Portfolio Update - Christmas Tales from the Woodpecker Tree

With Christmas approaching very fast now, I thought that my last Portfolio Update of the year had to be this amazing festive book!

I loved working with Lesley on the first Tales from the Woodpecker Tree book so I was of course more than happy to work again with her on the Christmas one! First of all, her stories inspire me so much and I knew straight away how I would illustrate all seven of them. Her writing is so poetic that my imagination starts going crazy the moment I'm beginning to read her beautifully written tales. And I really think that's it's a great book for children of all ages, wether they're old enough to read them themselves or if they still need the help of a parent to read the stories, all comfy in bed on a cold Winter's night.

Have a look on my website to see a bit more about the book and get your copy in time for Christmas!

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Folktale Week Challenge

I'm in! When I heard about this challenge a few weeks back, I thought that it would be perfect for me. First, it's only for a week (I could never do Inktober properly for a whole month for example), and secondly because it's the right type of challenge that will push me to illustrate more scenes and characters!

Of course, I love working on children's books and every time I start to illustrate a new one, it's always a little bit of a challenge already, but I've been waiting for an opportunity to really push myself a bit more in terms of my illustrative skills and technique (hello Kyle's brushes in Photoshop!), and also my overall style and how I illustrate characters.

I do have some other projects on obviously that I will have to prioritise because they're paying clients (and I need money because Christmas is coming!), but I'll try and do my best and will share as many illustrations as I can. Of course if I could do all seven that would be great, but I'm realistic and I know that it will already be amazing if I manage to finish four or five ;). Fingers crossed I'll manage to post all of them on time!

I wrote my own little stories for each prompt when working on the initial sketch instead of following an existing one. I was very inspired and I hope you'll all like them! They're actually linked to each other so that all seven illustrations have something in common.

Make sure to follow me on Instagram if you'd like to see the illustrations I'll share! The first one will be up at the end of the day ;)

If you're interested, the prompts are below!

And here's the original explanation from the talented illustrators behind this challenge:

How it works:
On October 29th, we’ll release the prompts. Then, for seven days starting November 12th, follow the prompts and create a piece of art. Interpret the prompts any way you wish and with any medium you like.

Use the hashtag #folktaleweek and #folktaleweek2018 to show your work and interact with other artists. The challenge hosts will be pulling work from the hashtag to promote in our stories! At the end, we’ll share our favorites in our feed!

This challenge was created to encourage artists from all around the world to share stories and explore character creation and visual storytelling. We want to see your bewitching characters and dreamy scenes!

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Portfolio Update - Arthur Bee

I'm finally taking the time to update my portfolio lately and as the second Arthur Bee book launched very recently, I thought I'd take some photos and share a bit more about these two books I had the pleasure of illustrating!

Although I did a bit of character research when starting the illustrations for Shaun Millea's first book, I had a clear idea of how I wanted Arthur to look like. Shaun wanted Arthur to be represented as a bit of a cheeky chap with a bent antenna, so I instinctively included a big smile on his face and gave him a stripey jumper. Don't ask me why with the jumper! I just didn't see him without any clothes on haha.

I loved how Arthur and the other characters turned out in the end and I really enjoyed working on the whole book. So when Sue from Team Author UK and Shaun contacted me again this year to illustrate Arthur's second adventure, I obviously didn't say no! It's been such a great experience and I'm really pleased about how the second book turned out too.

You can check out my website for more photos and the links to get your copies :)

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Find all the books I've illustrated!

Yep, that's right! You can now find all the books I've illustrated thanks to my shiny new Published Books page on my website. It's been a while that I thought about creating this page purely because I don't share all the books I've worked on in my portfolio and I felt that it was a shame that some of them weren't getting the attention they deserved.

So now if you're wondering where to find the books I've created some cute illustrations for, you can go straight to my website and find them all in one place, with the link to buy a copy of course. It's great not only for potential clients that would want to have a better idea of the books I've worked on, but also for friends and family that would like to get a copy or two for their children.

There's been a few launches lately and there will be some more soon! The Adventures of Markus Moldewarp launched last month and Arthur Bee Saves the Day just a few days ago. I absolutely loved working on both of them and every purchase means the world to me and the talented independent authors behind them. Every book sold is a little victory and a closer step to being known worldwide and I know how much work and love each author has put into these books. So thank you to everyone that bought copies so far and for your support :)

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Life Lately...

Well, half of the year is gone and I just can't get my head around it! I love Summer and everything, but time is going so fast! I guess this is what happens when you're busy with work and everyday life. Next thing you know, you haven't posted on your blog for a few weeks, it's suddenly much warmer outside and bumble bees are making a noisy nest under your house (true story)! So I thought I would give you a little update on what's been happening around here...

First of all, yes, I've been quite busy with work and although I'd love to share more, I'm at the stage with a few projects where things aren't quite finalised so you're gonna have to wait a bit! I've been working again with TeamAuthor UK and I've got a couple of books on the go that I'm SO excited about! I've also been working on a few t-shirt designs for different clients, which is really cool, and I'm pleased to say that I now have THREE French clients, woohoo! Make sure to have a look at some of the sneak peeks I'm sharing on my Insta stories and grid ;)

One thing I'd love to share with you though is this book: The Contest, written by Melita Cyril (Yep, the same author that wrote Quinn's Socks!). If your kids or any of your family and friends love football, then this book is for you! With the World Cup starting today, it's a good excuse to get it. You can even personalise the child's name in the story and change his/her appearance! Make sure to check out Q for Quinn for more :)

Other than that, life is basically just carrying on! Although it's been quite warm lately, we've also had a lot of thunderstorms, resulting in weekends being more inside than outside unfortunately. I literally have a list of places that we need to see and so far we haven't been able to cross off that many... I'm really hoping that this weekend will be nice so that we can get out and about. I love sharing photos of places we've discovered on the blog and I miss it. Fingers crossed I'll be able to share a lot more in the months to come!

We're officially less than 3 months away from our wedding, which is super exciting! I just need to get my shoes (we're waiting for the sales as I've been eyeing this gorgeous pair from Minelli) and Jason needs a new belt. That's about it! We're so chuffed with the fact that we kept it as simple and cheap as possible whilst still being happy with everything. I know that for a lot of people, our tiny wedding would be a joke, but for us it's just perfect and definitely stress-free.

I know it's a bit early to talk about it, but we've just purchased our flight tickets to North Wales for Christmas! It's kind of a big deal for me as it's the first time I won't be spending Christmas in France. Even though I lived more than 5 years in Wales, I would always come back to stay with my family during this time of year. It's going to be great I'm sure, but definitely a change for me. I think I'm mostly sad about the delicious food I'm not going to have this year. I mean, there's no doubt that I'm going to eat well with Jason's family, but come on, French food at Christmas is just the best.

Anyway! Things are going well, money is a bit tight, but we've got a few things planned soon (like a day out in Futuroscope, yay!) that makes me happy. Lately I've been concentrating on the little things in our day to day life that make me happy and keep me in a positive mood. You don't need much sometimes :). I hope you're all doing great and that you've planned some exciting Summer trips!

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Portfolio Update - Quinn's Socks

Hey guys! I'm super pleased to share with you one of the latest children's books I've been working on! Quinn's Socks is a cute story about Quinn, a little boy who loves his colourful socks, playing cricket and spending time with his friends. Melita Cyril, the author, wrote the story in rhymes, which adds a fun touch to the book as children can learn the catchy lines by heart quite easily.

I had a lot of fun creating the characters and the various scenes included in the book! I also had the pleasure of creating the whole layout for the book and a bunch of collateral elements Melita needed to promote it. Make sure to have a look on Q for Quinn's website right here to learn more about the project and to buy a copy of the book (and some socks)!

You can also check out my website for more photos of the book :)

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Life Lately...

Let's just start with saying that I certainly did not see the month of February going and I'm surely not going to realise when this month will be over too! I've been busy, and I still am! It's a great feeling because that's every freelance designer's dream, but at the same time, days are going so fast when you're concentrating on your work that you actually don't concentrate on anything else! Not complaining though :) Although I think Jason's a bit disappointed that I don't take the time to cook some nice meals like I used to haha.

Things have been happening! Professionally, I launched some new prints in my Etsy shop and I'm planning on launching some notebooks very soon too. I've also been working on some very exciting projects! You'll have to wait before seeing a few of them, but at the moment, one of my clients and I are working on a new children's book called The Contest to follow the previous book Quinn's Socks. Make sure to have a look on Q for Quinn!

ALSO, I can't not talk about the Café des Orfèvres opening next month in Vannes! You might have seen sneak peeks of the branding I worked on for Mathilde the past couple of months. I loved working on it and I can't wait to see the café open with all my designs displayed inside (and outside!). It already feels like such an achievement as the scale of this project is much bigger than what I'm used to. Mathilde is currently raising money for the activities she'll be offering in the café, so if you fancy participating, head right over here! (Eeek, I'm in the video!)

On a more personal level, Jason and I have been preparing our tiny wedding and it will be happening in September this year (Yay!). We've got our outfits (well, I'm only missing the shoes), the wedding rings and we've booked the restaurant for the meal we'll be sharing with our close families after the wedding. So exciting! Jason's parents and his brother with his girlfriend have booked their flight and accommodation so it's all good. We just can't wait for it! One of the best parts though was booking the few days of holiday we will have after the celebration. We decided to stay in the North of Bretagne and I'm sure we'll have a great time :). I love organising holidays so much that I could do that all the time if money wasn't an issue!

Actually, we're also off to North Wales next month for a whole week to pick up Jason's old Ford Capri! I'm SO looking forward to going back to North Wales. I haven't been there for more than a year now and I miss it! I miss our friends, family, and the beautiful landscapes. I'll enjoy this time off for sure.

Even if great things have been happening lately on many levels, I've felt a bit off these past couple of months and I can't quite understand why. This is a very personal feeling and although some days are completely fine, some days are definitely off ones. I think I've just been worried too much about the little things in life that don't go well, things that are not done or finished, things to come that I'm dreading... I keep telling myself that I should just concentrate on the GOOD things though. And this is why I've decided to pick this quote 'Always look on the bright side' for my artwork today. I let my head get filled up with stupid things sometimes but what really matters is that I'm happy with my life where it is, being with the man I love, keeping healthy, doing a job that I love and having family around me. I'm one of those people that will forget everything that is going well over ONE thing that is going wrong. Does that ring a bell to you?! Anyway, I'm working on it but my god it's hard sometimes. On top of this, I've been doubting myself a lot lately, which is not helping...!

Guys, I think I just need a holiday ha!

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Book Launch - Arthur Bee has a Secret

It's here guys! The book has finally launched and I couldn't be happier. I've loved working on the illustrations from the beginning and the characters were so fun to create! Seeing my name on the cover always feels so special and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to work on another children's book thanks to TeamAuthor UK.

Arthur Bee is a cheeky yet very professional little bee that keeps a big secret. It's a secret that bees aren't expected to have and the whole beehive is going to be affected (especially Queen Bee!). It's a short story beautifully written by Shaun Millea, perfect for young children that are curious about the world around them and love to have a bit fo fun!

If you'd like to purchase a copy, you can now find it on Amazon! Link right here.

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Portfolio Update - Tales from the Woodpecker Tree

Here it is! I couldn't wait to have the printed book in my hands, and I'm so chuffed with it! I can officially say that I'm a published illustrator, and that feels very good. After all, one of the reasons why I quit my full-time job last year was to pursue my goal of being a children's book illustrator. When I finalised Tales from the Woodpecker Tree, I realised that this was my first proper book, which is available on Amazon and in a few book shops in the UK. What an achievement!

I've already talked about it a little bit on the blog during the launch so I'm not going to annoy you even more with how excited I am (!), however, if you'd like to see more of it, you can head to my website ;)

And for the ones who missed it last time, you can buy your own copy right here!

Thanks to all of you for your support, and for those who already bought one, I hope you enjoyed reading it!

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Book Launch - Tales from the Woodpecker Tree

Morning! This week is starting well for me as the children's book 'Tales from the Woodpecker Tree' that I absolutely loved working on is launching today!

I really enjoyed reading and illustrating Lesley's stories (there are seven in total) and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who needs to add a bit of magic in their children's life. You'll find a bit of fun, a bit of whimsical, and above all, a lot of inspiration in these beautiful stories.

It's been one of my biggest jobs so far and the illustrations were sometimes a bit of a challenge, but it was so worth it when I look at the result. Illustrating children's books is a dream job for me and I can't wait to get my hands on some more similar projects! I'll obviously share more about the book on my website very soon :)

If you'd like to order your paperback copy, click RIGHT HERE!

Oh and here is Lesley's website if you'd like to know more about this fantastic author.

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Interview for Baby Book Club

Happy Friday guys!

A couple of weeks ago, I came across Baby Book Club on Twitter thanks to a client and as they were searching for children's books illustrators to interview, I didn't think twice before contacting the founder Hannah!

I had a lot of fun answering to her questions and you can find the whole interview RIGHT HERE :). I love their concept and the fact that the subscription process is so easy. Make sure to check them out at the same time!

Hope you all have a nice weekend. We're picking up our keys to move into the new house tomorrow so we're super excited!

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Step by Step Illustration Process

Hey guys! It's been a while since I shared a little behind the scenes in my design process and as I've shown you the children's book I've been working on very recently, I thought you might be curious to see how I illustrated it! Haven't seen the book yet? Check it out on my website :) 

You might call me old fashioned, but to me, sketching out my ideas on paper is by far the best thing to do when starting a project. I've tried a few times to sketch using my graphics tablet on Photoshop, but it's just not the same. So before working on the illustration digitally, I've been showing sketches to my client for approval. You can see that I had a pretty good idea of the layout already.

Right, this might look a bit messy to you, but it's basically all the drawn shapes as outlines. Depending on the project and the illustration's style, I find that not thinking about colours straight away helps me to concentrate on the shapes themselves. So in the book I illustrated, all the illustrations started out like that! I have to say, it's quite therapeutic to just follow the sketch, drawing away with some music in the background. Once I'm happy with everything, I start thinking about the overall artwork.

As it was one of the last illustrations in the book, I had already put together a colour palette that I wanted to stick to, so I just had to use the same colours as on the previous pages. I started out with the main characters as I didn't want to have the colours in the background clashing with the ones at the front! Toucan always has the same colours, so I coloured her first and carried on with the family. 

Then I look at the details all around the main elements and I usually try to make sure that there's enough contrast between all the individual elements so that everything is clear and balanced. The main thing is to make sure that the important graphics are standing out at a first glance.

When I'm pretty happy about the whole scenery, I adjust the background's colours and I start adding the text or extra elements needed on the illustration. It's quite fun to see it all coming together this way, even more when you look at the first steps which don't look very appealing! Before finalising an illustration, I make sure to check that everything is at its right place and it's at this stage that I amend/move around shapes and graphics. Sometimes I need to have another look at it and check that the layers are ordered properly so that none of the fence's pieces are behind a bush for example.

Tadaaa! Again it depends on the style we agreed on with my client, but for this particular project, we decided to add some texture on the actual elements as well as on top of the illustration. Can you see how Toucan's head is no longer smooth for example? That's a very handy tool in Illustrator that I like to use from time to time which changes the outline of your shapes and roughens them in different ways. Here's the one I used: Window > Brush Libraries > Artistic > ChalkCharcoalPencil. The texture on top is a Photoshop file with an overlay effect.

Hope you found it interesting and feel free to get in touch if you have any questions!

  

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Who Can? Toucan! Children's Book

Happy Friday!! So yes, this is very BIG for me: my first ever illustrations for a children's book! When I decided to go freelance full-time, apart from wanting so badly to be my own boss, the one goal I had was to start working on illustrations for children's books (and one day maybe creating my own!).

After many rejections when sending proposals, Jenne, who wrote the book, gave me the opportunity to work on the book's illustrations and its characters. I was over the moon! Although she sent me a proper brief of what she wanted to show on each page, once we agreed on a style, I had total freedom on the illustrations and I had so much fun because of that. We changed a few things here and there along the way, but the process was overall very smooth and I CANNOT WAIT to work on more books.

I definitely realised whilst working on it that this is the kind of project I'm passionate about and I felt like I was concentrating on the right thing.

If you'd like to see more, feel free to have a look on my website, and if you'd like to purchase the Kindle version, you can now find it on Amazon!

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Portfolio Update - Prenderland Books

Happy weekend guys!

I'm over the moon to share with you one of the biggest projects I've worked on as a freelancer so far! Prenderland Books is a project dedicated to help children read books in a fun, educational way. I loved working on the sweet little characters and their extraordinary world and the process has been very smooth the whole way through. April, my client, is the kindest person in the world and she made every step very easy and enjoyable.

It's been a big achievement on a professional and personal level for me as I proved to myself that I could take on projects like this on my own and it's a step forward to one of my biggest dreams: Illustrating children's books. I'm so happy with how it turned out and I can't wait to see how well it will be received.

Jason, under the banner of Victory Over All, also did a great job on the website! After working on his own website a few months ago, he realised that he learnt a lot and was definitely skilled enough to work on SquareSpace based websites for our clients and we're really happy with the result!

Make sure to visit the website RIGHT HERE

If you're searching for me, I will be happily flying to France today to spend some much needed time with my family :)

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