Becca Thorne

A Sneak Peak of Some Upcoming Publications

2012-02-08T16:58:00.006Z

I'm dying to share some of the work I did for The Folio Society before Christmas, for a book called Medieval Comic Tales by Derek Brewer, but it won't be published until June so I'd better hold off for a bit. Here's a little teaser though; a wee snippet from the frontispiece....

The book is a collection of mini stories from across Medieval Europe that range from the moralistic to the just-plain-peculiar, quite a few of which contain a randy/foolish/both clergyman.
It was a fun project to work on, I did twenty internal illustrations and the cover, with highlights including: a man getting a hot poker in the bum, an ape moonlighting as a nobleman, naked people stuck to a chamber pot and a man skewered through the eye by a boat hook. It'll be out in June, so watch this space, or check foliosociety.com nearer the time for more info.

I recently created some little linocut icons for a BBC History Magazine article on Elizabethan senses which will be in the March issue. You'll have to check out the mag for the rest, but here are a couple to whet your appetite.

They'll be used as headings for some illuminating insights into the sensory experiences of the late Tudor period. The other four 'senses' I illustrated were Seeing, Feeling, Smell and Fear. The magazine's out on the 28th February if you'd like to see the rest and learn a little more about what life felt like for our recent ancestors.

And, last but not least, Chickens: The Essential Guide to Choosing and Keeping Happy, Healthy Hens by Suzie Baldwin, published by Kyle Books, on which I worked back in October/November, will be out on the 22nd March and is available for pre-order now on Amazon. I received my copy the other week and it's fantastic book, packed full of everything you need to know about looking after happy chooks of all shapes and sizes, plus gorgeous photos and lots of my little lino print illustrations throughout. Including a couple on chicken anatomy, like this one:

So that's a wee round up of some recent work that'll be out soon. Hope you're all keeping snug and warm!

Flutterby

2012-02-03T14:53:00.000Z

A couple of cards I made yesterday; one for Rowan's sister, Anna, whose birthday is tomorrow, and the other is a thank you card for my nan and auntie, who sent me some beautiful silver and garnet, art deco-y dangly earrings for my brithday (I turned 30 last week. My mum still wants to know how I managed "to get this old...").

In other news; Rowan gave me a cool little screen printing kit for Christmas and I've just ordered some natural cotton tote bags to use it on. I haven't screen printed since college, so it's pretty exciting! With any luck I'll have a load printed and up for sale soon.

First Aid Kit for Amelia's

2012-01-24T10:23:00.000Z

I created this illustration for an Amelia's Magazine review of First Aid Kit's Lion's Roar album. The band are awesome and they get a great write up from Amelia accompanied by gorgeous illustrations from Sarah Ryan and Hannah Lewis. Looking at my illustration now I kind of wish I hadn't cropped the sunburst the way I did, but I'm happy with the way it turned out otherwise. Read the review over at Amelia's Magazine and check the band out here.

Foter.com Warning

2012-01-12T14:27:00.003Z

Just a quick heads up for all you artists, illustrators and photographers. Check out foter.com just in case they've got any of your work on there as "Free Stock Photos". I was shamlessly Googling myself earlier, when I should have been cleaning the kitchen, and came across this:

That's an illustration I did for BBC History Magazine, lifted directly from my agent's Flickr page, along with all the text plus a credit for me and them (lending it a certain amount of credibility; as @whoatemycrayons commented on Twitter, "they look like they are an agent of yours!"). And next to it? A big old button saying "Download".

After a quick name search on their site I've discovered three more of my illustrations and a lot of other work by illustrators Handsome Frank have on their Flickr. Both myself and HF have contacted them through their website asking that they immediately remove the images, which are obviously NOT available for free download and are still very much in copyright. I'm currently awaiting a response, but I know of at least one other person, photographer Henk-Jan Wesselink who's also discovered foter.com listing his work for free download, so anyone else with imagery on the interwebs (especially Flickr, which seems ripe for the picking) might want to check the site for your work too.

And if you've used foter.com? I suggest you delete anything you've downloaded from their site, because they could be putting you at risk of copyright infringement without you realising.

UPDATE: 13.01.2012
All the images from Handsome Frank now appear to have been removed, though that's probably just because HF deleted their Flickr account. I've had no response from Foter. Wordpress are advertising foter.com as a plug-in for their sites saying, "This plugin lets you seach (sic), manage and add Creative Commons photos to your blog posts in a very simple way". They're able to do it because Flickr has an option to set the copyright of images to different licencing attributes. But, unless you change your settings, anything you upload to Flickr is generally understood to be under copyright to you, and is not allowed to be used. If you want to check, have a look at the text directly under your Flickr images. If there's a copyright symbol then you're fully covered and anyone using your pics is being very naughty. If there are other symbols then people are allowed to use your work for free. Click on the symbols to edit the attributes.

New Website!

2012-01-11T16:40:00.000Z

It's a day later than planned, but my newly polished website is now up! It was in dire need of a hearty spring clean and, while it hasn't changed all that much, I've rearranged it, scrapped unnecessary sections and added links to shops where my work can be bought, so overall the site should now fit more comfortably on screen, be easier to navigate and just generally look a lot nicer. Here are a couple of snippets:

I'm still using Clikpic, because it's just so much easier and cheaper than building a site completely from scratch, and it's so simple to use their site designs as a base to create something personal. Mine looks nothing like the original template, but it was a great starting point and the basic layout is still there, holding it all together.

Please a have a little look through my new site and if you find anything's not working or looks like it's gone wrong let me know!

Happy new Year!

2012-01-09T18:13:00.001Z

Somewhat belated, I know. I've spent the last week or so giving my website a mighty overhaul, but I'll tell more about that tomorrow, when I make the site live (it's currently still up and bumbling along in it's old state). For now, though, I wanted to share this stately old tawny owl, which I've just printed for Rowan's dad's birthday card.

Hopefully soon I'll also be able to share a little bit of the commission I completed just after Christmas for the Folio Society. It's a funny one!

Folksy

2011-11-22T09:59:00.002Z

I've now got some goodies available on Folksy. Folksy is like the UK version of Etsy. This means that all the prices are in pounds, all the delivery charges are affordable because nothing's got to travel very far and it's easier to find what you're after or get your work seen because there are fewer people on it, being as it's UK sellers only, rather than the whole world.

So my Christmas items are now on sale at folksy.com/shops/BeThorney

I promise to get some more things up there soon but it's not just me, why not have a little browse of some of the other treats available on Folsky.

Like this paper garland made from an old copy of Alice In Wonderland, with John Tenniel's illustrations peeking out amongst the text. I want one...


Paper garland by Bookity

Or this fat Little Robin bauble of wool and sequins...

Little Robin by Tattycorum

Or, if you'd rather a less tubby robin on your tree, how about this perfectly blanket-stitched felt bird decoration by 100 Birdies For ME!...

Dark Green Christmas Birdie by 100 Birdies For ME!

Or, my favourites, how about this adorable Red Robin Trio

Red Robin Trio by Beth Foster of The Linen Cat

But that's just a (very bird-heavy, I must have a fetish) selection of hanging decorations from Folksy Handmade Christmas. There's much, much more besides, so why not pledge to buy handmade, independent and local this Christmas? It'll make it all so much more special.

Christmas on Etsy

2011-11-11T16:30:00.007Z

Apparently today's date, 11.11.11, is significant for lots of reasons, all equally bamboozling. The last time the numbers had the audacity to come over all onesy like this Aethelred the Unready was on the throne. I wonder if he wore his fave cords to mark the occasion?

Sadly lacking in cords myself (I must recify this ASAP), I've marked the day instead by photographing and uploading some lovely, new, Christmassy products to my Etsy shop, as well as updating some of the old prints on there with much better photos.

Now in store:

Handprinted tree decorations, pack of 6 for £6

I Saw Three Ships, handprinted Christmas card £4

O Little Town of Bethlehem, handprinted Christmas card £4

All are available here http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeccaThorne

Chickens!

2011-11-07T18:28:00.001Z

Holy cow, it's been a while since I last posted! For the first time this year though, my slackness is because I've been so busy, which is nice. I recently became a part time illustration tutor at DeMontfort University in Leicester, and spent my first four weeks there working with both the third years and the first years. With the third years I ran a project to enter in the House of Illustration / Folio Society Book Illustration competition, and they've produced some beautiful work- I'm so proud! Now the module's over I'm going to rather miss our twice-weekly crits, but it does mean I've got more time to focus on my own work. So I'm working with the first years only now, and they're slowly working out their new lives and a very different way of learning to what they've been accustomed to until now. Hopefully there are great things to come from them.

I've also been working on two lovely book commissions, one for The Folio Society, which I'll reveal more about soon while the other, for Kyle Books, is now finished. The book's called Chickens: The Essential Guide to Choosing and Keeping Happy, Healthy Hens by Suzie Baldwin and will be in shops from March 2012 (pre-order on Amazon now). I created 20 black and white illustrations for the book and though I can't share too much just yet, here's a little sneaky peak to be getting on with....

She knows where you live....

"Boris. Why always Boris...?"

2011-09-27T15:42:00.007+01:00

A couple of weeks ago we were in Italy with Rowan's family, staying at their beautiful house in the even more beautiful Sibillini mountains. On the first two nights we were woken at 4am by wild boar snuffling and grunting and chomping figs beneath our bedroom window. We never got to see more than the undergrowth shaking as they moved about, but Rowan's sister managed a glimpse of a sow and piglets one night, from her window on the floor above us. Their parents, in a room on the other side of the house, slept through it both times, much to his mum's disappointment, and she vowed to sleep in a more piggy room once we went home. It's her birthday next week and, just in case she still hasn't seen or heard one of the noisy buggers, this chap's for her.

His name's Boris. Until he was shot by the Forestry Commission in 2009 he was the most famous wild boar in the Forest of Dean. Unlike most wild boar he had little fear of humans, and would enter villages where locals would offer him food and he would feed from their hands. The Forestry Commission decided it was time to put a stop to his friendly forays after Boris accidentally (and somewhat unsurprisingly if you've ever tried feeding a domestic pig from your hands) bit someone's finger. The local newspaper ran the headline "Boar Attacks Man For First Time in 300 Years". A little over the top? Hell yes.

I drew this monoprint from a photograph taken by David J Slater. For more of his photos and more on the wild boar of the Forest of Dean, including in depth info on the haphazard and indifferent culling practices of the local Forestry Commission, visit his website http://www.djsphotography.co.uk/British%20Mammals/Wild%20Boar.htm

New Compassionate Dorset Design

2011-09-27T12:04:00.001+01:00

The lovely folk over at Compassionate Dorset asked me to create another farm animal T-shirt design for their charity shop, so I drew this cute little lambikin for them.

He'll be available in a range of colours (I like how scary the red makes him) and will be on sale very soon, along with this piggle too.

All proceeds go to Compassion In World Farming, who work to improve the welfare of farm animals worldwide. TV producer Phillipa Clunes (wife of Martin) is apparently the proud owner of one of my Chook tees from Compassionate Dorset. Why not follow her example and do your bit for farm animals at the same time?

Christmas Cards 2

2011-09-21T16:42:00.001+01:00

Here are the last two Christmas card designs, The Holly And The Ivy and The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Now to make ketchup!

Christmas Cards

2011-09-20T17:35:00.000+01:00

For once I've actually designed my Christmas cards ahead of time, go me! I've done four different ones, each based on lines from Christmas carols, using the text to create a border. Here are the first two, O Little Town of Bethlehem and I Saw Three Ships.

I'll get the other two up in the next few days.

The Good Life

2011-09-05T11:33:00.002+01:00

Crumbs, it's been over a month since my last post! That really highlights how little work I've done recently. It's been a slow illustration year for me so far; I've only had two commissions since December. I started the year doing a few bits of personal work and I designed and sent out a ton of promo postcards, from which I got only one reply, from a lady who, nice as it was, really only wanted a long, non-illustration chat. Since then I've been somewhat lacking in motivation.

So, you may ask, what have I been doing with my time? I've seached, fruitlessy, for a part time job that doesn't involve serving food or drink, but that also doesn't need a heap of qualifications I don't have, I've read a lot of blogs, spent a lot of time on Facebook, re-read almost the entire Wheel of Time series and wasted whole afternoons reading about serial killers on Wikipedia. I've left the house once or twice too and even spoken to some real people to stop me becoming a gibbering nutcase. The best thing to have come out of it though, is that our allotment's done pretty darn well, partly thanks to the free time I've been able to donate to weeding. Despite our carrots getting eaten by an anonymous digging critter, half our brassica bed succumbing to club root and our sweetcorn failing miserably, everything else has been grand. I won't bore you with a list of vegetables, but suffice to say we haven't had to buy any veg for months, and I've been busy filling our cupboards with homemade preserves. So far I've made courgette and tomato chutney, salted beans, damson jam, damson chutney and I'm planning on making some tomato ketchup too. Here are a couple of before and after pics of the plot ('scuse the picture quality, my phone camera is a tad primitve).

January 2011. The potato patch just dug on the bottom right, crud left by the previous owners at the far end.

Early August 2011

I had to eat this lot (and more) myself when Rowan went galivanting off to Wales for two weeks on a field trip.

So, it's been fun! But I have done a few bits of work too. It was my dad's 60th birthday at the end of August, and he specifically asked both me and my brother (who's a photographer: dottygallery.com) for a piece of artwork that summed up our practice and/or us somehow. So I created this piece specially for him. It's not only the way I'd like for us to live once Rowan's finished his degree and we can get the hell outta Leicester, but also the way we lived when I was growing up, so it's also a sort of subtle but cheesy thanks for a thoroughly wholesome and lovely childhood. Click for a bigger, better version:

I also used this in a promo email I sent out the other week, so hopefully some work will come from that. I'm currently working on some lino print Christmas card designs too, and I'm pretty pleased with the results so far. I'll get them up here soon.

A Few Of My Favourite Sneakers

2011-07-27T11:48:00.002+01:00

Art and Soul blog, who celebrate the collaboration of art and trainers, are currently featuring work by myself and other Handsome Frank illustrators in their My Favourite Sneakers series. Below, in order are Tim McDonagh's Adidas Superstar 2, my scrappy old Converse and Dale Bower's Shoes. Go to http://artandsoleblog.com/blog/view/a-few-of-my-favourite-sneakers-handsome-frank to see these and all the rest.

Shhhh, don't say C*&%@£mas.....

2011-07-21T13:56:00.003+01:00

It may have been a tad chilly these last few days, and I may be sitting here in a long sleeve top, looking at grey skies and considering putting on a snuggly jumper, but it's still only July, and it seems a little premature to be thinking about designs for the big C-word (Christmas- shhhh). But I am anyway. I normally leave it til December and by then I'm too late and miss out on the much needed moolah I could have been raking in since October. Also, I've been wanting to get back into painting; mostly because I'm almost out of lino and can't really afford to buy another roll just yet, but also because painting all those snails gave me a hankering for it. So I used the back of a just-finished sketchbook, some red and white acrylic paints and my trusty mechanical pencil and created this ghostly Christmas stag. I might do a couple more designs while the goosebumps and the Adam and Jo 6 Music Show Christmas Special podcast from last year have got me in an autumnal frame of mind.

More Snails!

2011-07-09T16:18:00.004+01:00

Six snails down, four more to go. In case you're wondering, these three are, in order, the common garden snail, the Kentish snail and the Ramshorn. I've been doing this sitting on the floor with my legs crossed for the last two days, and now my hips hate me. Does that mean I'm old? Or just weak? Either way I'm not impressed. Man up, hips. Man up!

Snails!

2011-07-08T19:14:00.003+01:00

I love snails, they're like miniature horses pulling snail shell carriages. When I was little and my mum had a particular friend over for tea, my favourite game was covering my arms with as many snails as i could find and then freaking the bejesus out of the poor woman as the snails slimed around my limbs. My mum was so proud.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I've agreed to do a load of snail pictures for a Snail Trail my allotments committee are putting on during our Open Day on the 14th August. The idea is that children all get a sheet of paper with pictures of different types of snail on it, and a little bit of info about each of them. We'll hide my snails around the place in their 'habitat' and the kids tick off the snails on their sheets as they find them. Then when they're finished they get a Freezy pop or something.

So, today I've mostly been painting snails. It was fun; I don't get to paint much these days, and as it's a good, wholesome, educational game I wanted the snails to be as realistic as I could manage. I've done three so far, whadaya reckon?

The Waiting Room now on sale!

2011-07-08T10:33:00.001+01:00

The Waiting Room by R.S. Barrington, which i recently illustrated, is now available to buy on lulu.com as both printed and ebooks. It's the author's first novel, and he's already well along the way with two more which he'll hopefully be able to show the world soon.

Click here for the book on lulu.com.

Frank And Faith Tees

2011-06-23T15:23:00.000+01:00

Super-cool, ethical fashion brand Frank And Faith are now stocking Compassionate Dorset's charity T-shirts, including the Chook design I did. The tees are 100% organic, made in carbon neutral facilities in India using energy from wind and solar power, have a 90% reduced CO2 footprint and are EarthPositive certified. How cool is that? It's VERY cool. http://www.frankandfaith.com

New Work: Louie and Lola

2011-06-23T10:49:00.002+01:00

Meet Louie and Lola, a handsome pair of ex-pat doggies who now live in Australia with an old school friend of mine. They made the perfect pair for my first adventure in the world of (paid, grown-up) pet portraiture.

Aren't they sweet? I'd love to do more, so if you'd like to have a unique portrait of your pet, rendered in lino print, please get in touch. You can contact me through the contact form on my website, or via Twitter or Facebook.

Wanted: Stuff

2011-06-22T16:56:00.009+01:00

I've been indulging myself in some allostration. That's allotments and illustration, together at last! I'm the new minutes secretary for our allotment committee (eek!) and at my first meeting I was asked to design a poster and some 2D snails (to come later, I haven't done them yet). The poster's to get people to donate unwanted gifts that we can use as tombola prizes - there'll be two tombolas, one at the Allotment's Open Day in August and the other, which will be raising money for the Leicester Mablethorpe Children's Home, will be held during the Horticultural Show on the 11th September. Both days are open to the public, and there'll be stalls, refreshments, children's games and, as tradition dictates, the judging of big vegetables.

So if you're in the Leicester area and you've got anything tombola-y (toys, crockery, ornaments, fancy candles, games etc) that you'd be willing to donate to us, please bring it along to the Stokes Wood Allotments on Stokes Drive, LE3 9BR. The gates are open to the public on Wednesday mornings from 10-12 and Sundays 10 -11:30am. Or you could arrange another time by calling 0116 233814 or 07895037463.

The Waiting Room

2011-05-23T17:15:00.002+01:00

A couple of months ago I got an exciting Facebook message from an old friend who I hadn't seen or spoken to in more than 10 years. Nestled within a brief overview of his life since we last met he said he'd written a book, was self publishing and would I illustrate the cover for him? "Yes please!!" I gleefully messaged back. After I'd read through the manuscript (i love it when I get to read the book before I start - it doesn't happen very often) we decided on a wrap-around design of a tree and falling leaves, based on the wallpaper which decorates the book's Waiting Room. It's white on white in the book, but as the cover will be viewed online rather than in store I decided it needed to have some subtle colour that would look good on all sorts of screens. Here's what we came up with:

I'm rather pleased with it - it's delicately autumnal and ever so slightly funereal, which suits the themes of the story to a T.
Here's the little description of the book I wrote for the website that he's using to publish:

"Paul is a busy man. With an important deadline looming he's no time to consider the needs of his wife and small children. But when he suddenly finds himself in a stark white waiting room, with nothing but time on his hands and the dead for company, he starts to look back on his life, his family and his friendships and finally begins to listen to the world around him."

It should be available soon on self-publishing website lulu.com, I'll post a link when it's up.

Compassionate Tees

2011-05-20T11:16:00.004+01:00

Compassionate Dorset, a regional supporter group for Compassion In World Farming recently ran a fantastic competition to create a new T-Shirt design for their fundraising shop. All proceeds from the shop go to support CIWF and the charity work done by Compassionate Dorset. I entered the two lovely ladies below, and they chose my silver sebright Chook as one of the four winners! Eeeeee! I've supported Compassion In World Farming for ages, so it's a real honour for me to know that my work is doing a little bit to help them in their quest to make life better for our farmed animals. The winning designs will be added to the Compassionate shop and will also be on sale in new Boscombe boutique store, What Alice Found.

You can see mine and the other three wonderful winning designs on the competition page here: http://www.compassionatedorset.co.uk/charity-tee-competition-may2011.htm

I Say Tomato, You Say... Potato?

2011-05-09T14:49:00.003+01:00

My copies of the Potatoes and Tomatoes books I illustrated arrived at the weekend, looking beautiful and reminding me of the Blackberry Farm books I used to have when I was little (I think they'd belonged to my mum when she was little too). I worked on the illustrations back in October and November, and I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the finished books. So, without much further ado, here they are:

As well as plenty more illos by me they also feature lots of gorgeous vintage illustrations, tasty recipes, and all you need to know about growing and keeping tomatoes and potatoes. They're available in the shops now, and you can also find them on Amazon: Tomatoes and Potatoes

Dotty Gallery on Faceache

2011-05-04T20:56:00.003+01:00

Hey folks! I spent a jolly nice day in sunny Wing today, helping out at Rowan's parents' place again, readying things for the ARTDEJARDIN sculpture garden launch on the 29th. If you happen to visit the garden during the exhibition (and you should, 29th May - 29th August) check out the edging along the paths- I did that. Oh, and the mushroom compost spreading too, it's exquisite, as is the rest of the garden. Have a wee shufty at these pics from previous years:

A tiny corner of the main lawn

The walled garden, with a bronze by Terry Slade

Rebecca Newnham's gorgeous 'Quercus' in the field

But what I really wanted to tell you (and hence the title of the post) is that my l'il bro's new Facebook page is now live. He's a talented, young fine art photographer (I previously blogged about him here).

This one's called 'Petey'. Jamie excels in photographing dead things, but he's also a dab hand with colour, flowers, people, landscapes, forest walks, moody skies, and alive things. Head on over to his page and give him a good old fashioned 'Liking'. Thanks!

Hopefully sometime this week I can make a start on a new commission that's been in the pipeline for a while. An old friend is self publishing his first book and has asked me to illustrate the cover for him. With any luck I'll be able to show you the finished product sometime soon!

Draw Serge! Again

2011-05-03T18:02:00.002+01:00

A while ago (almost two years) I mentioned Jonathan Edward's Draw Serge! blog of Gainsbourg-based illustrations, and how I fancied knocking up a little something for it. Well folk, I've FINALLY gotten round to it! I've been meaning to add a few more portraits to my portfolio (I almost never do faces) and Monsieur Gainsbourg's rugged visage was perfect for the task.

See the full post here. Jonathan's own work can often be found in The Guardian Guide, and always on his website: http://www.jonathan-e.com

The Royal Biscuit

2011-04-27T11:54:00.003+01:00

Did everyone have a nice Easter? I took part in my very first Easter egg hunt on Sunday, which was fun, and had a jolly nice weekend of barbecuing and badminton in Rowan's parents' beautifulgarden (soon to be transformed into the annual ARTDEJARDIN outdoor sculpture exhibition. See here for all the info http://www.artdejardin.co.uk ).

And it's a Bank Holiday this weekend too- woo! Not that it makes much difference to me, being self employed n'all, but it does mean I'll know what day it is for once, and that's something. So, in honour of the impending royal nuptials South West Artwork have introduced their Royal Biscuit series (biscuit as in 'take the...') featuring witty one liners and charming imagery, including this limited edition, screen printed @katebride2b tea towel available here and on Etsy There are only 50 of each design available, so they're very special!

And for my contribution to The Big Day, a sailor tattoo-style ode to the happy couple and their impressive collection of pearly whites. Original prints available over in my Etsy shop, check it out http://etsy.me/gYV3YO

And yes, those really are their nicknames for one another; a surprisingly-boring-if-you-try-it Google Image search and a hypothetical character from The Tale of The Bunny Picnic (which, by the way, was my favourite Easter-time movie as a child. It starts getting good about 4 minutes in).

Illustrator of the Week

2011-04-18T10:00:00.001+01:00

It's been rather slow, illustration-wise, these last few months, hence my lack of posts. On the plus side though, I've achieved great things with my allotment with all my free time. We've now got our greenhouse up, glazed and tentatively filled with 12 small tomato plants and a little chilli kindly donated by our plot neighbour, Barry. Admitedly I didn't have much to do with the erection and glazing of the greenhouse (Rowan was in charge of that, and he built a lhandsome workbench/shelving unit for it too) but I did help digging the site it's sitting on and I've dug over (almost) the whole of the rest of the plot too, getting out all the nettles, sycamore saplings and ancient, naturalized raspberry canes. We saved some of the raspberries and moved them to a sunnier spot along with a whole heap of strawberry plants, so with any luck we'll be overflowing with jam by autumn. We've got our onions, garlic, early potatoes, broad beans and french beans in too, the rhubarb's delicious and the plum tree and gooseberry bush are in full flower and promising good things to come. I've also planted a herb and salad border in our little garden at home, and sown (rather patchy) grass on the 'lawn' which was covered in enough brambles to rival Sleeping Beauty's when we moved in. I promise to show some photos when it's all verdant and lovely.

Aside from my green fingered frollicking, my real reason for this post was to let you all know that I'm Illustrator of the Week over on my agent Handsome Frank's blog. Head on over to handsomefrank.com where they'll have new work to show every day this week, plus a Q&A session towards the end.

Ganbare Nippon!

2011-03-21T11:31:00.000Z

I donated one of my Storks prints to Illustration Rally's Japan Tsunami appeal. It's now on sale in their Ganbare Nippon Etsy store along with lots of other pieces donated by artists and illustrators. 100% of the sales will be added to I.R's appeal on Just Giving

Visit http://www.etsy.com/shop/GanbareNippon to see all the work available. There's something for everyone, from £3 postcards to £150 original drawings.

Ganbare Nippon: Japan Tsunami Appeal

2011-03-15T10:51:00.004Z

With much of northern Japan left devastated by the weekend's earthquakes and tsunami, and now facing the very real threat of nuclear meltdown, I'm thanking my lucky continental plate that I'm far, far away from the Ring of Fire. The notion of a nuclear disaster immediately following two natural ones seems like a really, really severe case of kicking someone when they're down, and has hugely intensified my feelings against nuclear power. If you're looking for a creative way to do your bit for the thrice affected people of Japan, look no further than Illustration Rally's Ganbare Nippon: Japan Tsunami Appeal. Illustration Rally founder Natsuki Otani is a Japanese illustrator currently based in the UK and has set up a JustGiving donation page as well as running two art-based fundraisers. The first is an open artwork donation: any piece(s) you're willing to give, be they large, small, 2D, 3D or anything else, will be accepted and sold on Etsy with all proceeds going direct to the appeal. The second is a special illustration rally for those artists with close ties to Japan to produce some unique and special products to raise money. It will be a great opportunity to grab some unique and memorable pieces for a truly worthy cause. Head over to illustrationrally.blogspot.com for all the info.

Alice's Adventure's - New designs added to Envelop

2011-03-14T17:19:00.005Z

I've added another set of goods to Envelop, this time featuring my Adventures In Wonderland design. I originally created the image for South West Artwork's 'What Alice Found' signage competition, run to find a designer for their upcoming Boscombe shop's signs and logo (I previously blogged about it here). They eventually chose this gorgeous and super-slick creation by very talented fellow Falmouth graduate, Ben Farrell. Ben's design is so perfect for the shop, and I can't wait to see it finally up on the store-front. The shop will open to the public on the 2nd April, and will be full of SWA's artistic treats plus vintage wonders from co-owners The Cherry Closet.

Part of my design was this Art Nouveau-esque White Rabbit illustration, which I'd imagined either adorning part of the front window or painted across an interior wall. I think it looks equally great on the Envelop tote bags and aprons though, and I hope they'll go down a treat. Whaddaya reckon?

Envelop Apron

Envelop Tote

Click on a product name to be whisked away to it's Envelop page. Unfortunately I managed to commit a heinous punctuation crime on the apron page, but I can't change it without re-uploading the whole design and, as it's been approved and published, I'm just going to walk away and pretend it never happened. Let's never speak of this again....

Challenger Times - eatbigfish

2011-03-11T14:36:00.004Z

I've been meaning to post this for a while. Before Christmas I did some work for international branding company eatbigfish, and was asked to keep it under wraps until they'd used it, but my scatterbrain kept forgetting to share it after it was published. eatbigfish specialise in working with 'challenger companies', so the illustrations I created were all based on specific challenger types to be highlighted in their promotional newspaper, Challenger Times. I did six in total, and these are my favourites.

Envelop Goodies and Crawley WORDfest

2011-03-08T10:41:00.010Z

So. In the three weeks or so since I was last on here I've been designing and adding some bits to Envelop, a lovely Belgium-based online store where you'll find lots of beautifully patterned textile goodies like cushions, aprons, pot holders, bags and more. So far I've added these oven glove and apron designs, but there's more to come, so watch this space!

The oven glove has a tree on the palm side and my pink sparrow print on the front, while the apron has the whole Little Birds pattern.Go to http://www.envelop.eu/shop/designers/p/detail/becca-thorne to see my shop.

I've also been working on my illustrated book jacket for 'Cover Versions', an exhibition in Crawley library, which will be held from the 2nd-9th April as part of WORDfest Crawley. Organiser, Jo Harrison, asked artists to illustrate alternative covers for their favourite books, to be printed onto dust jackets and displayed on books in the library. I find it hard to choose favourites when it comes to books (I feel bad for all the other books), but I do love Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series so, partly as an excuse to re-read it, I went back to the very first book in the series, The Eye Of The World. I had to read the book again as it's been ten years since I first started the series (and because I love it. I'm eagerly waiting for the 14th and final book to come out next year. Oh the anticipation!). I'd forgotten not only how good it is, but also how much I dislike fantasy covers. The WoT illustrations are far better than most, and I don't want to underplay the importance of illustrator Darrell K. Sweet's contribution to the genre. Without him we'd probably still be stuck with the weird, greasy, women-in-bikinis-no-matter-how-little-relation-it-has-to-the-story style illustration that was the norm before he came along (see this blog for some 'great' examples). I think that my main quibble with these ones, specifically, is that the character's appearances just aren't how I imagine them; and that's why I try to stear clear of showing faces in any of my own work. They are far better than the new covers though, which are basically no more than in ident in a variety of colours. Dull, dull, dull. But all this illustration-bashing is very unsavoury, so here's my design...

And above are the original cover by Darrell K. Sweet and the current design, which is the same for every book. Click for bigger versions.

New Work On Society6

2011-02-17T16:56:00.005Z

Yesterday I uploaded a few new pieces to Society6. Each piece is available on stretched canvases of various size as well as iphone, ipod and ipad skins and cases, laptop skins and on T-shirts and hoodies. Here are a couple of examples of each...

Whales & Waves My Art Nouveau-esque whales. The estate agent who came to inspect us the other day said they reminded him of his life in New Zealand. I think that's rather lovely. And he thought the house was better than when we moved in too. He can have cake next time he comes.

Hey Little Bird, Fly Away Home, looking sleek on laptop and ipone skins. The name's from a line in a Tom Waits song that had been going round and round in my head for days when I was designing this. And now it's back again.

And the Love Birds, which I think look particularly good on the iphone cases and T-shirts (lots of Tee colours available).

What Alice Found Comp

2011-02-15T18:23:00.001Z

The wonderful South West Artwork are joining forces with The Cherry Closet to open a new shop in Boscombe, Dorset. As well as selling vintage delights from The Cherry Closet it will also offer emerging contemporary talent of art and design an outlet to exhibit and sell their work on a regular basis. They'll be opening in mid-late March, and are running a last minute competition to emerging artists, designers and illustrators to design the typography and some related imagery or logo for the shop. Go to http://www.southwest-artwork.co.uk/events.php for all the info.

I've had a go, and sent them my ideas, which I'll keep a secret for now, but here are a few Alice's Adventures themed doodles I did while I was working it out. They're nothing like my final design, but I enjoyed doing them so much and I haven't used pen and ink for so long (the smell of the ink still reminds me of my 2nd year at Falmouth) that I fancied sharing!

In the last few days I've been working on some pattern designs, and I thought I might share this bird one, which I think is pretty much finished. I'm going to get it on Society6 and Envelop in the next couple of days.

I've been listening to Radio 4 Raymond Chandler dramatisations on iplayer today, and it's been very productive- I think they may be good for me! I've got ten minutes of The Lady In The Lake left- exciting!

Facebook Valentine Giveaway!

2011-02-09T13:51:00.001Z

It's that special time of year for showing a little extra love and appreciation, so I've decided to do a little giveaway. All you need do to be included is head on over to my Facebook page and 'like' it. Then tell your friends to do the same, and get them to tell their friends and so on, until we reach the grand total of 200 likes. If we reach that target by 14th February (not long to go now) then I'll pick one lucky person at random from my page to win one of my Valentine's Love Birds lino prints. If you're already a fan of my page, then you're already in the running! Now come on people, get busy and let's see if we can make it happen!

To see all the other prints I've got for sale, and for more photos of this one, go to my Etsy store

New Work On Etsy

2011-02-03T13:11:00.002Z

Yesterday I printed up some of my Love Birds. I did two versions; one on brown paper, with little red hearts on the birds' breasts, and the other on cream Mulberry paper with monoprinted colour. I spent this morning taking photos and uploading them to Etsy. See the fruits of my labour here!

See my shop for these and all the other original prints I've got available http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeccaThorne

My brand new postcards came yesterday (I always pay for the slowest 21 day shipping, and they always arrive within a week of ordering- woo!) They look beautiful if I do say so myself. So for the rest of the day I'll be busily handwriting hundreds of addresses onto them. I know I should print out labels for convenience (and pain saving), but I think handwritten ones look nicer. My fingers probably won't agree with me by the end of they day mind you. Here goes!

Love Birds

2011-01-31T19:36:00.001Z

It's Rowan's sister's birthday on Friday. She got me a bird feeder for our garden for Christmas, but so far we've only had a couple of wood pigeons eating bread off the ground. Nothing's even been near the feeder and it's delicious RSPB-approved seed mix. I've seen finches, tits (hehe) and sparrows nearby, so I know Leicester's not completely free of garden feeder type birds, but they really don't want to come to us! So as I've had no exciting avian sightings to report back to Anna I thought she might appreciate these fat little love birds instead. And, as it's only a couple of weeks to Valentine's Day, I think I'll turn these chaps into a lino

print tomorrow too.

Postcards, Plants, Plot!

2011-01-27T17:50:00.006Z

Crumbs, long time no blog. I swear I will try to come on here more often! Despite my blogging tardiness I've had quite an exciting week, considering it's January. Last Tuesday I gave a talk on self promotion and my illustrating life to a group of third year illustration students at De Montfort Uni. I was incredibly nervous, and I've never done it before, but I was made to feel really welcome and appreciated by the tutors, especially by Dan Morley, who invited me to sit in on a couple of his tutorial groups. Most of his students looked terrified, even though they all seemed very talented and Dan was more of a cuddly Andrex puppy than an angry Rottweiler. So, at 4pm I gave my talk, feeling as though I was blushing and stammering most of the way through and watching the kids starting to fall asleep in the snug, studio heat. The tutors very kindly asked me plenty of questions all the way through and at the end several of the students did too- a couple of them even came up afterwards to ask more. The tutors tell me it went well and that I was coherant not stammery so, nerves aside, I'm going to believe them. Thanks to the students for not actually falling asleep!

After a week of recovery (several Double Deckers were consumed) I finally got to... my birthday! I'm now the grand old age of 29. That's right people; I'm very nearly a Proper Grown Up. Amongst lots of other lovely treats (including a £10 Thornton's voucher- thanks dad! nomnomnom) I got this sari material from Rowan to hang on the walls of my room to make it all nice and cosy (instead of cold, dull and magnolia-y) and a miscellaneous pot plant. They're beautiful, the material's so twinkly and covered in elephants diamond patterns. If anyone can identfy the plant I'd be very grateful- the label just says 'Groen Mix' and tells me it likes light and water....

*Update: Thanks to the wonderful Carly for informing me that I'm the proud owner of a Dwarf Umbrella Tree!

Talking of plants, we got a new allotment today! It came with a shed and a taken apart greenhouse that we can, hopefully, put back together. It's also got what we think is a plum tree, so with any luck we'll have a cupboard full of plum jam this time next year! It's a lovely plot in a nice, quiet area, only 15 minutes walk from our house, and all the neighbours seem really helpful and kind. I'll post some photos soon!

On the illustration side of things I've been designing my new promo postcards all week. I've gone for a bit of a maritime theme this time, and I've ordered them from Vista Print again. I hear a lot of people complain about Vista's quality, but my cards have always been perfect, and I got 500 for £32 including postage and tax, so I'm more than happy! Here's my design.

The illo on the back is from a commission I did before Christmas for branding company, eatbigfish.

Altogether now, "Awwwwwwwwwwwww!"

2011-01-18T14:03:00.001Z

It was my friend Emma's birthday last week and, on Friday, I went back down to Bristol for a weekend of fun with her and all the other Bristol chums i miss so much. Friday was a lovely evening of Doom Bar in the Cadbury, followed by delicious homemade sweet potato cakes with cucumber and ginger salad (yummy Ottolenghi recipes!), homemade red wine and strange chocolates that reminded us of Every Flavour Beans. Tasting them was a risky business, but the good ones were so good that it was worth biting into something weird and bubblegummy that dribbled sticky goo down our fingers, just in case it was a praline. Then on Saturday, after a hearty breakfast of scrumpled (as they say in Poland) egg on toast and lashings of tea, we wandered up to the wonderful Jamaica Street Artists' exhibition at the RWA, where we played with our friend's two year old daughter, Eve, in the children's book section, ate chocolate biscuits when no-one was looking and helped Eve rearrange all the books and cushions. After an hour or two in Woodes cafe we all wandered home to get ready for our Big Night Out, which was full of happy reunions and getting stuck talking to strange folk in The Bell, before going back to our friends' house where we were told off by their neighbour for making too much noise.

So it was marvelous, and I'm still tired. But here's the card I made for Emma. He's a bit scary, but he's mostly cute, so all together now, awwwwwwwwwwww!

Handsome Frank Week on Poolga

2011-01-08T13:11:00.000Z

Poster by Lydia Fee

The lovely people of poolga.com are currently featuring work by Handsome Frank illustrators, and today is my turn! Go to http://poolga.com/ to see my designs available to download as iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch wallpapers. There are also great designs from fellow HF artists Matt Saunders, Dale Bowers, Lydia Fee, Ben Steers and Seiko Kato plus more to come!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-07T18:20:00.005Z

Happy New Year, Blogoshpere! I trust everyone had a marvelous Crimbo? We flitted around the Midlands, from our house in Leicester to my parents' in the Forest of Dean, then back east to Rowan's parents' in Rutland. I may have overdone my annual non-veggie feasting, making myself a little poorly in the process, but my brother just makes such delicious sausage rolls. We went on several snowy walks, during one of which I slipped on some ice while blowing my nose, managed to stay upright, then slipped right over on my arse while I was gloating about my amazing balance. I've still got a knee bruise. We saw goats eating from the Baby Jee's crib at Puzzle Wood in the Forest, then drank steaming hot chocolates and ate brie and cranberry paninis in the heat-free cafe/shed there. I finished reading Richard Dawkins' The Ancestor's Tale, which taught me a heck of a lot about our evolution and which I highly recommend to everyone- it's very easy to read and you don't need any knowledge of anything to understand it. Now I'm moving on to my Christmas books; 'Towers of Midnight', the 13th of The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, then Marian Bantjes beautiful 'I Wonder' which leaves gold dust all over my hands when I touch it. Magical!

So. My here's a sleepy drawing for my first post of 2011. It's a lurcher for Rowan's dad's birthday card. He's napping. In a moment I'll probably look like that. Happy New Year!

Bare Hair

2010-12-16T19:15:00.005Z

I've had a pretty lazy day today. It started promisingly, but then some friends got chatting on Facebook and Skype, and then suddenly it was half one and I nearly missed yoga (I ran there in the snow/rain/hail after accidentally blowing up the toaster and wolfing down a humous bagel. Not the best way to start a yoga class, but I still wasn't sick, so go me!). After a lovely stretchy, balancy yoga class I procrastinated the rest of the afternoon away indulging in my new-found and slightly unhealthy Twitter addiction before I realised that I really needed to make cards for my nan and aunty's birthdays, which are right after Christmas. So here's what I've achieved today- a birthday bear and a birthday hare.

After Christmas I'll have a lovely new scanner that won't leave that horrible line across my work. No more carefully Photoshopping it out, or apologising for not being able to scan at high resolutions (I still won't be able to go mega high; my computer is also an old man. And he's a lot more grumpy than my scanner...).

But anyway, that's today's achievements. I never did get round to printing my wrapping paper or finishing my brother's tattoo design. They can be tomorrow's jobs.

tailcast

2010-12-13T11:39:00.000Z

The lovely people of tailcast.com have made me their featured artist of the week. See more, including the interview with me on http://tailcast.eu/2010/12/13/featured-artist-of-the-week-%E2%80%93-becca-thorne/

Snug as a Dog in a Scarf

2010-12-07T17:08:00.001Z

It's my mum's birthday next week, and this is going to be her card. Snuggly!

Design Week

2010-12-02T11:40:00.000Z

Some of my Tomatoes prints for National Trust Books have been featured in this week's Design Week, which is looking at illustration with retro style. Cool!

Trilobite

2010-11-29T10:56:00.000Z

I've just posted a new design to Society6. It's a Trilobite, as I'm sure you're well aware, but I've no idea what kind. He's a handsome fellow and I think he'd look lovely on an iphone case or a hoody and, by pure coincidence, he's available as such on Society6! Go to http://www.society6.com/studio/linoprints/Trilobite to see him in action.

Society6

2010-11-22T09:45:00.000Z

I've now got some work available for sale as giclee prints, iphone/ipod skins and cases, laptop skins and printed T-shirts and hoodies on Society6. There are only a small number of designs on there at the moment, but I'm planning on adding more and more. Head on over to http://www.society6.com/beccathorne for some unique printed goodies!

Tomatoes

2010-11-17T17:08:00.003Z

New work for National Trust Books, this is the second in the Kitchen Garden series by Jane McMorland-Hunter. Mmmmmmmm Bloody Mary.....

Christmas cards on South West Artwork

2010-11-17T09:53:00.002Z

Cards now available on South West Artwork's online store include designs featuring robins, reindeer, Father Christmas and ethereal wintry scenes. Head on over to http://www.southwest-artwork.co.uk/shop/becca-thorne-pack-christmas-cards-blue-robin-p-108.html?osCsid=a447f385efa5c994001837d63293e7bd and take a look. They'll also be on sale at Poole Winter Arts Market. See the post below for more details.

Poole Winter Arts Market

2010-11-10T14:44:00.001Z

Anyone in or around the Poole/Bournmouth area on the 4th December, head on over to Poole town square (outside the big Sainsbury's) where there'll be a Winter Arts Market between 10am and 4pm. South West Artwork will be there along with The Cherry Closet, and between them they'll be selling beautiful artwork, unique, functional design products, luscious vintage clothing and Christmas cards by yours truly. Not to be missed.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=139944682724012

Christmas Cards!

2010-11-09T15:27:00.008Z

My 2010 Christmas cards are now available in packs of 10 on Etsy (or buy them individually if you prefer). There's a limited number, so get them while they're hot!*

They're printed on glossy, white card, blank inside for your own message and come with plain, white envelopes. £7.50 for 10 or £1.50 each. http://www.etsy.com/listing/61272872/deer-in-a-moonlit-forest-christmas-card

*Disclaimer: cards will arrive cold. Do not purchase in lieu of heating.

At The Zoo-oo-ooo!

2010-11-05T09:50:00.005Z

I was just uploading pictures from my camera, when I found some I took at Bristol zoo when my dad, nan and aunty came to visit, just before we left Bristol. It was a really lovely, sunny day, so I managed to get loads of photos, from the viewing tunnels, of seals and penguins swimming through the sunbeams. Here are a couple of good ones. The first one's my favourite, but I also love the third one, with the little penguin head poking up at the bottom like he's photo-bombing me. I've put some of the meerkats up too; they'd sit really still for a split second, and then all rush around like they were playing super-fast musical chairs. The two going at it really amused my nan. Nans are filthy.

Not these two, you dirt bag. Don't ruin the moment...

The little one on the right reminds me of Martin from Green Wing

There you go. And next to the meerkat children too. Charming.

Sketchbook #2

2010-10-28T16:38:00.006+01:00

Some more sketchbook pics. These are from one of my MA projects. I should really do some actual work today. I've been very lazy.
My Folio parcel wasn't nearly as exciting as I thought it would be, it was my originals from the Beowulf project being returned. God knows how it managed to get here- the original address was for one I haven't been at in over a year, and I lived in Bristol between now and then. This leads me to conclude that TNT employ genius-level trackers, who sought me out using a superhero sense of smell and some very high-tech radar equipment. They picked me up on dradis. (any BSG fans out there to get that...?)

Sketchbooks

2010-10-28T13:22:00.001+01:00

I've been looking through some old sketchbooks this morning. I should reeeeally do more drawing. I think that's what I'll do this afternoon while I'm waiting for the TNT man to deliver my mystery package. He's apparently tried twice already, although I dont believe he's actually tried knocking yet. I have NO idea what the parcel is, but according to the nice Geordie lady I spoke to on the phone it's from the Folio Society- what could they be sending me...?!

Click for bigger images.

Quoth The Raven, "Kraaaaaaaaaaak!"

2010-10-27T16:50:00.000+01:00

I've got a bit of a crow thing going on at the moment, and I've been feeling the need to draw lots them. A lot. They're amazing. Here are a couple of prints I did today. The first is simply, "Raven", and the second, "Crow Parliament". I'm not sure about the second one, it didn't come out quite as I'd imagined it, but sometimes that's a good thing. You be the judge!

WIRED

2010-10-21T16:58:00.001+01:00

This month's (aka November. Because magazine calendars are weird....) issue of WIRED is out now, featuring my re-branded masthead on their credits page. Check it out below.

Earth Island Journal

2010-10-21T11:57:00.000+01:00

I've just finished work on an illustration for the Earth Island Journal. I was really excited to get this commission- the Journal is one of the foremost environmental publications in the world, and The Earth Island Institute has been a hub for 'grassroots' campaigns of conservation, preservation, sustainability and eco-system restoration for 25 years. They provide crucial assistance to groups and individuals with new ideas for promoting ecological sustainability. And they asked me to do them an illustration! WOOO!!
The print is for an essay called Cold Comfort: Notes From A Winter In Montana, by Rick Bass.

So Charming

2010-10-21T11:48:00.002+01:00

The lovely folks over at socharming.co.uk have told me that if I'd be so kind as to give them a mention on here then anyone nice enough to read it will get 10% off all the wonderful, twinkly, shiny things in their store! And they they said lots of nice things about this blog to encourage me to do it (and gave me my own little coupon too). So head on over to socharming.co.uk and enter charm10 at the checkout to claim your discount.
And if you want to get me a little something in thanks for drawing your attention to this offer, then I suppose I could grudgingly accept this sweet little bomba necklace.... ah, go on.

Potatoes

2010-10-20T12:47:00.002+01:00

I've been working on some illustrations of potatoes for a new book from the National Trust and Jane McMorland-Hunter (author of For The Love of An Orchard, which I illustrated last year). I did 10 illustrations in all, of all stages of potato growth and harvest, from chitting and flowers to harvesting and cooking. I'll let you know as soon as I know the publication date but, for now, here are some of the illustrations.

I'm also about to start work on a second book for the series, 'Tomatoes'. We're not sure how many there'll be yet, but hopefully a few more!

Grotesques

2010-10-12T10:07:00.003+01:00

Antlers Gallery will be holding a new, pop-up exhibition of the Grotesque at a secret, as yet undisclosed, location in central Bristol on the 28th October- just in time for Halloween!

There are eight marvelous artists involved, including Tim Lane, Tom Mead, Amy Timms and Angela Lizon (and little old me!). It's great to be involved in this project from such a new and exciting gallery, so to find out more, and see samples of the artists' work visit http://www.antlersgallery.com/project/grotesques and sign up to the mailing list. Alternatively you can join Antlers' Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=125951280787282&ref=ts to be kept abreast of things.

Update 20th October: Grotesques has had to be postponed for now, but if you join the mailing list you'll be informed as soon as we've got a new date/venue!

1 Word

2010-10-11T13:28:00.002+01:00

I saw this 1 Word List posted on Facebook. The idea is to answer every 'question' with one word- a word association game of sorts. I haven't seen one for a couple of years and I'm having a break from drawing potatoes by eating cheese and home-made beetroot chutney on toast, so I thought i'd fill it in...

1. Where is your mobile? desk
2. Your partner? geology
3. Your hair? scruff
4. Your mum? curly
5. Your dad? hippy
6. Favourite object? book
7. Your dream from last night? weird
8. Favourite drink? water...
9. Dream car? nope
10. The room where you are right now? studio
11. Your ex? over
12. Your fear? heights
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? wondrous
14. With whom did you spend last night? rowan
15. What are you not? dinosaur
16. The last thing you did? eat
17. What are you wearing? stripes
18. Favourite book? many
19. The last thing you ate? cheese
20. Your life? sleepy
21. Your mood? dopey
22. Your friends? away
23. What are you thinking of right now? words
24. What are you doing atm? munching
25. Your summer? bristoly
26. What’s on TV? dust
27. When was the last time you laughed? earlier
28. The last time you cried? ages
29. School? 's out
30. What are you listening to right now? Spotify
31. Favourite weekend activity? wandering
32. Dream job? marinebiology
33. Your computer? grumpy
34. Outside your window? garden
35. Beer? please
36. Mexican Food? beany
37. Winter? nearly
38. Religion? no
39. Holidays? camping
40. On your bed? duvet
41. Love? suresies
42. ? answer

Leukaemia Research Charity Exhibition

2010-10-07T13:15:00.001+01:00

I've just donated my Coriander print to Michelle Shaw, who's holding a charity exhibition at Pedestrian Gallery, Rutland Street, Leicester on the 4th December to raise money for Leukamia and Lymphoma Research. The sale will be from 4:30pm - 8pm, and anything not sold on the night will be available for sale later. All proceeds will go to the charity. See this Facebook group for more details http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=119751364737428

Chambers And Valves

2010-09-30T19:21:00.001+01:00

I've just finished work on this two-colour reduction print of a heart and valves which was commissioned as a gift for the client's boyfriend. The lyrics are from a song they both love, called Chambers And Valves by Dry The River. I've printed four in black and four in an indigo/violet mix for sale, but this is the only reduction cut one. That makes it special- hope he likes it!

GQ Out Now!!

2010-09-09T20:20:00.000+01:00

The new issue of GQ came out this week, and my 'Band Plays On' print is illustrating an article by Charles Finch in the Talk section. Check it out, very classy!

James Thorne: Photographer Extraordinaire

2010-08-31T15:54:00.002+01:00

So. Art (and therefore, having no money) runs in my family. My younger brother, James, is a photographer working in large and medium format, digital and traditional mediums. He's recently started printing on aluminium, which is great if you love strong, dark tones and heavy contrast in your photos (you can read more about it- and buy too!- on his website www.dottygallery.com). He also does a great line in extraordinarily beautiful dead things, like the 'Bunny' below (my personal favourite)

and these on his blog. He's really very talented (and, being his sister, I wouldn't say that unless it were true) and I promise, they were like that when he found them...

He's also got an Ebay store, http://stores.ebay.co.uk/dottygallery as well as selling through his website, so head on over and give it a browse.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

2010-08-31T15:24:00.001+01:00

Monday was my dad's birthday, so the other night I sat watching telly and drawing this soppy-faced little labrador puppy for his card. Coincidentally, and entirely independently of me doing this, my mum sponsered a black labrador puppy in my dad's name- strange! Is 2010 the year of the dog?
Ah, nope. I just looked it up. It's the year of the tiger. Well, close enough...

WIRED

2010-08-27T11:23:00.001+01:00

Reduction-cut masthead/logo design for WIRED magazine. Not sure which issue this will be in yet, so keep your eyes peeled!

Collies

2010-08-26T14:41:00.002+01:00

It was my friend Chris's birthday on Tuesday, and I was searching Google images for something to draw for his card when I came across an amazing picture of this Princess Di-styled lady and her prize winning collies. The odd thing is that I was searching for "thunder chariot" at the time...(I don't need to explain myself). I couldn't say no.

Lino Print Tutorial

2010-08-17T17:15:00.012+01:00

Ages ago a couple of members of online artist's community, Tailcast, asked me if I'd make up a lino tutorial for them, so they could see the process and have a go for themselves. I've got a bit of a summer lull in work at the moment, so I thought now might be the time to finally do it (sorry for taking so long, guys!).

So, here we go.

1. First step is to get hold of some lino. I use 3.2mm thick, from TN Lawrence, which is pretty soft and malleable, and that means you're much less likely to injure yourself than with thicker, harder stuff. They also sell Speedy Stamps, which are easier to cut than traditional lino, and good for first timers.

2. Once you've decided on your design (start with something simple, like the text I'm using here), trace it and transfer it onto your lino. Remember it will need to be a mirror image of your design, or it will come out backwards when you print it. If you find your lino curling or feeling particularly stiff at this stage, you may need to heat it a little to make it more workable. If you haven't got access to a hot plate you could leave it in the sun, on a radiator, or even sit on it for a bit to warm it. It won't take long. If it gets too hot it may crack when you try to cut it. It's too hot when it starts to smell- if this happens leave it to cool for a bit. Probably won't be a problem if you're sitting on it...

3. Now, using a lino cutting tool (you can get beautiful wooden ones for grown-ups, but I'm still using the plastic 'student' cutter i bought from the art shop at college. You can get them in most art shops. It does the job just as well), carefully, and aiming away from your other hand, cut around your design. Try not to go too deep or use too much pressure- you'll not only make it harder for yourself and make holes in your lino, you'll also run the risk of damaging either yourself or your design.

4. Once you're done cutting, portion out the smallest amount of ink you'll need onto a flat, non-porous surface (it's usually less than you think- too much ink on your roller will bleed all over your plate). I use Speedball water-based inks which i can rinse off in the sink without having to use harmful chemicals. They also dry much quicker than oils and there are now plenty that rival oil-based ones for intensity of colour.

5. Roll the ink out until it looks smooth and velvety- if it looks gloopy then you've got too much, so either roll it out over a wider area or put a bit back. It should look like the image below.

6. Roll the ink onto your plate, taking care not to get any on the cut-out parts. If this happens use a rag- or a cotton bud for fiddly bits- to rub it off. At this point you can decide how much ink you want where- if you want lighter or more textured areas, apply less ink.

7. Carefully place your paper on top of your plate. Either run your print through a printing press or, if you haven't got access to one, do as I do, and use a spoon. It doesn't need to be a big spoon, but it does need to be smooth- wood or rust could tear your paper.

I'm using very fine paper, so I can see the print coming through already, but if you're using thicker paper, feel around for the relief parts of your plate (it's a good idea to start with the edges so you don't miss any bits) and rub over them with the back of the spoon using a firm pressure. Continue until you've covered the whole print- for reference you will see an embossed, reverse image of your design visible through the paper.

8. Now gently peel the paper back from the plate to reveal your lovely, new lino print! Marvelous.

Facebook

2010-08-04T16:43:00.002+01:00

I've now got an official Facebook page, so get over there and Like the hell out of me! There's a special little gadget down the right hand-side of this page that will take you there, or you could just click here http://www.facebook.com/becca.thorne#!/pages/Becca-Thorne-Illustration/141797852508938

TITMICE

2010-08-04T10:24:00.010+01:00

So the lovely Helen, of From Little Seeds, had a birthday yesterday, and as a special treat she brought me cake! I ruddy love birthdays.

I thought I'd better give her something too (as, really, that's how it should work) so I drew her this fancy peacock for her card, and gave her a wonderful little book entitled, "TITMICE", all in capitals. It's about tits (the birds, not the boobies. Although, they're a bird too... it's all very confusing). I never knew that tit was short for titmice. Anyway, Helen makes beautiful stuffed birds (see them on her blog) and is always looking for inspiration for new "species" to add to her avian army. I though that fluffy little TITMICE might make good spies for infiltrating enemy lines. Who would suspect them...?

Helen currently sells prints, birds, bags and other handsewn lovelies upstairs at Woolies Indoor Market, on Whiteladies Road, Bristol (wooliesindoormarket.com) but will soon be moving to a little shop in Clifton village. Watch this space for the new address!

I want to read the map, Keith...

2010-08-03T13:48:00.009+01:00

This weekend we went on a little camping trip to Purbeck, a beautiful area of Dorset which was the setting for Mike Leigh's ingenious Nuts In May. It was our second trip down there, and this time I remembered to take some photos of the landscape. In particular the strip lynchets which are really clear in the hillside below the village of Worth Matravers. They're the remains of man-made field systems ploughed hundreds of years ago, and look a lot like my work, don't you think? Maybe someone was copying me....

I swear I took this photo on Saturday. I didn't just cut it out of a 70s tourist guide...

Octopussy

2010-07-29T17:05:00.007+01:00

Last Thursday was my wonderful friend, Ellie's birthday. So I printed her an octopus. I gave her Yotam Ottolenghi's new recipe book, "Plenty", too. Hopefully she'll cook me something delicious from it very soon! yum yum yum yum....

New GQ Illustration

2010-07-26T15:12:00.011+01:00

New lino print illustration for GQ Magazine, which will be in the Talk Literary section of the October issue (out 7th September). It's also my first commission from my lovely new agents, Handsome Frank. For more info about them, visit hansomefrank.com or see them Tweet @Handsome_Frank.

Donkeys and the City...

2010-07-20T14:04:00.010+01:00

I've just had my first instance of work being rejected- it's not a barrel of laughs, but I'd completed the final print, so although it's never going to be used they're at least sending me the full fee. Which is nice.
The design was for a really sweet-sounding book by Cornelius Medvei, about a man and his donkey. I really liked my first two roughs for this project, so I wanted to show them even though they weren't used. The third rough went on to be cut and printed and was the one i was least happy with, so in a way I guess I'm glad it's not being used. Also, this is what my work looks like at the rough stage- just in case you ever wondered!

Something I meant to post ages ago...

2010-07-15T18:33:00.015+01:00

So. Way back in April, my lovely friend Amy (who I've known since she arrived at my primary school, aged 8, and dressed like a tiny missionary) had her first baby, a beautiful little boy named Jacob. As a 'welcome to the world' present I sent him this print, which I'd created the day before he was born to enter in the AOI and TfL's Cycling In London campaign competition. You can see the top winners of the comp here; my favourite is the third prize winner, by Mia Nilsson.

Sight & Sound Cover

2010-06-23T18:25:00.006+01:00

I was asked to design this cover for the August issue of Sight & Sound magazine, which is all about how British film makers have drawn inspiration from ancient British folklore and myth, as well as from the landscape of the British Isles. Unsurprisingly, the main focus was The Wickerman, but also The Witchfinder General and the work of Derek Jarman amongst others. It was a great project to do, and good practice in working to short deadlines! The issue will be out on the 6th July.

New Album Cover for Pete leonard

2010-06-21T12:12:00.005+01:00

Pete Leonard has just recorded a new album, and he asked me to design the cover again. The new album's called Headlights- have a listen on myspace.com/peterleonardfolk where you'll also find lisitngs for his upcoming gigs.

Handsome Frank

2010-06-09T11:23:00.004+01:00

Handsome Frank is a new illustration agency run by two very nice cousins, Jon and Tom. They'll be representing me for advertising and some editorial work from now on, as well as 10 other talented illustrators of very varied styles and mediums. Their new website has just gone live at handsomefrank.com and they're on Twitter too, @Handsome_Frank. So check them out, they're jolly nice folk!

Magpies and Marriage (Two for Joy!)

2010-05-25T13:25:00.012+01:00

My lovely friends Oli and Emily got married at the weekend in Albany, Oregon. Unfortunately we couldn't afford to get over there to join them, but it sounds like it would have been a lovely day. We were really sad not to be able to be there, but we sent them some nice things. Rowan did them a drawing from a photo we took outside their garden when they were living in the hills above Tarifa, Spain, and I made them this Magpie card. We also sent them a nice new copy of my Folio Society Beowulf- I was reading the poem in preperation for the Folio project the last time we visited them in Spain, before they left for America. Happy marriage Oli and Em!

New History Editorial

2010-05-17T17:25:00.005+01:00

New illustration for BBC History Magazine. This one is for an article on Gerrard Winstanley, founder of 'The Diggers', the 17th century movement which advocated the turning over of unused land to the people to till. It was a really nice brief to work on; I was asked to mix 17th century imagery with a touch of Social Realism, and had a page and a bit to work on, incorporating the title too. The original has now gone off to Iowa where an ex-tutor of mine is putting on a show at the North Wing Gallery in the Des Moines Botanical Center, called Art On The Prairie. The exhibition will run in July/August, and the BBC History article will be in the June issue.

Beowulf!

2010-04-22T09:41:00.009+01:00

It's Here!

I've just received my copies of Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, which I illustrated for The Folio Society. It's a beautiful book; quarter bound in leather, with a canvas cover blocked in gold with my Anglo Saxon-style knotwork design, gilded on the top page edge and presented in a gold-coloured slipcase that's also printed with my design (that one was a lovely surprise!).

Here are some sneak-peeks inside:

In the spirit of ancient manuscripts like The Lindisfarne Gospels, every page of the book is illustrated with either decorative borders or larger illustrations like the one above.

And as an added bonus I designed the logo too. You would not believe how excited I am about this book!

For The Love of An Orchard

2010-04-07T15:22:00.015+01:00

I just received my copy of a book I worked on last year, it's called For The Love of An Orchard, and is littered with my illustrations all the way through (and if I do say so myself it looks ruddy marvelous!).

I see Bill Bryson's read it. You can't really tell on these photos, but those vertical green strips down the edge of the covers are silver embossed canvas. Nice. Here are a few little nuggets from inside as well:

Lovely end papers...

It's a nice sturdy hardback with good, thick pages, and as well as being a beautiful book, it's also incredibly informative, containing the history of different orchard fruits and their appearance in art and literature down the ages, growing and maintaining the trees, and recipes for each fruit (including some quince-based Tudor aphrodisiacs!).
It's out now, check it out on amazon.

Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays!

2010-03-16T13:26:00.006Z

It's birthday time again! Or at least it was a couple of weeks ago. Rowan's brother Jo, and our good ol' chum Charlie celebrated their births in the first week of March so, of course, I made them a card each. Charlie got this monoprinted goat;

And Jo this terrifying drawing of a Cassowary. It started off nicely, but by the time I'd finished it was scary as hell. Sorry Jo, that's the nature of Cassowaries.

Tough As Old Boots

2010-03-11T16:40:00.003Z

It's not that old really, but it's quite rugged. It belongs to Rowan. It's going to be the reverse side of my newest self-promotional postcards, and I think I might put it on my homepage too. All I need now is the AOI's Editorial Directory to go on sale again and I'll be a one man promo machine.

Etsy!

2010-02-25T12:49:00.005Z

I just made myself a little Etsy shop! There's not much on there at the moment, just some things while I test the waters and see how it works. There are some editions of When The Grass Turns Blue, as well as a few smaller lino prints, and they're all originals, available unframed and can be shipped anywhere in the world. Go to etsy.com/shop/BeccaThorne to see the full thing, and maybe buy something if you see a print you like!

New Baby!

2010-02-22T10:56:00.008Z

Not mine! My old school friends Sam and Rex had their first baby last month (much as I tried to convince Sam to give birth on my birthday, it actually happened two days later by caesarean section- babies are so stubborn). The new one's name is Esme Rose, and I made her and her exhausted parents this hare and moon card to say congratulations, and welcome to the world.

From Little Seeds

2010-02-17T13:25:00.007Z

I keep meaning to put this up here and forgetting. My friend Helen creates wonderfully beautiful cushions, bags, stuffed birds, cards and all sorts of other delights, and she gave me this cushion for my birthday (along with some scrumptious chocolate brownies that we devoured very quickly). She uses any fabric she can get her hands on, from salvaged scraps and old swatch books to shiny, fresh new felt. Check out her work on her blog fromlittleseeds.blogspot.com

She also designed the card she gave me too. Look her up, she's marvelous!

Threadless T-Shirt Design

2010-02-05T10:35:00.004Z

I've just been on threadless.com and voted for this T-shirt design by Silje Camilla, a lovely Norwegian lass who also went to college in Falmouth. She's very talented, and I absolutely love this design (I'd really love to see it in a fully illustrated children's book all about, say, people who live in a mitten...) I Particularly like how wolfy's tail swoops round all fat and luxurious and beautifully textured. To see what I'm talking about, and maybe vote if you like it too (hint hint), click on the image below:

Studies in Peacock

2010-02-04T14:36:00.002Z

Another birthday, another birdy birthday card! This one's for Anna, Rowan's sister.

January Mailer

2010-01-29T15:52:00.008Z

These are the front and back designs of my winter postcards, which I sent out yesterday (and cost me nearly £40 in stamps- cripes!). I got them printed by Vistaprint, who I think used to be a bit hit-and-miss, but I've been using them for two years and always had great results, so I'd recommend them to anyone looking for a cheap printer. And I swear they're not paying me to say that!

New Hotplate!

2010-01-15T13:30:00.003Z

So, it's been chuffing cold recently (you might have noticed) and that means that my lino has been harder than granite to cut. Last year I had a log fire in the room I worked in, and rested my lino on the guard to warm it. But then we went and moved, so I've been sitting on my lino and incubating it but, alas, even my bottom has been too cold recently. So i decided it was time for a hotplate. Unfortunately, printer's hotplates cost about £600 new, and I couldn't find any on ebay at all. What I did find though, was a heck of a lot of "Hostess" table top dish warmers, like you'd find in Chinese and Indian restaurants. They were going for around £45 including postage, so I got one! Hoorah! It's lovely and it stays warm for about an hour after 8 minutes charging (with the shortest cable in the world) and now my lino is soft and supple and warms my hands as I cut it! And, the best bit of all- the box tells me it's "the secret of effortless entertaining!"

Birthday Magpie

2010-01-12T15:41:00.003Z

It's Rowan's dad's birthday today, and this is the magpie I drew for his card.

Jane Whorwood Article

2010-01-11T16:43:00.002Z

This is the last commission I did before Christmas. It's for a BBC History Magazine article on Jane Whorwood, a "secret agent" who helped smuggle merchant gold to King Charles during the civil war. It will appear in the February issue.

Emma's Birthday

2010-01-11T16:21:00.004Z

It was my friend Emma's birthday at the weekend, and I made her this monoprinted card(to go with some snuggly slipper socks and a nice new sketchbook Helen and I bought her). Emma's an illustrator too- check out her beautiful work at emmadibben.com She's really very good!

Rugby Writers

2009-12-04T15:54:00.008Z

Back in May I was asked by Rugby Borough Council to do a few designs that would be used in an installation they were commissioning for the town centre. The designs illustrated books by authors who are in someway linked to Rugby, and included work by Isabel Wolff, Arthur Ransome and Anthony Horowitz. The illustrations were carved into and around stone seating arrangements by sculptor Michael Sheuermann, who designed and created the installation.
The sculpture was finished last month and yesterday I received these photos. I'll get some clearer images of my designs soon but, until then, here are some to be getting on with. If you'd like to see a couple of the original designs, I blogged about them at the time- see here

The Ghostrider

2009-12-04T15:30:00.009Z

Canongate commissioned me to do this cover illustration, for a new version of Ismail Kadare's 'The Ghostrider', which was first published in Albania in 1980 with the title 'Doruntina'. This version will be out on 20th May 2010.

Wedding Work

2009-12-04T15:12:00.008Z

My friends got married in October and asked me to do them a design they could use for their order of service. They wanted everything to be very autumnal, and harvest festival-based, so I gave them this pumpkin design. They used the squashes from the lower left corner of the original inside the booklet, scattered around and framing the words. They also used some bits in their invitations.