Nicola O'Byrne Illustration

Snowdrops and Rosemary

2012-02-01T17:37:00.000Z

It was lovely and sunny today, and having finished by noon what I hoped to get done today, I decided to pass the afternoon sketching in the garden.

Illustration Friday - Forward

2012-01-30T17:33:00.000Z

Rhino felt like he was never moving forward.

Illustration Friday - Twirl

2012-01-21T18:03:00.000Z

A little bit of weekend silliness, and maybe only a very tenuous link to this weeks illustration friday theme, but hey! I felt like drawing a pirate.

Private View Tonight!

2012-01-10T04:14:00.000Z

Private View Tonight! Hot Off The Press Exhibition, Curwen Gallery, North London. Hope you can make it.

Day in the life of..

2012-01-05T16:13:00.001Z

I have done a blog entry for my agents, you can find it by clicking the link below:

Bright Group International - A Day in the Life of..

Starbucks @ Wisma Atria

2011-12-24T11:17:00.002Z

A little sketching at Wisma Atria on Orchard Road, Singapore. It was a great day for sketching because it was so crowded but I didn't have much time. I was trying out a new pen from Muji, very happy with it. I usually use pencil but I think pen is better sometimes, you have to be more decisive.

Hot Off The Press Exhibition, Curwen Gallery, North London

2011-12-14T09:27:00.000Z

I'm part of a group exhibition in January, so for anyone in London on January 10th please feel free to pop along to the private view. Closest tube stop is Goodge Street.

Sleeping man

2011-12-02T22:03:00.000Z

I love drawing sleeping people, they fidget less and probably aren't going to mind you staring at them. This victim of mine was on a train back from London.

Turtle

2011-11-24T17:26:00.001Z

Today I have been drawing sea creatures.

Rachel at Starbucks

2011-11-23T12:38:00.000Z

More coffee shop sketching, I love it!

Crab

2011-11-11T10:05:00.000Z

I bought some new lino, and I made a crab. Hope you like.

So serious.

2011-11-07T21:50:00.001Z

Old habits die hard... coffee shops are still my favourite place for people watching. I recently met Angie Lewin, an illustrator/ printmaker whom I hugely admire, and she told me that when she was little she drew ducks, JUST ducks, for over a year. It made me feel better about my sketching habits!

Exhibition at Bankside Gallery, London

2011-11-03T20:48:00.002Z

My prints are being shown as part of a group exhibition in the Bankside Gallery in London next week (November 9th - November 13th) if you're around please pop by and take a look: http://www.banksidegallery.com/viewexhibition.aspx?exhibitionid=55

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-02T21:07:00.000Z

Live long, and cookies.

Rhino

2011-10-27T14:05:00.000+01:00

I took inspiration from my yoga class.

Bikes and Blossoms

2011-10-09T12:14:00.001+01:00

New pattern in honour of my move to the countryside.

New Home

2011-10-07T13:02:00.001+01:00

I am in the process of moving home right now, my new place has a fantastic studio room overlooking the garden, so this year I'm going to try my hand at not killing some plants.

Peony Patterns

2011-09-22T14:11:00.001+01:00

I have been trying my hand at making some repeat patterns for art licensing. I really like strong, saturated contrasting colours but I know its not for everyone so I've been trying to tone it down a bit.

Bunnies!

2011-09-21T09:34:00.000+01:00

Good morning everyone! Here are some dancing bunnies to start the day.

Flower mania

2011-09-13T18:47:00.001+01:00

Last night I went to a illustration business presentation in which the speaker spoke about 'style schizophrenia' and recommended keeping the same style for 1-2 years in order not to confuse art directors and people who might commission you. I had a mini heart attack because I have at least a couple styles (as illustrated above)! what to do, what to do? Maybe I will just make several portfolios.

Summer Patterns

2011-09-09T13:35:00.001+01:00

Goodbye, summer!

Zoo

2011-09-06T22:10:00.001+01:00

I love a day at the zoo. My favourite animals in London zoo are probably the penguins, although I also have a soft spot for the hippo and the owl.

Pirates don't eat vegetables!

2011-09-05T22:55:00.001+01:00

Portfolio overhaul

2011-09-04T17:48:00.002+01:00

I have finished my MA and am now embarking on a massive overhaul of my illustration portfolio, which hopefully will involve lots of drawing, painting, and creating new characters. Today I have been painting Fashion Grandma.

Linocut Print

2011-08-25T16:22:00.000+01:00

Lino, lino, lino! I love it! This print was a rejected idea for my MA Printmaking show.

Foyles Bookstore

2011-07-10T21:24:00.000+01:00

I found the first book I've illustrated in Foyles bookstore on Charing Cross Road. I must admit I did some sneaky rearranging and moved it to the front of the shelf! hehheheh!

Update

2011-06-22T22:02:00.000+01:00

I'm sorry I have been neglecting my blog a bit.. between uni and illustrating I've not had too much free time, but the good news is you can follow me on Facebook as "Nicola O'Byrne Illustration" which I update fairy regularly. I am happy to announce I have sent off the final artwork for "Open Very Carefully" (to be published by Nosy Crow in October 2012), I just have the cover still to do. In the mean time I'm writing a few new stories.. watch this space! :)

Drawing without lines

2011-06-16T18:04:00.000+01:00

I am heading towards my final show for my masters degree and I've got my plates ready to go.. the only problem is I'm not ready to commit just yet. So I'm practicing some drawing in the mean time.

Common Yellow Water Lily Linocut

2011-06-07T15:16:00.000+01:00

New linocut!

Islington Green

2011-05-17T16:02:00.007+01:00

I'm still working on my book for Nosy Crow (http://nosycrow.com/books/nicola-obyrne/open-very-carefully) so I have nothing new to upload. Here is a recent sketch of Islington Green, a place where I spend many hours because it has all my favourite stores within a 5 minute walking distance.

Artwork on a bus stop!

2011-05-02T21:10:00.002+01:00

If you happen to be in Edinburgh keep an eye out for my artwork on local bus stops. A friend of mine saw this and sent me a photo!

Photograph by Gary Mackean.

BBQ weekend

2011-04-24T18:17:00.002+01:00

To celebrate this fantastic hot weather I illustrated a garlic bread recipe from www.bbcgoodfood.com. I am now also on facebook, you can follow by 'liking' my page Nicola O'Byrne Illustration. Happy Easter everyone!

Mezzotint Cloth Studies

2011-04-08T00:07:00.003+01:00

Cloth 1, Mezzotint.

Cloth 2, Mezzotint.

Cloth 3, Mezzotint.

Right now I am working towards an MA (Printmaking) degree as well as being a freelance illustrator. Before I started the MA course I saw very little distinction between Illustration and Fine art, maybe because a lot of my personal influences fall under the 'Fine Art' category. Of course, I understood the commercial nature of illustration, and that an illustration is destined for reproduction through various forms: books, internet, posters, etc. However, I also felt that a lot of 'art' was extremely commercial; hyped up into a media frenzy, with its success or failure based on how much media attention it gained, and although with most artwork there is only one original (prints being the exception!) many pieces of fine art are also reproduced in the forms previously listed.

Now I am approximately half way through my MA and although I have learned a few more differences, (and I'm still learning!) in my mind the two practices go hand in hand and influence each other. I've noticed there is sometimes a certain stigma amongst some fine artists attached to work that is deemed 'commercial'. However, I am greatly encouraged by the amount of cross over I see between Book Arts, Illustration, Graphic Design, and Fine Art. I'm very happy to have one foot in College and one foot in the industry, I hope that the two parts of my life meet harmoniously in time for my degree show! :D

How to Make a Heron Happy - out now

2011-04-04T22:38:00.002+01:00

The first book I've worked on is out now. "How to make a heron happy" by Lari Don is about a boy who sees a grumpy looking heron in a park, and sets about trying to make the heron happy. It is published by Floris Books.

Mothers Day

2011-03-23T20:34:00.000Z

Mother's Day is just around the corner... do you have something special lined up?

Added to the Nosy Crow website this week

2011-03-22T16:52:00.002Z

My exciting news for this week is that I've been added to the list of illustrators on the Nosy Crow website. I've been working with them on a book called "Open Very Carefully" starring my favourite crocodile. Please click here to take a look!

Storlann - Gaelic Educational Resource Agency

2011-03-15T19:25:00.003Z

I have recently been working on a fairy tale book project for a Gaelic educational resource publisher. It involved drawing 1 main image for each story and a couple of black and white vignettes, which I really enjoyed because I don't get to use my dip pen as much as I'd like. It was sent to the printers on monday, so here is a sneaky peak!

Mezzotint Take 3

2011-03-02T22:51:00.004Z

I am falling in love with mezzotint but in a way its a very annoying process too. Its really hard to see how much you've burnished away. I didn't get it quite right here with the white lines but I'm going to keep working on it and see if I can soften it up a bit with my trusty roulette.

Illustration Friday - Layer

2011-02-24T17:05:00.002Z

Its been a while since I uploaded anything even though I've been working my socks off, I can't show what I've been working on just yet. In the meantime, here's a recent print.

Mezzotint

2011-02-03T19:32:00.003Z

I want to say something about the mezzotinting process. You have a copper plate and a 'rocker' which is a curved, serrated edge. You use the rocker to put thousands of tiny indentations onto the copper plate, kind of like making pixels that will print black. Once the plate is completely covered with the dots, you can start to polish parts of the surface back. The more you burnish, the less ink it will hold, and those parts print white.

I rocked these two small plates a long time ago but I was too afraid to polish them back until last weekend when I decided enough is enough!

I MET AXEL SCHEFFLER

2011-01-20T10:36:00.002Z

I went to a meeting with my future publishers, I got there really early because my class finished earlier then I thought it would and AXEL SCHEFFLER was there!!! He drew me a piece of original artwork in my sketchbook. :D:D:D:D I'm going to cut it out and frame it. AWESOMENESS.

Illustration Friday - Deja vu

2011-01-13T18:57:00.001Z

Tube Sketch

2011-01-12T21:23:00.005Z

TWO POSTS in ONE DAY!

I drew this while on the tube and I'm very pleased with myself because of that.. despite travel sickness, being jostled about and trying to peer round people who stand in front of me, I think it came out fine!

Etching in progress

2011-01-12T10:49:00.000Z

practicing my aquatinting

Mezzotint

2011-01-11T14:52:00.002Z

Mezzotint! Can you believe it took me 5 hours to make a black square? But now the fun begins.

Woman on the tube

2011-01-11T14:48:00.001Z

An etching I started a little while ago.

Coffee Bean @ Holland Village

2011-01-01T07:44:00.003Z

I have been coffee shop drawing again! This is something I used to do all the time - at least 2 or 3 times a week, but I haven't done it in months because I don't have so much free time anymore. I was a bit rusty but I had a lot of fun.

Illustration Friday - Winter

2010-12-31T13:03:00.003Z

I started out with the intention of drawing some winter birds and ended up with this little guy. Happy New Year everyone! My New Year's resolution is to do Illustration Friday every week.

How to Make a Heron Happy

2010-12-13T18:29:00.004Z

'Hamish is worried about the heron in the park. It always looks sad and grumpy, with its hunched-up shoulders and long frowning eyebrows. So Hamish decides to cheer it up: first he brings bread crusts and biscuit crumbs to the park. But the heron still looks grumpy. Next he brings his family to tidy up the heron's polluted pond. But the heron still looks grumpy. Then he brings his class to plant flowers around the pond. But the heron still looks grumpy. Finally he brings everyone he knows to have a party for the heron. But the heron still looks grumpy. Hamish looks at the heron and wonders: maybe the heron isn't unhappy after all? Each page of this delightful story from popular children's author and storyteller, Lari Don, is brought to life with vibrant illustrations. Colour and activity build up as the book progresses and the drab inner-city park is brought to life.'

- as you can see, just sent off the final artwork for How To Make A Heron Happy! For more information visit www.florisbooks.co.uk

Street Scene

2010-12-07T16:26:00.003Z

Work in progress...

Moody Guy

2010-12-07T16:12:00.004Z

I don't know what I was trying to do with this but I know I didn't achieve it. Still, its better to post then not to post, and I'm still experimenting so I'm not worrying too much right now about making things I like.

Borough Market

2010-11-25T13:35:00.001Z

This is a recent print of Borough market, I may still work into it a bit.

Man on the Tube

2010-11-09T15:08:00.002Z

I'm well into my MA (Printmaking) course now and I thought I'd post my first piece of work :) Its an etching.

St. James Park

2010-10-10T14:36:00.002+01:00

I was walking through St. James Park in London yesterday and I was really surprised at how tame all the 'wildlife' is.

Elvis and Chip

2010-09-14T22:09:00.006+01:00

My internet is only working when it feels like it (which is not very often) but I have THREE BARS of signal right now and I thought I'd celebrate by uploading something I'm working on. Hope you like!

Teapot

2010-09-04T15:56:00.002+01:00

Still drawing...

Onion

2010-09-01T13:34:00.003+01:00

I'm waiting to move into my new flat and in the mean time I have heaps of work to do but no access to my art supplies. It's getting a bit annoying! So I have been sprucing up unfinished work on my computer. I did this for a drawing project in my 4th year of uni.

Heron

2010-08-21T20:34:00.001+01:00

I was going for less cute and more realistic with this one.

Research Photos

2010-08-13T15:59:00.003+01:00

I went out on a research mission to a local park today. I didn't take my sketchbook because I'm moving to London tomorrow and had to be speedy with my trip (still haven't finished packing).. so photographs it was.

A Disagreement.

2010-08-06T09:25:00.002+01:00

A rough for a project I'm working on.

A little attention from Digital Arts Magazine

2010-07-16T11:35:00.003+01:00

There is a section of Digital Arts Magazine's August issue devoted to recent graduates, and I'm in it! So exciting.

ECA Degree Show 2010

2010-06-29T16:33:00.002+01:00

I've not posted anything in a long time because I've been a bit busy, first with my deadlines, then the Degree show and then D&AD/ New Blood down in London. Now I'm back in Edinburgh I can finally post these photos of the show; thank you very much to all the people who managed to come see it, it was wonderful to receive that amount of support. :)

Ruby at the Zoo

2010-05-11T11:03:00.004+01:00

Ruby terrorising some penguins.

Fish

2010-05-05T10:26:00.004+01:00

I finish this picturebook some time ago but I only recently had it photographed by the college photographer, I'm really happy with the way the photo came out because he's managed to capture all the embossing detail on the front as well as some of the insides.

photograph copyright John K. McGregor, Edinburgh College of Art.

Arnie is "Highly Commended" by Macmillan Publishers

2010-05-01T22:13:00.004+01:00

I thought I'd let Arnie waddle back into the spotlight on my blog for a bit, having received the very very happy news that in the Macmillan Prize this year my book 'Arnie's Problem' was awarded a 'Highly Commended". So happy!

Random food post

2010-04-29T21:54:00.001+01:00

Images for chapter headings of a pretend cook book :)

Introducing Ruby

2010-04-22T11:03:00.003+01:00

This is an example of some of the research I do before embarking on a book project. This is Ruby. I've just started the book and I only have 3 weeks before my degree show. The countdown begins...

Arnie's Problem

2010-04-16T15:54:00.005+01:00

Here are a few excerpts from my offering for the Macmillan Prize, a children's book competition. What was supposed to be a relatively quick project turned into a mammoth 7 week struggle, but I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

A Funeral of Raindrops

2010-04-05T14:35:00.002+01:00

A Troubling of Goldfish

2010-04-05T10:50:00.003+01:00

Another 'collective nouns' illustration, this one was not for submission so I decided to sneak another colour in there.

A Burberry of Raincoats

2010-03-28T22:06:00.003+01:00

This was a quick quick quick project for a collective nouns competition. I'm working on a few longer term projects right now but sometimes its nice to take a break.

Last Ever Lifedrawing - Linda

2010-03-24T18:11:00.003Z

Last ever naked tuesday! *sniff* We were drawing Linda, who I previously thought was called Allison.

Elephant Stew

2010-03-15T12:06:00.002Z

For a recipe in the Observer monthly food magazine by Nigel Slater for "elephant stew"... (which does not contain elephants).

Cinnamon and white wine jelly

2010-03-14T01:28:00.003Z

Recently I found an article that suggested making Jelly as the new "it" dessert for cheaper dinner parties. I decided to do a quick drawing for the article, to get in the mood for some shorter projects after my great big printed book.

Chipmunk antics

2010-03-11T23:50:00.003Z

This is one half of a duo that are making up my next possible children's book... he may still change a fair bit. Also he doesn't have a name yet, suggestions welcome. :)

Starbucks on the Royal Mile

2010-02-28T20:32:00.001Z

I haven't been posting much because I'm screen printing a book, but here is something I drew today.

Stranger At The Pier

2010-02-05T12:12:00.003Z

This illustration is for the text and image collaboration project between Edinburgh University Creative Writing MA course and us 4th year illustrators. I'm working with a man named Larkin who wrote a short story called "Stranger at the pier", this is my image to accompany that story. Its a pretty dark story so my usual happy/ colourful illustrations would not have gone well. I tried to keep the things I'm interested in (colour, pattern, shape) and apply them to a darker image.

Francis takes a nap

2010-02-02T17:00:00.003Z

Today was life drawing (or Naked Tuesdays as I like to call it) and we did a fair number of short poses which are not my forte and I won't post them up, but the final pose was the longest we've ever had, over an hour, so I felt really relaxed afterwards.

I think Francis felt relaxed too because he fell asleep and snored a little.

Illustration Friday - Focused

2010-02-01T21:02:00.003Z

A really quick Illustration Friday sketch this week, I actually went out trying to find someone who was reading a newspaper or doing a cross word puzzle but when I saw this lady engrossed in her book and the guy behind engrossed in the lady I couldn't resist.

St. John's and St. Cuthbert's finished!

2010-01-28T16:34:00.002Z

It took all week and a lot of consultation with Bryan and Steve in the print workshop, but they really helped me out and now it's finished. :)

St. John's and St. Cuthberts

2010-01-23T11:18:00.003Z

OK the new slightly different version (minus colour):
old version:
Thinking of maybe making this into a print... can't decide.

Front Row Seats

2010-01-21T13:29:00.003Z

Very occasionally I draw people who are not in coffee shops. These are a couple of images from my holiday. The first one has a bit of a funny story behind it, there were actually two ladies sunbathing topless and the reason I never got to draw in the second woman is because a couple of stray dogs got into a fight nearby and the poor ladies were so 'frightened' that they ran and jumped into the laps of the men (literally! their laps!) who were watching them, much to the amusement of everyone around. Of course, these guys could not believe their luck!

Sketchbook

2010-01-14T17:49:00.004Z

A couple more of my favourite subject matter. :)

Sketchbook

2009-12-15T10:36:00.002Z

I'm sorry to say I haven't been doing much studio work this term, as you can probably tell by the amount of life drawing I've posted. This is because I've been writing my dissertation, but I handed that in today so hopefully I can now get back to real life! :) Here are some recent sketches.

Life Drawing - Charlotte

2009-12-02T09:52:00.003Z

I don't know for sure that her name is Charlotte but I thought that's what it was. These were all done in 5 mins or 20 mins.

More Life Drawing With Francis

2009-11-21T12:57:00.005Z

Each of these was 5 mins except for the last image which was 20. I really like drawing Francis, he's seriously muscular and quite dynamic with some of his poses, which also makes him hard to draw.

Coffee with a view of the castle

2009-11-16T11:44:00.001Z

Whale Watching

2009-11-12T14:20:00.002Z

Life Drawing - Colin with Clothes

2009-11-10T19:10:00.004Z

They were 45 mins each, someone requested that Colin be clothed and hence no nakedness again this tuesday evening. Personally, I feel like it is more difficult to draw people with clothes on so it was good practice.

The Sterilization of Seed

2009-11-10T15:48:00.002Z

Lino cut!

Sketchbook: print idea

2009-11-09T15:08:00.003Z

I planned a print of Edinburgh Castle and Princes. St. Gardens but I've rejected this version of it because the shape is too similar to the Princes. St. Gardens/ Waverly print I did earlier this year. Still working on the finished thing...

sketchbook

2009-11-09T15:03:00.004Z

I spent the last two weeks working almost non stop on my dissertation, so afterwards I went out for a little R&R. I really empathized with the guy asleep in the chair.

Life Drawing - Harvey

2009-10-27T20:03:00.004Z

Our life model didn't show up to class today, so my tutor Harvey had to pose for us instead. So no naked people on my blog this week, sorry, but here is Harvey looking tired and Harvey ala Picasso. I had a lot of fun making the second image! I bought these great new coloured pencils recently and I love them, they are so smooth to draw with.

Week Four - Acoustic Ranching Editorial

2009-10-21T15:39:00.001+01:00

I read an article called "How do you train a fish?" about possible solutions to the ecologically unfriendly fish farming methods in use at the moment. You can read it here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8283701.stm

Its basically about how you can train sea bass to respond to a frequency played in the water to make them swim to a certain point. I thought the robotic shark bit was pretty interesting too.

Psychedelic Colin (Life Drawing)

2009-10-20T19:11:00.002+01:00

We had life drawing today, so I took my coloured pencils along and had some fun. The first image was four 10 minute drawings, and the second was 55 mins. Colin has a quizzical eyebrow and I think he looks like a pirate.

sketchbook

2009-10-02T14:19:00.002+01:00

Week Two - The Fox Hunt

2009-09-30T19:59:00.003+01:00

Its week 2 of uni and I have been working on a screen print based on an article about where town and country cultures clash. Fox hunting was mentioned, so I went with that. The colours are much brighter on the actual print, I took this photo at night so its come out a bit dark.

Berkelouw Books and Cafe

2009-09-16T17:27:00.002+01:00

This was supposed to be Jess but it doesn't look like her.

AboutLife Cafe/ Organic Market

2009-09-12T10:31:00.002+01:00

I was recently in Sydney visiting my friend Jess B and we did a bit of sketching together. This one was an organic supermarket/ cafe that sold amazing looking cakes. I really enjoyed drawing the shopping baskets. You can see Jess's version here.

Illustration Friday - Wrapped

2009-09-12T09:52:00.000+01:00

I didn't manage to put this one up in time for the deadline because for the last MONTH my blog hasn't been working. It was very frustrating, but here we go.