Service Description:
I gained an HND in illustration at Falmouth School of Art in Cornwall. With 12 years experience as a freelance illustrator, you can be assured that I will approach any project with professional care.
Children's books have become a speciality of mine as I have illustrated over 20 picture books that have been published worldwide. My strength is that I am versatile and have great drawing skills. I have illustrated a large range of subjects including food, cartoon characters, realistic and stylized people, animals and more.
To create the textured look of the paintings I use for my teddy books I begin by using oil pastels on primed paper, then I use alkyds which are a fast drying oil paint. I prefer alkyds to acrylics as I have more time to manipulate the paint before it dries.
For some of my other illustrations such as the food and Pedigree Chum, I used marker pens on paper to create a colour base and then worked into it with coloured pencils bringing the image alive.
To create a more realistic painting I usually take photographs for reference first. For some of the people, I used gouache and watercolours which enable me to produce finer, more detailed images.
I worked in-house for a design studio as a freelance illustrator for about four years. There I worked primarily on briefs for Tesco. I was involved with their major point of sale campaigns. I would produce colour visuals. When these were accepted, I would go on to create the final illustration. Usually I was given very short deadlines. I had to create illustrations in many kinds of styles, depending on what was required at the time. I produced line drawings, cartoon characters, food illustrations, decorative, marker visuals, realistic and stylized.
Some of my most recent projects have been with Harrods. The in-house design department at Harrods contacted me directly and sent me my briefs. I produced a number of sketches which I sent by e-mail. I worked closely with the graphic designers and product developers. The final illustrations were produced in a similar way as I do my children's books. My illustrations can be seen on pvc bags, aprons, christmas decorations, teddy bear labels, tea towels, packaging and mugs. I have been involved with Harrods Christmas 2007 and 2008 campaigns.
RECENT CLIENTS - Harrods, Harcourt Education, Red Giraffe, Chrysalis Books, David Bennett Books, Tesco, Pedigree Chum, Oxford University Press
Industry Experience:
Media, Advertising, Publishing, Entertainment