Last night I finally sent away for my book that I’ve been putting together for a little over a year. I feel so nervous and excited.

Using places I have called home in the past years, travelling between them back and forth, I used the Isle of Man, Cornwall and Northern Ireland as inspiration and their landscapes for photographs for the base of my illustrations. Here are some photos, sketches and ideas that I accumulated during this time.

Cornwall

The front cover of “Brumous” was taken in the small harbour town of Falmouth, where I lived and studied illustration for three years. Drawn with pencil, painted digitally and patched together on photoshop, I created my first illustration with a technique that I used throughout the book.

Another couple of photographs from the book were taken in Cornwall during a trip to Port Isaac with our best friends. The gull and seal were added using the same technique mentioned previously.

Isle of Man

After my stay in Falmouth I moved back to the little Isle of Man, where I’m currently living and took advantage of the beautiful clifftops and coastal walks as soon as I could.

Northern Ireland

My forever human is originally from Ireland and has lots of family there, I took lots of photos on a recent visit and was inspired by yet more beautiful coastlines, using them for the book.

Chasing the moon
Down by the tide
Across the rooves
Looking for you

But I am the sun
And we’ll never meet
Even in this form
Our hands cannot reach

You swim away
The sky is now grey
dimmed, dark, bleak,
And brumous today