The Picture Show teasers II

Hi there, how are you?

The opening of The Picture Show is now less than a month away, and us exhibitioners are all working hard to make the show the success we know that it can be.  So to get your arty taste buds tantalised, here are some more teasers of another piece that I'm working on for the show.

There's a similar theme in my illustrations for the show but they each have a different feel to them.  I'm really proud of this piece so far and am eager to get some colour on it!

Hope all is well where you are.  Best wishes,

Emma

Summer time in County Durham - horses, sheep, cows and a very fluffy dog

Hi everyone, hope you're all well!

Last week I was enjoying the sunshine in rural Country Durham, surrounded by horses, sheep, cows, rabbits... and a very fluffy pet dog (not my own, sadly).  I was visiting my fiance's family and attending the wedding of his youngest brother - I am pleased to say that the ceremony was lovely, and much drinking, dancing and eating was enjoyed by all afterwards.

For now, enjoy some pictures of the lovely countryside surrounding the family home!

The Picture Show teasers

Hello everyone, how are you all?  My hectic life continues here in (still not sunny) London and I'm busy working on some new pieces for The Picture Show, which will open at the Coningsby Gallery from the 16th - 21st July.  It promises to be a very exciting show, hope to see you there!

For obvious reasons the whole pieces won't be revealed until after the show opens, but for now, here's a couple of teasers...

Hmm I wonder what it could be, any guesses?  These will all be coloured in due course, the pencil work is taking me ages though because I wanted to have a lot of detail and texture in this piece.  Hope life is good where you are, see you next post!

Best wishes,

Emma

Spring blossoms and summer plans

Helloooooooooo beautiful people, how are you all?  It's been very busy over here at Emma's illustration headquarters (otherwise known as 'my flat').

There's been more work to do for the lovely ladies over at Making Magazine (you can see all my published work for them so far over here), as well as planning the upcoming summer exhibition of illustration goodness from me and my pals.  Yes, that's right!  We're putting on an exciting, spectacular showcase of new work from myself and 9 other talented illustrators.  It's called The Picture Show - read more about it on the official website here.  And of course, we're on facebook and twitter too so if you have the time to pop over and give us a like, follow or just some words of encouragement then we would appreciate it enormously.

Anyway, onwards to today's business!  So I mentioned earlier this year that I've been working on some pieces that I was, at the time, unable to share with the online public (actually, that's virtually everything I've been working on so far this year... funny how that happens!)  I actually completed the following piece when we were only two weeks into the new year, but because it was destined for a wedding invitation I wasn't allowed to share and spoil the surprise for all the guests.

My lovely friend Anne-Marie wanted a picture of a pair of doves to go on her wedding invitations, and asked me if I would provide.  After some discussion, we decided on this lovely pair of Collared Doves nestled in Cherry-blossoms - aww!  I delivered the piece, and she sent it off to a company to be scanned and added to the wedding invitation design.  The original artwork was included in the fee, for the couple to keep as a treasured reminder of their wedding day.  I hope it hangs in their happy home for many years to come.

Collared Doves and Cherry-blossom illustration

The finished wedding invitation (my picture, but not my design)

Nothing better than a spring wedding!  Well that's all for now, I hope your week brings you lots of fun, love and laughter (and hopefully, some bloody sunshine!)

Best wishes,

Emma

Budgerigars, and why doing a candy themed piece was a challenge

Hello boys and girls, hope you're all having a good week so far!

I thought this post I would share with you some things that inspired me recently, to give an idea where I get the ideas from for my work.  As some of you may know, the deadline for the newest issue of Ballad Of was earlier this month, the theme being 'Candypop': i.e., pink, turquoise and sherbet, sweeties, My Little Ponies...!  The project sounded like too much fun to miss out on - the research alone regressed me back to my childhood years, helplessly drooling over anything pink, glittery and plastic.

And yet, the brief also presented a bit of a challenge - the theme 'Candypop' has inherently synthetic associations and up until now, virtually all of my work has been inspired by the natural world.  The subject matter and therefore colour scheme of my work has always been based on a plant or animal of some kind, and while I do use bright /contrasting colours they don't really have that sherbety, acidic quality that suggests 'Candypop' to me.  So for a while, I struggled to think of a subject that would be suitable for the theme and yet not completely at odds with my existing work.  That is, until I took a trip to visit family in Northwest London, and spotted these little chaps in Pinner Memorial Park!

Cute little budgerigars... with lovely acid, bright, sherbet colours!  I had finally found my inspiration for the project!  Add in some seaside sweetie stall fun, and a final piece was all ready and raring to go.  Unfortunately I won't be able to share that with you until I get the final yay or nay about whether the piece is going in the issue - but here's a couple of little tasters to whet your appetite.

I'm really rather proud of this piece... I can't wait until later in the year when I can share the whole thing with you!  And those wee budgies are SO cute.

Thank you very much for reading, hope to see you next time!

Emma x