Sketchbook: Royal (Blue) Bengal Tigers

These tigers are part of exploration for an Asian-influenced illustration for digital album cover artwork (think: digital cover images such as those on iTunes music).  

More info about this project and my sketchbook work for it including some Japanese dragon designs(!) 

can be seen at my Facebook page here. 

I find big cats quite daunting to draw, even though they used to be one of my very favourite things

to doodle when I was little.

The finished Eastern-palette-inspired Jade Royal Bengal:

Stay tuned for more updates on this project! I am very excited about the final cover artwork 

and can't wait to share it with you! 

Collaboration // Swanky Egg Design

I am thrilled that the lovely Ms Molly Miller of Swanky Egg Design is to create a one-off, hand-made sculpture inspired by my 2011 Sleeping Beauty illustration (below). 

I adore Molly's super-pretty, whimsical, fairy-tale inspired sculptures. They have a gorgeous style that looks to be such a good match to recreate my version of Sleeping Beauty. It will be so interesting to see a 3-Dimensional version of my own 2-D drawing...I can not wait to see the completed piece.

Molly's sculptures are one-of-a-kind pieces, making each one very special indeed. Here are just some of her pieces currently on sale in her "Swanky Egg Design" Etsy shop which you can find here.

Woodland Cottage Night Lumiere...

Hot Air Balloon with Elephant...

The Princess and the Pea...

The Owl and the Pussycat...

Images are (C) Molly Miller of Swanky Egg Design. 

A Michelin Star GARDEN // Typography & illustrations for Stylist Magazine

I was recently asked by the UK's Stylist Magazine to create illustrated typography using various edible herbs and flowering plants, as well as individual pieces illustrating each plant. The article discusses how we can grow our own gourmet-style foods at home! I was not aware some of these could be eaten! 

:: Romanesco ::

:: Courgette Flowers ::

:: Lemon Verbena ::

:: Myrtle ::

:: Nasturtiums ::

:: Sea Kelp ::

:: Cardoon ::

:: Lovage ::

:: Pineapple Sage ::

Images are (C) Amy Holliday. Please do not use without seeking permission, thank you. 

My Illustrated bird's nest "Wired" Logo for April 2013..

...is in this month's issue! Last November I was asked to illustrate the iconic "Wired" logo for their Magazine's April issue here in the UK. Every month they commission an artist/designer to re-create the logo in a new way for the magazine's credits page. 

I am happy to say that I can now finally show you the complete logo... (click for larger view)

It was quite a challenge to design the letters as the square shapes forced me fit the natural flow of the twigs, branches etc into an unnatural square shape! There is also a lot of space to fill up - especially in the center part of the "D" where I resorted to adding in another smaller nest. The "I" and "E" were much easier to fill out of course. Below are some single letters and close-ups of some of the details:

  

As it appears in this month's issue: 

And here is the front cover of the issue:

Tattoo: A Phoenix Risen!

A few weeks ago I accepted a commission to illustrate a phoenix in the style of my crow series from 2011,(see here). It is to be part of quite a large tattoo including the two crows which will spread over the back and up towards the shoulders. A mythological creature was a fun challenge!

 

After finishing the requesting colour-scheme, I then painted my own, more fiery version....this one is much more my style!

Images are copyright Amy Holliday. Please do not use without permission. 

Wild Rabbits in the Sunshine

A very short series of wild rabbits in the sunshine. These drawings are from a while ago and I had been itching to paint them for quite some time, so when I had a chance 

to finish them it felt so good to finally see them in colour! 

I can't wait for Spring to finally take hold in the uk, it feels like one endless winter here!

All images (C) Amy Holliday all rights reserved do not use without permission.

Cat Breed Studies: Siamese

The final of my large cat series for now, a very playful Siamese. I used a more subtle colour-scheme for this one to emphasize the delicate neutral colours of the fur. More info on this feline breed series can be found in the previous post here. 

More cats:

Maine Coon

Russian Blue

Ginger Tabby

Silver Tabby

Siamese