Another Alice!

Good morning!

I hope you're all having a lovely December so far! It's very nippy here (by British standards) and I keep finding myself working so long at studio desk that it has become necessary to bring out the giant crochet blanket I keep for such emergencies as 2am chills! It is so beautiful outside though.
 You may remember me mentioning recently that I had another image featuring in The Dolls's House Magazine. Well, the issue is on sale today, all over the UK. I found myself working on another image of Alice, albeit this time featuring Lewis Carroll too! I was asked to draw a little portrait to accompany an article about the author, so I decided to inject a little comedy into the mix and give him a 'thinking' face whilst writing 'Wonderland. Hopefully it will raise a smile for you and the readers!
 If you're a fan of all things miniature, you can also find The Dolls' House Magazine on the Crafts Institute website, on Twitter and Facebook.

The next portrait is coming along nicely, so I should be able to bring you a behind the scenes peek very soon. So until next time, enjoy the festive season! And to those of you that don't celebrate, I hope you have a great month, too. 

TTFN

xx

Mini Me for Making!

Good evening!

I'm very pleased to be able to tell you that I now have my very own profile section on the fabulous Making magazine's website! It's a real honour to be one of their resident illustrators; I still get a thrill when the fresh issue hits my studio desk and I see my work in print! So if you'd like to have a little read, you can do so by clicking here! There's also a profile for my friend, the talented illustrator Emma Cowley. Here's a little screenshot to coax you over!

I'll be back very soon with some behind the scenes images of a new project!

 TTFN xx

Murder Margaret Wrote (Part 3!)

Good evening!

I am pleased to be able to tell you that the finale of the Dolls House magazine's murder mystery is now on shelves! I really enjoyed doing this piece as I got to draw a character (my favourite thing to do). There's also another little joke in the image. Can you spot it below?

I loved working on these! I was also thrilled with the following project I worked on, which will appear in next month's issue. Keep an eye on the blog for an update (or pop into your local shop and purchase a whole issue! It's a lovely little magazine for enthusiasts!)

 I have also recently completed another character for Gnaeus Julius comics. This time I was asked to design a villain, and I just couldn't wait to get cracking! Her name is Catatonia, and we will have to wait and see what mischief she gets up to in future issues! Very exciting.

Speaking of exciting, Stuart of Gnaeus Julius also interpreted the Sweetie character for her debut in issue 14 of the Manchester Nova comics and I just love how she looks in his style. Here is his version; look at this fabulous whip action shot! 

Right, back to work! It looks so busy on the way up to Christmas, but I hope to be able to bring you all the latest updates very soon (some of which I am just so excited to talk about!). I am starting a great big portrait soon so I am looking forward to bringing you some 'work in progress' shots! 

TTFN

xx

Murder Margaret Wrote (Part 2)!

Good evening!

Issue 174 of The Dolls' House magazine has been on the shelves for a little while now, and it features the second instalment of the murder mystery I mentioned a couple of posts ago!
The second part required the highlighting of more details from the text, so I opted for a poisoned needle, bottle of evil poison and an LAPD badge (which, if you have a look in the magazine itself, was very detailed). It was necessary for me to look very closely at the detail on an LAPD crest and I realised quickly that I had previously had no idea how much detail it contained. I recommend looking one up if you have a moment, they're very interesting!
 I'm thrilled to say that not only is there another part of the story to appear here soon but I have another commission to work on for the following issue! Very exciting. I adore editorial commissions in general, and this one is slightly different because I haven't had a sneaky peek at the article it accompanies yet! So watch out for more news in a month or so.

TTFN

xx

Start to Finish...

Good evening!

The Cox & Kings 'Inspiring India' bloggers challenge concluded last night with a wonderful evening at the Royal Geographical Society. There was an engaging talk from Sir Mark Tully, beautiful authentic music and lots of lovely food floating about! And of course, lots of artwork on display and open to votes! I hear that the event was also mentioned in the Telegraph newspaper on the 6th, so if anyone has a copy I would love to see! I began work on my piece with a strong design in mind, even down to the colour palette I wanted to use. I started by sketching out the main character (I rarely work without characters it seems!) of an Elephant in pencil. This was followed by some Peacock feathers...

Everything was then painted with acrylic and scanned in! The background was painted separately with a large brush to get the sweep of colour that I was hoping for, as I wanted to keep as much of the original paint texture as possible.

I also drew my own Indian inspired henna patterns which were converted to a beautiful brick red colour and applied very lightly to the background layer to add another point of interest. I'm not sure whether they are prominent enough, but I really liked them anyway! I also added a subtle image of the beautiiful Taj Mahal; it was kept consciously simple because I did not want it to steal focus.

And at the end, I finished up with this!

In between offering escorted tours and luxury holidays, the fabulous Cox & Kings had compiled a great little leaflet so that the guests could cast their votes on the night-

It was wonderful to see all of the fabulous artwork on display, and had been curated wonderfully in order to emphasise the diversity of imagery. So a huge congratulations to Cox & Kings for putting this on, and a big thanks for asking me to be involved. Here is my piece on the easel (photograph courtesy of Che Kumar)

And finally, I am proud as punch to be able to show you the winning image, again produced by my hugely talented friend, Che of cheism.com!

Isn't it gorgeous?! Well done, Che! Well, I have bombarded you with plenty of images for one day, so do check back soon for the next set of the Dolls' House Magazine's murder mystery images!

TTFN
xx

Murder Margaret Wrote!

Good evening!

I have just finished illustrating a 3 part murder mystery for The Dolls House Magazine, written by Margaret Grace (aka Camille Minichino). I really enjoy doing these editorial pieces in watercolour, mixing in a little digital colour wherever I feel it would enhance the image. Apologies for the dreadful photographs, but here's a look at the centrefold!

The first part received a little mention over on Camille's side project, http://theladykillers.typepad.com/, and you can see the individual post by clicking here. Part 2 appears in the most recent issue, which went on sale nationwide today!
 I'm currently still working away in the studio on the Cox and Kings 'Inspiring India' project! I'll have some sneaky peeks for you shortly. Cox & Kings (who are organising the event) specialise in escorted tours and luxury holidays. The bloggers challenge exhibition will take place at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) on the 10th October and will host a lecture on 'The Mind of India' by Sir Mark Tully. If you fancy attending you can purchase tickets for this event by clicking here! Check back soon for images from part 2 of 'Murder in Miniature' and sketches from the 'Inspiring India' image!

TTFN xx

Many fruits!

Good evening!

As promised I am back with a batch of work! Unfortunately there are some super exciting projects that I am sworn to secrecy on, but rest assured as soon as they are unveiled I will bring you news!
Here is another image from my recent show at the Coningsby Gallery. This time, legendary British Designer, Vivienne Westwood.



I hope she gets to see this one day! I was also fortunate enough that this illustration was featured over on 'Rock and Runway', the fabulous fashion and music blog that is run by an equally fabulous journalist friend of mine, Jen Burgess. Not only is the blog very informative, but Jen is rather funny to boot, so please do give it a read!

I am pretty behind on these, so please forgive me, but I have work in the 2 most recent issues of Making Magazine! The most recent issue is fairytale themed which I was thrilled about! I was asked to draw Alice from Lewis Carrol's classic story. I hope you like what I came up with!











There is also a brand new album of all of my illustrations for Making over on my Facebook page, so feel free to have a browse by clicking here. I also have images appearing in 3 issues of The Dolls' House magazine on a murder mystery story! More on that soon (but the first issue is on shelves now!)

I was also recently asked by Stuart of Gnaeus Julius comics to illustrate another character, this time of my own creation. So I am proud to present to you... Sweetie!



She goes by the pseudonym of 'Annie Seed', and I can't wait to see what she gets up to in future issues!

Finally (and a little off topic) my friend, the talented designer Olly Prentice has been designing covers for the new series of books by YA fiction writer, JD Field. When the first copy of 'Song To Wake To' arrived, Olly asked for my help in displaying the cover for a little film. So I present to you my very first stint of hand modelling...



TTFN
xx

Inspiring India/ Fabulous Fry

Good evening!

The last month has been teeming with wonderful projects that I just can't wait to share with you! Consequently, the list of news has been growing and growing, with a note tacked to the bottom of my computer screen. I thought I would kick off by telling you about a fantastic project I am involved with! I have been asked to contribute to the luxury travel company Cox & Kings bloggers art challenge! Cox & Kings are the world's longest established travel company, who specialise in group holidays and luxury holidays. They have asked a handful of creative bloggers to prepare a piece that is inspired by India, which will then be exhibited at The Royal Geographical Society, London on 10th October this year.
The participant who obtains the most votes on the evening of the show wins a fabulous prize, so I really hope I can create something extra special!

In case you weren't able to make it, I thought you may also like to see another one of the images from my recent show at the Coningsby Gallery, London. This time I bring you Stephen Fry, one of my favourite British celebrities. He also likes the image himself, which I just could not be more thrilled about!



So much more to bring you soon! Thanks for reading.

TTFN
xx

Wonderful Wogan

Good evening!

With the exhibition done and dusted, I thought it was high time for a blog post! There are lots and lots of photographs of the private view evening over on the Picture Show website, which were taken by our brilliant photographer Mags Potter. She was such a great lady to have at the event as she put everyone at their ease despite flashing a lens about!
Here's an image of Sir Terry Wogan that I recently exhibited. Well, this version actually has a couple of little modifications from the exhibited version, but nothing too dramatic! I wanted to start pushing my work in a slightly different direction in terms of medium, and I'm pleased with the final result. It was inspired by a photograph originally taken by the fantastic photographer Clara Molden (who is also super lovely).



Also, it's a little late, as the next issue is almost upon us, but I have some images in the last lovely issue of Making Magazine. This project required me to draw a series of Hula girls which was such fun! Hopefully I will pop those ladies up here for you to see in their full glory, as they got chopped up for the cushion pictures.





I also have an image in the latest Knitting Magazine to advertise a Tea Cozies competition. Unfortunately I don't have a printed image to hand but it's also up on the Knitting Institute website (the image of the UK!).

There's lots of exciting things in the pipeline (including more from Making Magazine, a new Superhero and images from the National Treasures series) that I will share with you soon!

TTFN
xx

Pic Show Private View!

Good afternoon!

What a flurry of activity I have seen in the last few weeks! The Picture Show is now open for business for one week only at the Coningsby Gallery in central London.
Last night we opened our doors for the private view which was, in my opinion, a resounding success! There was a steady flow of both visitors and wine. The whole evening was captured by a wonderful photographer in the form of Mags from Mags Potter Photography; I can't wait to see the results! I will pop a few on here as soon as I have them.

We have also had some incredible press for the show, including mentions from the likes of Computer Arts magazine and Design Week! And we are still open until the 21st of July, so I am looking forward to seeing what people make of us. I will be providing an exclusive unseen image from the 'National Treasures' collection (currently on show at the gallery) right here in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned!

TTFN
xx


Photo courtesy of Che Kumar

The Heat Is On!

Good afternoon!

Things are really hotting up now! The weather has improved slightly, so I'm enjoying being able to sit out on the balcony drawing until my hands ache, and going for little walks outside to try and ward off the cramp that comes from sitting up in front of the computer! The pressure is on to complete everything before the show in a couple of weeks. I'm pleased to say that I have organised merchandise and printing, so things really feel like they are starting to come together!
There's a little interview with me over on the The Picture Show website right now, so if you'd like to have a little read please follow the link!

Also, although things have moved swiftly on since this stage, I thought I should offer up a little 'sneak peek' of the work...



TTFN
xx

Pic Show Press!

Good evening!

I can't believe how soon the exhibition is! Tearing myself away from the huge pile of pieces of paper and paints in order to write this blog post almost feels like a miniature holiday! There is a lot that goes into putting together a show like this. I hadn't realised just how much there is to organise; the work itself is such a small part! You can read a bit about the process in this informative blog post on The Young Creatives by fellow Pic Show exhibitor, June, by clicking here.
I am thrilled to be able to bring this to you all! The ever lovely Making Magazine have done a wonderful feature on my impending exhibition, right at the top of the news page in the latest issue! What an honour.



I'm also especially pleased with this month's illustrations for Making. The theme was 'festival chic', and I was asked to paint (among other things) a luscious sleeping bag for 'glamping'. It was really fun to add so much detail to this set of images... I'm not sure you'll get the full effect on the computer, so you may need to go and read the magazine itself. But it's so densely packed with lavish projects and articles that you won't be sorry you did! Can't wait to show you next month's piece, it's got to be one of my favourites so far!

Ok, more soon, including those sneaky peeks of my images for The Picture Show!

TTFN
xx

News and Reviews!

Good evening!

What a month it has been! A few weeks ago I was contacted by online Editor Kieron at Plog Magazine, who put together a lovely little feature on me (thanks again!). You can read it by clicking here. I have also completed another commission for Gnaeus Julius comics, this time of a character called 'Devout'. I always have so much fun working on these character pieces!
I was also told today that the ever lovely ladies over at Ballad Of magazine have put together a little post about my impending collaborative exhibition as part of The Picture Show. You can read it by clicking here. I also like to pretend that their latest edition, 'The Ballad Of Baby K', was named after me. Which it wasn't.

More soon, including images for Making Magazine and some sneaky peeks of work for the upcoming exhibition!

TTFN
xx

Multiple Makes!

Good afternoon!

How about a double whammy? This is a selection of my illustrations from the two most recent issues of Making Magazine. I don't have any in next month's issue, but I do in the following one! Publishing is so fast paced that I am already thinking a couple of months ahead- it's Summer in my mind!
Speaking of Summer, I am thrilled to be able to tell you about an exhibition that I will be participating in this coming July! The Picture Show is a collaborative exhibition of a small band of Illustrators and Designers, and is set to take place at the Coningsby Gallery in central London. We are also proud to be sponsored by none other than the delicious Barefoot Wines! More details can be found on the website at http://www.thepicshow.co.uk/, or by clicking here. You can also follow us on Twitter by searching for @thepicsho.
Back soon!

TTFN
xx

Manchester Nova

Good evening!

Well, as the chocolatey dust of the Easter weekend settles, and the views begin to dwindle, I can honestly say that the response to the little parody video was incredible! And so we move on to more project updates. I was recently approached by Stuart, of Gnaeus Julius comics, to interpret their popular character ‘Manchester Nova’ in my own style. I had an absolute blast doing this! The comics are not only great fun, but they are also available to view online by clicking here or visiting www.manchesternova-superhero.com.
The keen eyed among you may notice that my blog is now fully integrated into my website, for which I owe an eternal debt of gratitude to Tiz at TNT Computing! I am not sure just how long I will continue to run both at the same time, but needless to say I will let you know whether updates can only be found there.
I'll be back very soon with more images from the latest Making Magazine!

TTFN
xx

Happy Easter!

Good afternoon!

I have been so excited to share this with you all! A little while ago I helped some very talented friends of mine put together a video for Easter, and it's been launched online! It was a very quick turnaround as projects go (so a bit of a challenge) but enormous fun. I can verify that everyone involved was great and I am proud to have been a part of it (both under and above the table).
I think the end result is fab and I hope you enjoy it!



Happy Easter to you all!

TTFN
xx

The Ballad Of... Lovely Little Features!

Good morning!

The lovely ladies over at Ballad Of have put together a really wonderful little feature of yours truly that gave me a smile today. You can read it by clicking here.
More Making Magazine goodies to show you this weekend and the premier of something very special to come!

TTFN
xx

Stop, Press!

Good evening!

Phew! I find myself blogging while glue is drying this evening! I have been working on a wide range of projects in the last month, including crafty props for a little film (more soon!), organising a collaborative exhibition for the summer and, I am pleased to report, more projects for Making magazine! I'm ashamed to say that I am a little late with this post, so the latest issue has been on the shelves for a couple of weeks already, but I thought I would upload them for you regardless. I am busy working on next month's batch already, which I just can't wait to show you all (the projects are incredible!).
I was also asked a short time ago to illustrate a piece for a book that is being produced by a ThinkTank called Think Act Vote (?X!). I chose a quote from Noel Hatch about the concept of 'Glastopolitics'! Every time I look at it I must admit to wanting to add more, but I fear this may be perhaps over-egging the pudding! I hope you all like it.
In other news, I am starting a little rebrand of misspearlgrey.com, beginning with making the site accessible from www.pearlgreyillustration.com. But panic not! You will still be able to continue accessing misspearlgrey.com without a hitch if change is not something you relish.

I will have lots more to show you and tell you very soon!

TTFN
xx







Think Act Vote 'Glastopolitics'

Making a Pillow Mat & Beanbag

Good evening!

I'm pleased to be able to bring you another little batch of editorial illustrations in the form of projects for the latest, beautiful edition of Making Magazine! What I love most about illustrating for this sort of brief that I get to read each project and become inspired with new things to make for myself! Beanbag, anyone?

TTFN
xx