The Messy Princess

I will be done with education in under three weeks and I'm not sure how I feel about it. The search for a full-time job begins... Not to fear though, I shall be keeping up this blog with my illustration work among other exciting things I get up to.

I've been busy right now with a project for a client that I was sent on by the college, plus working on getting all my work sorted and presented for the end of the year show, which is on the 10th to the 13th of June.

I did this sketch a while ago and only recently coloured it on Photoshop. I like the way it has turned out and I feel like doing something childrens book related again.

I call it -  The Messy Princess

Everyone likes owls.

Nicola

End of Year Show

End of Year Show | Student Exhibitions | City of Glasgow College

A Walk in the Park

 

Sometimes there is nothing better than going for a nice stroll through a park or countryside to clear your mind or get a bit of peace and quiet with a friend or alone.

Lately my mind has been buzzing with the end of my course and end of the year show coming up, it's all getting pretty stressful.

 

 

 

 

A sketch I started the other day, inspired by Brian Froud's trolls and fairy tales in general.

 

Scuse my jammies.

 

Nicola

Bear Hug

I love simple illustrations that are childlike. I took a quick pencil sketch I did and coloured it on Photoshop.

 Sketch

Recent Work

I think it's about time I updated this blog. I recently finished my Graded unit (thank god). I did Dracula by Bram Stoker. I did enjoy it at first, the book was good to start but got quite boring. I had to design a book cover and graphic novel spread, plus a small editorial illustration. Here are my finals.

Fineliner pens, Ink, pencils, watercolours and Photoshop.

I'm relieved the Graded Unit is over but sad that I only have a month left of being an illustration student. So the next month will be spent researching and learning how to become a freelance illustrator.

Bye for now

Nicola x

Illustrating a Children's Book

Here is the finished product of my illustrated version of 'Daga and the Flying Troll of Sky Mountain'

An old Swedish tale, originally illustrated by John Beaur. 

If it was to be published, this is basically how it would look.

 I drew each illustration in pen, used watercolours and finished digitally using Photoshop and Illustrator.

This one did not originally have a starry sky with a moon, I took that out and added one I did using inks, watercolour and acrylics, among other things.

This is the cover I decided on.

Hope you like!

Check out my Facebook page - www.facebook.com/strawberryskullsillustration 

Illustrating a Fairytale Part Two

My progress on this project;

I have been experimenting with media and playing around with thumbnail ideas. For this I used watercolours and white ink. I adjusted the tones slightly after I took a photo of it.

I watched a tutorial on Youtube on how to paint a galaxy. I tried it out using watercolours, bleach and acrylics. I like the way it turned out, I might do a few more of these.

 Experimenting - Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Thanks for stopping by.

Nicola

Fairy Tale in the Making

Sketchbook so far:

My self initiated project for college officially started on Thursday. Read my project brief here. 

Most of what I have done so far in my sketchbook so far is character development. I am focusing most on Daga and the trolls, since they are the main features of the story. (and I love anything to do with trolls/faeries/princesses)

Thumbnail ideas for scenes to illustrate.

That's all for now. A lot of work still to do!

Art I like

Some lovely illustrations I found by children's book illustrator Mae Besom

When I first looked at this one it looked like a bridge, but then I noticed it is a forest.

Writing my own Brief for college

Back in May I did a blog post about a book I received in the mail. The book was 'Swedish Folk Tales' with illustrations by John Beaur. Recently in college we were given the task to write our own project brief. I knew right away that I wanted to do a children's book and since I said that I was going to do illustrations based on the story 'Daga and the Flying Troll of Sky Mountain' from the book. I am making a start on it now.

Here is my brief that I've set myself;

Project Brief

Puffin Books are looking for talented illustrators to produce illustrations and a book cover design for a new individual edition of a classic Swedish fairy tale from the book ‘Swedish Folk Tales’. The book is filled with many tales of trolls and princesses, all with original illustrations by John Bauer. Although iconic as they may be, we are looking to create a new illustrated version of a tale from the book that will appeal to children with a fresh, imaginative and collectable look. It is a perfect opportunity to bring to life one of these stories, which is not as widely known as the Grimm’s tales or Alice in Wonderland. The aim of this brief is to eventually create a series of small paperback books each to be sold individually. The target audience for this paperback version will be 5 to 8 year olds. The series will be called ‘Old Folk Tales’. Your illustrations must have an imaginative concept and original interpretation. Aim to capture a classic element.  Your design must address the topic of open mindedness and individuality in a fun and relatable manner. It must have a point of difference from the many other fairy tale books it is competing against.

Format: 5x180x240mm, S - 0.5 W - 18 L - 24cm

Requirements

In your sketchbook –

·      At least four pages of research on other illustrators that inspired you, photographs, films etc.

·      Thorough exploration of the story. Look at environments, symbolism, concept, overall feeling and mood.

·      Character development for all main characters.

·      Development sketches showing rough ideas, compositional sketches, thumbnails and colour experiments.

·      Develop thumbnails in rough format showing examples of text position; choose at least four to develop further.

·      Experiment with colour using at least two different methods.

Deliverables

·      Sketchbook showing research, development of ideas and thorough experimentation of media.

·      Two fully finished illustrations from two different scenes in the story.

One fully finished design for a book cover, back and spine.

So that is my brief. I will be posting my progress on my blog at least once a week up until the project is completed.

Nicola 

Drawings Lately

I have been trying to do as much drawing as possible lately, as well as my 30 day a sketch a day challenge I've set myself. I feel like I do need some improvement drawing faces. I find drawing from the imagination quite difficult sometimes but then other times it just flows out of me. I love it when that happens!
For college just now I basically have to write my own brief, which is good in a way but quite difficult because I will have to pick something that I will enjoy and also my course lecture has to like it too.

I did this drawing last night using a comic book sketch pencil. I was inspired by Richy Beckett his pen drawings are fantastic. I especially like his attention to detail, it is painstakingly good. 

I upload every one of my #asketchaday's on my Instagram - @strawberryskulls87

It has got so cold in Scotland lately. Winter is here (sigh). I had to scrape my car for the first time. I have had it for a month now but it seems like so much longer. It has been great not having to rely on public transport to get everywhere. I have got much more confident on the roads compared to four weeks ago.

Nicola x

Bear Kiss

Girl Kissing Bear Illustration. I did this on handmade paper using watercolour paints and fine liner pen. I was inspired by a story in a book of Swedish fairy tales I own.

Some Recent Instagram pics and more #asketchadays

Sketchy

I have set myself the challenge of doing a sketch a day for 30 days. So far I am on day 5. I enjoy doodling away, even if it's not a perfect drawing, it's a good way of stretching your imagination kinda thing.