Gemma Valentine Illustrates

2012-01-16T11:00:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Here's a piece inspired by my summer in Thailand. I took a fond liking to travelling by Tuk-Tuk where possible and since returning, I always had the inclination at the back of my mind to produce some Tuk-Tuk inspired art.

The RSW travel award competition was my excuse to get cracking on this piece. As I'm not too fond of using an old paintbrush, watercolour pencils were the next best thing. Anyway, I didn't feel this this piece was quite up to the standards of The Royal Scottish Watercolour society, perhaps because I come from an illustration background and well, frankly, it isn't one of my favourite pieces. I wanted to finish it anyway. So here's the results! I hope to crack on with more drawing over the next few weeks- ideally Valentine's cards, some commissions that have been on the back burner for a while around uni work, and to finally complete my Duke of Edinburgh project from many moons ago. Watch this space!!

2011-12-02T09:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas cards now available at Blackhall Framing Gallery, Edinburgh! :o)

2011-12-02T09:34:00.000-08:00

Fashion Africa, by Jacqueline Shaw. I finally got hold of the published article- complete with my illustrations! Yippee!!

2011-10-14T05:32:00.000-07:00

As much as I hate the thought, Christmas is coming, and will here be before you know it! So here's a couple of card designs I've produced and hope to get printed in the run up to the festive season! Enjoy! 

2011-09-28T08:01:00.000-07:00

Pet portraits. Not my favourite area of illustration, but needs must! I guess it shows what else I can do...

2011-09-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

Robert Laidler's Jockney Rhyming Slang.

2011-09-08T04:35:00.001-07:00

OutSmart exhibition 2011.

I was privileged enough to have my work exhibited in a Smart Car showroom exhibition this year as part of OutSmart ,an initiative by Gemma Randall. I received some images of the exhibition yesterday, and was pleased to be offered the chance to exhibit the piece this Saturday at Mercedes Benz world.

2011-09-07T04:38:00.000-07:00

Fashion Africa, by Jaqueline Shaw is now available to buy here. The book showcases over 45 of Africa's well known fashion designers, with emphasis on ethical and environmentally friendly design and manufacturing. My illustrations are featured in the book, amongst those of several other incredibly talented artists!

Image copyright Jacqueline Shaw.

2011-08-26T14:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I returned from a month of Volunteering in Thailand. Here is the result of hours waiting in the Dubai airport department lounge. Lesson learned:- Long 9 hour waits can be good for my portfolio...

2011-08-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

So here are the images I illustrated a few months ago for the book Fashion Africa, by Jacqueline Shaw. I'm not sure entirely which images made it into the final publications, but I thought they were worth putting up here anyway. :)

2011-08-11T01:29:00.000-07:00

See my work exhibited at Caravan on your Edinburgh festival jaunts!! The gallery features my work exhibited alongside that of several other artists, illustrators and designers. It promises not to disappoint! 28 Lady Lawson Street, EH3 9DS Edinburgh, United Kingdom

2011-07-20T09:27:00.001-07:00

Who said old ladies make bad drivers??

2011-07-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

please vote for my design on All Tropical! I desperately need your support! It's based on my previous pineapple illustration! Just follow the link below...

http://www.alltropical.co.uk/live_html/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=821:rate-qpina-coladaq&catid=6:latest-designs-for-vote&Itemid=34

2011-07-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

My friends Abi and Julz have recently established the We Are Caravan gallery. I should hopefully be showing work in their upcoming exhibition. I'll be making sure my hula dancer is included!

2011-06-09T13:50:00.000-07:00

I got myself a fabulous Facebook page!! Have a sneaky peek here!!!

2011-05-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

If you like piña coladas....

2011-05-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

Image for my friend's sports team 'The Black Eagles'. This should be printed on shirts in the coming weeks! Ill post images once I've got hold of the strip!!

2011-03-20T05:30:00.000-07:00

I've recently completed some illustrations for a book about ethical African fashion. Some of the brands include Banuq, Afro-Chique, and Kiki Clothing.

They are all really vibrant designers, and I can't wait to see my drawings in print! Unfortunately I can't give too much away right now until the book is launched (hence the lack of images) but I'll keep you posted on how things develop!!

2011-02-06T12:13:00.000-08:00

'Giveaway' flag design for the Olympic torch relay. I didn't win. C'est la vie!

2011-01-31T13:16:00.000-08:00

Some sketch book doodles for your perusal! I'd like to develop my sketches, and transfer some to t-shirt designs. Any requests, just let me know!! xo

2010-12-19T12:36:00.000-08:00

Hope everybody has a lovely Christmas, and an amazing new year! xo

2010-12-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

Having fun! A monster a day! I seem to have a small fascination with drawing little gremlins all over the place right now! :)

2010-12-17T08:33:00.000-08:00

I found some old sketch book work from my phase of vintage toy obsession. Thought you might like wee look! xo

2010-11-21T10:01:00.000-08:00

My entry to Dune Shoes, 'The Shoe is Art' Competition. Even if I don't win, I really enjoyed working on this piece. :)

2010-10-31T06:44:00.001-07:00

I will be exhibiting today, Sunday the 31st of October (oooohhh, Halloween!!!) and tomorrow, the 1st of November for Artspace2let. The exhibition is an initiative for emerging artists to exhibit work in the homes of a kind people willing to give up their time and wall space for a short pop-up exhibition. The exhibition will run from 3-6pm on the 31st, and 6-8pm on the 1st, featuring work by past and present employees of the National Galleries of Scotland.

2010-10-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

I recently put my illustration and graphic design skills to use by designing the flyer for a charity fashion show.

It's Good to Give, the host charity, has been highly successful over the past few years, holding a variety of fund raising events to help children, young people and their families affected by cancer. You can show your support by purchasing tickets to the fashion show on the It's Good To Give website.

2010-08-22T04:05:00.000-07:00

My Smart Car piece has been included on the feature blog. Hurrah!

http://outsmart2010.blogspot.com/

2010-07-07T14:32:00.001-07:00

Something that's been on the back burner for ages...

A response to a brief to create an illustration for Smart Car. I'm enjoying experimenting with this drawing style at the moment. :)

2010-04-23T02:42:00.000-07:00

My response to this weeks Illustration Friday word- Detective.

www.illustrationfriday.com

The Typewriter Project

2010-03-13T16:29:00.000-08:00

http://thetypewriterproject.weebly.com

A wee project that my friend Abi is trying to get going. For all those interested have a wee look at the website. It sound like a cracking idea! xo

2010-03-12T14:38:00.001-08:00

New jewellery by little old me...

2010-03-09T10:11:00.000-08:00

New images and all that jazz...

2010-02-12T05:10:00.000-08:00

My work was recently included in the thisiscentralstation.com 'We like this' February blog.

http://community.thisiscentralstation.com/_We-Like-This-in-February/BLOG/1783442/126249.html

It seems my milk bottles are a hit with lots of galleries and websites, as I have also been asked to exhibit them in Glasgow at the Eastwood Park Theatre & Gallery on the 22nd Feb, as part of their 'Emergence' exhibition.

http://www.eastwoodparktheatre.co.uk/community-life-and-leisure/arts_and_entertainment/arts/eastwood_park_theatre_gallery.htm

So just for fun, here they are again. x

2010-02-03T05:39:00.000-08:00

Pretty things. x

2010-02-02T10:13:00.001-08:00

More funky stuff! :)

2010-02-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

Some funky stuff. x

2010-01-26T08:20:00.000-08:00

Some illustrations of Edinburgh I had completed before Christmas. x

2009-12-11T12:00:00.001-08:00

In the spirit of Christmas, I've produced a quirky little card for my family, which I'll be printing out and giving to all the relatives. Hope you like him! x

2009-12-11T11:56:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd also mention that I've just completed 2 evening courses in Jewellery and web design. Fingers crossed I'll have my own website up and running soon! I found the jewellery course really rewarding. I made mum's Christmas present, a brooch, and 2 necklaces from sterling silver, along with a ring and pendant from copper. The course provided me with the opportunity to learn a lot of the basic techniques in silver jewellery making.

2009-12-11T11:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, since it's been flipping ages since I last posted on this here blog, I felt I should redeem myself in some way. I have been busy, I'll have you know. Currently working at Edinburgh's Paper Tiger for the festive season. They sell lots of pretty cards, books and stationary. Just my cup of tea. Have a sneaky peak here:

http://www.shoppapertiger.com/

On my days off I've been doing a wee bit of painting on the walls of a new restaurant on Lothian road, Illegal Jacks. The food there is top notch!

http://www.illegaljacks.co.uk

Before all this, I had the opportunity to paint on the bar top at Victoria, a bar on Leith Walk. The project was a collaboration with multiple artists, who teamed up to paint, draw, collage and scribble over the bar top, so a glass bar top could be added later. Above are pictures of the work in progress, as I think the bar top is finally finished now.

2009-10-28T04:41:00.000-07:00

Another 3rd year project, this time an artist's book brief. We were given 2 words from which to evolve our ideas, mine being Camouflage and Freckles. I felt freckles were a physical attribute more prevalent in children whilst camouflage would traditionally be used in a military environment. This made me think of WW2 child evacuees. I hoped the illustrations and text (songs sang by evacuated children) would provide a solid answer to the brief.

kids book

2009-10-27T04:59:00.000-07:00

Thought I would include some more work from 3rd year. This time the result of a kids book illustration project. The brief involved writing and illustrating a dummie kids book. Mine was titled Boris the Bidgie and his special green feather.

2009-10-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

Thought I would include the other pieces of artwork on show at The Biscuit Factory here. The images are screenprints I then cut and assembled into 3 dimensional decoupage pieces. They are also included on The Biscuit factory website: http://www.thebiscuitfactory.com/

2009-10-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

My final degree show pieces. :) The milk bottles were included in an exhibition of selected graduates work in a Newcastle commercial gallery, The Biscuit Factory. This was my first chance to exhibit work outside of the art college, and proved fruitful as they included my work in the magazine! :)

2009-10-17T05:59:00.000-07:00

More work from 4th year. 3 dimensional illustration and other mediums. The doll is illustrated using coloured electrical wire.

2009-10-17T04:53:00.000-07:00

Thought I would include some of my more recent 4th year work here. Much of it can be viewed at http://gemmavalentine.carbonmade.com/ But I thought I'd include a few examples here. My 4th year work followed a 1950s theme and progressed to include 3 dimensional illustration work, commenting on changing modes of communication between the 1950s and present day.

2009-10-05T02:18:00.000-07:00

Here's some work I produved in 3rd year as part of a personal project. I enjoyed investigating a vintage toy theme, which I later used in wrapping paper designs.

2009-09-08T02:57:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed creating images on brown paper. The images seemed appear much bolder on the page

2009-09-08T02:53:00.001-07:00

Thought I would feature some work from my 3rd year now. Just a few examples of drawings I worked on, which later feature in wrapping paper designs.

2009-08-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

An alternative self portrait.

2009-08-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

'Secret spaces' project. A brief which involved drawing the usually dismissed , 'secret spaces' of the art college campus.

2009-08-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

More work from Second year, this time printmaking. Linocut prints, etching, and screen printing (I promise my screen printing has improved since then!) .

2009-07-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

One second year brief was to illustrate an alternate version of the Brother Grimm fairy tale, The Willful Child. Above is my take on the fable, whereby a disobedient boy would not go to bed on his mothers request, only to suffer dire consequences. My version is rather surreal, though no more than the original fairy tale.

THE WILLFUL CHILD

Once upon a time there was a child who was willful and would not do what her mother wished. For this reason, God had no pleasure in her, and let her become ill. No doctor could do her any good, and in a short time the child lay on her deathbed. When she had been lowered into her grave, and the earth was spread over her, all at once her little arm came out again and reached upward. And when they had pushed it back in the ground and spread fresh earth over it, it was all to no purpose, for the arm always came out again. Then the mother herself was obliged to go to the grave and strike the arm with a rod. When she had done that, the arm was drawn in, and at last the child had to rest beneath the ground.

2009-07-21T04:47:00.000-07:00

Second year also included a trip to Edinburgh Zoo, an opportunity to sketch, paint and scribble all sorts of animals. Here's just a few. Maybe you can tell I adore big cats. :P

2009-07-21T04:38:00.000-07:00

Thought I would include the editorial piece I illustrated in second year here! The image is to accompany an article about Russia and the rise of it's oligarchs.

2009-07-21T04:32:00.000-07:00

So I've decided to revamp my old blog under the URL www.gemmavalentineillustrates.blogspot.com. I felt the old blog was a bit shambolic, and didn't justify all the styles of work I am capable of. For this reason, I'm including work from the last 3 years for art college (that's work from 2nd year to 4th year). If you are interested in purchasing any of the above work, please don't hesitate to get in contact at gemmavalentine@live.com!! Hope you like! :) xoxo