Ways to Spread Love - Valentine's Spot Illustrations

Love is for every day, not just Valentine's! So that's why I think it's ok that I'm posting this after the official day of love. Here are some loved up spot illustrations I made for Valentine's last week. I sent some out to clients and also reformatted for Instagram - to wish everyone a happy V day and hopefully just make them smile.

Drawing Sheffield Town Hall

I recently set myself the challenge of drawing Sheffield Town Hall. It turned out to be quite a big project with it being such a detailed building with so many ornate features. I worked out it took me about twelve hours to draw. It was a big project but I’m very happy with the result, I hope other people will like it too! I’ll be making it into an edition of screen prints soon.

I've had some exciting news that I've been accepted to have a stall at Etsy Made Local Christmas Market in Sheffield on the 3rd & 4th December! So it has fuelled me to make more pieces that are Sheffield based, in time for the market.

Here are some progress shots from me drawing Sheffield Town Hall...

Screenprinting Houses

I am very happy to write that I’ve started screenprinting again after being slowed down earlier in the year by handgate! It had been in my plans since last year and after having a few months of being out of action, I’ve felt driven ever since to make up for it. You can see progress updates of my drawings and printmaking on my instagram, @josephinedellow and Facebook.

I started back by printing the linework of my 'Houses' illustration over colour experiments I had prepared previously, using my lightbox and different media such as coloured pencil, felt tip, markers and chalk pens. I found the chalk pens did not work well to screen print over – the chalk pressed back onto the screen and clogged some of the linework.

These house illustration screen prints can now be bought here!

The Saltaire Review magazine cover illustration

I was really happy to be asked recently to design a front cover for the August/September edition of the Saltaire Review magazine, using my illustrations of Saltaire shops and houses. I was also asked if they could feature an interview with me... I hope the readers found it interesting! Below is the full interview and you can view the magazine online here.

Don't forget you can keep up with all my adventures through whichever social media stream you prefer! I am on twitter, instagram and Facebook. I have also started publishing newsletters, please click here if you would like to join my mailing list.

How would you describe your artwork?

I often get told my work is quirky, cute, very detailed and neat. My passion for children’s literature comes across in a storytelling nature to my drawings, along with a love for graphic detail. Combining real life documentation with my imagination, the way I work probably reflects the way I live and see the world – appreciating the joys of what’s in front of me while also spending a lot of time in a different, daydreamy place!  

Do you have a preferred style or medium?

Fineliners have been integral to the way I work since I was a small child! I use them in different thicknesses and love drawing tiny details with the smallest nib I can find. I like to draw in pencil too, which can suit more emotive subjects like people and animals and can be very versatile once it’s scanned in. I then scan in and usually colour digitally, but I have also started screen printing, which is a process I fell in love with as soon as I tried it.

When did you decide you wanted to become a full time artist? 

I always wanted to work in a creative job and tried a few avenues when I first left school. I started studying fashion at university before eventually realising all I wanted to do was draw. I transferred to an Illustration degree and never looked back!

Who are your biggest influences?

Looking at other artists, my main inspiration has always been children’s books. I am inspired in different ways by Shirley Hughes, Richard Scarry and Janet and Alan Ahlberg, to name just a few. My university lecturers were very influential in the start of my practice and most importantly, my supportive - and creative - family. My Dad was a skilled joiner who could make anything out of wood and my Mum is a fine artist, so I now see traits from both in my design approach to art.

What inspires your work?

My main inspiration is my happy and colourful childhood. With four older brothers and sisters, our house was always vibrant and busy and my parents were brilliant at keeping us entertained. Our home was the perfect backdrop for my imagination to flourish as we played and drew and made things. Maybe that somehow links to my other inspiration which (you can probably tell from my work!) is architecture. I get excited at the sight of characterful houses and shops and want to draw as many as I can! I go through stages of working out, spontaneity and repetition when I am drawing buildings. Each stage feels fresh when I get to it and then therapeutic in the process.

What's your relationship with Saltaire?

I lived in Leeds for five years and used to visit Saltaire regularly after first discovering the arts trail in 2009. I can spend ages looking at children’s books in Salts Mill and used to drive over specially for that. In May this year, I showed my work for the first time in the open houses of the Arts Trail and it was a great weekend. I made a trip over when I found out I’d been accepted and took photos of some of the lovely old buildings to draw and make prints of. It was really good to see firsthand what people thought to my work.  

What are you working on at the moment and what are your plans for the future?

I had just started screen printing before breaking my right (drawing) hand in a car accident earlier this year. It has been a long process and I am still having physiotherapy, but my hand is finally feeling much better and ready to get back to printing. So that is my focus at the moment. I always have ideas for children’s books ticking over too (I have a masters in children’s book illustration) - I like to write my own stories as well as illustrate them. I have also been working on some commissions, including house portraits - which I will be updating my social media streams with as they progress.

Where can we find more of your work?

I have very recently set up an online shop on etsy, where some of my prints are for sale. I will be adding more screen prints here along with some other ideas I’ve been developing for products... https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JosephineDellow

A man and his pet elephant

Another piece I did for the opposites brief - finding a way to make contrasts with my passion for illustrating tiny, detailed things.

Close up detail

Experimenting

Here's some experimental work I've been doing recently. My MA tutor shared with me some of the briefs that get given to the first year Illustration students, so I could just do some exercises to loosen me up. For me, I want to keep doing this at the moment to keep experimenting with different media and finding out other ways to put my own spin on different ways of working.

This brief was 'opposites' - in black and white.

Close up

Near and Far

Generally being a bit messy with ink and a brush

(those funny people who can be far away one minute then very close the next)

Wet and Dry

Pastel for the man on dry land and Ink/Wash for the sea

(a little man who just wanted a bit of fresh air)