Saturday 21 December 2013

Personal // Ellie Goulding Drawing (A work in progress...!)

Something different for me: portraits. An Ellie sketch developed into this finished drawing during a bout of lots of portrait/people practice in 2012. 

This is my favourite of the bunch and still remains uncoloured! We all know "WIP"s always end up being long forgotten relics in our desk drawers, but hopefully that wont be the case with this one...



(C) Amy Holliday 2012, please do not take or use without permission



Monday 16 December 2013

Gallimaufry by Grace // Flamingo Gift Shop Sign

A few photos of one of my flamingo illustrations in use - this one makes a very pretty logo and sign for Gallimaufry by Grace gift shop, located in Mississippi, US!

 

What a beautiful little shop! These photos are courtesy of the owner.

More of my very vibrant greater flamingo series can be found here.

Digital Arts Feature June 2013 // What's hot in Animal Illustration

In June I was featured in an article published in Digital Arts magazine! (Pretty delayed I know - I had completely forgotten about it and have only just seen the finished article!)

A handful of (fabulously talented) contemporary illustrators give their perspective on current trends in animal illustration, and discuss preferred techniques to capture their animal subjects.

I was flattered to be one of those illustrators asked to contribute, alongside Sarah Maycock, Tim McDonagh and Kristjana S Williams and more, all of whom I am personally a fan of.

You can read the full article here

(Only a small part of what I submitted was included, so I think I will blog the rest of it here!)


Monday 25 November 2013

Badger Family in the Snow // Christmas Cards via Animal Aid

As the Christmas season rapidly approaches, I would like to remind anyone who might be on the hunt for their Seasons Greetings cards that my Badger Family illustration is available to buy in packs of ten via the charity, Animal Aid. 

I ordered two packs for myself, and took the opportunity to take some photos. Here they are alongside the original illustration. They are of excellent quality and have a lovely gloss finish. It is always so exciting for me to see my work in print!






The cards are being sold in packs of 10 for £3.95 and all proceeds go towards helping this wonderful animal charity continue their amazing work.


 You can purchase them from the Animal Aid website here.

Sunday 24 November 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!! // Autumnal Turkey

Last weekend I was asked to create a very seasonal turkey illustration for a US client...

I kept the colours very seasonal but still vibrant, and I experimented with lots of feather textures to create his huge fantail.

The design required a traditional pattern with corresponding autumnal elements for a border design. I painted this using only browns and greys, and later added in a little more colour digitally.




I ended up having two different versions for his head - I felt the first was too cute and subtle so I made sure that the second shows his profile and details of his wattle much better.



Border Detail:





Images (C) Amy Holliday 2013. Please do not use without permission.






Monday 11 November 2013

Tea Packaging // Appetizing Ingredients: Juicy Strawberries

I was recently thrilled to be approached by a prestigious client with the prospect to provide the new illustrations for a certain rather large tea brand's new range of packaging...

See previous post for the full story here. Previously posted ingredients:


...here is my final series of the three; juicy, rosy strawberries...









These are my favourites from the three series...I love strawberries! It was torture having the ripe, juicy strawberries in front of my nose while I worked on them. I have painted strawberries before although it was a long time ago (2011) so it was great to have a fresh attempt at them using new techniques.

All images are (C) Amy Holliday. Please do not use without permission. 

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Sketchbook // WIP Departing Aston Martin (Angus teaser #1)

...You may have noticed that I have been much quieter (than usual) in recent months. The reason is that I have been kept busy with a huge project - my largest commission and project so far, in fact.

I am illustrating a children's storybook!  Not only is this a dream-come-true for me, (I have dreamed of doing this since I was little lass who spent way too much time adding overly-elaborate pictures to her school work...) but I absolutely adore the story and the characters which makes it a pleasure to work on.

I can't give too much away just yet, but I can share some snippets.

An old Aston Martin preparing for and departing on its journey. Its not often you see an Aston with an attached luggage rack!...Guess the model? Hint: its very famous!







Sunday 3 November 2013

Tea Packaging // Appetizing Ingredients: Refreshing Mint

I was recently thrilled to be approached by a prestigious client with the prospect to provide the new illustrations for a certain rather large tea brand's new range of packaging...

See previous post for the full story here. Other ingredients:


...here is the second series of the three; cool, refreshing mint.








All images are (C) Amy Holliday and are not to be used without permission.

Monday 28 October 2013

Sketchbook: Silly Halloween Pumpkins

I hope everyone had a lovely pre-Halloween weekend!! I think this is a good time to share a re-discovered sketch. I actually made it this time last year... 


All images are (C) Amy Holliday and are not to be used without permission. 

Tea Packaging // Appetizing Ingredients: Spicy Ginger

I was recently thrilled to be approached by a prestigious client with the prospect to provide the new illustrations for a certain rather large tea brand's new range of packaging...

I was interviewed at two stages and was asked to complete a trial brief. I made it though to the final stages although sadly, in the end I was not chosen as the final illustrator for the project.

However! Completing this brief was very exciting for me as it was an utter dream-come-true to be considered for such a wonderful project with such an amazing client. It has left me feeling very optimistic for the future.     

I was asked to complete three series of fresh, juicy, appetizing ingredients shown at various angles, similar to my previous lemon studies.

Here are the first of my ingredients. Warm, spicy root ginger...






 Two more ingredient studies coming very soon...

Images are (C) Amy Holliday. Please do not use without permission. 



Thursday 24 October 2013

Personal: "Dock Dogs"! Illustration + Sketches

This illustration happened as a warm-up/practice run whilst working on an illustration featuring the Southeastern Wildlife Exhibition (SEWE). This was the first time I has heard of the fantastic Dock Dogs and thought it was brilliant! I was pleased to find out that Dock Dogs are also in the UK, although I think my little Rosie is a bit too old for this kind of malarkey. 









Sketchbook: Border Collie Sheepdog Studies/Sketches

Quick studies from earlier in the year of a border collie sheep dog named Angus...






Sketchbook: Horses and Horse Racing Sketches

These work-in-progress sketches are from earlier in the year and are still waiting around begging to be finished. The inspiration was spurred on (pun intended) after seeing the beautiful sculptures of Paris (Visiting the art capital of the world this summer was incredibly inspiring...) 
I love how something still can capture so much movement, power and emotion.

Horses used to be my favourite thing to doodle when I was little, but I have rarely attempt them lately as they cause my perfection-ism to kick into overdrive. 







Sunday 20 October 2013

Collaboration // Swanky Egg Design: Sleeping Beauty Illustration to Fairytale Sculpture

The lovely Molly Miller aka Swanky Egg Design of Etsy, has finished her wonderful fairy-tale sculpture inspired by my 2011 Sleeping Beauty illustration...


Molly completed her whimsical sculpture a few weeks ago now, and I was so excited to see the finished piece. Molly really captured the essence of my illustration and then some. She added in extra details of castle spires and the spinning wheel, and even created a star-lit night sky by entwining tiny fairy-lights into the rose briars. The piece sold within 15 minutes of listing in her online Etsy shop!





Molly Miller is "Swanky Egg Design". She lives in Salt Lake City, US and creates beautiful fairy-tale inspired decorative pieces that she sells online in her Etsy shop. To marvel at more 
of her creations visit her online Etsy store here...

More of my fairy-tale illustrations from 2011 can be seen at my website here.

Friday 18 October 2013

4G British Isles Map // for O2 UK Magazine October 2013

In August I was absolutely thrilled to illustrate for UK telecommunications brand O2.

O2 required a watercolour map in their signature brand colours, to show their 4G coverage in England, Scotland and Wales. I also provided the sea background as well as they pink and blue markers, leaving O2 to then added the labels.

This is a full page illustration which features in this month's magazine, available to pick up free in stores all over the UK, I've already got my copy!



 
 
 
 
 
All images are (C) Amy Holliday 2013, please do not use without permission.