Thursday 20 October 2016

Lake District Mountain Bike Clean Up (Concept / Roughs)

I was approached by a local authority in The Lake District to create some concept artwork for a campaign to help keep the beautiful national park clean and accessible, by encouraging mountain bike enthusiasts to take part in local clean-ups.

The project was never finished but these rough concepts were great for experimenting with earthy textures and abstract landscapes.










All artwork (C) Amy Holliday

Do not use without seeking permission


Thursday 16 June 2016

Stylist Magazine // The Summer of Craft Beers (1 of 2)

Last week's issue of Stylist Magazine featured the article "The Summer of Craft Beers" - and if you saw it then you might have noticed that the illustrations were all done by yours truly! I was asked to provide my own take on some of the season's trendiest independently-brewed beers, as well as a full opening page design with a very feminine and ornate beer bottle.



The timeframe was very tight on this one - I had just 3 days to complete 10 illustrations from start to finish which was very challenging. On the plus side, having to work as fast as possible certainly required that I be more confident with my freehand work, and accept it for what it is, mistakes and all (absolutely no chance of starting over with this project!)





The opening title page was very fun to design and paint. The brief required it to be feminine and decorative - so of course I let loose on a very pretty, girly beer label!



All artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2016. Please do not use without seeking prior permission. 
To see more of my work visit www.amyholliday.co.uk

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Sketchbook // Bird drawings: Street Pigeons

Drawing exercise - freehand, quick, loose, no erasing - some turn out fine but others not so much, but that's OK. Here is a handful of the better studies from life and some from photos. I love drawing birds!





Friday 15 April 2016

POWER SAUCE by Essentis Berlin // Packaging Illustration for Organic Chilli Sauce

This week I had the pleasure of working with lovely people behind "Essentis" - a new brand created by chef Nicolas Petrucci. The brand "Essentis" shares its name with the popular biohotel in Berlin where Nicolas is head chef. Their first product is a pro-biotic and organic chilli-based sauce named "Power Sauce" and I was asked to create some vibrant chilli and mango-inspired 
artwork to adorn the product labels.

The initial inspiration came from my own chilli pepper painting, which I used as a base to add more colourful watercolour splashes to make it that little bit more exciting(!) and painted new mango slices to match. As you can probably tell, this was a lot of fun to paint - 
bold colour and abstract splashes? Right up my street.    






The first concept labels: 






I love how the typography works with the artwork. Here are the simplified labels on the first wave of packaging, ready to go: 



And finally, a wonderfully designed Power Sauce poster using my artwork:




Essentis Biohotel - http://essentisbiohotel.de/en/

 Artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2016

Photography (C) Essentis by Nicolas Petrucci 2016



Friday 11 March 2016

Pattern Design // Honey Bee & Bumble Bees | Watercolour illustration bumblebee patterns

EDIT 03/01/24 - re-added artwork with watermarks. If you would like to use these illustrations and/or patterns please contact me, thank you :)


As a little side project I've been working towards perfecting the art of "repeat patterns", which I hope will help me create a variety of decorative fabrics and products with my illustrations. Some of the first I've put together are based on this small series of pollen-dusted bee paintings. Let me know if you like them.

Fluffy Bumblebees




And I couldn't forget the iconic Honey Bee. I wanted this one to be quite symmetrical to create a more uniform pattern. 





And just for fun, a fat bumblebee!





Images and artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2016

To view more of my work please visit www.amyholliday.co.uk

Monday 22 February 2016

UK Wildlife // Squirrel Studies

A second batch of UK wild animal watercolour studies - this time its the squirrel.


The introduced US Grey Squirrel vs the resident British Red Squirrel. The grey has become the most widespread out of the two and is now the dominant species. (Luckily for me I live in the North where reds still survive, but I love both kinds!).


I also took a little time to try a softer style...




Images and artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2016

To see more of my work visit www.amyholliday.co.uk

Friday 12 February 2016

UK Wildlife // Red Fox Studies

I was glad to finish some paintings from one of my own personal projects this week - the first in a UK wildlife series, the red fox. I am aiming for a slightly more traditional, non-fiction approach with these but that still has my own contemporary style. What do you think?



A collection of some of the initial loose sketches: 

  
And then some of the more refined sketches, exploring various positions and face styles:



Images and artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2016

To see more of my work visit www.amyholliday.co.uk

Friday 22 January 2016

Book Cover Illustration // "Cook Healthy & Quick" by DK Publishing

This week I received a wonderful surprise in the mail from the lovely team at DK publishing. Back in August I was asked to illustrate a pair of fitting ingredients for the cover of their new book "Cook Healthy & Quick". The only request was that the paintings were soft so that they wouldn't overpower the photography. I actually finished four pea pods in varying ways so that they could choose their favourite. This was my first time working for Dorling Kindersley and they were lovely to work with. 

Seeing my work on the finished book cover is fantastic, and I'm incredibly pleased with the results!






My lemon illustration was also used in its entirety on the reverse side of the jacket.


  The book is a new release this month (January 2016) and is packed full of excellent healthy recipes.



Images and artwork (C) Amy Holliday 2016

To see more of my work visit www.amyholliday.co.uk