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!

Midwives Magazine Cover

I'm really excited to be able to share my latest piece of work, a commercial commission brought to me by my agent, Rare Bird. I was asked to illustrate the front cover (yes, front cover!) of the latest issue of Midwives Magazine, the magazine for The Royal College of Midwives. The illustration was based on an article looking at the issue of women not being able to give birth in the way they chose and feeling "locked out" of natural home births. I loved the brief, creating a beautiful home birth scene of a new family. It was a little scary, but perfect for my style. I was helped greatly and given great freedom with the piece. I hope you like my illustration!

I started with the central illustration but loved bringing it all together with the door and detailed features, such as the screws. I wanted to add colour to the illustration, so decided to do this using the baby's blanket. I found the most perfect blanket on Little Woollie's blog. This beautifully crocheted blanket was the inspiration for my illustrated version. I love the colour and patterns and really enjoyed reading about the process and seeing the initial sketches too. Thank you Julie for allowing me to use your blanket in my work!

And below is how the piece looks in context. I should be receiving my own copy soon, so I'll take some pictures when that arrives. I still can't quite believe that my illustration is on the cover of a magazine for all to see. I love that it's being used for such an important topic too. Midwives do such an amazing job, I'm so proud to be in this magazine!

I'll be back with more work soon. Enjoy the rest of your week in the meantime! :)

Rare Bird London

Well, as you may know, I have been with my new illustration agency, Rare Bird, for a few months now. Kelly Fysh, an illustration agent with 11 years experience, started up the agency on her own and so far I am very happy to be involved in her new venture. She's wonderful to work with and my first job was fantastic. (It isn't live yet, but I will blog about it when it is!) 

I've been very lucky to intern with Kelly this week and have loved seeing behind the scenes. So far I've helped with the first big postal promotion campaign, sending out limited edition postcard and magazine packs to editorial, advertising and marketing agencies and compiling the artist portfolios. It's been great seeing how it all works and especially wonderful to see so much beautiful artwork and hear about ongoing projects. I will be back fro a second week the week after next, this time I will be working on the website, blog, newsletters and more portfolio work. Exciting! I will also take some more photographs that we can share on Rare Bird's twitter feed.

Here's some photos form the week...

Magazine cover illustration by Bożka.

And I just want to share some of my favourite illustrations from some of the other illustrators also on Rare Birds' books. I think you'll like them too!

The first (above) llustration is by Melbs. I love the energy and colour in his work.

The two illustrations above are by Ellie Tzoni. I love the subtlety, colour and shape in her work.

 I love the humour and character in Clayton Junior's illustrations, as well as his bold use of colour.

 I really like the use of colour in this piece by Imeus. I love the range of illustrations in his portfolio. Beautiful work!

I'm sure you'll agree Laura Oakes' work is absolutely stunning. I love the colour and line work. Amazing!

Gal Shkedi's work is full of humour and beautiful character work. I especially love this piece!

Love this illustration by Miss Swanne. Colourful, bold and fun!

Beautiful floral and decorative illustrations by Bożka. She has a really unique style which I love.

I love how dark and striking Paul X. Johnson's illustrations are. They create such a dramatic, powerful mood which fascinates and draws in the viewer.

The final illustration is by Patrick O'Leary. His work is bright, exciting, colourful and fun. I love it!

Definitely go and take a look at the Rare Bird London website. It's full of inspirational illustrators and exciting and beautiful illustrations. I'll let you know how the second week goes and bring you more work updates soon!