Scissor Quirk

Love: Tom Lovell

My University has an insanely cool library - I'd be lying if I said I didn't spend nearly every free school moment, there. lol. (insert nerdy snort/laugh, here). But seriously, it's got stacks of recent awesome art & design maagzines, too (I was psyched to see my favorite Uppercase in the archives, there!)

Anyhoo, I came across Tom Lovell's illustration work in the most recent Illustration magazine, and I immediatley fell in love with it:

Gorgeous work, no? Don't they look like photos, almost?
He captured such a lovely era.

You can check out 'Illustration' here & see this issue all online here.
All images above, from the magazine.

Secret of mine: I've had aspirations to launch a magazine as my thesis project. Yes, I'm in first year. I've seriously been thinking about it for so long and would one dya love to try to make it happen.

 

How to Be A Hipster...

Ohmygoodness.
This made me laugh so hard.

Hannah is a genius, and her illustrations are so cute! :)

Blog Party: Gemma Correll Interview & Giveaway

I *love* to get a little insight into the lives of my favorite artists, so I asked my favorite super-cute-and-quirky illustrator to answer a few questions in hopes to peek inside her brilliant mind a little, and be inspired. And now, so can you!
Visit Gemma Here: Website, Etsy Shop, Twitter, Flickr.

1. What's your name, and what's your game?

I'm Gemma. I am an Illustrator, Pug owner and fan of musical theatre.

I spend a large proportion of my day drawing and when I'm not drawing I am packing orders for my Etsy shop, writing e-mails or taking Mr Pickles (the aforementioned Pug) for walks... or sleeping.
2. How did you get started doing these lovely things you do?

I drew a lot as a kid and made comics and little books but I didn't really consider illustration to be a viable career option until a tutor at college persuaded me to apply for a Graphic Design course at university (I was all ready to take a sociology or teacher training course). So I ended up studying at the Norwich School of Art and Design here in England and specialising in Illustration. I graduated in 2006 and worked as an Illustrator part-time up until 2 years ago when I became a full-time freelancer. 

3. How do you keep yourself inspired and motivated?

It can be difficult, because I get many commissions where I work to a brief set by the client, to stay inspired and motivated. It's important for me to find time to do personal projects and draw in my sketchbook. Also, I'm lucky in that I quite often get jobs that allow me a lot of freedom to work in a way that I enjoy. There are times that I wish I had a normal 9-5 job, but in reality I know I wouldn't enjoy it.

 

4. What's your favorite/least favorite part of what you do?

I'm not keen on the accounting and financial side, but it has to be done!

5. Any tips for aspiring illustrators/indie business owners?

Be prepared to work very, very hard!
I work 12 hour days, every day- including weekends. 6. Any vices that help the flow of creativity?

I drink a lot of coffee while I work and snack foods keep me going (I do try to snack on healthier things like dried fruit and nuts but they're just not the same as chocolate...) I also listen to musicals. Particularly the Rocky Horror show soundtrack... And I sing along.

7. I'm in love with your 'daily diaries' & 'what I wore today's - how did you get started doing these and what are your favorite ones?

I started drawing the diaries when I went on holiday to the USA a couple of years ago. It was really just a way to document the things I'd seen and done, an alternative to photographs. They proved to be popular (I uploaded them to Flickr) so I decided to draw a diary every day. Here are some of my favourites: 


8. If you could travel back in time and tell yourself anything at 16, what would it be? Don't be sad! It will be OK! In 10 years you will have a Pug.

9. If you could make any dream/idea a reality - right now! - what would it be? Teleportation. I'd really like to be somewhere warm right now. I'm wearing gloves INDOORS.

10. A day in your life: what's it like?

My day starts off slowly (I am not a morning person) with answering e-mails, checking twitter, flickr etc and drinking copious amounts of coffee. I'll also go to the Post Office and sort out any admin-type stuff. In the afternoon I'll start working on commissions. I might take a couple of breaks to eat, walk Mr Pickles or read a magazine but I generally work until around midnight, or later if I have a deadline. I feel more inspired in the evenings, so that's when I usually create my best work.

11. Are you buying handmade (or making?) this holiday season? Any favorite projects or internet/Etsy shops you'd like to share?

I'm definately making... I haven't even had time to think about buying yet but the gifts that I do eventually buy will be handmade.

Here are some of my favourite Etsy shops:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetlittlefelt
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PataPri
http://www.etsy.com/shop/thispapership
http://www.etsy.com/shop/HappyDoodleLand

*This giveaway is now closed*

The Giveaway: One limited edition Letterpress ''Ampersand'' print.

How to enter: Visit Gemma's shop, and leave a comment here with your favorite goodie and your e-mail address, too. 

The giveaway is open to all until Sat, Dec. 11th at midnight, PST.

Thanks so much for such a lovely interview, Gemma!
I think we all love you a little bit more - if that's even possible - now. :)

Stitcheroo.

Dude. Thanks so much for your sweet words, guys! :)
I'm psyched you like my Peter Pan's - they were such a labour of love! Aah.

A little glimpse into the 'making of', because I find editing through a bunch of badly lit photos (hah) taken by myself at odd hours while working on these things to be tedious, so I only got one done to post last night...lol.

I'm contemplating making prints of them for the upcoming holiday season - well, I was thinking about whether to or not, but you've swayed me - my lil Epson printer would just make the detail stand out like crazy!! So watch for that soon...

As for me - meeting a crafty friend for coffee + craft fair talk after work today, then finishing a much overdue project for my bestie, and then continuing on with (hopefully) the end of fall cleaning tonight & some odd orders & to-do's and things - I just started boot camp again yesterday & I tend to wind down a lot faster in the evening after getting up at 5:30, but we'll see how it goes! lol.

Happy day, friends!

A Little Peter Pan

Ah, finally! :)

This weekend flew by me, friends. I literally looked up on Sunday night (from the chaotic pile of fall cleaning that was my craft table/living room) and realized that I hadn't touched my computer all weekend or done one thing on my list! Agh! At the same time, though - Aah. Much needed.

We went out on Friday with some work folk to play giant jenga at this rad new pub in town, Guilt & Co. - and then met up with my cousin & her hubby who were in town. I spent most of Saturday thrifting for Halloween costume stuff with mister husband & stocking up on supplies needed to make craft fair goodies (yay!) which I can start very very soon, and then Sunday I started fall cleaning the house, because it was in dire need of it, and I'm weird and can't work on something new until it feels fresh & uncluttered in here, right now. lol.

So, here we are, Monday. I vote for 4-day weekends every week, yes? :)
And, alas - my Peter Pan illustrations!

These are for a collective book that some animation friends & I all collaborated on - every page in the book will have a different illustration style & the story has a little twist to it. It's being finalized as we speak, and eventually printed - I'll let you know the when's and where's of that as soon as I find out!

Here's the first one: (click here to view it larger)

And close-ups, so you can see the stitching & texture - for this one I drew & embroidered the outline, and then colored & textured it in Photoshop.

And the second one: (click here to view it larger)

And some close-ups of this one, too, so you can see the detail - I drew the outline in pencil and stitched/embroidered most of the color on fabric, & then I put the two together & added more color/texture in Photoshop. 

I had never tried combining embroidery with my drawings, before, and I do a lot of compositing of things at my day job, so I figured this was a good chance to try a new look/technique! I'm pretty happy with the way these lil guys turned out, for the first time at it, and can't wait to see them printed!!

I have a few work in progress shots/how I did it photos & sketches and things, too, from throughout working on these illustrations, so I'm going to sift through those in the next few days and post them, too!

Which one is your favorite?

I totally want to watch Peter Pan, now...
The mermaids & lost boys are the best! :)