New Year's Resolutions

The past couple of days I've been learning a few new skills in Illustrator, which should help enhance my design work. I've particularly been experimenting with different text effects as I increasingly find myself needing to use typography within my work and would like to do this as imaginatively as possible. Found some great tutorials here. One of my resolutions for 2013 is to build a new website using some of the typography and animation skills I've honed over the past year, so watch this space.

I'm also looking forward to participating in some great exhibitions in early 2013:

The Grant Bradley Gallery's show, 'Let Me Illustrate' runs Sat 12 Jan to Sat 2 Feb, with a preview on Fri 11 Jan

Drawn in Bristol's fantastic new exhibition 'Beat the Blues' launches Fri 18 Jan at St George's Bristol with an evening of live music.

I'm excited to see some imaginative and inspiring work at both of these, as well as seeing what new opportunities arise. Roll on the New Year!

My first GIF

Currently exploring the possibilities of the world of animated GIFs...hoping to inject some animation into my work and website. Should see some results soon!

New work

This week I've been creating a new cover image for St George's Bristol's children's and families' concert brochure, which will be available in the new year. It involved a different approach for me as children's illustration is not my usual area. I wanted to create something fun and eye-catching that reflected both music and springtime themes such as flowers, growth, insects and the natural world. The result is, I hope, a quirky and uplifting image in bold primary colours that I hope will appeal to both parents and children.

The brochure will appear alongside Drawn in Bristol exhibition 'Beat the Blues,' which launches at St George's in January.

Christmas cards now available

Let It Snow

A few of us illustrators from Drawn in Bristol were asked to come up with two Christmas card designs each. These are now available from the Watershed shop on Bristol's Harbourside and at Paper Scissors Stone pop-up shop in Quakers Friars.

Baby It's Cold Outside

I enjoyed the challenge of producing two cards that complemented each other but could also work individually. I settled on the idea of producing vignettes rather than full bleed illustrations quite early on as I liked the idea of playing with the white space and the impact it has on the image - I usually produce full-bleed images but more recently have been experimenting with using more white space. A muted colour palette lends the images a softness that contrasts with the crispness of the digital lines, which is the effect I was going for (I was feeling quite muted at the time!), although it would be interesting to try them out in brighter colours. What I enjoy most is the symmetry of the borders, which I feel unifies them and reflects the spirit of cosiness and "togetherness" that we're supposed to feel at Christmas!

New Drawn in Bristol exhibition at St George's in January

Recently I've been working on some new pieces for an exhibition I'm organising in January. Beat the Blues follows the success of 2012's High Notes / Low Notes at St George's Bristol and brings together a number of illustrators from Drawn in Bristol collective for an uplifting spring show based around the colour blue. The exhibition will launch alongside Bristol Acoustic Music Festival on Fri 18 Jan 2013 with an evening of live music - more details to be found on the St George's Bristol website soon. A smaller selection of works can also be viewed at the Parlour Showrooms in the week leading up to the event, where Acoustic Music Festival organisers, Jelli Records will be promoting the festival.

Detail from one piece, as yet untitled

The 4 pieces I've been working on are designed to work as a set and reflect the exhibition venue in that they are all about the act of playing music. They are a bit of a departure for me in that rather they are more abstract than most of my work. The forms have been distilled into basic elements that suggest figures rather than literal interpretations of performers. By simplifying the content I am able to concentrate more on creating striking compositions and I have enjoyed playing with these abstract shapes to form objects the eye can read in different ways. I've tried to respond to the physicality and emotional aspects of live performance and I hope this will come across to the viewer. I'm really looking forward to the exhibition, which sets to be even bigger and better than the last one, and features some fantastic illustrators. More info to follow soon.

Hand-drawn cards

So, while I haven't really done any proper illustration over the summer I have made a few rather stylish cards for friends and family. Here are a few of them:

New cards available at Watershed

Two more of my designs are now available to buy as cards from the Watershed shop:

Cider Apples

Storm in a Teacup

'Storm in a Teacup' is a design I came up with sometime last year as a bit of a fun experiment, so I was delighted that Watershed wanted to sell it as a card, which meant it would see the light of day! The 'Cider Apples' design is a new variation on a magazine cover I did for Inspired Times last year. So many people liked the design that I decided to produce a variation that would perhaps appeal to a broader audience (the original Inspired Times design was a bit too feminine to have mass appeal, I felt) and still keep the summery theme. The new design reminds me of summer festivals!

Drawn in Bristol were approached by Watershed and took care of ordering and printing the cards. I've been asked to produce 2 Christmas card designs to stock in Watershed and in the Drawn in Bristol shop so look out for those...

Storm Clouds

To get back into the swing of illustration after a bit of a summer break I had fun producing a cushion design for a competition run by website Ohh Deer, which specialises in lovely products festuring talented illustrators. My design wasn't selected as a winner but it did get me thinking about creating a range of weather-based interior design. Maybe a future project!

New Drawn in Bristol exhibitions opening this week

I'm excited to be part of two great exhibitions along with lots of other DiB folks:


BUNT opens Sat 9 June and runs until Sun 17 June in conjunction with Big Green week and features the work of over 60 illustrators. Click here for more info.


Myths and Legends opens Sun 10 June at the Showroom on College Green with a special afternoon preview 2-5pm (Pimms and cake!). Over 20 illustrators present their unique takes on myths and legends from around the world, taking you to a bygone world populated by mythical creatures, heroic beings and wondrous places. Expect to discover the ancient, the alarming and the magnificent. Click here for details and to preview some of the fantastic pieces on display.


I really enjoyed creating my piece for the Myths and Legends show. Ever since travelling in New Zealand a couple of years ago I've wanted to produce a series of images based on Maori legends I heard while travelling, which often feature gods, warriors, heroes and tales of love lost. Many of the stories are rooted in the extraordinary landscape, which is one of the most varied in the world, positioned as it is on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' and comprising mountains, volcanoes, beautiful coastline, glaciers, boiling hot pools and lush subtropical rainforest. My piece for the exhibition is based on the story 'Tears of the Avalanche Girl', or 'Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere' in Maori. It tells the story of Hinehukatere, a snow maiden who fell in love with a mortal man and persuaded to climb the mountains with her to ask the gods to make him a snow being like her, so they could be together. They climbed too high and he fell to his death, forever lost to her. She now wanders the mountains alone and her tears form the glacier known today as Franz Josef.

In my image I've included some of the swirl patterns prevalent in Maori art and culture. Here they are used to depict both the impending stormy skies and the fern leaves of the rainforest in the valley below the glacier - known as 'koru' and symbolising new life, growth, strength and fertility.

Drawn in Bristol presents: Bunt Sat 9 - Sun 17 June

On 9th June Drawn in Bristol launches a city-wide illustration exhibition as part of Big Green Week and numerous illustrators have chosen to depict endangered species on wooden bunting to be displayed at various venues around the city.


Here's mine, depicting an adder, duke of burgundy, heath fritillary and small pearl-bordered fritillary (butterflies):

I've had a glimpse of a few finished pieces by other illustrators already and the results look fantastic. It should be a really diverse and interesting exhibition, and the green colour palette means that they should all sit well together. Working within the triangular format was a challenge, as well as depicting the characteristics of different species with stencils and spraypaint - some painstaking cutting was involved.


The pieces are being auctioned off at the end so there is a chance to own one!
More details here: http://www.facebook.com/events/232193386894753/

New Website Goes Live

I'm really excited to launch my new-look website today after finally mastering the basics of CSS! Visit michellebarker.co.uk to view some new work and let me know what you think...

New projects to look out for...

After a frantic couple of months work I'm really excited to see my illustrations appearing in various places around Bristol...
Last month I had the honour of being asked to design 4 greetings cards, along with very talented Drawn in Bristol illustrators Holly Maguire, Chris Dickason, Laurie Stansfield, Martha Ford and Hannah Broadway - mine are the bicycles! These will be stocked in the shop area at Watershed Media Centre and Paper Scissors Stone pop-up shop in Quakers Friars, plus hopefully more locations to follow! I'm looking forward to seeing the results in the flesh.
Visit www.madeinbristol.blogspot.com for more information about Paper Scissors Stone - an artists' temporium.


I've also been lucky enough to work on another group project recently...
Forward-thinking Edwards Estate Agents in south Bristol commissioned Drawn in Bristol's Carys-ink to enlist illustrators to design eye-catching images for their 'For Sale' signs. Carys-ink, Slumber and Holly Maguire (left to right) were also enlisted, each capturing a distinct and original take on the theme of moving house. I opted for busy bees. You can already spot several if you keep an eye out in south Bristol. The images have also been turned into prints to brighten up the Edwards office!

Right now I'm waiting to receive my copy of Inspired Times magazine, hot off the press. I've completed a year's worth of cover illustrations for the mag and the spring issue is the final one in the set. It's been great working with Sharon, the editor, who has been really inspiring and encouraging. The new issue should be available in the shops any day now, so look out for it - or go to www.inspiredtimesmagazine.com to subscribe!

Drawn in Bristol | High Notes / Low Notes: Exhibition Preview, Fri 13 Jan

Illustrators' collective Drawn in Bristol presents a fantastic new exhibition in the Crypt @ St George's Bristol based on the theme of music. Come down for a lively opening night, featuring a FREE live performance by folk band Boxcar Aldous Huxley, plus the launch of Bristol Acoustic Music Festival and delicious food from the Real Olive Company.

‘High Notes / Low Notes’ features work by: Michelle Barker, Alex Bertram-Powell, Katy Christianson, Bex Glover, Jess of the Lions, Loch Ness and Laurie Stansfield.

Exhibition preview: 6pm

St George's Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR
www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk

www.drawninbristol.co.uk