I’ve been feeling stuck in a rut with my own illustration style for a while now, I love working digitally, but I’ve come to realise that what I really miss is painting. I’ve been sketching a lot & experimenting with different techniques, to try & incorporate a more painterly method into my existing style, but I’ve also been looking to other illustrators & artists for inspiration too.
I came across Pippa McManus a few days ago on another late night binge on Pinterest & instantly fell in love with her graphic, yet very organic & traditional style. The bold block colours are such a great contrast against the smudgy charcoal lines & shading, giving the images a modern, graphic edge. I love when traditional mediums, such as charcoal, acrylic & pastels as she uses, are used in such a fresh way, the perfect mixture between old & new.
Kylie says
These are really incredible! I used to love drawing and painting. Haven’t picked up a pencil or paintbrush since collage. Eva made me draw a pony the other day and I struggled haha. Think its because I am so used to typing these days ;) Hope you put up some of your experiments…would love to see xxx
FAIIINT says
Hah! I’m the same, I always feel a bit rusty when I’ve not done it for a while! You should try & get back into it if you loved it once, it can be so relaxing. I might put some of them up once I’m happy with a few :)
Hannah says
The charcoal work on these is just beautiful! I am useless with charcoal, I’m not very good at getting messy. I love spending hours browsing Pinterest for inspiration, I’ve so many pins on my Pinterest because of this! Would love to see some of your work :) x
Aleksandra says
WOW !
That’s really amazing !
Love the first one ..
Miranda says
Her work is beautiful!
XX,
Miranda
Bella Mosqueda says
I love their facial expressions!
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thehautecookie says
wow, amazing!!! xO!
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Laura says
wow, they’re really pretty! Thanks Pinterest!
xXx
Jenny says
The style of these is so interesting! It’s almost caricature-like with the oversized heads on the body. I absolutely LOVE the ones with the wreath crowns – what a perfect mixture between B&W and colour! xx
http://www.jenventure.blogspot.co.uk
Izzy says
I love a mix of modern and traditional mediums as well! a lot of digital artwork seems to lose that sense of beauty and character found in brushwork, and it’s great that her artwork embraces both worlds. I love the delicacy and femininity of the girls’ hair but it’s those strong bold colours that allow me to easily envision these works hanging on the walls of my (dream) house!
and btw I hope you get to say ‘yes’ to more things! we’re still young so we should embrace all of life’s opportunities that come by before it’s too late. I hope you get to enjoy this year with a lot of adventure and experience :)
FAIIINT says
I totally agree Izzy, I think that’s why I became so uninspired with my own work when it came to the digital element of it. I love the modernity it adds, but deep down I’m a real traditionalist & there’s just no comparing digital to having an actual brush in your hand, it just seems so much more organic & adds a kind of depth that digital just can’t match.
I’m going to try my best & hope you have an amazing year & get to do lots of exciting things too! :)
Melissa Araujo says
LOVE!!!! I feel inspired to continue my series of ink girls x
M
FAIIINT says
Glad they helped inspire you Melissa! And yes you definitely should, I can’t wait to see more! :)
Suzy Turner says
WOW! Pippa’s artwork is absolutely gorgeous… really haunting. As an author, I could quite easily create a number of fabulous characters from these images!