Red Blood Cells // Watercolour Somatic Cells

Continued watercolour cell illustrations for bio-engineering company, the wonderful Fluidigm. This illustration required a river of red blood cells, using oranges, reds and purple colour tones. Here is an initial test piece. 

The challenge was to draw many cells at different angles and then to place the shadows in the correct places. Each red blood cell has a middle indentation, with the overall shape of the cell being disc-like. Some of these are a little too bumpy/wobbly looking for red blood cells, and were later corrected with smoother outlines.  

After experimenting with colours and practising the shape, I incorporated some perspective into the flowing cells by varying the richness of colour. Here are some of my favourites from the final piece. 

Fluidigm (C) www.fluidigm.com

Artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2019

www.amyholliday.co.uk

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

Throwback Thursday: Lovebirds

Here is a zoom-in on a pair of bright and happy love birds from 2011. Mrs Lovebird (on the left) was part of a private commission, and Mr Lovebird (on the right) was just for fun. I still have the original painting for Mr Lovebird, which is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Study // The Finest Red Ramiro Sweet Pointed Peppers

More fresh fruit/veg/food/produce studies :) Another self-initiated lesson in painting with red. Heavily inspired by the sweetest red peppers I have ever tasted, the organic kind are the best of course. Ahem, other supermarket brands are available!

Artwork is (C) Amy Holliday 2014. Please do not use without permission. 

Study // Red Royal Gala and Green Granny Smith Apples

Yummy Royal Gala and Granny Smith apples study. I tackled these with a slightly more botanical/scientific approach...

I loved painting these! Can you tell? 

Study // Cherry Tomatoes on the Vine

Personal portfolio/self development work.

Yummm. This tomato study turned into a bit of a painting lesson. After scanning the finished painting I found that I wasn't overly happy with it. The tomatoes were just not red enough! I decided to re-visit them, and this time really focus on getting that rich, ripe, firm and fragrant tomato colour. I realised that in order to get the richness I was hoping for, they needed a LOT more paint. I ended up finishing a second set too which I prefer more than the first! Let me know what you think :)

All content and images (C) Amy Holliday 2014. Please do not use without permission. 

Parrots in Love! Red and Blue Macaw Pair // Avairy Logo

I recently had the pleasure of painting more macaw parrots. This time a loved-up couple to be used as a new logo for the wonderful "Feathered Companions Avairy" in Delmar, Maryland. The aviary breeds many kinds of parrots, but the stars of the show are of course the big-hearted and beautiful macaws. 

It was great to work on the parrots' face detail this time, (my previous paintings are less detailed)

:: Process and Roughs...

There were many possibilities for the design, which I drew inspiration for from the aviary's own photos. Below are just some of my exploratory drawings...

...in flight and very happy:

...and a baby.

You can find previous posts with my macaws series from 2011 here:

Blue and Gold

Catablu

Scarlet 

Catalina

Military 

More Sketches

All images are (C) Amy Holliday 2014.
Please contact me first to seek permission before using. Thank you!

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:

Spicy Ginger

Refreshing Mint

...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. 

"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.