Sydney Travel Illustration

With my time away, I wanted to take a break and shift my perspective from only drawing images that look decorative or ‘picture perfect’, instead I want them to be more storytelling, single page narratives, and POV’s capturing moments.

For the last 2 years or so, I’ve more often than not, made art with the intention to make into prints. This is because I’ve been pushing my work in the retail direction, by doing more regular markets and selling in more shops. Which has been great, and something I’d love to continue to do, but right now I’m really craving drawing just for me, capturing perspectives, and what a better time to do it, so here’s another attempt at that! This illustration aims to collate most of the parts of Sydney I was lucky enough to experience recently. In the few days we were in Sydney, we caught trains, buses, and ferries, and saw Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and the Botanical Gardens, and then walked from Bondi, to Brontë, and to Clovelly beach! 

Since then we’ve picked up a lil campervan and driven from Sydney, stopping at loads of amazing spots, and are now about halfway through Queensland on route to arrive in Cairns in about a week. I’m much preferring the quieter beaches and ridiculous abundance of wildlife in the more rural areas. I have hundreds of photos and a long list of things I want to draw to try and capture these experiences!

It’s been about 2 weeks since leaving Sydney and I’ve only just finished this drawing. It’s really difficult fitting in the time to draw all my ideas, alongside adventuring, plus a couple of commissions that are helping to fund the trip, but I love having a project to work on! I can already feel some themes developing amongst my ideas, and I’m trying to be kind, and remind myself none of these drawings have to be perfect, as they are just for me! 

First illustration of the year!

In a conscious effort to draw more this year, here’s my first attempt. An observational illustration capturing part of my recent journey to Sydney, stoping for a lay-over in Shanghai!

I never set New Year’s resolution, as I don’t think I’ve once stuck to them, but more vague goals and themes seem to work, so this year I’m hoping to draw more, and one of the areas I’m hoping to focus on, is capturing more memories of travels and hobbies, and also drawing more food focused illustrations. So here’s a bit of both in one! This was made far easier as I just had 30+ hours to hand with very little distractions thanks to the longest journey of my life… so I can’t promise the next ones will be quite so detailed, but it’s a great way to start.

Reflecting on 2023 and setting some goals for 2024

As someone who previously quite disliked New Years, I’ve changed my tune in recent years, especially when it comes to my business; I enjoy the opportunity to reflect. Within most freelance work, each month can be very different from the last. I might invest a lot of money on new stock or equipment, and not see the benefits until months later, and sales and commissions definitely fluctuate through different seasons, so a year feels more fitting when making comparative judgement, especially when it comes to profits. I didn’t make the most art this year, but I did work on a few incredible projects for some a great clients, as well as taking part in way more markets, and selling my products in a couple more shops, and consequently made almost double my profits compared to last year! So a HUGE thank you to all my amazing clients, customers and supporters 🫶🏻

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it many more times, I never got into illustration for the money, but of course it helps what what you love doing is finally paying off. Figuring out how to do this, and putting the correct tools in place has been a work in progress for the last 4 years, with lots of trial and error, but this year I feel I’ve really implemented lessons I’ve learnt prior, and this has come with a healthy and reasonably steady flow of income, from multiple streams. The draw back of this though has unfortunately been burning myself out, a LOT… but then it’s also enabled me to spend more time and money on my other interests, which is pretty priceless in my opinion. These interests include attending festivals, seeing live music, travelling, rollerskating, swimming in the sea and covering my skin in incredible art, (I finished my dream tattoo sleeve this year!) - I’m constantly trying to achieve that perfect work/play balance 🤪.

Looking forward, I’d love to start showcasing some of these interests more so within my illustration work. Elements of my personality are defiantly already present within my work; my love for animals and nature, and encouragement of feminist and environmental can be seen pretty clearly amongst my portfolio, but there’s always room for more, and I feel it’s super important to demonstrate to clients what I’m passionate about. However there’s a sense of vulnerability when showing your full self to the world through the internet, and this internal fear that I won’t do these themes justice. But you don’t get anywhere sitting in your comfort zone.

I’m now starting my year travelling Australia, in a van with the love of my life, so I think the burnout will be worth it, and I’m hoping during this time to be inspired and to subsequently create more art, lets watch this space! 🤠

For a fun video recap of the last 12 months, visit my instagram page here!

Two custom pet portraits for Christmas

Two more pet portraits commissioned for Christmas gifts, coincidently both clients requested them to be drawn on to armchairs, capturing them in their natural habitat at home! I always love doing these kind of projects and it’s really nice to see quite a build up within my portfolio! See the all here.