IPSE Magazine Cover Illustration

Heyo! I made the cover of IPSE magazine! 

This one's extra special as I was commissioned to create an illustrated self-portrait (always tricky!) to celebrate my Freelancer of the Year award in June. So. Exciting.

It's a great alternative to the usual winner's photo as it lets me show exactly what my work is like (rather than trying to describe it, which is always a little complicated), and, well, it sidesteps a little bit of an Emmeline blush seeing giant pictures of my real-life face in print.

If you were at the Freelancer of the Year event you may have seen the original photo-cover pop up on the screen as the awards were announced (I didn't notice until later on!). I thought it would be good to stick to that basic design, although obviously hair down is more fun to draw, and there's always some artistic license in a style switch. I also grabbed a bit of inspiration from my own 'Small Stories' comic cover to create the illustrated version. 

I think it's always good to share a little bit of process, so as you can see I started with quick digital sketches, moved on to ink linework and then used Photoshop for the digital colouring (which follows my usual process at the moment) and sent the illustration and name in my handwriting to IPSE to design the cover.

If you can get hold of a copy of the magazine, it's well worth a read, with lots of articles on freelancing, business advice, IPSE's new 'Be free to create' campaign, the low-down on the other finalists and a great 'A Picture of Happiness' write up on me and my career by Jim Cassidy. You can also take a look at the magazine online here!