Teeny tiny drawing challenge

I've been taking part in the #johnvernonlord #drawingaday challenge @illustrationhq over on Instagram where I make a 1x1inch picture every day during the month of September. Time is an issue as per usual but I felt it might be do-able because it's so tiny! It's been really fun and challenging; I'm having to be quite disciplined, peeling myself away from the telly and sofa every night, but I think it's triggered a creative surge. I'm feeling inspired and want to do more and more - but bigger!

Hair-do-doodle

Whilst waiting at the very busy barbers, we doodle what hair cut he might like to get: the mohican, the donut, the lego, the mushroom, the volcano, the muffin, the bird nest...we settled for the traditional short back n sides.

Little Peeper

Our 7 year old has been working on a lovely 3D forest scene with a river, which I thought would make a great setting for an animation. I added a little character and played around with it but it was tricky taking photos without a tripod, everything wobbling about and moving around, and I kept getting my hand in the shot too. 

So I decided to give it a try in 2D and added some forest-y sounds for effect. It's pretty basic (understatement) but was lots of fun and now I want to play around some more!

Incidentally, when I was doing my BA Graphic Design course many years ago, I was thinking about specialising in animation but at the last minute opted for illustration instead. 

I love making pictures but will always remember that magic moment when you see your images move and come to life! (It was just the thought of working on hundreds of pictures for a few seconds of footage that put me off at the time!!)

#3000chairs

Here is my piece for #3000chairs to highlight the plight of refugee children. The chair is a "symbol of the welcome and kindness we would like to see extended to the refugee children who have suffered so much". There will be a fundraising event at Foyles Bookshop on 13th September, hosted by Walker Books and Help Refugees, with author Nicola Davies and illustrator Rebecca Cobb.

You can read Nicola Davies' heartbreaking and powerful poem, and how it came about here.

Beach boys

A lovely commission piece I worked on recently for our friends The Coopers, of their super-dooper lovely boys on Hunstanton beach :)

Train I ride ♪

All aboard! 
It's taken me over 3 years but I have finally got round to updating our family train illustration by adding the little one, toot toooooot!

You can see the original one from over 5 years ago here.

Fire balls and Sprouts

My lovely friend gave me an enormous bag of dried peas recently, for making bean bags. There's so much of it I'll be sewing bean bags for every occasion for the next 10 years!! 

Coming up soon is our boy and his friend Tom's joint birthday party, so I have been sewing some Super Mario themed bean bags. Lots of fun :)