Spring Collection Sketches

I was having a bit of a tough time planning out my spring collection of dessert illustrations so I decided to do some quick sketch studies of desserts I liked the look of! Starting with a list of potential dessert ideas and flavours that have a spring vibe, I used these to begin searching for cute reference photos I could work from. Once I found a bunch of nice ones I started sketching them out while hoping I would get some ideas to work with for some full illustrations.

Aspects of these sketches went on to become my next illustration which I’ll share tomorrow!

Mushroom Forager

I’m so happy with this collection of mushroom illustrations! I love creating work with expressive line work and interesting pencil textures, and I feel like both of those aspects come through really nicely in this one!

Honestly, I can’t believe it took me this long to draw a collection of fungi! They’re such interesting organisms, I find the way they communicate through the mycelium like a network to be utterly fascinating!! Plus they’re really cute to look at!

Looking at this illustration makes me want to set aside a mini project for autumn in which I illustrate and research various species. It could be a really fun way for me to learn more as well as being able to enjoy drawing them more!

Adder Sketch + Colour Blocking

Here’s a quick Adder sketch with a colour blocking experiment! I really like using arch shapes within my work, they feel like windows or portals and I also enjoy how they work aesthetically within a piece.

As you can see from some of my other recent sketches (here and here for example), I normally use a black scribbled arch as a background and to frame the subject of my illustrations. For this sketch I wanted to see how else I could use this shape and so this colour blocking aesthetic was used!

I don’t typically use much, if any, colour in my work so I’m really excited by this simple method of injecting a pop of colour into a piece. I’m also looking forward to experimenting more with this to see how else I can play with colour!