Not sure how I feel about zoos but I certainly like the animals inside them. So my Monday moodboard is dedicated to them this week.
I’m broadening my drawing repetoire and have started drawing a range of creatures one would find in a British zoo. I’ve already created lots of flamingo illustrations and have just finished a zebra watercolour and ink piece. I’ll showcase more of these zoo-themed drawings in the near future (I’m exploring elephants and giraffes this week). Watch this space.
More pattern research this week, this time I’m trawling through traditional Japanese prints. It makes such a lovely Monday moodboard.
My original passion for these designs started many years ago when a good friend of ours sent me some patterned washi paper from her home town in Japan. Ever since I’ve been stashing away more washi papers, collecting affordable prints and illos as well as gathering lots of visual examples on pinterest.
Whether it’s floral, avian or geometric in their themes, the delicate designs, intricate composition and sensitive use of pretty, coordinated colour is sure to inspire me. I wonder how its influence will show in my new work?
Visceral and expressive, paint strokes look so cool. Expect to see a lot of these on homewares and fashion next year as they are set to be a key design trend for 2017, hence this week’s Monday Moodboard. You can go for simple lines or big painterly blocks, either way you’ve got a stark, contemporary look made a little warmer with the suggestion of the human hand.
These simple marks are very effective and are a real short-cut to a stylish, minimal look. They also say so much, I used them as an illustration device in the Dunlin Press book Est, Collected Reports of Easy Anglia to suggest landscape and horizons.
I’m working on loads patterns at the moment and Liberty print is the ultimate source of inspiration.
The eclectic collection from Liberty of London is so well loved and it’s not difficult to see why. Each design is a joyous celebration of colour, form and the beauty of illustration – it’s absolutely what I’m working towards with my work.
Every single interiors retail show I visited over the summer this year featured metallics, particularly copper, that’s why it’s this week’s Monday Moodboard.
Fans of simplicity take note. You don’t have to be full-on bling to embrace a bit of metallic joy in your life (although don’t mind a bit of bling sometimes). Metallics can achieve a dramatic, opulent look but you can also use metallics to add warmth and texture to things as I hope I’ve shown here.
Metallic touches can be subtle, chic and classy I promise; underlaid under shabby chic furniture, incorporated into abstract-impressionist inspired painting, a subtle accent onto painted pebbles, gorgeous vintage bakewares even to brighten up a simply-shaped cake – it’s not all about blinding people with glamour and sparkle.
Rich, warm and inspired by nature – this week’s moodboard is all autumn patterns and motifs.
I know we’re only in September but this change of season is very exciting for me. Autumn’s natural colour way is a source of inspiration in itself. Rich purples and reds, faded greens, soft creams and burnished bronzes make me feel warm as the colder weather creeps in. The motifs too – poppy heads, falling leaves and feathers, pine cones and woodland animals – are such rich pickings for illustrators and artists. I’ve blocked out a whole three days of drawing this week to dedicate myself to precisely these subjects… Watch this space!
This week’s Monday Moodboard celebrates handwriting.
Handwriting is a passion of mine and ever since I got my first calligraphy set at nine years old, I’ve been perfecting my ‘i’s, ‘f’s and ‘r’s. This has paid off as my handwriting is something I am consistently complemented on and I’ve often been commissioned for feature illustration (see below). 
During the summer I attended a lot of AW/Christmas 2016 retail shows and at least half of them featured live calligraphy sessions. I’ve also noticed that some of my favourite illustrators are running brush script and calligraphy workshops all over the country. It seems in the world of digital, the tactile, fluid quality of hand-scripted or brush type is still something to be treasured.
With this in mind, I thought I’d do some pieces of my own. You can buy my initial prints at my Not On The High Street shop.
This weeks’ Monday Moodboard is all about pattern. I’m currently working on some Christmas and textile patterns for homes projects. These little lot are just a sample of what I’ve been looking at.
I’ll trawled my pinterest boards for inspiration and although the designs above aren’t like my style they have given me loads of ideas for composition, colour-ways and motifs.
Have a little look at my Pinterest boards for more patterns and illustration ideas.
The first artist I ever got into was William Morris, so it’s been real fun putting my Arts and Crafts Monday Moodboard together.
William Morris is the father of the Arts and Crafts movement and a true hero of mine. The following three quotes are really important to me and match my personal philosophy…
“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
“The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.”
“I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.”
Wonderfully the 2017 trend reports predict the designs of the Art and Crafts movement to be a key influence in new designs. I can’t wait to see this and see if the look will affect my own work. I must admit the flowing, ornate lines, delicate florals, gorgeous leaf motifs and pattern repeats have been gently guiding me throughout my illustration journey.
Penguin book design has been an obsession of mine since I was a teenager when I spent an awful lot of time in libraries. Probably too much time if I’m being honest.
In those days I was continually on the hunt for new words, stories and worlds, I used to get lots of books out on spec. I read a lot of duds but I also came across a lot of good stuff too that has stayed with me.
The cover design played a very big part in my decision making process. From the classic orange cover fiction and stylish mid-century illustration to the glorious repeat patterns, it is all the stuff of wonder and as much of an inspiration as the words inside. As a consequence of this I read a lot of books published by Penguin; a great deal of classics and quite a few poetry collections. I’ve now bought a lot of the books that I borrowed and devoured during my teenage years (the ones I enjoyed at least).
As Creative Director of an indie publisher, I design all the books for Dunlin Press. So my youthful interest has become increasingly important now I’m a grown-up. When approaching the layout for each Dunlin Press book I always ask myself, “What would the Penguin designers do?”