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the jazziest, gigerest illustration for young & old!
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I have migrated! & it's for much longer than the summer!!
My recent work is now being updated over on Wordpress. So update your reader-url-rss-dotcomifies incase you missed me. The new blog is obviously full of new illustration, but also writing about my travels & my new travelling career-in-a-backpack, so it's extra exciting because of extra new-ness.
Here's a little snippet of some work you can see over there...
Big love!
I finished this ages ago, but forgot to tell you. Sorry.
Grüetzi from Switzerland, my friends! The journey continues, eh?
I finished this piece during my stay in Catalonia a few months ago for a little feminist zine run by Armpits4August in the UK. It was to accompany an article I wrote about PCOS & the related issue of 'hirsutism,' or excess body hair. The issue of female body hair was raised in the press pretty often (comparatively) in 2013, discourse which I think is totally crucial, particularly for young women with PCOS. The discourse shows women they aren't chained to their razors, & hopefully with more ladies taking the leap it will become less of a spectacle to be how nature intended. Think of all the time, energy & money saved to be put into drawing, or dancing, or knitting mittens for hedgehogs, taken away from shaving. So I'm starting up my own hairy utopia in 2014.
It's the first article I've had published, which made me very happy because I'm writing a lot nowadays. I was even happier that they let me illustrate my article, (is it cheating to illustrate your own article?) & it was a good test of my 'on the road' illustration set up!
Switzerland doesn't have any beaches...
I moved to a 17th century farmhouse in Zurich, & this is what I'm sharing the countryside with.
I'd been playing with this for yonks, then I realised what it needed; a man in tweed. A quick sketch for Illustration Friday in between adventures :)
Hoping to get this one polished off, too, cos I'm quite fond of him! I think he worked at the school, teaching geography by day & moonlighting as a semi-professional cat breeder by night. Then something changed, & he ends up getting to the bottom of some pretty big, pretty old secrets!
I'm making another attempt at more vintage muted colours, too. Onwards bound! :)
xxx
Hola amigos!
I've been a long time silent; I apologise. Since my last post in June(ish) I've been happily homeless in a non-serious-honestly-I'm-not-going-to-die way, & mainly doing Epic Shit. At the moment I'm being an au pair in Somerset, but in the next few weeks I'll be moving again, either Devon to live with some donkeys, or to Bath to work in a youth hostel. I'm putting together a project that should pull all my chaos together but for the moment I'm working on illio work as a nomad soul, which is very liberating. Still open for business, just you never know what you'll hear in the background when you give me a call ;D
Here are a few bits & bobs I've been playing with since I left anyway. Being around kids makes drawing them much easier.
Oh, this is Prolombious, I made him with an eight year old & a lot of scrap wool. He's a magical wooly mammoth who happens to be an excellent singer, but trips over his very long trunk a lot. This unfortunately damages his singing ability a little, so we're trying to figure out a better long-term solution for this than just tying a bow in the end of his nose.
:) xxx
Where are my dragons?!?!
Oh, there they are. My Khaleesi! I am not ashamed to admit my burning Game of Thrones fandom. For those who don't care about GoT, do you like my dragons? They were really fun to draw.
In news, I am Catalonia bound tomorrow morning! Until the end of June I will be working on an organic vegetable & poultry farm in Girona. I am so looking forward to it it's not even normal. I will be taking photos, & a sketchbook, so expect some really nice drawings of ducks when I get back.
Until then, I am available on email with ease, on phone less so because we're a bit out in the sticks, but I'm not totally off grid. So don't ignore me, I get lonely, with only ducks for company. & my sister, but she's a bit duck-ish I suppose.
Wish me luck, darlings! xxx
A couple of new pieces for my 'folio, working on my younger audience characterisation, & my black & white linear work.
I like naughty, tree-climbing princesses better than any other princesses. She just likes the outdoors! & swamps. & toads...maybe she shouldn't have gone out in her new summer dress? Oh well!
Anyone who has had a peek at my (largely unused) Tumblr a while back would've seen the sketch for this one already. Last Hallowe'en I was lucky to be walking home from work, past some trick-or-treaters & overheard "has anyone played the 'Deal or no Deal' board game?" I was thrilled. I thought, every friend group has a Yoda, don't they? The geeky kid who just likes games, & books, & films, & was basically me. Thus a drawing. I haven't had a really serious sesh with my brush & ink for ages, & this was really cathartic during what was a very, very stressful weekend.
I love drawing, & I love all of you.
xxx
A couple of weeks ago I was very happy to have a notch in my schedule to answer one of Amelia Gregory's illustration requests for her very successful online magazine! The first was one of Sophie Chiesa's crazy gorgeous designs. I've not wandered into fashion illustration before, but thought her work was so close to my own raving colours I was desperate to get my teeth into it. I really enjoyed working in my crayons & layering up texture & pattern for the catsuit, & obv the opportunity to draw a My Little Pony.
It was an interesting challenge getting the piece to read well enough without loosing the intentional chaos of pattern & colour around her torso. I did another piece from a different designer for the same article which wasn't selected to be published, but I like you guys so you can see it if you want.
For me these were really fun to try to figure out who the characters wearing the clothes were & what stories they were living. I love clothes (you wouldn't tell from meeting me!) so I'm glad that this has opened up the idea of doing more illustration inspired by fashion.
I'm working on some new bits & bobs for a big website update, anyway, so eyes peeled, talk soon xxx
This week I took my first professional opportunity to come out of not living in Cornwall, & popped along to the London Book Fair with my folio. I have to admit, I was honestly terrified on the way up there. I'm not very shouty about my work, I love it & I need it, but I'm always apprehensive about showing it to 'professionals,' in case maybe they see I'm not an illustrator I'm actually a very immature woman with a lot of art materials. So even deciding to go was quite a step! What a wally I am, though, because I met some lovely inspiring illustrators & had some very positive feedback from agents & publishers! By the end of the day I'd smiled so much my face hurt. So now I've rekindled the fire under my bum for drawing things, & with some good advice from people at the LBF I'm hoping to move my freelance work forward. So just in time for the sunshine to be hitting the UK, I've sworn an oath to my studio & banished myself to working weekends. Seeing the sun through my window excites me more for my work though, so it's a happy exile, believe me.
New drawing!
Probably a more 'personal' piece than my personal work usually is, I guess. I'm (still) reading 'Women who Run with the Wolves' by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, which is generally a very affecting book but at the moment something there is particularly poignant. So I'm searching for pieces of my wildish self, & reading & drawing & thinking a lot. It's not a particularly tidy job, but it's worth it.
And I really like drawing organs, despite the minefield that is googling up references.
xxx
Oh my dears, I'm sorry I've been on the quiet side! After our five or six years of living & loving the Cornish dream, I've moved out of Falmouth! Before you ask yes, I miss my seagulls. Now I'm based in Canterbury, which is lovely to look at & has the most beautiful old buildings. It's certainly is a lot busier than Cornwall, which so far has only annoyed me, so perhaps I'm learning a lesson about Cathy + Cities.
But why leave all those beautiful, bounteous seagulls? Not because I favour the skinny little things in the East, that's for sure. I got a new job, which isn't in Cornwall, it's at Maidstone T.V studios. Now I am working in the art dept. of the BBC kids art show, Mister Maker!
Seriously, honestly, I am 26 years old & the sped up doodle draws sequence ALWAYS makes me giggle. Anyway, now I get to design makey stuff & make makey stuff & go home covered in spray paint (& acrylic paint, & poster paint...)every day. I'm very 'green' compared to the rest of the team, but I really enjoy being constantly amazed by sets & cameras & the fact I get a little beepy card to get into the studio. I know, way swish.
Alas, the new series 'Mister Maker Around the World' isn't going to be on telly for a wee while, so I can't update any details about what I'm doing exactly, but I'll still put up anything I make for myself. So I made you some fish.
I like the green one best.
My hands are freezing, in my little Cornish studio in January, which reminded me, didn't I draw some hot hot sunshine just before Christmas?
Yes I did!
They were an answer to an open brief for Nando's (the ubiquitous peri-peri chicken restaurant) for some eye candy to go on their menus. I love Portuguese food, (although not chicken :P), & have admitted
previously to having a thing for bright, warm colours, so I couldn't not do the brief. I was going for something of a party vibe, people coming together, sharing music & food under a bright warm sun, living passionately! It's how I like to live & how I like to eat!
I also did this one as a variation that I felt would have some more 'punch!' You know like a gigantic flaming heart TO THE FACE. If it got any more passionate it'd have got a 12a cert. I included the Nando's chicken (the Cock of Barcelos, I believe) in both, because he's cute.
Merry Christmas!
Oh...oh well it's always Christmas to me. Hello darlings.
For lots of people this is old news, but I wanted it up here too so! Earlier this year some might remember me typing about being at the head offices of LUSH, an international cosmetics company that make bath bombs & face creams & dreams come true. I wangled a week's paid internship with their gift design team, which, after a few months of talks within the head honchos, ended in two of my gift designs being published! Both designs were in collectable tins, inspired by seasonal biscuit tins but full of smellies instead. They were released worldwide, so I had the IMMENSE pleasure of having a friend in Sendai send me photos of my drawings in his local, & photos of staff in the NYC & South African LUSH stores posing with them as well!
The one below is less exotic, of a ginger weirdo in the Cornwall LUSH...
The back story is that I work in said Cornish LUSH shop part-time, & love it to pieces, but obv can't let anything lie & late last year I started emailing the head of gift design at LUSH with ideas for presents (lots of them), & eventually she let me come up to hang out & do some work. LUSH are a beautiful company, consider that they published the illustration of a shop staff member internationally, that are fun & weird & simply lovely. So, if you want something, kids, never stop fighting for it. I sent gift design so many sketches, ideas, comps, before they let me come to work with them, then while I was there I worked pretty much non-stop.
Putting tins I drew through the tills at work is kinda surreal though :)
This is my favourite one, it's called "Festive Fiesta!" & was commissioned while I was at design after they decided their Xmas product line was to have a Mexican influence. Obviously going with my sense of humour, I wound up with a Mexican Santa, complete with Rudolph pinata & sleigh full of party foods. The patterns on the side were inspired by Mexican textiles & if I'm honest are my fave bit ;D
This one is called "Yule Love This Tin" & was my idea to have something indulgent for a 'night before Christmas' sort of scenario, so it's all bath bits. I was working towards ideas of a narrative about the cat & mouse (which, you'll notice, are not stirring ;D) which involved a little peek-a-boo design around the edges of the tin. The gifts are for all the reindeer, including a cheeky tipple & mince pie for Santa above the fire.
I keep my perfume collection in my tins now. If you got one I hope you like it & keep it forever. If you didn't, why not??
Love you xxx
...but it's fairly wintery in Falmouth now. I've had this floating about since October, when it made more sense, but if you pine for long, yellowed autumn afternoons this is for you.
This is basically the view from my studio window. All these pretty little terraced houses, lots of trees, & the harbour. Lots of dog walkers. If it were true to life there'd be more birds, though.
I'm trying to work on surface detail & pattern, seeing how much is too much. Working on paring down my colour schemes as well. I have a feeling I won't get used to desaturated colours, even this earnest attempt came out quite bright!
In other spanking news, my new website is finally finito at
cathyhookey.com with not just a nice slick redesign (thankyou Mr Apsitis!) but some new work as well!
So that's all lovely, lovely. I'll have some more to show you soon; something about the colder months makes me more busy even though I don't try to be more busy?
Just a quickie, I've wanted to draw princesses all week, but also siblings, so I did them both in one. Not-so-identical twins, but opposites attract right? I think they can both learn a lot from each other.
Another poster-toaster for promo peeps Dueling Kazoos for a gig tonight.
I was on an unstoppable typography binge when I did this, so I decided a poster made mostly of type was totally an awesome idea. I wanted glowy linear detail & couldn't think of anywhere with more neon than Vegas, so it got wild west as well. I adore cartoon cactus. I want to do some cowboy stuff soon.
A challenge to draw my favourite animal, which stumped me, because I have about a bjillion favourite animals & I've already drawn most of them. So I chose my favourite from the list of my favourites which I haven't drawn yet.
A FACT, especially for everyone who has ever told me a ladybird took a wee on them & I've tried to pursuade them otherwise, it's called
'autohaemorrhaging' & it's because said ladybird thinks you're gonna eat it! Such clever lovely lazy ladybugs!
Or maybe more like just a bit wonky.
A little tiling pattern design I was playing with a few weeks back. I think friends on kids fabrics or papers is an amazing idea, so you can have stories everywhere. These guys are a bit weird, a bit off kilter, but those are the most fun people to hang out with anyway. I'd like to have some printed fabrics with my patterns on soon, so I'm going to keep working on my pattern design!
I thought, after a bit of a hike in responsibility level at my day job, I'd do something fun & breezy to chillax (I said it). And what could be easier than a self portrait? Lots of things are, especially when you've not looked at yourself properly for a bit & you forgot how mad you look.
& yes, I think ginger jokes are funny, because if I took myself as seriously as some people did I'd be as insane as I am sure I look. This is my fave ginger joke after the brou-ha-ha that was 'gingers don't have souls' farce. Because it was a farce. Only now I've let you in on the truth. We have many souls, just how many of them are our own is unconfirmed.
The sun has got his bum out, hip hip hip hooray, the sun has got his bum out & he's coming round to play.
I'm aware it's late. Too busy :( Sorry Ma'am, no disrespect. Well, no more intended than when I drew you in this pose.
I'm off to Poole next week to spend a week with the beautiful team behind designing the gift boxes at LUSH, which I am tres TRES excited about! I've been lucky enough to have been working freelance with them for a little while now, so it'll be lovely to finally meet everyone! Also, the train journey is immense, so that will give me a nice chunk of time to get up to date on some other work too, or possibly I will just doodle.
Update on the work/doodle debate, next week.
xxx
A poster for a local gig at the lovely & cocktail-filled Toast bar, which is mainly lovely because of said cocktail-filled-ness.
When people give me free reign it tends to end in space toast. So sexy.
Only me.
If you happen to reside in or near the lovely Fal pop along to the Fish Factory on North Parade & see an exhibition of superbly strange illustration, including my very own weird shit. That'll be on the next two weeks, so you know, you know...
Otherwise I'm returning to Londrez for the last time as a genuine person with a house there, but I promise I'll visit again sometime soon. While I'm there I'm hoping to pick up lots of source material for a new project, & crucially, get a hair cut. When I'm back I'll draw weird shit again for a bit before I saunter over to Poole, which is tres excitant, in that kind of way.
To tide you over, though, a friendly dog.
If this is the only downside of the job I might have chosen the wrong profession...
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I thought my view was fairly nice, but now that I've see yours... Wow! I love the colours that you used, even though you think they may be too bright? Perhaps the bright colours just fit your style! There's so much to see here, I'll be staring out of your window for a bit longer now.