Petit Pleasures design for Papier

Papier asked me to create a fun illustrated pattern showing people enjoying various hobbies. I used rough gouache texture and a palette of soft complimentary colours. It has been used for their excellent wellness and productivity planners.

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.

Keeping a Sketchbook

Sketches from Paris

When I was at university keeping a sketchbook was of utmost importance. We had a sketchbook for each project we worked on and a personal sketchbook. We spent a huge amount of time drawing from life on location, in London and on class trips around the world. When I asked my tutors if I could take a week off school to go to Paris on my own and sketch they said yes. At the time I didn’t quite get the true importance of regular sketching, and sketches seemed like a means to an end, a way of progressing through a project. But when you sketch regularly you build up a personal reference library for yourself, that you can use it for years to come. When I’m starting a project and need reference images or inspiration the first place I go is to my sketchbooks. Whether I need an image of some roof tops, some spring flowers, or a couple walking, I know that I will have a sketch of that somewhere. Of course I could find reference photos online for all of those things, but it’s just so lovely to be able to use my own sketches as reference, to turn the pages of my sketchbook and have all the memories of that time and that project come flooding back.

Sketches from Peru

I fell out of love with sketchbooks for a few years, I think because I’ve always struggled with pencil sketches. I think in terms of colour, texture and shape, not line, so pencil was always a bit limiting for me. When I realised I could just paint straight into my sketchbooks instead of worrying about pencils it reinvigorated my sketchbook practice.

A sketchbook should be whatever you need it to be, it can be full of pencil sketches, notes, doodles, paint swatches, paintings both finished and half completed. Sketchbook is a place to record experiences and ideas.

Sketches from Mallorca

Sketches from Tuscany

Sketchbooks I like:

For watercolours – Hanhemule Watercolour Book

For gouache: Moleksine Art

For pencil sketches - Moleksine Cahier

Fabriano Bouquet Collection of 7

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.

Teaching with Watercolor Summit 0.2 Gouache Edition

One of my big goals for this year is to teach my first online workshop, and I am so pleased to announce that I am! I am so, so excited to be teaching along with seven other amazing artists in the Watercolour Summit 2.0 Gouache Edition. It’s an online creative summit, which means people from all around the world can join in.
I’m so excited to be sharing my knowledge on painting with gouache, with a particular focus on painting people.
Registration opens in April. Go to artsummits.com/emmab to sign up.

Top Tips for Slower Travel

Earlier in the year my husband and I went on a little holiday to Tuscany, where we stayed in the tiny picturesque town of San Miniato, and had one of our best holidays ever. A friend asked me what there was to do there. The answer was nothing; there was just a beautiful town, with beautiful scenery, great restaurants and lovely weather. We just relaxed, walked, ate, talked and enjoyed ourselves. My husband and I never made a conscious decision to embrace ‘slow travel’, (a growing trend for mindful holidays), it was just something that happened naturally. After a couple of very chilled, very relaxed holidays we now realise that slow travel is what we’ve been doing all along.

I think a combination of social media and limited annual leave means people are keen to pack as much as they can into a short period of time. The ‘photos or it didn’t happen’ culture makes us feel like the most important thing is other people knowing where we went and what we did, rather than how much we actually enjoyed it. I don’t like the way people talk about being able to ‘do’ a city in a set number of days, as if the city is nothing but a collection tourist attractions to be ticked off your list. I feel like the rise of Instagram has made travel very performative and it can actually become stressful for many of us.

Slow travel is all about slowing down and taking the time to make a real connection with the place you are visiting. It’s about spending time in one place, exploring your surroundings at a gentle pace and really relaxing, rather than rushing around in order to visit lots of different places. It means doing what you really want to do, whatever that is for you. It’s about abandoning the to do list of ‘must see’ sites and tourist attractions, and taking the time to really enjoy things rather than just check them off the list.

Top Tips for Travelling Slow

Pick somewhere where you can get around on foot or by bike.
It could be a gorgeous little village, it could be a city, but pick somewhere where you’re not constantly having to drive from place to place. You experience so much more buy just walking and taking in your surroundings. You could even make walking or cycling the main activity of your holiday. I love going on long country walks with my husband.

Keep your schedule flexible
Don’t pack your holiday full of constant day trips and early starts, make sure you’ve got time to relax and explore the area you’re staying in. Leave some day unaccounted for and see how you feel on the day.

Consider going self catering
Eating out is definitely part of the fun when travelling, but I also love going to little local shops to pick up fresh produce for an alfresco breakfast or a simple lunch. Staying in a holiday rental like Airbnb gives you a chance to have a little taste of living like a local.

Prioritise what you want to do, not what you think you should do.
Forget the things you’ve been told you ‘must see’. If you want to do them, do them, and if you don’t, don’t. Don’t feel guilty about going to a place and not seeing it’s top attraction if it’s not something you are genuinely interested in. Equally if you really lovely somewhere don’t worry about doing the same thing more than once.

Embrace public transport
My husband and I can’t drive, so we’ve kind of been forced to embrace public transport. But we could just take taxis everywhere and we don’t. Using local buses and trains is often a much more memorable experience.

Take time to get to know the area you’re staying in
Find your favourite bakery, your favourite route from your apartment to the main square, get a loyalty card at the local coffee shop, buy fresh produce from the market every morning and take time to observe the rhythms of the place you’re staying in.

Make time just to be
Don’t pack your days full of things to do, constantly rushing from one place to another on a tight schedule. Take time to sit, have a drink, soak up the atmosphere and hopefully the sunshine too. If you feel like it bring a book, a journal or a sketchbook with you, but equally it’s fine to do absolutely nothing.

The most important thing is of course to make sure your holiday works for you. Everyone has different needs, but slowing down a little bit and taking in your surroundings can only be a good thing.

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?

My London Little Black Book

As a Londoner I often get asked for recommendations for what to do when visiting the city. Here’s a list of my favourite places to shop, eat and drink coffee.

The photos in this post were all taken from the official website of the various venues mentioned. All the photos are copyright of the venue mentioned, unless otherwise noted in the caption.

Art Shops

L. Cornelissen

The most beautiful art shop in London is Cornelissen. It looks like something out of Harry Potter. It’s also right next to the British Museum, so I would recommend visiting both at the same time.

Cass Art is a chain of affordable art shops that can be found all over London. The flagship store is in Islington, but I also often pop into the Soho store, and there is one next to the National Portrait Gallery.

If you are exploring East London then Cowling and Wilcox and Great Art are in Shoreditch are also both were a visit.

Present and Correct is more of a stationery shop than an art shop, but they have a great range of pencils. you’re not following them on Instagram and Twitter already, you definitely should be.

Choosing Keeping is an independent stationery shop that stocks a wide range of supplies for painting, calligraphy and bookbinding. It’s a beautiful store and a great place for finding more unusual brands and products.

Choosing Keeping

Coffee

Clerkenwell Grind

One of my favourite places for coffee is Notes coffee shop, which is just opposite the National Gallery. My husband and I are often in Charring Cross due to the large number of book shops and guitar shops so we get coffee here regularly. They’ve also just opened a shop in Kings Cross.

Another favourite coffee shop is the Grind chain. You can find the coffee shops in Soho, Shoreditch and Clerkenwell. The Clerkenwell cafe is definitely the prettiest.

Saint Espresso, in Islington, and next to Baker Street station both do great coffee.

Kaffeine in Soho also do great coffee and light meals. I had a butternut squash and gruyere tart there which I still think about fondly.

Brunch

Bourne and Hollingsworth

I love brunch at Café Miami in Hackney, everything on the menu is delicious and it’s such a sweet little café.

Bourne and Hollingsworth in Clerkenwell is a classic for brunch, although you definitely need to book ahead. The interiors are absolutely beautiful. Also if you’re going mid week they have a great lunch time set menu.

Cafe Miami. Photo by @mybeatificworld. That’s my hand grabbing that toastie. It was so good.

Lunch/dinner

Blanchette

I love lunch at Blanchette in Soho. It’s such a beautifully quaint little French restaurant, and it does delicious French style Tapas. They also have a great lunch set menu. My top tip for eating out in London is always look out for a lunch set menu as they are often very good value.

Another favourite is the Ivy Café in Marylebone. The Ivy group have restaurants all over London, but my favourite is the Marylebone café as it’s cosy and intimate, and one of the more affordable ones. Top tip, order the zucchini fries. The Ivy Cafe is also know for it’s beautiful exterior decorations, especially at Christmas.

Brasserie Zedel is great for a reasonably priced classic french food with beautiful interiors. This vast underground restaurant feels like you’re stepping back in time. I highly recommend the tarte tatin.

For a quick and cheap meal in London Franco Manca is my go to. They make great sourdough pizza have branches all over London.

Brasserie Zedel

Bookshops

Daunt Books

Daunt Books in Marylebone is a beautiful bookshop, and the rest of the street is lovely as well. They also have a shop in Hampstead.

I love Foyles on Charing Cross Road. It’s huge, it has almost every book you could possibly be looking for and it has a lovely café as well.

There is also Hatchards in Picadilly, the UK’s oldest book shop.

Museums and galleries

One of the best things about London is it’s incredible range museum galleries, almost all of which are free to enter.

The V&A is one of my favourite museums in London, it’s absolutely vast and so inspiring. The café is also beautiful.

Wallace Collection

The Wallace Collection is one of my favourite places in London and a true hidden gem. It’s famous for its beautiful interiors, stunning artwork and ever so Instagramable pink courtyard cafe. I recommend going straight to the café and ordering a pot of tea, it comes in lovely cast-iron teapots, and then exploring the rest of the house. Entry is free and it’s a great place to sketch.

The Tate Britain is definitely my favourite out of the two Tates. The classic architecture and the serene atmosphere appeals to me. I love the permanent collection and they have some great exhibitions.

The Fashion Textile Museum have some great exhibitions. This summer I’m looking forward to their exhibition on Peruvian textiles.

Tate Britain

Cocktails

The Night Jar

The Night Jar is a underground speak easy style bar in Old Street. It’s pretty small so it’s worth booking in advance, especially if there is live music that night. Cocktails here are fun and inventive. If you want to drink a cocktail from a giant seashell or an edible waffle cup this is the place. It’s sister bar The Oriole is also lovely.

The Ned is an absolutely beautiful hotel and former bank which has been lovingly restored to its 1920s glory by The Soho House Group. They have regular live music on Sundays and often there is swing dancing. It’s lovely to have a drink and have a little dance, there are lots of pros so even if you can’t dance it’s nice just to sit and watch. There is something lovely and old-fashioned about complete strangers coming up to you and asking for a dance. I’m a terrible dancer but I normally have a go.

The Ned

Hotels

charlotte street hotel

I love the Charlotte Street Hotel, it’s very old school with a bit of a twist. The rooms are beautifully designed by Kit Kemp. Every room is a total delight. I’ve been here for the afternoon tea and cocktails, but I’d love to have the opportunity to stay.

I’ve been to the Leman Locke hotel as part of an event with WeekendIN, which means I’ve had a chance to eat at the restaurant and see inside the bedrooms. It’s almost like a studio flat with calming pastel minimalist decor. It’s perfect if you’re in London for work, or just want to stay somewhere that feels more like a (very trendy) home.

The Hoxton have hotels all over the world now, but the original in Shoreditch is a classic. Ive been there many times for coffee and events, there’s always something going on at The Hoxton. The location is great and the rooms look lovely.

Leman Locke

I hope this list is useful. Let me know if there’s anything else you would like to see added to the list. I’m probably going to add new places as I discover them.

New Home - Bedroom Tour

Post sponsored by Vinterior

I am really excited to share a little tour of my bedroom with you. Last week Vinterior came to visit my flat to take some photos and interview me about my interior style. I’m so pleased with how our bedroom has come together. I would describe our bedroom as Gothic Victorian meets mid century modern. It sounds like a total mess but in reality it feels charmingly eclectic in a boutique hotel kind of way.

I had always liked the idea of having a navy wall behind the bed, and in the end we decided to just be brave and go for dark blue on all four walls. I’m so glad we made this decision and it gives the room such a dramatic yet cosy feel. I think the combination of high ceilings and the massive window means we get away with using such an intense colour. The colour is Breton Blue from Dulux. It was my husband’s idea to paint the radiator black to match the fireplace, and it works so well.

The thing with our bedroom is its biggest asset is also its biggest challenge; it has a beautiful original fireplace which somewhat limits the layout of the room. I love the fireplace, it’s so dramatic and unusual and it’s actually what originally drew me to the flat. 

Obviously we wanted to celebrate the fireplace and making a focal point of the room, but that meant carefully buying furniture and that would squeeze into the remaining space. At first I wasn’t sure what kind of furniture I wanted, so I ordered a practical looking three door wardrobe from a high street retailer for just over £500. After the third time they failed to deliver it I thought to myself, what am I doing? It’s so expensive, it’s flat packed, it’s not even made of real wood and by the time we move house again it will probably look awful. So I had a look on Vinterior, and found my wardrobe of dreams which happened to be the same dimensions as the other wardrobe, but made out of solid walnut and £200 less. I immediately ordered it.

I found most of our other pieces of furniture on Vinterior as well. Initially I was a bit worried about how an antique wardrobe would you look in a room with a mid century chest of drawers and bedside tables, but I think the dark dramatic colour makes everything cohesive. 

I love buying vintage furniture, you can find something unique that is well-made yet affordable, and it’s good for the environment. Vinterior made it so easy to find beautiful pieces in my price range and have them delivered to my flat. The nice thing is the pieces came from independent vintage and antique shops from all over the country, that I never would’ve found otherwise. 

The finishing touches in the room are a pair of grey velvet curtains from DKNY, by at TK Maxx, a simple king size bed from made.com and a Peruvian rug next to the bed. The walls are decorated with framed Otomi embroidery we bought on our honeymoon, a vintage map and a giant gold hand painted fan I found in a vintage shop. I love the way it looks against the blue wall and how it catches the light in the afternoon. My friend Migle from Your London Florist gave me this enormous bunch of dried flowers and they still look amazing for months later. I love the how the colours look against the blue walls. 

This post is sponsored by Vinterior, however I paid for all of the furniture in this post myself, and all opinions are my own. You can get 10% off your first order with this link. Read the interview and watch the home tour here.

My 2018 in Review

So 2018 was a bit of a crazy year. I feel like I say that every year, but I think your late 20s are the pivotal years when big things happen and you start making strides in the world rather than just bumbling along cluelessly (or maybe that’s just me). The two biggest things that happened this year where that my first book, The Joy of Watercolour came out, and my husband and I bought our first home in London. It was so exciting to have my first book published, and the reaction has been incredible. It has sold so well that it went to reprint within a month. The best thing for me has been the reaction on social media. I absolutely love seeing people painting the projects in the book and getting in touch asking for advice or just telling me how much they enjoy it. I absolutely loved the process of creating a book from start to finish and I’m excited to be writing another book next year.

At the beginning of 2018 I wrote down my goals, one of which was to buy a house, which honestly I feel ridiculous just writing down, but somehow it’s happened. It’s funny how things work out; what started as a very stressful situation, being forced out of the flat my husband and I had rented for five years with no warning, led to us buying a beautiful flat that we love. It’s a Victorian conversion with lots of original features and I’ve had the time of my life with decorating and sourcing furniture. I wrote about the living room here and I’m planning more interiors posts in the new year.

This year also included a once-in-a-lifetime trip to San Francisco, which I still need to blog about. On this trip I had the chance to meet my literary agent Leslie face-to-face for the first time after years of working together. The trip was absolutely incredible and we both loved California. Visiting Yosemite was a particularly memorable part of the trip. I had time to take a couple of meetings while I was in San Fransisco which have led to some exciting things for 2019.

This year I had make peace with the fact that the repetitive strain injury in my wrist is likely to be permanent, and I will always have a lack of strength and range of movement in my right hand. This means my live illustration career is over, but I’m not too upset about that, I think it’s important for your career to always be evolving and changing to meet your needs. I really feel my passion lies in writing and illustrating books and encouraging others to be creative.

I worked with some lovely brands this year. At the beginning of the year Kikki K spent a day with me and made this beautiful video. If you want to learn a little bit more about me and my background I definitely recommend watching it. I also had Papier visit me in my studio and create this stunning video of me painting one of their wedding stationery designs. I’m working on some new wedding stationery designs for Papier at the moment which will be launching in the New Year. I also had the opportunity to design an Emma Block illustration Easter egg with Godiva, which was a rather bizarre but absolutely lovely job. 

This year I did a lot of editorial work with clients including, Vogue Brides, Next, Magnolia Journal, In The Moment Magazine, Prima, Sister Mag, The English Garden, The House The Lars Built and Eve Mattresses. I do think my style evolved a bit this year, embracing the dry texture of gouache more than ever.

In terms of personal goals this year I read more books, the majority of which were by female authors, got back into the habit of working in my sketchbook, and developed a gym routine, which I’ve now completely abandoned since moving house. In the new year I’m hoping to find a new gym, and get back into reading and working in my sketchbook, make the most of living in London and visit lots of exhibitions with friends and family. I’m really excited about what 2019 will bring, and I can’t wait to start writing my second book.

Fear of the Blank Page

I don’t personally like the phrase ‘creative block’, but fear of the blank page is definitely real! As an artist and an art teacher I have learnt there are so many things that can hold people back from be creative. Having no ideas, having too many ideas, perfectionism and worrying the painting will be a failure, worrying about wasting expensive materials, and good old fear of the blank page. As a professional illustrator I’m used to painting a lot, but I recently took a break due to travelling and moving house, and I was shocked by how much my confidence had dropped in that time. If I feel nervous about doing a painting after a ten day break, I can only imagine how people feel if they haven’t painted or drawn for years. Here are my top tips for getting over that fear and getting creative again.

Start small

This usually works for me. If you haven’t painted in a long time and you’re feeling anxious the last thing you want to do is start on a huge canvas or an expensive piece of watercolour paper. Even starting a new sketchbook can be scary. Working in a small sketchbook, or on a small piece of paper is a good way to start without worrying about wasting materials or time. Don’t start a huge project, just start something simple you can finish in an afternoon. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It’s just the start.

Keep a list of ideas

I’m sure we all know that feeling, you’ve finally found the perfect time to sit down and do some painting and you can’t think of what to paint. Keep a private Pinterest board or a Instagram collection of images that inspire and write down things that you would like to paint in a notebook. That way it’s there to reference when you’re in the mood to paint.

Make yourself comfy

Again this is one always helps me. Make yourself comfy, make a cup of tea, get your desk arranged nicely, put on your favourite music or podcast in the background and start slowly.

Gather research and reference images

Sitting down and immediately starting to paint puts a lot of pressure on yourself. It’s so much easier when you’ve got a starting point. Try collecting some small objects and drawing from life, or look through photos you’ve recently taken, are there any elements that would translate well to a painting? When I’m out and about and I don’t have time to sketch something I see I often take a quick photo and then paint it later.

Try a workshop

If you’re really feeling lost the guidance of a workshop can really help. The tutor will be on hand to advise and encourage you, and attending a workshop is about giving your self permission to do nothing but learn and be creative for a couple of hours, which is really important. Shameless self promotion, I teach watercolour and gouache workshops regularly in London. Find out more here.

Try a drawing exercise

Sometimes you just need to loosen up and do a few exercises to get used to making marks on the paper. At the beginning of my life drawing classes at university my tutor used to make us draw with our eyes closed, draw with our left hand, draw with a continuous line and draw two minute poses. The point of these exercises is to encourage creativity and get rid of perfectionism. Don’t worry about the end result, just enjoy the experience of mark making.

Follow a tutorial

Following a tutorial is a great way of being creative without having to worry what you’re going to paint. You can find painting tutorials online and in books. Shameless self promotion yet again, my book is full of projects for all skill levels and is a great way of getting back into painting and building up your confidence.

Our New Home - Living Room Tour

Earlier in the year my husband and I had to leave our rented flat of five years, but every cloud has a silver lining and for us that meant buying our own home. I was so excited for us to finally have a place of our own, and really being able to put our own stamp on it. Our previous flat was furnished which meant we were starting from scratch, which was exciting and intimidating in equal measure. 

I was incredibly lucky to work with West Elm on designing this room. I have been teaching at West Elm and have been admiring their beautiful furniture for years, so it was so exciting to finally have some of their beautiful pieces in my home. Moving from a rented new build flat into a large converted Victorian flat meant decorating options for this room seemed endless. Fortunately I had Sophia from the West Elm design team to help me plan the space and select pieces that would work with the few things we already owned (a free service West Elm provide). I showed Sophia the floor plan, a few inspiration images and talked about my personal style (obviously my husband lives here too but he let me have free reign with this room). We went for a slightly mid century modern look with lots of plants, sophisticated gold and brass accents and warm tones. I was initially worried that painting the walls the same shade of light grey as the sofa would be a bit of a mistake, but I think the accessories and soft furnishings really bring it together.

West Elm classes this sofa as a loveseat, but it easily seats three people and is incredibly comfy. I’m all about finding as much hidden storage as possible, which is why this coffee table is so perfect. Inside it is full of photo albums and boardgames. My husband and I are total bibliophiles so bookshelves were an absolute must. These shelves fit in so perfectly and hold a huge amount of books. My husband actually unpacked and styled the books, and I love the way he arranged them. I love the juxtaposition of my books next to his, copies of Jane Austen and Little Women, next to books about anarchy and moral philosophy. I like to think these bookshelves give you a bit of an insight into who we are as people. My husband and I don’t own a TV, which means we didn’t have to worry about pointing our furniture towards one corner of the room, and instead we can sit on the sofa and enjoy the lovely view of Victorian Almshouses through the bay window.

When I’ve tried to do a gallery wall in the past I’ve made the mistake of going too small and it has lacked impact, so I tried to be a little bit bolder with this one. The beautiful rose gold frames are from West Elm and the rest of the frames are either vintage or ones we already had from IKEA. I wanted the artwork on this wall to feel warm and peaceful, and I created a few abstract watercolour pieces especially to create this mood. I also ordered an A3 version of my Peruvian ladies print, and framed a piece of the original artwork from my book inspired by a trip to Morocco. I love how little reminders of our holidays together are scattered throughout the flat. The velvet cushions are from West Elm and the others are either from Peru or vintage patchwork, adding a bit of character to the sofa.

This room had a working fireplace but no fire surround. I sourced a Victorian tiled fire surround on Facebook marketplace for just £30. I absolutely love the tiles and I think it works so well within the room. As the fireplace is very decorative I kept it simple with this beautiful mirror above which nicely highlights the statement lighting. I absolutely love how they look in the room and they give out a gorgeous warm light. We placed them over the coffee table so no one walks into them and bangs their head, although my husband has hit his head on them at least once. 

I love this cosy little corner. This chair is an antique piece that has been passed through the family; you can read about how I painted it green in this blog post. The combination of the pink velvet curtains, the green chair and the copper sidetable just makes me so happy. It’s the perfect place to sit with a cup of tea and ring my granny, as she’s the only person who ever rings my landline. The pink curtains are from DKNY, via TK Maxx and the cushion is from Peru.

This post is sponsored by West Elm, who kindly gifted me the furniture pictured in the post. The photos were taken by my very talented friend Tia Talula. The flowers and several of the plants were provided by my good friend Migle, owner of Your London Florist. 

The Joy of Watercolor Book Launch

This week I celebrated the UK launch of my book and I have to say after my wedding it was probably the happiest evening of my life. I’m so lucky to have such incredible friends and family who made the evening so special. The Village Haberdashery hosted the party in their colourful modern craft shop and event space, Your London Florist provided the beautiful flowers, Kathryn from Wander For A While took photos on the night and  My Little Cake Tin made the most incredible sweet treats I have ever seen. Everyone who came  is so creative and kind, and their support means so much to me. 

Also let’s talk about THAT cake. My Little Cake Tin made a cake inspired by watercolours and flowers and I think it’s the most beautiful cake I’ve ever seen. Tarunima made my wedding cake two years ago, and I’ve always wanted to work with her again because she is so incredibly talented, and such a lovely person. I didn’t really give her any direction on the cake, she just took inspiration from my book and far exceeded my wildest expectations. And of course it was absolutely delicious, like everything she makes. 

We almost sold out of books on the night, but The Village Haberdashery have a few signed copies left in stock, which you can buy in store or through their website. 

A little Guide to the Suffolk Coast

I love Suffolk; I think it’s a little bit overshadowed by Norfolk as a mini break destination, but Suffolk has so much to offer. It’s only an hour and 10 minutes from London on the train and is full of beautiful villages and charming seaside towns. This is by no means an exhaustive guide to Suffolk and for this first instalment I have decided to write about the Suffolk coast line, which is recognised as an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Aldeburgh

Aldeburgh is a lovely little seaside town with a pebble beach, colourful houses, boutique shops and a nostalgic British charm. It also has a generous helping of art with Maggi Hambling’s scallop shell and Antony Gormley’s figure on the Martello Tower, plus several good art galleries, including Thompsons. Aldeburgh is known for its fish and chips, with queues stretching up the road at lunch time.

Walberswick

Walberswick is a favourite place from my childhood. I have fond memories of going crabbing with my little brothers and playing in the sand dunes. The highlight of Walberswick is definitely its slightly wild, windswept feeling beach with sand dunes aplenty.It also has extensive heath and marshlands with picturesque herds of dosing cows. Around this part of Suffolk there is a trend for black painted wooden clad buildings, which I love as they look so striking against Suffolk‘s flat landscape.There isn’t very much to the village of Walberswick, but I recommend having lunch at The Bell or The Anchor.

Southwold

Across the river Blythe is Southwold. You can walk across the bridge or get the ferry. The ferry is simply a wooden dingy sailed backwards and forwards by a man who charges £1 per person, dogs are free. The journey only takes a few minutes and it’s lovely to take part in something that has been a Walberswick tradition for so long. Southwold is a very pretty town with a great selection of shops, cafes, pubs, bakeries and galleries. Highlights include The Swan Hotel, which has been recently renovated and has beautiful rooms, and the lighthouse. 

Thorpness

Thorpness is a strange little village by the sea. It mostly consists of holiday cottages built in the early 1900s, the Meare, a shallow yet extensive man made lake for boating, almshouses built in the 1920s that looks like they could be  mediaeval, and the house in the clouds, which was originally built to hide the eyesore of having a water tower in the village. In 2003 it was named Britain’s weirdest village, so it's not just me that thinks it's a bit odd. It also has a stretch of quiet and windswept beach. It’s definitely worth paying a visit to see the house in the clouds and go boating on the lake.

Orford

Orford is a small village near the coast, on the banks of the river Ore. It’s famous for its castle and the excellent Pump Street Bakery. I definitely recommend popping in for a hot chocolate or a sausage roll. You might recognise its distinctive pink building from Instagram.

Snape Maltings

Not far from Orford you'll find Snape Maltings, a converted barley maltings turned arts venue. This complex of buildings houses everything from concert halls, galleries, vintage shops, print studios and cafes, set in stunning natural surroundings. It has a couple of excellent pieces of outdoor sculpture, which work so well as part of the landscape.

Felixstowe

Whilst Aldeburgh, and Southwold feel distinctly upmarket, Felixstowe definitely isn’t, but that’s where its charm lies. There is something nostalgic and a teeny bit tacky about Felixstowe. It’s a very affordable place to eat and drink, with a scoop of ice cream costing £2.20 rather than the £2.95 you'll find in Southwold. I particularly recommend the Little Ice Cream Company for excellent ice cream. Felixstowe boasts a newly renovated pier and a long stretch of pebbly beach with colourful beach huts. At the far end of Felixstowe the beaches are a bit more wild and dog friendly through out the year.

I hope you have enjoyed this first instalment. I'm hoping to write another covering the lovely villages you find inland at some point. 

Joules x New Designers

It’s that time again, fledgling designers are being pushed gently out of the nest and into the real world. It’s an exciting time, and I was lucky enough to visit New Designers to take a look at the new talent graduating this summer and learn more about how Joules champions creativity.

Last year I visited New Designers with Joules and my friend Nancy, and this year I was lucky enough to do it again. It is so lovely to combine my love of design and social media in such a nice project. We started the day with lunch at Bourne and Hollingsworth before wandering over to the Business Design Centre to check out the work on display.

I was really impressed by the work on display, and I’ve highlighted some of my favourites breaking it down into several main trends that I saw emerging.

A Sense of Place

I noticed that many of the projects on display were strongly inspired by a particular place. This is very important to Joules, as the print designers to take regular research trips around the UK to gather inspiration for their seasonal prints.

The winner of the Joules prize for graphics and illustration Megan Williams from Nottingham Trent University. Her work was sophisticated and diverse tackling everything from packaging design to public awareness campaigns. I particularly liked her project exploring the Leicester dialect, which combined photography and handwriting text and created a strong sense of place. The judges picked her work as it is is colourful, sophisticated and shows a sense of humour and a real maturity.

One of my favourite projects in the exhibition was Amaia Kurschincki's project taking inspiration from a trip around Mexico. Having been to Mexico myself I immediately and recognised the blend of folk art and religious iconography and loved the colourful tactile quality of her work.
 

Evy Prentice from Norwich University created work inspired by taking walking tours of Norwich. Colourful screenprinted models were inspired by the Dutch influence in East Anglia.

Elysia Anthony studied illustration at Norwich university and specialises in printmaking. Her work also takes inspiration from the Norfolk landscape. She translates sketchbook pages full of energetic observational drawings into dark and moody etchings.

Handmade Processes

Despite the technology available for creating and printing designs always progressing, I saw a strong return to traditional techniques, in particular screenprinting. Many of the students spoke about how they preferred the tactile qualities of painting or screen printing. Handmade processes are very important to Joules as all of their prints start with multiple sketches and paintings. Handmade and the traditional is still a big part of the design process

Remy Goddard's work made us smile as soon as we saw it. Her work is charming, naive yet sophisticated and evokes strong childhood memories of summer at the sea side. Her work really makes use of handmade processes, with everything painted by hand or cut from paper. Even reproduced onto textiles you can still see Remy's distinctive brushstrokes and the characteristic sharp edges of cut paper. She also had a beautifully fresh colour palette and it was a joy to be able to flick through her portfolio and see her original artwork. She was chose, as the winner of the Joules Print Award as the judges felt her work personified Joules' playful side and was perfect for the brand.

I loved the muted, abstract work of textile student Eve Campbell from Glasgow School of Art Her screen printed concrete tiles particularly stood out to me and created a wonderful backdrop to her work. It was also lovely to be able to flick through her sketchbooks

Another textile artist using screenprinting was Becca Smith from Leeds Arts University, whose work was much more colourful and full of exuberant line work. Her work celebrated the glorious every day, from cheese graters to spectacles.

I also loved the textured screenprinted designs of Sarah McCann from Heriot-Watt University. She uses a sophisticated colour palette and a range of mark making techniques.

Traditional Techniques

It was great to see so many unusual and traditional techniques being used. Robyn Nisbet, from the University of Dundee, created a beautiful range of natural dyes which she used to screen print textiles and garments with stunning results.

Anna Hopkins from Loughborough University combined traditional techniques of weaving and cyanotype to create a stunning range of textiles and products. To create the cyanotypes sun reactive fluid was painted directly onto the fabric then leaves and flowers were laid on top to allow a pattern to develop

I was so bowled over by the talent and creativity of these graduates. Every time I visit New Designers I leave feeling so inspired. I definitely recommend looking at these ladies' websites and following them on Instagram, they are definitely ones to watch and I’m sure they all have exciting careers ahead of them. Thank you so much to Joules for this opportunity. 

Disclaimer: I was paid by Joules to attend New Designers and write this post, but the words and thoughts in this post at all my own. 

Watercolour in Blossom with Papier

Earlier in the year I had the chance to work with Papier, one of my favourite clients, on some content for their magazine. The team came over to my studio to film me painting one of the pieces from the stationery collection. The cherry blossom stationery suite is quite an elegant, pared back watercolour design, and it’s lovely to see it come to life in the video. It’s such a treat to work with talented photographers and filmmakers, and every time I work on a project like this I learn something new. I’m so happy with the final film and photos, but you would never know how much tidying and re-organising it took for my studio to look like that. Behind the scenes whole room is a tip to make room for all the lights and tripods!

You can read the accompanying interview over on the Papier website.

Weekend:IN at Kreativ House

A few weeks ago I was invited to take part in a day of creative workshops run by independent brands with weekend:IN. As someone who teaches a lot of workshops it was lovely to be on the other side for once and learn some new skills. 

Creightons Chocolaterie

We started the morning with an introduction to chocolate making with Creighton‘s Chocolaterie. We learnt to temper chocolate, before pouring it into moulds and creating beautiful swirled designs. I had a go tempering chocolate, using palette knives to lift the molten chocolate up aerating it and allowing it to cool slightly. Cooling the chocolate in this way insures the finished chocolate has a glossy shine and a smooth crack when broken. For my bar I swirled together dark chocolate, white chocolate, raspberry infused white chocolate and real petals, which created a very pretty marbled effect. It was lovely to see how different everyone’s final bars of chocolate work. Creightons are a mother and daughter run independent chocolate producer who have been selling design lead chocolate since 2011. They release new collections of on-trend chocolate bars every season, just like a fashion brand.

Meylor Goods

After lunch we were introduced to Meylor Goods, a minimalist stationery and homeware brand. Taking inspiration from their collection we learnt to embroider T-shirts. Being me I picked something too ambitious and didn’t have a chance to finish it in the session, but it was lovely to sit, chat and sew. Grace, the founder of  Meylor Goods, had bought a selection of her beautiful prints with her. I picked up this minimalist bouquet of flowers, which is now on my wall. 

Leafage

The final workshop of the day with Leafage was possibly my favourite. Leafage teach people how to make beautiful enclosed terrariums. These miniature ecosystems are perfect for gardenless londoners, all they need to thrive is a warm windowsill. It was so fascinating to learn how these miniature greenhouses are constructed. I loved all the specialist tools like the very long scissors and tweezers for reaching down into the glass container. Arranging a perfect minute garden inside a glass jar is not easy, but I’m pretty pleased with how mine turned out.

Thank you weekend:IN for such a lovely and inspiring day, thank you to all the brands you took park for sharing their skills and passion, and thank you Sophie allowing to to use your beautiful photos.

All photos by Sophie Carefull