Introducing ... Baby Tempi
Hello again! I’ve been busy over the past couple of months with my newest children’s book project. As some of you may know, I have been working on a children’s book called Tempi for the past few years. I’ve gradually come to the realisation that a full 32-page children’s book is quite a big undertaking for someone who only gets to do illustration work in my spare time (usually between 5 and 7am during the summer months!), outside of my full-time librarian job. Me being me, I
Tempi's friends
Despite being very busy throughout June and into July, I've still managed to make time to work on my children's book, Tempi. I'm so happy to have finished the back cover of the book, which shows Tempi's friends coming together to make music. Although these other characters may only show up on a few pages of the book, I've spent a lot of time thinking about who they are and what real-world person they may be inspired by. I've written before about how the badger is inspired by
Making of a design - Highgate Cemetery
In the second year of my illustration course, I did a project about the Magnificent Seven Cemeteries in London. At the time in 2008, I visited all seven cemeteries and took photos, but with the other projects at the time, it sort of fell by the wayside. I’ve been wanting to return to the project since then. Last year, I started working on two designs for Highgate Cemetery. I created two backgrounds in charcoal pencil, one of the Circle of Lebanon, and one of the Egyptian Aven
October's inspiration
September was a busy month - the 17th marked ten years since I moved to the UK, my parents were visiting London at the end of the month, and the new academic year is starting which means work is fairly hectic, but also exciting. Halloween decorations One of my favourite things about October are my kitschy Halloween decorations. A lot of these were bought when we visited the U.S. last September. Some of my favourites, like the sequin Mardi Gras masks and the St James Infirmary
London's dead
Despite having lived in the UK for eight years, I still can't really deal with the lack of sunlight this time of year. It seems like all of the sudden, our short summer is over, and the days are rapidly shortening. Perhaps this is why I'm drawn to Halloween, because it makes something darkly dramatic out of an otherwise depressing time. This season marks the end of nature's growth period, and the start of death and decay. It's easy to see why many different cultures have a ce
Slowths
One of the things that I want to do before I turn 30 is publish a children's book. I've had an idea in the works for a few years now to create a book about a sloth. The animals have been enjoying a relative amount of popularity after the Animal Planet documentary series 'Meet the Sloths' about a sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica. One of the two-toed sloths at London Zoo For those who like sloths, it is much more polite to call them 'slowths', rather than compare them to the deadl
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