Vulpes

Final Piece

It has just been my friends birthday, and I thought it the perfect opportunity to have a first go at paper cutting, which is a technique I have been admiring for a while now. 

I first created the design in photoshop, and then went ahead on paper.

Sketching out the initial design in Photoshop

Fully cut out frame

Why make a first attempt at something easy? This did take me two days to fully cut out, but my exacto knife was so good. I drew the pattern out onto the paper, and then cut away from the lines so that the detail would be on the paper. I then just turned the patter over, so that the pencil lines would be left underneath.

Piecing together the fox

With various pieces of paper cutting I have been studying, illustrators have used a combination of layering paper simply on top of each other, but also have sections where the paper will be slightly manipulated to create a more 3D effect. I haven't really been able to find any tutorials for this, so I went ahead and played around with a few of the pieces from the forefront of the fox - like the legs and the snout, and then also the features like the ears and tail that would perhaps have more movement in them.

To make sure that I would still able to stick the pieces down, I used a combination of sticky pads used in layering artwork, and layered cardboard pieces, so that they would still have strength onto the base card.

Frame Detail

Mediums used: Drawing tablet in photoshop for the initial sketch. & exacto knife and scissors for the paper cutting.

Wedded Blisses

Hallmark: Wedding Blisses competition entry June 2013

After producing the designs for my friends Wedding invitations, I was very much in the zone, and Hallmark had a wedding card competition on, and thought why not just make a wedding card design that could run slightly with the theme.

I just loved the scrabble lettering idea!

FOOD YO.

What's happened to my drawing...mojo? 

I don't know.

 Imma just blame this humid weather. 

Hannah no likey.

Therefore this is just something i quickly whipped - ha.ha. Y'know...like, whipped cream...'cos it's on the doughnut. ha. ...just you Hannah.  - up this evening.

To be fair, this is productive, because my two summer project sketchbooks, ready for my summer project finally arrived in the post today!

My summer project is all about character design: Design 7 different characters, using the influence and styles of different illustrators and artists, and create at least an A4 of different actions and poses.

I was thinking of ways to gather inspiration for character design, and I was thinking about taking items of food, and rearranging them into fashion, and then influencing things like hair styles, body shapes, and so on!

So this is just the beginning!

Mithrandir

I didn't much fancy drawing myself today so...Gandalf?

Pro-Babysitter

Never underestimate hiding under a piano

12th June 2013 

Last night, I had my first session of babysitting after all my time away from university. It was crazy-mad, but so much fun!
I think I have a pretty different babysitting experience than most people. Normally you watch that persons tv, eat their food, and send the children to bed. Last night I was babysitting 7pm-11pm, and I was up playing with them all night!
The illustration is displaying one of my awesome babysitting skills - squishing myself into hiding places that I really don't fit into, but still end up working!

Removed stool to show the full body

Midnight City

The song that has been constantly on repeat for the past few days, and recently I have really gotten back into using my drawing tablet, so I just fancied messing around with colours!

Have a Happy Otter

Yay Otters!

Since being a university, so many people seem to watch cute-anima-videos on YouTube, and that's not really my thing, but damn did I get taken in by the cuteness of otters!

All because two people fell in Love

Final Wedding Invitation Design: FRONT

If you have been following my blog, you will probably feel like you have seen something similar on here before. - That's because you would be correct!

Originally, I was asked to do a mock flower-wreath wedding invite for my friend, and then she said she liked it so much, that she wondered if I would mind making the full invitation! Of course I didn't, and I am so honoured to have been asked. It was actually a lot of fun, and I'm actually really pleased with the outcome!

The first image is the final front side of the wedding invitation. - Obviously for privacy purposes, the details have been left out and replaced with other text, but still using the original type faces, so that you can get an idea of style and layout.

The original mock-up flower wreath was created on a 40x40 canvas to make a nice rounded shape, however, when asked to do the actual invite, the sizing and shape was a lot different. I had to do from a equal square, to a A5 rectangle. This meant dragging out the flower wreath in an effective way. However, as I split the flowers up, it was actually decided that this looked nice as it was, and no extra flowers were necessary. 

I was then given the text which they both wanted the invitations to read, and they only asked that I have their names in scrabble pieces - which can I say just looks so cute! - and to change the background colour to match the bridesmaid dresses. I was therefore able to have some fun with various typefaces and my handwriting, and balancing them down the invitation.

I have also done two variations for the back image, which details about after parties and wedding receptions, but that was too much to really be published on the internet right now, especially when it isn't my wedding to share!

Here are the orignal sketches and mock-up design that I first did. 

Determined to Picnic

9th June 2013

Woo! Finally, the last catch up illustration...if I do today's one on time!

I finally met up with my Twin again after both of us being away at University. We planned a picnic in the park for some sun, catchup and laughs...however, the weather was not as kind today as it was yesterday; but we were determined to picnic! and we went despite the grey skies and slight drizzle, and we brought multiple layers of clothing, scarves and gloves and yet we still bought our sunnies along! So we sat with all our jumpers on, wrapped in coats and ate our food, with our sunglasses on!

We're off to London, to buy a heat magazine!

June 8th 2013

The idea was, was to get yesterday's and today's daily outfit drawings done, both of them tonight, and then I would be finally up to date, and posting properly again... alas, that did not work out. 

I got way into this illustration this evening, and consequently spent quite a while on it...

I didn't get to spend my Mum's birthday with my family due to still being a university, so since I am now home, we went to London together! The plan was to go to Hampton Court, but really it was only the gardens that interested me, so after spending 3 hours in the gardens with the water fountains and eerily-alice-in-wonderland-esque gardens, me and my two younger brothers caught a train back in to Waterloo, and we "wandered" round London. We didn't stop. It was a full stretch across London using the tubes to visit the Disney Store [I couldn't go to London and not visit!?], Hamley's for, of course, their awesome Harry Potter memorabilia area, and then over to Kings Cross for their newly renovated and opened Harry Potter shop, and then back down to Waterloo in time to meet our parents who had spent the afternoon walking around the house. It was a great day, and I am now exhuasted!

Here are just a few sneaky photo's from Hampton Court!

Hannah is the WINNER!

7th June 2013

I'm catching upppp! - I have missed out a few days because I literally did nothing but get a lot of catch-up-sleep and evening walks. 

I see why my parents wanted me back from university! - they wanted me to do the cleaning. I got an "early" wakeup call to clean out the garage. Woop woop. SORTED.

You just can't stop me today!

Summer Sun is on it's way!

...it is already lovely and sunny - well it has been these last few days - but I mean more about getting outside to enjoy the summer sun with my friends from back home, now that I have returned from University!

What's that now? - FOUR daily outfit drawing's and now this piece! Although I'm not yet fully caught up on my daily outfit drawings, today has been a very productive day to really pick up the pace again. I'm pretty pleased with most of them... not so much the 3rd June, but I think it's because the figure is too small for the size of the car.

ANYWAYS. This was just a last mess-around piece. I still felt the urge to draw, and thought about going for a different style...more realistic? - well it is in comparison to my daily outfit drawings!

At first I didn't see this going anywhere, and thought I would give up, but I persisted - just like I have been all day - and in the end I'm fairly pleased with the outcome!

This is just a breakdown image. I generally just fill my backgrounds in a solid colour. However, inspired by some more free artwork that I have been looking at lately, I thought about using lines of different gradients of a colour. I think it looks nice, and quite stylish?


Mediums Used: Drawing tablet in photoshop.

Goodbye Lincoln...

...Until we meet again in September!

June 3rd 2013

After only managing to get into bed at 4am after packing through the night, I was exhausted and travelling wasn't great, with long delays.

Mission: Packing Freshers Away

2nd June 2013

I am also on a mission to catch up with all the missed drawings!

And then my time was up. I actually finished my course about a month ago(?) because I only had a group presentation and final assessment, unlike everyone stuck revising and sitting exams!

However, the day before moving out of Courts had finally come, and although I have "started packing" my room away at the beginning of the week... I really hadn't. I did not realise just how much stuff I had crammed into cupboard and boxes and were hiding away until I decided to properly pack. It was just a little bit overwhelming!

The last day as a Fresher was lovely though. Me and my first year church and CU. friends all went out to Ribs 'n' Bibs for lunch, and afterwards we bought frappucino's and sat along the Brayford in the sun. After that I met up with Becca, and we took a picnic up Steep Hill so that we could sit on the grass on just chill out. It was a great end to a great year.

This illustration is a very accurate representation of my evening in Courts; and yes, I did actually have to sit on my suitcase to squash it down - I am never taking that many clothes with me to university again! 

ALL the Birthday Drinks!

1st June 2013

The thing about being at university, is that you have a mahoosive summer break and so, within the space of June-September, you are missing a lot of birthday's. Therefore lot's of people have pre-birthday drinks, and for me, they all seemed to be in the one week, so I was going to birthday drinks left right an centre!
Tonight was Vicky's 21st drinks up at the Magna Carter which was really nice to go up Steep Hill and just be with everyone.

Blue equals Hyper

31st May 2013

This evening was the opening night of the 3rd Year's degree shows. As an illustration student, I got an invite to attend, so a couple of us hang-arounds went together to look around at the standards and see what the degree show was all about. I was looking for inspiration in work, and hints as to the sort of things I'd have to step up and do.
I'm not going to lie though, one of the best things was that as refreshments that had to opportunity to fill up glasses with a variety of pic-n-mix sweets - NOTE TO SELF, sweets are a hit. My favourite were these blue bon-bon-ball-things... they were super yummy, turned my tongue blue, and made me quite hyper!

Snow White used Yum-Yum's to coax out the Wildlife

I am so behind on these 'outfit of the day' drawings! I really just haven't had time because I had been trying to see all my friends in the last few days before we left university for the summer, and then there was a whole day of packing, another for travelling, and another for just settling back home!
Sooooo, this is actually my outfit of the day for 30th May 2013.

Me, Amber and Vicky finally got ourselves to Hartsholme Park! - the weather was all over the board in the last few weeks in Lincoln, raining one day and the next beautiful sunshine. The day didn't start out great, but we decided to go out despite the lack of sunshine...only to get to the park and have it rain on us most of the time we were there... it was still a lot of fun though! - The weather doesn't decide if you have a good time, it's what you make it!

I thought the perfect drawing to sum up the day would not be to have me sopping wet and covered in mud, but in fact demonstrate how silly it is to buy a tub on yum-yum's and take them to a nature park...
We literally had all the wildlife following us around the park, until we decided it would probably be best just to dispose of the troublesome-food. - que stuffing four yum-yum's in our mouths, one after the other - sugar overload!
We were just casually eating a small picnic which consisted mainly of cakes. no judging. when all the ducks and geese came out of the lake and started chasing us. Vicky and Amber ran off to save themselves and I was stuck with the food, so naturally I jumped on the bench?






One of the funniest animal encounters was a squirrel that came up to our feet and stared at us until we threw it a yum-yum, which is then proceeded to eat in a tree above us!

Wedding's are a time for Flowers

Original Sketch

Final with colours

After any exam period of just a general intense period of har-working I have this weird thing where for 2 weeks I get a little bit lost, trying to overcome my lack of sleep and adjust to not having to work 24/7. Therefore when I finished my final assessment for my first year at university I got a bit lost; but then my friends came to the rescue!

I was set the task of helping with the process of my friends wedding invitations. She gave me a collection of photos with the flowers - mainly pink, purple and oranges, with some daisies and whispy white flowers - that she liked and told me she wanted the flowers to form a ring around the writing. 

Obviously the writing in the middle isn't the actual text, but so I could get an idea of the circular shape, I looked at wedding invitations to see what was included.

I had a bit of trouble trying to balance out the colours around the whole ring, to make them work well with each other, and even now that I have finished, I still prefer the sketch alone to the colour image. Typical!

I think if I was to change anything - I find the whole flower wreath quite busy and heavy. It's a thick wreath around the lettering, and I would perhaps make it thinner, to hopefully made it less overpowering.

Mediums used: Drawing tablet in photoshop