New Illustration: Flowers in Norway

I'm currently working on a series of illustrations entitled 'Postcards from Norway'

inspired by my recent holiday. I'm using a selection of the (1200!) photos I took in Stavanger, Skjolden, Geiranger and Bergen as reference for drawing and soon I'll make a start on colouring and editing.

This illustration was inspired by one of the photos I took near a waterfall in Skjolden. I'm not sure if it'll be part of the series yet as it doesn't quite fit with the rest of the images. Either way I thought I'd share it here today as a little preview of what I've been working on.

I'm not sure when the finished series will be ready to share, but you can follow along on Instagram for some sneak peeks in my sketchbook!

Illustration Friday: People

I missed last week's Illustration Friday prompt of 'Heart', and didn't have as much time as usual to work on this week's 'People'.

I ended up doing something a bit different. I haven't actually illustrated any people for this piece, but instead have used a lovely quote (about people) from 'Colours of the Wind' in Pocahontas.

"You think the only people,

who are people,

are the people,

who look and think like you.

But if you walk

the footsteps of a stranger,

you'll learn things

you never knew you never knew."

This one was a bit of a rush but I hope to be back on track properly next week!

In my sketchbook: 26/08/15

I didn't realised how long it had been since I put together an 'In my sketchbook' post, and when I was going through my books to photograph the pages I was pretty surprised how much I had to share!

I've been working on a big variety of projects and themes over the last month, from cupcakes and giraffes to mountains and flamingoes. I've also tried to take a little time to draw for the sake of drawing and experiment with new patterns which I can later apply to my illustrations.

(The last two images here are also a sneak peek at the series of illustrations I'm now working on inspired by my trip to Norway.)

Life: A week in the Fjords

This weekend I returned home from a week's cruise around the beautiful Norwegian Fjords.

I went with Jamie, Mum and Dad on the P&O Azura and we visited Stavanger, Skjolden, Geiranger and Bergen. The views were spectacular and we had some really lovely weather (we were expecting rain so this was a great surprise!) We saw countless stunning waterfalls (many of which created beautiful rainbows in the sunshine), tree covered mountains, colourful houses and pretty flowers.

As you can imagine, I took a rather large number of photos whilst we were, in fact between us we took over 1200 (!!!) but I've selected just a few favourites to share with you here.

The whole holiday was fantastic, and we all enjoyed getting dressed up for the formal evenings on the ship too! (Not to mention swimming in the pools, playing in the casino and eating far too much good food!)

I definitely recommend visiting the Fjords, and cruising in general too, its great for visiting lots of new places in one holiday!

I'll be using lots of the photos I took while we were there to inspire a new series of illustrations. I've already made a start so it shouldn't be late until I have something to share. Meanwhile you can see works in progress over on Instagram (@EmmaMargaretIllustration)

Illustration Friday: Pointy

This week's Illustration Friday prompt was 'Pointy'. All of my initial ideas were pretty similar to those that I had for 'Sharp' (the prompt for the first week I took part). One of the first new ideas that came to mind was a wolf, with its pointy eyes and pointy teeth, so I went with Little Red Riding Hood as my inspiration this week.

I've illustrated Little Red Riding Hood approaching her Grandmother's cottage, with the wolf watching her from the inside.

I've also included a slightly adapted quote from the story, replacing the word "big" with "pointy" to say "My, what pointy teeth you have..."

I won't be taking part in Illustration Friday next week as I'm away in Norway (unless I really like the prompt next week in which case I might create something for it once I'm back anyway!)

The blog will be pretty quiet next week while I'm away but I'll have plenty of things to share once I'm back the following week!

Over & over: Giraffes

Seeing as Giraffes have been  my favourite animal for as long as I can remember, it surprised me the other day when I realised I had barely used them in any of my work. Obviously I had to fix this right away, so I've made a new pattern filled with them!

I'll be back tomorrow with this week's Illustration Friday post!

Wise words: Adventure

I've really loved illustrating mountains lately (see my recent pattern and Illustration Friday posts) and they seem to have crept their way into my work again for a new Wise Words illustration!

Lets go on an adventure!

This little quote seems pretty fitting for me this week, as its only 4 days until I head off on a cruise to the Fjords! I've never been to that part of the world before and I can't wait to explore all of the local towns and wander round lots of markets. I apologise in advance for the immense amount of photos that I'll be sharing once I'm back!

Shop: New postcards & a holiday

With all the illustrations I've been making lately, it seemed about time I got some new postcards printed. So last week I placed an order at the printed and I've now added 7 new designs to my Etsy shop.

The following designs are now available to buy for £2 each or 6 for £10 plus p&p:

Ice Cream Party

Sweet Tooth

Succulents

On the Windowsill

I carried a watermelon

Phases of the Moon

Daydream

View them all (and plenty of older designs too) in the shop here.

On Saturday I'm going away for a week, for a lovely cruise to the Fjords with my family. I'll be keeping the Etsy shop open (the Folksy store will be closed for the week) but any orders placed between this Friday 14th and Sunday 23rd will be dispatched on Monday 24th. Any orders placed in this time will also receive a little extra as a thank you for waiting!

I'm planning on taking a very large amount of pictures on this holiday and hope to produce a series of illustrations based on our travels once we're back, so should have plenty to share with you in a few weeks!

Over & over: Village

As I mentioned last week, today I have another landscape style of pattern to share with you.

This time with pretty little houses in the hills.

I've really been enjoying creating these patterns and I'll be continuing to design some more in the next few weeks. Any suggestions for themes would be appreciated! 

Illustration Friday: Grow

This week's prompt was 'Grow'.

After last week where I mentioned that I wanted to do something quite different this time (mainly avoiding the use of nature as all of my Illustration Friday submissions have been about plants or leaves so far!) I initially struggled to come up with something.

I did come up with an idea for a portrait of Pinocchio with his nose growing, but then I thought of Alice in Wonderland and the food and drinks that make her grow (and shrink) throughout the story.

I'm already working on a project inspired by Alice in Wonderland so it seemed appropriate to continue that theme into this week's Illustration Friday work too!

This design is available on Art Rookie on a variety of products including cushions and clocks!

If you're new to my blog or my Illustration Friday series you can catch up here.

Snap snap: 05/08/15

Life lately in photos.

- I've been working on a few larger, more detailed versions of some of my existing designs for a new project.

- The postcards have been pretty popular lately. They're on offer for 6 for £10 in my Etsy shop.

- She gets more and more cuddly every time she comes to visit.

- I've just finished reading Alice in Wonderland and have plans for quite a large new illustration. It make might take me a while to fit it in around everything else but I hope to have it finished soon!

- I'm working on an exciting (but secret) project involving Sharpie pens

- On Sunday I went to London to meet these lovely girls, talk art stuff and get excited about anything with Unicorns on!

- Monday I went back in to London to meet Hollie for a long overdue catch up. I also had my first bubble tea which has turned out to be one of my new favourite things!

- My sketchbook has been filled with all sorts of objects and animals lately, including my favourite: Giraffes! I'll share more of a look into my sketchbooks again next week.

Keep up to date with everything I'm doing over on Instagram.

What have you been up to lately?

Wise Words: Daydream

I've been working on a different version of this for s secret project, but I love the sentiment of it so I thought I'd create another version to share here!

Don't quit your daydream.

This design is available on a variety of products over on Art Rookie!

Over & over: Sweet tooth

I mentioned last week that I had a few more patterns to share with you, including one for anyone with a sweet tooth! (If you're a subscriber of my newsletter you'll have already seen this as part of your freebie for this month!)

This one was just for fun and to make something bright and colourful (and I also happen to be a big fan of sweets!)

I've added this one to my Art Rookie store on lots of products including phone cases and mugs!

I have quite a few new things to share this week, including another pattern, a Wise Words post, and this week's submission to Illustration Friday.