FIRST ANIMATION!!!

I recently made my first animation, capturing a very very special memory to me, and not to be dramatic, but this is a huge achievement for me!!! So much so, that I decided to enter it into the World of Illustration Awards! 🥹

Okay so it’s not my first animation ever, but my first animation made using Procreate Dreams, and probably my first animation that I’m actually happy with. I tried animating years ago, but it often ended in me wanting to smash either my laptop or my head repeatedly… so I decided that animation wasn’t for me, but for whatever reason I decided to challenge myself to try again, and somehow, not only did I make it work, but I didn’t hate doing it either! I think this was large in part to using a completely different animation software, but also probably helped that I’m a lot more self aware, and know how to remain calm in frustrating situations far better than I use to.

I’ve had the idea for this animation, and the exact song I wanted to add to it (Texas Sun by Leon Bridges, see it with the song on insta) for almost a year, way back when we rented an RV and drove across America, and it turned out EXACTLY as I anticipated!! Originally I had the idea for the back drop to change to capture the change in scenery as we explored different areas in America, however thanks to a planning session at the studio with my mentor, it’s now formed into a broader project exploring my own personal healing journey through the seasons and different road trips… I’ll be sharing more on this soon, so stay tuned x

STEVIE SMORTBERRY SERIES

After sharing some new work (see last post) from the Stevie Smortberry series the other day, I realised I didn’t do a big enough song and dance when sharing the original content done for the book way back in 2022! So here are some of my favourites…

Nana’s final sprint around the athletics track giving a piggyback to her granddaughter, Nana’s mismatched living room, and Morley’s Chicken shop!

Despite completing these illustrations over 4 year ago, I’m still really proud of them!! Genea (the incredible author) and I have been talking about plans for the next book and I cannot wait to work with her again on some magical storytelling!

FIRST MAP ILLUSTRATION

Towards the end of last year, I completed my first map illustration for a returning client, Genea Saunders, the author of ‘The Life of Stevie Smortberry - Nana’s Got the Electric Touch’ to hint at the themes of her next book and I really enjoyed it!

The map features a bunch of spot illustrations including Caribbean carnival characters, an athletics track, a sewing machine and fashion sketches, Stevie’s high school, the bus she gets to school, and her favourite hang out spot, Morley’s chicken shop! It’s not super often that I do spot illustrations, rather than busy scenes, but I still enjoy them, and dotting them around on a map backdrop works in a similar way to give the audience clues of the storyline! Hoping this is the first of many more map illustrations!