*Christmas Special* - Personalised Fashion Illustrations available for preorder

A lot of people have asked, so I'm finally doing it! 

 This Christmas, for one day only, I'll be offering people the chance to purchase their very own live fashion sketch at the unique price of only £25.  Perfect as a christmas gift for your fashionista friends, or a little treat for yourself.

 To make it even more special, you'll be able to watch your fashion sketch being drawn in real time as part of a Live Drawing Event!  I'll be capturing the pictures by tweeting and instagramming, so you can see my process and ask me questions. throughout the day.

 This is a special price for this event only.  Places will be limited so book early to avoid disappointment. you can pre-order through the depop app here



What you get: 
On the 8th December, I'll tweet you, to let you know when your artwork is being created, with a link through to a live stream, where you can watch me creating your artwork in real time.  
You'll then recieve a unique, personalised fashion illustration signed and wrapped, posted to your door. The illustrations are created in pencil, ink and watercolour on 300gsm Fabriano watercolour paper. They measure 8’x10’ so will fit into standard frames. A frame is not included.
Artwork will be posted in a hard-backed envelope on Monday 8th December by next-day, signed-for delivery. Please note, that this only guarantees Christmas delivery for those living in Europe, North America and Canada.

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Once you've purchased your illustration on depop, I will contact you and ask you to send me a full length photograph of you (or your friend) wearing a favourite outfit.
Photo guidelines:
- one person per portrait and humans only please!
- a clear, full length picture.
- If you want to be wearing something different, please let me know and I will try to adapt the illustration.
- some clothes work better for illustrations. Black can be a bit boring but textures, prints, sparkles and furs look great.
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I'm really looking forward to the event! If you have any questions let me know.

Willa, x


Live Portraits with The Jockey Club

Another live drawing event! This time with a difference.  
I was asked by The Grand National and The Jockey Club to attend a dinner event and create a series of fashion sketches of people as they mingled and during dinner.  The sketches were to be portraits of the attendees, each wearing a hat, in ode to a day at the races.  Hats were provided by the fabulous Awon Golding and Lizzie McQuade and provided some excellent inspiration and couture shapes for the portraits.

Obviously, I didn’t want to spoil the attendees appetite or make them feel awkward, so I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.  It’s not an easy task to capture 20 portraits over dinner when people are eating and chatting; especially when you’re trying to keep track of who you have/haven’t drawn already. *yikes.

Here's some photographs (with thanks to The Jockey Club) and some of my favourite portraits from the event.



my tools
A selection of the beautiful hats on offer

The amazing venue

Drawing secretly in the background



New Work - Portrait for Stella magazine

Truthfully, this commission was from back in August, but I'm just getting around to showing it.

I was asked to create my smallest ever commission. A teeny tiny portrait for Stella magazine at a miniscule 26mm wide.  Despite it's small size, it was no simple task to create a good likeness at this size.  I had to use simple, bold lines and strong colour to make it work.  A bit different from my normal style.
In fact, the art director, Jason Morris, had contacted me after seeing this ipad drawing on my website.  He thought that this style would be ideal for this simple, yet fashionable brief.


So, I set out to create an similar illustration, created with ink and watercolour.  And here's what I came up with.  Two options.  The art director had wanted something straight on, but I felt that the angled head would be more interesting for this graphic piece.  I'm pleased that they went with it.

 I also created some hand lettering for the article title.

Unfortunately I missed the image being used in the magazine; shame.

x, Willa


Live Fashion Illustration with Links of London.

Photo from @labelsforlunch instagram Lettering by me.

Last week I was asked by Links of London and Epiphany to attend a blogger event and create some live fashion illustrations of the bloggers.
As always, it was a great night.  The girls were all so lovely and made sure I got plenty of cupcakes to keep me going. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures, but I've shared some of the great pictures from instagram below.  Thanks to everyone for your lovely pictures! It's great seeing them being shared and loved.


Photos from
@mintyessence
@acidbrights
@linksoflondon
@laurenella1990
@sabrinachakici


x, Willa


Talking at London School of Fashion: Fashion Illustration

This week I was invited to the London College of Fashion to talk to the fashion illustration students.  I was in a panel discussion with NoéMie Schwaller, Editor in Chief of DASH magazine and Charlie Herman, illustrator and Community Manager at Talenthouse.

 We chatted about how what kind of portfolio you should get, the importance of networking and the pros and cons of different internships. It was a lovely experience and hope I had some useful advice for the students. 



Willa, x

A Holiday in Girona

You may have noticed that I've been a little quiet online recently.  That's because I have been catching the last of the summer sun in Spain.  A friend was getting married in the Catalonian countryside, so we used the opportunity to see Catalonia, relax, read some books and indulge in some art.
We booked a sweet little Air bnb just outside Girona; a working farm.  It was beautiful and peaceful with chickens, ducks, rabbits, cows and not-so-wonderful mosquitoes.  We learned our lesson after the first night, and closed the windows before dusk.

Our Airbnb apartment

It was a great holiday.  Here's some of my highlights:

Can Ginebreda's erotic sculpture park
Amazing! Okay, I have to admit that the sculpture was not always my cup of tea, and the artist (Xicu Cabanyes) seemed to have a mixed style, but wow!  This massive park sits on top of a forested hill with incredible views and there was noone around. Noone except Xicu and his assistant, who have been working, creating sculpture within this idyllic workshop with his many cats and dogs for 40 years.  How he managed to swing this studio space, I don't know.
I dream of a studio like that!

Admiring the sculpture
View from the park




 The Dali Triangle

Three tourist spots in Catalonia; Dali's house, Dali's theatre museum and the castle that he gifted his wife.  The museum was an amazing building, but not the best collection of his work.  plus it was super busy.  But, the houses were wonderful! A real insight into Dali's life.  I've been reading into the relationship between Dali and his wife Gala - truly interesting

the view from Dali's house
Dali's theatre museum
The wedding
Of course! David and Tine hosted the most fabulous weekend.  A pinterest worthy wedding in the Catalonian countryside.  Think farmhouse, picnics rugs, boutique food vans, cake tables and the most amazing scenery.  All topped off with a bit of limbo dancing and early morning dancing in a field. Beautiful!.
cutting the cake
Catering from a vintage caravan


Digital illustration workshops with Microsoft


Recently, you may have spotted on Instagram and twitter that I have been working with Microsoft to host some drawing workshops.  I was teaching people how to draw portraits on the new Surface Pro 3 tablet.

Over the two weeks, I went from Nottingham; Birmingham; London; Glasgow; Newcastle; Manchester; Bristol and finishing with two events in London.  It was a lot of travel, but I was with a great team and it was a lot of fun.

Drawing on a tablet is a different experience from drawing on paper, and I'm restricted from working in my normal ink and watercolour, but I have developed a slightly different handwriting for digital drawing using thicker lines and solid colours.  It's a good way of trying out something different.  Scroll down to see some examples of my ipad drawings.

Working with Microsoft
Explaining how Photoshop works

My drawing style as a digital tablet drawing
Fashion drawing on an iPad

Commissioning illustration for social media.


Recently, I've been creating a lot of illustrations for Tesco.  I've worked for their paper magazine before, but this time it's different.  I've been creating work especially for their social media outlets; Instagram and Twitter (@BeautyatTesco and @TescoFood).  It's the first time I've been commissioned for editorial illustrations in this way, and I think it's pretty exciting.

It's reckoned that a tweet with an imbedded image is much more likely to be retweeted. Hurrah! We've always known that a picture tells a thousand words; which in essence solves the issue of only having 140 characters.  Plus, illustration is an perfect way of solidifying your companies brand and making it instantly recognisable.

It's great to see that Tesco are taking their social media seriously; creating new and interesting content while supporting the creative industry.  Rather than the all-too-often regurgitation of images that have long lost their copyright owners.  I really hope it is succesful for Tesco! If it is, then I'm sure more online magazines and blogs will start using illustrators in this way. 

Perhaps this is a new arena for illustrators to excel with the demise of the classical publishing industry?





 

Illustration and Photography Collaboration

You might remember a few months ago I was at Lorna Milburn's photography studio working on a  collaboration.  Well, I'm delighted to say that we've had our photographs published in the Anniversary Edition of Elegant Magazine.
It was a great collaboration, working with make up artist, Sam Norman, stylist, Emma Cherry Rolf and model, Samantha Ker  .  We were also able to use the beautiful creations of the jeweller, Susan O (I have a serious obsession with her necklaces now).

I created both the illustrated backdrop and paper crown for the photoshoot.  I then illustrated over the photographs.  I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

It was such great fun doing a collaboration.  I'm hoping to do many more this year.





Yo Illo Berlin


I'm really excited to be starting a monthly illustration meetup in Berlin, beginning on the 4th June.  It means that I'll be spending a bit more time in Berlin, but also, hopefully that I'll be meeting some amazing people and gaining some more friends out there.

The meetup, Yo Illo Berlin, is a spin out from my favourite event in London, Yo Illo.  If you don't know Yo Illo, then you should definitely come.  It's a really informal, fun meetup for illustrators; basically, a few drinks in the pub.  I've made some really good friends through Yo Illo, and feel like its really helped me to become part of the illustration community.

Hopefully Berliners will come along and join me at Yo Illo Berlin.  Freelance illustration can be a lonely career, so let's meet up and make friends.

Our first meetup is at Brachvogel beer garden in Kreuzberg on Wednesday 4th June 2014!



For more information about our first Berlin Yo Illo, you can sign up for email updates here or like our Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter.

For more information about the London Yo Illo, head to the website here.


MakeUp Illustrations in Tesco Living Magazine

I finally managed to grab my copy of the free Tesco Living Magazine and see the illustrations that I did for them.  They asked me to create 6 painterly, eye illustrations for an article on makeup for different eye shapes. 


Watercolour and Ink Eye MakeUp Illustrations


Event: The launch of The Girls Bicycle Handbook.

Last week I was invited to the launch of my first internally illustrated book,  The Girls Bicycle Handbook.
I created over 40 illustrations for the internal pages of this amazing, non-fiction bicycle book.  The book was written by Caz Nicklin, the owner of Cyclechic, an online bicycle accessories shop and blog with a mission to "promote cycling as a desirable lifestyle choice and encourage more women to take to 2 wheels."  How apt that is was a fully female team that created this wonderful book.
The Girls' Bicycle Handbook - by women for women.

The book is essential reading for any cyclist; with handy tips on how to look after your bike, cycle safety, and how to look good on your bike. It would make a wonderful gift for any lady cyclist.



Some of my pictures


The launch was held at the Mare street "Look Mum No Hands".  It was a great opportunity to meet the lovely ladies from my publishers, Quercus books.  A big thanks to Caz, Sophie and Kerry for making me part of the team!

x,
Willa

Behind the Scenes at my Photography Collaboration

This week I collaborated with the photographer, Lorna Milburn and makeup artist Sam Norman on a photo shoot.    I created an illustrated backdrop for the shoot, and created an illustrated paper floral crown for the shoot.  I can't wait to share the final photographs when they're finished.

Here's some pictures from behind the scenes.







 x, Willa



Insight Video - Learn more about me and my studio

Last week, I talked about how Perry, from WhiteSao, came to my studio to create a short documentary about me.  We spent the morning together, talking about my process, my artwork and my working space.  I've been excited, if not nervous to see the results.  It's never easy to hear yourself talking.  But, the final version is here, and I'm delighted!  I hope you love it too.