jillustration

All The Things I Should Have Blogged About But Didn't

2012-01-05T16:34:00.000Z

No blog post since August is pretty shoddy, I'll admit - but there have been a few good reasons for my focus to be elsewhere. First and foremost is that my sister very nearly popped her clogs in September but is on the mend slowly but surely, thank goodness! Family commitments became a priority whilst still keeping understanding clients happy and so self promotion, studio sort-outs and blogging/tweeting were put on the back burner.
However, some great projects and events have still happened between August and now, so I thought it might be better late than never to write about them in one epic post. So, gird your hirdies, pop the kettle on for a brew then hunker down because you may be some time getting through this beast of a blog...

Images 35: Best of British Contemporary Illustration Awards, London.

In August I travelled down to the Big Smoke with my husband to attend the Awards and opening night of Images 35.
It was particularly nice as I received a Bronze Award for "Forest Deer" in the Self Promotion category and took the opportunity to catch up with Jonny Hannah who won Gold in the same category! I finally got to meet Sarah Habershon and Roger Browning, art directors at The Guardian, who ask me to do draw pictures for them every so often! Finally, I was really really chuffed for my friend Glen McBeth who deservedly won Gold in the Editorial category - easily one of the best illustrations in the whole show! Nice skull, Glen.
The new Images venue at the Bankside Gallery is a wonderful space and being right beside the Tate Modern really pulls in the crowds too!

Also in August: After much swithering, umming and ahhing I finally made the decision to leave my teaching post at Edinburgh College of Art. I had taught there for 16 years and enjoyed every minute of it (well, apart from the crappy admin and form filling and lots of other things I won't mention) but decided to move on and concentrate on other challenges and before I became too stale as a teacher. I received lots of lovely messages from students, ex-students and staff, which brought a wee tear to the eye. Thank you ECA and everyone in the Illustration Department, especially Jonathan Gibbs, who is a complete gem.

The Secret Members Show at Factory Road Gallery

Boy oh boy, luckily I had this little show to create work for which took my mind off no longer receiving a regular salary from ECA! Leigh Adams and Sarah Coleman invited me to create a new piece of work for a top secret show at their cracking Factory Road Gallery, which was to be themed around the male member, yes, the penis. Not a smutfest but a serious show which invited an eclectic group of artists, designers and makers to respond visually to male genitalia.

The more I thought about it, the more I felt I'd like to create an illustration that was ALL about the penis but not actually featuring a penis, or indeed a man.

Here's the blurb I wrote for the exhibition:

Title of piece: "You Know What They Say"

"I decided not to draw a penis because there was a whole other story to tell about how we interpret penis size in relation to a man's possessions, lifestyle and physicality. This cliche can be used to joke about, insult, deride, mock, tease, gossip about and even compliment a man(big hands, big feet...you know what they say). It can also put a man in his place if we are not sure about him. But, just how often is it true?
I want to keep you guessing but make you aware of how you judge this modern hunter gatherer as a man. With a penis. Or not..."

To read a review about the show by Ed Garland and see pics of the opening night and some of the other work go HERE.

Wildcard Stationary!

I have been approached by quite a few card and stationary companies in the past and for one reason or another have never quite had the enthusiasm to sign up with them. However, when Chris and Amanda at Wildcard Company initially got in touch in June something felt a bit different about their approach to their artists, and so I signed on the dotted line! I am really enjoying experimenting and trying out new lettering designs for cards, wrapping paper and all sorts of other stationary goodies. My first range came out in September and I am working on all sorts of new ideas for future ranges too!
My friends and fellow illustrators (and ex-students of mine), Holly Surplice and Vicki Gausden, are also producing ranges for them too. Nice one!

Hong Kong: Artist in Residence workshops

I returned to Hong Kong in November, having been invited back for a second year by South Island School to run artist in residence workshops with both BTec Design & Technology students and IB Fine Art students.
The students at SIS have a pretty full on timetable doing a wide range of subjects but many told me that they really like the freedom they get from these workshops to concentrate on one project over a number of days, without having to drop everything after an hour to go to another class. I have to say that they are an incredibly hard working, talented and focused bunch of people and great fun to teach them!

I set a Make a Book lettering project with the fashion and product Design & Technology students, where each student was given a name of a fashion designer, a product or industrial designer, a random word and also a random object (carried all the way from Scotland, so they were pretty tiny objects, such as safety pins, a balloon etc). They then had to research, concept, design, illustrate and make and bind an eight page book which illustrated an imaginative creative collaboration between the 2 designers they had been given, using the word and object as inspiration. It was quite a complex brief but the results were stunning, involving lots of ink, hand-made and digital elements with some highly covetable little books being produced indeed!

I set a short, sharp 2 day project for the Fine Art students, called "I'm A Survivor", which asked them to create a Magical Survival Kit... all with a twist of course.
Here, the students collaborated in pairs (something they had not done before and were a little nervous about) and again, each pair were given one of the 5 senses, an element from the Periodic Table , a name of a country and finally a time of day. For example: Bolivia, 2.15a.m, Sight and Oxygen. They had to think on their feet and really plan to get all their reserach and creative thinking done, as well as source materials to make the box. the sourcing was great fun, as we headed into deepest, darkest downtown Hong Kong, to Wan Chai street markets, where you can pretty much get anything. The students came back with things like a ukelele, various herbs and spices, musical boxes - even a cheeky pair of underpants! All this was adapted for use in the final artwork.
...some photos will say it better than words, I think!

The CIA Calendar 2012: The Alternative Games

Such, such fun doing this! Of course, it is Olympic fever here in the UK (well, London anyway - it has not quite reached Scotland) and my lovely new UK reps, Central Illustration Agency, decided to ask their artists to think up Alternative Olympic sports and events. "Gladly!" I said, and thus felt the need to incorporate some canines in my effort. All dogs love a ball - especially chasing and fetching one. Combine that with some tabards and a watery theme and hey presto, I give you Competitive Fetch. I do actually have a dog that does a good impersonation of scuba diving, so was inspired by that.

Well, that wasn't so bad was it?...
There are some things I have missed, I know but at least this is a catch up of sorts - if only to show that I have not been a lazy, daytime TV imbibing slattern. I do have a few good projects up my sleeve and I promise (fingers crossed) that I will blog about them as they happen - or are about to happen. These include an epic print self promotion for the USA, a surfboard design and even a book!

Oh...and to tidy my studio...

Happy 2012 everyone

Guardian Work cover : The Happiness Business

2011-08-17T14:05:00.000+01:00

Been meaning to post this job for ages, especially as I was asked to do this by my Facebook page fans/likers/you know who you are!
Sarah Habershon asked me to illustrate the theme of happiness at work, called The Happiness Business written by Cary L Cooper and Stephen Wood. Basically the article discussed that a lack of workplace wellbeing costs the country £26bn a year and questioned the government’s new measure to make our offices nicer environments.
I must admit, I was inspired by all these groovy (yes, I said groovy) open plan offices, such as at Mother, London and well, all the places I see in my stockpiled copies of ELLE Decoration and Living etc. Everybody is happy, hip and they rollerskate to work, you know the type. Please don't dry boke :-)

Stylewise, this is developing a slighty new approach: drawing with special pens (not pen and ink) but also having some quite geometric, sharp-edged shapes in there - the desk, the laptops, paper etc to act as a contrast.

I am quite obsessed with drawing with calligraphy pens and have developed a serious habit buying them up. They give a great line and I don't have to wait for it to dry before scanning! Textured, sharp areas of shape and colour come from I do not know where, but I am doing a lot more digital collage - basically drawing shapes with the lasso tool in Photoshop but using all sorts of textures I have scanned in.
I'll be honest, It's rather refreshing to be developing my style and trying new things, but at the same time not scaring off clients who love my loose line and inkiness. I do love ink and it will continue to make a special appearance in both illustration and lettering but in the meantime I am having fun experimenting.

On a completely different note, I am also quite obsessed with this food blog I discovered called Recipe Rifle written and cooked by Esther Walker. It is full of lovely stuff, honest opinions and swear words and I would recommend checking it out.

Gary MacKean's Beasties

2011-08-14T18:44:00.000+01:00

I just wanted to promote a great exhibition by illustrator Gary MacKean, currently a MFA student at Edinburgh College of Art, which opens tomorrow!

Gary's work is dark and quirky and well worth going to see, especially as the show is tied in to two of his soon to be published books, "Scottish Beasties" and "Leviathans: A Guide to Sea Monsters"

Just don't go into the water...!

Central Illustration Agency and Me...

2011-07-12T08:15:00.000+01:00

Big Announcement, folks!
I am delighted and truly thrilled to be invited to be part of the mighty Central Illustration Agency, based in London, who will now represent my illustration and lettering work exclusively in the UK and Europe. Good, eh?

There is a wealth of mega talent currently repped by the CIA and I will be joining the likes of Sir Peter Blake, my hero David Hughes, the wondrous Sarah Coleman (aka Inkymole), cool dude Paul Wearing (a stablemate at Friend + Johnson too), my friend and colleague Jonathan Gibbs, lovely Wendy Plovmand...oh, the list goes on and reads like an Oscars roll call of top illustrators!

This is good for my business too: my American reps, Friend + Johnson, have been so busy getting me great jobs from across the Pond that I have had less and less time to attend to marketing myself here...criminal! As I said to Ben Cox, MD of the CIA, it was getting to the point where I either needed two of me or the services of a decent UK rep, so I am very glad he contacted me a couple of weeks ago to pop the question :-)
As I say to my students when they ask about finding a rep - the relationship works both ways and is very like a marriage: you have to be prepared to put work and ideas into it and to listen to reap the benefits. So, I am very much looking forward to this new working relationship and seeing what lies around the next corner!

I am passionate about the business side of illustration: all the marketing, promotion and negotiating fees...but having two heavyweight agencies looking after my interests allows my business to grow and I can concentrate on being creative!

So, hello CIA and all who sail in her...let's get ready to roll!

Treat Yourself...new Pop-Up shop!

2011-06-29T15:03:00.000+01:00

I am delighted to be one of the 30 artists and makers who have been invited to take part in "Treat" – Fife Contemporary Art & Craft’s very first pop-up shop! If you fancy a Jill Calder signed print then this is the place to get it over the next 2 weeks.

Treat opens 10am - 5pm from Friday 1 July - 16th July up on the first floor of J&G Innes, (wonderful stationers & booksellers), 107 South Street, St Andrews.

Shop for fabulous jewellery, ceramics, glass, textiles, wood, original prints and artists’ multiples - all available to buy at this Pop-Up Shop! More info and pics can be had on the FCA&A website – www.fcac.co.uk – and blog – http://blog.fcac.co.uk

Be there or be square!

V&A Illustration Awards 2011

2011-05-20T14:04:00.000+01:00

I am very chuffed indeed to have my work shortlisted for the 2011 V&A Illustration Awards
This is for my book cover illustration and lettering on "Bob Servant: Hero of Dundee" by Neil Forsyth, a fellow Broughty Ferry-ian!

So, It's get the glad rags packed and off to London with my two big sisters for the Awards ceremony at the wonderful V&A Museum on June 6th - wish me luck!

I am also delighted to see the work of Michael Kirkham is shortlisted too. He is an excellent illustrator and an ex student at Edinburgh College of Art, who I had the pleasure of teaching. Good luck Michael and to all the other illustrators!

Here's the press release:

"The V&A has today announced a shortlist of 18 candidates for its annual Illustration
Awards. The Awards are given to the best book and editorial illustration published in
the UK each year.
This year the V&A received nearly 1000 submissions by illustrators working in the UK.
The shortlist was chosen by a panel, including contemporary artist, Rob Ryan. The
panel chose their favourite entries from three categories: Book Illustration; Book Cover
and Jacket Illustration; and Editorial publications. There is also a separate category for
students’ work.
Rob Ryan said: “The great thing about this competition is that it shows how wideranging
and strong illustration is in this country and also reminds us that young people
leaving college are smart, funny and thoughtful.”

This year’s shortlist, announced today, comprises four categories:
Book Illustration
A. Richard Allen for Brat Farrar (Folio Society)
Hannah Rollings for My Travel Journal (Blurb)
Oliver Jeffers for The Heart and the Bottle (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Grahame Baker-Smith for FarTHER (Templar Publishing)
Laura Carlin for The Iron Man (faber and faber / Walker Books)

Book Cover and Jacket Illustration
Jill Calder for Bob Servant Hero of Dundee (Birlinn Ltd)
Lorenzo Petrantoni for Boxer Beetle (Sceptre)
Pascale Hutton for A Russian Novel (Serpent’s Tail)
Sarah Young for Ariel (faber and faber)

Editorial
Bruce Emmett for Nightmare on Cameron Street (New Statesman)
Michael Kirkham for ‘You’re like Scrooge’ (The Independent)
Andy Potts for Escape to the City (New Scientist)
Paul Blow for Bleeding Eyes (3 x 3)
Oliver Kugler for Un Thé en Iran (XXI – Vingt et Un)

Student Awards
Mike Redmond for Awkward people in funny situations (Royal College of Art)
Hannah Simpson for Bacteria (Kingston University)
Soo Choi, Obsessed Monsters (Kingston University)
Rob Bloomfield, The Nose (University for the Creative Arts)
Jack Kirtley, The World is your Playground (Swansea Metropolitan University)

A display of original artwork and published work by shortlisted artists in all categories
will be shown at the V&A from 7 June until 17 December 2011.
The V&A Illustration Awards were established in 1972 and previous winners include
Quentin Blake, Ralph Steadman and Michael Foreman.

Being interviewed by Vasilisa Baruskova...

2011-05-03T15:22:00.000+01:00

Vasilisa Barsukova, a Graphic Design student at Lamar Dodd School of Art at University of Georgia in the USA interviews me for her Illustration class!It was a great interview and I thought I might share it here. See some of Vasilisa's design work below too.

1) From what age did you know that drawing/illustrating was what you wanted to do?
I always loved drawing - as far back as I can remember! I loved telling stories to myself with my pictures, which is something I still do today, when I am creating a new illustration, even if it is for a job or a commercial output! I was always quite stubborn about going to Art School, despite many people telling me I should study something else, that Art school would be a waste of time. My parents were always very supportive though.

2) At a young age, what were some of the things you drew?
Always people! I still love drawing people. I did draw a lot of houses and gardens too, but this was just the backdrop for drawing people and then creating stories about them!

3) Where do you find inspiration for you art?
This is a good question because I find inspiration comes from many places and that it can change as you grow older and as your work develops. I go less and less to galleries (which sounds awful!)nowadays and instead find my inspiration from the everyday situation. I can sit on a bus journey and just watch what is going on outside the window, on the street, or listen to other passenger's conversations and be inspired. Airports are heaven to me, as I can just sit and people watch and get lots of ideas from that! Having a garden has also really inspired me, as I love watching the birds that live in it and the local cats that pass through it!

4) What kind of medium do you prefer?
I do love working with pen and ink the most but blending that hand made work with digital processes - I like painting with Photoshop and a Wacom tablet very much indeed. Creating and building an image that is part traditional and part digital is an enormously satisfying and challenging process for me. I get a real thrill when I open a new file in PS and start to bring all the elements together.

5) Who is your favorite artist/artists?
This list changes all the time, as I am always discovering new people whose work I love and admire. I try not to look too much at other illustrators, as the pool of reference becomes a bit too murky then BUT, currently, my favourite illustrators are: Jon Klassen, Sara Ogilvie, Javier Mariscal, Andre Francois, Charles Keeping, John Burningham and Noma Barr. I love the paintings of Velazquez, Howard Hodgkin, Joan Eardley and Picasso and am partial to outdoor works by Andy Goldsworthy. Marian Bantjes is another favourite - her work absolutely blows me away.
I really like interiors and architecture and am always reading related magazines - Zaha Hadid is an inspirational and inspired architect and I would relish living in one of her buildings.

6) What companies would you absolutely love to illustrate for?
Oh, I am lucky enough to have already worked for some of them - such as the British Museum, The New Yorker, Siemens, Target etc. I really like the challenge of producing work for big companies as I like to see how much you can push them into accepting something that is more edgy than they would normally go for.
Saying that, I would LOVE to work for a big petfood brand - especially for dogs or cats, I'd like to work for one of the big New York department stores too, such as Bergdorff Goodman or Barneys.

7) Do you tend to use certain colors more often?
I admit I am very fond of bright pink and chartreuse green :-) I do think very carefully about my colour palette for each job though and am trying to experiment with new combinations and juxtapositions. Being told to work with a certain set of colours can be challenging but also enormously exciting as it can break me out of a colour rut! I'd like to be able to work in a very pale palette, but that is tough.

8) Do you have any advice for a young artist seeking a career in the fashion/graphic design world?
Be true to yourself and to your ideas, keep drawing and looking for new things to draw, keep showing your work to people and grow a thick skin as there will be a lot of rejection and knock-backs (allow this to make you stronger and more determined to succeed though!) Don't be afraid to knock on doors and physically go and see people with your work - don't rely soley on having an online presence or social media - use all methods to get ahead!

9) How did you get your foot in the door?
It's not just about being talented when you are trying to succeed and get work - you need to have drive and persistance and to want to work with people. You need to have good manners, communicate well, have a "can do" attitude and meet deadlines. People need to see that you can be reliable and that you get the job done. Keep creating great artwork, have a well designed website and an easy to remember email that works too! Volunteering helps, but don't get taken advantage of either.

10) Which one of your illustrations is your all-time favorite?
Tough question! I do love "Tulips" as it opened so many doors and opportunities for me (it was a non commercial piece but ended up being used to promote Images 32 in the UK, which in turn led to all sorts of interesting commissions)
I also like "Forest Deer', as it is the start of a new stylistic route for me, and has proved to be really popular with galleries and clients alike.
My sketchbook drawings are very precious to me though and I keep ALL my sketchbooks.

11) What do you enjoy doing most when you are not drawing?
I like being outside with my dogs, in the garden or out in the wilds or on the beach (I live in Scotland, so we have a lot of wild scenery). I love to read and am currently thoroughly enjoying Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery. I also like to cook and create great meals for friend and family. I try to travel as much as possible too - new places means new inspiration and a fresh perspective on life.

12) Has your family been supportive in your career?
Very much so. As mentioned before, my parents were very good about me going to Art School. They both died a while ago but I have 2 lovely sisters, who have lots of my paintings and prints and who promote me left, right and centre to their friends and business colleagues! My husband is my right hand man, and although not involved in the arts (he is a laser physicist), is very good at hanging an exhibition and giving me sound career advice!

13) Would you say your drawing style has changed over time?
I think it has, but the underlying core aesthetic has always been there - even from childhood. I think when you are at a more impressionable stage, such as at art college (when you are learning so much and seeing so many things for the first time), your style can change dramatically - mine did! But when you filter out all the unwanted and untrue influences, you come back to your core way of drawing, which I believe is very like your handwriting, or your fingerprint even - unique.

14) What did you study in college?
After leaving school at 17, I did a general art and design year to start off with, where I studied jewellery, textile design and theatre design, alongside drawing and painting. From there I decided to apply to a Graphics course at Edinburgh College of Art, where I studied everything from Photography and Film to Graphic design, eventually specialising in Illustration and Animation.

Contact 27 is out NOW!

2011-04-23T17:04:00.000+01:00

Just to say that Contact 27 landed on my doorstep last week (with a slightly smaller thud than last year)
The beautiful cover image was done by my friend and fellow lettersmith, Sarah Coleman AKA Inkymole - I think they should have made it much bigger! Still, you get to see a dps of her fab work inside...
AND if you turn to page 33 (or maybe it's page 31) you will see my page!
The images I used this year were mostly all part of a job I did for Turning Point Scotland, but I just rearranged them and added some extra bits and pieces to make it work in the Contact page template.

Will I do Contact next year? I am not sure yet...the book gets smaller and smaller and it becomes less and less obvious if it actually works as a means of self promotion. I always ask clients how they came about my work and the answer is usually "online" , or "from the emailer or postcards you sent me".
Let's see what 27 brings in and then make a decision!

I am a Guest at Gray's...

2011-04-19T10:47:00.000+01:00

Just to let you know that on Thursday 21st April I have been invited to give a guest lecture at Gray's School of Art in Oil City itself: Aberdeen!
Here's a bit about this lecture programme that has been developed by Ian Irving:

"The Guests @ Gray’s visiting lecture programme is an important input into the continuous learning of our students and staff as a means of informing the School’s practice and research culture. The programme takes the form of a weekly lecture and question time and is open to all. It enables students and staff to encounter diverse approaches to art and design practice and research that stimulate, inform and challenge, helping to map and understand today’s professional and cultural context. The events are programmed with this in mind, and draw on the personal and professional connections made by Gray’s staff, nationally and internationally. "

I am not sure if it is just for students or open to the public when it says "open to all", but if you are in or around Aberdeen do try to come along! Contact details and info HERE

I have not quite finished putting together my talk yet, but you can be sure that drawing will be a big topic.

This image MAY appear in my slide show - but I do tend to change/alter/trash things at the last minute!

Luerzers 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide OUT NOW!

2011-02-02T11:10:00.000Z

Folks, I am delighted to be selected for this lovely, gorgeous publication! Here's the blurb from the Luerzers website:

"There were no fewer than 6,075 submissions received for the 4th edition of 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide. Yet – as the name itself suggests – only 200 actually made it into the selection. In a volume numbering 326 pages, we present you with exceptional illustrations produced during the past two years from around the world. Incidentally, the cover of this new edition comes from India or, to be more precise, from Taproot India, Mumbai. The name of the illustrator who produced it is Anant Nanvare. What particularly pleases us, as a publisher dedicated to showcasing the best advertising from around the world, is the fact that this illustration originally appeared as part of an advertising campaign (featured in issue 3/10). The motifs for Transasia Papers were also awarded a Golden Lion at Cannes in 2010"

Guess which illustration was selected...Garden Detectives, of course. That baby has done me proud :-) Photo here shows my selected piece in situ on the wall at the Museum for Rural Life.

Working Drawings Conference // Sheffield, December 3rd 2010

2010-11-30T12:25:00.000Z

I seem to be the last person to post about this...it must be the bad weather affecting me! Thank you to everyone else who has blogged about this in any way!
Anyway, I am heading down to Sheffield on Thursday to speak at this wonderful conference, called Working Drawings which has been organised by designer and lecturer Lee Ford at the Sheffield Institute of Art at Sheffield Hallam Uni. Try and go if you can, as there is an excellent exhibition to tie in with it with some wonderful work on show - including heroes of mine, Saul Steinberg and Alan Fletcher!

There was also an article by Laura Snoad about it in Design Week, (which I have not seen because I live in the sticks and can't get hold of a copy!) but which I found via mad.co.uk and have reproduced here - thankyou Mad! :

" Sheffield Hallam University will host a conference next month which aims to explore the different ways in which designers use drawing as part of their creative process.
The Working Drawings conference, which will be held at the university on 3 December, will see illustrators Jill Calder and Roderick Mills and designer Steve Smith, also known as Neasden Control Centre, share and discuss their working drawings and how they inform their finished designs.

Aware of a growing curiosity about designers' processes and cultural movement away from computer-based creating, organiser and Sheffield Hallam University visual communications senior lecturer Lee Ford sought designers who use drawing as an integral part of their working practice, from reportage and pictograms to topography and blueprints.
Ford says, 'Understanding how other designers think, look and, ultimately, communicate can offer rare insights into the design process. You gain an altered perspective, which may lead you to think differently about what motivates the designer.'

For illustrator and film-maker Mills, drawing is a process integral to his research 'journey', as well as to generating ideas. He sketches research material continuously and uses drawing as a way of fully understanding the connection between elements of a brief. He says, 'Drawing is an editing process. You "visually quote" parts of your research to create a final outcome.'

For Neasden Control Centre's Smith, drawing is 'a conscious sub-conscious process' and an essential instrument to understanding form. It is a method of looking and seeing, and is a key element of his finished work. At the conference Smith will be discussing more than 50 drawings created while working towards the exhibition More With Less at MU Eindhoven in The Netherlands. Smith says, 'My practice is driven by process. I was born in an analogue world and now live in a digital one and a lot of the exhibition in The Netherlands is about that.'

Calder, whose distinctive illustrations can often be seen in The Guardian and will feature in the Visa worldwide Christmas campaign, believes that as well as being vital to creating a strong end product, drawing is essential to communicating with clients, especially at speed.

She says, 'Drawing a picture cuts right through that and gets to the heart of what the job is and could become.'

Studio Myerscough director Morag Myerscough, who will be exhibiting her working drawings at the conference, agrees. 'People draw to explain something accurately, as everyone visualises words in different ways,' she says.
For most projects, Myerscough creates 'sketch walls', where research, drawings and ideas are spread out over a large space akin to a sketchbook.
Although Myerscough has always worked in this ways, she feels greater client demand for workshops makes a sketchbook style of working more useful. She says, 'When you're doing a big project with a school or something, it is important to involve the stakeholders and show the head teacher, for example, where your thoughts are coming from.'
Despite the different ways in which the speakers use drawing, all agree that the skill is essential for formulating ideas and should be a key part of design education.

Calder says, 'We live in the age of the artful mock-up. I sound harsh, but maybe it is a deeper-rooted thing, where the whole education of kids is geared towards using computers for everything now and so they forget how to pick up a pencil and draw. Surely this must have a knock-on effect on our business.' "

"Delete This at Your Peril : The Bob Servant Emails" by Neil Forsyth

2010-10-25T14:33:00.000+01:00

Exciting times indeed! It's not often that I illustrate a pair of book covers where the main character is a 64 year old Dundonian cheeseburger van owner, who is then played by a top Hollywood actor (fae Dundee too, by the way) AND the book is featured on the evening news and then in The Guardian...and then becomes the top selling book! So, you say, stop yer giddy blithering and tell us aboot it!

The highly amusing, Dundee-centric "Delete This At Your Peril : the Bob Servant Emails" by Neil Forsyth is "a side-splitting romp through the wonderful world of Bob Servant where we see him engage with hapless spam-merchants as he tries to outwit them with some outlandish schemes of his own." - "A very,very funny book" says Irvine Welsh...and you don't mess with him.

You can read an extract from the book featured in The Guardian here
You can even buy the book (and it's partner "Bob Servant: Hero of Dundee") here
If you then become obsessed with Bob and want to know more you can visit his website and also follow him on Twitter too

... And to top it all, You can listen the wonderful Brian Cox play the part of Bob Servant on BBC Radio Scotland in a serialization of the book every Friday from October 29th 2010 at 1.45pm and midnight. It’s also available on BBC I-Player.

My part? Well, the lovely Jim Hutchison at Birlinn Books thought I might be the lass to illustrate and hand-letter the two covers - especially as I hail frae Dundee too (well, Broughty Ferry to be precise - Bobland Central) The author also played an important part in the art direction too - Bob is his creation afterall!

I am, however, quite chuffed with my digitally doodled Dundee sunset skyline in "Bob Servant: Hero of Dundee"

Perfect stocking fillers, folks.....

Hi Ho, Silver - Images 34 Awards

2010-09-10T16:46:00.000+01:00

Excitement in the Calder studio this week!

I won a Silver Award at Images 34 : Best of British Illustration Awards in London!
My work for Garden Detectives for National Museums of Scotland was selected by a panel of judges, including Angus Hyland from Pentagram.
Totally delighted. Quite speechless, in fact.

Go and see the excellent show in London at LCC (until 14th Sept) and then it is touring the UK.

HaarShop at the HaarFest in Anstruther!

2010-08-03T10:25:00.000+01:00

Yippee - I have been invited by Lovely Pidgeon to take part in a brand new festival called Haarfest in Anstruther, which is organised by the lovely Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote and the Fence Collective.

A big part of Haarfest will be a pop up Haarshop and creative extravaganza organised by Lovely Pidgeon in collaboration with King Creosote and the Fence Collective. OOOOooh yeh!

Haarshop is the creative hub of Fence's Haarfest festival which runs from the 14th-22nd August. Haarshop will be showcasing work by some of Scotland's best artists, designers and makers (and a few invited friends from South of the border). I will have some prints, pictures and cards for sale and will be helping out with the Haarshop too, so please come along and say hello!

You can also catch free acoustic sessions from the likes of King Creosote, The Pictish Trail, Adem and Meursault; electronic shenanigans from Found and Dr John Rogers and co; songwriting and patchwork workshops (not at the same time), photography and live art and theatre installations.

For Haarfest tickets check out the Fence website www.fencerecords.com
And for a bit of creative retail therapy come see us in the Haarshop at the Murray Library
between 10.30am - 6pm.

Tell your friends, family and loved ones, tweet, blog and facebook us, send smoke signals, tell the world!

... and remember HaarShop is here for 1 week and then we are gone!

Illustration Friday : Artificial

2010-07-30T13:57:00.000+01:00

Artificial leg, arms...everything, these days. I heard on the radio the other day that scientists have successfully grown, from stem cells, new hip joints!
Anyway, this image was for a health column I illustrated every week for a newspaper in Glasgow. It's quite a strange one for me, don't you think? I do like its oddness though.

Tick Tock tick tock...with Draftfcb

2010-07-20T16:32:00.000+01:00

This was a great job I worked on with art director Merry Natalia in the New York office of Draftfcb .
It's for a contraceptive brand called PlanB and had to be handled very carefully so that the artwork hit the right note - there were a few re-workings to achieve this!!
Working with combining illustration and lettering with a restricted, yet feminine colour palette, these illustration sets were for a story board for a potential animation. The work was also used in press ads.

It's a change to see me working with pastel colours, instead of full on brights - but I really enjoyed the challenge!

Marmalady made me a CAKE!

2010-07-20T09:11:00.000+01:00

OOOH, I may live in a small village but I am surrounded by talented folk! One such person is the lovely Loren Brand - aka Marmalady - who not only has trained at Duncan of Jordanstone to be an illustrator but is busy trying to set up her business as a cake baker extraordinaire. She visited me during Open studios and when I heard she could bake a mean cake, I asked her to create a cup cake special for my "40 and a Bit" Birthday BBQ. Isn't it fab?
The flavours for the grown-ups were gin & tonic, margarita, strawberry daquiri and my favourite liquer, frangelico. The big ladybird on the top was a yummy vanilla sponge especially for the kiddies.
Want a cake ?- ask Marmalady!

"Breakfast" for Illustration Friday

2010-07-16T18:55:00.000+01:00

Not done Illustration Friday for ages and ages! This week's theme reminded me of this breakfast table illustration I did : no Photoshop - all acrylic paint and ink!
Hello again IF-ers!

Breathe, breathe....Puuuuush!

2010-07-01T09:54:00.000+01:00

I have been doing a spot of work for the lovely Jason Morris at Stella Magazine/Sunday Telegraph again!

I am a bit behind with blogging it as it was published last Sunday 27th June, but better late than never.

Zoe Williams' story about her experience of pregnancy and then labour (taken from her new book, Bring it on Baby) were funny and truthful and therefore good to illustrate - especially when the space allocated for them in the magazine is NOT standard size! Drawing likenesses of people is not my forte but Jason felt the illustrations needed to reflect the personal element of the story, so cue Google Images! Luckily, she has an interesting face to draw.
My colour scheme for this illo about Zoe's labour experience was blue and pink...so obvious a choice!

Golden Oldies # 2

2010-06-24T14:40:00.000+01:00

Ah, just discovered this illo in an ancient Telegraph magazine (1999) -( yes I keep far too many magazines) so have dropped what I was doing to get it scanned in and blogged.
This was pre-Mac, so there is lots of Tippex all over the artwork to cover up blobby bits of ink, which you can't see in the printed version. I love what the designer has done with the type layout - it really adds to the illo and ties in well with the bit I was illustrating. Got to love a symbiotic illustrator/designer relationship :-)

Anyway - you should be able to read the article when you click on the image... enjoy the ostrich feathers!

Hibernacula Hit Wonder

2010-06-07T09:17:00.000+01:00

Blimey, the first weekend of the East Neuk Open Studios went like a fair! I never even got a chance to sit down as there were so many people coming through the doors to speak to! Thank you to everyone - including some of the lovely followers of this blog - who came from near and far to visit my studio. It was great to meet you all!
Open Studios is not over though - it happens all over again next weekend (12th &13th June) so if you missed out please come on by.

One of my new ultra large prints proved to be the hit wonder of the weekend, and I am ordering more of them today from Andrew, mentioned in the previous post. "Hibernacula Woods", despite the unseasonal wintery theme, is popular, it nearly made one woman cry she liked it so much (so she said in the visitors book). Here it is...

East Neuk Open Studios - it's that time of year again!

2010-05-31T11:43:00.000+01:00

After a year out from ENOS due to house renovations, I have been very busy getting ready to open up my studio to the great British public again. The dates this year are June 5th and 6th, and again on June 12th and 13th, 10.30am - 6pm. If you fancy a daytrip to the beautiful East Neuk of Fife, come and visit me!

I am really looking forward to it and have created some brand new prints especially! I decided to get some of these new ones super-sized and found a great place in London called Digital Print Studio run by Andrew Turnball, who has produced some gorgeous big 50x70cm prints on Somerset Velvet Enhanced paper for me - recommend him totally!
Another new thing this year will be my work on ceramics...I hope. I need to chase up the company where I am getting the transfers done, as their website is a bit crap and they are even worse at communication! Luckily I have a good friend, Karen, at Funky Scottish who is going to help me out and will fire all the mugs for me in her kiln.

If you can make it over to Fife, then please do go and visit all the other artists, designers, jewellers and textile artists who make up our group- there really is a great variety of work to look at and buy. Then, if you are feeling peckish, you have a whole host of places to grab a bite to eat. If you are feeling flush go to The Seafood Restaurant in St Monans, just along the coast - tell Norah I sent you. If you fancy the best fish n' chips in Britain (seriously, they won an award) go to the Anstruther Fish Bar . If you want delicious pub grub and a mean bloody mary overlooking Cellardyke harbour, go to Trevor and Wendy's place, The Haven - I can thoroughly recommend that too! To work it all off again, you can wander along the Fife Coastal Path !

Anyway, for a wee taster, here is a sneak preview of one of my new prints, titled "Urban Fox"

New Turning Point Scotland illustrations

2010-05-26T12:27:00.000+01:00

This is the third job I have worked on with designer Michael Dancer for Turning Point Scotland, a charity that provides residential rehabilitation services for people with alcohol and drug addictions and mental health and learning disabilities.
This particular job was for their Mile End service, which supports individuals with learning
and physical disabilities in their own homes providing varying levels of person centred support.

Michael just wanted me to do sheets of drawings that he could then use in the brochure and website - the budget was not big, as you can imagine, so I was happy to work like this.
Here are a couple of the sheets.

The Great Outdoors - Independent Magazine

2010-05-06T11:03:00.005+01:00

I was asked by the lovely Stephen Petch at The Independent to illustrate a feature in their Outdoors Special edition, to be published 8th May in The Magazine. Sneak preview here!

The piece is written by four different writers (and all round well-kent faces):
Alex James,Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Joan Bakewell and John Walsh, whose story about his first time horse-riding I did this illustration for. I am a bit wary of drawing horses, but I hope I pass the test here!I like the rider's faces the best.
There were 4 illos in total, including a full page for Joan Bakewell's story about her first time youth hostelling in the 1940's.

It was an ace job to work on - but a bit of a nightmare logistically. I was away teaching, and so only had my 5 year old iBook (g4! shock horror!) to work on. Not ideal, so I then decided to work on the college computers in the evening - lots of different versions of the images were being bandied about on USB sticks etc , so it all got a bit confusing. I have promised to buy myself a new MacBook (pro?) with my fee for the job!

I have to say - it was great to work with another national newspaper. Sometimes I feel it is just The Guardian that commissions illustrators these days!

Golden Oldies from Jill Calder-No.1

2010-02-27T14:36:00.004Z

As I mentioned on my facebook page, I have just found a glorious old green box, packed full with some of my old, original artwork (back in the day, before I used Photoshop)
My style is a bit all over the place - painterly one minute, scribbly the next but there are some interesting bits and bobs that I want to share with you.
I am going to scan them all in and put up a blog post every so often with some of these Golden Oldies!
All have been painted onto paper or card, using acrylic inks and paints and I promise I have not sneakily tweaked them - apart from the get the colour balance to match the original.
The first one is a piece I did in either 1999 or 2000 for The Sunday Herald (I think) - I cannot remember the article I was illustrating, but it I am blogging it to celebrate the 2010 Winter Olympics!
The second piece is a bit different in style and done for my old illustration agents, Eastwing, for a promo item (hence the shape - which is actually a cut out!)

I'll also try to find and post more of The Singleton cartoons that I did - I know I have a book full of them somewhere!

More Golden Oldies soon.

strange and stranger still

2010-02-25T17:22:00.004Z

Thank you to the lovely Door Sixteen via her Twitter for this best blog link of the day.
Black and WTF
Sometimes odd is just the tonic you need. I love these photo - the dog's face! The butcher's face...weirdly absorbing

The Singleton Years

2010-02-23T14:29:00.004Z

I am attempting to sort through all the STUFF that was moved out of my studio during the great Studio Ceiling Disaster, in an attempt to chuck or save it before I move everything back in to the now lovely, crisp white room.
Anyway - got distracted as I found some old, old artwork, so I thought I'd share it!

I used to draw a cartoon for The Scotsman magazine called The Singleton (yes, very Bridget Jones). I was given free rein by the art director, Sandra Colamartino, who trusted me for some reason (despite my NEVER having written and drawn a cartoon before). She also had a very awkward little space to fill on the horoscopes page!
There are millions of these little ink drawings, all of the characters are based on friends and real life happenings. The idea was that The Singleton was a girl about town, but not as sassy as the Sex and the City lot...more jacket potato and a pint of shandy kind of character.
Date on this one - 2001...and it is number 53!!

New work for Dickson Lewis

2010-02-22T17:03:00.008Z

A nice wee job came my way a few weeks ago from David Reid at Because Brands Matter, based in Edinburgh.
New start-up accountancy recruitment company, Dickson Lewis, wanted a friendlier, more funky look for their website and chose an illustration route rather than the usual "business" themed stock photos that we see too much of.

My work had been recommended to David (word of mouth works!) and he managed to persuade his client that I could provide business themed illos, but with an added edgy dash of inky digital to provide interest! I kept the colour palette limited (dark gray, blues, purples)and tightened up my drawing style just a touch* to keep the whole thing looking sharp and clean. Blocks of colour are created using the polygon lasso tool and colouring in with my favourite Photoshop custom brushes!
I like this here accountant chappy - he's meant to be 35, so I hope he looks it!

*OK then, quite a bit...

Ay! Cuba Libre Señorita!

2010-02-22T14:01:00.005Z

It's gettin' hot and sassy in Promo-land, I can tell you!
Friend and Johnson, my lovely reps, are pairing their illustrators and photographers together in order to create a punchy series of double page ads in Luerzer's Archive magazine. The ads will also have tags that you can scan with your iPhone to take you direct to the F+J website - nice touch.
The wonderful Coco Connolly, a creative director from Minnesota who is designing the spreads decided my work would pair well (contrast well!) with that of Canadian photographer, Jock McDonald
Jock's beautifully punctuated picture of young Cuban boys standing on the sea wall acts as a quiet, profound partner to my brash, bold Cuban girl drinking a...Cuba Libre (Rum'n'Coke, silly).
My idea here was that somewhere behind where the boys were standing would be a wall covered with huge, faded and peeling advertising posters,including this Cuba Libre one.
Coco has added in some final flourishes to the spread, using parts of the lettering I created for it.
It was great to create a brand new piece of work for this - so much fun thinking about Cuban heat and music, whilst the snow and hail fell in chilly Scotland!

Illustrating Julian Barnes

2010-01-24T16:23:00.005Z

Lovely commission from Roger Browning at The Guardian to illustrate Julian Barnes' new short story, "Sleeping with John Updike".
Had to work super-quick on this one, as I was away teaching in Sunderland Uni on Monday when the call came through, and the first illo (for the inside spread) had to be in for Wednesday lunchtime. I had until Thursday to do the Cover art. ** adrenalin rush**

I love having meaty characters, with lots of undercurrent in the dialogue to work with - a dream!Thank you Julian Barnes.

Incidentally, I got a lovely email today from a well know wine writer, (who happens to be friends with Julian Barnes too) who loved the illos and said she would consider me for illustrating any of her future wine books! Considering most of my illustrations have someone with either a glass or a bottle in their hand, I'd say I would be suited to that particular project!

Off to Edinburgh for a spot of teaching all week, so getting ready for that tonight. I have a few potential jobs on the horizon, as well as tweaks to make on artwork for another advertising job I worked on last week too, so I need to be armed with laptop and all the various files and pen and inks. the words Pack and Horse come to mind when I see all the stuff I end up taking with me to Edinburgh!

Images 34 success!

2009-11-04T15:34:00.005Z

What a way to celebrate moving back into my newly renovated house and studio than to find out my work has been selected for Images 34: The Best of British Contemporary Illustration! I have had one of my Garden Detectives illustrations selected by a rather prestigious jury for the Design category, so I am well chuffed! Images 34 kicks off with the exhibition launch in London in July 2010 and then the book is sent out to art directors and designers from early August.Ooh, that seems ages away...

"The Trauma of Redundancy" for The Guardian

2009-09-28T11:58:00.005+01:00

Tsk, tsk Ms. Calder. What kind of blogging do you call this, when your last post was weeks ago? Must do better.
Sorry about the irregular blog posting, folks but I have been going through the "Trauma of Dodgy, Bodging Builders", so its been a tad stressful here in Studio Calder. However, our new builders are VERY good and we hope to be back in the house VERY SOON, so I can resume normal service again (and get my lovely studio back!)

In the meantime, I have been working away all summer on some lovely jobs, the most recent being for The Guardian. It was all about the stress of redundancy and how people felt a loss of identity and were isolated by the experience.
Writer Ian Wylie looked into the aftermath of losing your job, recognising that while it can be a psychological blow, there is much you can do to get back on your feet
Wylie described "keeping the wolf from the door" too - so I couldn't resist a big 'ol wolf.

This is a more surreal image for me,as compared to my usual narrative style but I like it - as did Sarah Habershon, the art director. I've included an image of the front page complete with illo too, so you can see it in context.

Finally, I hope you take the opportunity to have a look at my BRAND NEW WEBSITE designed by Evie at Eskymo. Lush.

Brand new look for Jillustration

2009-08-22T19:02:00.004+01:00

Whey-hey! I hope you like the brand spanking new make over of my blog? A shiny and cheerful new header and a refresh of the typeface and colour scheme. What's all this in aid of, I hear you ask - well, my website has also been undergoing major cosmetic surgery and is about to be set free on the world wide interweb, so the blog had to scrub up too. It will be my twitter page that is getting a wardrobe overhaul next!

I am very excited about my new look website at www.jillcalder.com - it has been great fun working with Evie at Eskymo, who has designed it for me. I will announce it properly once it is all live and kicking...but it is coming VERY SOON! In the meantime, here is a sneak preview of my colour palette.

Garden Detectives exhibition - grand opening!

2009-06-23T11:38:00.005+01:00

After all my hard work creating the illustrative element and all the National Museum of Scotland's design team's hard work bringing the show into 3D, interactive life, Garden Detectives finally opened at a private view on Thursday 25th June!

Go here to see loads more images of the opening night, the exhibition and my illustrations, of course!

It was a great evening - starting with speeches by the museum's director, Gordon Rintoul and by Roseanna Cunningham, who is the Scottish Minister for the Environment. Of course a tasty canapé or two with a glass of bubbly was in order.
The whole design team were there: Maureen Barrie (project manager), Stuart Kerr (3D), Lisa Carrington (graphics) and Cathy Sexton (she who ensured I was paid!).I was also delighted to meet Matt Black who had built a lot of the exhibits and interactive elements.

Also present were lots of children and they simply proved that the show will be a big hit, as they poured into the exhibition space and leapt upon the exhibits with enthusiastic glee! I think the most popular section was the fishing pond, "Pond Dipping" where you got a magnetic fishing rod and tried to catch all the beasties, such as minnows, waterspiders and waterboatmen beetles and then post them back through appropriate slots at the side of the pond according to where they live : in the mud at the bottom, in the pondweed or poddling about near the top.

For me, it was wonderful to see the big illustration of the dreamy garden scenes in all their 8 metre long glory - very nice indeed!

Overall, I really enjoyed the challenge of this project. I love drawing but here I had to be accurate for education purposes but still retain my inky, fairly loose style. Also, working with such detailed technical drawings was at times daunting but the designers needed me to be spot on with where each flowerhead or bit of mint was placed so they could then tell the joiners and set builders what to do with out any mistakes occurring. Also, it was fairly large amount of illustration to do in quite a short amount of time but I do like a bit of deadline pressure to make life interesting!

I'll be honest though, if I never have to draw another adder in my life, I'll be very happy indeed. Snakes are hard to draw!

If you can, please go and support the National Museum of Scotland and enjoy the show.

The Class of 2009

2009-06-09T09:53:00.004+01:00

Thought I would promote my new batch of competition in the world of illustration - namely the 19 students that are soon to graduate from the Illustration Deptartment at Edinburgh College of Art.

The Degree Show opens on June 13th (the PV is on the 12th) and it is an excellent, varied, exciting and surprising show indeed.

This group have been great to teach and I think many of them will do well in the tough 'ol business that is Illustration. I just hope they remember the pricing and business advice I gave them back in November!
I have selected an image by Toby Cook from his book "The Upside Down House" and a life drawing by Trine Mangernes as a small taster of the variety in the exhibition.

Go along to their Show, buy something from their shop and support the next generation.

New for The Guardian

2009-05-29T08:20:00.003+01:00

This is a sneak preview of an illo about the "Sandwich Generation" that will be published in tomorrow's Guardian (Work section cover, no less)
I got the roughs in on Wednesday evening (after a particularly unpleasant episode of dealing with my non functioning scanner) and the lovely art director, Sarah Habershon said she liked my sofa idea to depict the "Sandwich Generation" where both ageing parents and children have to be cared for - despite the fact the carer also holds down a full time job.
Sarah doesn't like to have an obvious work theme on the Work cover so I made this as domesticated and family-orientated as possible, yet trying to show the pressure that the carer is under to look after family properly yet still get work done.
I like the hamster metaphor, myself (based on Chewbacca who is my nephew's spritely rodent). The bird in the cage is, of course, a MASSIVE homage to Charles Keeping, whose work I love.

And I don't understand why I keep drawing cats when it is dogs that I love.

fantastic biker action in Edinburgh

2009-05-22T22:54:00.002+01:00

Big red building? Edinburgh college of Art. I love this film.

Proper Dog Training!

2009-05-18T09:05:00.002+01:00

You should know I am dog daft and that my husband and I have been training our now 7 month old pup, Birdie, pretty successfully. She is very intelligent and biddable and has a lovely soft mouth...AND she comes back to her name!
However, my mum-in-law, Sharon is a bit of an expert dog trainer, as she gets her canine brood to track and to do man work and agility.
She has just got herself a magic wee black lab bitch called Daphne and is training her already. In fact, Daphne is so intelligent she is writing her own blog - Daphne's Diary

Pic of Sharon, Daphne and Chris the trainer.

Dog news over and out.

Incy Wincy Spider...

2009-05-06T17:24:00.002+01:00

quite like this spider I did for NMS...
put the leaves in to show it wasn't a massive, big 'ol Aussie man-eater of a thing, but rather a proper little British spider.

Lettering for Carte Blanche

2009-05-05T12:45:00.002+01:00

Amongst all this museum work, I have also done a bit of logo work for my super talented friends Cait and Gibson at Carteblanche, who are specialists in distinctive decorative painting techniques. They do murals, graining, gilding, marbling - you name it! They also hold classes in both the UK and USA, which are very popular.
If you happen to be near Auchterarder, then drop into their brand new showroom and shop at 94 High Street!

The Flowerbed

2009-05-01T14:21:00.004+01:00

This is a rough of another pretty big wall illo for Garden Detectives - 4.4m long
There will be interactive, scented elements here for the lavender and mint etc. and all sorts of other fun things for children to play with and try out. I have been having a job getting my head round the technical drawings that the 3D designer supplied - hence my scribbles on the rough.
Another wall section in this part of the exhibit will have a honey Bee Journey on it too!
The end is on sight now (it's been a week of working 'til midnight - most unlike me!)
and I just have a few more beasties to colour up and send off.
A few posts back I mentioned that a badger I did had been rejected for looking too "weird" - well, here is the new one. It got an "Aw!" from the designer!

Studio Finds

2009-04-25T13:18:00.003+01:00

It's ALL happening this week...

Not only do I have the most epic job on with NMS, but the builders are about to move in to the house to do a mighty bit of renovation work. So, we are moving OUT!
I am currently meant to be boxing things up in my studio ready for the big move, but of course I get distracted when I find wee sketchbooks that have fallen down the back of my desk, or have just been wedged between something bigger.
Here are a couple of pages - one random wee doodle in a lovely Muji notebook and the other a bit of visual notetaking from the Night Safari at Singapore Zoo.
Right, back to boxing, tidying, chucking and dust.

Massive garden illustration for NMS

2009-04-24T12:30:00.003+01:00

Now, this is a work in progress and is still being added to, tweaked and bits deleted, so if you come along to the museum for the Garden Detectives opening in June, you probably won't see this version.
This is the big 'ol illustration that will cover up to 8 metres by 2.6 metres (yes, 8 metres) of wall as you enter the Garden Detectives exhibition. I admit it has caused me problems in the making, as I am putting it together on Photoshop CS4 at a smaller scale, but superhigh resoltion (1200dpi). I was saving a version the other day and didn't Photoshop go and tell me that it didn't save files higher than 2GB? I'll not repeat what I said to Photoshop...
I can't wait to see this super-sized, as it is so inky and colourful. The designers at NMS did a test print of another big image and it looks amazing at room height, I have to say.
There are going to be a few other massive illustrations for other zones in the show, aswell as smaller images such as my toad (see previous post)
Deadline-wise I have just over a week to get it all done, so it's time for a mug of tea, a biscuit and on with iTunes (Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto, "the Emperor" to kick me off today then perhaps a bit of Leftfield)

A fine looking Toad

2009-04-20T17:03:00.004+01:00

Working very hard on the National Museums of Scotland job - I literally have hundreds of animals, birds, insects, fish and flowers to draw.
As part of one of the interactive exhibits in the show, I have drawn 15 animals that all have to be sorted out (by the visitors)as to where they live (or not) in a hedgerow.
These drawings have to be accurate, as they are educational, but still done in my style.
I am rather fond of this lowly and rather warty common toad. Yes - as part of the same exhibit I have also drawn a badger (currently re-doing the badger, as my first version was deemed a bit "weird, possibly too hairy" by the folk at the museum!) and a weasel so all I need to complete a cast call for Wind in the Willows is a water rat - but there isn't one in this show!
I'll get some of the big showstopper garden scenes up soon - just as soon as they are ready. In the meantime - enjoy the toad.

National Museum of Scotland

2009-04-01T15:50:00.006+01:00

Finally! I am able to write a bit about this absolute PEACH of a job!
The last couple of months have seen me to-ing and fro-ing to the wonderful, award winning National Museum of Scotland to meet with their very cheerful design team to discuss doing some work for their big summer exhibition, entitled Garden Detectives, which is part of the Darwin200 series of events celebrating all things Charles Darwin.

It was Stuart Kerr who contacted me - he is a D&AD award winning 3D designer and mad keen cyclist by the way - and asked if I had ever done work for interactive, large scale exhibits. Nope...but I'd like to.

Basically the exhibition is aimed at children and will encourage them to discover what lurks, lives and burrows in their own backyard, through the medium of large, custom built interactive garden sheds, flowerbeds and hedgerows...oh and a garden pond too.
There will be plenty of specimens and things to poke at too.

Where does my work fit in? Well,I get to draw and paint lovely, loose garden scenes and hedge rows with bird's nests,curled up cats and pond-dwellers, which will be supersized and applied to walls and to the interactive exhibits aswell. I am also doing a hefty amount of quite technical illustration of the creatures who inhabit our gardens too too. Now, for those of you who know my work, you would be forgiven for thinking "Jill? technical? Neat and tidy?" I did think the same thing myself. However, after doing some drawings of Dragonfly larvae and ladybirds for the Museum's resident entymologist, my style got the stamp of approval!
The brief was to draw accurately, but still be inky - these illustrations are to be educational afterall.

Needless to say, I am very excited about this job - which does mean scanning everything at 1200dpi, as it is going to be BIG!
There will be plenty more updates about this, so watch this space for any more snippets.

Above illustration is a garden cat and also another of part of a dragonfly life cycle. You knew that though, didn't you?

Sumo Arabic Brochure

2009-03-27T17:02:00.002Z

Sumo Arabic Brochure, originally uploaded by jimmysumo.

The lovely folk at Sumo asked me to do some illustrations in connection with their project with an amazing new museum in Qatar.
Jim Richardson sent me through these pics of the brochure they designed with one of my illos on the cover.
It was an interesting job to do, as I had to draw a mixture of Arabic and Western people in the gallery setting (which looks like a giant sand dune, by the way) but at the same time, be respectful of Islamic customs and culture. I hope I got it right!
In the process of researching this job, I came across some fantastic Arabic art websites and blogs, such as Fann 3arabi...and discovered a couple of inspiring Arabic calligraphers too, such as Malik Anas, an Iraqi calligrapher based in Baghdad.

Vintage Inspiration from Amy Cartwright

2009-03-13T12:31:00.002Z

Several deadlines are pressing down upon me and in true fashion I blithely turn my cheek and get "researching" on the web for lots of lovely inspirational things.
Well, this actually came in via the Grain Edit newsfeed and I urge you to check it out.
stickersandstuff.blogspot.com is illustrator Amy Cartwright's fab blog - LOADS of links and lots of excellent vintage illustration to look at and drool.

Consider it an educational tool, all you young 'uns out there. Thankyou Amy!

Max Velthuijs illustration

2009-03-13T10:52:00.001Z

Max Velthuijs, originally uploaded by normanhathaway.

double page spread heaven...I have been browsing Flickr again and found this wonderful spread.
Beautiful colour, composition, white space and yet is free and expressive too. It makes me want to do children's books!

Kitties

2009-01-31T12:03:00.002Z

Kitties, originally uploaded by Penguin & Fish.

How adorable are these tweed cats by Penguin and Fish?
I want one...Etsy here I come!