poppies

illustration friday - 'pattern'

I love pattern, I have a small collection of delicate tea cups in blue willow, which is one of my favorites. I love the intricate drawings and the simple rich color. So here is another illustration dedicated to tea!

illustration friday - 'welcome'

In Australia there is a little black swallow called a Welcome Swallow. I tried to find out how it got it's name - but no luck. I like to think that maybe it was something romantic such as when men came back from war the little swallows would welcome them home, but I could be completely wrong. Anyway my little swallow is welcoming someone home with her sweet song.

illustration friday - 'strong'

All I could think of is a lovely, strong cup of tea, without which I can hardly function, so maybe its the tea makes me strong!

new hand drawn numbers

two illustrations

This illustration and the one in the previous post where done for editorial work here in Melbourne - a touching story on parenting with a disability, written by a blind mother.

illustration friday - 'caution'

Mother and child enter this new realm with both excitement and a little caution.

illustration friday - 'wrapped'

After a long winter Camille wrapped herself in the freshness of Spring.

illustration friday - 'impatience'

Camille felt her impatience rising as she waited for the wind to change but then she decided to dance with the wind.

new commissioned work for madeit

Here is a poster I have illustrated for www.madeit.com.au

new published work

This was done for Copeland publishing, who print Melbournes Child, Sydneys child etc. here in Australia, great advice on parenthood.

illustration friday - 'unfold'

illustration friday - 'craving'

When Camille looks up into the milky-way she has an absolute craving to dive straight in. (oh dear I am a few days late for this one...will have to get a move on with 'unfold'.)

illustration friday - 'adapt'

A dear friend of mine was umming and arring about having a third child - they found out recently that they are now expecting twins!  Amazingly, we have the ability to learn and adapt. What a great ability to have. I know my friend will adapt brilliantly.

illustration friday - 'cracked'

I have been working for days on this vintage alphabet, incorporating some of my drawings, hand drawn type and images from my old children's book collection. And at last I think I have CRACKED it! This is a real stretch of the topic - sorry IF.

illustration friday - 'contagious'

illustration friday - 'theater'

illustration friday - 'impossibility'

In dreams and love there are no impossibilities. This may a bit of a stretch on the illustration friday topic but this illustration is what came to me.

Illustration friday - 'talisman'

I am not a superstitious person but if I had to be pushed I suppose my lucky number would have to be four, it is such a lovely number, this illo is entitled 'four'.

Illustration work for Maria Taylor

I recently completed some illustration work for a wonderful indie musician called Maria Taylor. I had great fun working on her album art for LadyLuck, a wonderful album, you can hear some of it here.

Illustration friday - 'subtract'

economy + downturn - (subtract) spending = mend and make do!

new work - craft tree

Just finished this job for a client in Florida, a promotion for a craft fair - while I sit in Melbourne, Australia. Isn't the world wide web amazing?

illustration friday - 'intricate'

my work often involves intricate patterns and line drawings so I feel I could post almost any of my images for this topic. And by the it was a big thrill to be chosen as pick of the week for instinct - thanks to everyone who left comments. ;)

illustration friday - 'instinct'

My thought with the peacock is that we all have our own natural instinct when it comes to attracting the opposite sex. But as I was drawing it I realised that my natural instinct is to draw pretty things...so that may have been the real reason for the peacock :)

illustration friday - 'celebrate'

Birds seem to be very good at consistently celebrating, even, each new day. What a gift.

illustration friday - 'time'

illustration friday - 'pale'

This is two weeks late (for illustration friday topic)- but I had made a start so I thought I may as well finish it. I have posted the original line work too so you can have a look at my process. My little red head girl doesn't have a name yet, she features in a few of my illo's, not sure if she needs a name really...

seeing

explore

illustration friday - 'climbing'

I have always loved collage from the 'old school cut and paste' style to the 'scan it all in and mess around for hours in photoshop' variety. I have recently fallen in love with it again after stumbling upon a crate of photographs, filled with all sorts of images from our travels. My husband is the photographer in the family and this series is dedicated to him, for always inspiring me. I have posted this first one for Illustration Friday and the rest of the series will be on my blog.

illustration friday - 'contained'

Her hand bag contained her life.....

illustration friday - 'similar'

illustration friday - 'pretend'

Sometimes I pretend that I am an artist, trying to make a living as an illustrator.

illustration friday - wise

hand drawn lettering

I have been working on some hand drawn type lately - I love the idea of the type not being all perfect - I am breaking all my past graphic design rules, very liberating!

illustration friday - repair

I find that real relationships are in constant need of repair - we all stumble. I have also found that often the best way to repair damage is with a hug.

illustration friday - late

illustration friday - strings

Motherhood: a constant pull on the heart strings. Last minute entry again for illustration friday. Had fun with this one, slightly different style for me.

illustration friday - sugary

I love the fact that when one suffers a horrible fright or shock - whether it be falling off a bike or being bitten by a dog, some one always says 'i know, why don't you have a lovely, sugary, cup of tea'. I love tea.

purses

so excited about my illustrations being used by my lovely sister, who has made these brilliant little purses. They are available to buy in our etsy store.

illustration friday - packed

I spend a lot of time with young children and am constantly amazed by how packed their head space is. Just today, from my 6 year old, I have had: How do wheelchair people get into bed? How many seconds until Christmas? Can we also eat the fire when we toast marshmellows? Does God mind if we kill flies?

illustration friday - island

I really fancy the idea of being stranded on an island for a little while - not too long, just for a while, i think it would be lovely to have to learn how to survive and rely purely on nature...hmmmm, oh well back to city life for me.

illustration friday - clutter

I love clutter, I find it very comforting and and couldn't think of anything worse than having to de-clutter...a very quick sketch of some clutter on my desk, a collection of tins, paintbrushes, old books, ahhh lovely! In a big rush today and have left this to the last minute. Have a lovely weekend everybody!

illustration friday - memories

Memories - I love all things old/vintage/nostalgic and I am often drawn to images of women of a certain generation, women who weren't confused about who they were or what their roles were, or so it seemed - my Gran's generation. Something a little different this week - i have had a go at some collage, which i really enjoyed, I thought i would try and get away from the Mac but i ended up scanning it all in and adding all sorts of textures...hmmm those layers in photoshop are just too good to pass up. I would be interested to know what people think of this collage style.

illustration friday - routine

oh dear i seem to be addicted to tea...my morning routine can't start unless i have my first cuppa. So my entry for illustration friday is yet another tea cup, i tried to think of other things to draw but the word routine just made me think of my first cup of tea i have to have every morning, which gets me going with the rest of the daily routine. I am a complete addict.

illustration friday - 'detach'

Often i find, if I am am having a crazy day, a lovely cup of tea helps me detach a little.

illustration friday - 'sail'

I am getting later and later with my entries for illustration friday, i seem to just squeeze them in at the last minute, oh well better late than never. I enjoyed this week's topic and i know swans glide more than sail but i had this image in my mind of a black swan.

motherhood - blue swallow

my sister makes these beautiful softies, which i have designed and we sell them in our etsy shop:
www.lovelysweetwilliam.etsy.com. I get so excited whenever a see a new one emerge.

illustration friday - 'canned'

Imagine we could can the stuff! I know someone who seems to have managed it - he flies through law exams with out a problem on top of full time work and full time everything else. But as for me, I will have to keep dreaming about it being sold in cans, hmmm, it wouldn't be cheap!

family tree

An illustration I was commissioned to do by a friend, who's friend had just had twins.

illustration friday - 'enough'

I have had enough of winter, I want spring!
We are in the middle of a very cold winter here in Melbourne - I am once again recovering from an awful bout of flu...but i looked out the window and saw the tree in our front yard in bull blossom - yeah bring on SPRING!

illustration friday - 'foggy'

I have little children so i know all about waking up with a foggy head...

print giveaway

Visit:

www.lovelysweetwilliam.blogspot.com

for a chance to win one of my prints! Offer ends July 30th.

illustration friday - 'fierce'

I seem to have a bit of a theme running through my illustrations - mother's love. I suppose it is what I am about right now - being a mum and it feels natural to mix it with my passion for drawing. This is done in pen on craft paper, scanned and colored in photoshop.

illustration friday - forgotten

For IF theme 'forgotten' i have done an illustration of a lovely old tea cup (one from many in my collection) because I think it is sad that we have forgotten the delicate tradition of having tea in a proper cup...I love pretty tea cups but they are up on shelves and not in everyday use...forgotten. This was done as a pen sketch and ten enhanced in photoshop.

Illustration friday - 'baby'

I have many images of the madonna and child and is a topic i love to doodle or draw. This was done in pencil, scanned into photoshop and layers added.

illustration friday - wide

A mother's love is this wide....(on a good day)...

illustration friday - wrinkle

The first thing that came to mind - my wrinkles!

blossom poster

something i did recently for a poster

Illustration friday - garden

I love to paint flowers and gardens - easy topic for me this week, this is a piece i did a little while ago, in memory of my mom and her lovely bull terrier. Painted in acrylic on art board, scanned in and enhanced with textures in photoshop.

illustration friday - leap

Had fun doing this one but not much time - did a quick sketch of what first came to mind, scanned it and dropped in all sorts of textured back grounds, in photoshop. Oh if only i had some more time...

Illustration friday - blanket

click on image to enlarge

This week's theme is blanket and the first thing that comes to mind is 'comfort' - where I grew up in South Africa, mothers are seen wearing their contended little babies on their backs, wrapped in efficiently secured blankets.

illustration friday - plain

plain sailing - I love the fact that one little word like 'plain' can have so many different meanings and interpretations, we know what these things mean but they can also be tricky to explain, well I am glad to say that speaking english is plain sailing for me.

illustration friday - stitch

This weeks topic for IF is stitch - which makes me think of pretty things like little hankies that people used to carry around with them with their initials stitched into the corner for identification in case the hankie got lost...and if one picked up a lost hankie with initials in the corner would we know who it belonged to? Anyway it is nice to be back into the swing of things after a great holiday time with all the family, I am looking forward to 2008.

illustration friday - the zoo

The giraffes were feeling extra tall and found their zoo a tad too small. To solve their problem, some wings they grew - up, up in the air away they flew.

illustration friday - superstition

Illustration Friday's theme this week is superstition, now I am not a superstitious person but I do notice if a black cat crosses my path - poor old black cat, it's just crossing a path. Did a quick pencil sketch of cat then rendered it in photoshop

indian orchid

Pen drawing done of a lovely orchid i had in a pot on my desk, then digitally rendered in Photoshop using some indian textile patterns i have on file. Really enjoyed doing this one and may re look some other line drawings...

tulips

bought some lovely mauve tulips, put them on my pink table in a silver vase and they looked beautiful for days so I did a quick scribble of them before they finished.

scale

at last

I managed to meet the Illustration Friday deadline...did it in a hurry with the kids going crazy around me, wasn't sure if i was going to get it in on time, as the time zones here are different and I was a bit annoyed that my thumbnail didn't show but hopefully i will get it right next time, just glad a managed it...the theme this week was 'sclae' which I found a bit tricky, lots of measuring scales and fish on the site already, so I thought i would do something diff. Well I will try again next week.

Pink Floral, acrylic on canvas

Blossom, mixed media

hats, pen and mixed media

tea time, pen on paper

blue floral, acrylic on canva

some illustrations

Here we go, just some of my creative stuff I am working on at the moment