Bear painting at St Francis, 18-19th May 2017 :)

I spent 2 days at St Francis Church of England Primary School, meeting all the children from nursery up to Year 6 and they all painted onto their bear.

The bear has been christened Fioretti, Italian for 'Little Flowers' and also the title of a book on the life of St Francis, a friar and lover of nature.

This is such a lovely opportunity to encourage children's contribution and love of the arts. I met so many pupils who said they loved drawing and painting and that their parents were artists too.

I had keen pupils submitting their ideas for bears too, including Fred Francis, named after the big red bus in their school field.

In keeping with St Francis' love of nature, in the centre of the school is the quad, where 8 ducklings are being nurtured :)

Independent Birmingham Membership Card re-design finished!

I am so proud to share this design for the brand new Independent Birmingham membership card. IB are all about championing Birmingham as THE destination for the independents. Fitting the city within a location motif was the main concept for this design with an after-work mood visualised by a sunset colour palette.

Photoshoot: Mary Beary's Soggy Bottom

I have this week finished painting Mary Beary, and next I will varnish her so she is weatherproof for her 3 month stay at Resorts World

I love tiny details and have put meticulous detail into her pearls ...

... and array of dessert spoons, always prepared for a piece of cake or a well-baked bakewell.

The face has eyelash details and some realistic eyes to emulate Mary's baby blues!

Mary Beary BBC News publicity!

Mary Beary's Soggy Bottom was featured on BBC Midlands Today a day after I finally completed varnishing her! Very proud to see her in her glory!

Making of: 1920s Electric Cinema christmas card!

via GIPHY

Holly Golightly at The Electric!

I am working on a Breakfast at Tiffany's themed design for the Electric Cinema, taking it back to the early 60s with pastel and champagne colours.

The design features both the Tiffany's store seen in the opening credits along with the closing segment including the yellow taxi.

The design will be available as part of the gift voucher in early summer 2017!

Update: The Big Sleuth 2017 and Painting Progress!

The Big Sleuth Learning Resources

I worked on a great project in November 2016 for The Big Sleuth's learning pack as part of the education programme.

They have since been published and distributed to schools with the illustrations as chapter headers telling the story of the sun bear.

Wedding Invitations

I am working on some traditional wedding stationery, possibly stemming out to 4 different flower bouquets.

Here are some progress shots of the pencil work, which I will digitally colour.

La La Land illustration finished!

This is my La La themed homage to the Damien Chazelle instant classic. It is available as a greeting card here!

Here's to the ones who dream.

La La Land progress!

My La La Land illustration is slowly falling into place!

John Legend stands atop the L.A skyline.

Below is a shot of piano keys and the pier on which Ryan Gosling's Sebastian performs a song.

La La Land illustration updates

A couple of weeks before the release of La La Land on Friday January 14th, I planned an illustration to closely follow it's release.

These are some progress shots and I will share the finished piece next! 

It has gone to print tonight and I am taking orders of the greeting card now on etsy, with shipping in around 10 days as soon I get my hands on them!

I spent time capturing the golden age of hollywood with warm colours and bright lights of L.A

The Big Sleuth learning resource Topic Web!

So proud to share a brand new illustration as part of the schools learning resources for The Big Sleuth 2017!

Sun bears are endangered and Birmingham's vast parks and greenery will make a perfect second home for the bears which will decorate the second city this summer.

The Big Sleuth learning resource illustrations!

I have been working on a series of illustrations to accompany the learning resource pack for the might Big Sleuth, coming to Birmingham next year! 

Educational illustrations are an area I have been interested in getting more involved with and I can't wait to share the finished illustrations!

More exciting updates to come!

Christmas Cards 2016 range available online now!!!

My full Christmas cards range is available now! I have produced a brand new 1920 themed Electric Cinema card, along with a vintage Bournville design and a Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery themed piece. Visit my shop here :)

1920 Electric Cinema Christmas Card complete!

I am very happy to share this brand new design paying homage to The Electric Cinema that is available to buy from my etsy shop online and will soon be fully stocked at The Electric Cinema box office and online. I wanted to capture the flippant charm of 20's fashion illustration set against the iconic art deco bar in the cinema.

Researching...

I am delving into classic 1920s art deco imagery researching for a new Christmas illustration. Love the blend of graphic and illustrative style.

Christmas card update!

Here is a sneak peek of my first Christmas card of this year!

Bournville Christmas Card update

My second design will be based on my home village of Bournville, which has so many iconic elements. I have focused on the train station, which will include the famous Cadbury factory puffing away in the background.

I also found this amazing old photograph of a steam engine with Cadbury advertising down the side from which my idea developed.

Christmas card update

My first Christmas card design is based on the Round Room at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, where curators add finishing touches and builders assemble the glass roof in time for the Winter opening in 1886!