Back to the Drawing Board!

Well it's been a while since I posted anything here, I admit, but after a lovely Christmas break I have been back at the old drawing board working on character development and concepts for some brand new books!

This is the most exciting and frustrating, and tricky process all wrapped up into one! I always find I have a weird nervous energy while I am working through this stage; one minute you think you've come up with something new and exciting, and the next you are full of doubt and fretting about what the publisher will think...it's exhausting!

At the moment I am mostly concentrating on images of spotty dogs but last week I had a flash of inspiration for something totally different which is where this little guy comes in! Will keep you posted on how things develop, but in the mean time I will keep on doodling while I hope you are all enjoying the start to a lovely new year. xx

More Birds

I've been doing some more little bird collages recently and here is my latest effort. My take on a pair of Long-Tailed Tits, a commission which requested more than one bird, because it is apparently better Feng Shui. I loved this concept and it immediately made me think of these social little birds who I absolutely adore. I sometimes see them when I am out walking the dog, in their little flocks flitting between the trees and it never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Birds of Paradise

I've just finished doing a wonderfully exuberant painting of Birds of Paradise for a fabulous client you wanted something wild and colourful!

This is just a section of the painting, there are two other male birds displaying above and below and the colourfulness continues! I've used lots of gold, which doesn't really show up that well when photographed but it looks lovely in the light and gives things an extra dimension which I really love.

It took me two attempts to get it right but I'm really liking the wildness of this one and can't wait to see it framed up!

Jammy Coo Love

Well I write shamefaced (again) at my lack of blog action of late. I am trying to choose what to blame this on... No time due to keeping up with my non-stop toddler, busy doing commissions, doing a few revisions of the Bear book pages or wanting to post up some pics of Birds of Paradise that I've been working on but not ready yet!

Instead I choose to blame my lovely sister Delia (well if you can't place blame on a sibling, then who can you eh?!). Delia is the proud owner and creator of the wonderful Jammy Coo, a fabulous gallery and coffee shop in the beautiful Scottish Borders (it's the kind of place you always hope to find but rarely do) and I've been busy designing lots of lovely things her.

I designed the JC logo a couple of years ago and it is such great fun to play with and encorporate into all sorts of designs, you can do anything with her! She features on the Jammy Coo crockery (you can purchase the Hot-Choc mugs!) and some gorgeous heavy duty canvas shopper bags and just yesterday I was frantically finishing an exciting new design for a new product to be sold in the shop and hopefully soon online (keep an eye on the Jammy Coo blog for details.), but I will leave that to Delia to share! For regular customers, you can pick up a Jammy Coo loyalty card, and open to all is the Jammy Coo Late-Night-Shopping nights (click on this link - there is a free recipe that Delia has posted!!!) where the mystery new product will be launched!

I've designed a few logos in my time now but the Jammy Coo is by far and away my favourite, I don't think I'll ever get tired of playing about with her. In fact, I can't wait to see what she is going to feature on next!

Christmas Penguins!

Apparently, it's only 100 days til Christmas (sorry!), so here are some festive designs with one of my favourite characters, the penguin. Designs available to license!

Tweet Tweet

So I have finally finished doing my bear book (Yay!) which I am so excited about and I am keeping everything crossed that it goes down well at the Frankfurt book fair in a few weeks time!

This leaves me with a little bit of time to do a bit of blogging and start thinking about the next project and to perhaps create some images just for the sake of it! Here are a couple of little pics I did recently, inspired by something I did for a friends birthday present. The leaves are collaged from pieces of backgrounds I created for the bear book. Although not particularly accurate, these little birds are inspired by the gorgeously perky Wren, possibly my favourite british bird.

I am going to take these off to the framer later and put a lovely big mount and frame on them ready to be exhibited at the Jammy Coo's "Jammy Coo Turns Two" exhibition in October.

The Bear Book!

Well I couldn't wait any longer - here is a sneaky peek at my Bear book! This is an image I have just done for the interior title page, so this is a double page spread with text still to go in. I really hope you like it!