Dear Mr Potter...

This is a piece I did based on an earlier lino print. It shows a Hogwarts owl with a special letter for Harry Potter. After a long period away from digital illustration I am enjoying a return, and I'm looking forward to developing my work further.

S is for Santiago

So, this is the next instalment for my literary alphabet, and in a break from tradition, its not G... its S. S for Santiago from The Old Man And The Sea, by Ernest Hemingway. Its not yet finished and though I like it, there are still tweaks and experiments I want to try. I still really hate my F entry, Fagin, so that will need re-visiting at some point.

I have been working on an ink and brush comic which I should be putting up soon, I have nothing but respect for comic strip writers, laying a story out on a page is hard work!

F is for Fagin ...

I haven't stopped my A-Z  Literary Project but Fagin has been giving me no end of trouble! I'm still not sure how I feel about this piece but here he is anyway, pocketing a trifle from his latest thieving spree, in the dark slums of London.

E is for Esther...

Esther Greenwood, sinking into bleak depression in New York, in Sylvia Plath's the Bell Jar.

D is for Dark Lord...

...Trapped in the body of a teenage boy and sent to our world, having to endure indignities such as school, homework and detention. He befriends his complete opposite: a sweet, innocent boy named Christopher who tries to help him regain his terrifying form and return home. I’m a couple of decades out of the target reading age for this book but it didn’t stop me enjoying it. I think what I loved best is how much the two main characters seem to truly care about each other (deep deep down) and rely on each other. Like Harry Potter, this book appears at first glance to be about magic and fantasy, but to me it was equally about friendship. Dark Lord: The Teenage Years by Jamie Thomson

 

C is for Cat

This week’s illustration is of The Cat That Walked By Himself, by Rudyard Kipling. So far this project has made me look around and read new material, or re-read old books I used to love. You’d think that not having a TV would leave me more time to read, but actually I seem to spend a lot of time up in my studio doing art! Which is still great.

I absolutely love cats and it’s surprising they don’t find their way into more of my illustrations. Now that I have a garden I’ve been enjoying the birds visiting, so when I see a cat, my feelings are mixed. But I’ll always be a cat girl...

B is for Bilbo

As part of my A-Z literary alphabet, here is poor Bilbo, running away from Smaug's deadly flames!

A is for Anne

Myself and my good friend and awesome illustrator buddy Carlydraws are currently doing a literary alphabet, with each letter connected to something in literature. My first letter is dedicated to Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I think my alphabet will be largely character based, but we will wait and see.

5 Books / Publications I find inspiring

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Tiger, tiger...

Couldn't sleep the other night, I am currently battling a nasty flu type bug. I decided I would pretend I illustrate book covers. The tiger is based on a doodle I did in my sketchbook, where I made his face up out of lots of different shapes.

Thank you postman

Boo, my camera memory card is mislaid, which means I can't take decent photos of the THREE envelopes waiting for me when I got home today. Hurrah for laptop cameras, although I'm sorry I can't do these proper justice. Here is a rundown of the zines I have happily devoured tonight.

Pixelated, issue #3, by Brandy
I answered a call on etsy to contribute to this zine, the theme is My Favourite Thing. It's thread bound, zig-zag format (probably a proper name for that), the cover is a sturdy, chocolate brown card. Inside are contributions in the form of poems, drawings, an encrypted message (love it!) typography, collage... a beautiful and whimisical addition to the zine box by the bed. Thanks Brandy, and it's great to see my work in someone else's zine . That's one of my new year resolutions fuflfilled by February. Please go here to get yourself a copy.

Deafula, issues #1 and #2, by Deafula
This is a lovely zine. It's written by a young deaf woman in Philidelphia, USA. I've finished issue 1 and am working through issue 2. The inside is a mix of type, drawings and collage, and I learnt a lot about being deaf, it was friendly and so informative. My Grandfather has gone deaf recently and as a family we have had to adapt to that- the chief priority, I think, has been making sure that he feels included at family gatherings, and remembering to speak up. Anyway, it really got me thinking about a lot of other things - Grandad, our health service, attitudes to deaf people and how I will behave when I next meet a deaf person. Thanks Deafula for your brilliant zine! She sells her stuff here.


The Ken Chronicles
This is a perzine from Ken in Philidelphia, and it kind of reads like a journal. There's plenty of content, he puts my zines to shame. I was really interested to see that he mentioned an album I have, Mumford and Sons, I think I bought it in 2009, and I agree with him it's a small dose album. He also mentions Just My Type, a book a work collegue lent me recently. Small world sometimes. Photos, quotes, reviews... my natural nosiness is satisfied in this zine, I love glimpses into other people's lives. It was great to read something by someone who is so obviously experienced in making zines, especially for a newbie like me.

In other news: I was so excited to be reviewed here by Carlos Palacios Hidalgo on his brilliant blog. He's a really nice guy and it felt wonderful to have feedback on the web. Please visit his blog, I love his reviews and because of him have been exposed to some great new music and other jumbly bits. Thank you Carlos!

Aaaargh...

...my blogging has really suffered lately, what with other bits and bobs going on. Ironically I'm almost certainly less busy than I was in 2011, due to the fact that I gave up a couple of regular commitments in order to empty my week and start new hobbies. I haven't started any new ones yet, but I'm not too worried about that, as I'm often busy to a fault, and it can't hurt to have slowed down a bit.


This past month I have: attended a zine meet in Coventry (loads of fun, big shouts to all those who were there), been to Prague with friends, written and finished the first edition of Any Old Iron, my new zine, and had a friend to stay from the United States. He's studying in London and wanted to see British life outside the capital, and I'm pleased to say I think we managed to oblige. I cooked him a proper English breakfast and took him to some of the finest pubs Peterborough has to offer, as well as our stunning cathedral. It was great to see a visitor's perspective on familiar sights, and to have him leave with good memories.


My online shops have been as quiet as the grave this month, dead as a doornail, no sales whatsoever. It's probably not unusual for this time of year, but slightly disconcerting nonetheless, it makes you wonder if your stuff is worthwhile to anyone. Mind you, it was doing okay before Christmas. Plus I don't depend on my shops for an income, so I have to remind myself that these shops are simply a good way for me to 'test the water' as to what's popular.


I'm getting more and more into zines lately, I've now swapped a fair few with people around the globe. One of the main reason I love zines is that they are mainly produced with no thought of profit or promotion, in that way the work is pure and very creative. I've found zine making to have revitalised my personal creative process, which has leaked into my work. I've been feeling the need to refresh my style and approach for ages, I just didn't know how to do it! Here are some of my recent buys/swaps:

'Larry' by Lee Taylor. http//wemakezines.ning.com/profile/leetaylor

This zine is full of Lee's beautiful line work and his gentle musings on life. He's a great writer and formidable artist. A zine that gets you thinking and examining your life, as well as having a peek into his.

Jumping the Shark by Sammy Borras. http://sammyborras.blogspot.com/

Sammy's comics are funny, bright and skilfully drawn, her characterization is just enviably good. 

Coloring for Creeps

I swapped this zine with a girl in Nevada, the images are dreamlike and, I'm sure she won't mind me saying, pretty creepy. The flowing line makes the strange creatures within seem almost fluid.

The Runcible Spoon by Malaka Gharib: http://therunciblespoon.info/about

I bought this one off Etsy, it's a riot of colour, based around food and recipes, with anecdotes, instructions and quirky collages throughout. A lot of the recipes are new to me so I'd like to try them, in the privacy of my own home of course, as my cooking is, well, pretty terrible, sadly.

Excitement

I've finished my first zine: a colouring book, and I can't remember the last time I enjoyed making something so much. All the illustrations are hand-drawn, in fact the whole thing is hand-drawn.

So many things about this project have been refreshing and cleansing - it's not for my portfolio, it won't make me much money and it will only really appeal to a niche market, that funny bunch of grown-ups who appreciate a good doodle and even still derive joy from colouring in. I won't give away too much about the content (it is for sale after all), suffice to say there's a naked man in there, along with a contented baking octopus, some dragons and a thoughtful cloud.

The world has become a brighter place since I found that making your own little comics doesn't have to stop once you leave school and your friends don't care for little aliens on their homework diaries anymore. Hurrah!

I sold my first one within half an hour of posting it on Folksy. Encouraged! Although the forum post I was blathering on shows that there is still confusion over Zines in the online crafting community...

Illustration Friday– 'Scary'

This is a sneak-peek at my first ever zine, due out soon, on grief and grieving, It's called The Kubler-Ross Railway, and it ties in rather well with this week's IF topic. Thanks for looking!

Arrietty

I don't have much time to create this week, what with the play drawing near and several other commitments, so instead I thought I'd share my excitement for something which was released a couple of months ago, to a largely indifferent public.


Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation outfit responsible for award winning films like Ponyo and Spirited Away, has released its new film Arrietty this summer. It's only just beginning to trickle into small theatres outside London, arriving at Stamford Arts Centre in October.

Arrietty is an adaptation of one of my favourite childhood stories, The Borrowers, by Mary Norton. This is, to my knowledge, the third adaptation. Last night I saw the breathtaking trailer, and it seems they have hung on to the original plot, bringing the book faithfully to life despite moving the story to Japan. The English dub features the voice talents of Saoirse Ronan, Tom Holland, and Olivia Coleman, a sign that these splendid films are gaining prestige as more famous names lend their voices to the parts.


Although this book enthralled me as a child, the themes within are not necessarily the first to spring to mind when considering a successful children's book. The story is quiet, with underlying tones of loneliness and sadness, exile and hiding. The tiny Clock family live under the floor of an old house, they have one child, Arrietty, who yearns to explore the huge world she inhabits, but most of all, yearns for company, conducting a forbidden friendship with The Boy, a human child residing at the house.


If you want to explore something new, treat your eyes to this film, if nothing else I guarantee a visual feast. Alternatively have a peek at the book and you will find an explanation for those lost safety pins and hair grips...

Nothing says crazy spinster like...

Now, don't get me wrong, I love cats. I am definitely a cat person - we've had them all my life, until our latest feline companion exited the world's stage gracefully last winter. When you succeed in befriending a cat, you feel like you've gained a co-conspirator, a confidant. I am firmly in the realm of cat person, unashamed, up front.
I also love knitting. Knitting is calming, satisfying, and not as uncool as it was when I was a kid - it's enjoying a well-deserved resurgence and long may that hold out. I hope one day to knit things that don't entirely comprise rectangles, maybe it'll happen.

But this prompted a huge guffaw when I came across it the other day:

Just think about it, allow yourself a smirk too if you want. Knit your own cat. Knit your own cat.

My first reaction is LOVE. But then...

Deep down, cats and knitting both still have a faint whiff of Crazy Lady about them (don't bridle, I'm a cat lover and a knitter, remember, as well as single). We all wish it wasn't so, but cats and single women go together like unwilling contenders in a three-legged race. Fact. I don't like it either. If you're not convinced, just try to imagine the following conversation NOT sounding silly.

"So, Hannah, what are you up to at the moment?"
"I'm knitting my own cat!"


You see?

So, despite thinking this book looks really cool, despite envying the talent of the people that knitted these beautiful creatures (I refer you once more to the rectangles), AND despite being the enthusiastic owner of Knit Your Own Cakes and My Favourite Felt Sweets, I won't be undertaking a knitted cat any time soon.

And if I ever do, I'll be sure not to bring it up on dates.

Mysterious...

What a wonderful topic for this week's Illustration Friday brief. Forests are hotbeds of mystery: think about the far off sounds you hear in forests, the smells, the wind in the old, looming trees. And there's all the folklore and legends surrounding forests, in print and even on film: Hansel and Gretel, The Hobbit, Blair Witch... and what about the sound of a tree falling when there's no one to hear it?

Anyway, please do comment and follow, I have some really exciting news which is: tomorrow I will be publishing my first ever interview, with Yorkshire-based crafter Louise Armitage, otherwise known as Gini's Boutique. I've been wanting to do this for a while, and I'm so glad to finally get the ball rolling.

I'm looking for artists, illustrators and printmakers to interview, if you're interested, drop me a line and we can arrange something...

Re-vamped

These re-done pieces were old, and had been kicking around my hard- drive for some time. They date back to the days when I was very suspicious of creative software, and I mainly used Photoshop as a compositional tool, arranging scans and maybe altering the colour here and there. Here they are, re-vamped and looking much crisper. The fox was one of the first things I ever stencilled and scanned in. I love foxes, as seen in the previous post! If you've read either of these books, and have any thought or feedback, I'd love to hear from you.

P.S- my birthday on Saturday. Excitement...