Collaboration with So Typical Me
As an illustrator, there is nothing more fun than seeing your work on actual physical products. I love how these journals featuring my colourful houses have turned out.
New Book - Keeping a Creative Sketchbook
I am so so excited to be able to share what I’ve been working on for the last two years! I have a brand-new book coming out in April and it’s called Keeping a Creative Sketchbook. It pretty much does what it says on the tin, and it’s all about keeping a sketchbook and how that can fuel your creativity.
A Love Letter to my Garden
This piece in my sketchbook is an ode to my love of gardening! For over 10 years I lived in London in a series of flats with absolutely zero outdoor space, and yet a strong desire to grow things.
Art Retreat in Valencia
I’ve been back from my art retreat for just over a week and I’m still on a high from what an incredible experience it was, still busily working in my sketchbook recording my memories and making the most of all the inspiration. It’s hard to even know where to start. At the end of April I taught a week long art retreat with UpTrek just outside Valencia Spain with a wonderful group of women and we all had a magical time.
2022 Round up
I’ve done a little recap of the year because I wanted to take a moment to look back on the projects I’ve completed. I often find that when I’m working on a project I can’t share it because it’s top-secret, and then by the time the work comes out I’m onto something else, so often I forget to even share the work that I’ve done! So it’s nice to look back and reflect on a year full of book covers, greetings cards, editorial illustration, books and online courses.
The Perfect Gouache Sketchbook
If you follow my work on Instagram, or read this blog you probably know that I love working in a sketchbook! However for awhile I’ve been searching for the perfect gouache sketchbook, and when I couldn’t find one I decided to design my own!
Painting Retreat in Spain
I am very very excited to invite you to join me on a week long luxury painting retreat in Valencia, Spain! If you’ve been following me for awhile you know how much I love painting, travel and painting on location, so hosting this retreat is an absolute dream for me.
Exploring Neocolor Pastels
A couple of weeks ago I bought a set of Neocolor wax pastels from Caran d'Ache after seeing lots of people use them on Instagram. I really enjoyed the consistency and feel of them, but the selection of colours definitely wasn’t doing it for me…
Slow Travel with a Toddler
I’ve just got back from a holiday to Mallorca and it was truly blissful. It was our first holiday since having a baby and we brought my parents along as reinforcements. I kept my expectations low as I’d heard ‘it’s not a holiday, it’s parenting in a different location’ a million times, but to be honest it was lovely. I think the key was taking it very slowly (and having a 4 to 1 adult to toddler ratio).
Getting Better at Drawing People
People often ask me how to get better at drawing people. For me the best way to get better at drawing people in a more natural way, understanding how to show movement and body language, is people watching.
Keeping a Sketchbook
When I was at university keeping a sketchbook was of utmost importance. We had a sketchbook for each project we worked on and a personal sketchbook. At the time I didn’t quite get the true importance of regular sketching, and sketches seemed like a means to an end, a way of progressing through a project.
Finding your Style
I often get questions from people about finding their style, and yesterday I had a really great question. Somebody asked me how she could learn from me, but not just make replicas of what I teach and really make the drawings and paintings her own. I thought this was a great question, so I thought I would share my answer here in case it’s useful to anybody else.
Fear of the Blank Page
I don’t personally like the phrase ‘creative block’, but fear of the blank page is definitely real! As an artist and an art teacher I have learnt there are so many things that can hold people back from be creative. Having no ideas, having too many ideas, perfectionism and worrying the painting will be a failure, worrying about wasting expensive materials, and good old fear of the blank page.
How to Sketch While You Travel
Is there anything more relaxing than sitting painting in the sunshine whilst on holiday? However it’s so easy to pack your paints and sketchbook in your suitcase and then leave them there all week! I’m definitely guilty of taking my art materials on holiday, but never actually using them. When you are on holiday and you’ve got a limited amount of time to do and see things it can be difficult to make time to sketch. Here are my top tips for making it happen.
Finding Inspiration
In this blog post I wanted to talk a little bit about inspiration. I personally define inspiration as feeling motivated to do something or create something. It's that feeling when you read a great book and immediately want to sketch the main character, or you go somewhere so beautiful that you can't stop taking photos, filming or sketching.
A Little Guide to Seville
I’ve always had a fascination with Seville, probably because so many operas are set there. It has always seemed like the most romantic and mysterious of Spanish cities. So when we where looking for a city break that would provide a bit of winter sun and allow my husband to practice his Spanish, Seville was the obvious choice.