Collaboration with So Typical Me

As an illustrator, there is nothing more fun than seeing your work on actual physical products. I love how these journals featuring my colourful houses have turned out. I’ve collaborated So Typical Me on arrange of four planners, inspired by colourful southern European buildings, and guaranteed to bring a bit of sunshine to your desk! I really love seeing work go straight from my sketchbook onto a product and I’m so happy with how these have turned out. You can find out more about the collection here.

A Calamity of Mannerings - Illustrating a Book Cover

I just wanted to share one of my of my recent commissions, illustrating the cover and interior spots for A Calamity of Mannerings by Joanna Nadin, and share a little bit about that process. 

A publisher got in contact with me asking me to illustrate a book cover and several black and white spot illustrations for a book they described as I Capture the Castle meets Bridgerton. I love this era of literature, so this was the perfect project for me! Initially they wanted the cover to show the three sisters. I used the WebCam on my computer to take reference photos of myself in different poses, and referenced those to sketch the cover. I sketched cover in procreate on my iPad, as this allowed me to sketch directly on top of the book cover layout created by the designer, and allowed me to sketch each element in a separate layer. This meant I could move the characters around and see how they were going to interact with the text. 

The publisher then decided to go in a different direction and wanted to just show the main character with her suitors. I took photos of my husband in the poses that I needed as a reference photos (I’ve been strictly forbidden from showing those photos to anyone!). Because I was sketching in procreate it was really easy to remove the two sisters and add in the two male characters. Once this was approved I did a very rough colour mock up to check they were on board with the colour palette. 

I then created the final artwork. The colour is all hand-painted with watercolours, but the line work is added digitally, which makes it look very clean and fresh. We weren’t sure if we wanted some of the line work to be gold embossed, which is why we wanted to have all the line work on a separate layer.  I don’t normally use black lines work in my work, but I think in the context of a book cover, where you need to grab peoples attention and stand out on a bookshelf, it really works.

The book has just come out and I’m so pleased with how it’s turned out. The designer did a beautiful job, and the book itself is getting rave reviews.

2022 Round up

I’ve done a little recap of the year because I wanted to take a moment to look back on the projects I’ve completed. I often find that when I’m working on a project I can’t share it because it’s top-secret, and then by the time the work comes out I’m onto something else, so often I forget to even share the work that I’ve done! So it’s nice to look back and reflect on a year full of book covers, greetings cards, editorial illustration, books and online courses. I have decided to divide this round up into seasons, becuaes I honestly cannot remember what I did last year and month by month!

Spring

The biggest thing that happened in spring was my third art book, Watercolour Life, came out! I had been working on this book throughout lockdown, my pregnancy and those early newborn days, so to see it out in the world but like a big achievement! It’s had a really lovely response from readers and reviewers, with some lovely magazine features.  In spring we also took our first family holiday abroad to Mallorca. It was our first time travelling post pandemic and post baby, and we had a lovely time. I even managed to do some painting. Spring also saw the launch of a collection of illustrated floral brownies with The Blushing Cook. Spring also sought the publication of Toujours La France, the third book by Janine Marsh about her life in France, and the third book that I have illustrated the cover for.

Summer

Summer was an exciting season for me. The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour was published, a children’s book by Anne Michaels that I had illustrated. I illustrated the first Miss Petitfour book, so it was wonderful to be able to return to the character and spend some more time in her world. Like Watercolour Life, I worked on this book whilst pregnant and looking after a small baby, so it felt like a real achievement. Summer also saw the launch of my Domestika course! This was filmed in the spring and launched a few months later, and I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the response. Six months I’ve had nearly 7000 students and 99% positive reviews. I even got highlighted by Domestika as the most successful new course of the quarter. For me the most awarding thing has been seeing my students at work and to be able to interact with them on the phone and give them feedback and advice. I also worked in another book cover, for a YA novel called A Calamity of Mannerings, which will be out next year. I also worked on some greetings cards with a big US retailer that will be available next year. 

Autumn

In early autumn we visited some friends in Norway, which was a really inspiring trip and I managed to do some painting and drawing in my sketchbook. At this point behind-the-scenes I was busy working on a new book, which will be out in 2024! I can’t share too much about it now, but I am really excited and it’s something slightly different for me. Autumn also saw the launch of my collaboration with Wimperis Embroidery. We created a beautiful embroidery kits that combined watercolour and embroidery with an autumnal theme. I also got some samples of greetings cards that I worked on earlier in the year, which are available in Trader Joes in the US.

Winter

In winter I was still busily working on my new book behind-the-scenes, and also working on some illustrated maps for another book that is coming out in 2023. I also developed and designed my very own gouache sketchbook, something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. For awhile I’ve been searching for the perfect sketchbook, so I decided to design one myself and I love using them! You can purchase one in my online shop. At this time I was also very busy behind-the-scenes preparing for my upcoming house move. We moved out of our London flat and into our new house just before Christmas, meaning I’m starting a new year in a new house in a brand new studio. 

So what is to come next year? I’m almost finishing writing a new book, however that won’t be out until 2024. I am very excited about teaching my first art retreat in Spain next year. (There are still a few places available, by the way!) I’m really hoping that this year I will have more time to focus on my sketchbook and coming up with new ideas. My big goal is to work on a children’s book! It’s been a dream for such a long time and now feels like the right time. 

The Perfect Gouache Sketchbook

If you follow my work on Instagram, or read this blog you probably know that I love working in a sketchbook! However for awhile I’ve been searching for the perfect gouache sketchbook, and when I couldn’t find one I decided to design my own!

A5 in size with beautiful heavyweight white paper with a subtle texture perfect for gouache. The pages are thick enough that it holds paint well without it bleeding through to the other side meaning you can work on both sides of the paper. The paper is bright white with a subtle texture and the sketchbook is soft back and saddlestitched, which makes it really easy to scan and reproduce your work. There are two specially designed covers, both of which are fun, colourful and cute. I didn’t want the artwork on the cover to detract from the artist’s own artwork inside the sketchbook, but at the same time I wanted the sketchbooks to be really cute and to be instantly recognisable as an Emma Block sketchbook, hopefully I’ve found that balance! I’m so so excited to see what people create with them!

New Book -The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour

She is back! I am so excited to announce that Miss Petitfour is back for another adventure! Haven’t heard of her? Let me introduce her, Miss Petitfour is a lover of adventures, tiny cakes and long words, she has sixteen cats and flies through the sky with a magical tablecloth.

I was so honoured to be asked to illustrate the second volume of Miss Petitfour stories. I can’t believe it’s been six years since the first book came out! It was so lovely to get reacquainted with Miss Petitfour and her sixteen cats again and immerse myself in her world. Anne Michael has once again written the most beautifully whimsical and wonderful stories, and it was an honour to bring them to life. The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour is coming out this summer! I will be posting some sneak peaks of my favourite illustrations in the next couple of months.

How I got started as an Illustrator

I often get asked how I got started as an illustrator, so here is an up-to-date account. This is just my story of how I became an illustrator, it is definitely not a guide on how to become an illustrator. Everybody’s path is different and everyone’s circumstances are are unique. I think my situation was certainly a little bit unusual!

Like most artists and illustrators I have loved drawing and painting since I was little. When I was 13 I left mainstream education due to ill health and didn’t go back to regular education until I was 16. I studied using distance learning and during this time and always kept drawing and creating. I went back to full-time education when I was 16 and did a National Diploma in Art and Design at Suffolk College. At the same time I started my blog and started showing my work online. I was really encouraged by my tutors at college and by the community I found online to keep producing work and sharing it. When I was 17 my work started to attract interest from clients as a result of my blog and I picked up my first job is illustrating greetings cards for Woodmansterne and Moo. I also started my Etsy shop and started selling prints, originals (very underpriced!) and greetings cards. As I wasn’t 18 yet my dad had to help me set it up as I didn’t have my own PayPal account.

After college I went to study a BA in Illustration at Middlesex University in London. Whilst studying at university I continued to produce my own work in my sketchbook, update my blog, run my online shop, and take on occasional professional projects. In my third year at university I was approached by a publisher and asked to illustrate a book called Tea and Cake. I worked on this book alongside my final major project at university and presented some of the work from this book at my degree show. Once I graduated university I continued working on the illustrations for this book and doing freelance illustration jobs. At this point I was working on a mixture of illustrations for greetings cards, magazines, and some branding projects for small businesses and blogs. It would definitely be a mistake to think I was some kind of overnight success. I was working full time as a freelance illustrator at 21, but I’ve been doing professional jobs here and there since I was 17 and gradually growing in experience and confidence. I made all the usual mistakes, undercharging from my work, accepting work without a proper contract etc. I just made these mistakes whilst I was still very young

I’ve been working full time as an illustrator for 10 years now, and in that time a lot of things have changed, but somethings haven’t. I still produce illustrations for magazines, books and greetings cards, I still have an Etsy shop, although it’s currently on a break, and I still find most of my work by putting my illustrations online.  In 2015 I began teaching and I have now taught hundreds of students how to paint with watercolours and gouache. I’ve now written and illustrated my own books, The Joy of Watercolour and Get Started with Gouache, with several other books in the pipeline due for publication 2022. It’s almost 10 years since I left university; I am now 30, writing my fourth book, expecting my first child and feeling just as lucky to be a full-time illustrator as I did when I first started.

I hope that was mildly interesting! For more some actionable career advice check out his blog post.

Getting Better at Drawing People

People often ask me how to get better at drawing people. The way to get better at drawing anything really is to draw from life and to practice. The best way to understand anatomy and facial structure is to go to a life drawing lesson, and I believe their are online life drawing classes. For me the best way to get better at drawing people in a more natural way, understanding how to show movement and body language, is people watching. Obviously at the moment location drawing trips can be tricky, so these are the two ways I’ve been drawing people in lockdown.

Number one, look out of your window. I live on busy road, people walk past my window all the time walking their dogs, going to the park, carrying their shopping. I try to take a mental picture of their outfit and posture and do a very quick sketch as they walk past.

Another great tool for drawing people going about their everyday lives is Google Maps! I’ve seen a lot of artists use Google Maps during lockdown for painting buildings and landscapes, but it’s also great for people. You can see enough of people walking down the street to get a sense of their character, how they dress, how they walk, but you don’t get caught up in tiny details as you can’t really see anyone’s face. I love visiting different areas I know on Google Maps and seeing how differently people behave in different spaced, people walking in a relaxed way by the seaside or people powerwalking or slumped over in the city. I’ve noticed how often couples and friends dress alike, and how they usually walk perfectly in step with each other.

The top row of the sketches were all created from google images, and the bottom row of people spotted from my window. I find these pages full of little people really useful and often adapt them for projects when I need someone walking or standing in a particular way.

Social Distancing Postcards for Pai

Pai Skincare asked me to illustrate a set of five social distancing themed postcards to send out with their orders. The idea is that people can send them out to friends and family who they can’t currently see during the lockdown.

Finding your Style

I often get questions from people about finding their style, and yesterday I had a really great question. Somebody asked me how she could learn from me, but not just make replicas of what I teach and really make the drawings and paintings her own. I thought this was a great question, so I thought I would share my answer here in case it’s useful to anybody else.

Just for fun I have included some examples of my work from as early as 2006 up to last year. As you can see my style has changed hugely over this time as I’ve experimented with materials and my drawing skills have improved.

Personal work completed whilst I was at sixth form College

It is definitely tricky when you’re starting out for your work not to look too much like the illustrators that you admire.

Personal work completed whilst I was at sixth form college

My first piece of advice for finding own style is to draw from life. Set up a still life and sketch it, paint a vase of flowers, sketch your pet, try a self portrait. Drawing from life is really important to develop your drawing skills and to help you find your style.

Personal work completed while I was at university

The other thing is it’s important not to just be taking inspiration from contemporary illustrators. Create work inspired by your favourite films, or the books that you love. Look at illustration throughout history. Look at fine art, set design, photography. Try to find really broad sources of inspiration that represent your interests, and that will help you find your style.

Work from my final year of university

I hope that was helpful! Have you found your style, or are you still finding it?

Recent work from my sketchbook

Patterned Papers for Mollie Makes

I was excited to be asked to illustrate this months pull out prints for Mollie Makes. It’s so lovely when when one of your oldest clients (I’ve been working with them since 2013!) let you try out something new. For the set of prints and patterned papers I wanted to play around with a limited colour palette, contrasting areas of bold colour and delicate line work, plus lots of lovely texture. I’m so pleased with how they’ve turned out. The patterns on the back can be used for craft projects and the prints on the front can be pinned to your wall or framed.

Confessions of a Workaholic

I asked on Instagram if anyone would be interested in blog post about how I, a former workaholic, learned to embrace work life balance. The answer was a resounding ‘Yes’. So many creative freelancers have relentless working practices that end up harming them mentally or physically. I was one of them. In the last four years I’ve been suffering with wrist problems, which I have learnt to manage but not cure. I’ve tried physiotherapy, medication, steroid injections, wrist supports etc, but the thing that’s made the biggest difference is taking breaks and sorting out my life work balance.

When I left uni I was a total workaholic. Going straight from university to full-time freelancing I had no structure in my life, I worked seven days a week, often working until 11 o’clock at night. After about four years of doing this it all caught up with me. After one particularly big project with a rush deadline I started getting shooting pains in my wrist and arm, and it all went downhill from there. At my worst just holding a knife and fork or brushing my teeth was a struggle. I could only draw about 10 minutes a day.

I really had no choice but to find a way of working that was sustainable for me physically, emotionally and financially. This is how I changed my habits and moulded my career into something that was no longer actively harming me.

Take breaks

I think everyone who is creative knows that feeling when everything is going right and you just want to keep working, but it’s so important to take regular breaks. I take little breaks throughout the day, and then stop work at about 6 and have a lazy relaxed evening. Some people find the Pomodoro technique helpful, which gets you to take a five minute break every 25 minutes, but personally I prefer to listen to my body and take a break once I feel my mind wandering all my wrist getting achey.

Be more productive

For me working very productively in a short period of time is how I manage to do most the things I want to do despite my wrist condition. It’s much better for me, my work and my wrist if I have a really productive few hours of work, rather than working all day and not getting much done. My usual work day is two or three hours of drawing and painting, and about two hours of admin (emails, invoicing, social media etc.) It’s so much better to work in a really focused way without distractions for a few hours, then enjoy total relaxation without worrying about work, rather than being distracted by other stuff when you’re working, then being distracted by work when you’re supposed to be relaxing.

Rest properly

As I mentioned above it’s important to stop every day life stuff seeping into your working time and distracting you. It’s equally important to stop work stuff seeping into your relaxing time and stopping you from properly resting. I don’t reply to emails in the evenings or on weekends, and I’ve set my iPhone so the access to social media is restricted late in the evening. You don’t need to be on 24/7. Just because someone has emailed you at 10 pm doesn’t mean you need to reply to them straight away. Proper rest is so important. When I’ve been really busy and everything gets on top of me I have days where I cannot get out of bed and end up sleeping most of the day. That’s fine, I let my body have the rest needs and start afresh the next day. If you don’t listen to your body and let it have the rest it needs it will eventually make the decision for you and force you to stop, which is never fun.

Change your mind set

For most of my life I felt incredibly guilty about wasting time or being unproductive. The only way to silence that nagging voice of guilt was to work incessantly. Then I injured my wrist which meant I feel guilty about working and hurting my wrist, but still guilty about not working and being unproductive. It was a no-win situation and I had to change my mindset, recognising rest as something that is productive and good for me. I needed to realise that going for a walk in the park was good because exercise and sunshine are both good for me, going for a coffee with my husband is good because quality time is an investment in our relationship, having an evening watching TV is good because sometimes your mind and body just need a rest. Everything and everybody needs to recharge at some point, and reframing downtime as something positive that was ultimately going to aid my productivity helps me feel less guilty about it.

Sometimes good enough is good enough

There are times when you do need to do your very best and give something 100% of your time and effort, but there are other times when okay is okay. You don’t have to be the best at everything all the time. I’ve never gotten around to setting up my own online shop, I just use etsy because it’s convenient, and that’s fine. I’m really bad at sending out newsletters, they take me so long to write that I’ve kind of given up. Not the end of the world. Until two years ago I was still using a Hotmail email address for all my business, I still got plenty of work. There will always be a long list of things that I could do to improve my work, my business etc but it’s all fine and I’m doing fine. Don’t need to beat myself up about not being perfect in every single way.

Charge more

There can be many reasons why we overwork. Sometimes it’s fear of failure or guilt around being unproductive, and sometimes we just need the money. Raising your prices and charging more for what you do gives you the freedom to say no to work when your schedule is already full. Charge more, work less might not sound very realistic but it’s exactly what I’ve done. When I started my career I was working all hours and earning very little. Through gradually raising my prices, getting better at negotiating, and learning to say no I’ve managed to earn a really good income and achieve a really good work life balance.

Redefine success

If your idea of success is being constantly in demand and working all the time then I think it might be worth tweaking that definition. My idea of success is to do what I love every day, make a good living, have lots of time to spend with my friends and family, get to travel to new countries, to enjoy the city that I’m living in, and do work that fulfils me and inspires others to be creative.

What does success look like to you?

Own Your Story with Kikki.K

Back in January I had a day of filming with a stationery brand that I really love. Kikki K have just launched a new collection called Own Your Story, and they gave me the opportunity to share a bit more of my story with you. We spent a whole day filming in my local area of North London, and we managed to get some really lovely shots despite the terrible weather. It was so nice to film and the area of london I grew up in, and live in now. The team were a total joy to work with, and 8 hours of filming flew by. I think my followers are very familiar with my work, but maybe not to familiar with my story, so it was nice to share a bit more about my self.

2017 in Review

It’s that time again, the year in review blog post! I’m terrible at remembering what I’ve done in a year, and tend to think I haven’t done much of anything, which is why I’ve got my diary out so I can go through the year month by month and remind myself of all the exciting stuff that’s happened. My hopes for 2017 were to grow my business in bold new directions (hello book deal!) but also to achieve more work-life balance and spend more social time with my husband and friends. I’m very happy to say I think I’ve done it!

January

My year started off with some pretty exciting work as I traveled to Berlin in January to live illustrate for SisterMAG. In January I started hosting my own watercolour and brush lettering workshops at West Elm. Until then I had been running workshops for soemmmebody else, and taking sole responsibility for teaching, promoting and running workshops was a little bit scary. I kept having dreams that I hadn't sold any tickets or that I turned up without any materials. I’m happy to say neither of those things happen and I have now taught a whole year of sell-out workshops at West Elm. I’m very excited to be adding some new workshops to my repertoire next year, including my gouache workshop which has already been very popular. I worked on a couple of book covers in January and provided illustrations for the Mollie Makes Creativity magazine. My husband and I also booked tickets to Peru!

February

This was the month but I got my book deal! At the end of 2016 my amazing agent sent out my book proposal to a few different publishers, and by February I had an offer! I read the email on my phone walking back from a Pilates class and when I met my husband for coffee I started crying out of shock and happiness. This month I taught a couple of brush lettering workshops with Etsy, which was really exciting as I wanted to work with them for a long time. I also did some illustrations for the Betty Collective website.

March

In March I went up to the north Norfolk coast to visit my aunt and uncle. One of my goals for 2017 was to take more time off, and visiting family who happened to live in a beautiful part of the country was a great way of doing that. That month I also did some live illustration with Dermalogica in Selfridge’s, and Viktorija and I hosted a second London Drawing Club event at the beautiful Barbican conservatory. I also illustrated some very popular postcards for Mollie Makes and illustrated a lovely article for Stylist Magazine.

April

In April we celebrated my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary, and the day afterwards my own wedding was featured on Love My Dress. I had a super busy month of workshops, trying to squeeze in as many as possible before my trip to Peru. I also did some live illustration with Reiss at Brent Cross shopping Centre. I also made time to see the amazing Hockney exhibition with Viktorija.

May

I spent most of May travelling.  I had a quick trip back to Suffolk to see my parents at the beginning of the month, and then I was home for one night before heading off with Nancy to a trip to Somerset with Joules, and then three days later I was heading off to Peru. Our time in Peru was absolutely amazing, and you can read more about it here. It was such an incredible trip and a great way to celebrate our first wedding anniversary.

June

In June I taught a really lovely watercolour workshop for Pinterest as part of their interior design awards, at the beautiful Bourne and Hollingsworth Building. I also taught a very special watercolour workshop with Oasis that took place in London Zoo. I got to chat to the zoo keepers and feed two pygmy hippos, which made it one of my top workshops ever. June was also the month that I initiated my Monday afternoon dates with my husband. He is a jazz musician so mostly works evenings and weekends, which means we need to be organised about spending quality time together and not just working all the time. He rarely works on Monday, so we decided that was the best day to take an afternoon off and do something fun together. In the last year our Monday afternoon dates have included trips to the cinema, exhibitions, lunches out, walks in national parks, vintage shopping and we've explored lots of new neighbourhoods in North London.

June is the month that I really started writing my book properly. The last few months I had been waiting to get the contract sorted, and I didn’t want to start actually writing it until everything was signed, although I had been researching and planning it in my head. It was so exciting to actually sit down and start writing my book! For me the challenge was finishing up all my other projects and saying no to new work to give myself the time I needed to do it.

July

I spent most of this month writing my book and enjoying the heat wave in London; going to barbecues, street fairs and summer parties. I also had the chance to go to a really lovely bloggers event in Somerset, which was such a lovely break away from the city and work. I had to hand in the first half of my manuscript on the first of August, which meant the last few weeks of July were very busy getting things finished and organising hundreds of images and pages and pages of writing.

August

August was all about writing my book, and I only taught one workshop all month to make sure I had plenty of time to focus on it. People always say how difficult it is to write a book but I actually really loved it. It was so nice to just work on one creative project continuously for three months, and not have to deal with contracts, negotiations invoices and everything else that comes with being freelancer. I also managed to enjoy the sunshine in London a bit and visited Columbia Road flower market with friends. I also worked on some content with Pink Lady Apples.

September

In September I had to hand in the second half of my book. This time I was much more organised, having named all the files correctly as I went along and kept the manuscript in better order. It turns out writing a book in order from start to finish makes life a lot easier than writing it in any old order you feel like! In September I also taught my first ever Instagram workshop which completely sold out and was a big success. I’m teaching another one in February.

October

In October my husband and I headed off to Lisbon as a post-book writing treat. Whilst I might have finished writing the manuscript and painting all the illustrations, there was still edits and changes to make, which I worked on during October. Fortunately the edits to the book were very light and not much needed to be changed. In this month I also personalised notebooks with brush lettering for Papier at Brides the Show, and did some live illustration at Harrods. I also had an interview and photoshoot with Moo in my flat, which was really exciting as Moo were one of my very first clients, read the interview here. I also worked with my friend Kathryn on the branding for her new company Wander for a While. I also developed some new products for my shop including note books and new Christmas designs.

November

November was a bit of a funny month. I had so many hospital appointments and social engagements that I felt a bit all over the place. The hospital appointments were for my wrist (for my ongoing RSI) and for my troublesome tooth. Fortunately both seem to have settled down for the moment. I also spent a lot of time preparing for an onslaught of festive workshops in December and sent out lots of Christmas Etsy orders. I also worked on some lovely magazine illustrations that I can't show you yet and some branding for The Market Beautiful. I also got to attend Weekend:IN again, this time in East London.

December

In December I taught lots of Christmas bauble painting and lettering workshops with clients including Topshop, Battersea Power Station and Seven dials. I also finalised the cover of my book with my publishers and got to see a first proof copy of my book. It was so exciting to see all those months of work come together into 250 beautifully designed pages.

So that was my year. I achieved my main goal of getting a book deal and writing a book, I also managed to travel and spend lots of time with friends. I think there’s a bit of a myth that as a creative freelancer you have to be badly paid, working constantly with no social life, and definitely no exercise routine, and it’s just not true. This year has been all about saying yes to exciting opportunities, no to the projects that aren’t right for me and learning to look after myself.

I’ve got some pretty big goals for next year, which include travelling more and hopefully writing more books. I’m so excited to see my first book come out this August, and I can’t wait to share it with you. Thank you so much to everyone who has come to my workshops, bought something from my shop or just followed me on Instagram, Your support means so much to me.

How to Wear a Beret

So apparently the beret is back in fashion, which is news to me. Was it ever not in fashion?? Essentially I just want to be French and living in the 60s, which goes a long way to explaining my love of berets and Breton striped tops. I’ve been wearing a beret every winter as long as I can remember, but maybe for most people the beret has been an item best left in the fancy dress box? Well no more, the beret is here to stay for this winter at least. To me a beret is about looking artistic, quirky, a little bit french and most importantly keeping your ears warm. There are many ways to where the beret . Here are some of my favourites. 

What style do you go for? I'm a mix between the classic and back of the head. You can pick up a beret from Accessorize, Topshop, And Other Stories or La Redoute (for authentic french style), but be quick, they are selling out fast.

Why it Doesn't Pay to Work for Free

Working for free has been a big issue for a long time in the illustration industry, but I really feel it's becoming a bit of a problem at the moment. You would assume that as you become more established and successful as an illustrator people would stop asking you to work for free in exchange for exposure, but what actually happens is you simply get bigger brands and clients asking for free work . The way I see it there are two types of clients that ask you to work for free. There are smaller clients that aren't making much money and assume that because they are working for free that you should too. This only works if you truly believe in what they're doing and actively want to collaborate. Just because their business isn't financially successful doesn't mean you should have to work for free as well.

The second type of client that asks you to work for free are the big businesses and well known brands. These clients are household names and they assume their reputation and influence means they  don't actually need to pay anybody creative. They can just pay you in exposure and you will happily work for free so that you can put the work in your portfolio and name them as a client on your website. Unfortunately this isn't really a good idea and too many illustrators fall for it. There have been times I've worked for free earlier in my career and regretted it.

Just to make it clear I'm not having a go at new illustrators that are currently doing work for free. I've done it myself, I know how tempting it can be! I just wanted to share my experiences with the benefit of hindsight. Also all the photos used in this post are of me doing paid work, not free work. I just thought a post without any photos would be very boring. 

Live illustration for SisterMAG

Maybe they'll like me if I work for free 

A client that asks you to work for free will never respect you. You might expect them to be extra nice to make up for the fact that they are not paying you, but actually these clients are usually the worst since they don't value you or your time. My experience has always been the better paid the job, the better you are treated by the client. This is particularly relevant when you're working at events, teaching workshops or doing live illustration. A client checking to see if you need anything or offering you a drink makes a big difference when you're working flat out for hours.

Live illustration for The Betty Collective

Maybe they'll pay me next time

I've fallen for that one before. The client has run out of budget this time but surely they'll pay me next time? The truth is that if you've agreed to work for free once, and you've done good work for the client, there is no reason why they would start paying you in the future. If having no budget worked out well for them last time why would they change it in the future? The exception to this is small independent magazines who sometimes will start paying contributors as they grow.

Running a workshop for Pinterest

But it would be great exposure

Generally my feeling is a company too small to be able to afford to pay you won't be able to offer much exposure, and a company big enough to offer huge amounts of exposure should be making enough money to pay you properly. Free work only leads to more free work. The best exposure that I have received has been as a result of paying work. Additionally a lot of the brands that contact me and offer me exposure have less followers on social media than I do!

Live illustration for Betty Magazine

But I don't need to make money from my illustrations I'm just doing it for fun

That's your choice, but ultimately it's bad for the industry. If clients can always find somebody to do the work for free they will keep asking for free work and keep allocating zero budget to illustration. There have been times when I have given a client a quote and they have come back to me saying 'this person is willing to do it for free, why can't you'? When you agree to work for free it's not always apparent the knock on affect you have on other people.

Running a workshop for Etsy

Is it ever okay to work for free? In certain circumstances yes, for  example for family, charity or causes that you really believe in. There are also some occasions when you can offer to work for free and make a calculated decision about how it will benefit you. For example the first time I ever did live illustration over two years ago at The Bloggers Market I offered live portraits for free in exchange for a tweet or Instagram. This was completely my decision and I wasn't pressured into it, also it wasn't a big business, it was run by girls my age. I had never done live illustration before and I didn't feel that I could charge a client for it until I knew I could actually do the job. The event went really well and it was so popular that it attracted the attention of the venue (The Hoxton Hotel) who immediately booked me for several of their upcoming parties (paid) and corporate events, which then lead to even more paid work live illustrating.

What do you do if a company asks you to work for free? You can politely explain why you don't work for free or you can just not reply at all. If you'd like to work with them in the future I would recommend sending back a polite email, but otherwise don't give it anymore of your time. 

What do you think? Would you work for free? Have you worked for free and regretted it?

National Stationery Week

Happy National Stationery Week! I love stationery and I'm not the only one. Hoarding unused notebooks that were too pretty not to buy seems to be a pretty common problem. Maybe you do the same? I don't know why stationery bring so much joy. Maybe because it's an affordable treat that can be both practical and beautiful.
Here are some of my favourite stationery items. I love metallic stationery at the moment, particularly my gold scissors from KikkiK, my amazing hexagonal gold pen from Not Another Bill, rose gold paperclips from Paperchase and gold bulldog clip from Papermash.
When it comes to writing implements you can't beat MUJI. I love their mechanical pencils and black gel pens.

Personalisation is the ultimate luxury when it comes to stationery, whether it's an embossed notebook or personalised notecards. For personal stationery Papier is your one stop shop. They create beautiful customisable stationery designed by a range of illustrators and artists (including myself). Their designs are fresh and elegant and the quality of the product is simply outstanding. The paper has a gorgeous texture and it looks like the designs have been hand-painted straight onto them rather than printed. 

My favourite stationery shops:
Choosing Keeping | Present and Correct | KikkiK | Papier | London Graphic Centre | Paperchase | MUJI

A Few Wise Words

Over on Instagram I shared some of my top tips as part of #MarchMeetTheMarker. They were just a few nuggets of wisdom I have cleaned in my 5 1/2 years of freelancing. It was one of my most popular ever Instagram post, so I thought I would share it again here. Obviously I am a freelance illustrator, but I think this advice could apply to any freelance creative.

Value yourself
If you don't nobody else will. When I first started illustrating I completely undercharged, and I think it's something that every artist and Illustrator does when you start out. Confidence and charging what you are worth go hand-in-hand, so make sure you value yourself and the work that you do. Don't buy into the 'starving artist' myth. For a while I told myself that I was lucky to be doing what I love for a living so it didn't matter but I wasn't making much money. That attitude will stop you from ever earning much money; if you don't expect to be paid well then you won't. When I realised that I worked very hard and that my work was of value and I had every right to be paid well for what I did, I started asking for more money and getting it.

Trust your instincts
I have learnt again and again to always trust my instincts. So many times when something hasn't felt right a project has gone wrong or things haven't worked out. Trust your instincts about what is a good opportunity and who are the right people to work with. When I first started freelancing I assumed that every opportunity was a good opportunity but sometimes that just isn't case. In fact any email that starts with the word 'great opportunity' is usually a request for you to work for free! One of the things I love about freelancing is that I don't have to say yes to everything. The more my career develops the more I have the freedom to say no and to only do the jobs I really want to do.

Take a risk and make things happen 
I've been very lucky that some incredible opportunities have come my way, but I've also learnt that I can't just sit around waiting for my dream job to come along. I've got to go out and make things happen myself. I find it so scary putting myself forward for things and contacting people, but when it all works out and I secure the project of my dreams it's the best feeling ever. Putting yourself out there can mean blogging, updating social media regularly, emailing at directors and editors or doing mail outs. It's important to find what works for you.

Finding Inspiration

In this blog post I wanted to talk a little bit about inspiration. I personally define inspiration as feeling motivated to do something or create something. It's that feeling when you read a great book and immediately want to sketch the main character, or you go somewhere so beautiful that you can't stop taking photos, filming or sketching.
In interviews I often get asked how I stay inspired, which I've always found a really odd question as I'm inspired pretty much 100% of the time. There is never really a moment when I'm not planning new ideas or thinking about things I want to paint in my head. I actually dream about paint, it's a bit odd.

But I think for most people finding inspiration and staying inspired is a bit more of a challenge. I think for a lot of people there number one destination for inspiration is Instagram and Pinterest. I love Instagram and Pinterest, I think they are amazing places to share your work, build a community, find new customers and clients and to get a general idea of what's going on in the creative industry is. However I don't think they're good place to seek inspiration. What normally happens after a Instagram binge is that you end up getting slightly overwhelmed by image after beautiful image. The problem is there is no context to these images, you have no sense of how long they took to create, or even when they were created chronologically, and how many first drafts had to go into creating the final piece. You might have scrolled through two years work in 30 seconds. What I generally find happens is that seeing so much beautiful work by other people in a short space of time makes me doubt myself. It makes me feel that simultaneously my work should be more colourful yet more muted, more complex but more simple, basically less like me and more like everybody else that I admire. And what usually happens is that I don't feel motivated to create at all, I just get stuck in a cycle of endless scrolling. Not that I don't love seeing beautiful work on Instagram and discovering new illustrators, but if you're starting to doubt your own work it's time to put the phone down. Best case scenario and you feel a bit down and wonder why you bother, worst case scenario is is that people actually try to imitate what they are see on Instagram and end up copying the artists that they admire. My work has been copied many times by students and amateur painters. I understand why it happens and how easy it is to do. If you are spending a lot of time looking at the same few artists work it's natural that your work will start to look like their's. The best antidote to this is to seek inspiration from as many different sources as possible, preferably away from a computer screen. 

So where do you find inspiration? 
This will vary for everyone. What inspires me may not inspire you, and that's a good thing. Peoples unique and diverse sources of inspiration are what makes their work unique. 
 

Museums and galleries
I always find walking round a museum with a sketchbook or visiting a beautiful exhibition really inspiring. There is something about seeing great works of art close up, seeing the texture of the paint and the individual brush strokes that makes me want to pick up a paintbrush soon as I get home.

Travel
I find travelling so inspiring, and when I travel I deliberately pick places that I know want to sketch or paint. I love going to the colourful cities like Seville or Marrakech or places with a strong history of folk art like Mexico or Peru.

People watching
People watching is such a great free source of inspiration. If you draw people in your work it's great to spend time observing real people, their body language what they wear et cetera. My favourite well-dressed old people and adorable children.

Old films and documentaries
I love the costumes and sets in old films. Anything with Audrey Hepburn oh Marilyn Monroe is a good start. I also love watching documentaries about inspiring creative women. Iris, and The Eye Has To Travel are two of my favourites. 

Vintage shops and antiques fairs
If you like drawing objects then vintage shops and antiques shops are great places to find inspiration. I don't know why it is but I find old objects have so much more character and are just more drawable than new objects. I would rather draw a typewrite than a MacBook any day.

Colour combinations
Keep an eye out for beautiful, accidental colour combinations in every day life. An iPhone is a great way to record these little moments of colour inspiration that might otherwise be forgotten. 

So basically every time you leave the house or switch on the TV the potential for inspiration is there! These are just a few of the places I find inspiration, hopefully this has encouraged you to try something you and seek out inspiration.

My Favourite Art Materials

I often get asked about the art materials I use, so I thought I'd list some of my favourites here.

For years I have used Winsor and Newton watercolours and gouache. Gouache is essentially an opaque watercolour so I use them both together. I have recently invested in a set of watercolours from Schmincke. They are about five times the price of a Windsor and Newton Cotman range, but there is a big difference in quality. The Schmincke set a much more highly pigmented and the colours are very vibrant. The paint has a different consistency to which makes it much easier to pick up large amounts of colour with one brushstroke. They have taken a little bit of getting used to as the colours are almost too bright for my usual work. They are a beautiful set of paints to invest in, but if you're just starting out I would recommend sticking with the Winsor and Newton as they are still great quality and really good value. If you know how to mix colours a set of 12 to 20 colours should be fine. I really like the ProArte Prolene brushes, Cotman brushes from Winsor and Newton and the Aquafine Brushes from Daler Rowney , they’re great for painting and brush lettering. I also love to use sable brushes, Series 7 Kolinsky are the best, but the Pro Arte sable brushes are good too.

Schmincke Horadam Watercolour Set
Winsor & Newton Watercolour Set
Winsor & Newton Designers Gouache
Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolour Brushes
Pro Arte Series Sable Brushes
Daler Rowney Aquafine watercolor brushes
Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Water Colour Brush
Pentel Aquash Water Brush Pens

When it comes to coloured pencils I’m mostly concerned with the colour and quality of the pencil, so I use lots of different brands. I like the softness of water soluble pencils best.

Caran Dache Prismalo Aquarelle Pencils
Staedtler Karat Aquarell Watercolour Pencils

I don’t use a sketchbook as much as I used too. I love the romance of them, but when it comes to scanning in sketches or using a Wooden Artist Lightbox
it makes more sense just to sketch onto A4 printer paper. I do like to take a sketchbook with me when I travel though. I was taught to stretch watercolour paper when I was studying art GCSE, and I've never done it since. I just really can't be bothered wetting, taping and waiting for paper to dry. I use blocks of watercolour paper that don't need stretching. My favourite band is Fluid and I use the hot and cold press paper. Hot pressed has a smooth surface and Cold Pressed has more texture.

Flexi-Sketch Book
Moleskine Cahier Sketchbook
Daler – Rowney Heavyweight Cartridge Pad
Fluid Watercolor Paper Block
Cass Art Heavy Weight Cartridge

My favourite art shops in London are London Graphic Centre and Cass Art. They both have online shops, and most of the materials mentioned can be bought on Amazon.

I hope this was helpful! Let me know if you have any questions.

Top Tips for Recent Graduates

Graduation is always a scary time, and after the degree show comes down it’s easy to feel a little bit lost. Here are 10 little nuggets of advice to hopefully get you through this transition period.

1. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it

When I was preparing for my degree show a lot of people were saying things like ‘well obviously I don’t expect to work as an illustrator’ and ‘everyone knows there’s no work in the illustration industry’. These things aren’t true. It’s not easy but it’s not impossible, and somebody’s got to take the photos, design the clothes and draw the pictures we all enjoy, so why shouldn’t you be the one to do it. I have made my living solely as a freelance illustrator since graduating 5 years a go. (update: I’ve now been freelancing full time for 8 years and I’ve just bought a flat in London. Nothing is impossible)

2. Stay passionate and keep producing work

If you’re passionate about your, work prove it. Don’t put down your sketchbook for 6 months after graduating. Keep writing/drawing/taking photos and producing new work. A portfolio with nothing but uni work in it doesn’t look great. I update my website every time I complete a new project.

3. Get a website

This is essential, and something that really should be sorted out before your degree show. A web address on a business card that leads to a blank page doesn’t leave a great impression. Making a simple but effective website doesn’t need to be expensive or difficult. Squarespace, Cargo, and WordPress are all great platforms. In the 21st century your website is your CV, so keep it updated. Also make you you use own your own domain name. You can buy yours at 123reg or godaddy. I currently use Squarespace for my website and blog: it's easy to update and comes up well in Google searches. A very large percentage of my customers are also readers of my blog, so for me this is one of the most important aspects of my online presence.

4. Look out for graduate opportunities

There is a relatively short time span when you are classed as a graduate, not just a student or a run of the mill freelancer. Take advantage of graduate schemes and awards while you can. Lots of big website and agencies like It’s Nice That run graduate showcases that guarantee a lot of exposure. This is something I really wish I had known about when I graduated.

5. Make the most of student discounts

You probably have about a month left of your student discount. Now is the time to join the Association of Illustrators and take advantage of your Apple student discount. Another thing to be aware of is once you’re are no longer a student you have to start paying council tax straight away, potentially making the last month of your tenancy agreement an expensive one.

6. Get a part time job

Working full time in your chosen career field is always the ideal, but sometimes you need a part time job to pay the rent before you get there. I would advise a part time not full time job so you still have the time and energy to devote to your work, but you know what will work for you. Look out for studio assistant job where you can learn from a successful artist as well as earning money.

7. Set up an online shop

Setting up a simple online shop somewhere like Etsy can help you start making an income from your artwork straight away. Whether you’re freelancing or working a day job it’s always nice to have another stream of income. Selling something like prints or greetings cards is fairly low risk as the minimum orders aren’t huge and they sell well. I recommend Printed.com. Doing craft markets is also a great way of making an income form your work and getting yourself out there.

8. Use social media

I can’t see why you wouldn’t want to utilise this amazing (free!) platform. Social media is a great way for clients to find you, as well as building an audience, interacting with like minded people, getting your work out there and finding a community. The platforms I get most work from is Instagram. As a highly visual platform it makes sense to use it was an illustrator. I also use  Pinterest, have a newsletter and I blog.

9. Keep your options open

When I first graduated with a degree in Illustration I thought I might do some drawings for greetings cards and magazines. I never imaged that I would draw live at big events, that I would teach hundreds of students brush lettering and watercolours, that I would be whisked off to France with Stylist Magazine and that I would write books. My career has developed in ways I could have never imagined. Be open to trying new things.

10. Don’t give up

To be honest the only person that can put an end to your dreams is you. Success never comes overnight. It takes years of hard work to build a career in the creative industries.