Christmas wrapping paper!

This evening I decided to make use of the packaging paper that came with my recent online Christmas orders as well as the alphabet stamps I made years ago, in particular the 'v' and 'o'. I've been busy printing some wrapping paper...

Drawstring bags

Since losing my little studio space I haven't done much screen printing at all but hopefully that is going to change! This evening I did some screen printing at home and managed to keep our furniture ink free! I've been busy printing some little drawstring bags which are looking pretty cute. It's good to know I can print from home so I can make a resolution for the new year to be a more productive printer!

Latest commission...

I was recently asked if I could do an illustration inspired by Alice in Wonderland. It was really nice to do because the brief was very loose and, as long as the illustration included Alice, I could take any aspects of the book I fancied! Here's the finished piece...

New York

So it's been a little while since I got back from New York. Things were a bit hectic at work trying to catch up with everything so I didn't have much of a chance to just sit down, catch my breath back and write a post.

New York was incredible, the view from the Empire State Building, seeing the skyline at night, dog spotting in Central Park, in fact I want to go back again already!

I got to see some awesome classic paintings that blow you away when you see them for real. Colours vary so much from print to print that you never really know the real colours of a painting until you actually see the real deal, it can make such a difference!

Here are a few of my MOMA sketches...

While we were there we also visited The Sketchbook Project. It's the genius idea of having a library of sketchbooks and the best bit is ANYONE can take part. You buy your sketchbook which comes with it's own barcode, fill it up, post it back and it becomes part of the library. I can't wait to get cracking on mine!

Autumn Moon Festival

The Autumn Moon Festival finally came around so after all the organisation we finally got to party together. Paul certainly pulled it off with a lot of help from his dedicated and hard working family, particularly Josie. We had such a good time, especially on the Saturday night when Gentlemen Duke and The Cajun Dawgs played awesome sets. Jen's jive workshop and the puppet show went down a treat too! The whole weekend had such a friendly atmosphere it was so lovely, we have to do it again! And it was so awesome to see the logo I designed all over the place, even on the cupcakes! The hoodies sold really well and they were so useful in the evenings when the temperature started to drop! Here are a few pictures of my wolf around the festival...

Finally on Twitter!

I finally have a Twitter account! Follow me if you can... https://twitter.com/lizjeal

Aestheticodes Success!

After a lot of hard work from the Aestheticodes team, their stall at the London Design Festival over the last four days seemed to be quite popular. Loads of people had a go at drawing their own codes and we covered the walls behind us in aestheticodes with ease!

I have spent the last two days at the stall drawing and explaining the encoding process. I got to meet some really lovely people in between figuring out some of my own encoded illustrations.

People have generally been really interested in the concept of being able to use an illustration as a replacement for a QR code, everyone agreeing that QR codes are ugly and spoil the design of a page. I'm hopeful for the team that it will take off, why would anyone choose a QR code when they can have an aestheticode?!

These are the drawings I worked on over the weekend (minus one that I forgot to photograph!).

And there's Emily teaching people how to encode their drawings while I'm busy illustrating my own. Plus there's the stall filled with aestheticodes at the end of the weekend.

The Aestheticodes app is available for download on iphone and android. Visit www.aestheticodes.com for more details!

Aestheticodes at the London Design Festival

Over the summer I met up with the Aestheticodes team to talk about some plans they have for the London Design Festival. I was quite excited to be presented with an opportunity to explore a new interactive field of design.
A team of researchers have been developing a way of encoding designs which can be interactive in just the same way as a QR code but much more visually pleasing. It's a really exciting concept as it can be applied in so many different ways; perhaps the code might be hidden within a picture in a magazine taking anyone who can find it to a meal voucher...imagine scannable wallpaper or clothing!
I was asked to design an encoded postcard that could be given out at their stall at the festival. After talking with the team, I began work on my 'Koi Carp' design as a development of a sketch I produced, inspired by Chinese ink drawings, during an encoding workshop.
As a contrast to the bold, blocky QR codes, I wanted to create an image that felt soft and flowing, something that would unexpectedly be a code. I began by painting regular images with inks, softening them by adding water and building up the layer, incorporating the codes by picking out key lines right at the end. I felt that this allowed me to be free with my painting and for the code to become part of a natural image without looking contrived.
So here's the flyer to advertise the stall...

With the right app, the illustration will scan just like a QR code.
I'll be at the stall this Saturday and Sunday to show you how to make your own codes...come along!

Cannonball Parrot!

An attempt at something new

Recently I've been trying out some Chinese style ink drawings. It's totally different from my usual way of drawing but I'm enjoying the challenge of trying something new. Here are a couple of mountain landscapes so far...

Two months today, Granny

Two months ago we had to say goodbye to our lovely Granny May. She has left a lasting impression on everyone that knew her and she really was one in a million.

Just after she passed away, I remembered a quote that I read a long time ago which seems more fitting now than ever.

'Who are the people that have influenced us the most? Not the ones that thought they did, but the ones that had not the remotest notion they were influencing us.'

Missing you Granny x

Website Illustrations

Recently I  did a couple of illustrations for Rachel Grimes Flowers. The website's up and running now with the illustrations added so please take a look and maybe even order some flowers!!
http://www.rachelgrimesflowers.co.uk/about.htm

Printing the fox...

Yesterday I visited my tiny studio to test print a few images. I did a quick tester of Paul's Autumn Moon Festival print which I was pretty pleased with. I'll get some photos of it on here after the festival. Also had a go at printing the fox I drew from Mark Worsfold's AWESOME photograph. Have lost a bit of detail so will re-expose the screen at some point but here's a snap of my tester and me preparing the screen...

Photoshoot!

I was looking through the photos from my degree show photo shoot and it reminded me how stressful it was but also how much fun we had. Just thought I'd put up a couple that didn't go on my website, one of the lovely Agathe and one of me...

Budding Artist!?

This weekend I stayed with my parents in Sussex and while I was at their house I had a quick look through some of the stuff I've left there (there's quite a lot!). Anyway, here are a couple of badges I found that I made when I was younger, probably at Crowborough library, and I thought they looked a little hilarious!

Italian fans!

Thanks to my awesome family in Italy for giving me and Gentlemen Duke a bit of exposure on the continent!

All studded and punched up!

Just finished off my first necklace...

Leather work

This evening I took a trip to Hobbycraft to grab the bits and bobs I needed to carry on with my leather necklaces. I've been playing with punching holes and putting on studs. It seems to be going well although my fingers are starting to ache! Here's a quick peek of one of them so far...

On it again...

Today I've been hanging out with my Nonno doing a bit of chatting, drawing, drinking lots of tea and even printing. I just did these two tees today to test out my wolf. Pretty pleased with how he's looking. Now all I need to do is order some more tees and totes!

Leather left overs

While I was at uni I collect up some nice bits of leather, some free from Hackney scrap and some dead cheap from Shepherd's Bush. I thought I should start to do something with my left overs so that they don't go to waste. I've seen some really nice faux leather collars in some shops recently and at first I thought I'd try some of my own. But when it got round to cutting the leather I decided to make fat leather necklaces instead, one of them I've cut to look a little like a collar. Anyway, these are the shapes so far, I'll attach chains and fastenings later and play around with punching some holes too.

Vans at Selfridges

I was really lucky last month as the Lovenskate team asked me to help them out again with a live screen print for Vans in Offspring, Selfridges. We had a really fun evening of printing Stu Smith's design onto free totes and tees. Plus there were some lovely ladies painting nails, customising vans and giving away cupcakes! Thanks to Lovenskate and Vans for an awesome evening!

Ready to go!

Just got the tees labelled up and ready to go. I'm really pleased with how they've all turned out, hopefully the Gentlemen Duke fans will like them too so they can get sold!

New print studio!

So I finally managed to set up a little print studio in my Nonna's garage with a LOT of help from Sam and my lovely friend Olivia. The print press is all set and Sam and I have spent the last few evenings getting some Gentlemen Duke tees printed.