this is a potential idea for an article that could feature my work. a lot of my illustrations are influenced by historical, spiritual and folklore themes.the revival of magical imagery has been apparent in the last few years. preserving historical concepts, images and design through contemporary art.
the first piece i made to start developing my new style, playing with darker colours and gothic motifs with a folklore theme. i themed this piece on the fly agaric mushroom as it has strong ties to folklore and historically is associated with magic.
july, 2019
here are some artists i found particularly inspiring over the summer. these illustrators work has been vital in helping me develop a new colour palette and to begin working with different themes. i mainly look at work that is made digitally but with traditional themes, textures and styles.
still july, 2019
developing my new style further and refining a colour palette. moving away from greys/browns/greens and towards black, warm yellow and red. still keeping the focus on magic and folklore and generally just painting what comes to mind and what i feel inspired to do.
late july & august
experimenting with mixed media. combining gouache, pencil, charcoal and digital on the fly agaric. i'm also practising using minimal colours and darker backgrounds in portraits. portraits are where i started out with illustration last year, so it's interesting to see how they change as my style develops.
august
in auagust i did an instagram giveaway to help raise my social media presence. i made two text posts for the giveaway which allowed me to develop a graphic style that fitted my work which could be used for a website, packaging, business cards and my etsy store.
the response to the giveaway was great and helped my work reach a wider audience quite quickly.
september
in september i developed the ranges that i sell through etsy. i also contacted the national trust about stocking my work at some of their north west sites. beginning this meant that i had to remake a lot of my wooden pins, as well as re-branding them to look more professional. during this time i also developed my halloween range to be sold through etsy and also be available in national trust gift shops during october. i've added a halloween collection page to my website which you can view here:
pin packing development
postcard prints
as i was designing my halloween range i also made a set of three illustrations that i intended to get printed as post cards and sell as a set. i plan to repeat this for christmas, but get them as cards instead. by this point my style is more refined and consistent, i'm happy with the colours i'm using and using digital processes means that i can reuse the same borders and motifs which help sets look more cohesive.
i also joined in a 'draw this in your style' challenge in september. this is the first one that i have done since developing my newer style, and i find challenges like these very helpful in solidifying my style of illustration.
and then i made this website to act as a digital portfolio and add a more professional front to my illustrations. i thought a website was a vital step in appearing professional when contacting shops and businesses to stock my work (as i have been throughout the summer). i am currently in the process of getting my work stocked with the national trust, working with small business lazy kate textiles to produce commissioned items as well as working towards having my work stocked by some local gift shops.
Developing Plum Tree Branding
refreshed etsy banner and logo
last of all i changed up my business cards to include my website, and use my own font that i made for my branding, these will be printed onto recycled brown card. they also include similar motifs that feature in my work. i changed my etsy logo and banner also to be in-keeping with my new colour palette and theme.
