Unique Blogger Of The Year Finalist

I'm so incredibly excited to tell you that I'm a finalist in the Bloggers Lounge Awards! Eee! I've been picked out of hundreds of entrants (internationally!) as one of five blogs up for Unique Blogger Of The Year. 

Blooming exciting.

I'll be heading down to the awards evening in London in late January, but to be in with a chance of being named Unique Blogger Of The Year I need a hand from you: the winners are based on public vote and I'd so so appreciate your support.

You can vote for me at http://bloggers-lounge.co.uk/bloggers-of-the-year/blogger-of-the-year-2015! I really recommend having a snoop around some of the other blogs up for awards, there are some really amazing ones.

I've spied few news articles floating around about my shortlisting. Last week I was featured in The Lancashire Telegraph with a silly grin and some nice words about me and my work! It's amazing to see so many people pop up to support me - I really, really appreciate it.

So, if you have a spare minute, nip over to http://bloggers-lounge.co.uk/bloggers-of-the-year/blogger-of-the-year-2015 and cast some votes (no signup) or share it with your mum / bestfriend / piano teacher / cat-sitter before voting closes on December 24th this year. I have my fingers super-crossed for January!

Jessica Jones

I've been a little bit under the weather since Thought Bubble Comic Festival (and an adventure to Nottingham last week to boot) so naturally, I've basked in the warm embrace of Netflix. Jessica Jones, a new show based on the Marvel comic, has just popped up and I've absolutely stormed through it as, well, it's brilliant. 

I love TV shows with strong-but-realistic female lead characters (yup, I've been meaning to draw a million Buffy characters) and you'll notice a lot of tough ladies in my illustration work as well. I love Krysten Ritter's portrayal of super strong, humanly flawed, witty Jessica (and apparently I love drawing leather jackets) so I had to draw a quick ink sketch of her, bourbon bottle n all.

You can see this illustration on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and in my Behance portfolio.

I Survived My First Convention! Thought Bubble 2015 Round Up

So I survived (and absolutely loved) my very first convention! Last weekend I exhibited at Thought Bubble Sequential Art Festival in Leeds, it was an incredible experience and I have to say it was brilliant to get away from my desk and interact with real-life humans for my work.

Thought Bubble has been going for a few years now, but this was my very first time attending and my very first time tabling - so it was a little overwhelming on the first day. I'd applied for a table earlier in the year to act as a deadline for me to finish some of the comics I'd been working on (I'm a bit awful when it comes to procrastinating over my own work). I find a lot of the time I need a set deadline to make sure I equally prioritize my personal work alongside commissions. 

Well, after a few late, laattee nights preparing and a lot of organising and the invaluable help of Andrew Jolly: I managed to rustle everything up, get a zillion things printed and packed it all up in cardboard boxes to trundle over to Leeds.

My table was in The Royal Armouries hall in, as I soon realised, a fantaaastic location (well lit, great traffic and lots of space) with the lovely Tor Freeman tabling next to me. I didn't really know what to expect from the festival, and I'd been a little worried about over or under preparing, but I managed to pitch it just about perfectly (although I sold out of a few prints!). I had been nervous, with classic "Oh god, what if nothing sells? What if everyone hates my work?!" sort of thoughts running through my head, but after selling a few big bundles of prints within half an hour I relaxed a bit!

It can be pretty daunting having so many people wander up to your table looking at your illustrations, but it was fantastic to meet everyone and get a real sense of live feedback on my work. It's really useful to put yourself out there and be able to take a hard look at what doesn't sell as well as you expected and what surprises you and sells out! 

I was also offering live portraits for the first time. That was really a trial by fire as I'd never live sketched with the drawee watching before - but, again, I think it's all about pushing yourself to take a risk and leap in to new areas. Luckily everyone seemed to absolutely love their sketches, and I had a blast doing it!

I met so many people over the course of the weekend: long-time Twitter friends, publishers and comic creators, classic Draw North West-ers and a few of my very favourite artists! I only meant to give myself about twenty minutes to rush around the other halls before running back to my table, but I ended up taking over an hour as there were just too many chats to have and comics to buy.

My Thought Bubble comic haul ft Matt Taylor, Natalie Andrewson, Fleur Sciorliano and Nicolas Delort!

I also got the chance to pop in to the Joan Cornella exhibition at the Gallery at Munro House, which was brilliant (despite me having to run and dry my clothes in the bathroom after getting drenched in a fast car + puddle situation) and on the Saturday night I went to the mid-con party where Darryl McDaniels from Run DMC popped out and rapped a few hits! 

The whole weekend was a beautiful blur, and I'm so relieved it ended up going really well. Hopefully I'll be able to exhibit at Thought Bubble again next year (I've really got the convention bug now) and I've carefully noted down all the little tips and edits I've learnt along the way. I think it's always worth throwing yourself in to a new experience like this, even if you're a little hesitant, because there's so much to learn about yourself and your work if you go for it.

See you next year Thought Bubble!

Emmeline In The Guardian!

If you've read The Guardian this week, you may have spotted me featured talking about my plans for Small Business Saturday!

This year I've been picked as one of the Small Business 100, a select group of one hundred small business from across the country chosen as representatives for Small Business Saturday on 5th December.  

We're an incredibly diverse bunch: from candle-makers to green-grocers and freelance illustrators like me! My big plan for Small Business Saturday is to create a series of illustrations celebrating the huge variety of small businesses across the country, and post these throughout the day using #SmallBizSatUK - keep an eye out!

I won't deny it's pretty bloomin' exciting to see my little face featured in The Guardian, and I absolutely can't wait to show you the illustrations I've been working on for Small Business Saturday! If you can, I really recommend getting involved on December 5th, it's so great to have the importance and strength of small businesses celebrated.

Thought Bubble Festival & My First Ever Comic Reveal

It's been a hectic one this week: right now I'm putting together all my final little tweaks to a whole host of illustrated goodies for Thought Bubble festival in Leeds this weekend. Yes, I was up until 4am last night and had to get up at 8; yes I'm going a bit loopy from stapling and folding comics; and yesss I'm excited!

This year's Thought Bubble festival will be my very first convention stall! I applied for a table towards the start of the year as a deadline for me to complete some of the comics ideas that I'd been procrastinating over - and finally, they're done.

It's going to be an amazing festival - the line up is incredible! If you happen to swing by, find me at table 4b in The Royal Armouries Hall! It would be amazing if you came and said hello.

I'll be debuting a completely brand new, entirely un-seen comic (well, collection of two comics) 'Small Stories: The Flood & Eggs' aaaand a physical 'Creative Tips For Your Fight Through The Freelance Jungle' booklet with all sorts of advice on starting up or maintaining a creative career (with a bunch of new content and illustrations!). Small Stories will be my first ever official comic! It's been so great to work on and I'm excited to show you all.


I can't wait!