Friday 2 December 2011

"In what manner should we have a dream?"

Okay, so what have I been doing recently?

Well, for a start, I was published in Paper Aquarium, an online magazine for creative types!

http://www.paperaquarium.com/RhiW.html

Every little bit of exposure helps! So feel free to share my site, blog, facebook, tumblr, twitter, etc. Thankyouplease!

In between the commissions i've been getting recently, I managed to do a bit of my own work.



I've been playing Final Fantasy 6 recently, which I believe is one of the most well known carriers of the Art of Yoshitaka Amano. I absolutely love Amano; it was actually his artwork that convinced me I wanted to become an illustator. If you get a chance, look him up. He also did artwork for series like Sandman and Vampire Hunter D.

Secondly, I met up with the lovely Charlotte and Mark of Keep It Secret a couple of weeks ago to talk Tanuki designs. I've been thinking up lots of different designs for Tanuki and the Keep it Secret look, which will be revealed hopefully very soon.

Also, I've finally finished doing Vinita's Lazy Afternoon! It took me a little while, but I finally got around to doing it, and Vinita loves it. =]

The new site now includes a shop, which is selling all her lovely boho and shabby chic gift cards, so do have a good old browse. =P

In the next couple of weeks i've got a few other commissions to work on. I have a private commission that i'm just finishing off now, which should be done in the next week or so. I also have other things to think about, like a logo for a hair salon and a website for another client. =]

And on top of that, i've just taken a second job! So I will be a very busy (and very, very tired) girlie from now on. My new job is at a restuarant, running the front, and learning a bit of the kitchen. I start tomorrow, so i'd better get off to bed.

Nighty night all!

P.S: Oh, and by the way, if you're looking for a unique xmas pressie, don't forget that my prints are available on Minkyshop.com and Keep-It-Secret.com! =DLink

Friday 11 November 2011

I go to seek a Great Perhaps.

I'm going to stop beginning every entry with 'I apologise for leaving it so long', because I guess leaving it this long between each entry has become normal practice for me now, hehe.

Anyways, just a quick note to let you know i'm not dead. =]

I've been working on various things, one being Vinita Hemachandra's website:

www.vinitaslazyafternoon.com

Still need to finish up a few tweaks and get the shop up and running, but i'm getting there. =]

Mostly, i've been running up and down the length of Cornwall for Moonlet and the Love-monk gigs, all the way from Penzance to Saltash. Speaking of which, they have a gig coming up next friday if you're in the St Austell area:



Opens at 8 - Free Entry! You can see an amazing gig for free! What a bargain. =] Do stop and say hi if you're around.

I've been working with Keep It Secret! lately too on their brand new mascot; Tanuki!


He was unveiled in this months Neo magazine, and you'll be seeing a lot more of him next year! He's already got his Xmas thing going on. =P

So other than drawing Tanuki and finishing my other private commissions, I've been coming up with all different gifts and bits and bobs ready to sell. I've been raiding Ebay for all sorts of cute accessories, so watch this space! I have some exciting plans with me bezzie mate Vee Dunstan that will start coming into effect after the New Year. I'm looking forwards to it. =3

And lastly, i've been playing with inks again. This keeps telling me it's a work in progress, but I don't know when i'll ever have time to finish it:


Now, i'll leave you with a cool little link:

Bella's Beautiful Beads, as the name suggests, do really, really beautiful jewellery. I bought some butterfly earrings and I wear them everyday, they're just so pretty. I can't wait for Xmas so I can get this pink butterfly necklace:


Tuesday 4 October 2011

I was so happy when you smiled.

Again, i've left it ages between entries. I'm sorry, i'm a very busy girlie nowadays. =]

I guess the first and biggest news is that my artwork is now for sale on two amazing websites!

The very lovely Minkyshop.com and Keep It Secret are now seeling my artwork in their gallery pages! Check out their sites, they both have really awesome stuff. For example, I recieved my Panda Earmuffs in the post this morning, ready for the snow we're apparently meant to get next week!



So i'm all set with my Panda Hat (which some of you have probably seen me wear recently, lol) and my Earmuffs.

(For those who don't know and Xmas present research; I like Pandas.)

And speaking of Xmas presents, wouldn't a print makea spectacular one?

Haha, I know, I know, shameless plugging.

Anyways, the next order of business is one I wanted to post in my last entry, but due to some annoying hiccups, I wasn't able to.

Moonlet and the Love-monks have a new EP out! It's called The Likes of David Bryant (not a reference to an actual person!) and it's now available on iTunes.


Just search for Moonlet and the Love-monks on iTunes and i'm sure you'll find it.

In other news, I have a new Tumblr account: ukiyobutterfly.tumblr.com

It'll mostly be for personal, everyday stuff that I enjoy; books i'm reading, anime, manga, music, moods, that sort of thing, but every now and then I may post doodles and sketches that I probably won't be posting on here or facebook, so do check it out. I hope I don't bore you too much. I do have another personal blog on another site, but it's private, so this is my public equivalent. It's where i'll put all the things that i'm fine with the whole world knowing. =]

So, things i'm working on right now:

Well, i'm still working on Vinita Hemachandra's site. I've got a rough design down, and it's just changing a few things and getting on to actually building the site now.

I've also got some little favours for friends I need to get on with. They involve a logo and a cake design. Diverse. =3

Apart from that, my days have consisted of getting my prints in stock ready to send, and working. I'm thinking about re-doing Moonlil.com at some point too, so watch this space. =D

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Feeling flowery

Well, again, i've left it quite a while since my last update, haven't I? I kind of felt like there wasn't much to update with, but now that i'm actually doing the update, it's not so bad, heh. For a start:



4000 views! It might not seem like a lot to other people, but it means a lot to me, hehe. The writing on the balloon says 'Arigato gosaimasu!' which means 'Thank you very much!' (I'm currently learning Japanese, and i'm up to a Pre-school level, lol.)

Another thing that happened since the last entry:



My 'Lily' picture was used in the August Edition of 247 magazine! Thanks for that! =D

To be honest, I kind of took a little break on the artwork side of things this month; lack of funds and working as much as I can kind of got on top of me. But after going into Hayle on a trip to Mr B's Ice Cream Shop, I noticed a little arcade full of really awesome little shops. There were shabby chic gift shops, little goth shops, camera shops; it was really cool for someone like me. And on the first floor, there's an awesome little gift shop called Maker's Boutique Studio Shop. After talking with the owner, I got a boost of inspiration. Little indie shops like this always catch my interest. =D

So i've started on getting prints together to sell, hopefully i'll take some into Maker's Boutique and see if I have something interesting enough for sale, like this Love Bug print:




And speaking of selling, I'm also currently talking with Minkyshop.com about selling some of my artwork online! Minkyshop is definitely one of my favourite places to shop online; see this awesome Panda Hat I got for my birthday:



I still have a few commissions to be getting on with; I will definitely be starting Vinita Hemachandra's new website this month.

So... I would update with some other stuff too, but I am currently having technical difficulties. Please stand by. =D

Will update sooner next time!

Sunday 7 August 2011

Daily use of the drug causes poisoning

An update! It's been a little while, I guess, lol.

So, what have I been up to? Well... I've been busy working at my part-time job, but I have managed to squeeze in a few illos here and there.

It was my birthday not long ago, and like my favourite mangaka group; CLAMP, I thought i'd try using inks to create pictures. So my mum bought me a new set of inks and brushes and I tried out some ink pictures:






I've decided that I really love working with inks. Actually, I've just finished a commission using them, and i'm really pleased with what i've done. The commission was for wedding invites, so I won't post what i've done on here yet, but hopefully i'll be able to show you some time soon. =]

I've been making progress with my list of things that I have to do, so hopefully some time soon i'll be doing those illustration ideas for Tony Haven and the web site ideas for Vinita Hemachandra. I also need to paint two canvases of my 'Time for Tea' picture:


Remember, if you'd like a hand-painted canvas of one of my pictures, just let me know! You can message me on Facebook, Twitter, or from Moonlil.com.

So, second to last is the poster that I did a few months ago for Moonlet & the Love-Monks, but I've only now been able to post it up, because they haven't used it until now. So here it is:



And... Oh! Look at that! It's advertising a gig that they're playing this coming Friday at The William IV in Truro! It's Free Entry and everything! Well, bugger me. Will I see you there? =D

And, lastly, since it's not really related to what i've been doing, but i'm ecstatic anyway...

My favourite manga in the whole world has just been resumed by it's creators!!!!!!!





I expect a lot of you will have heard me talking about Legal Drug - it's a manga that was created in 2001 - 2003 by my favourite mangaka group ever; CLAMP. It's about a 17 year old called Kazahaya Kudo, who has the empathic ability of being able to see emotions and memories by touch. He and his roommate Rikuo (who also has telekinetic powers) go on all sorts of jobs for their mysterious employer, Kakei, a Seer, who also runs the Green Drugstore, where they all work part-time and live.



I've loved this series for about a year now, and it's made a massive impact to my artwork (as well as my boyfriends bank balance, lol), but it's been on hiatus since 2003, because the magazine publishing it in Japan stopped running. But now it's been picked up again by Kadokawa's Young Ace Magazine, so you can imagine how happy I was when the news came through yesterday morning. Couldn't even concentrate in work yesterday, I made loads of mistakes, lol.

Sunday 10 July 2011

Do you like Toffee and Lemonade? They used to taste so good homemade.

Hmmm... what to report. I'm finding it quite hard to recall what i've been doing lately.

Well... I finished a commission for a manga portrait not long ago:



The person seemed to like it, and i'm pretty pleased with it too. What d'ya reckon?

I've also finished another commission, but since it's a present for someone and hasn't been given to them yet, I probably shouldn't post the pic up here. =P

Other than that, i've been steadily getting through the things I had lined up. I still need to do some doodles for Tony Haven which I said I'd do a while ago and haven't gotten around to it (Tony, if you're reading, then nag me about it!). If you didn't see the last pic I did, it's on the top of his website. Or... yeah, i'll just post it here.


So, what i'm working on right now is two hand painted canvases of my 'Time for Tea' picture. I'm also selling any of my prints to order; £10 for a print of any of my artwork (in the portfolio section of my Facebook!), or £30 for a hand-painted version of an existing artwork. I can also do original art, though it may be a bit more; if you're interested, talk to me about it, and we'll work something out. =]

After that, there's a website I need to work on; a good friend of mine from Uni, Vinita Hemachandra needs a bit of a touch up to her site. Check her out, her work is beautiful, just look:


So pretty. ^_^

And one other thing i'm working on right now:



It's a tattoo design for a friend at work. The finished idea is to have it as a full body chinese dragon, so I have a bit more drawing to do just yet. =3

If you'd like me to design a tattoo for you, just get in touch with me and i'll see what I can do for you. =P

And that's about it!

Friday 17 June 2011

Yeah we know, you and I, that i'm not that crazy.

Wow, it's been a little while since I updated this, mainly because life has been very hectic lately. I got a new job in the brand new Wetherspoon pub in Camborne, so all my time has been taken by learning how to pull pints, lol. Anyways, if you see me in there, please say hello. =]

So what have I been up to, art-wise? *thinks back*

Well, actually, since I last updated, there's been quite a lot.


First up is: I finally hit 3000 hits on the site!



Thank you everyone! It's very reassuring to know that people do actually read this blog; art is a very competitive thing to want to do, so I need all the support I can get. =D

Next up, I've started taking commissions for manga-style artwork of your favourite facebook photos:



They're £15 each, or for an extra £5 + postage, I can print it out for you and send it to you. They've been proving quite popular actually; i'm even working on one at the moment. =P

I also have a hand-painted canvas version of my 'Hachigatsu no Serenade' picture for sale for £10. I painted it as a present for someone, but then realised that i'd painted the wrong one, lol.



Might make a nice present for someone? =D

So, the last thing is this illo that I managed to do in between pouring pints:




For some reason, I was riding in someone else's car the other day, and just while thinking of things to relieve the boredom in the car, I started thinking about how sad a little girl holding an accordion would look, lol. Don't ask me to explain how my brain works. =P

But you can buy this print, along with any of my other prints in my portfolio or on my facebook page for £10. Support a starving artist? =D

Tuesday 3 May 2011

Kimi ni mune kyun!

Just a quick one to say...

I finally found this month's issue and of Neo Magazine. And opening it up to page fifty-four...

is me!! Ta-da!

(Click to see it larger!)



Yup, that's pretty much all I have to say. =P

Friday 8 April 2011

No bodies felt like you, No bodies. Love is suicide.

^^ Bleak lyrics, yes, but I was listening to Bodies by The Smashing Pumpkins when I was doing this drawing:



It's done using the very lovely Miss Malice as a model. Check out her stuff - she's not like all those people on Facebook who pose scantily-clad in front of a camera and call themselves models (there are a LOT of people on Facebook who do that. It's so annoying!!). She is actually really good at what she does. =]

So... other than that, the newest piece of... news... is that i've applied for a teacher training course. I'd been thinking about it for a long while, because I really like being in a college setting, and I kind of think i'd be good at teaching. I was asked on one of my previous courses if I would consider coming back to teach, so I thought maybe i'd give it a go. =]

I know it's going to be a lot of hard work, but I think i'd rather be doing that then sitting around doing nothing. And i'm doing it part-time, so it's not going to be getting in the way of my freelance work. =D

And just before I forget, there's going to be an awesome gig going on at Miss Peapod's in Penryn this Saturday in aid of The Japan Quake. Moonlet and the Love-monks will be playing, as will lots of other good bands, and you may even win a Moonlet T Shirt! It starts at around half 3, I believe. Go take a look at their facebook page.

And lastly, I will leave you with the short little comic I promised you last time. Click to make it bigger!

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Like a Salmon swimming upstream...

Hey there, Sports fans!

(I'm not a sports fan...)

Anyway... some exciting news, I guess! Dan says i'm not bragging about this enough, so here I am, telling you about it. =P

A month ago, I emailed NEO magazine, which is the UK's only Anime, Manga and Asian Film magazine. I sent them some of my stuff, and asked them if they'd like to use it, and now i'm going to be featured in their 'Artists Showcase' feature! Look out for it on the 21st of April - you may find it in the Anime section of HMV, just above all the DVDs, and in most newsagents. You'll definitely find it in WHSmiths. Even if you don't buy it, just pick it up and have a shufty, kay?

So, apart from that, I'm going to be pretty busy with life this month. We're moving back down to Cornwall by the 29th of April, and in that time, we've got to move all our stuff down, sort out our finances and stuff, as well as a lot of family and friends things which I have to see and do. So I probably won't have time to do any real artwork. Although, saying that, I did do a cute little comic last night while I was home alone - I'll finish it today, and will probably have it up pretty soon.

Also, after all the chaos in Japan, I felt horrible about the whole thing, since I take so much from Japan and Japanese culture in my everyday life, I made a picture:



The point of it was to try to encourage people to donate to a charity, so please, either donate to The British Red Cross Tsunami Appeal or the local charity Shelterbox. They're both good causes. =D

So, to love you and leave you, I thought i'd remind you of a 'happenin' gig that's 'happenin' on Monday night (I am SO cool). Moonlet and the Love-Monks will be playing an hour slot in support of The Marwoods. Go watch! Listen! Do some Dad-Dancing! Yeh?

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Get Rhythm, when you get the blues.

^You gotta love a bit o' Johnny Cash. =D Ben Lean posted it on his facebook and I've had it stuck in my head since.

So.. things are looking uppity again in the Moonlily camp - I've had a few more potential job offers since last time, which, fingers crossed, will work out some time in the near future. I did have a part time job offer too - which would have fitted in nicely with my illustration work, but I didn't get it. I'm not too bothered though. I have lots of other good things happening to me at the moment anyway. =D

So... just thought i'd draw your attention to a few blogs on here that catch my eye. =D

Stephanie Demelza B Fashion - I absolutely love Japanese Lolita. I use it in my drawings all the time, and I just love the way it looks, and Steph does it beautifully. The photography she's been posting lately is pretty good too. I think i'll have to do an illustration of one of her fashion designs soon. =3

We Take Control - This blog is like an ever changing source of inspiration. =] Really cool stuff.

And lastly, an unofficial Moonlet and the Love-Monks blog: Diary of a Love Monk, from lead singer Joe (since I can't find the main official blog, lol). They're doing very well lately - their last gig was at a charity event for Shelterbox, which went down very well. We're all very proud of them. =]

And that's about it really. =D

Friday 18 February 2011

Daily use of the drug may cause poisoning.

So... an update. I haven't updated in a little while - in fact, it feels like I haven't done anything for a while.

That's because i'm going through that horrible period that a lot of creative people go through sometimes, i'm sure, and hell, a lot of university graduates and insecure people go through, in that i'm having a few issues with self-confidence and doubting whether i'm actually good enough.

Now, i'm not fishing for compliments or looking for everyone to start disagreeing with me because I know, more than anyone, that things WILL change, and I WILL feel better, because i've been through this before. I don't post personal things on facebook, but those who know me well will know that when I get down, I get DOOWWWWNNNN.

So lately, i've been in a bit of a block. But I am still trying very hard, I promise you. =]

So, I hope this hasn't bored you, but I thought I ought to update with what i've been doing lately, lol.

Also, I have actually done SOME work, i've got some T Shirts coming on Sale on Monday. They're Moonlet and the Love-Monks band T Shirts and I'll be advertising them on Facebook when I get them on Sunday. But since you're kind enough to read my blog, i'll show you the design now:



If you're interested in buying a T Shirt, let me know by email, Facebook or by commenting on this entry. They cost £10 each, and the money will first be going to setting up my other T Shirt designs, and after the other designs are set up, the money from the band T Shirts will go to Moonlet and the Love-monks. =]

My other T Shirt designs shouldn't be too far behind - if you're interested in buying any of these other designs, let me know which one you like the best. The design that recieves the most attention will be the one that I get printed first.


You can see them better on my facebook page.

So, that's it, I guess! I hope there'll be more to update with next time. I'm sure there will be. =]

Tuesday 25 January 2011

Baby, when you're not around, for some reason, I get pissed.

So... I was going to post the last entry on my facebook fan page when I realised that it was almost a week out of date, and that news is no longer relevant. So here's a brand spankin' new entry for you. You lucky devil. ;)

So... regarding the last entry's news - I've now finished the new website for Tony Haven! Yay! *cheers!*

www.tonyhaven.com

So tell your family, tell your friends, tell that strange man you work with, to go and check out his new site. =3

And while you're at it, you can tell the strange man to go look at the new Moonlet and the Love-Monks website too!

www.moonlet.co.uk

It isn't completely finished yet, still a few tweaks here and there to do, but for the most part, it's done. I've been on a web-designing kick these past two days and completely exhausted myself getting the sites done way before schedule. But I feel better for doing them before deadline. Phew!

So, next I will be asking Marc from MB Media to give me a deadline so I can get on and do that site. I'm also still available for any commissions! Hint hint!

Now i'm off to relax. =3

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Let's hold hands until we're not lonely anymore.

Sooo... just thought i'd post a quick one with this:




Yeah, i'm kind of in the paper this week. =P

It's nothing particularly glamourous, but I'm hoping it'll help my exposure a bit. ^_^

I've also got some things going on with Moonlet and the Love-monks this week - I've got their site to re-design, and meetings to go to with them, to maybe think about their next album. Which means i'll be doing some more artwork for them. =3

And i've also started work on Tony Haven's website - that's something i'll be building tomorrow when I finally get a free day - i've had to shoot down to Cornwall for a birthday, and now it looks like i'll be here for the week (¬_¬), so I may as well get some work done while i'm here, ay? lol.

And on Monday i'll be helping Stuart McGhee with his site. He's another very talented illustrator from the group of Plymouth College of Art 2010 graduates. =3

Saturday 8 January 2011

Hey, chase me, chase me!

Well... so... an update! It's been a little while, huh?

Well, it's not like I haven't been busy... but xmas kind of got in the way a little bit, so there wasn't really that much to report. I won't be doing an amazingly insightful entry this time either - mainly because i'm absolutely exhausted. Being ill kills your muse a little.


So, what's happened to me lately?

Oh, yeah.

I've just been talking to a local musician, Tony Haven, who is a brilliant guitar player and very successful, which is good. I'm going to be starting work on his website and some illustrations for T-Shirts, etc. as soon as I get back up to Plymouth. I'm really looking forwards to working on it!

The reason for me not being in Plymouth presently is that I came down to go to a Moonlet and the Love-monks gig, who were pretty bloody awesome. (I'm not just biased because Dan's my boyfriend, lol, they're genuinely awesome.) So if you ever get a chance to listen to their songs or, better yet, go to a gig, take it! I promise you an absolutely brilliant time. I'll be working on updating their site pretty soon, if Dan prods me enough, lol.

Other than that, i've been working on getting myself publicised a bit more. I might (might!) be in the West Briton pretty soon, with a few of my pictures. Nothing special, just to let people know I exist, lol. I've also had a good bit of interest through my lovely mummy, who kindly models her bag and mug I made for her for xmas with a bespoke illustration everywhere she can. I'll be making up some flyers pretty soon to advertise that side of things, probably after i've made some progress with Tony's site.

Apart from that, it's all steadly ticking along. I'm slowly building up my Advocate portfolio, but i'm pretty sure there must be a problem with my email or something, since everytime I send something, I don't seem to get any answer from them... never mind. It'll all be gravy.

Now, I won't leave you with a little spot about another fave illustrator of mine, because i'm about ready to collapse on this keyboard, so instead, i'll leave you with this.

...Bye-bye!