News

I've been really busy recently - moved house/city, new job, life changes - and I guess time has been creeping by, so here's an update!

I did an illustration for The Skinny.

And on 1st July 2014 I started my new job as a Hallmark Licensing & Properties Designer! :)

It's been pretty fun so far and everyone I work with is super great.
Bonus: my new place has a lovely view and is next to a fab restaurant with yummy food and live bands. All in all, a good life move, I'd say! :)

Arranging My Home Studio

OK so I set up my home studio at the beginning of this month (after having moved all my stuff from my city centre studio between Friday and Sunday, boo!) and, as it so happens, "hourly comics day" was on the Saturday. Well, I've never done the hourlies challenge before and I didn't do too well this time (only jotted a few sketches really), but I decided to carry one of the sketches to final.

I quite like the finished piece. I enjoy attempting these little challenges. I might try "witchsona" next...

((And, in case you were wondering, that cropped knit pullover is from Urban Outfitters and it's in the sale right now.))

I've been planning things and doing a lot of  personal drawing/design exercises recently. I'm hoping to have more visuals to show more regularly as it's been a little quieter than I'd like on the blog of late. One thing I'd like to do more of is patterns and lettering (though the latter to a lesser extent perhaps) so I'll try to post some of the process/experiments along the way.

Here are some photos of the home studio...

HEY! Hi! Hello.

So I know I've been seemingly pretty quiet lately (I'm actually not at all quiet), but it's mostly due to things I can't show you yet (SOON I will be able to... But not yet). However I have been working on some personal design exercises here and there, and those I can show you. And so I will! Right now.

OKAY! I signed up for skillshare a while back and it has been so totally worth it! I love it! I'm enrolled in about five classes and the latest assignment I did was Edward Boatman's "Illustrate Your Day: An Intro to Symbol Design" class. Here was what I came up with (I'll include my class summary notes too).

"My average day is pretty monotonous so I decided to cut down the icon count by four [so I did 16 instead of 20].

I'm a little unhappy that I didn't end up doing ANY narrative icons (in fact I had planned out loads of them, but they didn't work for one reason or another). Next time I'll concentrate on fitting some of those in so hopefully things won't be too boring as a whole..

I'm new to Illustrator, though, so I primarily used this as a chance to get to know the program better and I actually learned a lot! I also learned a lot about how different people perceive the same visual symbol and how tiny changes can make something readable or confusing (for instance, adding meatballs and swapping out the bowl for a plate transformed my dinner from 'noodles' to 'spaghetti'! Or having my stylus pen in motion on my graphics tablet turned it from "maybe a cell phone thing?" into my graphics tablet.)

I guess the biggest thing about icons is "readability" when simplifying things to their core and this was a good mental exercise in doing that too.

Anyway, I am very pleased with the outcome overall (though I might redo the last one) and I think I'll do more practice with icons (and Illustrator) in future."

I also redid my CV and made this silly Valentine's Day card (get in touch if you want one for £1.50) to give to the big, lovely man in your life (hah).

Excuse the poor photo quality...

Other than that, January isn't even over yet and I can proudly say I've already made great progress on my New Year's Resolutions.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, FOLKS!

NYC, Bahamas, Pink sketchbook

The past three weeks have been SO great! I got to visit some super lovely friends in New York and go to the American Illustration 32 party. It was a blast. Plus I got to go back home to The Bahamas for the first time in two years! Well overdue. Wish I'd taken photos of everything, though!

I don't have any finished work I'm allowed to show right now, but I have a few pics* of my current sketchbook. It's a bound sketchbook which I usually sort of hate, but actually I like this one. More on my tumblr.

*pics from my (new! yay!)phone because I still need to install my scanner/printer on my new laptop

Interview

I was interviewed recently by my alma mater, Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Empty Lolita

I actually didn't expect to make another Illustrator post so soon, but I am still pluggin' away at it.

Today I was doodling lots of little things and one was a little book cover/poster for a book I will probably never read (no offence, Vladimir Nabokov...also sorry I forgot to slap your name on the doodle). I quite liked the sketch so I did a version in Illustrator.

I don't know if the Illustrator doodle is as clear as the pencil sketch (she is sitting at a desk), but  I'm thinking maybe I'll do more of these quick book-inspired illustrations just for fun and practice.

However, that's not ALL I did with my week! Yesterday I sat down and taught myself some InDesign by revamping my illustration CV. I'm still not totally pleased with it yet, but it's not bad for a first try. I hope to be able to use these newfound skills I'm cultivating to help me realise more of my ideas because I've got a lot of 'em! (And too many only half-baked...!)

Foray into the World of Illustrator CS5

This year was the first year that I made any serious New Year's resolutions and, halfway through the year, I'm pleased to say I am slowly but steadily making my way through my list.*
*For illustration goals anyway. My personal NYR list is ongoing and includes exponentially more difficult things like 'stressing less'.

One of my goals was to tackle a new programme (preferably Illustrator or InDesign...or maybe both. The year is young!) and last night I took the plunge and started exploring Illustrator.

Here are the fruits of my (equal parts fun, frustrating and taxing) labour.

This mess of graffiti may not look like much to you, but it was great playing around with the look of the letters after the basic structure was set up and watching my freehand lines become instantly smooth.

edit 5/7/13: speaking of "playing around" I just found this post which I think is super relevant! : )

Uke Me

I feel like it would make me happy to learn to play the ukulele, but even after 6 years of guitar I would hardly call myself a guitarist (I'm not a particularly gifted musician). So maybe it would be a wasted investment...

But I can still dream, can't I?

A Full Plate

I'm working on so many things at the moment and moving house at the end of the month. A lot of things feel up in the air and, oddly, these doodles I did last month seem to fit how I'm feeling right now.

Lounger

I'm trying to reign in a foul mood brought on by saving over an image I was working on with a smaller version of it, but actually some great things have come to pass in the last few days. Besides, it was just a practice piece to get comfortable with working on a graphics tablet again. After my graphics tablet freaked out and my computer exploded (unconnected events) I got a Wacom Bamboo tablet to replace my 9(nine!) year old Wacom Graphire3.

Also, can anyone tell me why the colours in the above image have turned out flat and weird? When I open the file in Photoshop the chair is more red than brown (as it's supposed to be), but when I upload it here or elsewhere it's brown and the whole thing looks a little flat..?

I think I actually prefer this cut-off version to the whole thing...might do something with it.

YET, for some reason, when I screengrab and compare the two there's a definite (to my eye) difference and the redder chair doesn't turn all flat/brown in the screengrab.. what do??

On another note, this image was born of the sketch that made me realise that I really like drawing comfy chairs...

Women Warriors 2nd (LAST) edition!

If you missed getting your copy of WOMEN WARRIORS you now have a second (and last) chance to nab yourself one!

click image for more info via rockin' lady knight, Roxie Vizcarra

Action-packed, beautiful, highly sought-after and lovingly illustrated copies are currently available at WOMENWARRIORS.STORENVY.COM for pre-order!

Women Warriors!

Really awesome lady knights Abby, Julia and Roxie are putting together a super hardcore WOMEN WARRIORS zine for MoCCA in NYC and they invited me to contribute!!! YAAAAY! This is my contribution:

Based on Woman Warrior, Yennenga

The contributor's list is phenomenal(!) and intimidatingly good. I've seen some other people's stuff and it is jaw-dropping.

I really love being involved in fun collaborative projects like this! It makes me feel less removed from what I perceive to be the fun illustration party of living somewhere like New York and illustrationing it up while hanging out with super cool and super friendly fellow illustration souls.... Zines like this bring me closer you you guys :')

( ◉㉨◉)

Also, I made my first ever seamless repeating pattern in about 10minutes. I will definitely be doing more with patterns in future!

Oh yeah, my computer is still dead as a doornail, but THIS WILL NOT DEFEAT ME!

Plait

I had this idea that I want to turn into something (add colour, develop the 'plot', etc), but for now I'm just going to leave these drawings right here.

1, 2, 3, 4...

I've also got some (simple) ideas for patterns that I'd like to try soon! Courtney had a go at a repeating pattern the other day and it was pretty sweet so now I've got the pattern-making itch!


Unfortunately, the other day my laptop wouldn't turn on and it started to smoke and stink like brimstone, which I'm told means there's a problem. Dan took it completely apart for the second time in its sad little life...and then a third time (luckily I was not at home to witness this horror). Now it's apparently fixed (though mostly exhausted of power after its ordeal), but I need to get a new adaptor and can't use it until that arrives... Whoever said being a freelance illustrator wasn't frightfully exciting and wrought with all sorts of perilous adventures never met me! *soft weeping in the background*

No matter. Mark my words, I shall not be defeated by this minor setback...!

Have A Rockin' Holiday Season

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

It's the BEST time of the year! So full of mirth and (internal) warmth (or it should be). I love picking the perfect gifts for people, I love giving gifts, I love Christmas food, I even love the Christmas kitsch!

....But when it comes to my holiday mailers, I wanted to go in a slightly less traditional direction.

I grew up with Christmas and that's what I know and love, but I hope you all have a ROCKIN' season whatever you celebrate.

Mystics & The Occult

And now the time has come to reveal the second piece I will have on show as part of Light Grey Art Lab's Tarot, Mystics & The Occult exhibition.

This one is a diptych. In the modern sense of the word (so wiki tells me).

Each of the Tarot cards (78 pieces illustrated by 78 different artists) is available to buy right now as a poster - like my 8 of Pentacles. Or you can get a deck with all 78 cards! And pieces (like above) which are part of the Mystics section of the show are also available for purchase at the Light Grey Art Lab SHOP.

If you aren't able to check out the show in person (like me :( boo!), then have a good look through everybody's cards and extras. A lot of very talented people have done a fantastic job on their contributions to the show. I wish I could have a poster of each piece!

* * *

Also(!) last week Wednesday, my studio (Morgan Arcade Studios) had its first Open Day as part of the Cardiff Design Festival and it was really fun. Precedent brought over a group of bodystormers and lots of great talks about illustration and design were had. Check out this lovely blog post written and photographed by Amy Davies for the Cardiff Arcades Project. Such great photos of our beautiful studiooooo!

I know that's a lot of links, guys, but each one's a gem so get clickin'! ;)

Cheltenham Illustration Awards 2012

My entry for the Cheltenham Illustration Awards was Highly Commended :)

((Yup; they put Nicola instead of Nicole...))

Wash Out Your Mouth!

I'm crazy about working with a brush and ink at the moment. I'm still new to it, but it is really fun! I've been debating getting a brush pen...

The above is inked traditionally and coloured digitally. I think I like the yellow one best as it is the punchiest, but the pink and blue make me happy too... I dislike the green face.

Also(!) I'm moving from one room in our beautiful city centre studios, Morgan Arcade Studios, to another room which needs a big clean and fix up so I've been doing a lot of wall painting recently (all white), but I've discovered I'm really good at painting walls! Super fast and efficient. I also discovered I really hate painting walls! Whodathunkit!?

♥

What does your dog say about you?

I really enjoy girly magazines - mostly Seventeen, CosmoGirl (no longer in print), Teen Vogue and Company. It's super light reading (it almost doesn't even qualify as reading)...maybe a little vapid at times, but I find it fun nonetheless.

Anyway, I have taken to doing little editorial exercises with the kinds of articles they publish. The above was inspired by a Cosmopolitan (UK) article.

An aside: I am so addicted to the ink + paintbrush combo I've started trying recently. This is the first time I've combined that with digital and I feel like such a dufus for not having done this before. It's so fun! But I need a new paintbrush now because I'm a total novice about inks and brushes and the proper maintenance of those magical devices.

♥

A Blue Tit

Can you guess which social media network I have finally joined!? YAY!

I am @nicolemillu

Hopefully it will be filled with wonder and friendship and chirpings (rather than terror and lawsuits and pain like my deepest fears would have me believe). If any of you guys are on there, drop me a tweet. It would be great to see some familiar people!

♥

To Dry For 2012 & WOMA 2012

To Dry For had a competition to design a new tea towel for them and this was my entry:

Unfortunately my sailor* didn't win. It would have been so cool to see him on a (manly) tea towel! But, alas, it was not meant to be...
*I think he actually looks a little more like a Whaler, but "Ahoy Whaler" didn't have as nice a ring to it as "Ahoy Sailor!"

* * *

However, I also submitted my Pandora piece to Women Make Art's 2012 and it has been accepted into the exhibition which takes place in Grenada, West Indies.

This one actually means quite a lot to me: being recognised in my own region for my illustration which is very different from the aesthetic norms and typical subject matter of most Caribbean art. I believe that - having grown up in The Bahamas - Bahamian influences are inherently going to be part of what I produce in some way. But I have grown very tired of the way I see the same tired old story of the Caribbean has been told in the same old tired way: serene beach landscapes, palm trees, hair plaiting, slave faces, quaint old island living, still life paintings of Caribbean fruits.
Are Caribbean artists drawing these same old subjects in the same old way because they want to, because they are used to it or because it is what is expected of them (from outsiders who do not realise there is more to our lives than beaches, sunshine, fishing, etc)?
I appreciate that element of our culture as well, but I have no interest in being a part of that 'single story' approach.

The exhibition will run from March 31 - April 14, 2012 at the Gallery, St. George’s, Grenada.
If you're in the area, please give the show a visit. (Take photos! I'd love to see them.)

♥