Tag Archives: illustration

The Black Dawg – an illustrated poem about Depression and Hope

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About a year ago my friend Louis McIntosh sent me a poem he’d written about depression and hope called ‘The Black Dawg‘.

The poem really resonated with me and I immediately agreed to Louis’ suggestion that I illustrate it with a view to publishing the finished project as a picture book.

Louis and I have now reached the stage where we’re ready to do some combined market research and promotion prior to making the project ready to print and raising funds for self-publishing on Kickstarter.

To that end we made a promotional pack comprising three double sided flyers featuring excerpts of the text and illustrations.

We targeted interested parties such as mental health charities and people with first and second hand experience of depression and compiled a mailing list of those people who said they were happy to provide feedback. We’ve just sent each person (via snail mail) a promotional pack to share with their friends, family and colleagues.

mental health, the black dawg, illustrated poem, depression, hope, louis mcintosh, poet, illustration, digital collage, promotional pack, kickstarter

The table laden with promotional flyers, stickers and envelopes ready to send

the black dawg, illustrated poem, depression, hope, louis mcintosh, poet, illustration, digital collage, promotional pack, kickstarter,

The introductory flyer (above) features the proposed book cover on one side and has an introduction to The Black Dawg poem and promo pack on the other.

(click on the images to enlarge them)

The second flyer (below) features the first double page on one side, I introduce myself on the reverse and talk about my motivation and inspiration for illustrating The Black Dawg.

the black dawg, illustrated poem, depression, hope, louis mcintosh, poet, illustration, digital collage, promotional pack, kickstarter,

Third flyer (below) features the penultimate double pages on one side; on the reverse Louis talks about his motivation and inspiration for writing The Black Dawg.

mental health, the black dawg, illustrated poem, depression, hope, louis mcintosh, poet, illustration, digital collage, promotional pack, kickstarter,

A big thank you to all those people who agreed to be on the mailing list, we really appreciate your support and are really looking forward to receiving your feedback.

The feedback we have received so far has been overwhelmingly positive.

If you’re not on the mailing list but would still like to send us feedback – please do! We’ll be delighted to hear from you… email us at kathryn.hockey.art@gmail.com or leave a reply below.

And please feel free to share with as many people as you’d like!

Cockerels on Canvas

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Two of my latest batch of digital fabric prints…our old friend the cockerel in two sizes

illustration, rooster, cockerel, cock, fabric, cockerel fabric, textile design, surface illustration, digital collage, sewing, dress making, cushion fabric

illustration, rooster, cockerel, cock, fabric, cockerel fabric, textile design, surface illustration, digital collage, sewing, dress making, cushion fabric illustration, rooster, cockerel, cock, fabric, cockerel fabric, textile design, surface illustration, digital collage, sewing, dress making, cushion fabric

Pretty Creepy Horsey for Hallowe’en

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skeleton, horse, halloween, day of the dead, roundabout, repeat pattern, illustration, surface design, This piece was inspired by the beautiful carved wooden horses of the Jubilee Gallopers carousel at Carter’s Steamfair.

horse, carousel, fair ground, roundabout, pencil drawing

I started off with a conventional pencil drawing, working from photos I had taken while visiting the fair in the summer.

horse, carousel, fair ground, roundabout, pencil drawing, digital colour, illustration

Having scanned the drawing into Photoshop I coloured it. Nice but boring, I thought…and that stripy saddle looks a bit like a rib cage…

skeleton, day of the dead, halloween, horse, carousel, fair ground, roundabout, pencil drawing

…so I kept drawing and developed the skeletal theme which I found much more interesting

skeleton, horse, halloween, day of the dead, roundabout, repeat pattern, illustration, surface design,

I scanned the new pencil drawing into my computer, vectorised it in Illustrator, then coloured and duplicated it to make a repeating pattern in Photoshop. I also added noise to the image to improve the texture.

I like the way that it’s not until you look closely that you see the dark creepiness of this image.

I’m eagerly awaiting delivery of a sample of digitally printed fabric in this design….it’s been dispatched today….dead horse cushions, anyone?!

CD Cover: Mr Groovy and the Blue Heads – Somos Más

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mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, pen and water colour, pen and watercolor, watercolor paint, watercolour paint, illustration, drawing, tour bus, andalusia, blues festival

Mr Groovy and the Blue Heads are a band of hugely talented and versatile musicians, one of the best on the Spanish rhythm and blues scene.

As well as revisiting classic blues themes and interpreting the music of more recent artists (such as Lloyd Jones, Los Deltonos and Vaughan Brothers), they play their own compositions, offering a rollicking live show to lovers of the blues in all its variations.

CD cover, Mr Groovy and the Blue Heads, Jauja, pen and guache, digital manipulation, illustration, voodoo, Cadiz, blues band, pin up

 

Back in 2012 Mr Groovy and the Blue Heads commissioned me to design the cover for their excellent third album ‘Jauja‘, so I was flattered to be asked to do the same for their latest release ‘Somos Más’ which celebrates their 10th birthday.

mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, text, title, blues album

mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, pen and water colour, pen and watercolor, watercolor paint, watercolour paint, illustration, drawing, tour bus, andalusia, blues festivalMr Groovy and the Blue Heads are almost constantly on the road, which is what inspired me to suggest a tour bus for the CD cover. There are now several more ‘Blue Heads’ amongst their number, mostly woodwind and brass players, which is why they chose the title ‘Somos Más’ (meaning ‘there are more of us’). It’s also a nod to the growing number of people who are disillusioned by a corrupt political system which creates and perpetuates austerity.

 

The rough sketch above helped me to decide on the layout for the front cover which I then redrew carefully in pencil onto fine grained watercolour paper, followed by water resistant pen (below).

The landscape depicted in the background is typically Andalusian, it’s inspired by the view from my studio.

mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, pen and water colour, pen and watercolor, watercolor paint, watercolour paint, illustration, drawing, tour bus, andalusia, blues festival

I used pencils to colour in a photocopy of the finished pen drawing as a trial and then applied colour to the actual drawing with watercolour paints. It’s a traditional and time consuming method but I love the warmth that hand painted textures impart to an image.

mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, pen and water colour, pen and watercolor, watercolor paint, watercolour paint, illustration, drawing, tour bus, andalusia, blues festival mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, pen and water colour, pen and watercolor, watercolor paint, watercolour paint, illustration, drawing, tour bus, andalusia, blues festival

 

mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, pen and water colour, pen and watercolor, watercolor paint, watercolour paint, illustration, drawing, tour bus, andalusia, blues festival

 

 

I scanned the finished painting into Photoshop where I added the text, taking the same hand drawn text style for the band name that I had made for the Jauja cover. I also replaced the white border with a black one (below).  mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, pen and water colour, pen and watercolor, watercolor paint, watercolour paint, illustration, drawing, tour bus, andalusia, blues festival

And then on to the back cover…which had to be the back of the bus!

mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, pen and water colour, pen and watercolor, watercolor paint, watercolour paint, illustration, drawing, tour bus, andalusia, blues festival

 

 

The scene in the background is inspired by the bamboo fringed sand dunes of the Atlantic coast where we live, dotted with bright flowering succulents in the spring.

 

 

I worked from my rough sketch (above) in the same way as I had for the front cover, just changing the layout to make space for the track list.

mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, pen and water colour, pen and watercolor, watercolor paint, watercolour paint, illustration, drawing, tour bus, andalusia, blues festival

That’s Mr Groovy playing his harmonica in the back of the bus (below)

mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, pen and water colour, pen and watercolor, watercolor paint, watercolour paint, illustration, drawing, tour bus, andalusia, blues festival mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, pen and water colour, pen and watercolor, watercolor paint, watercolour paint, illustration, drawing, tour bus, andalusia, blues festival

Having scanned the painting into Photoshop I added the text and digitally collaged the CD covers from the band’s three previous albums and the sea and sky which I had painted separately.

mr groovy and the blue heads, somos mas, cd cover, sketch, blues band, mister groovy, pen and water colour, pen and watercolor, watercolor paint, watercolour paint, illustration, drawing, tour bus, andalusia, blues festival

Mr Groovy and the Blue Heads are working non-stop for the imminent release of Somos Más which promises to be a superb mix of swing, funk, blues and second line.

Don’t miss it!

Stickers!

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moo, stickers, illustration, digital printing, cake, cockerel, rooster, angry woman, portrait

Moo.com had a sale on so I couldn’t resist ordering a set of stickers emblazoned with my ‘circle-friendliest’ designs.

moo, stickers, illustration, digital printing, cake, cockerel, rooster, angry woman, portrait

Yay! As they say in the world of Moo…stick ’em up!

Chicken Bus

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chicken bus, illustration, pencil, drawing, digital illustration, feliz, baila, cuando, donde, ahora

I was inspired to try and capture the humour and vibrancy of these beautiful and ubiquitous buses when I was in Guatemala in the autumn of 2014.

The buses are imported from the US or Canada once they retire from the school run and are then dolled up and converted, usually by a team of two people, who run them as public transport on specific routes, crammed to the gills with paying passengers, luggage and even livestock, hence the name Chicken Bus.

chicken bus, san pedro la laguna, guatemala

I used this photo which I took in San Pedro on the shore of Lake Atitlan as my model

chicken bus, sketch, pencil

I made this rather wonky sketch from the photo and scanned it into Photoshop

chicken bus, pencil drawing

I copied the fat side of the wonky sketch, flipping it over to make a symmetrical template

chicken bus, pencil drawing

 and then set about making a careful pencil drawing

chicken bus, pencil drawing

I scanned the finished drawing

chicken bus, digital colouring

and coloured it in Photoshop layers; at this stage the image looked a bit plain and flat

chicken bus, pencil drawing

so I added more detail to the pencil drawing, scanned it into Photoshop

vuela, chicken bus, illustration

and applied the cut out line work over the coloured bus.

I had a lot of fun making 15 different coloured versions of the bus before I’d decided what to write in the destination boxes. In the end I added various invitations and questions (afterall, you can change your destination if you dance or dream) in Spanish before grouping them into three sets of five buses to make simple poems.

The background is scanned paper.

chicken bus, illustration, pencil, drawing, digital illustration, listo, tranqui, paz, gracia, amor

¿Listo? ¡Tranqui! ¿Paz? ¡Gracia! ¡Amor!

(Ready? Calm down! Peace? Grace! Love!)

chicken bus, illustration, pencil, drawing, digital illustration, venga, guapa, suena, vamos, vuela

¡Venga! ¡Guapa! ¡Sueña! ¡Vamos! ¡Vuela!

(Come on! Beautiful! Dream! Let´s go! Fly!)

chicken bus, illustration, pencil, drawing, digital illustration, feliz, baila, cuando, donde, ahora

¿Feliz? ¡Baila! ¿Cuando? ¿Donde? ¿Ahora?

(Happy? Dance! When? Where? Now?)

peace, bullet holes, chicken bus, illustration

A friend I´d met on my travels asked where the bullet holes were since Guatemala has a somewhat deserved reputation as a trouble spot, so I added a few to the Peace? bus.

chicken bus, illustration, pencil, drawing, digital illustration, venga, guapa, sonar, vamos, vuela, print, laser print

 

And I’ve just picked up the first paper versions from my printer…lovely colours, thank you Pepe.

Book Covers for The Icarus Mendoza Sequence

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icarus mendoza, sequence, three witches, book cover, novel, illustration, jackie cornwall

Last summer Jackie Cornwall commissioned me to design the cover for her latest novel ‘The Three Witches‘. It’s the first in a series of six books that will make up ‘The Icarus Mendoza Sequence’, a thrilling adventure story spanning three decades of the life of the gifted and troubled Icarus Mendoza.

Jackie told me the outline of the entire sequence, emphazising the themes for each book and the colours she associated with them.

The backdrop to all the books would be the fictional town of San Amaro de la Frontera, which Jackie based on Vejer de la Frontera the beautiful Andalusian pueblo blanco (white village) where we live.

Almost immediately it struck me that the six book covers could feature a continuous townscape, representing constancy and refuge, and that the section of townscape depicted on the front cover of the first book could appear on the back cover of the second book and so on for the entire sequence to make an interlocking set.

A symbol representing the specific adventure theme for each book could then be superimposed over the townscape.

icarus mendoza, sequence, book cover, rough, illustration, sketch

The first preparatory sketch for the six book covers; the vertical symbols looked a bit stiff

icarus mendoza, sequence, book cover, rough, illustration, sketch

I sketched the symbols ‘looming’ to liven up the composition and give them a threatening feeling.

preparatory sketch, vejer de la frontera, townscapeWorking from photos I’d taken of Vejer I sketched a montage of views.

icarus-mendoza-sequence, townscape, charcoal, drawing

I decided to experiment by drawing the townscape in charcoal so that I had a ‘negative’ image

icarus-mendoza-sequence, townscape

that I could scan into Photoshop, splicing all the sections together and inverting it to make it white. I also removed the background

This turned out to be very labour intensive, I had to draw, scan, invert and splice two extra sections of town before I had an image long enough to cover the estimated length of all six covers.

I wanted to create richly coloured backgrounds with interesting textures so I opted for watercolour paint, using the wet on wet technique on heavy weight paper with a rough grain, referring to the notes I’d made on Jackie’s colour preferences for each book.

watercolour paint, wet on wet

The ultramarine watercolour background for ‘The Three Witches’ cover

At this point Jackie clarified which symbols she thought were apt for each book and offered suggestions to replace those which weren’t.

Eiffel Tower, pencil drawing

I drew each symbol in pencil and scanned it into Photoshop.

Eiffel Tower, blue

Then I cut out the line work and coloured it to match the background

Finally I added the text.

Here are the finished covers:

The Three Witches, book cover, illustration, the icarus mendoza sequence

The Peacock Dance, book cover, illustration, the icarus mendoza sequence

The Brazilian Prince, book cover, illustration, the icarus mendoza sequence

The Tartessian Stone, book cover, illustration, the icarus mendoza sequence

the five winds, book cover, illustration, the icarus mendoza sequence

book cover, illustration, the icarus mendoza sequence

And here’s the interlocking set of six again, you can click on it to make it larger.

icarus mendoza, sequence, three witches, book cover, novel, illustration, jackie cornwall

The Three Witches is a ripping yarn; my favourite quote is

“Dance, like romance, is one of those sweet, cruel mechanisms by which little girls are enticed into a life of slavery.”

It’s available to purchase now on Amazon.

Leaves Mural

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leaves, pattern, surface decoration, illustration, emulsion paint, mud wall, straw bale house

 

 

I recently finished painting one of my plane tree patterns on a wall plastered with mud in my friends’ straw bale house.

 

 

 

leaves, plane tree, mural, emulsion paint, mud wall, surface decoration, illustration, pattern

plane tree, leaves, pattern, illustration, digital collage

 

Simple lines in white emulsion paint are very effective on the beautifully coloured and textured mud, which still has straw poking through it in some places

 

 

 

 

This is the digital version of the design, you can see its evolution here in one of my previous posts

 

 

 

 

About seven years ago I painted the mural below in the same house, also on a wall plastered with mud, it was then visible in the main living space.

mural, mud wall, emulsion paint

They’ve since built the new internal mud plastered wall to create another room for their expanded family so the first mural is hidden inside the new bedroom.

I enjoyed the whole experience of painting in white on mud so much (and I’m also a bit vain and missed seeing my art work from the living room) so it was lucky that my friends happily agreed to my proposal to paint a mural on the new wall and we settled on a theme of leaves.

This is the bare mud wall

mud wall, straw bale house

I made this plan for the mural in Photoshop, using the cut out, inverted line work of my original pattern

mural, plan, leaves, pattern, surface illustration, plane trees

I then ‘Photoshopped’ it to the photograph of the bare wall  to check on the layout before transferring the design to the wall

mural plan, plane tree, leaves, surface illustration

I started by projecting the image onto the wall and drawing the outline in white pencil but ran into technical difficulties with the electrical equipment. I had to resort to plan B which meant tracing the pattern using chalk on the reverse surface of a printed template and then penciling over the chalk lines, which was far more messy and time consuming but ultimately effective.

This is a detail of the pencil drawing

leaves, sketch, pencil, mural, plane trees

Here is the partially completed mural

leaves, mural, plane tree, mud wall, emulsion paint, pencil

and a head on view of the completed mural without the added domestic decoration

leaves, mural, plane tree, pattern, surface decoration, illustration, emulsion paint, mud wall

This was a really enjoyable project, completed in many short sessions over a period of several months, combined with delicious lunch visits to my lovely friends.

It also fulfilled my ambition to complete a painted version of one of my digitally designed patterns on a real life wall.

Baby Cockerel Cushion

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cockerels, pattern, textile, baby, cushion, illustration

 

This little cockerel cushion is the latest addition to my ‘textile range‘, made from a fabric sample printed with one of my cockerel designs.

 

I made the baby cushion as a gift for the recent arrival who lives in the house where I sketched the original cockerel, which turned into a stencil

cockerel, rooster, cock, stencil, acrylic paint, reclaimed wood

which has since adorned many walls….

Cockerel, mural, stencil

cockerel, mural, casa del arco, stencil, illustration

cockerel, mural, stencil

and even a few items of clothing……

cockerel, t-shirts, screen printing

cockerel, screen print, denim jacket

I was a bit sad to find out recently that despite his regal appearance the cockerel I drew was firing blanks and was put up for adoption, but he died of shock just before his new owner turned up to claim him….just shows, a cocky exterior hides a multitude of insecurities….

2 Tone 2CV

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Here’s an update of the 2CV pattern I made earlier in the year, it’s inspired by classic Citroën colour combinations

2CV, car, pattern, repeat, illustration