Hello!
Wow! I am SO SORRY I just haven’t posted at all this month. The truth is I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with work deadlines, and you know how it is when you just feel that doing anything other than the deadline work is going to slow you down. So I just let June fly by, and here we are on June 21st, and I’ve not posted anything.
I have decided I am going to take a break from hosting any live meet-ups this month while I crack on with this deadline (more about the deadline below), but instead I have recorded a studio video, which I am posting today.
For some reason, recording in the studio as I worked felt more achievable than organising live meet-ups, although I’m sure that’s an illusion. But hey! It means I have a video for you this month - so I hope that makes up for the lack of other videos. In fact, I posted a survey at the beginning of the month, and lots of you said you would like to see more behind-the-scenes videos anyway, so hopefully you’ll enjoy this.
So… onto the video. In this video I share some of my process and chat about my current project, which is a project in collaboration with the WWT - the Wetlands trust. They have commissioned me to make illustrations to go in 15 boards across their 7 sites across the UK. Normally, when I work on a book, it’s embargoed, as publishers don’t want everyone to know what books they’re publishing so far in advance (you normally work on a book up to 2 years before publication). So it’s quite unique to be able to share my work with you as I work on it, so I hope you enjoy that.
It’s an absolutely lovely project, but it’s on a tight deadline, so I’ve had to work intensely to get it done in time. I’m still working on the last few illustrations, but I’ve been making good progress, so I have time to write this post!
As ever, I am coming to you warts-and-all and keeping it authentic, so I am looking and feeling pretty tired in parts, but it is an honest look at the process of making illustrations to a tight deadline, so hopefully that is helpful to see. ALSO! Halfway through the video I get a new plan chest!! Something that I have wanted for years, and I put on my 2024 wish list, so I am SUPER HAPPY to tick that off the list, and in the video I show you the process of re-organising the studio and then give you a tour of everything once it’s all tucked neatly away in the drawers, including the artwork from my MA projects and my published books, and a sneak peek at my new book with Thames & Hudson. So it’s a pretty packed video. I hope you enjoy!
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