Illustrator
I love drawing ladies in costume. I always hear about artists setting goals for themselves of one drawing a day, whatever the theme is, and I feel like drawing one Victorian lady a day is something I could really get behind and motivate myself to do…maybe 😉
My favourite book publisher, The Folio Society, holds an annual illustration competition to illustrate one of its upcoming title. This year was Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, a gothic retelling of fairytales so I thought, why not. I’ll try my hand at this one, since fairytales are one of my favourite subjects to draw and I’m a bit of a folklore nerd.
Because the retelling was gothic and rather dark, I poured on the black ink with washes of watercolour. I also had a few of my lovely students pose for me. I didn’t win, but I’m very glad I entered and feel very satisfied with these pieces, especially the first two.
Illustration for The Bloody Chamber
Illustration for In The Company of Wolves
Illustration for Puss In Boots
The competition also had us designing the jacket. The Folio Society puts out beautiful hardbound editions so I imagined this design in black linen with gold and red hot foil. Hot!
My mother went on a trip to Ireland last summer and came back with a stack of amazing landscape photos. I love the big stormy skies of Ireland and the U.K. And they certainly don’t call it the Emerald Isle for no reason. And the ruins are pretty cool too.
Recently I illustrated a little book about sheep called Shepherd in Residence by Elizabeth Creith. I did the cover illustration and book design, as well as interior illustrations. I had never really drawn sheep before (at least, not this many) but these were a lot of fun.
Pick up a copy of the book on Amazon and Indigo.
Cover for Shepherd in Residence
Interior illustration. Yes, that’s a crow perched on a sheep.
This poor sheep was stranded on a ledge near a dam. Interior illustration
Sheep having their dinner. Interior illustration
Back jacket design, also by me.
Printed interior illustration
Joel and I recently spent my 30th birthday on Mackinac Island, in northern Michigan. This island is a very special place, because it is completely car-free (only horses and bicycles ride on the roads) and has been since the 19th century, when the island became a popular Victorian resort destination. Everything on the island is ridiculously picturesque. The Victorian summer houses are massive, beautiful buildings.
Joel and I toured around on our bikes, ate great food, drank nice beer, sketched and generally had an amazing time. Mackinac, we shall be back.
The governor’s summer residence
Sketch of Fort Mackinac
Here is a selection of photos from the trip:
