Blog
Into the Unknown
Well, I decided to quit my full-time job last week as I’ve been unhappy about it for the past couple of months. I think I needed that final push to break away from the comforts of it and to start a new career. I thought to myself for a while why should I be spending most of my days in an environment that’s mentally and emotionally weighing me down?
Think positive. Stay positive.
Create and make.
Pattern Crazy
Lately I’ve been really into design patterns that are pretty much 80s/90s inspired: throw in a bit of bad hair, weird fashion, Fanta, days hanging out in the sun with your friends… those kind of vibes.
I recently met up with my friend Amber, a print designer, who I’ve known for years. I was really inspired by her motivation and her reasons for quitting an amazing job she had at a fashion house.
I thought I would end the post on a positive note, having recently been quite down with things. Nothing is impossible. Sometimes you’ve just got to push through the hard times to succeed.
Bloomsbury Publishing’s Illustrating Picture Book’s Workshop
The other night June Sees and I went along to Bloomsbury Publishing’s illustration masterclass, which was run by the lovely and extremely talented Yaseem Ismail.
The masterclass was about the publishing side of children’s picture book and also looking at from the very first drafts to the final finished book in bookshops.
Yasmeen was full of energy and enthusiasm during the evening! She was sort of bouncing across the room from the projector to the whiteboard; really engaging the audience with her words of (very good) advice. I loved how she gave the talk based on her own personal experiences mixed with industry experience as it was interesting to see how she managed to get to where she is now. With lot’s of persistence, motivation, years of hard work, her dedication and passion really shone through during the masterclass.
Yasmeen was really direct and to the point about certain subjects such as finding your own style and how to get a good portfolio together. When she was talking about ‘style’, it took her a while to find a medium she was happy to work with. The most important thing she said about it was that there’s no wrong way in making images, which I whole-heartedly agree. Be inspired by things around you, when you’re down then take a break and go back to it.
In regards to the publishing industry, she went through each of the stages and how it filters down to getting in on the book shelves to parent’s buying the books for their little ones.
I don’t want to give too much away for those who haven’t been to it. I would recommend going if you’re interested in picture book illustrations.
By the end of the masterclass I was feeling very motivated and reflected about my own practices as an illustrator. I bought ‘Specs for Rex’ and ‘Time for Bed, Fred!”, both beautifully illustrated, and got Yasmeen to sign them both for me!
All Good Things Must Come To An End
Christmas ended pretty quickly, right? By the way, I say this every year. I spent nearly two weeks between Newcastle and Doncaster, flitting up and down visiting Sam and my folks in Doncaster.
I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Sam, his mum and the dog called Darcy! He’s so cute and fluffy like a walking cloud!
Darcy.
We travelled back down to Doncaster to see my folks on Boxing Day and it had started to snow. The next day the whole street was covered in thick layer of snow! Not so fun when it turns to slush though.
So far, I’ve spent the rest of the week here enjoying the peace and quietness of home. I’ve been overfed by my parents- can’t complain! We had two hot pots in one day, again, pretty awesome! Hot pots are good when it’s a little bit cold and you just want something warm and hot to eat. The way to eat a hot pot is to start with a savoury soup and it can be spicy, which I think is the best way to eat it! Or you could just add miso soup as the stock plus carrots, taro, tomatoes and sweetcorn to add more flavour to it. You then put meat, veg, noodles, fish balls, prawns etc. into a pot of soup and you just wait until it’s cooked basically. It’s also a great way of eating bits of everything and sharing tasty food at the same time.
I’m sort of ready to go back to work on Monday… not. Sigh.