Fashion Fun!

I've had the pleasure of being with the most lovely little group of students these past Tuesday evenings! I have been teaching an adult education introductory class to Fashion Design & Illustration. We've had some really lovely evenings, I know I have certainly enjoyed the sessions :)

For some of the students is was their first taster of education since school, and I am amazed by how hard everybody worked. Here is just a small selection of their artwork from the mountains and mountains of work that they produced.

I am very proud of them, they did so well in a short space of time; I wish them luck with their future courses :)

Hares' feet... and my lovely studio space at the Lawrence Batley Theatre!

This week I have been continuing with experimenting with my Binky & Star illustrated journal.

I've been having a conversation with Poppy about the soles of rabbits and hares' feet, what they actually look like etc. I'm going to experiment with drawing Binky without foot pads to see how it looks. I have already decided that Binky does not absolutely need whiskers, they were somewhat confusing and I think the images work better as a whole without them. I'm having fun playing around with the images, seeing what works and what doesn't :)

Also this week, I have been to my lovely studio space at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield.

I have been experimenting with book shapes and sizes for the picture book I am creating. I have also been pondering the image spreads; what should I include in the pictures, what should I leave out, where should the double page spreads go; where should the text go etc. Phew, enough to blow my mind by the end of my session - home for a rest: to chocolate and chai ;)

Flowering hearts. And inky sparrows!

I was reading some lines about the seeds of peace being planted in our hearts, which inspired me to make this piece! I really enjoyed creating the lettering :)

And, I'm working on some more lettering; this time with SPARROWS! I LOVE sparrows and I'm having great fun drawing them :)

The Journey!

Here, finally, are some colour images from the 154 Collective project that I have taken part in, with children from St Helen's Catholic Primary School, Barnsley, Yorkshire. We had great brain storming sessions at Hoyland Library - a wonderful and welcoming environment in which to make up stories!

The illustrations are taken from the children's own drawings, and I painted them using watercolour and pencil on A3 watercolour paper

The story is about a journey, undertaken by a character called Lilly, who worries that she might not be liked by the person at the other end...

It is a heart warming story, created in collaboration with the children, and I have enjoyed every minute of it!

Birthday!!!!

It's been a wonderful day for a birthday today - to be sure!!

Amongst my awesome presents is this WONDERFUL book, to be read whilst drinking this delicious tea:

Just two of the splendid cards I have received today:

And I've been sketching sparrows for a secret project I'm working on - all will be revealed... when I get it finished!!!

AND fantastic Poppy did my facebook and tumblr buttons - yay!! You can try them out :)

Now I'm off to lounge on the sofa to do some more birthday reading... happiness is having one's birthday on a SATURDAY!!! HURRAH!!!

Drawing and Painting for All

On Thursdays I work with a REALLY WONDERFUL group of adult learners in Honley, West Yorkshire. The course is called 'Drawing and Painting for All' and I strive to make the sessions welcoming, friendly and relaxed.

I really look forward to the sessions, they are really fun - the students work so hard, and create fantastic pieces of artwork. I have created a blog here, so that their work can be showcased... check it out!!! :-D

This painting done by the extremely prolific Richard!

The Romans have arrived in Barnsley!

I spent Monday afternoon at Darfield Upperwood Primary School, working with the children to come up with Roman characters based on themselves.

The children used mirrors to look at the features on their onw faces, and they paired up with another child so they could discuss each others faces... it was REALLY GOOD FUN!!!

The children were absolutely marvelous, really eager and keen; they worked very hard all afternoon - a BIG THANK YOU to the children! I will update on the project, and post some photos of the children's work very soon, so keep a look out! :)

In the meantime, this is an example that I did for the children of myself as a Roman child.