Uncategorized – ALICE TUCKER ILLUSTRATION

Featured Artist: Katnipp

Featured Artist posts are tied into my uni work and are a way for me to research artists professional methods and how they promote themselves.

Todays featured artist post focuses on Catherine Kay, the illustrator and businesswoman behind kawaii brand Katnipp. Catherine is based in a seaside town in the north of England, her work is pastel coloured, super sweet and packed full of her signature bubbliness.

The branding within Katnipp is so immediately recognisable, with soft pinks, purples and blues dominating her work, website and instagram. It provides a cohesive feel to everything Catherine puts out into the world.

Other than running a successful Etsy store and beautiful instagram, Catherine also runs a Youtube channel that is an absolute goldmine of advice for fledgeling artists and makers. From photography and branding tips to studio vlogs, there’s something for anyone looking to start selling their work, or even just streamline their business aesthetic.

Beyond how everything looks, Katnipps branding manages to exude Catherines personality, each piece of work has been created with love. Her photography captures not only her products but also a little piece of her world, and the same can be said of her youtube videos.

If you watch the studio vlogs on Katnipps channel, you will feel as though you’ve sat down for a cup of tea with a friend and settled in to watch her work, simultaneously learning about the daily realities of running an online store, youtube channel and other social media. As she talks about the characters she’s illustrating, you truly get a sense of the love she has for them.

In the about section of the Katnipp website, Catherine personally introduces herself and talks about what drives her. I think what immediately stands out for me is that personal connection she makes with viewers, as well as the cohesive colour scheme. She also has a Patreon, with this she can provide even more personal content within the tiered reward system.

Personally I’ve learned so much from Katnipp already, and I think that her Youtube in particular is a vital resource for any fledgeling illustrator just getting into selling their work.

9250

We did it! The day rolled around and we somehow managed to pull together an awesome night of music and artwork. There were a few rogue spanners in the works, resulting in some artwork not actually making it to the exhibitoin but despite these issues the evening was a success.

As we arrived at the venue (The Edge of The Wedge) we set up what work we managed to bring over the stage area, this kept the focus on both art and music, neither distracting form the other.

Over by the bar I set up our stall, attempting to make use of footfall to and from the booze! I was lucky enough to have a little helper at the beginning of the evening, she made sure everything was just right.

Other artists featured on the stall were the talented Wargey and Amelia Russel, each of our styles is very different and I loved how much variety covered the table. We had pieces available from stickers for £1 up to gorgeous originals up to £50, allowing people with loads of different budgets to come away with something from the event.

The music started off with Lucy Bertram, she completely held the stage on her own with gorgeous vocals and guitar, covering a range of songs with her own style. I’m totally obsessed with Lucy, her music and her incredible artwork! Impossible Monsters took to the stage next, featuring our very own Louis Netter on the drums. Seeing our lecturer on stage was definitely the part of the evening we were all looking forward to most, and he did not dissapoint. Finally Hallan came on and blew us all away with a lively, intense set that really capped off the evening. I had no idea Hallan existed but I’m immediately a fan, singer Conor is a fellow Illustration student and his work can be found here.

All in all such an enjoyable evening, fuelled by a super creative group, the ever inspiring Illustration Lecturers and far too much gin (weeks have passed, I’m still hungover.).

Portsmouth Illustrated

In preparation for our exhibition we were asked to explore the city of Portsmouth, illustrating some of the landmarks or scenes we came across. As someone who leans towards figurative illustration I was initially fairly concerned that I wouldn’t be happy with what I created, and in a way I think it helped to keep my expectations low.

When I found myself some rare baby-free time I set off with just my travel sketchbook, drawing materials and my Spotify playlist. At first I struggled, quickly scribbling in my sketchbook when I saw something that looked interesting but not really feeling excited about anything I was trying to create. I ended that journey at the seafront and happened to sit down at one of Southseas iconic yellow beach shelters. after quickly sketching and taking some reference photos I headed home, finally feeling inspired and excited to get my sketch onto Procreate.

The sunset, woven of soft lights
And tender colors, lingers late,
As looking back on all day’s dreary plights,
Compassionate;
— The foolish day of hopes so high,
Who counts her hours by blunders now,
Yet wears at last this jewel-crown of sky
Upon her brow.
Out to eternity she goes,
Not for her failure scorned, but see!
Our poor day flushed with beauty, one more rose
On God’s rose-tree.
– Katharine Lee Bates

I had been searching for a theme for my other uni project and had found a poem I wanted to use as inspiration. The poem focuses on the transformative power of the sunset, casting a different light on the day. Having lived in Portsmouth for almost 30 years, the notion of seeing my hometown in a new light really excited me and I’ve based my images on this theme.

Once I had illustrated the beach shelters I decided I wanted to play with some typography, overlaying a font in white to stand out from the deeper pinks and purples in the image. I chose a silhouetted font so that the artwork would not be obscured by it.

From here I began thinking about the parts of Portsmouth that resonate with me, the list is huge and I plan on getting through them all eventually, but for now I have chosen three additional locations as my subjects. These are the Band Stand, the Castle Road Clocktower and The HMS Warrior.

I’m so happy with the work I’ve created, it’s such departure from my usual work but still I feel the colour schemes really tie it into what inspires me and what I try to emulate.

For my other uni project I created a front and a back cover to go alongside the pieces in a concertina zine. I included the poem that provided the inspiration, and actually the ten minute piece I made to serve as the front cover is my favourite piece of all. I think this speaks volumes about overthinking your work.

I’ve really enjoyed this exercise in reportage, and plan to continue the series in between other work. If you like these pieces, they are available for sale. Feel free to contact me at atuckerillustration@yahoo.com or come along to the Love Southsea creative market at Gunwharf Quays on the 17th of April.

The Hotwalls Studios

If you’ve lived in Portsmouth for some time, chances are you remember the Hotwalls a little differently to how they stand today. Once an interesting landmark, albeit a little neglected and well loved by local rebellious teenagers, the area has been entirely transformed.

The heritage site was given new life in 2014 by Portsmouth City Council, turning the arches once utilised for art sales in the 1950’s into 13 new studios and one very stylish new Café. It’s incredibly exciting to see such a creative haven in my city, especially nestled in old Portsmouth and right on the beach.

On Wednesday we took a walk down to check it out for ourselves, we spoke with some of the resident creatives, who dealt with the influx of curious Illustration students incredibly well.

We managed to arrive a good hour before anything opened, opening times can however be found on Facebook as well as the Hotwalls website. This gave us an opportunity to head into The Canteen, the cafe nestled into the heart of the studios.

The Canteen is beautifully designed, it incorporates the building that it inhabits beautifully with industrial style decor. The stone and brick walls still pockmarked by time are the backdrop to modern metal and wood furniture pieces and trendy Edison bulbs. Alongside this the food and coffee are equally wonderful, it is a perfect spot for an artist to hang out and work. I could quite happily have lingered here all day, but the studios were beginning to open.

I first wandered into the studio currently being used by I Can See The See, where I spoke with artist Lizzie Cornelius.

Lizzie was working on a commission, one of her distinctive pieces with a couple of changes requested by her client. She was able to chat with us a little bit as she worked about how working from the studios has given her opportunities and clients she wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Her bright Portsmouth landscapes can be seen throughout her unit, arranged to be part shop part working studio, which gives anyone who walks in a chance to see the process behind the pieces on the shelves. I’d highly recommend giving Lizzie a visit.

Next we came across the studio of Kim Edith, a textile artist from Portsmouth. (from this point on my phone had died, apologies for the google images!) Kim teaches stitch booking workshops, sells prints of her textile illustrations as well as originals and also created a book. ‘In To The Woods’ is entirely made up of fabric collage and is stunning to look through. After the original gained viral fame the book was developed into a paperback, and as we talked to Kim she let us know she was actually preparing to give a talk on it the following day.

Kim attended Kington University in 2004 and studied Illustration, it was so inspiring to see a working illustrator who had completed a similar course to us. She spoke about the experience of leaving uni and not having your hand held, a valuable lesson in self motivation. Kim’s day isn’t all creating, she let us know that much of it is made up of the other stuff that comes with being self employed, keeping up with social media, putting out content, tutorials and of course looking after the business side of things.

Talking with Kim was invaluable, it really showed me the importance of getting out there to meet and talk to experienced creatives. She spoke to us about having multiple revenue streams, attending fairs and markets, and the ups and downs of an open studio. The rent at the Hotwalls studio is subsidised by Portsmouth City Council, but tenants are required to open for at least 30 hours a week and can only have a 3 year term. The space and location are beautiful and inspiring, the footfall is great for new business, but having people pop in throughout the day as you’re trying to work can slow you down.

All in all it was an incredibly informative day, it is invaluable as a fledgeling illustrator to have an opportunity to learn from working artists, and to discover what creative opportunities lie on our doorstep. I can totally see myself nestled into this beautiful spot working away, is it even possible to get artist block if you can step out of the studio for 30 seconds and look out on the rolling waves and historic architecture of the shoreline?

(Mis)Adventures in DIY

It’s 5 days until Christmas, it will be Lily’s first, our first in the house we decided to move into two weeks ago and our first hosting my family, a tradition that until now has been masterfully handled by my parents.

The piles of boxes to unpack never seem to run out, the odd jobs to complete are crowding my once neat and simple to-do list. Needless to say, we are all pretty frazzled in the Tucker-Steventon-Todd house.

To begin with, as you may have seen in my previous post, we took it upon ourselves to get the carpets replaced and redecorate the biggest room in the house as well as the bedrooms. After painting and beginning to move what we could, the carpets finally went in and the space felt truly transformed.

Our first night went without a hitch, we excitedly brought the essentials: mattresses, bedding, outfits for a few days, toiletries, mini fridge, kettle, toaster. The sofa was set up, TV mounted on the wall and dining table in place. It really started to feel like home once our little pieces made the journey across, various plants and art works brought life to the rooms and we felt settled. Sophie, who has been reticent about the move up until this point, excitedly declined sleeping in with us in our room so that should could hang out in her new room with her teddies and my iPad. Everyone got a decent nights sleep, albeit a little later than usual.

Disaster struck in the morning, our boiler died! No amount of fiddling would fix it. They changed the batteries in the mobile thermostat, and I’m almost glad it was more complicated than that because I would of been so embarrassed if it were just a case of checking the batteries! It was no good, the boiler was officially kaput. By this point I was wearing so many layers I looked like a Mighty Boosh monster, thankfully a new boiler was prescribed. Another day and a half went by in the tundra-house and finally new boiler time had arrived!

We are super happy we get to enjoy a warm, cosy Christmas! And by comparison all our other jobs didn’t seem like such a big deal now we were comfortable.

Yesterday I started to hang my spice rack on the wall in the kitchen, I measured and levelled everything well and marked ready to drill the holes for wall plugs. This all went smoothly and I managed to get the wall plugs in happily. It was then that I started to drive the screws into the plugs… The corner of the wall suddenly just popped off. The whole corner.

Cue me fully panicked calling anyone I knew with even a sliver of DIY knowledge! I was horrified I might have to pay out to plaster the kitchen.

Luckily I managed to calm down and grab some poly filler, I created a mosaic with the pieces and plan on sanding/painting over the evidence…

In my mind, it’s given me the excuse I was looking for to extend our redecorating efforts to the kitchen and utility room! But perhaps that can wait until after Christmas.

And so with barely any time to spare we’ve been working day and night to finish up, we’re almost there and family are arriving the day after tomorrow. Fairy lights are everywhere, the tree is perched happily in the window and we’re all super excited to sit down and stuff our faces!

How are you preparing for the holidays? Anyone else insane enough to move house and host Christmas at the same time?

Chaos

I’m sitting in my living room right now, on the screen in front of me Red Dead Redemption II is in full swing. As Alan relaxes with the game after a long evening of moving back and forth to our new house, I can hear my youngest daughter Lily happily cooing away banging together brightly coloured plastic toys.

Around us there is chaos. Half packed boxes, floor strewn with other gaudily coloured toys, a mustard coloured blanket and the remnants of our day all litter the space. In between everything else there are the “where does this go?”‘s and the “what do I do with this?”‘s that haven’t quite found their place in a moving box.

Tonight the mess isn’t getting to us, some real progress has been made in the move and it feels like a victory. The majority of my art studio has been moved across, one of the only rooms we can complete before carpets go down in the new house, thanks to the room being tiled. We’re tired, spread thin and short on time, but happy and excited for the coming weeks.

As we completed tonights work, we stood back and flicked the switch on for the newly hung festoon lighting and stood back to take in the sight. I felt, seeing the soft glow, that this small room would be an extension of myself in this new place.

The house has so far been a labour of love, tearing old textured wallpaper away, smoothing over imperfections in the walls, painting each room and planning out our best moving tactics. The process is consuming us somewhat, but we’re incredibly happy to have this opportunity to redefine “home”.

I’ll share our progress here, in the mean time we’ve earned a lazy evening together, and I’m fairly certain I hear the kettle calling my name…

The Journey Begins

“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary” Pablo Picasso

Hi!

My name is Alice and I’m a fledgeling art student from the UK.

I have been tasked as part of my course with the creation of this blog, the purpose of which is to document my artistic journey. Here I will share my work, inspirations and the work of artists I admire.

With this first post I wanted to share a recent piece of work with you, “Desert Witch”. It is a digital piece created with the Procreate app on the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.

I am heavily inspired by the occult, particularly witches and demons, you will see them feature in my work frequently! But this one in particular became an experiment in colour for me. I wanted to counter her cool tones with an arid environment and to evoke the heat rising in waves from the sand to distort the horizon above it.

Originally a small pencil sketch in my travel sketch book, I decided she deserved to be transformed into a digital painting. Though I’m happy with the finished piece, her horns look decidedly less impressive and regal, details change from concept to finished product but its something I regret not getting quite right.

: “Desert Witch” By Alice Tucker Illustration 2018

Thank you for reading, I’ll be posting fairly often (Between looking after my two lively daughters and moving house just before Christmas…) It would mean a lot to have support on my project throughout the course, please feel free to share this blog with your friends.

Next time I’ll be writing about an artist I’m inspired by, Let me know in the comments who your favourite artists are or what inspires you!