editorial

Vermont map

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I recently illustrated a small map of Vermont for Middlebury Magazine. It's a lovely little article about the author's annual journey to Bread Loaf. I think it's always interesting to see how an illustration starts, so these are the initial sketches I made when I was thinking about how to approach the project. The first sketch, which I ended up working with, shows the map from an aerial bird-eye view, and the entire route. The second sketch shows the road to Bread Loaf in a more 3 dimensional way, although some of the road is hidden behind hills...I take the page layout into consideration when I work, so it makes me happy to see everything come together nicely on the printed page.

print exchange

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I took part in a print exchange between my own print studio the Graphic Arts Workshop and the Print Club of Rochester which is now on show in the GAW gallery. There was no specific theme, so I decided to do a new playing card in my ongoing series.playing card 1 copyI sketched all sorts of wading birds and chose sandpipers doing a spot of fishing. The opening reception is this afternoon 3-5pm, please do pop in if you can!

GAW_Rochester_ExchangeHere's how they look on the walls...wall

colouring book

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I recently illustrated my first colouring book pages. It was only four pages in a book that had many, but it was surprisingly complicated!c b pagesThere's so much detail involved, and all the lines need to match up nicely, and it should be interesting enough that you really look forward to colouring it in. Here's the flower shop as I drew it...cb1This vase and bouquet is my favourite detail from one of the other pages...detailYou can buy the book on amazon. Don't forget to show me your coloured pages when you're done ~ I'd love to see how they look.

RAYKO photography exhibition

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I have a photograph in the annual juried plastic camera show at RAYKO in San Francisco, and I popped in to see it last week. So exciting! rayko 1I'm always taking photos on my holga/Lomo/Olympus Pen and don't show them enough. It's inspiring to see so many people making beautiful images on their plastic, almost toy, cameras.rayko 2I recommend checking it out! The exhibition is up for one more week, until April 29th. Rayko, 428 Third Street, SF, CA 94107

interview

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I did an interview with playtimes magazine when I was in HK, mainly to promote the Max and Mei books I illustrated. It's funny to read what I said, in another person's words: quoteThey collected together some of my images for the interview, and I love seeing how other people put them together, it always surprises me.imageYou can read the whole interview at the Playtimes link above, and see the Max and Mei books here.mandarinmatrix_max-and-mei 2

Dr Oz Magazine

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I did some chalk drawing backdrops a few months ago for Dr Oz The Good Life Magazine in New York, and I just got a printed copy, yay!blueI love this one with the frosty blue colour and wintery trees. Here's a detail of the actual backdrop, where you can see the chalky lines.And here's a sequence showing my progress as I was drawing.winter park scene in progress copyFor the home interior, I started with a more elaborate staircase, but developed my sketches to create a simpler scene. stairway roughsI even drew a simplified version of one of my own prints in the background ... pinkIt was a real pleasure to be there on the day of the shoot, here's a little scene of me sketching the set-up.model sketchLet's all walk more this year and get healthy, whatever the background...

New York trip

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I just got back from a quick trip to New York, where I worked on a lovely project for Dr Oz The Good Life magazine. I can't show you what it was yet, but here's a sketch I drew on the photoshoot day. photo shoot with yellow wall copyI also drew the model several times, in various of her outfits...model 2The view from the studio was gorgeous, so New York!NYI had a fantastic dinner one evening at the Brooklyn Diner, and sketched while I was waiting. The waitress was so happy with the sketch that she gave me a bag of delicious pastries to take home with me! brookloyn dinerI love New York, I really do. I'll be back soon, just you wait and see...

Sicily map

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I haven't featured any maps recently, so I thought I'd show this map of Sicily I did for Conde Nast Traveller in the UK . I painted it a while ago, and I like the way it's placed in the page, giving it lots of room to breathe.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREI also thought I'd show my rough sketch for the map:sicily map roughYou can see how the outer shape of the sea around the island has changed, and a few things, like the distance scale, have moved, and that I removed all the tiny outer islands. The final map became more streamlined, and focussed on the important elements. The bright Mediterannean colours were wonderful to paint.

ICON 8

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I attended ICON 8 the illustration conference in Portland last week, and had a wonderful time. I met some amazing and inspirational illustrators, and learned alot about things every illustrator should know. I especially enjoyed meeting Carson Ellis, Jon Klassen (who did 'This is not my hat'), Leo Espinosa, and Vivienne Flesher (a true illustration icon!)all of whose work I totally adore. There were just so many great speakers...I visited the animation studios of Laika, and got to play with some of the characters and props used in the Boxtrolls movie. I especially liked Coraline... ... and of course Portland itself was super to explore.I especially enjoyed the doughnuts!

HOKK fabrica interview

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I was interviewed for the online fashion & lifestyle magazine Hokk fabrica this month. You can see the full interview here. This month's issue is about the concept of 'local', and they sent me questions which I was asked to answer by hand, like this... I was asked about my first memorable piece of artwork... It's a print I did in Japan. I really love it.Take a look at the full interview and hope you enjoy!

Christmas drinks

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I drew some festive line decorations around seasonal wine bottles for Waitrose supermarket's free Christmas drinks guide this year.I created a green-on-green patterned wallpaper for the background, so the white lines would pop, and the lovely rich colours of the wine bottles would sparkle.You can pick up the guides in any Waitrose around the UK!