Sketchbook :: Groot Sketch

I've been neglecting my blog lately! I've had lots to keep me busy! I'll have new work to share soon smile emoticon 

Meanwhile here is a sketch I did a few weeks back. I was poorly and feeling sorry for myself, but doodling just for fun made me feel much better! "I am Groot"!

Sketchbook: Atlantic Blue Crab Drawing

A new (Atlantic Blue) crab work in progress! I can't wait to paint this one.

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

"Muse Within the Flames" // Packaging for Passione Pizza: Concept to Final Illustration

In April, I had the pleasure to illustrate for LA-based pizza dough brand, "Passsione Pizza". Passione'
is a young company, producing organic pizza dough mix with authentic, traditional Italian recipes.

"Created by Maestro Pizzaiolo Fabrizio Cercatore, “Passione Pizza” is a brand that specializes in true, high quality pizza ingredients that come straight from the culinary traditions of Italy."

For more info you can visit the site at: www.passionepizza.com.

I have to say the brief was quite a surprise - it was a very unusual one for me! "A muse within the flames". The flames, of course being a hot wood-fired pizza oven. The muse, being a sultry yet confident feminine presence, concealed within the flames and as somewhat of an optical illusion.

 Some time was taken to perfect the concept of the design. Below are just a selected few
of my designs and workings...

Of course the muse began in my usual illustration style, with details of a lady's face or silhouette...

 

 

 I took note that we needed to keep her from looking like a "tortured soul" !! This kept me giggling quite a bit as I worked on simplifying her features.

...to keep the optical illusion concept strong, he design was simplified down to a minimal lines, with the end designs being much more simple, looking very different from my starting point.

I also experimented with different ways of drawing flames, they can be curvy, curly and serene but then can also be jagged, sharp and angry...

And so, many ideas, sketches and lots of experimenting later, here is the final illustration,
ready to be used...

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

Sketchbook: Dinosaur Sketches

A couple of just-for-fun sketches from last weekend - trying something I haven't drawn for a long time. Dinosaurs!? Some Parasaurolophus and (perhaps quite a young) Velociraptor.

New work coming soon! Stay tuned.

Sketchbook: Royal (Blue) Bengal Tigers

These tigers are part of exploration for an Asian-influenced illustration for digital album cover artwork (think: digital cover images such as those on iTunes music).  

More info about this project and my sketchbook work for it including some Japanese dragon designs(!) 

can be seen at my Facebook page here. 

I find big cats quite daunting to draw, even though they used to be one of my very favourite things

to doodle when I was little.

The finished Eastern-palette-inspired Jade Royal Bengal:

Stay tuned for more updates on this project! I am very excited about the final cover artwork 

and can't wait to share it with you! 

Sketchbook: Smiley Cats

The limited number of daylight hours here in the north of England are limiting the time I can spend painting - and when the weather is bad it can seem like nighttime, all the time! I have lamps but nothing beats bright daylight for getting colours right. Drawing on the other hand is fine, as any light will do for that! And this I am very thankful for. Here is one of the subjects I have been sketching lately: new cats. With these I have been really aiming to capture very sweet feline faces. (Click for a larger view)

  

    

Pet Portraits - gerbil babies, budgies and fancy goldfish

These are some pet portrait commissions I have completed recently.

This little series was a commission for a5-sized paintings of three gerbil portraits and one budgie. I worked from photo references but the client had some requests for little extras which I added in too.

 The rainbow was an unexpected request, and it called for some practice and experimenting with various techniques before I painted the final piece.

This handsome boy's name is Merlin, so he needed a bit of extra magic! 

Another recent pet portait was of this playful chappy named Bartholomew (the best name for a fish I have ever heard)

Sketchbook Pages: Parrots and Geese

Everything has pretty much stopped in the past couple of weeks for me...I've been physically unable to do pretty much anything at all since I sprained my knee (which stopped me from standing for long) and then somehow managed to hurt a muscle/nerve in my lower back (which has stopped me from sitting and laying down properly!) The funny thing is I have no idea how either of them happened! 

I have however, managed to set up a Facebook page...so if you are a frequent user of the book of face, feel free to "like" me to follow my updates there https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amy-Holliday-Illustration#!/pages/Amy-Holliday-Illustration/330635163618041

Anyway, here's a few studies I've collected together from some recent scribblings...it surprises me how loose my drawings have become...

Owls and Parrots Sketches!

  Some of my new drawings that I hope to turn into two new bird series!