The core concept of Jinni and Gracie is about getting on with someone who is different from yourself. At around that age children are going to school for the first time and having to make friends for the first time. I thought it was an important lesson to learn.

So What's The Story?

Here's a quick outline of the story of Jinni and Grcaie. Their first adventure is with cupcakes and how difficult something as easy as baking a batch can be complicated if you don't learn to work together!

A Tale of Two Cities...kinda

The story takes place between two worlds. The normal world that humans in habit and the mystical, magical genie world. Here's a little bit about these two realms and how I went about developing them!

Sssshhhhhh! Here comes teacher!

The genie teacher Miss Stephens that is. Miss Stephens is Jinni's favourite teacher who specialises in "The basics of being a Genie" informally referred to by the students as "Genie 101". Having had a shaky start to genie-ing herself, Miss Stephens has more patience for Jinni's nonsense than most!

All about Gracie

Ok the first post told you all about that chirpy, squishy little ball of energy, Jinni. Here I'd like to tell you about her difficult little friend Gracie.