I was recently commissioned to do a fashion illustration for a company in New York (little bit exciting) and this was one of the concept sketches I did for it. I liked her so much I decided to finish her so she could go in my portfolio. I really enjoy working on commissions because it gives you the chance to explore colours and styles that you wouldn't normally go for. This colour palette is a lot more subtle compared with my other pieces and I quite like the change :)
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I'm a bit under the weather today and am taking the morning off, I felt like having a look through some of my old sketch books scans and I came across this one. It's a doodle I did on a bus to Budapest about 7 years ago. I was backpacking around Europe with a group of friends and I carried this little battered sketch book with me everywhere i went and just let myself draw whatever I felt like. It ended up being such a fun sketch book because it was so carefree. It's reminded me to draw more for fun, not always super polished finished pieces but quick fun doodles that aren't meant for anything or anyone.
Ok, so I'll be the first to admit that I'm a little but addicted to Instagram but hey, isn't everyone!?! I love it for so many reasons and one of the is discovering new artists. My new fave is Natalie Foss, she's a Norwegian illustrator and is responsible for the amazingly quirky and original works that I'm about to post below.
Here's the link to her website: www.nataliefoss.co.uk Enjoy :) I'm spending a couple of months up north in Yorkshire to do some volunteer work for a Buddhist Centre and to do some retreat. The Buddhist Centre just so happens to be a beautiful Georgian historical house nestled in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside and to top it off it's been snowing the past few days. I feel like I'm living in two of my favourite TV shows - The Chronicles of Narnia (BBC version) and Downton Abbey. This is the perfect setting to engage in retreat and I would recommend this place to all - it's called Madhyamaka Centre and it's in Pocklington in Yorkshire. Enjoy the pics, I will post more soon and hopefully will get some time to do some painting too.
xo Chelle One of the main illustration projects I've been working on over the last year is illustrating a Mindfulness Journal for children, written by my dear friend Polina Gavria
The blurb reads as follows: "Seraphim had everything a child could wish for – a safe and comfortable home, loving parents, a room filled with books and toys, and he had fun with his friends – yet he often felt that something was wrong. For reasons he couldn't explain, Seraphim often felt grumpy and miserable. One day, Seraphim decided to sail around the world in search of his happiness. During his journey and with the help of a special Journal, Seraphim learns about the nature of his thoughts and feelings and where he can find his happiness." I think that has been one of my favourite projects to date, giving me an opportunity to develop my style and move out of my fashion illustration comfort zone. The eBook is available here The printed copy will be out soon, will keep you posted. One of my favourite blogs and instagram accounts at the moment is 5ftinf
Her images are so visually nourishing and inspiring that I often find I've lost half an hour just looking through her instagram feed again. Here are a few of her images, be sure to visit her website and blog www.5ftinf.com One of the projects I have on the go at the moment is illustrating the 2nd Hippies in the City book. I've been struggling with getting the style right for second one, even though it's very much a continuation of the first, I wanted the illustrations to have more of an earthy, mature feeling to them. After lots of sketching, painting and trawling pinterest for inspiration I finally had a break through last night. This serene lady will be the chapter illustration for the "calm" chapter. Phew, now I can crack on with the others.
As I suspected I got some beauts from the charity shops in Shrewsbury yesterday. My loot consisted of an extremely cute leather satchel, a jumper dress, a latte coloured blouse by WAREHOUSE, a very cute KALIKO stripey jumper and my favourite - a vintage tea cup :) All of this for just under twenty pounds. There's such a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when you find designer clothes in your size and they are only 3 pound a piece. It's a very cheap and easy way to update your wardrobe without contributing to environmental problems.
In other news, I'm currently working on a commission for a PR company in New York. Above is some concept artwork I did to get the ball rolling with this particular project. Will post more as it starts to come together. Hope you're all having a good week so far xx One of things I've missed the most about living in the UK is the fashion bargains that you can pick up over here. For example, I picked up this metallic knitted skirt for 4 pounds in a vintage shop in Birmingham and this cute vintage necklace for one whole english pound! I try where possible to buy second hand/vintage clothes to reduce the amount of waste but I couldn't resist these high street bargains - gold brogues for a fiver, a cute checkered shirt for 7 and black and blue feathered earrings for 2 pounds. I'm possibly heading out to Shrewsbury today to have a look through the charity shops so stay tuned :)
Oh what a lovely Sunday I had. It's been a very long time since I had a proper Sunday so I cherished every moment of it. A nice snoozey start to the day followed by tea in bed with my beautiful new book "Nourish". Then after some hot water and lemon I did an hour of Yoga courtesy of my Yoga Studio App (so worth the $5 btw), followed by some meditation, a smoothie and some spelt toast. The afternoon was spent trying out the homemade grain-free granola recipe from my new book. It's super easy to make and tastes amazing! Late afternoon me and mom went to the cinema to watch Paddington which was heart warming and good fun and I would definitely recommend going to see it :)
I hope you all had lovely Sundays too :) |
ChelleWelcome to my blog! I'm a UK based freelance illustrator and graphic designer. You'll mostly find me drinking lots of tea, working on illustration commissions such as health guide books and children's stories, day dreaming, practicing yoga and meditation and cooking healthy hipster foods. My blog is where I share my work, my creative process, what inspires me and sometimes what I've been up to. Thanks for visiting xo INSTAGRAM
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November 2015
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