Sarah Bowie - Illustration

Hello from....

2012-01-24T09:38:00.000-08:00

No. 2 of my 'Silly-tourist-postcard-collection'. Am due to hie me to the printers this Thurs to get all 5 printed up. Looking forward to seeing the hardcopies!

"His System" for ladies

2012-01-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

I spent much of the weekend sorting through my books, and found the below little treasure which belonged to my Great Aunt Mabel, at some time in the 1920's:

It's written by a Lieutenant, who proudly references his missus as being the 'first lady exponent of "my system". In addition to a range of imaginatively titled exercises such as "Body lowering (with arm bending)", Lieut. Muller gives freely of his advice on a range of women's issues, not least of which is The Corset. The Lieut. doesn't have much time for corset-wearing weaklings, and let's them know it, in no uncertain terms:

'The corset is such a symbol of sickness that it can only be properly regarded as a bandage serving to keep together a neglected, slovenly body, no matter how much one may strive to conceal this fact with fine phrases about the necessity of supporting the back and breasts.'

As for corset-loving strumpets who want to wear a corset and have babies, well:
'To do such a thing is to be guilty of blasphemy! And it is nothing short of a sin, an immoral crime, for such women to bring children into the world.'

The Lieut. also tactfully addresses a sensitive issue, under the discreet heading 'What to observe during certain periods'. It's reassuring to know that:

'Women who are in perfect health may do their housework, continue their home-gymnastics, and take their bath with almost the same regularity as usual.'

Not so for ‘weak and nervous women’ or the ‘weakly woman who has never indulged in a rational physical exercise or regular corporal labour’. These women might do themselves 'irreparable injury' were they to exert themselves at this time.

However, a closing word of advice on the topic, whether weakling or stalwart:

'...what everyone ought to do as a matter of course is to thoroughly wash, several times daily, the lower portion of the trunk.'

So there you have it. All sound advice from the 'No messin', quit-yo-jibba-jabba, Lieut. Muller'!

Bridal wear...

2012-01-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

A sketch I did this morning at the Chester Beatty - this Manchu bride's elaborate head-dress and poor, lost little face grabbed me. Photographed over 130 years ago, there was something so real in her coming through, stripping the years away and making the moment seem like now.

I can't recommend this exhibition (or the Chester Beatty) highly enough... 'China through the lens of John Thomson 1868-1872'... he manages to convey a real sense of the people and the time. Please go and love the Chester Beatty... a jewel to be treasured.

Hello from....

2012-01-17T01:49:00.001-08:00

One of a series of 'Silly-tourist-postcards' I'm working on at the moment... will be available to buy on Etsy soon!

Bloody Chamber - Competition entry

2012-01-11T07:59:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year all! If you have a moment check out my submissions for the House of Illustration competition here:

http://www.behance.net/gallery/House-of-Illustration-Competition-entry/2847601

I'm on Etsy...

2011-11-22T10:06:00.001-08:00

... at last! My handmade book Rampion is now available to buy here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/86795800/handmade-fold-out-book-limited-edition

I'll be adding lots more lovely things to buy in the coming months so watch this space.... hee hee!

Rampion - my new handmade book!

2011-11-09T07:59:00.000-08:00

Hi there - just to let you know about my new handmade book 'Rampion', inspired by the fairytale Rapunzel. It's on sale through the Ranelagh Arts Centre and soon to be available on Etsy. For lots more details and photos please check out the link below:

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Rampion-a-tale-based-upon-a-tale/2469803

Book launch

2011-10-25T10:20:00.001-07:00

I designed this invite for upcoming book launch of Michael Keyes' new book 'Funding the nation'.... a must-read for Irish history buffs!

Whoooooosh!

2011-10-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

a walk round the block yesterday produced this very SCATTERED feeling...!

Red duffle coat girl

2011-09-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

The girl in the red duffle coat
is on her way to art college.

It's her first day
and a new autumn is in the air
(first leaves turning red;
starlings scattering with the energy).

"I can do anything I want to do,"
says the girl in the red duffle coat
as she walks beneath the crumbling
shop-fronts
(rotten wood eeks out; centuries of
musty dust, delicious).

It's ancient here in this city,
beneath the cathedral bells and brewing houses.
It's ancient here
and the energy rises up
as the girl in the red duffle coat takes her seat in the classroom:

a converted warehouse thick
with the smell
of old stone and chemical inks;
resonant with the sound
of rolling presses, the clank and clang
of cogs and wheels, of metal tools

and paper sheets;

processes, notebooks, ideas and dreams

all here

in this magic darkroom.

"I can do anything I want to do,"
says the girl in the red duffle coat
with a whirr of excitement in her belly
and a shining outwards
from her heart.

Ahem!

2011-09-06T14:19:00.000-07:00

'Ello... it's Valentino...

2011-07-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

I just had to scribble down this dress... a Valentino worn by Florence Welch sometime earlier in the year. It's the 'stuck-on' flowers that get me... they've been popping up on dresses everywhere in recent months but I'm still not sick of them :)

Avatar design for Facebook

2011-07-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

I created this avatar for a friend of mine who's living in Paris at the moment. It's a pencil sketch, scanned and coloured in Photoshop.

Beauty & the Beast

2011-07-12T13:49:00.001-07:00

My entry for Waterstone's illustration competition - see also my character studies for the Beast, Beauty and the Merchant below. The prize is a contract to illustrate Beauty and the Beast as re-told by Michael Morpurgo... sigh...

Christening gift - illustration

2011-07-05T07:13:00.000-07:00

This illustration was commissioned as a christening gift for a baby boy. I filled it full of interesting detail so as the little boy will get lots of fun from it the older he gets, and will hopefully be a piece that he treasures for many years to come (and perhaps when he has children of his own!).

I also added a number of personal references, small and recognizable only to the family.

This piece was created using a mixture of traditional tools (pen,brush and ink) and digital media. It was printed using archival pigment onto matt fine art paper and measures 417mm x 296mm (approx. A3).

I'm about to start work on another commission for a baby girl and look forward to doing lots more commissions of this sort!

birthday card

2011-06-27T09:13:00.001-07:00

This is a birthday card I drew for my friend's Mum - it's ink on watercolour paper.

Sneak peek

2011-06-07T03:04:00.001-07:00

Here's a page from a picture book I have just illustrated. A lovely story about an adventurous drop of water. It's due out later in the year. More info to follow closer to the launch.

Fashion design

2011-06-07T03:04:00.000-07:00

A little design idea that popped into my head when I was getting dressed yesterday morning :)

1920's vintage lady (3)

2011-06-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

Lunch-time sketch from Tuesday, inspired by a dress design dated ca. 1920. Unfortunately it doesn't mention who the designer is. Quickly done on my knee in the National Gallery (a blissful escape spot, buried in the heart of Georgian Dublin... and as for their gift shop, don't get me started... stationary... drool...)

Vintage lady (2)

2011-05-26T02:07:00.001-07:00

The original pen sketch quickly coloured in photoshop.

Paisley love

2011-05-24T10:43:00.001-07:00

A coffee shop doodle from yesterday morn when trying to avoid gales and rain... horizontal rain, lashed by spear-throwing gales (Welcome to Ireland Mr. Obama...).

1920's vintage lady

2011-05-19T04:31:00.001-07:00

V. busy this week and not getting as much time to draw as I'd like. Only had about 30 mins to spare this morn, so decided to feed myself with some glorious vintage, hence the quick sketch of this lovely 1920's lady, which I hope to colour or shade when I have more time... enjoy :)

Jackdaw

2011-05-17T03:13:00.000-07:00

I know some folk only like 'ickle birds... but i like the big ugly ones too.

IF - Bottled

2011-04-12T12:57:00.001-07:00

"in my little
bottled world
i'm a happy
little girl..."

Animal characters

2011-04-06T01:51:00.000-07:00

Playing around with various characters. Fox is my favourite.

IF - Cultivate

2011-03-24T08:09:00.001-07:00

My take on this week's theme for Illustration Friday - 'Cultivate'.

Hot Press Cover

2011-03-10T09:45:00.000-08:00

My entry for the Hot Press cover competition. Sketched the idea in pencil first and then worked it up in photoshop.

yes mother

2011-02-16T13:38:00.000-08:00

Another quickie one... still enjoying experimenting with the 'antique' effect (and Victorian repression).

IF - Sweater

2011-02-13T01:34:00.001-08:00

Disinherited... submission for Upstart

2011-02-03T05:23:00.001-08:00

A little darker than my usual posts I suppose. This illustration arose out of a series of doodles I've done recently against a backdrop of political, economic and social gloom. I didn't consciously set out to say anything with this, but I think the fact that the boys are all arm-less (for some reason arms just seemed wrong!) in a way expresses the sense of powerlessness people have in this country, especially in areas that didn't do so well during the so-called boom times. Anyhow, it's my submission for the Upstart initiative - the idea is that they'll print off around 500 artworks and display alongside electoral posters during the campaign. Perhaps a small smidgen of truth alongside tired out rhetoric. I'm curious to see how it works out.

Illustration Friday: Spooky

2010-10-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

A quick little spooky pic (and if you're not utterly spooked by this then you must be desensitized by watching too many slasher movies, cos this pic is seriously spooky. Oh yeah.)

Snowflakes

2010-10-17T04:10:00.000-07:00

Snowflakes - wahay! Everybody loves 'em :)

Illustration Friday: Transportation

2010-10-14T12:59:00.001-07:00

Have own wheels, will travel... wahay!

animal characters

2010-10-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

girl & robin

2010-10-12T09:30:00.001-07:00

Possible card design for a fabulous, and not yet to be named, but certainly imminent if the ads are anything to go by, festive season... fa-la-la-la

Sol Gallery Exhibition

2010-06-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

Finally getting my bits and pieces from the exhibition (which took place here last week) up on my blog. Must say, the whole thing was a great experience, from creating the artwork to the actual exhibition itself (and also a bit nerve-wracking). I was delighted with the positive response to my work, and thank you to those of you who purchased :)

See posts below for more artwork. You should automatically get a 'zoom' icon when you click on a piece, which you need to see the textural details.

Sol Gallery Exhibition

2010-06-21T05:25:00.001-07:00

Sol Gallery Exhibition

2010-06-21T05:15:00.000-07:00

The Cailleach

2010-05-04T04:06:00.000-07:00

How old is the Cailleach? Wouldn't we all like to know. This illustration was inspired by a re-telling of the story by the Oh-Aissieux at the Narrative Arts Club the other week. I only found out after I finished the illustration that the Cailleach represented winter, the ancient earth and especially the mountains in Irish mythology. If you see a lichen covered rock, that belongs to the Cailleach. Seeing her here, she reminds me a little of the large lichen covered, yellow-green rock that stands just inside the main entrance gates to Stephen's Green. Or maybe I'm getting a bit carried away...!
The image was worked up from the below sketch, done at the storytelling session. They're lovely story-telling events, drop in if you're in the neighbourhood.

2010-04-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

2010-04-06T10:12:00.001-07:00

2010-02-27T11:03:00.000-08:00

New SCBWI Ireland website

2010-01-12T11:21:00.000-08:00

Hi all and Happy New Year! Check out SCBWI Ireland's new website here. It's a group for people interested in writing and/or illustrating for children. So far, it's a small group, with both published and unpublished members. The plan is to hold meetings around the country 4 times a year, so that there should be a meeting fairly near to you at some stage. Just get in touch if you want to find out more. I designed the banner for the new website - line drawing scanned and coloured digitally. Ciao bellas and bellos x

IF - Hatch

2009-12-17T08:57:00.000-08:00

A doodle I did in a life-drawing class many moons ago, and seems surprisingly fitting for this weeks IF theme 'Hatch'. Little lady in an egg-cup, it's time to reveal yourself to the world... go on, say hello.

Xmas card

2009-12-16T07:55:00.001-08:00

Quick little piece I did for my make-and-do xmas cards. Ho ho ho (mwa - ha - ha!!!)

Illustration Friday - Crunchy

2009-12-10T11:57:00.000-08:00

'Singer of starlight'

2009-12-10T04:53:00.000-08:00

Hello! Above is the latest illustration from the course I'm doing. The brief was to show two characters (an older and a younger person) relating to each other in a warm setting. The book title 'Singer of Starlight' was left up to us to interpret. I interpreted this as being a granny filling her granddaughter in on the good old days when she was a singer (probably in a 1930's style music hall called 'Starlight' :-)) I scanned in a black ink monoprint and a sheet of sepia watercolour, together with linework, and overpainted in photoshop. Enjoyed it v much and robbed the cat for me new-look blog banner - happy days.

New stuff!

2009-11-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

Hi there! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated, but I've been busy with a couple of projects, which are still at the relatively early stage - I'll post up more info about them when they're a bit more progressed. I've also been motoring along with the children's book illustration course, and the piece above is the latest assigment. The brief was to illustrate a single page spread to show a cow and a bird (who've become unlikely friends and are discovering the world around them togther) in any setting we chose, keeping colours soft. I used coloured pencils, graphite and assembled in photoshop. As ever, I was aiming for a traditional print effect, and overall I'm pleased with the result.

Some other little bits from sketchpad below:

Have recently joined SCBWI (Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators). The Irish group will be meeting again on Sat, 28th Nov at 2.30pm in Children's Books Ireland, 17 North Great Georges Street Dublin. I'd really recommend this group for anyone who's in any way interested in getting into children's books. It's a great way to meet others in the area, published and unpublished and pick up great pieces of advice. And you can come along to the meetings to see what they're like before deciding whether or not to join.

Another couple of bits here (was toying with the idea of doing a little stop-motion piece, but I need to find the time to figure out how!!!):

That's it for now - thanks for looking... toodle-pips :-)

Woolly jumper woman

2009-08-23T03:52:00.001-07:00

pre-empting autumn...

'Woodblock-printy' girl

2009-08-01T06:40:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed working on this piece. As mentioned in a previous post I had really gone off photoshop and doing things digitally - mainly because the results always looked so digital! But I've come back to it with a different mindset. I now see my laptop as my own mini printing press, and I'm really excited about using it to get various traditional print results.

The inspiration for the above came from this photo - there was something about her perfect hair and the neat, stilted tilt of her 1950's bow (so incongruous with her japanese robes) that made me want to draw her.

So I did a very quick sketch. I didn't want to replicate her so was not worried about getting an exact likeness:

I then blocked in key areas of shade and gave her a pair of hands (bless!)

But the fun really began in photoshop. I tried to replicate Japanese woodblock printing effects, using large, loose brushstrokes, and erasing them back to get a crisp clean edge. I was pleasantly surprised by how convincing some of the photoshop brushes can be. I then scanned in some brown paper for the background. I'm not sure how 'wood-block-printy' it looks, but there's something about it that I like.

Buzzzzzzzzz

2009-06-15T08:29:00.001-07:00

hee hee - it's summer :-)!

Under the sink

2009-03-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

Another brief for my children's book illustration course. Imagine what's going on under your sink - double page spread, text to go in clear space to the left. Lead and coloured pencils on paper. Size 58.5 x 22 cm's. Balked a little at first at the thoughts of doing this - sinks = boring. However as I sketched the pipes I just loved the detail and potential for geometric design - and juxtaposing that with chubby toddlers was fun.

The tiny tree seed

2008-10-09T06:13:00.001-07:00

This is a design for a double-page picture book spread for a children's book illustration course I'm doing. It depicts a tree seed which has flown through the air and is about to land in amongst the flowers. The brief was to keep it simple, using bold shapes against a white background.