I’ve always been fascinated by Ancient Egypt — in particular its Art and Mythology. The more recent discoveries from the uncovering of Heracleion have captured my imagination this past few days, inspiring all kinds of Egyptian themed doodles in my notebook.

This latest illustration has been digitally develop from one of these doodles, using Adobe Illustrator for the line art and colours, with a bit of Photoshop for the textures.

If you’d like to buy the Art Print, I’ve listed it for a limited time in my Society6 store here — society6.com/StinaJones

Working on the (R)Evolution website illustration last month left me feeling inspired by old revolution propaganda images.

Some of the awesome poster designs I came across whilst researching for the project have left an impression, influencing this latest illustration (featured above) which I’ve just released as a limited edition Art Print over on Society 6.

If you’d like grab a copy, there’s free shipping available until Sunday using this promo link - http://society6.com/StinaJones?promo=45f6f3

Shropshire’s (R)Evolution is back for its fourth year and set to be their biggest and most awesome event yet!

This full day web conference has come along way since the cosy evening event I went to a few years ago — boasting a bigger venue, more speakers and space for 200 attendees, all hosted by the same friendly crowd of geeks who’ll no doubt make the event just as hospitable as it has been in previous years.

I was chuffed to have been asked to produce an illustration for the event’s website. The commissioned image (featured above) has been created with the conference’s revolution-style branding in mind, working in collaboration with organiser Kirsty Burgoine and web designer Martin Wright.

To check out the finished illustration, or find out more about the event, visit the website here - 2013.shropgeek-revolution.co.uk

“They mostly come out at night…”

One of my favourite ways to kill time is by doodling weirdness on scraps of paper. Most of them end up buried at the bottom of a drawer in my studio but every so often I’ll take one and develop it digitally.

These Strange Woodland Creatures were created from a messy pencil doodle I did on the back of an an envelope — I’ve been (very!) slowly picking away at the developments in between client projects and took some time to finish it up in Adobe Illustrator this morning.

I published the image on Society6 this afternoon, where you can buy it on fine art canvases, cushions and all sorts of printed goodies. There’s free shipping all weekend too using this promo link — society6.com/StinaJones?promo=a82c5f

I’m pleased to share Creative Elements’ latest web design project with you all, commissioned by the community cash-back site imutual.co.uk.

The brief was to modernise the old front-end design with a completely new skin, while working in collaboration with imutual’s ideas to introduce a more clean cut layout, with a few bespoke illustrations scattered throughout the site.

I finished the Photoshop mock ups just before Christmas and have been keeping them confidential since. It was great to finally see the new skin in action when the developers launched last week!

I’ve featured a few of my favourite bits from the redesign below. To see the full site, head on over to www.imutual.co.uk

In between all the proposal writing, admin catch up and meetings this week, I managed to squeeze in a bit of time to finish up this happy brachiosaurus doodle, which has been privately commissioned as a 1/1 art print for a happy 3 year old’s bedroom wall.

I wanted to create something cute and fun, with simplistic line work and a slightly off balance, surreal twist. His mom seemed really happy with it so I hope it’s just as well received when she puts it on the wall in her littleun’s bedroom.

While I enjoy creating illustrations to be used commercially, there’s something refreshing about creating these kinds of personal commissions once in a while. It’s satisfying to know the piece is going to be loved purely for a person’s appreciation of the the image, rather than it’s potential to sell or promote to the masses.

I’m always happy to take on personal commissions so do drop me an email if you’d like something bespoke drawing for your wall at home.

I’m pleased to announce that as of this month, you’ll be able to buy my illustrations as framed prints, t-shirts, cushions and all kinds of printed goodies from my shiny new Society6 store — society6.com/StinaJones

I’m not usually a fan of print-on-demand shops but Society6 came highly recommended by a few artist friends. Having checked out the quality of the products for myself, I’m now happy to use them for some of my work’s distribution. So you’ll have the choice of even more illustrated stuff as I won’t have to worry as much about raising money for the production costs that come with each new release.

Incidentally, there’s free worldwide shipping available from my store this week if you click through using this promo link.

The only downside of Society6 for me is that it all feels a little less personal than I’m used to. I can’t hand sign the prints or add little thank you notes and free gifts as the products are shipped directly to the customer. I don’t even get to see who the product is being shipped to so I’d love it if you can drop me a note if you buy anything so I can say thank you!

I’ll be keeping my BigCartel store open for all the extra special signed limited editions, hand finished works and one-off pieces (all of which come with a hand written thank you note and a free gift!) so it’s worth checking both if you’re looking to buy some of my work.

I’ve always loved the idea of seeing my doodles animated! Learning the ropes has been on my to-do list for some time now and at the very least, I’d like to better understand the process so I know how to plan and prepare my illustrations for collaborations with pro animators.

I’m a complete noob when it comes to After Effects but came across some excellent beginners tutorials from mamoworld.com. After watching the first installment and getting to grips with the interface, I couldn’t help but dive right in and create a crudely animated GIF (featured above) as a first attempt with the software.

I’m having a lot of fun with After Effects and will no doubt play with the software more throughout the year. I’m keen to learn so welcome any tips and links from the pros in the comments section.

This doodle is probably less interesting than the actual way stars are made. I’d like to think my version of events is a bit cuter though.

I added this illustration to my Society 6 store this afternoon, where you can now buy it on canvases, t-shirts, cushions and all sorts of printed goodies for a limited time. Head on over and have a look — society6.com/StinaJones

I do like doodling in Adobe Illustrator! Here’s a grumpy owl I created this evening, for no particular reason other than the fun of dragging anchor points around and playing with lines.

Edit 22/02/2013: You can now find this image listed in my Society 6 store!
Follow the link to get your hands on Art Prints, T-Shirts and all sorts of printed goodies — society6.com/StinaJones/Grumpy-Owl-ixX