jillustration

First Animation with Eskymo

2008-07-24T12:03:00.004+01:00

YES! Finally I am doing some animation(last time I was still at college). So many people have said to me that my work is crying out to be animated and so after a bit of a hunt around to find an animator to work with, I found Evie Milo at Eskymo...just down the road in Kinghorn.
We had never met spoken or known each other's work before, yet I popped down to her studio, set up my laptop and Wacom tablet and she fired up Flash and we just spent a day fiddling about with a load of inky files I had prepared for potential animation.
We decided that my illustration "Balloon Dog" featuring a shocked looking little girl would be fun to experiment with. Neither of us expected to end up with a complete wee film at the end of the day, considering we had just met for the first time - but we did.
I wanted to keep the inkiness of my original drawings and not have to vectorize everything in Illustrator - Flash did the job beautifully as you could import fully layered files from Photoshop and just start animating and adding sound.
8 hours,a few home made biccies and a bagel lunch later we came up with this cheeky little number. I have a feeling the Quicktime movie uploaded here might be a bit jumpy for some reason - if so, please go HERE to see a better version of it!

Both of us felt that Little Girl should also wet her pants...but that will be in another version, I am sure.
It was great fun to work together and we are planning on producing more films later this summer which will certainly be added to a new Motion section on my website.

Carry on Caring /Leith Agency

2008-07-16T19:22:00.004+01:00

Blimey, that's a blog title that trips off the tongue!
Anyway, have had a bit of fun with some illustrations for part of Leith's National Care Standards campaign for the Scottish Government.
This is a big Scottish TV, print, web etc campaign...and get this - my part is to illustrate the poster, CD and booklet for a specially commissioned play, called "Carry On Caring",which will tour around Scotland, promoting this important initiative for carers and the people they care for.
The play is in the true British, cheeky chappy comedy style of Sid James et al's Carry On classic films. OOOOOOooh I DO say....
here are a few spots from the booklet:

3x3 Illustration ProShow Awards

2008-06-30T23:08:00.004+01:00

***NEWS JUST IN*** I am supersonically delighted to be chosen as one of this year's 3x3 ProShow Illustration award winners.
I got the email this evening from the publisher, Charles Hively and read that about 4000 people entered the awards, with only 200 being selected by the rather high powered panel of judges.
Very pleased that my stablemate at Friend and Johnson, Paul Wearing has been selected too, so well done to him!
Seriously, though, I am quite humbled to be in a list that includes some of my illustration heroes, such as Brad Holland, Nate Williams, Jeff Fisher, Guido
Scarabottolo, Penelope Dullaghan and Anita Kunz...stop me before I blub like Gwyneth Paltrow in a pink dress :-)
More news later on this, as I am still not sure which picture of mine the judges have selected (I submitted 4, if I remember correctly) - but it will be in the juicy little annual 3x3 produce, which will be out in January 2009.
*UPDATE* just found out that it was "the Selfish Giant's Garden" that got the votes. I posted this image before for an Illustration Friday/Garden but, what the heck, I'll post it again!

New Guardian Weekend Job

2008-06-23T12:18:00.007+01:00

Hurray for Pauline Doyle looking at my new website, as it resulted in a nice wee job for The Guardian Weekend Magazine - not done an illo for them in a while.
It is for the relationships column and is all about what causes the "Seven Year Itch " in a relationships. Mainly partners not listening, is the main reason...and picking your bum/ears/nose - sometimes simultaneously - which can get a bit tiresome for your partner to look at after a while (seven years).
As soon as I got the email with the copy on Thursday evening, I started to doodle ideas on the printout, as seen here - then I move on to my sketchbook.
Initial ideas were based around repeats of the same couple but in opposite settings, using the cutout folded paperman idea - YES!FAR TOO COMPLICATED, I agree!I couldn't get it to work.
Anyway, I have been developing ideas in the sketchbook over the weekend and I sent my colour rough to Pauline this morning, which has been approved!
I do love putting a bit of awkward body language and facial expressions in my work, so here is an apparently "OK" couple, but the rot has set in...they will be scratching in no time!
You can catch this illustration in the Guardian Weekend Magazine on Saturday 12th July....and if you missed it on Saturday 12th July, I finally got round to posting the finished illustration above.

East Neuk Open Studios-Day 2

2008-06-22T15:12:00.005+01:00

Well, the rain came down hard this morning and I wondered how many brave souls would venture out - but...yes! The sun did put his hat on and the streets of Cellardyke were bathed in steamy sunshine and full of folk glad to get out their house/caravan/car.
I am delighted have sold a complete framed set of my ELLE horoscope trio, so that was nice.
Otherwise, this little image has been very popular - a kind of digital collage called "Bird Puddles"

Meanwhile, more tea for the artist, please...and maybe a slice of cake?

PS this post is a day late because I could not upload the image for some reason - probably because I was using Safari at the time.

East Neuk Open Studios - Day 1

2008-06-21T16:24:00.005+01:00

It's been a busy old day in Cellardyke, with lots of visitors to my studio - and still 2 hours to go! Thank goodness the weather is warm and sunny as that brings people out and about. In fact King Creosote and some of the Fence musicians have just popped in for a blether and look around - *touched by fame*!
The last two days have been all about tidying my studio (and the house), making sure there are pictures in frames, cards for people to buy and, of course, some freebie bits and bobs - usually my Contact Illustrator run-ons and any odd postcards I have around the place
Despite it being a busy weekend, I am also working on a job for the Guardian and so all my inks are out and people are really curious about how I approach an illustration job from brief to final execution...I am happy to answer all the questions!
Open Studios is a great way of meeting folk - neighbours and people who have travelled from further afield (Dundee!). Today I have met a former illustrator turned musician, a former artist from Seattle turned golf caddy at St Andrews and a filmaker who is currently working with Stephen Poliakof. Just goes to show that East Neuk is rarely dull and you never know who will show up!

My Big Fat New Website

2008-06-18T18:09:00.002+01:00

Hurray!!
My brand new website is UP and Running!
A sexy, streamlined new design with loads of new images - new lettering - new spots illustrations (tiny ones!) and a new bio section plus links to this blog and to my New! section, which is actually my Flickr page.
Mary at Tangerine Blue has done a sterling job - but we are still going to be adding a couple of new sections in the near future, hopefully with animation.

Have a look and let me know what you think

Byre Theatre Exhibition Opens

2008-06-05T10:05:00.003+01:00

Finally, one of the shows I am part of this summer has opened!
I am part of an excellent Open Studios group where I live - ENOS - and the lovely Jo Whitney has organised this group event in the fantastic venue of the Byre Theatre in historic St Andrews (yes - where Price William was a student)
This ink and acrylic painting incorporates my current fascination with cats - there are so many in my street. Now , I am a dog woman through and through, but I like observing the relationship these cats have with my dogs and with the local birds...one of disdain and craftiness. Life is tough in the countryside!

Illustration Friday-Baby

2008-06-02T18:43:00.005+01:00

quite a straightforward one from me this week - though please take note of my Brooklyn brownstones in the background, even if they are a shade of olive green.
FW inks and Ecoline inks on Daler Bristol Board - lovely smooth surface.
Did this for Woman and Home magazine - the article was actually about the pros and cons of having a baby when your other children were already quite grown-up. Think some might call that a "mistake"...there is a 7 year gap between me and my sisters, which I am sure was wholly intended! :-)

illustration friday-worry

2008-05-26T18:41:00.002+01:00

worry, worry, worry.
I am a woman, I worry all the time.
However, this particular illustration is about men.
This man is worried about testicular cancer.
(commissioned by another art director not wanting any genitalia on show)

Contact Illustrators 24 is OUT NOW

2008-05-23T14:20:00.006+01:00

All round excitement as Contact Illustrators 24 came through my door this week - this means that art directors everywhere should have their copy now too.

The book is a bit thinner this year, but as my chum Glen says, that just makes it all the easier to be found! The power of positive thinking.
Contact also has an illustrator's website, where I have 20 images on display too

I decided to do a montage image this year - playing around with blocks of colour, texture and line, and of course, showcasing my pen and ink people and objects. I have cars, handbags, shoes, bicycles, flowers, LETTERING and even mobile phone masts in there, all artfully composed. Looking forward to a few phone calls and some lovely new clients.

Australian Paintings - sneak view

2008-05-15T20:09:00.003+01:00

I have 2 shows coming up and have been working on several new paintings for them - I showed you some a few posts back.
Well, I need to get them to the framers on Monday, so I have to get them finished this weekend!
I was in Australia over the Christmas and New Year as a good friend of mine was getting married. They have a lovely farm in the hills out the back of Perth in WA, where we stayed for a while. The birds on that farm are amazing - you get emus, of course, but the black parrots, green parakeets and the tiny, electric blue Fairy Wren, which would come and sit on the wire fence outside the verandah. Kangaroos everywhere at dawn and dusk...and some large wolf spiders too.
Here is a section of a painting called "Parakeets at Gidgegannup"...the orange looks a bit flat in the scan, as the saturation has gone way up in the scanning. There are lots of tiny details which youmaybe cannot see here, but you get the idea.

Elle Netherlands - job done

2008-05-13T14:14:00.003+01:00

Phew-ee, the job is done, emailed and got final approval today.
The fashion is fashionable and the girls must be pretty, so all is good!
Here we go - sneak preview of them, though they will appear in the July issue. If you are over in the 'Dam then, go grab a copy.

Sunny here in Cellardyke, but I have my website to work on and an exhibition and the East Neuk Open Studios in June to get ready for now, so I am inside on a glorious day :-(. Maybe I'll go outside and draw some birds instead - we have a blackbird who is nesting in the current bush and keeps hopping into the kitchen after any crumbs - cheeky.

more Elle progress reports

2008-05-11T16:52:00.003+01:00

Well, I have been working on the three Elle illustrations all week - really enjoying them, as I do love doing a foxy portrait, using colour and some of my ink drawings. John Singer Sargent IS an inspiration, you know - especially Madame X and Lady Agnew of Lochnaw (which is on show at the National Gallery of Scotland)
The art direction is quite strict in terms of what the females need to look like - and about the clothes they are wearing too.
I've been told the girls need to be prettier and the clothes summery but fashionable. Now, I do love fashion but being a country bumpkin these days, I tend to forget my fashionista roots. However, I discovered the wonder that is Net-A-Porter.com for all my fashion reference - roll on Diane Von Furstenberg and Mikey and Alice Temperley does rather nice threads too. Maybe I need to include some Dutch designers too...mmm.
Anyway, this portrait with the champagne glass is my self termed, night-time clubber one - the girl with a bit of danger in her eyes. She is also sporting a custom designed Aquarius salmon skin belt in Screaming Teal. Really.
The really hard looking girl was the one that got rejected - for being too hard and Eighties looking (note: my fashion sense was honed in that decade, so maybe it has come back to haunt me)
I think these illos might make good prints once they are finished - and alongside my USAville Girl portrait, could be a rather fetching quartet on anyone's wall...

An ELLE in progress...

2008-05-06T17:56:00.004+01:00

I am working with the refreshingly direct designers at ELLE Netherlands to do 3 full page illustrations for their July issue, which is quite good fun, actually.
The job is for the Horoscope specials and needs to have all the symbols in there - 4 per illo. I have to do it quite subtly, and tie it in with their ethos - young, modern, confident and fashionable (and no hair in pigtails).
I am in the process of trying to draw slightly prettier(!) women, but here is a current rough - spot the symbols! This one IS going to be changing quite a bit, as the beret is a bit too wintery...and the birds are OUT (more flowers IN)
These changes might all seem a bit prescriptive, but it is a good process whereby you create work that you are happy with, aswell as delighting the client.

Illustration Friday- Primitive

2008-04-22T12:48:00.002+01:00

I can't resist putting in this knuckle dragging ,testosterone laden, heavy browed bouncer type.
What's in his pocket, eh? Gum? Tweezers to pluck his monobrow? A copy of Home Beautiful?
Am I mean?

Spring Clean

2008-04-20T09:22:00.009+01:00

I have been going through all the files on my Mac, iBook and on the Lacie drive having a bit of a spring clean and sort out. Yes, I know that sounds mad, but sometimes you come across a forgotten gem, that lurks in the dusty corners of the computer just waiting to be re-discovered and thrust into the spotlight that is Blogspot.
I used to illustrate the Sunday Herald newspaper health column for nearly 2 years, so there were heaps and heaps of images - these are a couple of them - Chlamydia (mmm, I get the fun ones to do) and Prostrate Cancer.

For the prostrate cancer one, I remember the art director asking me not to draw any genitalia! The whole tone of the article was about how so many men can get really embarrassed about going to the doctor because they would have to drop their trousers for an examination that could save their life, so I thought that I would ignore her and just make a point out of it all, as this disease is such a killer. It got published.

As you can see, I was in a flat colour kind of mode then - still pen and ink but more graphic than my current work. Funny how style develops!

Creative Match - Flair Competition

2008-04-19T12:34:00.004+01:00

Please do have a look at my entries to Creative Match's online competition, called Flair, for both Illustration and Typography.

I should enter this more - as it is easy to do, is free and gets loads of traffic through to your site and blog - easy marketing!

Jill's Epic Website Redesign - coming soon!

2008-04-16T15:31:00.009+01:00

My website is in the middle of being revamped, updated, added to, scrubbed up clean and given a timely makeover by Mary at tangerineblue. PLEASE keep an eye for it when it goes live - I shall announce it of course!
There will be TONNES more imagery, lettering and spots too, as well as a timely new bio page... Hurray!

American Illustration 27 success...and MORE

2008-04-14T10:18:00.008+01:00

Quietly chuffed to have good old "Tulips" (detail seen here) selected by the American Illustration 27 jury this year. First time any work of mine has been accepted by that esteemed organisation! I got the email last week saying that over 7500 entries had been received from around the world and only 294 had been accepted into their disTRIBUTE showcase - these will be published in November after what is to be the party of 2008 in New York - I'd better start saving for that one.

The judges for AI27 were : Paul Buckley, Penguin Group; Stacey D. Clarkson, Harper's; Antonio De Luca, The Walrus; Angie Myung and Ted Vadakan, Poketo; Brian Rea, The New York Times.

Meanwhile, my fingers are crossed for the lovely Damian Mullen at And So it Begins... design agency. I have worked with Damian a few times and the illustrations and logo I did for him as part of his rebranding for Sherpa have been nominated in the Scottish Design Awards on the Corporate Identity category. To be announced on May 16th in Edinburgh.

Moly_X_1 - in the studio!

2008-03-31T13:36:00.001+01:00

Moly_X_1 - in the studio!
Originally uploaded by jill calder

here is a pic of the current Moleskin exchange sketchbook being worked upon in my studio (10 /10 for artistic messiness).
If you read my post below, you will see that I am involved in a Moleskin Exchange project through Flickr - so this one will be winging its way to Minnesota in the next couple of days for Marty to work his magic on.

Cellardyke Storm 2

2008-03-29T16:26:00.001Z

Cellardyke Storm 2
Originally uploaded by Vivid Image

Look at this amazing photograph by Vivid Image that I found on Flickr - this is where I live! Wild seas indeed.

Holy Moly

2008-03-21T19:11:00.004Z

The internet is a wonderful thing.
I joined Flickr about 4 weeks ago (maybe less) and quickly added favourites after browsing around other people's flickr sites.
I came across a Moleskin Sketchbook appreciation flickr and clicked a few pages as faves, and joined the group.
Then Marty Harris from Minnesota asked me to join the Moleskin Exchange he and some others have started.
There are 198 (and rising) artits and scribblers in this group, and exchanges start all the time. Some with themes, some just random - I believe the latest one is wanting someone from each continent to be part of the exchange group, but are having trouble finding a bod from Antarctica (though I know there is an artist and a poet down there at this minute, as part of the British Antarctic Survey)

So - I got my lovely Japanese fold moleskin books today, I need to fill 5-7 pages and then send on to Marty. In turn I will receive one from Aggole in Hong Kong. This exchange is called Moly_X_1 and there are other artists from South Africa, and Brazil in our group too.
The pic above is NOT part of this exchange. but just some drawings I did at the V&A Museum in London (Victoria and Albert) - I loved the little figurine with a clay pipe from the 17th Century!

Check out the blog created for our little exchange and follow the work:

http://moleskinex1.blogspot.com/

super duper USA portfolios

2008-03-19T09:23:00.008Z

Hello all - been meaning to do this for ages - I have pics of them on my Facebook page, but it makes sense to show here what my new(ish!) folios look like.
I needed to have something extra special for the 3 USA offices, so I contacted a local master bookbinder, Bill Turnball, who took on my fancy ideas of inlaying leather from his scrap pile and created 3 absolutely gorgeous portfolios. I love them and was sorry to see them sail away over the pond...note to self: must get one made for the UK.
I designed the endpapers and printed all the pages myself on Bockingford doublesided inkjet paper. The post bindings come from Pina Zangaro and were cheaper to order from the USA.

Illustration Friday-Heavy

2008-03-17T10:59:00.004Z

Done it a bit differently this week.
This is actually a page of ink drawings I did in preparation for an illustration for the Student magazine at UCLA.
So - you get an insight into my doodling methods AND see some ropey drawing too!
I really like the 2 drawings of the chubby little girl (I only used one of them in the end)

Method: dip pen, Ecoline Ink and some nice Fabriano paper.
I added the colour via photoshop.