Beauty Illustrations for Stylist Magazine

I'm a massive fan of the weekly, London magazine, Stylist.  So was delighted when they got in contact last week looking for some beauty illustrations.  As part of a feature on skin sensitivity,   they wanted three small illustrations showing how you can check if your skin is sensitive against everyday products.

It was a quick turn-around, which I guess goes hand-in-hand with weekly magazines.  But really pleased with the final artwork.  Thanks Stylist!!

Live Portraits at Walter & Herbert

During London Fashion Week, I was in-store at the newly opened Walter and Herbert eyewear store in Seven Dials, Covent Garden.  To celebrate the launch of their new sunglasses collection, I was invited to draw portraits of people trying on their favourite sunglasses.

And, in true London Fashion Week style, I had an eclectic mix of stylish and flamboyant people coming along 💕 

Thanks for having me Walter & Herbert, you were a great team to work with!

x, Willa

Fashion Illustrations for River Island X Zoë Jordan

Once in a while a great commission comes along. And this is one! Fashion illustration commissions don't come along that often, so when River Island got in touch to ask if I could create fashion illustrations for their latest designer collaboration with Zoë Jordan, I was delighted. 

The actual collection is top secret (of course!) until it launches with a short film during London Fashion Week at the British Fashion Council's Fashion Film event.  So, River Island wanted to use illustration to whet people's appetites.   I created three illustrations that give a flavour of the collection but don't too much away.  Of course it meant that I was given a privileged access to the new collection and to the official photography.  Squee! 

You'll see my artwork being distributed as part of the PR campaign and they've already been spotted in a number of online magazines including Vogue.  

The Zoë Jordan X River Island Design Forum collection will be available in store and online at Riverisland.com in September. 

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MakeUp Illustrations in Tesco Living Magazine

I finally managed to grab my copy of the free Tesco Living Magazine and see the illustrations that I did for them.  They asked me to create 6 painterly, eye illustrations for an article on makeup for different eye shapes. 


Watercolour and Ink Eye MakeUp Illustrations


Insight Video - Learn more about me and my studio

Last week, I talked about how Perry, from WhiteSao, came to my studio to create a short documentary about me.  We spent the morning together, talking about my process, my artwork and my working space.  I've been excited, if not nervous to see the results.  It's never easy to hear yourself talking.  But, the final version is here, and I'm delighted!  I hope you love it too.

Working in Berlin (being location independent).

As you might know, my huband works in Berlin a lot, so now that I'm a full-time illustrator,  I'm able to go out there with him and work from the home-studio I have set up there.  It's amazing and I feel pretty lucky!
I spent my first week working from Berlin last week.  To be honest, it was so cold outside, I pretty much stayed inside but I got loads of work done.  I did make a journey to the zoo to do some sketching, but my hands were so cold, I pretty much gave up. 

The view from my studio in Berlin (brrrr!)


This week, I am back in London. I've been creating some new self-initiated work for promotion and been sending a lot of postcards out to art directors.  Also, I'm patiently waiting to hear back about some potentially exciting jobs, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Male portraits

In an attempt to introduce more men into my portfolio, I have created a set of male portraits.  The style is slightly more masculine and solid than normal, and I really like the results.  I'll be trying to take some of these darker colours and more solid shapes into all of my illustration.

the gorgeous Ryan Gosling:

and the beautiful Chris Helmsworth:


I hope you love them.  You can see the whole set of portraits here

x, Willa

Rescuing some of my unloved illustrations

As I was going through my computer files for an annual clean-up, I realised that there was a lot of old sketches, or forgotten about illustrations that have never seen the light of day. 
I've pulled a few out, thinking that I'll be able to salvage some of them and give them a new lease of life.  Here's a couple to start with.

I drew these back in the summer but never did anything with them..... a couple of Orla Kiely bags.
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