New Work - Portrait for Stella magazine

Truthfully, this commission was from back in August, but I'm just getting around to showing it.

I was asked to create my smallest ever commission. A teeny tiny portrait for Stella magazine at a miniscule 26mm wide.  Despite it's small size, it was no simple task to create a good likeness at this size.  I had to use simple, bold lines and strong colour to make it work.  A bit different from my normal style.
In fact, the art director, Jason Morris, had contacted me after seeing this ipad drawing on my website.  He thought that this style would be ideal for this simple, yet fashionable brief.


So, I set out to create an similar illustration, created with ink and watercolour.  And here's what I came up with.  Two options.  The art director had wanted something straight on, but I felt that the angled head would be more interesting for this graphic piece.  I'm pleased that they went with it.

 I also created some hand lettering for the article title.

Unfortunately I missed the image being used in the magazine; shame.

x, Willa


Commissioning illustration for social media.


Recently, I've been creating a lot of illustrations for Tesco.  I've worked for their paper magazine before, but this time it's different.  I've been creating work especially for their social media outlets; Instagram and Twitter (@BeautyatTesco and @TescoFood).  It's the first time I've been commissioned for editorial illustrations in this way, and I think it's pretty exciting.

It's reckoned that a tweet with an imbedded image is much more likely to be retweeted. Hurrah! We've always known that a picture tells a thousand words; which in essence solves the issue of only having 140 characters.  Plus, illustration is an perfect way of solidifying your companies brand and making it instantly recognisable.

It's great to see that Tesco are taking their social media seriously; creating new and interesting content while supporting the creative industry.  Rather than the all-too-often regurgitation of images that have long lost their copyright owners.  I really hope it is succesful for Tesco! If it is, then I'm sure more online magazines and blogs will start using illustrators in this way. 

Perhaps this is a new arena for illustrators to excel with the demise of the classical publishing industry?





 

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