Whats on the box

When we read our imagination takes us further, it will fill in and create extra depth and meaning to the story we're reading.  An illustrators job is to visualise those imagining and deduce what might be going on in a scene or character interaction that isn't described in the authors words.

When creating illustrations for a story, I very much focus on the process of developing what my imagination is telling me to the page.   I'm always keen to make suggestions and develop ideas that can help enrich what the author has written. 

This scene was created to show how the children in the story bond with the robot, originally it was supposed to be a dinner table scene, though as robots don't eat it highlighted the difference of him as a character and separated him from the kids in the story.  Instead I fleshed out this scene with them all watching something scary, so that a bond is created by their share experience.  

This artwork was created by hand using pencils, scanned and layered and painted on Photoshop 

WOOF!

Illustration Friday this week is all about the nose so to sniff around for a little exposure and have some fun I’ve submitted this fellow, my Basset Hound illustration.  Having a little play with perspective to show the head a little closer and focus on the expression gives shows this pooch’s personality more and makes the illustration quirky. 

As a freelance illustrator I’m commission to draw a wide variety of places, people and animals and my work includes advertising illustrations, editorial illustrations, educational illustrations, narrative artwork for children’s books and picture book illustrations.  Having quick visualization skills I’m also asked to illustrate storyboards and commissioned to illustrate character designs and pitch artworks.

Pencil illustration, coloured up and layered on PhotoShop

Hopefully I’m not barking up the wrong tree to say that you’ll find my dog illustration as lovable as I do. Waggy tails all round.

To submit an artwork please go to Illustration Friday

Going Local

Promoting your small business especially when it’s brand new and you’re finding your feet is an exciting time and the passion really shines through when I’m talking to the client.  I’m very happy to discuss and listen to their ideas and make suggestions working off their energy and helping make their business more visible.

It was a real pleasure to work direct with the owners of Donaghy and Sanderson, a local wine merchant and deli. While their business was being fitted out I was commissioned to create a shop front illustration. Having past experience of designing retail and licensed premises, it was simple to work off the floor plans and imagine the space as it would look when finished.   

This illustration’s main purpose was for the license application and other promotions, so it was important to have the shop buzzing with activity and people going to and fro.  I created the finished pen and ink illustration from the concept I developed and emailed over for approval.  The line art illustration was kept a little tighter and for license use and using layers to create a more busy image with people and the shop’s produce so that they could be added in for the promotional illustration. 

Creating a layered illustration so that you can adapt it for a client’s future needs is really important.  To be able to quickly edit it keeps costs down for small and independent businesses.   The same can be said of my branded illustration work for similar or large companies. 

Exterior retail illustration for Donaghy & Sanderson for promotional use.  The style is very similar to editorial illustrations I’ve done in the past for restaurant reviews.