Two Illustrations For Two Beautiful Books

Earlier this year I was commissioned to do illustrations for two beautiful books, The Wardens Niece by Gillian Avery and The Owl Service by Alan Garner. 

The Owl Service

The Warden's Niece

This was a great project for me as I love the unpredictability of found imagery, making objects from different sources work together is like putting a jigsaw together! The tops-turvy nature of these images was inspired by the artwork of playing cards, a simple surrealism that reflects the magic in these stories. The client wanted them as pieces of art to be framed and hung on a wall, so I kept to the centred oval composition for both images.

The Cordyceps Plague of Middle England, 1886. - Part 1

Fig 1.

I saw the programme Planet Earth on BBC1 a while back and was struck by these strange organisms named Cordyceps. These are a type of fungus that invade the body of an unfortunate living host and develop inside them. The utterly bizarre thing being that the organisms then kill the creature and break free by changing the behaviour of the host for its own benefit. The clip below shows a doomed ant forced to climb high into a tree to gain the best point for photosynthesis, where the Cordyceps then reveals itself. Pretty grim but fascinating at the same time. 

I know the idea has been explored that humans and animals could become infected with the same fungus, and I was inspired to create a series of images. This project is going to be a set of images inspired by Victorian medical textbooks, suggesting that there was an outbreak in Victorian England. 

I know that this will be an enjoyable project that I hope will look visually stunning :). I will be using found images from bric-a-brac shops to create these collages, so let the rummaging begin! 

Screen-cap from BBC1's Planet Earth

Kookoovaya

Hello all!

I have recently done an album cover for the excellent Kookoovaya's first EP, Heart Box. Visit their Soundcloud > Here.

I mainly used vintage photography from an old flower arranging book, I love the bizarre quality that black and white film photography gives to flowers! My starting point for the wooden heart idea began by the organic feel they have encompassed in their music.

…. and that concludes the end of my degree too! Watch out for me at the Maidstone UCA stand of D+AD New Blood exhibition in Brick Lane, London. It is an amazing show full of brand new talent and is worth a visit for sure! 

A One.

An experimental illustration made for my own amusement. He is the only one. 

I am extremely excited to graduate in two months and do more of my own thing! Watch this space.

New.

A couple of rough new images. I am going to be illustrating the book "Cider With Rosie", an autobiographical story by Laurie Lee set in the cotswolds in the 1920's. In its very early stages my project looks like this….

Album Cover Designs

I created individual playlists for my family as Christmas presents and created this very quick CD covers for each. It was a perfect excuse to use some of the photographs from my 1947 flower arranging book. I find the black and white photographs of flowers so atmospheric and unusual and they cry out to be used in collages!

Why is the bedroom so cold?

I wish I were a Warhol silk screen hanging on the wall. 

Or little Joe or maybe Lou. 

I'd love to be them all. 

All New York's broken hearts and secrets would be mine. 

I'd put you on a movie reel, and that would be just fine.

Hello! I am currently working on a project about the late Joy Division Singer Ian Curtis and the relationship between him and his wife Deborah Curtis. The above image was inspired by an excellent lecture from illustrator Matthew Richardson as I found his beautiful digital collages were incredibly inspiring! I am feeling very positive about the images I have been creating for this project… so watch this space!