Noah's Ark Prints Part Six

Today is the last post from my Noah's Ark self brief project.  I decided to place some of my favourite characters into mock greetings cards.  These are only mock ups if I were to create them for real I would probably give them a hand drawn feel or maybe even paint them?

I hope at some stage, not too far into the future, I will play with these characters again.  Maybe I will take them to the next stage and make them hand drawn and more delicate looking.  I will keep you updated!

I have a busy week ahead as I start to look at Autumn/Winter 2013/14!  I will be working on trend boards over the next week before I start designing prints.  I will share my research once it is all ready!  Next week I will be sharing on my blog some actual designs where I have had to create characters for.

Noah's Ark Prints Part Five

Here is a little greeting card I made for my Noah's Ark range.

This is one of my favourite pieces in the range as it really tells the story through illustration.

Noah's Ark Prints Part Four

Here is a print I developed that could be used as a nightwear placement.

Its perhaps a little bit busy but it shows another way of  developing the characters I created into a placement print.

I think parts of it would work nicely as an applique giving it some texture and depth.

I've used some of my favourite character from the Noah's Ark range in this print.

Here are the crocodiles!  As I was saying in yesterdays post less is more I find when drawing characters.  Its better to exaggerate the animals key features then make their expression cute.

Noah's Ark Prints Part Three

Here is another allover print I created for my Noah's Ark range.  I think this style of print could work well on a baby's layette or for baby bedding.

This is a self briefed project I created to practise my character drawing.  While I was drawing these animals I found that less works more with them.  I found its best not to try and put too much detail into the characters, instead its better to exaggerate their key features and concentrate on cute fun expressions.

I think the characters that have worked best for me in this range are the Giraffes, Crocodiles and Lions.

Here with the Giraffes, I have kept their faces very simple enhancing the shape of their nose, ears and little horns!

At the moment the characters are in first draft stage.  If I was actually going to use them on products I would probably make them more sketchy looking or give them a hand painted feel.  Creating them like this in a flat vector format helps me get the overall look right then I can transform the animals into any style I wish.  It's the way I work with most graphics I create.

Noah's Ark Prints Part Two

Following on from my post last Friday where I introduced my self briefed character project 'Noah's Ark' here is an all over print I created.  More images to come over the week from this range.

British Summertime!

After moving out of London to the countryside last year I had been looking forward to the summertime to get outside, enjoy the outdoors and take lots of beautiful pictures!  Unfortunately, we seem to be having one of the worst summers I've experienced with a lot of rain and very high winds = very annoying!

It's coming to the end of June and here in the UK we are experiencing weather warnings for torrential rain and high winds.  I currently sitting in a jumper and scarf!

However, there has been the odd break in the cloud and the sun has peeped through momentarily.  Here are some shots I've managed to get in these brief moments!

This was taken on a walk a few days ago near Upware, Cambridge.  It had rained all day but in the evening the sun came through.  We came across this field of wheat which had thousands of poppies poking through creating a beautiful sea of red.

I took this picture on a similar kind of day a few weeks ago.  The days are getting nice and long now and we seem to be getting the most amazing sun sets right now.  I took this picture near our home (near Newmarket) looking out towards the Fenlands and Cambridge.

I took this picture in a village called Brinkley (near Cambridge) looking into some pony paddocks.  The field was covered in a carpet of dandelions and everything was sparkling from heavy rain reflecting the evening sun beautifully.

Although this looks like a typical autumn picture with what appears to be twigs and branches loosing their leaves - it's actually taken towards the end of May in a local village called Great Wilbraham on a very grey day.  It was daytime but there was very little sun coming through the clouds which made water reflect the trees like a mirror.

All the Cambridge college balls were in full swing last week!  It's a tradition for people to hire the famous Cambridge punts and punt along the river then moor up beside the college grounds and enjoys picnics until late watching the celebratory fireworks.  I went along with some friends and luckily it stayed dry and clear and we had a great evening enjoying our picnic and fireworks!  The river gets so full with punts that by about 10 pm you cannot move.  The whole river is covered in wooden punts like a jigsaw.  It's definitely an evening to experience!  I took this picture on the way to out mooring place capturing the famous Bridge of Sighs at St Johns.

Noah's Ark Prints - Part One - Baby's Bed Set

I mentioned in yesterdays post that I would be posting a new character project today.  Here is the first of six posts from my  'Noah's Ark' character range.

I set this project for myself to practise my character drawing.  Over the next week I will be posting a different print from this range each day.  Today is a baby's bed cover set.

Character drawing is something I'm always being asked to do as a children's print designer. At first it really didn't come naturally to me (see my old character design post as an example!) I was always creating awkward looking not very cute creations!

  However, as time has passed and I've put more practise into the area, things have improved! There is definitely a good move on since the days of my farm animal characters I posted yesterday - I think!  

I set this Noah's Ark project for myself so I couldn't escape creating lots of cute animals (the options were endless!)  Over the next week I will be sharing these creations on the blog.  A lot of the products are unfinished, it was more a self briefed project to practise character drawing.

I will also go into more detail about the value of self briefed projects to practise areas of weakness too.

The week following my Noah's Ark prints I will be showing some recent 'real life' designs where I have had to create lots of different character designs.

Old Character Designs

I was recently searching through some very old prints of mine and came across these funny looking farm animals I created over three years ago!  I'm a bit embarrassed by them now to be honest but they show me how much my work has developed since then!

 I will be posting a new character project next week which hopefully shows a good move on from these images!

Boys Print - Autumn/Winter 2012

Here are some boys outdoor inspired print I have been working on recently.

Boys - Neon Surf - Spring/Summer 2013

Key Trends

Neons

Badging

Typography

Humour

1. Adams 2. Debenhams 3.Debenhams 4. Osh Cosh 5. O'Neill 6. Zara 7. Carters 8. Unknown 9. Unknown 10. Mamas and Papas

Girls Print Design - Home Sweet Home

I have been organising my portfolio recently and printing out some of my favourite prints.  Heres some girly prints I have recently created.

Wedding Thank You Cards

It's a week ago since my friends wedding and I just couldn't help posting one more related post.  I decided to covert the little wedding day illustration medley I created into a thank you card.  Here it is along with a couple of snaps from the day as well!

Jamie and I

Elizabeth and Me

My Dad and I

Jamie and I

Elizabeth and I

Me!

Friend and Family

Personalised Wedding Stationery

Click here to see a couple of examples from previous posts.

Floral Homeware Prints

Here are some floral home-ware prints I was commissioned to do last year.

Wall Paper Part Two

Today I am off to Graduate Fashion Week to see all this years students beautiful work.  Keep posted over the next few days to see some of my findings.

Here are some flock print wall paper designs I created last year.

Boys - Gone Fishing Trend - Spring/Summer 2013

I have come across a recent boys trend theme of 'Gone Fishing' which adds a fresh feel to the ever popular nautical stories.  Here are some of my favourite t-shirts that fit into this trend.

Key Trends

Distress

Sea Creature Silhouettes with text fills

Mapping

Stipes with pop colours

1. Cabo Cado 2. J Crew 3. Malau 4. Next 5. Scotch and Soda 6. Next 7. Next 8. Carters 9. Guess 10. J Crew


To find a list of websites and blogs I find inspiring click on my new Inspiration Directory link to the right of the page.

Wall Paper Part One

Here are some wall paper designs I did last year.