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  • 2010
    • July
      • Sneak Preview of a Work in Progress: The Tomb of Tutankhamun
        05/07/10




        Here is an illustration I've been working on recently, it's still a work in progress as is part of a much larger piece, so I'm hoping to be able to show the finished article before too long.

        This artwork shows objects in the antechamber of the Ancien

    • June
      • Revamped & Enlarged Castle Howard Riddle Trail Signs
        24/06/10


        Castle Howard recently got back in touch with me, asking if I would enlarge and make some small changes to the Riddle Trail signs which I had previously designed as part of their new Children's Riddle Trail.

        The original signs were A5 in size with hand lettered text and

      • The Battle of Flodden, Recoloured Illustration
        15/06/10


        I have revisited, recoloured and cropped this illustration of the Battle of Flodden, which I originally drew as part of a series of illustrations for a timeline of Tudor history. I have made the colours brighter and think it now has more impact.

        I am also currently working on

    • May
      • Museums & Heritage Show
        20/05/10
        Last Thursday I visited the Museums & Heritage Show at Earls Court in London. It was a great opportunity to meet people who work within the Museums and Heritage sector, and particularly to meet designers and design companies who provide work with heritage clients.

        I have booked my own

      • Illustrated Victorian Characters for HMS Warrior Interpretation & Learning Resources
        10/05/10


        I have just finished these four illustrated Victorian characters, commissioned by HMS Warrior, the pride of Queen Victoria's Naval fleet which is now situated in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

        From left to right the characters are: George, a young sailor; Caroline, his wif

      • Printed Copy of the Castle Howard Children's Riddle Trail Map
        06/05/10


        I've just received some printed copies of the final Castle Howard Children's Riddle Trail Map, and I think it looks great and has reproduced very well. It's nice to think of children receiving a copy of the map when they visit, and I hope they are enjoying the trail.

      • Dinosaurs! (But not the scary kind...)
        04/05/10


        Here are some friendly and colourful illustrated dinosaurs! They are child-friendly and not too fearsome!

      • Children & Nature: Redrawn & Recoloured
        04/05/10
        I really liked my 'Children and Nature' series of drawings, but felt that my drawing skill had improved since I did them. I've recently redrawn and recoloured them, and I think you'll agree they look a world apart from the originals, and better by far.

        AFTER

      • Revisiting Old Artwork II: My colours have got brighter!
        04/05/10
        Whilst doing some work on my website I realised that over time, the colours I use have hot brighter and my style has developed. I have gone back and revisited some of my old favourites, and recoloured them. I now think they look a lot better - bolder and more striking.



        Illustr

    • April
      • Revisiting Old Artwork, Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Francis Drake
        20/04/10


        I'm gradually updating and sprucing up my website (you may have noticed some new banners over the last couple of days), and this has lead me to revisit some past artwork.

        I feel my use of colour has really developed recently, and so have been able to give a few pieces of

    • March
    • February
    • January
      • Nostalgic Black & White Line Illustrations for book by local Sheffield author
        07/01/10

        Two illustrated scenes showing old fashioned Sheffield trams. Young Fred and his friends used to have hours of fun switching the points to make the trams go the wrong way, or go into the wrong tram shed. Top(from left to right): An angry teacher after he has been pushed into the swimming pool,

      • Victorian Paper Doll Cut Out Sheet for Children (and big kids!)
        06/01/10


        This is a Victorian paper doll which you can cut out and dress. I made this worksheet to hand out to children at my stall at the Kelham Island Christmas Market, but found it was more popular with nostalgic adults!

        If you'd like to print the doll out, then click on the ima

      • My stall at the Kelham Island Christmas Market 2009
        06/01/10




        Here are a couple of pictures of my stall at the Kelham Island Christmas Market in Sheffield. It was a fun weekend, and I was selling hand made and hand painted gifts.

  • 2009
    • December
      • I'll be selling hand made gifts at Craft Fair at Bungalows & Bears, Sheffield Sat 19th Dec 09
        17/12/09
        Craft Candy are having a mini craft fair at Bungalows and Bears this Saturday 19th December, 1-5pm.

        I'll be there, selling hand screen printed and hand painted Christmas decorations, small gifts and tumbling Father Christmas Chimney toys.

        Come along for some last minute

      • A charm of finches
        09/12/09


        I have recently learnt that the collective noun for a group of finches is a 'charm'.

        So here we have an illustration of a charming charm of Goldfinches and Redpolls perched on thistles and teasels in a decorative fashion.

    • November
      • Hen House & Chickens Illustration, Black & White Line Drawing
        27/11/09


        Here's a new illustration I've just done, I will be adding colour by hand - however I quite like the black and white version so thought I would upload it.

        I quite like the idea of keeping hens, and hopefully one day I might be able to have my own. Not at the moment

      • Art Bytes Free Art Classes for Adults in Sheffield
        24/11/09
        I am very pleased to be involved with Art Bytes, free art classes for adults in Sheffield. These are organised by local arts organisation Art in The Park, and aim to encourage adults to explore art and creativity in a relaxed and informal setting.

        I am volunteering at the Hillborough Art

      • I have been selected to take part in Artist Carousel
        24/11/09
        I am pleased to say that I have been selected to take part in Artist Carousel, organised by Artforms & Education Leeds. Artist Carousel is a scheme with twins nine visual artists with secondary school art teachers. The artist & teacher work together to plan and organise a presentation of the

      • Hillsborough Forum: Project to Create Artwork & Brighten up Empty Shop Windows in Hillsborough, Sheffield
        03/11/09
        I have been working with the Hillsborough Forum on a project to create artwork and brighten up the windows of empty shop premises in Hillsborough, Sheffield.

        The first in a series of window displays is inspired by old photographs of Hillsborough shops in the Victorian and Edwardian eras,

    • October
      • Antiques & Collectables: Ink, watercolour & pencil illustrations
        26/10/09
        Selection of illustrations of antiques and collectables. I really enjoyed drawing these, particularly those items with lots of intricate detail.

        These are coloured with pencil and watercolour, I am finding I am moving towards more traditional media lately, and trying to reduce the amount

    • September
      • New EM Illustration Shop now open! Selling Hand Coloured Prints by Illustrator Emma Metcalfe
        30/09/09


        My new shop is finally open, selling hand coloured silk screen prints of some of my illustrations and drawings. I will be expanding the range over the next few weeks, as I create more prints and hope to establish a good selection in time.

        Click here to visit the shop

      • Hand Painted Illustrated Owls Screen Prints for Sale, Tawny Owl, Barn Owl and Scops Owl
        28/09/09





        I am going to be setting up a 'shop' page on my website, and am expanding my range of prints for sale. I have just finished painting my first set of Owl prints.

        These are hand silk screened black line prints, which are then individually hand colour

      • Cheeky Chameleons Hand Coloured Silk Screen Prints for Sale!
        25/09/09
        I'm pleased to say that after much experimentation and messing around with ink, I finally have some silk screen prints for sale.

        This Cheeky Chameleon is a hand pulled silk screen print taken from an original pen and ink drawing. Each print is then coloured by hand using watercolour

      • Hand Silk Screen Printed 'Snow Penguins' Greeting Cards for sale
        22/09/09



        I have designed and hand printed these 'Snow Penguins' greeting cards which I am selling. Each is a hand pulled screen print on 350gsm art paper, signed by myself, and mounted on silver-grey card with a subtle metallic sheen. Comes with an envelope and wrapped in a cellop

      • Screen Printing with Photo Emulsion
        16/09/09


        My photo emulsion has finally arrived, so I have just exposed my first Photo Emulsion coated screen.

        Above you can see the screen, and positive during exposure, and then below the screen after I had just given it a good blast of water to remove the Photo Emulsion.

      • My First Silk Screen Print using Diazo Screen Filler
        11/09/09




        After spending hours working in Photoshop, I sometimes get a craving to do some 'real' art, and on one of these occassions recently I bought a Speedball silk screen printing set.

        This is my first attempt at using Diazo Screen filler, which you can either

      • Preparatory Drawings & Roughs for Giant Funfair/Fairground Illustration
        08/09/09


        Thought it might be nice for people to see some of the prep work that goes into my final illustrations. Before I break out the ink I do quite a few pencil and fineliner drawings/ideas/composition experiments.

        I am currently working on a very large fairground poster size illus

      • Shambala Illustrated Chinese Lantern
        05/09/09


        Lack of posts lately down to a number of things, one of which is that I went to Shambala Festival with my friend and fellow illustrator Laura Elliott last weekend.

        Lots of fun was had, good music, talented poets, beatboxers and acrobats, and lots of lovely tea and cake. Howev

    • August
    • July
    • June
      • Street Clutter Threat to Conservation Areas
        26/06/09


        Self-promotional Editorial illustration inspired by the Guardian Article 'Street Clutter Threat to Conservation Areas'.

        The nicest streets in England are gradually being wrecked – sinking under a tide of ­plastic windows, concrete roof tiles, replacement doors, satel

      • 'My Dad's a Birdman', Sheffield Lyceum Theatre Poster Illustration
        15/06/09


        I was recently commissioned to produce a poster for the Sheffield Lyceum Theatre's Children's Production of 'My Dad's a Birdman', which will be performed in schools.

        The story is about a girl and her dad, who wants to be a bird and to enter the Great H

      • Museums Sheffield Family Trail Sheets
        15/06/09



        I've just received some print outs of the finished Museums Sheffield Family Trail Sheets for the Ruskin Gallery and Metalwork Gallery.

        I provided the character of John Ruskin for the Ruskin Gallery trail, and the Sheffield Buffer girl for the Metalwork Gallery trail

      • Illustration Friday: "Adapt", Illustration of Chameleons in the Jungle
        04/06/09


        This is my submission for this week's Illustration Friday. The word to respond to was 'adapt'.

        This made me think of animals adapting to their surroundings, and this immediately made me think of Chameleons, which change colour to blend into their environment. <

    • May
      • New EM Illustration Website
        26/05/09


        My new website is up and running at last, so make sure to take a good look around!

        The Circus/Show Illustration above is a postcard I've designed to promote the new website.

      • The party that was memorable for the wrong reasons
        14/05/09



        I decided to revisit an old image I did over a year ago, since the colours I use in my work have got a lot brighter lately, and I thought some of my old work looked a bit tired.

        The illustration is of guests at a party which has got out of hand, much to the distress of

      • Illustration Friday "Theatre" - Peter Pan Pantomime Poster Illustration
        11/05/09


        Here is an illustrated poster design I've done for a local amateur dramatics society which I am a member of, for their production of 'Peter Pan the Pantomime'.


    • April
      • Hall Place Tudor Timeline is now up on display
        14/04/09




        The Tudor Timeline I illustrated for Hall Place Tudor House in Bexley is now on display in their Children's Gallery.

        You can see the timeline in the top left of the photograph, and below are some illustrations taken from the timeline.

        Illustrations

    • March
      • Illustration Friday: "Poise". Georgian Style Lady with Textures
        30/03/09


        I used this week's illustration friday as an excuse to experiment with using textures in my work. I've always been a fan of collecting old magazines, papers, and ephemera but have rarely found a use for it in my work.

        I hope that by using texture it adds an extra di

      • AOI View of London Exhibition Entry
        30/03/09


        Above is my entry for the AOI View of London Exhibition.

        The 'View of London Exhibition' is being organised by the Association of Illustrators and the London Transport museum, both to celebrate the vibrancy of modern day London, and to promote Illustration as a prof

      • Museums Sheffield John Ruskin & Buffer Girl Historical Characters
        27/03/09


        I have just finished these two characters for Museums Sheffield.

        On the left is John Ruskin, who was a British Social Thinker & Critic, who is well remembered as an authoer, artist and poet.

        The Millennium Galleries in Sheffield is the home of the Ruskin Galler

      • Illustration Friday: "Intricate" - Selection of Scattered Costume Jewellery
        11/03/09


        This week's illustration friday theme is 'intricate', and I decided to have a good root through my overloaded jewellery box for inspiration.

        This was the result - I hope you like it.

        The illustration shows a selection of earrings, brooches, bracelets

      • BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year Competition Entry: Rainforest Scene
        03/03/09


        I drew this rainforest image to enter into the BBC Wildlife Artist Competition, and thoroughly enjoy making it, and the challenges it presented.

        If you look carefully at the image you should be able to spot a variety of animals, hiding amongst the rainforest plants and trees.

    • February
      • O2 "It's Your Community", Art Competition Entry
        23/02/09


        This is my entry for the O2 'It's Your Community', Community Art Competition.

        This is a large an intricate piece, measuring 600 x 600mm in real life, so please Click here to see a large version of the artwork

        Entries for the competition had to be ins

      • Illustration Friday: "Time" - Selection of Doodles
        09/02/09


        This week's Illustration Friday theme is "time", and my contribution is this experimental piece, which is a selection of doodles taken from my many doodle sheets and miscellaneous pieces of paper which have built up over the last few months on my desk. All the doodles comb

      • Animal Characters/Zoo Animals
        03/02/09


        Here are some illustrations of wild animals which I have drawn recently. I wanted to explore how animals could be drawn in a stylised way, but remain realistic; or characterised so they had individual personalities and expressions.

        The animals shown are an elephant and a giraf

      • Admiral Characters for English Heritage, Dover Castle Wartime Tunnels Factsheet
        02/02/09


        Above are two Admiral characters I have just finished, commissioned by English Heritage for use on a children's factsheet for the Dover Castle Secret Wartime Tunnels.

        The characters are black and white so the sheet can be easily photocopied, and children could even colou

    • January
      • Treasures from the V&A 400-1600 AD, Children's Trail Sheet Illustrations for Sheffield Millennium Galleries
        29/01/09



        Last night I attended the opening of the 'Treasures from the V&A' at Sheffield Millennium Galleries, and picked up a copy of the children's trail which I supplied illustrated characters for. You can see both sides above.

        Illustrations by myself, design

      • Children Interacting with Nature
        28/01/09


        Here is a selection of spot illustrations of children interacting with nature which I have just completed.

        Activities included are bird watching, pond dipping, looking at animal tracks and observing animals.

      • Illustration Friday: "Climbing" - A tree is nature's climbing frame
        26/01/09


        This week's illustration friday theme is 'climbing', and this immediately made me think fondly of the childhood pastime of climbing trees!

        There's been quite a bit on the news lately about the demise of tree climbing amongst modern children, which if it is

      • Illustration Friday: "Pale". Coloured version of my carousel image
        22/01/09


        I spent ages thinking about what I could come up with for the theme of pale, but then decided that it would be more worthwhile working drawing something which would allow me to continue to develop my work. I have recently thought that I would like to get more colour into my work, since I

      • Carousel with Unusual Animals
        21/01/09


        This is a fineliner 'rough' of a carousel image I'm working on at the moment. I will be adding people riding on the carousel, but felt I needed to work the carousel out first since it's such a complex thing.

      • Illustration Friday 'Contained' - Educational Poster 'Famous Eccentic People'
        15/01/09


        The theme of this week's Illustration Friday topic is 'contained'.

        I found this quotation, which I liked the idea of.
        “Eccentricity has always abounded when and where strength of character had abounded; and the amount of eccentricity in a society has gener

      • General Portfolio Page Updated with 2 new Images
        15/01/09
        I've updated my 'General' page with two new images, they have been featured on the blog, but a rather long time ago - and I thought it was time they were included in my portfolio. You can click on 'General' on the top menu, or click the links below to go direct to the images

      • Famous Figures of the American Civil War Educational Trading Cards/Fact Cards
        08/01/09


        I am developing some designs for Illustrated Educational Trading cards/fact cards of Famous people from the American Civil War, in my ongoing attempt to integrate some illustrations involving American History into my portfolio. I'm not sure how many of these I will develop, but I li

      • Illustration Friday: "Resolve" - Thomas Stonewall Jackson
        07/01/09


        This week's Illustration Friday theme is 'Resolve'. I am still expanding my historical illustration portfolio, and decided that this was an ideal opportunity to draw a character from American History.

        This illustration is of Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson,

  • 2008
    • December
      • Emma is featured in the Winter 2008 Issue of Illustration Magazine
        18/12/08


        Look out as EM Illustration is featured in the Winter 2008 edition of Illustration Magazine, out shortly.

        The feature reads

        "I graduated in July after a busy but rewarding three years spent studying Illustration at University Collge Falmouth. I am now working

      • Merry Christmas from EM Illustration - A Victorian Christmas Scene
        10/12/08


        Season's Greetings from Emma at EM Illustration. I drew this Victorian Christmas Scene illustration to use on Christmas cards, and Christmas emails to send to clients, friends and family.

        The scene is a nostalgic representation of a Victorian Middle Class family Christma

      • Childrensillustrators.com
        04/12/08
        I have just opened a portfolio on childrensillustrators.com - so fingers crossed it may bring in some new and interesting projects!



        NB. I've just corrected this, so the link now leads directly to my portfolio, rather than the childrensillustrators.com homepage!

    • November
      • Family Guide to Mining in Central Cornwall Featured in Western Morning News
        24/11/08


        Just came across this article on the Western Morning News website, it concerns the 'Family Guide to Mining in Central Cornwall' which I illustrated earlier in the year.

        Miner poet leads readers on a 'below grass' trail of discovery

        Wednesday, Oct

      • Paint for the Hospice, Hospice in the Weald Art Exhibition
        13/11/08



        Above is an artwork I have done for the 'Paint for the Hospice' Exhibition, organised by charity Hospice in the Weald.

        The charity has asked artists to donate either an original artwork or a print which will be sold to raise funds for the charity at an exhibiti

      • Snow White Pantomime Poster
        07/11/08


        I'm involved with a good old Christmas Panto in December, and have ended up drawing the poster design which you can see above.

        This was really good fun to do, since the whole idea of pantomimes is being silly, so I could draw whatever I wanted! It made a nice change from

      • Museums Sheffield Characters Coloured
        06/11/08


        A few weeks ago I posted the black and white versions of these characters for Museums Sheffield. They are going to be used as part of a family trail when the V&A Medieval & Renaissance Treasures Exhibition comes to the Millenium Galleries.

        I've now done the final

      • Tudor Timeline - Christopher Columbus & Other Characters
        05/11/08



        The Tudor Timeline for Hall Place Tudor House in Bexley is now finished, and all the images have been coloured. Above you can see an illustration of Christopher Columbus discovering the West Indies, and an assortment of characters.

        Characters clockwise starting from top

      • Tudor Timeline - John Cabot & The Matthew, and Sir Francis Drake & The Golden Hinde
        04/11/08


        Two Tudor Timeline images with a sea theme here.

        The first shows John Cabot on board The Matthew catching sight of the North American coast on the horizon, after a long voyage at sea.

        The second shows Francis Drake's ship The Golden Hinde (formerly The Pelican)

    • October
      • Battle of Flodden Historical Illustration
        16/10/08


        This is an illustration of the Battle of Flodden, which was fought between the English and Scottish armies in 1513. It is one of a series of illustrations for an illustrated timeline of Tudor History, commissioned by Hall Place Tudor Mansion in Bexley.

        In the foreground you ca

      • William Shakespeare
        15/10/08


        Small image of William Shakespeare, again part of the Hall Place Tudor Timeline. The challenge with this was getting a likeness whilst keeping the image simple and stylised.

      • Characters for Museums Sheffield, Victoria & Albert Museum Medieval and Renaissance Treasures Exhibition
        07/10/08


        Here are some characters I have designed for Sheffield Millenium Galleries, who are due to be hosting the travelling V&A Museum exhibition 'Medieval and Rennaisance Treasures'. These characters will be used as part of a children's trail, and on signage to link some art

      • More Tudor Timeline Illustrations
        06/10/08



        I've had a very busy few days working on the illustrations for the Hall Place Tudor Timeline. I've now submitted the black and white versions for approval - so hope to be getting down to some serious colouring before too long.

        The timeline runs from Henry VII t

    • September
      • Tudor Illustrations
        24/09/08


        I've justed started work on a commissioned project to illustrate a timeline of Tudor History for Hall Place in Bexley, which is a historic Tudor Hall. This is a black and white line drawing of Queen Elizabeth I knighting Sir Francis Drake, it will of course be coloured in due course

      • Illustration Friday: "Clique"
        19/09/08


        'Extravagant Wig Wearers'

        Found this week's theme a bit tricky, because I am still trying to produce more historical work and couldn't immediately think of any ways of linking the two. I decided to draw some characters from the 1700s, and what links them to

      • The Royal We(e) - Index Book Competition
        16/09/08


        My entry for Index Book's bizarre competition to make bathroom signs more fun! These are for a castle or museum, and feature Henry VIII and Queen Victoria.

      • Illustration Friday: "Island"
        15/09/08


        This week's Illustration Friday topic is 'island' - I am currently working on expanding my historical illustration portfolio - so chose to use this as an opportunity to illustrate this famous Winston Churchill quote.

        I found trying to get a likeness quite challe

      • Advice To Sink in Slowly
        14/09/08


        This is a poster I drew for the Advice to Sink in Slowly project, which passes on advice to new university students in the form of A3 posters. This was a challenging prokect due to the sheer complexity of the image! Colours look a bit garish on screen.

        Advice to Sink in Slowly

    • August
      • Illustration Friday - 'Routine'
        26/08/08


        Theme is 'Routine'. I decided to think out of the box slightly for this one, I thought of the idea of someone having a break from their normal routine, and had the idea of people with strange and exciting jobs doing something very normal and mundane as a break from their normal

    • July
      • SS Great Britain Museum Trail Sheet
        28/07/08


        Have completed some Illustration work for the SS Great Britain Museum. It is an illustrated Trail sheet for children - the idea being that they spot items on their way around the ship.

        I enjoyed this opportunity to work in black and white line only, and the challenge of making

      • Historical Promotional Postcard
        16/07/08


        Book launch went well, a nice occassion and opportunity to meet some interesting people. That was followed by a week of long days at the New Designers Show, business design centre, Islington. Our boards looked great and once again a fantastic opportunity to meet people from industry and

      • Illustrated Book of Quotes and Sayings
        08/07/08


        New Website goes live today after a very busy week, new features include clickable thumbnails to view enlarged images.

        Tonight I am attending a launch party for 'Illustrated Book of Quotes and Sayings 3' - a compilation of work by new illustrators, at the Royal Socie