Green Gold #colour_collective

I reverted back to what I know best for this week's colour collective and doodled up a couple of sloths just taking life in their stride. I've said it before but I'm REALLY enjoying colour collective now I'm well and truly stuck in with it! I feel like I've finally fallen into a work/work balance and am really making the most of my days off to try and broaden my portfolio and push my illustrative skills, which feels fantastic. Let's hope I can keep this ball of productivity rolling!

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faultiere sind mein lieblingstier

last thursday i headed back to dortmund zoo with my dad and his girlfriend with the intention of visiting the sloths at feeding time, and it didn't disappoint. when we arrived, julius the sloth was already running rings around the enclosure's hanging branches, and the place soon flooded with eager children ready to listen and learn about the wonderful sloth! apart from a couple of numbers and the fact that sloths have very long hair, i didn't really catch much of what the zookeeper was telling us all about, but after a brief chat with my dad's girlfriend afterwards it turned out he'd educated them about what i already know – not bad eh? i could totally be a sloth keeper...

the sloths share the enclosure with some of their closest relatives; the anteater, armadillo and tamandua; and i was lucky enough to witness the utterly adorable situation that is a sleeping anteater wrapped up in its own tail. have you honestly ever seen anything as adorable before? because i know i certainly hadn't! my gosh, it made me smile.

of course a baby rhino required photographing - capybara are damn cute - sloths have a bad reputation for being lazy and boring but big cats are never any more active at zoos!

a walk through bird cage meant i got up close and personal with some owls - we caught the orangutans at feeding time! - this iguana was completely chilled out - there were peacocks roaming openly around us in the zoo!

the emperor tamarin monkeys were so cheeky and adorable coming right up to the cage! - the red pandas were distant, but forgiven because look at them

i thought i'd finish up with a photo of julius who was pooped after a very exciting feeding time! after finishing up his grub he zonked out in the very spot where he'd just stuffed his face – what. a. cutie!! i've thoroughly enjoyed both of my trips to dortmund zoo because there's such a calm, relaxed atmosphere throughout the zoo, and you're really given the chance to get fairly close to a lot of the animals, at least in comparison to british zoos, anyway. of course julius the sloth helps to contribute greatly to my experience of the zoo, but we all know i'm a huge fan of trips to the zoo anyway because i love getting the chance to observe animals and the ways they think, act and move because it's so, so fascinating – i always come away from zoos feeling uplifted and inspired, which can only be a good thing!

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my etsy shop / a sloth's guide to illustration

i recently added my 'a sloth's guide to illustration' zine to my etsy shop, so if you'd like a copy of your own you can do so by visiting the listing here!

as ever you can expect silly humour, hand gen type and a lot of sloths, but if you'd like to know more about the zine there's a full product description available on the etsy listing.

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a sloth's guide to illustration

my latest module required me to create a piece of self promotional work that would be sent out to studios and companies that i may decide to to apply to for work experience throughout the summer, and i'll bet you're all extremely surprised about the fact that my work was sloth based! at the beginning of the module i struggled with the idea of promoting myself, but once i understood that it was more of a self directed project rather than something to promote me, the penny dropped and i realised that nothing made more sense than to use sloths as my project driver!

i knew that i wanted my piece to reflect my silly, light hearted outlook and personality as well as my illustrative style so i could be comfortable knowing that whoever opened my package knew exactly what kind of person was contacting them. i felt that this zine idea helped to honestly convey my tone of voice, my mind as a creative and how i work as one, too, and i feel that within the illustration world it's so important for your work to be genuine and an honest reflection of yourself.

we had to also consider a cv, covering letter and envelope design to be sent out alongside the promotional item, so i decided to keep the designs simple and relevant to the theme of my zine by sticking to a monochrome colour scheme and by using simple line drawings. i feel that this choice helps to display how my style works both in colour and monochrome as well as the fact that i can work on a more complex or simplistic level depending on what a brief may require.

in addition to our physical self promotion items, we were also asked to consider a digital solution that could be anything ranging from motion work to a simple pdf, so i decided to step a little out of my comfort zone and attempt a simple bit of motion in the form of an interactive illustration. i stuck with the sloth theme and the exploration of a sloth training as an illustrator, so i decided to create an image where a viewer could explore a sloth's creative studio. i linked my physical and digital pieces together through the creation of a character, dame olive napsalot, who is a well renowned illustrator within the sloth creative community who kindly offers up her advice about working as an illustrator which in turn becomes the content of the zine. at the end of the zine you're then presented with the opportunity to visit her website where you can explore her studio, which helps to make the content of the zine feel real and believable. if you'd like to explore olive's studio you can do so below, but please do excuse the dodgy quality - the .swf upload seems to have been a little odd?



i've had a lot of fun working on this module and it's reinforced the fact that i love writing my own material and having complete authorship over all of my work. my tutors have encouraged me to carry on making sure i put my stamp on all the briefs i tackle, so i hope i can get my teeth stuck into future projects just as i have this one!

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sloth christmas cards & donations to the costa rica sloth sanctuary

so after exciting myself over the idea for the past couple of weeks, i finally got my hands on all the necessary materials and got to work on creating some sloth christmas cards! i worked from some of my initial sketches and adapted them in a way that was completely new to me, however i took control in making sure that the colour scheme worked and was apparent throughout every design to ensure that the three designs worked as a set.

my cards are now for sale in my etsy shop at just £2 for 6, so what are you waiting for? if the price tag didn't entice you, how about the fact that i've decided to donate 50% of my profits to the costa rica sloth sanctuary? if you're not aware, i'm very, very passionate about sloths and for a while have wondered about what i could do to raise a little bit of money to donate to the sanctuary, so i figured these christmas cards were the perfect way to do so. i'll be keeping this open and the cards up for sale  until christmas day (25th december 2013), so on boxing day (26th december 2013) i'll stop by to evidence and inform you all on my contribution to the sanctuary. so if i make £10, £5 will go to the sloths, as would £10 of £20 and so on and so forth.

i did design a pattern that i intended to be made into wrapping paper, however i couldn't find anywhere that printed it at a price that would make it worth my while - £15 to wrap a couple of presents up was just not within my budget! so to let it see the light of day, i've decided to share it with you all here.

i hope you all enjoy my designs, i've certainly had fun creating them!

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the c word (and sloths!)

hello everybody! i'm sorry to be that guy, but i'm throwing it out there - the c word. the c word being christmas, of course! i try to wait until my birthday's been and gone (which is still another month away) before i start thinking about the occasion, let alone mentioning it, but this year we've been asked to consider card making for university fundraising for a new blood visit so i've had my christmas hat on, ho ho ho.

i know, i know, more sloths. sloths aren't particularly christmassy (in fact, not even at all,) but they are my thing, so i've taken them and ran with them, and here i have a whole bunch of them to feast your eyes on! hopefully within the next week or two i'll further develop these into final card designs, so if i do so i'll be sure to keep you all updated. i've considered perhaps adding them in packs of 6 to my etsy shop, so if you'd be at all interested in purchasing a pack of festive sloth cards, please do let me know! they'd probably be priced at around £2 for 6 cards and envelopes.

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my first zine! (it involves sloths...)

a couple of months ago i wrote this little step my step* zine about how to become one with the sloths, and now i've finally gotten around to fully illustrating and finishing it all off! it's taken time (mainly because i've been lazy...) but better late than never, eh? definitely better to have been finished before my move back to uni in a week's time!

if you'd like to read more about my zine or perhaps purchase it, head over to my etsy listing here :)

*disclaimer: this is a very sarcastic step by step guide, please do not take any steps literally...

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