Self Promotion is key (I know, I know but it's a little cringey)

It's Spring time. I'm feeling motivated, I really am. Amazing what a bit of sunshine can do. With the new Wallop website launching very soon, it's the time to up things a notch and get out there promoting and marketing and all that stuff. Lovely new interesting clients and projects - here I am!

It's a tad overwhelming though.... huh?

It's all too easy I find, to stick with what you know best and to stay within your comfort zone when it comes to freelancing. So. This week, I downloaded a copy of the new e book from the Red Lemon Club, called :
'10 Steps to Powerful Online Self Promotion', an inspired wedge of advice from a freelance illustrator and designer, Alex Mathers, who also writes for the contemporary illustration blog: Ape on the moon. It's good. Straightforward advise on proven techniques. It's what you need to do and how you can do it. So, I've read. I've digested. Watch this space and let's see if it works...

Go get yourself a copy here, if you too need a bit of a kick up the bum on the promotional front. :-)

The Big Team Scribble

The Scribble project thinks that Doodling should be a team sport and a lot of doodlers seem to think so too!
The Big Team Scribble is a collaborative project where illustrators submit their doodles to create a large scale black and white scene, ready for colouring. I sent off my train carriages this morning, I was cutting it a bit fine as the last date for submissions is today.... ( A few hours left if anyone reading this is still keen to have a go!) but it's such a lovely idea, I couldn't not submit a quick doodle.
Last project over 100 people contributed to a giant totem pole and this time around its a long string of train carriages which will be produced as a zine. Keep an eye on the Big Team Scribble blog for first views of all the amazing entries flooding in...












My favourites so far include these glorious works of art by Uberkraft and Muxxi. Simply wonderful.

A Rubbish Mermaid

I've had a rubbish mermaid propped up behind my desk for far too long while I've been getting around to adding her to the shop over at Folksy. I've added her today, where she sits in all her glory next to a rubbish giraffe and a rubbish nice cup of tea :-)
Mermaids have proved popular characters for my rubbish pictures, one has even swam as far afield as New Zealand. There have only been a few made to date though because of the amount of time involved in cutting out all the individual scales on the tail: A detail which I think makes a big difference in the final outcome of the picture, but which also makes me cross eyed, sticks my fingers together with pva and basically sends me to the brink of insanity...

Rubbish Portraits

I've tried something new this week. It was 'im indoors birthday and seeing as hand made cards are generally the way to go in our house, was seeking inspiration... and what better inspiration than the rubbish pile that is sat in the corner of my office, threatening to topple at any moment and overwhelm half of Hampshire. So. I decided to try my hand at a rubbish portrait. Theres got to be a first time for everything! As for the result - I'm not sure Jonathan Yeo needs to quake in his boots unduly about his position in the circles of high art, but for a first attempt it's not all that..... rubbish?! And spookily, it does actually look just like him.... well a version of him after hitching a lift in the back of the recycling lorry to a skin grafts appointment....maybe ;-)

Today's rubbish picture is made of junk mail leaflets, the local swimming pools' Spring timetable, a Saturday supplement magazine and last years habitat catalogue.

Spring views...

Another day, another Rubbish picture. Todays is inspired by Spring and the view out of my window.... the leaves are finally on the trees, the sky is blue and as my apprentice loves to point out, the bunnies are so happy they just can't stop cuddling each other...

A house on a hill

Spring is here. The sun is shining. My 'proper' work project is very nearly complete and I have 5 entire days left until school holidays and chaos reigns...
The glue is out, the stacks of old papers have been sorted into colour piles and the food cupboards have been raided for all their colourful and oooooh so unneccessary wrappings. Rubbish Pictures are GO. again.
I have been neglecting my little shop over at Folksy of late and so the first few pictures will be appearing there and I shall do my utmost to actually getting around to doing a little bit of marketing this time, rather than just leaving them to stagnate.
Heres the first:http://www.folksy.com/shops/wallop. It's made entirely out of bits of food packaging and a leaflet thrust into my hand on the way out of the local swimming pool, that would have been thrust straight back again, had it not been a rather nice shade of 'sky blue'....... ;-)

Proper work...

Well, playtime sticking and glue-ing has had to come to an end temporarily, the Rubbish Pictures have been put aside to dry while I put my grown up Wallop hat back on for a while and do some 'proper' work!
The Lunchbowl Network is a wonderful school based charity set up in response to the plight of orphans in the Kibera slum in Nairobi.
They are ever growing and are currently updating and rebranding. I am privileged to have been chosen to look after their Brand illustration and graphic design requirements. It's an ongoing process, but the logo is coming along nicely with a few variations being worked on this week (my favourite so far shown here) and the 'school pack' of posters and literature will be following shortly. Do visit the Lunchbowl site for more information on the fantastic things that this organisation does

Teapots, bunnys, mermaids... what next?

Todays ponderings have come about through cabin fever mostly... My young apprentice is centre of attention again this week after a day in hospital on Monday having her adenoids removed. She was such a brave girl and has well deserved her entire week off school being pampered and cossetted. But, maaaaan a week is a long time when you're 7 with a sore throat and it's an even longer time when you're the one kept firmly inside away from germs and sources of infection with a boooored 7 year old. (actually.... on reflection, with 2 siblings in the house there's probably more chance of infection inside these walls than out.... but hey, I'm sticking to what it says in the leaflet!)

So.... to spare my sanity after the first 7 loops of High School Musical 3, (plus obligatory bloopers and behind the scenes hilarity), I've snuck into my den and have been creating away like a crazy lady, making the most of this enforced at home time to fulfil a new order of rubbish pictures for next week. But then here comes the dilema...
What exactly to create? An 'open order' is a wondrous thing. A customer who would like 'some pictures', similar to the last batch, but the subject can be 'whatever I fancy'. Wow. After years as 'Wallop' - illustrating for children's publishing in it's various forms, I have become very used to being dictated to exactly what is required. In this pc world we live in, each project generally requires a child of each gender, colour, height, weight, you name it and so artwork briefs are notoriously precise. When they're not, it inevitably means a reworking and so it's become ingrained to try to understand exactly the clients requirements first before ever setting pen to paper or mouse to...erm.... table.
So now I'm all of a wobble. Teetering on the edge of an 'artists block'? Dithering over the possibilities.... So far the Rubbish pictures portfolio has been pretty diverse featuring mermaids, dragons, dogs, cats all sorts... but how to know what will be a best seller? What should I do next, now that I can do....anything? I'd love to know - suggestions on a postcard please.... (or just in a comment would do and would save a stamp :-) )
In the meantime - I'm trying hard not to be distracted by the warblings of the delectable Troy Bolton and concentrating on a few more pre easter bunnys and pre mothers day teacups. Just to be safe.

The demise of Tallulah...

Well it's been a sad couple of days in Wallopsville, particularly for my apprentice who is mourning the loss of Tallulah...the goldfish. She has been unable to aid me in any creative way this week partly due to her sorrow and partly due to her sudden macabre interest in funeral directing. Our Tallulah, it has to be said, wasn't a particularly much loved pet. She was well kept of course, (by me) and regularly fed (by me) and cleaned (by me) and even occasionally given such treats as a new bit of weed or a nice looking pebble from the beach.... (by me) but on the whole she was ignored for much of her soggy life. In death however, Tallulah has come into her own. Her funeral was not far off the scale of royalty, relatively speaking of course. We had an after school procession of reluctantly rounded up neighbourhood children somberly gathered at the graveside, gallantly braving the recorder recital, the placing of daisies, the reminiscing.... before making their excuses and running home for their....ahem... fish fingers and chips...

So - especially for my bereft little apprentice, todays rubbish picture is in honour of Tallulah. A lovely orange fish made up entirely of Sainsburys nappy packaging and a few old Charlie & Lola birthday invitations. RIP old gal.

Now I must dash, apparently 'Nemo -Lulah' (and friend!) are ready for collection from Petsmart.....

A rubbish cup of tea to celebrate good news

Well it had to be done...
Heres the rubbish picture I should've done to start with to set this blog off in tea slurping style...
But better late than never, eh?
Amusingly I have discovered that it's not just me that finds themselves very tea-centric, it seems half the folk on Folksy are too!
Heres just a few of the many examples you'll find there if you pop over for a visit



My particular favourite is one of a great set of prints by 'Sparklehen'... the funkiest teapot in town, you gotta love it :-)

So anyway, I digress.... what's all this merry midweek tea slurping indulgence in aid of you might ask...well, a few posts ago, I mentioned that I was sending off a new batch of Rubbish pictures to Great to be Green, the lovely eco friendly emporium, well I did...and Hooray! they've all sold already! It's a Wallop record. So I'm preparing for another week of rummaging through the bin and covering the kids with pva glue every time they need their cardi's zipping up, for a whole new set of pictures for March. In the meantime though - I reckon a party ring or two is called for to celebrate and mark the event in the tea blog style. Cheers! :-)

You can never have too many bunnys

It's easter in 48 days! As if you hadn't noticed the shops filling up with creme eggs...
To celebrate and try to actually add some stock to the Wallop shop on Folksy, todays additions being uploaded this very morning are Easter bunny cards.
More to follow... when I've unstuck my fingers. These guys maybe small but the mess to product ratio is not relative! :-)