Watercolour teacup illustrations

A few weeks ago I posted about some teacup artwork I had been comissioned to work on.  I'd been asked to create a watercolour piece for a 40th birthday gift, featuring some of the recipients vintage teacups and saucers handed down from her Grandmother.  It's been a really lovely project to work on, and very special that it was a for a significant birthday gift as well as the really personal element with the family heirloom china. 

After selecting the chinaware to use and placing it into a suitable arrangement, I started the illustration by sketching out the individual pieces directly onto Arches Smooth 185gsm Watercolour paper.  I then initially applied light washes of grey hues to the teacups, gradually building up the layers to create the shape, form and shadows of each teacup.

 

Once the shading was completed I started to paint the gold rims of each cup, followed by the detail of each cups pattern over the top of the grey shadows.  Again this was done with washes of colour, starting quite lightly and free and gradually building up to the finer details and intricate patterns.   

This is the finished illustration featuring four teacups and two saucers.  I was really pleased with the artwork, and despite being a little intimidated about painting a piece to be a framed picture and not being able to correct any mistakes on the computer, I thought it turned out quite well! 

Teacup artwork

 

I've recently been commissioned to create a watercolour artwork piece featuring my favourite subject matter - vintage teacups.  It's always a little bit terrifying creating artwork for someone else, especially when the finished illustration is to be framed as an original artwork so I don't have the option of scanning into Photoshop and tweaking any bits, I can't make any mistakes!  However, I'm really pleased with how the illustration is progressing, and without giving too much away here is a little preview of the artwork in progress.  

Kitchen Table Memoirs - Illustrations

Pencil sketches and watercolour artworks for the Kitchen Table Memoirs book illustrations

 

A few weeks ago I blogged about a new book called Kitchen Table Memoirs, where I had the fantastic opportunity to illustrate the front and back cover for the book.  I thought I'd include some of the illustrations I produced for the book, and how I approached the project.

After being briefed by the publishing company and given a list of suggested objects for the cover, I initially produced some preliminary pencil sketches to show my interpretation of the objects and the vintage-esque feel.

Once the initial sketches were approved, I moved onto painting them using Watercolours and Arches Watercolour paper in a Medium finish, 300 gsm weight.  This is my preferred paper to paint onto - I like having a slight 'tooth' to the paper, and the Medium finish is perfect for being not too smooth nor not too rough.  I stretched the sheets of paper onto board so they wouldn't buckle, and sketched out the objects lightly in pencil before painting them.

The finished painted artworks were scanned into Photoshop at a high resolution, where I could tweak the odd colour and clean up the images.  Each individual painted object was then placed into Illustrator, allowing me to create and assemble different layout options for the front and back cover.

This was a great commissioned project to work on, and it was very exciting to see the finished illustrations on the front cover of a book :)

A Year in Provence

A Year in Provence - illustrations by Paul Hogarth

I love how Paul Hogarth paints everyday French people!

          Rumbly tumbly old buildings, local architecture, landscapes and townscapes are

                     captured in quick pencil studies and light washes of watercolour.   

A few weeks ago I posted about a series of old Penguin books I have, which are all illustrated by Paul Hogarth.  Writing the post reminded me of another book I have, A Year in Provence, which again feature illustrations by Paul Hogarth.  It was a lovely excuse to rummage through my bookshelves and leaf through this partially forgotten about book.

'When Peter Mayle fled grey London for Provencial sunshine and bought an ancient farmhouse in the Luberon mountains, pastoral dreams were disrupted by the year's round of icy mistrals, demanding visitors, ruinous floods and absentee builders.  He soon realised that the only thing to be relied on was lunch, with military regularity at midday'.

All painted in watercolour, Paul Hogarth's illustrations perfectly capture the changing seasons and charm of life in Provence.  I'm really drawn to his expressive painterly qualities, and the quick sketches of landscape, people and historic buildings.  They are simply executed in pencil with washes of watercolour and minimum detail, but they are so lively and almost whimsical in feel.

The book is punctuated with these fabulous snippits of visual life in Provence - you hardly need to read the book, but just look at the illustrations to get a sense of the story.  I'm always in awe of people who can paint with such minimal fuss and detail, and I think this is a classic example of less is more.

New illustrations sneak peak.....

I've been working on a project recently which has involved creating some new hand-painted illustrations.  The objects I'm painting all have a slight vintage feel to them, and the artwork itself has all been created using watercolour.  I've loved getting back to doing some drawing and painting and it's been a really fun project to work on.  I'll blog about it again when the work is all completed, but for now, without giving too much away, here is a little sneak peak of what I've been working on including the initial sketches and finished painted versions......

Abstract floral illustrations

Preliminary flower bouquet sketch (above) and work in progress below  

One of my recent freelance projects has been a commission for some abstract watercolour floral bouquets.  Whilst not to give too much away, here is a little preview of one of the bouquets as a sketch prior to painting, and another bouquet interpreted in a freestyle, washy, watercolour style.

It's a freelance project I've been quite frustrated with - I loved the brief I received and was really excited to be painting in a medium and style I love.  The trouble is I had a really clear picture in my mind of what I wanted to achieve and how I wanted to capture the floral bouquets - but my hand just didn't quite paint what my mind envisaged!

I'm quite a perfectionist and it's really bothered me that I didn't quite create the artwork how I imagined.  I'd like to rewind time and having painted all the artwork once, give it another go but this time with the advantage of knowing where I went wrong.  I guess that's a bit like life in general really!...   

Painterly florals

Preliminary flower sketches 

 

I've been flat out these past few months with various freelance design projects on the go, including several hand-painted floral artworks for textile and ceramic application.

The illustrations have all been painted in watercolours onto medium textured watercolour paper, they were originally sketched out in pencil before being painted - with the exception of the last image where I painted directly onto the paper without any sketching beforehand.  I love the really relaxed effect achieved when I paint 'freehand', but it depends if the client wants this style of casual artwork or something a little more formal and structured as per the other illustrations.

With the hand-painted illustrations I normally scan the artwork into Photoshop where I can then manipulate the scale of the artwork and create the design placements for the actual products. 

I'm also working on some Christmas designs for the end of this year, which will be applied onto tableware - so I'd best get on with these and stop procrastinating by blogging!

Frankie magazine

My vintage china artwork in the latest edition of Frankie magazine  

I was super excited to be featured in the latest edition of Frankie magazine!  Yay!!

I've always loved Frankie's retro vibe, so it's a real treat to have my vintage china artwork profiled and I'm feeling oh so very cool to have my illustrations in such a cute and funky mag.  I really am very thrilled to see this series of artwork in print.

There's also this free pull-out poster with my illustrations of china teacups and saucers, with a little calender on the back.  Cute!

Sneak peak....

  

It's been a busy start to the year which has seen me working on some new watercolour illustrations.  Here is a little sneak peak of the artwork!....