Diwali
Diwali, the Festival of Light was something that really inspired me this year.
Diwali is a wonderful, cheerful festival and this year I wanted to create a happy illustration. It is my way of saying ‘thank you’ to a lovely, Hindu family that run a very well stocked corner shop. So, this little oasis, crammed like Aladdin’s cave was a life saver during this year’s first lockdown. No shortage of toilet rolls or tins of tomatoes in my road! And astonishingly they even catered for my bad tempered digestion with gluten and dairy free options – quite astounding. 
Bollywood…
I combined my love of drawing animals (in this instance guinea pigs) and watched clips of elaborate Bollywood dance scenes to create the guinea pigs dance moves. And so I cam truly say it was just so much fun to create.
I like to work very small initially. I have found that I can work quicker, with more spontaneity and I am prevented from getting too fiddly over detail! It is far too easy to get engrossed in getting a nose right and in the process just loose the whole gesture!
When I say very small, I mean it. I scribble thumb-sized drawings to try and create the gestures and movement. This is developed into equally small sketches. So that you can see this I have added two photos below to give you a sense of scale. And, yes, that is my unadventurous looking thumb! I painstakingly stuck my thumb next to the sketches, whilst twiddling in Photoshop to get the scale right!
Squirrels?
Yes, squirrels. I am currently creating 32 illustrations for a children’s fiction book all about two very naughty squirrels. I am having so much fun creating their adventures and capers but cannot share yet – rules is rules! Now all I need to someone to ask me to illustrate a book about guinea pigs! Contact me here!
Just for fun, here is a list of Bollywood movies 2020.
