Cheetah // Watercolour and Black Indian Ink

I recently found this in a sketchbook from back when I set myself a personal project of drawing 100 animals in 100 days, and 4 years later, I have finally scanned it in. It was an experiment with black Indian ink on top of my usual watercolour paints.

 Artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2020

Do not use without permission

www.amyholliday.co.uk

Artists & Illustrators Feb 2017 // Pocket Painting Guide

This month's issue of "Artists & Illustrators" includes a free pamphlet full of art-improving tips - featuring artwork by me! I was asked to create a cover design for the little guide and had free rein to have fun and add my own "flair" - obviously it turned out to be very enjoyable to do.  

I was provided with a basic colour theme to follow of warm, feminine colours which would eventually translate onto the main magazine cover itself.

The idea was to create a messy, busy and energetic front cover reflecting the contents to be bursting with creative tips and tricks. I illustrated each element as an individual object before scanning and reassembling the design digitally. The single illustrations were also used as chapter headers.

The guide is beautifully designed and is indeed bursting with helpful advice - I've already discovered a few things I didn't know and plan to keep it handy for future reference.

Some of my favourites:

The Artists & Illustrators February 2017 issue featuring the Pocket Painting Guide is available NOW in Tesco and Sainsburys stores around the UK!

All artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2017 do not use without permission

For more of my work please visit www.amyholliday.co.uk

Stylist Magazine // The Summer of Craft Beers (1 of 2)

Last week's issue of Stylist Magazine featured the article "The Summer of Craft Beers" - and if you saw it then you might have noticed that the illustrations were all done by yours truly! I was asked to provide my own take on some of the season's trendiest independently-brewed beers, as well as a full opening page design with a very feminine and ornate beer bottle.

The timeframe was very tight on this one - I had just 3 days to complete 10 illustrations from start to finish which was very challenging. On the plus side, having to work as fast as possible certainly required that I be more confident with my freehand work, and accept it for what it is, mistakes and all (absolutely no chance of starting over with this project!)

The opening title page was very fun to design and paint. The brief required it to be feminine and decorative - so of course I let loose on a very pretty, girly beer label!

All artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2016. Please do not use without seeking prior permission. 

To see more of my work visit www.amyholliday.co.uk

Sketchbook // Bird drawings: Street Pigeons

Drawing exercise - freehand, quick, loose, no erasing - some turn out fine but others not so much, but that's OK. Here is a handful of the better studies from life and some from photos. I love drawing birds!

POWER SAUCE by Essentis Berlin // Packaging Illustration for Organic Chilli Sauce

This week I had the pleasure of working with lovely people behind "Essentis" - a new brand created by chef Nicolas Petrucci. The brand "Essentis" shares its name with the popular biohotel in Berlin where Nicolas is head chef. Their first product is a pro-biotic and organic chilli-based sauce named "Power Sauce" and I was asked to create some vibrant chilli and mango-inspired 

artwork to adorn the product labels.

The initial inspiration came from my own chilli pepper painting, which I used as a base to add more colourful watercolour splashes to make it that little bit more exciting(!) and painted new mango slices to match. As you can probably tell, this was a lot of fun to paint - 

bold colour and abstract splashes? Right up my street.    

The first concept labels: 

I love how the typography works with the artwork. Here are the simplified labels on the first wave of packaging, ready to go: 

And finally, a wonderfully designed Power Sauce poster using my artwork:

Essentis Biohotel - http://essentisbiohotel.de/en/

 Artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2016

Photography (C) Essentis by Nicolas Petrucci 2016

UK Wildlife // Squirrel Studies

A second batch of UK wild animal watercolour studies - this time its the squirrel.

The introduced US Grey Squirrel vs the resident British Red Squirrel. The grey has become the most widespread out of the two and is now the dominant species. (Luckily for me I live in the North where reds still survive, but I love both kinds!).

I also took a little time to try a softer style...

Images and artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2016

To see more of my work visit www.amyholliday.co.uk

UK Wildlife // Red Fox Studies

I was glad to finish some paintings from one of my own personal projects this week - the first in a UK wildlife series, the red fox. I am aiming for a slightly more traditional, non-fiction approach with these but that still has my own contemporary style. What do you think?

A collection of some of the initial loose sketches: 

  

And then some of the more refined sketches, exploring various positions and face styles:

Images and artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2016

To see more of my work visit www.amyholliday.co.uk

Book Cover Illustration // "Cook Healthy & Quick" by DK Publishing

This week I received a wonderful surprise in the mail from the lovely team at DK publishing. Back in August I was asked to illustrate a pair of fitting ingredients for the cover of their new book "Cook Healthy & Quick". The only request was that the paintings were soft so that they wouldn't overpower the photography. I actually finished four pea pods in varying ways so that they could choose their favourite. This was my first time working for Dorling Kindersley and they were lovely to work with. 

Seeing my work on the finished book cover is fantastic, and I'm incredibly pleased with the results!

My lemon illustration was also used in its entirety on the reverse side of the jacket.

  The book is a new release this month (January 2016) and is packed full of excellent healthy recipes.

Images and artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2016

To see more of my work visit www.amyholliday.co.uk