Antonia Makes

Back in the Saddle

2012-01-14T21:15:00.001Z

Spent today searching out exciting imagery to get inspired. Here's an illustration I made from a photograph by Frederike Helwig that I found along the way.

Sketch

2012-01-14T20:52:00.000Z

I've been a bit distracted from illustrating recently, what with the Christmas and New Year festivities, house-moving stuff and starting at my new job, but here's a quick sketch I made of a wall display to try and unrust those hand muscles. This year I want to produce produce produce, so will try and keep a proper sketchbook, I've missed the thought-processes that come with making them.

Antonia Makes Review: 2011

2011-12-31T14:22:00.000Z

Wow, 2011 is over already! This year has speeded past! As usual it’s been a mixed bag of brilliant and underwhelming Let’s do the annual look-back.

January:

January saw the launch of ‘Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration: Featuring the Best of Ethical Fashion Design’ (ACOFI) which was amazingly exciting! Not only was it fabulous to be part of alovely book stocked in the Tate Modern, Magma,Design Museum, the Serpentine Gallery and Tatty Devine to name but a few, but Imet so many exciting people through it. Drawing the guests at the event wasscary but brilliant and I made some lovely connections with my sitters.

Above photo by Holly Springett

Above 2 photos by Matt Bramford

It was also great to read all the coverage afterwards! i especially enjoyed being featured on Vogue.com and ID Magazine.

I was alsocommissioned to illustrate the cover of Stalk Zine’s first London issue, whichresulted in this rather blunt interpretation of ‘Impractical’ fashion!

February:

It was LondonFashion Week! I made lots of fashion illustrations for Amelia’s Magazine’s LFWcoverage and couple of other bits for event features.

Following thelaunch of ACOFI, I answered a call-out from Fuyume and began work on a headerfor her blog.

I was alsocommissioned to make fashion illustrations for Jacqueline Shaw’s ethicalAfrican fashion book.

March:

March was mixof quietly beavering away at commissions and doing extra hours at work to coverthe time I was going to be away over April.

April:

Having handedover my Fashion Africa work, Mike and I went to New York to visit my family forPassover. It was so lovely to see everyone, especially as my grandparents hadbeen unable to get over to the UK for the wedding in 2010. It was also a period of reflection forme, because these people have looked after me from afar for a good few yearsnow and have helped shape me with their kindness. It was great fun celebratingPassover with their friends, although I was again gobsmacked at how much detailthere is to remember as we read and sang through the Haggadah together. We thenwent down to Florida to stay some of the family from Palm Beach, plus Mike andI had couple of days relaxing in Orlando.

It was also the Royal Wedding! Mike and I hadn’t been on holiday enough this month, so we went to Cornwall with our friends.

May:

I had a portrait commission. It was also Polish Fashion Week A/W 2011. Having made an illustration for the AM review of the launch of Lucy in Disguise, it was then featured on LID’s website!

It was Made Fair 2011! I got to meet lots of creative people with beautiful handmade work and ran my illustrated photobooth again.

June:

My Stalk Zine cover was finally published. Having answered a call-out for Jo Gifford’s Dexterous Diva, I began work on rebranding her website.

July:

I made this image of Rachel from Blade Runner for Darren Fletcher’s 80s sci-fi Movies blog. I made a few images for Amelia’s Magazine.

My illustrations for Dexterous Diva went live!

It was our first wedding anniversary! Mike and I went on a last minute overnight stay to the New Forest – what a beautiful place! We also had an amazing blow-out meal, the likes of which I don’t think we’ll eat again til our 50^th wedding anniversary?! It was SO GOOD.

To put the icing on the cake, I passed my driving test! I put this to use very rapidly, driving the precious cargo that is my 4 younger siblings to Cornwall that very weekend, on the motorway and everything! Mike and I spent an idyllic couple of nights with them in Cornwall, where we had a beautiful time bodyboarding, rambling and rock-pooling.

August:

I think most people remember August for the London Riots. I made this illustration a couple of days into the riots when Cameron, Osbourne, Clegg and Boris left it a few days to actually do anything so that a few days later the general population would be desperate enough to agree that we should use rubber bullets and water cannon on any large gatherings of people.

Made these bits for Amelia’s Magazine – a definite highlight of the year was our work being retweeted by Jean Paul Gaultier’s twitter account!

I was commissioned to make some music fashion illustrations for the second issue of Tantrum Magazine.

Mike and I went on a 24hour holiday in the van to explore what delights East Kent has to offer – it was amazing and so relaxing despite our whirlwind whip-through. We went to Whitstable, Margate, Broadstairs, Deal and Walmer – all worth a visit on a sunny day.

Finished off the month with a few days in Norfolk with Mike’s family. Lovely!

September:

It was the launch of Jacqueline Shaw’s ‘Fashion Africa’! It took place in the Africa Centre, where we listened to a discussion panel including Annegret of ethical fashion brand brand Choolips, chaired by Eliza Anyangwe. Unfortunately I was expected in two places that evening, so I had to duck out earlier than I would have liked, but it was great to see Jacqueline talk about ‘Fashion Africa’ and super to see the book in print!

Photo by Jacqueline Shaw

It was London Fashion Week! As usual I made some fashion illustrations for Amelia’s Magazine.

The first of my friends got married! Such a beautiful day!

October:

Not much creative stuff this month, as I took on a few extra hours at work to help towards when I would leave my job.

I left my job! It was great working in the café this year, but with the owner leaving, I felt like it was time to find a job more in line with what I wanted to do in my working life. Cue job-hunting and getting scared! Changing the website a bit! Job hunting!

November:

Job-hunting was boring, so I figured I needed to get one fast, and told everyone and anyone I wanted a job at a school. This led to helping with the Christmas craft sessions at a local school, which was great fun. I also started doing the odd day at the local art shop, having chatted with the owners whilst making coffee at my old job and buying art supplies. It’s been lovely to spend time with such friendly local artists!

I was featured on BalladOf Magazine! Thanks ladies!

I also made these illustrations of Lu Flux’s beautiful S/S 2012 collection for Amelia’s Magazine.

I was featured on Edit Collective’s blog! Looking forward to next year when we exhibit together!

I did my first fashion illustration workshop at a school up north! The girls were great and got on with what I asked them to do, and we made some beautiful work together! It was so lovely to be able to share my skills and to advise them about art college applications.

My Tantrum Magazine illustrations went live! It was lovely to have a double-page spread!

I also made some fashion illustrations of Polish Fashion Philosophy Week for Amelia’s Magazine as well as this Brooke Roberts S/S 2012 image.

I became an aunty again! Our first niece though! Congratulations Scott Family!

December:

A giant chunk of December was taken up with Christmas Panto. We spent the first week rehearsing, whilst I made the backdrop (so much fun to draw on a large scale!) and everyone collected props together, and the next couple of weeks traveling around the local school with a Jack and the Beanstalk/Nativity hodge-podge. It was so much fun!It was a little bit scary performing in front of the school I’d been doing art lessons with, but it was such a great way to spend a few weeks.

Waterstones announced that it would be stocking ACOFI in 40 of its stores!

I was offered a job! In a school! It was a Christmas miracle! I am so looking forward to having a day job again! Thank you to everyone who has helped connect the dots to me, I have been overwhelmed with how kind people have been during my jobhunt.

I made lino-prints, which I turned into Christmas cards.

I was featured on The Young Creatives website with my advent calendar window for the 9^th December.

There were lots of Christmas celebrations with lovely people, friends, family and work colleagues!

I've got a few projects for January in the pipeline, so all in all, it's not a bad end to the year.

At the beginning of the year, I made these goals. Here’s what happened:

• Despite the government deciding to cut 100% of funding to arts within the university spectrum, and the cuts to the school education budget, I will have a paid job within the arts and/or school spectrum by the end of the year. This is not going to be an easy year for anyone, especially those in the arts, but there is no point letting that get in the way of things. I got a job in the education sector! It is currently only funded for the next 6 months, but lets see what happens. I also feel like having finally done a self-employed art workshop (it has always been for organisiations before), I am well on the way to working within other schools as an artist.

• I shall pass my driving test. Having been thoroughly spoilt by 5 years in London, it's been a rude awakening to re-experience that you can't get everywhere by bus. I passed! As a result, we were able to take my siblings on holiday! I don’t want to totally rely on the car, as I’d rather take public transport, but it’s liberating being able to be independent!

• When I have an idea, I shall do it. I shall also start two projects that have been in my head for weeks, yet I've yet to do any research on yet. It's hard having a day job and coming home and working on my own stuff whilst still keeping the house nice - I manage it about 50% of the time. This year is about hard work, and getting somewhere with it. Like I said, I manage it about 50% of the time.

• I shall make a weekly satirical illustration on the week's politics. Unfortunately this is easy, because the cobbled together mess we call the government makes for rich pickings. Haha, I managed one. Hopefully I can immerse myself back in to this properly this year.

• I would like a studio. Or a spare room to draw in. Somehow, I will find some kind of space to call my studio. We are moving house in the next couple of months, and then yes, I WILL have a studio space. I cannot wait!

• I shall up the presentation of my work again, as it's all in a pile in the flat instead of framed beautifully. This leads neatly onto.... Err…

• I shall have an Etsy shop, because this is a sensible (and brilliant!) thing to do, and will help lead to my being able to be a full-time artist. This will happen.

• I think I will start a beauty blog. Ethical where possible. Errr….

• I shall be agood wife, because sharing my life with Michael is wonderful. He's consistentlybrilliant and very supportive, and I love him dearly. I don’t know what he’dsay on this, but I reckon I’ve been alright.

Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2011 has been good for you and that 2012 goes on to be even better!

Handmade Advent Calendar

2011-12-20T23:38:00.000Z

This year I finally achieved my ambition of making an Advent Calendar at Christmas! I made it for Michael when I had a free half hour the last night of November, and now it is almost completely open! Merry Christmas everyone!

Advent Calendar Window for The Young Creatives

2011-12-09T13:39:00.001Z

I had lots of fun making this Christmassy illustration for The Young Creatives, and drawing in the knitty reindeer detail got me feeling very festive! TYC promotes young creative talent and offers advice from more established industry insiders. They've been around for very close to a year now, so perhaps I'll be drawing some special birthday pictures for them very soon!

Christmas Panto Backdrop

2011-12-03T23:02:00.001Z

This week, I've been making a Christmas Pantomime backdrop. DA DAH!

Here's the making of it! It's a B&B/Bethlehem for the Jack and the Beanstalk/Nativity theme.

Festive Lino-cut Update

2011-11-30T21:18:00.001Z

Added a bit of colour to my lino-prints - need to practice a bit more with a few prints, but think it could end up how I imagined in my head HOPEFULLY!

Work-In-Progress Festive Lino Cut

2011-11-28T22:56:00.001Z

Just a few work-in-progress photos of a Christmassy print I'm making, based on old glass baubles. I haven't worked at a lino-cut in ages, so this has been an exciting jaunt back into printmaking. This time I've been very tidy whilst cutting, as I remember last time, no matter how much I vacuumed and changed my bedding, I kept finding lino-offcuts in my bed and carpet! Yum!

Brooke Roberts S/S 2012

2011-11-28T18:23:00.001Z

I'm so pleased to have made this fashion illustration of Brooke Roberts' S/S 2012 collection - having read her interview with Amelia's Magazine, she is obviously a really interesting lady with fascinatingly-sourced ideas! I'm totally lusting after her fluffy torso-inspired jumper and metallic knits. Super stuff, Brooke!

Tantrum Magazine Issue 2

2011-11-22T18:56:00.001Z

Very excited that my illustrations for the new issue of Tantrum Magazine are now live!

Here are Karen O, Gwen Stefani and Courtney Love in all their stylish and colourful wonder-ness for the Music Style Icons piece by Navneet Gill! The rest of the mag is looking fab, with musical genre-inspired photoshoots, a gorgeous Bowie illustration by Rachel Lewis and super articles! Thanks for having me, Tantrum!

The 3rd Annual Fashioning the Future Awards

2011-11-16T09:28:00.001Z

The Third Annual Fashioning the Future Awards took place this week, hosted by the London College of Fashion's Centre For Sustainable Fashion, as attended by Matt Bramford for Amelia's Magazine. Here's their host, Caryn Franklin!

It looks like it was a really good ceremony - a playful set making for a fun environment, posing models amongst regular folk, 'a celebration of wearable sustainable fashion', and just five awards so we're not even getting into clock-watching territory - so it's a shame that none of the judging panel managed to make it to the awards.

Now Erin O' Connor was supposed to be there, but had pulled out. I decided to speculate wildly on what she might have otherwise been occupied by, and concluded she was probably washing her hair.

Jo Wood was another missing celeb, as she was stuck in traffic. Here she is on a mysteriously traffic-free road. I don't know why there's no traffic, I just drew it. It's not for me to comment on the actual volume of traffic that night.

Fingers crossed they can get a panel who can be bothered with a very pressing cause within the fashion industry, nay the world, next year eh?

Joanna Klimas S/S12 at Fashion Philosophy Fashion Week Poland

2011-11-09T12:54:00.000Z

Joanna Klimas S/S12 at Fashion Philosophy Fashion Week Poland in Łódź for Amelia's Magazine.

Zuo Corp S/S12 at Fashion Philosophy Fashion Week Poland

2011-11-09T09:12:00.003Z

Here's an illustration for Amelia's Magazine's review of Zuo Corp S/S12 at Fashion Philosophy Fashion Week Poland in Łódź last week.

Monika Ptaszek S/S12 at Fashion Philosophy Fashion Week, Poland

2011-11-08T19:15:00.000Z

Polish Fashion Week in Łódź last week - Here's an illustration of Monika Ptaszek for Amelia's Magazine.

Tunnocks Caramel Wafer

2011-11-07T19:05:00.001Z

Tunnocks Caramel Wafers: how I love you let me count the ways etc etc.

HALLOWEEN

2011-11-02T20:23:00.002Z

A silly self portrait for Halloween.

EDIT Collective Interview

2011-11-01T11:06:00.001Z

A few months ago I was approached by Faye West and asked if I wanted to join a new artist collective and be part of upcoming exhibitions featuring our commissioned work. Of course I said YES! Faye writes more about how EDIT Collective came about here.
Now what you might notice is that I'm the first artist to have been interviewed on the EDIT Collective website. Naturally you're assuming it's because I'm the best illustrator in EDIT Collective, but I've checked and apparently it's merely that I'm first alphabetically. Anyways, do have a look at my interview with Faye and please keep checking back for EDIT's upcoming profiled artists.

Lu Flux S/S 2012

2011-11-01T10:36:00.002Z

I had so much fun making these images of Lu Flux's S/S 2012 collection for Amelia's Magazine. Not only does she make beautiful clothes, but she's a dab hand at great presenting them and I love what a great time her models are having within such a simple set. Have a look at these!

Add to the visual melting pot that Lu is an ethical designer, creating her designs from locally sourced fabrics within London and you have a a very exciting British designer! This is her seventh collection now, so fingers crossed Lu Flux is here to stay because she's fab!

Ballad Of Magazine Feature

2011-11-01T10:01:00.004Z

Thanks Ballad Of, who featured me on their website the other day! Aside from being very lovely about my work, it is great because I'm a big fan of Ballad Of Magazine! Here's the gorgeous cover of the last issue - I love the gold streamers background and the stunning hair! They're currently planning the launch of the next issue 'Little Book of Horrors' and I think it's going to be pretty special!!

I had the pleasure of meeting the team led by Claire and Lindsey last January, and they are such a friendly bunch! Here's the illustration I made of Yasmine and Claire at the launch of Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration. Thanks again lovelies!

Sibling S/S 2012 at London Fashion Week

2011-09-30T18:24:00.001+01:00

Here's an illustration I made for Amelia's Magazine's review of Sibling's S/S 2012 presentation at NEWGEN, Somerset House.

KATE MOSS! at LONDON FASHION WEEK!

2011-09-28T19:23:00.000+01:00

It's only ruddy Kate Moss at James Small's S/S 2012 show. For a very overexcited review by Matt Bramford for Amelia's Magazine, click here!

Astrid Andersen S/S 2012, Menswear at Fashion East for London Fashion Week

2011-09-28T19:15:00.004+01:00

Here's an illustration I made for Amelia's Magazine's review of Astrid Andersen S/S 2012 by Matt Bramford.

Fashion Fringe Winner 2011 at London Fashion Week S/S 2012

2011-09-25T21:54:00.003+01:00

Three designers presented their S/S 2012 at Fashion Fringe 2011; Nabil El Nayal, Heidi Leung and Fyodor Golan. Here are my fashion illustrations of their designs listed respectively, that I made for Akeela Bhattay's Fashion Fringe review for Amelia's Magazine:

Ashish S/S 2012 at London Fashion Week

2011-09-24T15:20:00.002+01:00

WHOOOOOOHOOOOOO! It's late September, which can only mean that London Fashion Week has descended on us once more. One of the designers I've had the pleasure of drawing for Amelia's Magazine this week has been ASHISH, who as ever is showing jazzy sequinned colourful wonderness for Spring Summer 2012. Read Amelia Gregory's review for a proper assessment of his brilliance, but basically, what a fun designer to illustrate.

A Bit Backwards

2011-09-13T22:02:00.001+01:00

One of the things you might not know about me is that I work backwards. I draw onto acetate, and then colour in my pictures from the back, resulting in a colourful glossy illustration. It's very satisfying turning over a spludgy painty mess to see how the finished picture has turned out!

Here's an image from reverse that I've been working on this week, from a commission of three illustrations for the second issue of Tantrum Magazine. Looking forward to sharing the actual pictures when they're published!

FASHION AFRICA by Jacqueline Shaw

2011-09-09T11:19:00.002+01:00

After months of anticipation, 'FASHION AFRICA: A Visual Overview of Contemporary African Fashion' is launching tonight! It's been a pleasure working with Jacqueline Shaw, and I'm so excited to finally see the book! Using photography, interviews, gorgeous fashion illustrations, Fashion Africa celebrates the African fashion scene, as well as critical analysis of sourcing and production from an ethical standpoint.

In her words, Jacqueline has "showcased over 45 of Africa's well known fashion designers and companies such as Jewel by Lisa, Chichia London, Tiffany Amber to name a few, through to workshops such as Kenyas SOKO who produce the ASOS Africa range and MantisWorld. With a sub focus on ethical and environmentally friendly fashion design and manufacture this book takes a contemporary look at this growing market and highlights the importance fashion in Africa to the global textile industry."

Above you can see a couple of my illustrations of brands from the book, One Mango Tree and Eki Orleans. I also illustrated PRPS and Sawa Shoes. The book is available to buy here, in hardback, paperback and downloadable form!

Illustration for Book Review

2011-09-04T20:14:00.001+01:00

Here's an illustration I made to accompany Sally Mumbycroft's review of Owen Jones' new book 'Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class' for Amelia's Magazine. It is about Middle England's impression of the working classes as perpetuated by our government and our media.

East Kent Coast in the Van

2011-08-30T08:49:00.011+01:00

This month, Mike and I went on a 26hr whirlwind tour of the East Coast of Kent. Being from up north, I've not been to as many places in the south of England as I really should have done, so having got the van out of hibernation for the summer, we've been working on improving my knowledge and geography of my new end of the country.

We started off by driving East past Thanet Earth towards Whitstable. They are MAD for fish and seafood there, and my favourite part was the piles and piles of oyster shells.

Then we went over to Margate. The further we drove in, the more my sense of foreboding. It's just a bit of a sad, forlorn town with a neglected seafront, and the misery stories I had in my head from Tracey Emin's Strangeland didn't help. However, we parked up and went into the Turner Contemporary Gallery, and WOW.

Immediately you're greeted by Daniel Buren's window installation. It's amazing what a few strips of yellow vinyl can do. The circle in the middle frames a different part of the view from the Turner Contemporary depending on which level you're on, and every angle is perfectly composed. Unfortunately I left my camera in the car, which I kicked myself for, but here are some images I nabbed from le google (Thank you Ferne Arfin and WeHeart).

Upstairs, we popped into Spencer Thingummy, but my headachey nausea and the horrible bright lights in his installation didn't get on, so I walked into Ellen Harvey's room pretty swiftly. To start with I was totally won over by her giant metal type propped up against a shed - then I walked inside the shed and she got me again - backlit mirrors, that she had painstakingly etched a 360° panorama of the Margate seafront and sea into, including the grotty Primark. Read a proper review of her exhibit and you'll hear more about the amazingly varied layers of concepts, but just to SEE - it was great.

Then we moved onto Russell Crotty. He had illustrated paper globes of thoughts etc etc dotted about, plus a GIANT (the length of his landscape book was my height) sketchbook which you can just see in the edge of the photo. He also had smaller sketchbooks dotted about. Now all artists who display sketchbooks in an exhibition know what NO GLASS CASE means. It means 'flick through my sketchbook and understand my work process'. Unfortunately, midway through browsing Crotty's worldview, an attendant ran over shouting 'DON'T TOUCH THE BOOKS!!!!' and pointing out the very small signs on the opposite side of the room telling us that only gallery assistants were permitted to turn the pages 'ONCE PER DAY'. Duhhhhhh Turner Contemporary, then shell out for a glass case.

The gallery was closing around this time, so we decided it was make-a-move-time. If we had known, we would have paid a visit to THE SHELL GROTTO, but we only read about it in the info booklet we received at our next destination, Broadstairs. Having made a stopoff in Joss Bay with its chalky rock face, we reached Broadstairs just before dark. What a town! It was pretty busy (it was a Saturday night) but in a healthy way that made me feel pleased for the local economy. We had a walk about and a drink before sleeping in the van, ice cream parlour one side, the gorgeous sea the other.

Sunday morning we woke up with a hankering for a tour around Charles Dicken's Bleak House. However, apparently the new owners HATE sharing British culture and have put a stop to the house tours. We made do with climbing up their fence and peeking in the garden. Instead we walked back down towards the beach and took a look in the old lookout house (made out of wood from a lost ship), and then the fantastic seafront. You have to visit Broadstairs! It is the beach you always saw pictures of (but never found in reality), REALISED. Perhaps this is just how I saw it, coming as someone who had to make do with Prestatyn as a child. But it is beautiful, with its colourful beachhuts, then a double layer of huts built into the cliff face and tiny old fashioned fairground rides.

Walking up the steep stairs, we walked through the seafront gardens and shelters to Morelli's Ice Cream Parlour. If you visit Broadstairs (which you must), then you should (must) also visit Morelli's, if only for the deliciously naff interior decor.

By unfortunate coincidence, we kept being served by an amazingly grumpy girl, and yet everyone else I encountered in there was the happy approachable type you should have somewhere you get to make ice cream sundaes all the time. I went for the conservative choice of hot fudge sundae (in retrospect, I should have asked if I could have it with chocolate ice cream instead of yawnfest vanilla), whilst Mike went exotic and had a 'Brazilian'. Whoa! We watched in openmouthed awe as grumpy girl filled a PINT GLASS full of all the different ice creams, an entire banana, oodles of nuts, lashings of sauce, TWO flakes, and topped it off with a furry monkey clinging to a palmtree. A pint of ice cream, and it wasn't even 11am yet.

Bellies aching and teeth rotting, we decided to leave for Deal. Having visited on a Sunday, I can recommend Not Visiting on a Sunday. We saw a fantastic vintage shop, literally the best one I have seen in forevs and it was closed, and the rest of my story goes like that...great shop, closed. However, it was a beautiful day so we walked over to the beach, and having decided to give the ugly 50s concrete pier a miss, we lay on the pebbles basking in the sun.

We then went over to Deal Castle, with the most hostile English Heritage employee I have ever met, but whatevs. The fort was nice enough (if cold...and this a hot day so it must be FREEZING in winter) and in the underground level we found a passage that circles the entire fort - I think it is understood by the staff that if they don't light it, no one will go in. It was pretty scary, but then I am quite a wuss when it comes to the dark. Mike had an amazing time jumping out at me and taking various years off my life.

Then we went over to Walmer Castle, just outside Deal. So lovely! Lovely gardens, lovely vegetable patches, lovely green houses, lovely grassed moat, lovely interior, etc. Perhaps it was enhanced by the sunshine, but it's definitely worth a visit.

Then we drove down via Dover, motorway, A roads, and BOOM we were home. The End.

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts: The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier

2011-08-23T21:54:00.005+01:00

Illustration of one of Jean Paul Gaultier's creations exhibited at the Gaultier Retrospective at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, reviewed by Amelia's Magazine.

Look! Gaultier likes the illustrations made for this article so much, he's retweeted them! Thanks Jean Paul!

Montreal First People's Festival 2011

2011-08-15T21:14:00.002+01:00

Illustration for Amelia's Magazine's review of the First People Festival in Montreal.

Camping in Cornwall (I Must Tape Up My Leaky Camera)

2011-08-12T21:36:00.006+01:00

Africa Fashion Guide

2011-08-12T20:43:00.003+01:00

Book illustrations always take a while to reach fruition, so I'm v excited that Africa Fashion Guide by Jacqueline Shaw is launching as a ethical fashion publication next month! I made a few fashion illustrations for this book including Eki Orleans, One Mango Tree, PRPS and Sawa Shoes. It was brilliant illustrating bold African prints, and I really enjoy promoting ethical fashion, so it's lovely working to do so. Looking forward to sharing my illustrations online once the book has launched!

Ganbare Nippon! Illustration Rally's ToDryFor Japan Charity Raffle

2011-08-12T19:50:00.010+01:00

In June, I was lucky enough to win one of the designer (including Rob Ryan and Gemma Corell) tea towels in the charity raffle organised by Natsuki Otani of Illustration Rally. Normally a blog devoted to creating art by sending out an open brief, Natsuki organised the raffle as a way to raise funds for the many people gravely affected by the Japanese tsunami back in March.

I was lucky enough to win the towel designed by Julia Pott! Such a beautiful illustration! Thank you ToDryFor for donating your teatowels to such a good cause, and well done Natsuki for everything you've been doing towards the Ganbare Nippon (Don't Give Up Japan!) Rally, it's amazing.

If you'd like to contribute to the Japanese Tsunami Appeal and receive some brilliant artwork along the way, you can visit the Ganbare Nippon Charity Shop which has some beautiful prints on sale (all proceeds towards the Japanese Tsunami Appeal) You can also donate your own artwork to be sold in the shop by emailing artwork-illustrationrally [at] hotmail.co.uk.

London Riots 2011

2011-08-10T18:20:00.003+01:00

So, London burns, and Cameron, Clegg, Osbourne and city mayor Boris are all away on holiday and loathe to come home to all this 'criminality'. On their return, they avoid discussing any reasons why civil unrest has broken out pockets around the country.

New Forest

2011-07-14T21:40:00.006+01:00

Illustrations for The Dexterous Diva

2011-07-13T13:00:00.004+01:00

Recently, I've had the pleasure of making some work for Jo Gifford's Dexterous Diva blog. Dexterous Diva covers all the areas of Jo's life, her work as a designer and writer, the adventures of being a mother of twins, the painful reality of living with endometriosis, as well as her passion for all things creative.

Jo is a synaesthete, so much of the colour on the artwork is appropriate to the colour she associates with the subject. I made the header extra colourful and explosion-y to show off her creative energy ideas.

She also uses a lot of mindmaps when thinking, hence how this 'About Me' image came about!

Illustrated Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Email buttons so that site users can reach Jo's networking sites and email easily.

And these are the illustrated backgrounds I made to go with the subject titles for Dexterous Diva. Each header is coloured in the colours that Jo links with those subjects, with suitable illustrations. The headers are: BEAUTY (pink lips), CREATIVITY (bright rainbow colours), DESIGN (primary colours), EDITORIAL (yellows with swirls), FAMILY (blue), PROJECT ENDO (red, pink with thorns), RAW FOOD (greens), and READING LIST (bookshelf).

I'm really happy to have answered Jo's shout-out for help with Dexterous Diva over Twitter, she has been a pleasure to work with and I'm looking forward to more collaborations in the future! You can follow her on Twitter via @jojogifford.

Beautiful Soul A/W 2011 for Amelia's Magazine

2011-07-11T19:01:00.003+01:00

This is a piece from Beautiful Soul's A/W 2o11 collection, for Amelia's Magazine. Background inspired by Faye West's lovely 'paint by numbers' country garden illustrations for the collection.

MAC Semi-Precious Collection Beauty Illustration for Amelia's Magazine

2011-07-11T18:37:00.002+01:00

Beauty illustration for Amelia's Magazine featuring some of the make-up from MAC's Semi Precious Collection.

Rachel, Blade Runner

2011-07-11T18:33:00.002+01:00

Here's an illustration I made recently for Darren Fletcher's new zine (follow @Ghostheart on Twitter for more information!) This issue is devoted to illustrations of cult 80s films, so I've drawn the beautiful Rachel from Blade Runner.

WILL AND KATE

2011-07-05T00:28:00.006+01:00

I didn't produce any Royal Wedding memorabilia for sale in the run-up to April 29th, but I did make this faithful reproduction of the happy couple on The Big Day. Thanks for the 4-day weekend in Cornwall!

MADE 2011 Handmade/Zine/Alternative Press Fair, Tunbridge Wells

2011-06-11T20:09:00.012+01:00

Another year, another MADE Fair! Back for the second year running, MADE teamed up alongside Unfest, a free music festival in Tunbridge Wells and took place on Sunday 29th May. As the TW Forum was playing host to some brilliant gigs, MADE was located in the gorgeous Corn Exchange in an empty shop. Well done to Rachel Boxall for organising such a brilliant zine fair!

My favourite stalls were those of Sarah Clark (click to see her beautiful photos of MADE and her blog!), an illustrator who makes lovely screenprints, bags and lasercut wooden badges,Eliza Fricker and Steve Baines Holmes and their zines and prints (again, click to see Eliza's photo's of MADE), Joanna Boxall of Dollyknits with an abundance of handmade knitted accessories in a variety of designs and beautiful colours (I need her green snood and a bright red knitty bow!), Rachel Boxall's printed alphabet badges, Lula Knits and her collaged knit totem poles, EmilythePemily and her screenprinted tees and bags, NuttyCrafts and her amazingly popular scrabble tile badges, and the slightly deranged, yet brilliant work of Benjamin Fox and his papiermache beaks, elongated noses and brain sculptures.

Photo by Eliza Fricker

Photo by Alison Beeden

Photo by John Fenton

I had a run around the fair once I'd got my stall together (IT LOOKED GREAT!!!!!), and then sat like a numpty for a bit waiting for people to visit my booth-and then totally missed the chance to buy all the lovely bits I was lusting after from inside my cardboard box because I was so busy with customers! I brought along my illustration 'Photo Booth' - my cardboard photoautomat passport booth, which I sit in and draw the people who come in for portrait. Once I'm finished, they stand outside and wait for it to 'develop'. It's a lot of fun because I get to exercise my live drawing skills, and I get to chat to a variety of interesting people....in fact that might have been why the queue got so long because I was so busy chatting away.....thanks for being patient everyone! I also brought my costumes along so that people could try them on and have a giggle in the mirror.

Here's a selection of portraits that I made during the Fair....forgot to photo them once I was in the flow of things, so it's only a handful on show here!

And here I am on Sunday evening celebrating the last night of #Unfest wearing one of Benjamin Fox's beaks!

Stalk Zine

2011-06-11T18:02:00.003+01:00

Back in January, I was commissioned to illustrate the front cover of the first London issue of Stalk Zine. Editor Elley originally began by distributing it in Norwich, Stalk being a black and white style zine with, as she describes 'a bit of high-fashion & opinion thrown in for good measure. The theme of the issue is 'Impractical', so I had quite a lot to play with in my interpretation of the brief. In the end I settled on a scantily-clad young lady indelicately removing her wedgie as she steps onto the tube on her way to a big night out. Stalk Zine will be being distributed around London very soon, so do look out for it!

Kinga Dubiel at the Golden Thread Awards, Fashion Week Poland A/W 2011

2011-05-17T11:40:00.004+01:00

Kinga Dubiel at the Golden Thread Awards during Polish Fashion Week A/W 2011 for Amelia's Magazine

Birthday Commission for Heather and Will

2011-05-14T11:44:00.006+01:00

I met Heather back in January when she was representing Doctor Hauschka at the ACOFI Launch and I was doing live portraits. She was such a pleasure to chat with as I drew her, and she was very lovely about the finished illustration I sent over to her a few days later. Since then we've kept in touch and more recently she asked me to draw her husband so he could have the portrait for his birthday. Here's the final result!

Header Commission for Fuyume.net

2011-05-14T10:40:00.006+01:00

Faye of Ethical Fashion Blog Fuyume.net and I met via Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration, as she was invited to the launch party at 123 Bethnal Green. We didn't meet on the night (there were SO many people!) but she got in touch over Twitter the next day and we've gone from there!

The exciting thing about Faye's blog is that originally she specialised in writing about Japanese fashion and her Gyaru and Oneegal-inspired outfits; however, having attended the ACOFI Launch, she decided to devote Fuyume to ethical fashion! You can read more about her decision here.

Fuyume.net is both a useful and interesting resource for finding ethically-made clothing and learning more about the ethical and un-ethical clothing industries, so I was really pleased when Faye put up shout-out for an illustrated blog header on Twitter and I got the gig! As her personality and fashion looks are such a huge part of the blog, I decided to feature her in the design and dress her in Beautiful Soul recycled kimono dress (one of her favourite ethical designers!)

You can see the final design in pink above, and a draft version below, but to see the header in action, got to Fuyume.net! You can also follow Fuyume on Twitter for all the latest news!

London Fashion Week BodyAmr A/W 2011

2011-05-14T10:22:00.001+01:00

Here are a couple of pieces by BodyAmr that I illustrated for Amelia's Magazine's review of their A/W 2011 show.

Lady Gaga

2011-04-04T23:28:00.002+01:00

Sometimes you apply for things that don't work out. Last week I applied for a job to illustrate Lady Gaga's new magazine column, having seen it mentioned vaguely on LDN fashion. I sent over my best work as per, and was pleasantly surprised to receive a rapid reply - albeit a lower-case sentence thanking me, but they needed to see something of the lady herself.

This was one of those situations where I could say hey - a properly typed email requires a properly typed reply, or I could whip up a picture and see what happened. I went with the latter, and came up with this piece inspired by Mario Testino's recent Vogue shoot what with Gaga having been more stripped back in style of late, along with a few questions about the job.

Having done all this, I saw someone else's beautiful submission for the job, but they had also posted the actual brief. It turns out they want a headshot illustration of her in her new role as a writer. I haven't really fulfilled the brief. It also answered all the questions I had emailed with my application, meaning I appear to be a brain-dead idiot in my application. The good news is they'll be doing a call-out every month, so I can apply again, but really, I just wish I'd seen the original brief before I applied.

Editors and kind people everywhere, if you're going to helpfully pass on an opportunity, please be helpful and include the details required and not just an email address, because even though at the time I thought 'wow, what do they want???' and researched to find more information, it wasn't forthcoming. Although I have this lovely illustration, in the event I have most likely wasted my time what with only properly understanding the brief post-deadline and all.

Cassette Playa at London Fashion Week A/W 2011

2011-03-15T16:24:00.003Z

I illustrated this design from Cassette Playa's A/W 2011 show to accompany Matt Bramford's review for Amelia's Magazine. Have a read, there are gold heads and bright colours galore.

Ashish at London FAshion Week A/W 2011

2011-03-15T16:14:00.002Z

Here are some pictures of Ashish's A/W 2011 collection that I illustrated for Amelia's Magazine. The tartan is all shiny and glossy because Ashish recreate every pattern you've ever seen in coloured sequins. He's one of my favourite designers, so it was a massive pleasure to draw his pieces.

Osman at London Fashion Week A/W 2011

2011-03-11T20:48:00.003Z

Osman Yousefzada at his A/W 2011 show at London Fashion Week

Naomi Law, regular illustrator for Amelia's Magazine and featured in Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration has turned her hand to fashion journalism and written this fab review of Osman Yousefzada's A/W 2o11 show - which was ACES apart from that bit with the real fur. Do have a read and enjoy my lovely bits what I drawn.

KTZ at London Fashion Week A/W 2011

2011-03-11T20:41:00.003Z

Amazingly fun and graphic collection from Kokon To Zai at London Fashion Week A/W 2011! Here's an illustration I did for Amelia Gregory's review of the KTZ show - there are some brilliant fashion illustrations in her Amelia's Magazine article, so click here to read and see!

London Fashion Week Front Row Showstoppers

2011-02-28T18:34:00.003Z

London Fashion Week means fantastic outfits, so here's Katie Antoniou's LFW frontrow showstoppers for Amelia's Magazine. I've drawn Amber and Nisha of Broken Hearts DJs and a man with huge hair inexplicably wearing a beautiful cassock.

Paul Costelloe at London Fashion Week A/W 2011

2011-02-28T18:28:00.003Z

Here's a couple of fashion illustrations of Paul Costelloe's A/W 2011 collection that I made for Amelia's Magazine. You can read Amelia Gregory's review of the show here.

Jena.Theo London Fashion Week A/W 2011

2011-02-20T17:41:00.002Z

Jena.Theo for Matt Bramford's LFW coverage for Amelia's Magazine.

Sideshow Stories at the Yarn Fest storytelling Festival

2011-02-20T17:32:00.003Z

Here's a fortune teller and a tattooed lady that I drew for Jessica Furseth's Amelia's Magazine piece about the Sideshow Stories exhibition at the Yarn Fest, with bearded ladies and pinheads galore.

The Reluctant Valentiner

2011-02-20T17:28:00.003Z

Here's a picture I did for Jessica Furseth's Valentine's article for Amelia's Magazine about being a reluctant Valentiner. Click here to read her fun account of her efforts to get into the V-Day swing of things.

Marie-Anne Lynch at the London College of Fashion MA Exhibition Review

2011-02-20T17:17:00.002Z

Here's an illustration I did for Katie Wright's review of the LCF MA Exhibition of one of Marie-Anne Lynch's delicately painted silk tops for Amelia's Magazine.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration Party: AKA The ACOFI Launch at 123 Bethnal Green!

2011-02-12T21:54:00.039Z

Friday 28th January was a brilliant amaze-fun day for me (and I suspect for many other attendees) because it was FINALLY the launch for Amelia Gregory's new book 'Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration' (available online at Amelia's Magazine for £20.00)

The day started with me crashing my friend's house to get party-fabulous (aided by a gorgeous green sequin vintage Joseph dress, courtesy of Love Is Boutique, Tunbridge Wells), as I couldn't bear the idea of getting ready in the cramped ladies' toilets at London Bridge Station (the downside to not living in London anymore), and then with great excitement, I took my first trip along the newly-reopened East London line - looking swish, TFL!

I arrived to a flurry of action at the venue, ethical clothing boutique 123 Bethnal Green Road.with Fashion Editor Matt Bramford and AM contributor Sally Mumby-croft frantically stuffing the remaining gift bags with the Forward PR ladies, before the afternoon party started. There I also met the delightful Michelle Urvall Nyren, and we were hustled upstairs to wait with the other afternoon illustrators, Abby Wright, Naomi Law, Andrea Peterson, Zarina Liew, Joanna Faria, Rachel de Ste. Croix and Jenny Robins. Having met via Amelia's Magazine and Twitter, it was lovely to finally put names to faces (and ACOFI self portraits!).

Illustrators gathered together in Scout Hut, by Liz Johnson-Artur

By the time we went back downstairs to the bunker cafe to illustrate those who had been invited to the afternoon event, the beautiful Lily Vanilli cake centrepiece (pearlised pink chocolate curls anyone?) and glittery mini scones and brownies had been arranged in the sketching area, and Pukka Herbs had displayed an array of their delicious herbal teas for us to sip throughout the afternoon - from pretty floral mismatched china!

The CAKE by Lily Vanilli and beautiful mini scones, by Matt Bramford

Last minute checks and Pukka Herbs tea all set up and lovely, by Liz Johnson-Artur

This was the point where we had to bite the bullet and approach people to draw their portraits, which although is something I've done enough times to do relatively competently, is always slightly scary the first time round. I began with the lovely Laurel Harple of i-D Magazine. Luckily, she made my job very easy by having a beautiful smile and a gorgeous patterned dress. Whilst she was there, she interviewed Amelia about the book, which you can view here.

Lauren Harple, illustrated by Antonia Parker

Whilst it was early on, I took the chance to have some tea, enjoying a cup of 'Refresh', flavoured with organic peppermint, fennel & rose tea: it promised 'to uplift & balance', which I thought might be useful in the party situation. Then I met Becky from ethical style blog 'The Style Saint' and as it was getting slightly busier in the bunker, enticed her upstairs to have a more spacious illustration. She sat down in one of the huge armchairs, (amongst 123's ACOFI pop-up shop featuring clothes by many of the ethical designers featured in the book) We had a lovely chat whilst I drew her - I take this chance now to apologise to any of my sitters that day - I very much tried to draw and provide scintillating conversation simultaneously, but if I ever veered significantly off topic it was due to my little brain having trouble managing the two.

Becky Patrickson, illustrated by Antonia Parker

Having escorted Becky back to the party, I bumped into Amisha Ghadiali, sustainable fashion advocate and designer of Amisha Jewellery. Feeling slightly like some weird fashion blogger-kidnapper, I lured her upstairs to the gorgeous teal armchair and did the drawing/chatting seesaw. She was wearing a dress by Junky Styling who are featured in the book!

Me drawing Amisha Ghadiali, by Amisha Ghadiali

Amisha Ghadiali, illustrated by Antonia Parker

Rachel de Ste.Croix drawing the lovely Susie Bubble of Style Bubble by Liz Johnson-Artur

After that, I had another cup of tea and had a chat with Ronke Adeyami of The Musings of Ondo Lady pop culture blog whilst I drew her. She interviewed Amelia, and you can watch her interview on her blog. Then I got chatting to the lovely Laura from Forward PR, who jumped at the chance to have an illustration done whilst Felicity from Dr. Hauschka gave her a hand massage.

Ronke Adeyami, illustrated by Antonia Parker

Laura McCluskey, illustrated by Antonia Parker

Claire and Yasmine from BalladOf Magazine were very nice to chat to and ever so enthusiastic about everything that was happening around them! Afterwards, I decided to introduce myself to the smiley lady with a camera, who turned out to be Heather from Dr. Hauschka who had done Amelia's party make-up (proof that natural make-up with staying power EXISTS! hurrah!) We went upstairs and had a chat about everything and anything, and it transpired that she is basically a very lovely person and a natural beauty expert.

Me drawing the BalladOf Magazine ladies, by BalladOf

Yasmine and Claire of BalladOf Magazine

Heather Stanton of Dr Hauschka

Somehow I managed to squeeze in a brief conversation with Amelia (she was Top of the Pops that day what with it being her ruddy book launch and all) and she introduced me to the wonderful Rebekah Roy, fashion stylist to anyone and everyone. She's also worked withProphetik and Beautiful Soul, both of whom are featured in ACOFI (In fact Amelia was wearing a fabulous Beautiful Soul cape!) She was delightfully friendly with beautiful freckles, and it was an absolute pleasure to draw her.

Me drawing Rebekah Roy, by Holly Springett

Rebekah Roy, illustrated by Antonia Parker

Having mingled a bit more, us illustrators took the opportunity to nip out for a quick bit of food, whereupon I got to meet the brilliant Lesley Barnes (not to go over the top or anything, but one of the best illustrators of our times I think) and Natsuki Otani (again, big fan of her beautifully colourful work), both of whom helped illustrate ACOFI. Then we ran back because it was 7pm, AKA the beginning of the evening party, AKA we got to hang up our pencils and sketchpads and PARTY.

At this point, I scoured the melee for my husband Mike, whom I found downstairs quite at home, yammering away with the Forward PR ladies - 'Hello', I say, 'I'll have to introduce you to Amelia', 'No, we've already met, she's lovely!'. Amazing, he's there half a minute and he knows half the people there already. Having had a nice chat in the toilet queue with Rachel from 6 Day Riot, we made our way upstairs to the bar - sponsored by organic drink companies VodkaO and Adnans Beer - yummy stuff. We stood around with various lovely illustrators until 6 Day Riot came on and performed a fantastic set, some of which you can see here thanks to Lira Leirner, fashion designer. Then The Pipettes deejayed whilst we continued to mingle during which we finally met the lovely ACOFI illustrator Gareth A Hopkins and his brilliant wife Amy!

Amelia's parents, by Matt Bramford

Maxine from Little Miss Delicious and Mike, by Lira Leirner

Me with the BalladOf ladies, Claire and Lindsay, by BalladOf

I think the AMAZING Lily Vanilli cake was cut around this point - no idea how I missed the big moment, but the gist I have is that lovely Harriet and Rosie from Tatty Devine helped Amelia cut the cake and eating it was like nibbling magic rainbows.

Decimating the cake, by Matt Bramford

Cue a wee bit more Pipettes and then Will from Mystery Jets (aka the people who brought us the best albums of 2010, 2008 and 2006) came on to deejay the later slot of the party.

I don't have a picture of Will, but I DO have this polaroid of him dressed in a shark costume I made once.

Towards the end of the night Mike and I made our way home, goody bag in tow, for the last train. Big thank yous to the lovely sponsors, Dr Hauschka, Pukka Herbs, Tatty Devine and Moleskine, because what with their wonderful contributions plus all the Amelia's Magazine goodies contained within the screen-printed ACOFI tote bag, it was basically the BEST bag of goodies ever. Even bigger thanks to all the lovely people from Forward PR, and Matt Bramford and Sally Mumby-croft, because they were amazing at making things happen, and the ultimate thanks go to Amelia for organising such a brilliant launch for it! She's worked blimming hard to make a beautiful, inspirational ethical fashion book, and the the party was spectacular.

Amelia Gregory and me, by Matt Bramford

If you'd like to buy your own copy of Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration, click here. Also, if you buy it before the 28th of February, and enter the code 'ACOFI LAUNCH' at the check-out, you'll get a 10% discount! Amazing!

New business cards!

2011-01-26T23:11:00.002Z

What with it being a new year and all, plus the fact that it's the #ACOFI Launch Party this Friday, I've had some new business cards printed. It's taken from my Felder Felder S/S 2011 fashion illustration, and I added the black outline to the type to echo the black pen in my drawings. They are well glossy and delicious, courtesy of Goodprint. Also, they premiere my new website address! Still a work in progress, but feel free to check it out.

Teaser of Stalk Zine Cover Illustration

2011-01-26T23:03:00.003Z

Here's a wee teaser of the black and white illustration I made for Stalk Zine's first London issue. Ooh, mysterious! I'll elaborate more on the brief when it comes out early February.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration: Review

2011-01-20T20:46:00.007Z

So! Here it is! Time to show off why I'm so happy to be part of Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration: Featuring the Very Best in Ethical Fashion Design by Amelia Gregory. The book showcases 50 of the very best ethical fashion designers alongside 30 fashion illustrators, including interviews with all featured illustrators.

Amelia is best known for Amelia's Magazine, a bi-annual beautifully illustrated style and music publication featuring a variety of excitingly-produced covers (scratch and sniff, the Rob Ryan die-cut, metallic...). This then evolved into Amelia's Magazine online, one of the most visually-delightful and informative websites on the internet. As well as retaining the fashion, music and art sections from the print version, the magazine became more vocal about green and environmental issues.

Amelia is a keen activist (you should see her first book, Amelia's Anthology of Illustration) which is very refreshing to see in the style magazine world - where most editors shrug and press us to get our next TopShop fix, she encourages us to live a more sustainable lifestyle in a practical, attainable way (without you wanting to dump all your recyclable rubbish in the regular bin like when confronted with more preachy journalists).

This book marries her two great loves - fashion and the environment. All the designers featured within the pages of Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration (ACOFI) produce their pieces ethically and sustainably: some use reclaimed fabrics to realise their designs (such as Hetty Rose), others use ethically-sourced materials (e.g. By Stamo), and other recycle unwanted garments to make new ones (e.g. Wilfried Pletzinger). In an industry renowned for waste and disposability in the face of new trends, it is really inspiring that so many designers should be designing such beautiful pieces whilst being so mindful of not wasting resources. It is a responsibility that all of us, especially those in the creative industries should be taking on, and to have a book showcasing their efforts is fantastic!

This is the bit where I go through my favourite spreads and fashion illustrations from the book: Alors, here's the spread about 123, the delightful boutique that is hosting the #ACOFI Launch Party, illustrated by Gareth A Hopkins.

Abby Wright's lovely renderings of Ada Zanditon

Natsuki Otani, one of my favourite Amelia's Magazine regular illustrators.

Aniela Murphy's fab figures.

Rachel de Ste. Croix - Look at that lovely detail on her purple Erdem lady.

I love how much bite these pictures by Katherine Tromans have.

This by Jennifer Costello is just lovely.

Love the angsty fashion gurl by Faye West.

Fantastic collaged pieces by Erica Sharp.

Yelena Bryksenkova does some delicately rustic illustrations.

Naomi Law's self-portrait is so fun!

Michelle Urvall Nyren magics up wonderful images out of watercolour blobs.

This illustration by Natasha Thompson is just brilliant!

Love how Zarina Liew has depicted these sequins!

And last, but definitely not least, because I love all of her pages to bits, Lesley Barnes!

Basically, Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration (beautiful pearlised cover by Andrea Peterson) is the bees knees! If you like fashion and/or fashion illustration and/or appreciate the environment and want to know how people are working to save it and yet still keep us clothed beautifully, then it is the book for you! It is also a fantastic illustration ('scuse the pun) of how contemporary fashion illustrators are working today, so if you're studying or want to get inspired, this should be top of your wish-list!

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration is available to buy at Tate Modern, Magma, Design Museum, Serpentine Gallery, Tatty Devine, Cornerhouse, Arnolfini and many other exciting places including and especially HERE!

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration

2011-01-19T18:55:00.008Z

One of the most exciting things to happen in the past few weeks was that some of my illustration work was published in Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration: Featuring the Very Best in Ethical Fashion Design by Amelia Gregory. Having regularly contributed to'Amelia's Magazine' online, it was fantastic to be finally printed through Amelia's House.

It is really brilliant to be part of a book championing fashion illustration celebrating ethical fashion designers - as she says in the book, hopefully soon enough it won't be unusual for designers to be conscious of the sustainability of their sourced materials, nor how they treat the people producing their pieces. I'm always really proud to work for Amelia, because aside from celebrating the beautiful things in life, Amelia's Magazine is about pushing the world towards being a better place.

Illustrations of Wilfried Pletzinger's recycled sportwear label.

Amelia's interview with me and my self-portrait.

Clockwise from top-left: Mint Designs S/S 2011, Felder Felder S/S 2011, Minna S/S 2011, Omar Kashoura S/S 2011 and Katie Eary s/s 2011

Clockwise from top-left: By Stamo S/S 2010, Zoe Davidson's Graduate Show Collection 2010 and Simon Ekrelius S/S 2011

Clockwise from top-left: Bolshie A/W 2010, Zandra Rhodes at the FAD Awards 2010, Bolshie S/S 2o11, Who's Paying For Your Cheap Clothes? 2010 and Hilary Alexander at London Fashion Week S/S 2011

Wilfred Pletzinger, By Stamo and Self Portrait

2011-01-19T11:13:00.007Z

Hurray! Now Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration is out, I can finally publish my original submissions for the book!

Every illustrator was asked to make a self-portrait, which was included with their interview in the book. I figured as it was a fashion book, the least I could do was wear my jazziest dress, so there I am looking jazzy.

Wilfried Pletzinger specialises in re-using sportswear and making them into exciting and bright creations, AKA sports couture.

By Stamo is Elisabeth Stamo who creates 'ecoluxe' clothing - all her materials are sustainably sourced and ethically produced, but they are beautiful covetable pieces that rid the ethical clothing industry of its hemp associations.

Plans for 2011

2011-01-03T09:55:00.003Z

Despite the government deciding to cut 100% of funding to arts within the university spectrum, and the cuts to the school education budget, I will have a paid job within the arts and/or school spectrum by the end of the year. This is not going to be an easy year for anyone, especially those in the arts, but there is no point letting that get in the way of things.
I shall pass my driving test. Having been thoroughly spoilt by 5 years in London, it's been a rude awakening to re-experience that you can't get everywhere by bus.
When I have an idea, I shall do it. I shall also start two projects that have been in my head for weeks, yet I've yet to do any research on yet. It's hard having a day job and coming home and working on my own stuff whilst still keeping the house nice - I manage it about 50% of the time. This year is about hard work, and getting somewhere with it.
I shall make a weekly satirical illustration on the week's politics. Unfortunately this is easy, because the cobbled together mess we call the government makes for rich pickings.
I would like a studio. Or a spare room to draw in. Somehow, I will find some kind of space to call my studio.
I shall up the presentation of my work again, as it's all in a pile in the flat instead of framed beautifully. This leads neatly onto....
I shall have an Etsy shop, because this is a sensible (and brilliant!) thing to do, and will help lead to my being able to be a full-time artist.
I think I will start a beauty blog. Ethical where possible.
I shall be a good wife, because sharing my life with Michael is wonderful. He's consistently brilliant and very supportive, and I love him dearly.

Antonia Makes Review: 2010

2011-01-02T21:14:00.021Z

So....2010, what a year. I'm going to be honest, because whilst there were many brilliant times, there were also some frankly rubbish times too. So journey with me whilst I rake over the past 12 months, have a look at last year's resolutions and how they turned out, and then make some new ones for this year. Stay with me - the year started off slow and then gradually things happened.

January:

I started this blog last January to stay motivated during a period of unemployment. I was a bit bewildered post-graduation, the job-hunting situation was rubbish and I hadn't really been drawing much either. I spent this month basically sorting myself out, refreshing my job-hunting habits and by the end of the month had started work on a bunch of fashion illustrations ready for a new site I was putting together with a a couple of friends from college.

February:

I got a job! Finally! After months of bitty freelance days, and interning and volunteering with whomever would have me, I finally got an every day job as a mother's helper, which meant I could draw in the day and work for them in the evenings. It also meant that I got to spend a few hours a day with a lovely family, and that was very nice.

It also meant LONDON FASHION WEEK!!!!! A/w 2010 was the start of me working for Amelia's Magazine, and the start of a lovely relationship with Amelia Gregory and her various writers. It was very exciting when my illustrations of the Topman collection went online, and it is still very fun now when my work gets included.

I turned 23.

I also spent a great deal of time collaging a Save the Date Flyer for our wedding! Hurray! Although hideously pressurised and horrible, getting married is very exciting!

March:

My new fashion illustration collective's website went live! London Fashion Illustration Collective was finally launched, featuring me, Alia K Ahmad, Holly Dinsdale and Adriana Munoz and our fashion illustrations. We started up because it was lonely sitting at our desks drawing; having this site together was a way for us to not only promote and support ourselves but also eachother. At this point we didn't know that Adriana would move back to Spain or that I'd go to Tunbridge Wells, but that is the magic of the internet: the site lives on and continues to be added to.

I also submitted this image to 'Adjective Magazine', for their debut issue 'Ambiguous'. It was included in the publication which was very exciting!

April:

I made my first proper, current, political illustration! With all the excitement from the first televised Leader Debates, I was asked to make satirical images about the General Election 2010 for Amelia's Magazine, which was very exciting! It also turned out to be something I very much enjoyed. Having started off blankly, scrutinising the first debate for ideas, I quickly picked up how to comment on the election through my illustrations. Although I'd made politically-inspired/issue-driven work before, I'd never churned out work so topically before, so it was brilliant to add a new string to my bow.

I also designed my wedding invitations, which I then sent over to my friend George Hurst's studio to be screen-printed in fluorescent orange! How to represent you and your beloved, and your shared hopes and dreams in legible text and have enough space to direct people to the wedding is a bit stressy - so fingers crossed it's the only time I have to do it, eh?

May:

I made the cover for The Help Movement's new EP! It was the loveliest thing to hold my cd cover in my hands once it was being sold in the shops. Creating work to be an actual product is a headache in the making, but a joy in the finalised product!

June:

This was a month of sheer panic as I realised my mother-in-law was right and we should have planned the wedding all last October instead of me going 'no, no, it'll be fine, I'm waiting to get inspired'.

It was also my surprise hen party which was (aside from the Big Day - although, ssshhh, lets be honest, it was pretty much way better cause it was sooo amazing!) AMAZINGLY BRILLIANT. Big stupendous thanks to lovely lovely Sarah Culross and Margaux Soland who basically gave me my ideal day! I was summoned to Lancaster Gate tube, blindfolded, and taken to a Mad Hatters Tea Party in Hyde Park whilst everyone having a regular Saturday looked on longingly. Then there was Karaoke and Bowling and yet more Karaoke! I couldn't speak for the rest of the night, but it didn't matter because I had the most beautiful time and felt very loved.

July:

I moved house! I packed up all my things, and moved out of my lovely flat that I shared with the brilliant (and very clean!) Mara Bueno, and into my boyfriend's parents house. They were extremely patient despite all my boxes and the amount of time I spend in the bathroom, and by the end of the week, they were my inlaws.

I GOT MARRIED!!!!!

Such a beautiful day, eye-make up-meltingly hot, and full of love! Despite my sweaty face and very almost keeling over as I walked down the aisle, Michael was still very willing to marry me, and that was very kind of him.

So many people helped make it a fantastic day for us, my family, Michael's family, all of our friends, people I didn't even know bent over backwards to make it amazing. You are all wonderful.

We then went on honeymoon to Croatia, which if possible was even more sweaty and hot than England. It was simply lovely.

I was also selected to be included in the Foto8 Summer Show 2010! I was very fortunate to have one of my Olympus XA2 photographs on display from July to September at Host Gallery in London. (First two photos by Margaux Soland and Niki Webb)

August:

After a few weeks of very much getting under Mike's parents' patient feet, we finally found a flat in Tunbridge Wells. Hurrah! We moved house mid-August, and faced up to the fact we'd have to cook for ourselves again.

My friend Rachel Boxall organised Tunbridge Wells' first Zine Fair! Having been jobhunting/GETTING MARRIED, I hadn't really got a zine together in time, so I made a booth out of cardboard resembling a fotoautomat passport photo machine, and sat in it throughout the day, drawing those who sat inside it, and posting the result through a slot in the side. I was helped out greatly by the fabulous Sarah Culross and Richard Harrowing who covered me whilst I nipped out to go to a friend's wedding. We also met the lovely people from Alternative Press, which was excellent because they are so very lovely.

I also learnt that having been exhibited at London's Host Gallery throughout summer, my photograph had been selected alongside a few others to travel the Crane Kalman Galley in Brighton! This was lovely news to round off the summer.

September:

It was LONDON FASHION WEEK S/S 2011! I love Fashion Week, because it means at least two weeks of non-stop illustration, which is mad fun!

It also coincided with me getting a job which was useful, what with the 'non-stop' drawing, but I made it fit somehow!

October:

A bit of a to-and-fro kind of month - we thought we'd found a bigger place to move into (one bed flat doesn't work so well when one person has been used to living in their studio for 4 years and the other one has not and would like like you to tidy up that mess please) but eventually found out we weren't doing that - so an un-settled sort of month.

I also finalised all my pieces of illustration work that I had submitted for inclusion to Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration, completed my written interview and was interviewed over Skype by Amelia Gregory!

November:

I got mad-excited about the release of the book because it was ruddy bloody exciting!

December:

It snowed a lot, which was fun, but also a bit stressy if one needed to travel and arrive on time anywhere. Most of the time I decided to stay in one place, so I could enjoy the slow pace and beauty of it.

I made my acting debut as 'Joseph' from The Nativity Story whilst helping Mike out at work. This was lots of fun, and made me wish it was my day job too.

MOST EXCITINGLY - I got published! As a fashion illustrator! In a book! Big big thank yous to Amelia Gregory who has kept me in illustration work this year whenever I've asked for it, and then put me in her book. Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration: Featuring the Very Best in Ethical Fashion Design is a beautiful book and my pages are sandwiched between great illustrators. Whilst this merely a small step in the right direction in the grand scheme of things, I feel very pleased and proud to be a part of it.

At the beginning of last year, I made these goals for the year. Here's how they turned out:

I will have a job within the arts and/or child education/social spectrum. Still working on this one, as this is where I want to be.

If not this, I'll just have a plain old job doing anything and everything, so that I can support myself and contribute to building my joint life-to be. This is what happened, cause making pictures but no money isn't very sustainable.

I will get married to my lovely husband-to-be, and we will work together to be a positive force for good and happiness, through our relations with others and our place within the community. This did happen, and it was wonderful. Michael is definitely a force for good and happiness, I'm more of a part-timer there.

I will go for briefs and being published/featured will still be amazingly privileged and special, but not as out of the ordinary as it feels now. Hurray! This was a brilliant year for raising my profile as an artist. I have a long way to go, but actually applying for competitions and telling people I wanted to draw for them was how I got somewhere this year.

I will start to edit my photography together as a book format. Became one of those jobs I'll 'get round to'.

I will make more zines. Didn't happen, but I do have a successful attraction to take along to zine fairs, and that is good.

I will finish my website. And be satisfied with it. Changed my website, and will actually finish it....got a bit reliant on blog for self promotion once things got rolling.

Somehow, through my work, I will contribute to the world and actually be useful. This is perhaps one for when I'm a bigger fish, but it's still what I'm trying to do.

I will aim as high as possible, not give up at the first obstacle, but know when to settle. This year has been good for my confidence. I've tried lots of new things, in new areas, and it's been good for knowing I can do things and I'm not just some fraud blagging it.

Christmas Cake 2010

2010-12-30T16:44:00.004Z

This year, I was invited to decorate my inlaws' Christmas cake. This being my first Christmas with them, it was quite a thing to take on, so sensibly I left it til Christmas Eve, by which time I was aware if my attempts went wrong, I'd ruined Christmas.

Having had an idea of creating an edible stained glass window of Mary and Jesus in my head the past few days, I experimented with boiling sugar, water and food colouring, before finding out it doesn't set. Luckily Mike was around to suggest glacier mints, so I set to bashing them up and melting them, to find they create a lovely glassy sheen.

Then I drew out my glass window design, and then cut it out into gingerbread to create the frame. After that, I added the crushed sweets and added food colouring to the coloured parts of the design and popped it in the oven.

Nipping out to the pub for a Christmas Eve drink, I shared what I was up to with my friends. It turns out that the world and his wife grew up with mother baking similar things, so my idea is not as unique as I'd first thought, but hopefully at the very least, my window on a Christmas cake is something original that I can take from this. Photos by the delectable Michael Harrowing:

Our First Christmas Tree

2010-12-23T00:41:00.003Z

This shot depicts my first Christmas Tree..... as in the first one Mike and I have bought ourselves as proper grown ups. How exciting! We finally went out and picked one up last night, and made some paperchains for it whilst watching 'The Apprentice' Final and scribbling last minute cards. Then tonight, having done a mad dash around the shops for Christmas presents (too disorganised this year to figure out what to get online before the ruddy snow messed up the post/ill/too busy), we wrapped up most of our gifts, and I made an angel out of Scarlett Johansson, Colette and some gold crepe paper. Beautiful, no? Having wanted to be super-amaze at Christmas, this being our first together, this one so far has basically been an exercise in how I never want to do Christmas again - so next year I shall be making giftlists well in advance, making my own cards and posting them at the beginning of December, and just doing Christmas in that way you see in films where they are amazingly organised and it all looks perfect.

Anyways, Merry Christmas! I shall post more pictures when I figure out how to decorate the Christmas cake......nerve-wracking stuff.

Lucy in Disguise

2010-12-23T00:33:00.003Z

Lucy in Disguise, Sarah Owen and Lily Allen's vintage boutique has got a lovely new 'With Diamonds' VIP dressing room. Kate Ingram went along to the launch party the other day and wrote this piece for Amelia's Magazine. I made this illustration of one of the mannequins to accompany the article. I haven't managed to make it over to LiD yet, but I'm defo planning a trip very soon.

Bourgeois and Maurice Can't Dance at Sadlers Wells

2010-12-16T21:39:00.002Z

Amelia Gregory interviews the fabulous Bourgeois and Maurice for Amelia's Magazine.

#Warm Up Camden: The Twitter Knitter

2010-12-16T08:40:00.003Z

This Christmas, students from the London College of Fashion are picking your best Christmassy slogans via the #warmupcamden hashtag on Twitter and magically processing this into a code which their knitting machines (and knitters!) can make into scarves. They shall be distributing them around the homeless in Camden during December. Jessica Furseth has written a lovely post up on Amelia's Magazine where you can find out more, and it includes an illustration by me.

Snow Installation

2010-12-06T23:51:00.002Z

Screen-printing sans Studio

2010-12-06T21:23:00.003Z

Look! I've been screen-printing! Nothing too fancy, just a masking tape stencil (how I miss the LCC print workshop), but this works well-ish enough for now. Been doing a practice run for some family Christmas cards.

Snow Fabulous!

2010-12-05T23:24:00.003Z

In a post more related to seasonal weather than work, much like my past working week, I give you this, Michael and Richard and their icicles! One good reason to have moved away from London is that you get PROPER SNOW. Brrrr! More snowy pics to come when I get my XA2 films back.

Proofs for Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration

2010-12-01T21:32:00.007Z

How exciting! Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration is running through the press as I type! It is going to be released shortly before Christmas, so perfect for any fashionistas, eco-lovelies or illustrators that you may be need to buy gifts for. It's still available for pre-orders here for £18, so I'd get it now as the RRP is £25.

ANYWAYS, the most exciting thing about it having gone to press (in snowy Paddock Wood!) is the sneaky peeks that we're getting from Amelia Gregory and the printers. Here are some of my proofs, alongside the beautiful work of Rachel de Ste. Croix, Emma Block and Bex Glover. Brilliant design by Amelia Gregory, she's clearly been working like a trojan! So looking forward to seeing the whole shebang.

Look! I'm Page 80!!!! Cannot WAIT for my copy to come through the letterbox!

Herb Farmacy

2010-12-01T21:23:00.004Z

Here's a picture I was asked to make for Amelia's Magazine's interview with Herb Farmacy. I was really excited because I love natural and organic beauty products. I also wanted the chance to help big them up and encourage those who haven't discovered the delight of using skincare that is actually good for their skin to give them a go.

Lisa Tilley at Made10, Brighton

2010-11-26T18:59:00.005Z

I illustrated one of Lisa Tilley's fab upcycled suitcases for Ursula Glitch's Amelia's Magazine review of the Made10 (craft and general handmade fancies) Festival in Brighton. Using found imagery, Lisa renews the appeal of these lovely luggage pieces. Very much in lust with them. Also worth a mention whilst I'm here - Barbara Keal's escapist animal hats, as illustrated by Gareth A Hopkins. A leopard/fox hat and a suitcase for Christmas, and I'll be very happy.

'40 Years of Kenzo' at the V&A

2010-11-22T16:16:00.002Z

Here's a fashion illustration I did for Amelia's Magazine's article about '40 Years of Kenzo' at the V&A. Brilliant snaps and words by Matt Bramford.

Dispatches: Fashion's Dirty Secret

2010-11-11T16:18:00.007Z

Last night I worked on an image for Amelia's Magazine's post on the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary 'Fashion's Dirty Secret'. Written by Nick Bain, it was a brilliant summary and response to the C4 documentary about the illegal use of UK-based sweat shop labour by many high street stores. I won't go into to much detail, because Nick has done a brilliant job and I don't want to repeat him, but I was left hoping it does influence those who watched it in their shopping choices. I know that I won't be shopping in New Look, Jane Norman, Peacocks or BHS, chains named and shamed by the undercover camera work in a Leicester-based sweat shop.

However, they can't be the only high street stores left red-faced by this programme. Having illustrated a lot of ethical fashion brands for Amelia's Magazine in the past, I'm probably more aware than your average consumer of the possibilities of an ethical fashion lifestyle. Whilst I generally can't afford to shop in ethical fashion boutiques, I tend to buy my clothes second-hand over eBay and am gradually turning as many of my beauty and hair products over to organic/natural and ethically-sourced products as possible. But it did make me realise I should be doing more.

Sometimes there is a cheap t shirt, and it seems outrageous not to buy it, or you need a cheap pair of shoes quickly and Primark seems to be the answer. It isn't. As the Dispatches programme shows, unfortunately not all retailers are ensuring their clothes are made by people being paid a fair wage - in fact in the sweatshop featured, most were paid £2.50 an hour, with the 'lucky' ones getting £4. No matter what your job, if you are being paid minimum wage or above, you owe it to the people who make the products you buy the decency of being paid at the very least, minimum wage. Being a messy sewer, I think people who make clothes deserve a hell of a lot more than £5.93 per hour.

At the end of the day, despite the retailers' responsibility to know exactly where their clothes come from, the choice of buying your clothes lies with you. To continue buying clothing that has been made through slave labour is disgusting, and all of us have a duty to rein it in and remember why the 'bargain' you've got in your hands is so cheap.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration

2010-11-08T17:36:00.007Z

I am very pleased to announce that Amelia Gregory's new book Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration is now available to pre-order here!

Featuring the best of the new ethical fashion designers, illustrated by 30 illustrators (including me!), Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration is perfect for anyone interested in and inspired by fashion, illustration and ethical fashion design.

In these internet-trumping-traditional-printing-times, it's lovely to be published in a book, especially one by a woman who champions illustration so heavily. I'm really pleased to be part of it and to be printed amongst the talented illustrators also involved is very nice indeed.

Amelia's last book, Amelia's Anthology of Illustration was a beautifully thick, hardback tome with fluorescent inks, with wonderfully illustrated solutions to climate change. Fans of Amelia's Magazine will remember the fantastic laser-cut, scratch n' sniff, and metallic covers, and the Compendium is no different, with a pearlised cover by Andrea Peterson.

So, if you agree style doesn't have to compromise substance (or vice-versa), Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration is for you. Ethically produced fashion to benefit everyone involved, in the most beautifully illustrated and designed package.

Swatch Watch

2010-10-15T00:26:00.005+01:00

Been drawing a Swatch watch for Amelia's Magazine's review of the New Gent's Line - it'll do nicely til I can get my own. Here's Matt Bramford's review of the various fashion magazines pitches for the Swatch beauties.

Bacon and Boxes

2010-10-14T16:01:00.001+01:00

Still getting the odd wedding present (hurray!) so, sometimes we use them, and sometimes we play with the packaging.

Ha-Ha Village Fete

2010-10-14T15:50:00.004+01:00

Minna

2010-10-06T23:02:00.005+01:00

Click here for a lovely interview with Finnish ethical designer MINNA by Jemma Crow for Amelia's Magazine. There's an upclose photo of the dress I drew and you can see how they've made it all old and vintage-y by dipping it in tea! Sustainable AND covetable!