Illustration Commission - Ice Hockey!

 Just popping in to share a recent commission with you. This was a personal commission from a friend to give as a gift and although it was completely out of my comfort zone, it was really fun to illustrate and I am very thankful to be given the opportunity to work on something so different! (I loved all the detail that needed to be included). I've been told the recipient was really happy with it which is always wonderful to hear. I hope you like it too!

Let me know what you think...

  

New - Portrait Illustrations

Back again! I've made a promise to myself that I'll definitely keep on top of my blogging and illustrating this year, so expect to see a lot more of me!

These two illustrations, showing sales managers stood in front of important local landmarks, were produced for a London Estate Agents last spring. They were used on flyers and in shop windows to help advertise the company in the local area. 

I love likeness commissions so this was a bit of a dream job! (I also really enjoyed the building side to this brief). What do you think?

I'll be back soon with some new work. And as I haven't said it already, I hope you're having a fantastic start to the year!

New Illustrations - Horses & Boats!

I'm very late to the party but... Happy New Year you wonderful lot!

I'm finally getting around to sharing these illustrations I finished for an advertising campaign early last year. The two illustrations were completely out of my comfort zone (no detailed fashion or portraits in sight!) and took many painstaking and stressful hours of work. I absolutely loved the challenge though. I definitely gained a lot from the experience and can proudly say the prospect of drawing crowds no longer fills me with fear - I had no idea where to start and when I finally realised how I could make it work, the feeling was amazing (such relief!)

The client was a London Estate Agents who, using happenings in the property market, predicted that March (last year) would be the prime time to put a house on the market. They wanted to use large-scale, famous events in March (Cheltenham Races & The Boat Race) to help steer their campaign. The first event was Cheltenham Race Festival, for which a tagline "put your house on the market, it'll be a one horse race..." was to be used.

It was great to have the opportunity to work on such an unusual (for me anyway!) brief. 

I had quite a lot of freedom in the initial stages, drawing up a number of roughs and working with the in-house designer to finalise a rough to take to colour. Even the colour took me away from the illustration work I've become accustom to. The hardest part for me was being unable to use the detail I work into my portraits with the crowd. It would have been completely unfeasible so this meant forcing myself to work almost in the opposite way, using as little detail as possible but, at the same time, maintaining my own personal style.

(Below are some of the rough workings I drew out before we decided upon the final imagery).

The second poster was for The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. Again with this piece, I needed the context to be true to life (both of these events take place at the same places every year so needed to be somewhat recognisable). This meant researching the course and trying to produce imagery that wasn't going to be a million miles away from what we would see in person. 

I loved illustrating the houses and incorporating texture - I think that was definitely my favourite part of this illustration. It was the boat and the crowd again that I found the hardest to get my head around.

I was really happy with the way both the illustrations turned out - I hope you like them too! Tomorrow I will be sharing two portrait illustrations I completed for the same company so check back to see them. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post - I hope you like what you see, but please let me know what you think...

New Cat Illustration - Ozzy

I just wanted to pop in and share this latest illustration with you! I illustrated this gorgeous little guy for a Secret Santa present. The recipient loved it and I was so happy to be able to give her something a little bit special.

I'm working on a couple of Christmas commissions at the moment and will share them when I can. If I don't post beforehand, have a wonderful Christmas!!

And don't forget, it's not too late to buy a Personalised Letter From Santa that I illustrated for Megan Claire. You can buy yours here!

Personalised Letter From Santa

I'm very excited and happy to reveal an illustration I recently produced for Megan Claire. I've been a big fan of her cards and prints for some time and was thrilled when she commissioned me to illustrate Santa Claus himself to be sent out as Personalised Santa Letters! I had so much fun putting this piece together, challenging myself and working with unfamiliar subject matter (that tree was certainly out of my comfort zone but the feeling when I completed it, to a standard I felt proud of, was amazing). I even had Mr Nicolini posing for me for this special piece!

And below is how you will receive your personalised letter from Santa! Megan has designed the piece beautifully and I know children will absolutely love it. I can only imagine how exciting it must be for them! (I know I'd have adored it as a child!) If you'd like to purchase this piece, head over to the Megan Claire website.

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!