Arty Books For Sale!

Hello all! Just wanted to let you know that I'm making room on my shelves and sadly have to sell on some of my books. I thought some of these may of interest to my readers so wanted to share here too. Just click on the pictures to view the books on Ebay.

These original Amelia Magazines are in beautiful condition, thick and full to the brim of fantastic content. I'm sure you'll all love them!

The two above books (Masters of Fashion Illustration and Kandinsky) are duplicated amongst my collection so are as good as new. I couldn't recommend them enough!

The final two books are more specialist (I used them for University briefs) but I'm sure there are some among you who may find them interesting!

I am working on some new personal portrait illustrations at the moment and will be back to share them with you very soon! 

New Illustration - Cat Portrait

Hi everyone! I know it's been a while but wanted to share my latest illustration with you! I'm really happy with how this little guy turned out - I was a little nervous about working with so much fur, but really enjoyed working on this image.

The recipient was really pleased with the results, which is my favourite part of being a freelance illustrator - the wonderful people (and animals) I get to work with!

Let me know what you think! I'll be back with more work soon. For now, don't forget to have a look at how the Mr Nicolini blog is progressing!

Portrait Illustration - Margaret Thatcher

Hi everybody! I wanted to get some personal portrait work fitted in between jobs, mostly in order to challenge and keep myself motivated, but partly because I thought it was about time I had something new to show! It can be painful waiting to reveal new work that is yet to be live.

One thing I really love about portrait illustration is creating that likeness and I know, for me, this improves over time and the more I do the better I feel the outcome is. This is why I like to keep illustrating and creating pieces for myself when I have no commissions to work on. Practise really does make perfect. I love private and family portrait commissions because creating something completely personal to them and hearing of their delight is such a wonderful feeling. At the same time, I enjoy illustrating famous figures and attempting to capture a likeness that audiences can recognise.

So I decided, for my latest personal piece, to illustrate somebody particularly topical, Margaret Thatcher. I haven't illustrated her as a way to show my thoughts and opinions on her or the subject, but merely to keep my work current and a challenge to myself. 

Let me know what you think! And take a look at my other blog, contribution blog Mr Nicolini. I've been so impressed with the work I have received so far; if you would like to take part, please do not hesitate to get in contact! 

Next week I'm going to get back to work on this illustration that has been put aside for some time now. Excited to continue!

Etsy - Abby's Illustrations

Hello everybody! Sorry I've been a little quiet for a while, I'm busy working on new projects which I should be able to share with you soon (I get very impatient waiting for illustrations to go live!)

I just wanted to let you know that I've reopened my Etsy shop, stocked with a number of custom portrait and pet portrait commission options. Perfect birthday, Father's Day, everyday or (for the extremely well prepared) Christmas presents! If you are interested and have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!

I'll be back soon with more updates! I hope you're all enjoying this (finally) sunny weather!

Abby x

An Illustration of my Grandad - Mr Nicolini

Good morning everybody! I wanted to share my latest piece of work with you all. I illustrated my (adopted) Grandfather to accompany the first post of my new creative contribution blog (which I have blogged about before) - Mr Nicolini.

I absolutely loved drawing this and it's one of my favourite illustrations to date. I hope you will like it as well. Let me know what you think!

Arise Magazine - Portrait Illustration

Hello everybody! It's been some time since I posted, so Happy New Year! I've been quite busy over the last couple of months so haven't had much time for blogging. I just wanted to pop in to share some of my latest work to be published. I produced this illustration of Ugandan fashion designer, Gloria Wavamunno, to accompany an article on one of her favourite places, Buganda Road Craft Market in Kampala.

I illustrated this some time ago now, so it's quite nice to look back at it and share it with you now it's been published. You can find out more about Arise Magazine and it's content here.

I'm busy working on an exciting new project at the moment and I cannot wait to share more information with you. I'll be working on this until March so it may be a slightly long wait! In the meantime i'm working hard on the Mr Nicolini blog as well. I'll be launching this on his birthday, February 5th, so keep your eyes peeled! :)

Observer Review: Books of the Year 2012 illustration

So, as many of you may have seen on twitter, last week I was commissioned by The Observer to create an illustration that would accompany a round up of the best books of 2012. You can read the article online here. When my agent, Kelly (who I cannot thank enough for making my dreams come true) rang me to tell me about the commission, I was in complete shock. Doing an illustration for a big national newspaper like this has been a dream for a while. The deadline was incredibly tight, but I proved to myself that i can do it. I love illustrating so much!

I loved the brief as well - they asked for a young woman reading in a winter scene. When they suggested she should be wearing a hat, scarf and winter coat I was even more excited. They also said they wanted it to be cold and not too girly. I loved the opportunity to experiment a bit with background elements, something I usually steer clear of, and really challenge myself. I hope you like the final piece. I don't think I've ever been more proud of an illustration. I also want to say a massive thank you to everyone for all your lovely comments, it means so much to me. So here it is!

Just thought I would share a couple of the roughs with you. After sending the first rough, the art director asked that I added some books amongst the trees on the left, just to add a little more interest in the corner. I really love how this addition worked out!

I sometimes worry that I sound like I'm showing off, but honestly, I never thought I would work on anything as wonderful as this, I feel so humbled by the whole thing and am so thankful for everybody who supported me through my career so far, you're incredible. It was an incredibly special moment when I opened the paper and saw my work.

Loved seeing my illustration as a thumbnail on the front page of The Observer Online too! Something I never thought I would see.

And finally, I wanted to share some more detialed pictures of the illustration. Thank you again to Kelly and those at the The Observer for commissioning me!

New Baby Illustration

Good morning! Just wanted to share an illustration with you this morning!

This adorable baby has been printed and is on it's on the way to Holland this morning. How exciting! I've just finished the draft illustration for my biggest client yet. I've loved it and can't wait to work on the final illustration! Will of course share it with you when it's live (which won't be long!) Have a lovely week and I'll be back with more soon :)

Drawing Mr Nicolini!

Hello! I'm here to share an idea for a new
blog with you all and hope some of you will be able to help me make this little dream a reality!

Mr Nicolini, or Nick as he's known to most, came to live with my parents more than thirty years ago. He's been a lodger with my family since then and is still living with my mum and feeding the cats to this day. He soon become another Grandad, and an extremely important member of our immediate family. Whenever I go home he spoils me as much as ever and proudly tells those we meet I'm his granddaughter. Hearing him speak so fondly of me, my sisters and brother fills me with happiness. He's a giant part of our lives and I love him dearly.

When I return home, I always take photographs of him (he's quite the character!). After posting an image on Instagram and saying how much I'd love to illustrate him, it was suggested that I start a blog, sharing illustrations of him by myself and lots of other wonderful illustrators. I think it's a great idea! Of course, if you're not an illustrator but a creative who would still like to join in, I would love to hear your ideas! He's battling illness at the moment and getting frail, and, as you can imagine, this terrifies me. I think this is a great way to not only honour his fantastic nature, but to make sure he is always remembered and never forgotten. Who knows, maybe we can make him a little bit famous.

It would be great to have a mix of different styles! I think he'd love it! I know illustrating the elderly has always been a favourite of mine and if you'd like to get involved in this little venture please get in contact! I'm not sure of the exact details, but I think 'Drawing Mr Nicolini' (the name may change, suggestions are welcome!) could be a fun way of getting lots of fantastic illustrators together, both new and more established illustrators in the same place. I love seeing participation blogs! You can leave a message here, tweet me, facebook me or send me an email to drawingmrnicolini@gmail.com.

And here are a few photos!!

 

And don't worry, if I struggle to find participants, I'll do an illustration a week myself! To honour him and have something to keep, if nothing else :) I would also like to thank Scarlett Tierney for suggesting this! I look forward to seeing her contribution once it's up and running!

Keeping Busy...

Hello everybody! I'm really busy at the moment - mostly with some lovely custom portrait illustrations. I can't wait to share them once I've finished. In case you are curious about commissioning your own custom illustration, you can purchase one here! As well as the illustrating, I've been attending interviews (I will soon be starting a part time job at Paperchase - perfect!) and have started working for Megan Claire. You can see my previous post about their wonderful work here. I'll be helping out in the busy run up to Christmas. Things are going very well work wise! I feel very lucky.

 As well as this, I've always got time for a little photography! And Instagram is making me want to take more and more. I've been taking pictures of things that inspire me and make me happy. Quite simple really.

As you can see, this week, I've been posting a lot of books. Books I love, covers that I love and pictures of my shelves. I'm enjoying myself if nothing else! And to finish, a picture of me & Mat. Because, well, he makes everyday brilliant.