My best friend has become an artist. I'm amazed and impressed and stunned and happy.

And advertising. :)

©2009 ~Phenixfeathers

I'm very impressed - especially because it quotes Wicked in its title! :)

You can buy it here.

LoveLoveLove

- A -

Wow, it's been a forever since I did a "Five Minutes With..."!! I have sent out interviews to lots of exciting people, but they're all so busy being exciting that responses aren't so fast as usual. It's a shame.

But, today, I have an interview for you all, with cute-as-can-be illustrator Steph, of Steph Says Hello!

- Tell us a little bit about yourself?
Well, my names Steph Baxter, I live and work in a little town just outside of the fair city of Leeds. I graduated recently with a degree in Graphic Design from Leeds College of Art & Design but my heart well and truly lies with illustration. I spend a large portion of my day either drawing, doodling, thinking about drawing or looking at drawings on the internet.. You get the idea! When I'm not drawing you can usually find me baking, drinking tea and cuddling my cat, Tibby. Shes a very old lady now, and can usually be found sat on top of piles of my drawings.. She's also my greatest critic.

-How did you get into illustration? Did you go to art school?
I never thought I would be an Illustrator. I left school with the idea of being a photographer or a fashion designer (which if you know me, will know that that is a ridiculous notion!) But I really got into drawing on my Foundation course. I ended up doing a very good Graphic Design course at Leeds College of Art and Design and my love for drawing just kinda blossomed from there. I consider myself somewhere between a Graphic Designer and an Illustrator!

-Your website and drawings are all so cute! Do you ever draw differently from that, or is that your "signature style"?
Thank you very much! I'm glad you like them :) I would call that my "signature style" now. I love being surrounded by cute and colourful things so it seems fitting that my style might reflect that. When I was younger my style would change all the time, and I guess that was my style developing. I was never, ever happy with what I drew but now I've finally found a style that just comes naturally to me. Although it's always evolving and changing slightly (hopefully for the better!) Practice makes perfect!

-How long have you been up and running as a professional illustrator?
Not long! I graduated in June so I've working, working, working to try and get more work - which in this recession is proving harder than I thought! But I've been doing freelance work and projects for the last three years now. Paid, unpaid, volunteer work, competitions.. I try to get stuck into everything that comes my way. It's any excuse to draw really. I find it hard to believe that I can get paid for doing something so fun!

-What inspires you?
So many things! Cats, baking, feeding the ducks, collecting stickers, my little hamster Pip! One of my most favourite things to do though is take trips to the seaside. What could be more inspiring than eating ice cream and fish and chips and winning tacky prizes on the 2p machines? Nothing, I reckon! But I find when I'm at home and I'm lacking a bit of inspiration nothing cheers me up more than looking through sites like Flickr and Society6 (my new favourite thing!) There is such an amazing wealth of talent and supportive people on sites like that you can't help but feel inspired.

-You seem to have illustrated for 100 000 different things! What was your favourite to work on?
It's very hard to choose! I always love doing group activities. In the Easter holidays my friend and I ran a painting day at a local library for children called 'The Big Frieze'. Lots of painting bunnies, chicks and easter eggs with amazing kids. You can't beat being told you're using the wrong shade of pink by a 6 year old! I love the idea of involving everyone in art and making people happy :)

-What advice would you offer to other aspiring artists and illustrators?
I'm still learning myself so I feel a bit silly saying this, but don't give up. Keep trying, stay positive and whatever you do, don't be disheartened! I'm still trying to break into the industry properly myself so I know just how hard it can be. I'm still amazed on a daily basis that people like my work enough to commission me or feature me on their blogs! It's a very nice feeling when work does come along though. The best advice I can offer though is get your work out there, start blogging regularly, join art sites like Flickr, Illustration Mundo and Society6 and start networking like a madman! I  also send out mailers to people and companies where I think my work would fit.. Be brave!

All images (c) Steph Says Hello

Yes, I think I can safely say that Steph is the cutest illustrator ever.

Also, I want that monster - the one right there in the middle. SOOOO COOL :)

Thank you for your time, Steph, and good luck with everything in the future!

LoveLoveLove

- A -

I saw something truly amazing in The Guardian on Thursday - a series I've only just discovered called "My Best Shoot", where photographers talk about the best photoshoot that they've ever run. Interviewed this week was Willy Rizzo, a photographer I'd never heard of from the fifites, who had some truly stunning shots of dancers at work...

Speaking as a girl who spent twelve years of her life taking lessons in Classical Ballet, these photos blew me away, and I had to share them!

Images (c) Willy Rizzo, sourced from HERE

On a side note, the lovely Claire has shown me her draft of the British Style Bloggers logo, and it is AMAZING. (:

LoveLoveLove

- A -

As I'm sure many of you will know, this is the existing logo for British Style Bloggers, as I'm pretty sure that many of you will know... It's a website that I created over the summer, and it's been growing and growing ever since...

And when I put out a plee, this afternoon, for help with design, I didn't expect what I got, which was one of my lovely members informing me that she's fully willing to design all new logos, completely free... and all of a sudden I've become a little bit giddy. It's amazing. It really is. Photoshop was never quite my forté, and so I'm very pleased to introduce y'all to Claire Napier!

Image (c) Claire Napier

She's kindly agreed to help me out with logos, and there's really nothing I can do to thank her enough... except advertise her 'til kingdom come!

So check her out at www.illustratorclaire.com!

LoveLoveLove

- A -

Burdge Bug, aka Brigid, is a pencil sketch artist on deviantArt, who draws the most beautiful fan-art that I have ever seen... and yes, I admit it, I am still stuck on Planet Potter... As you may see, pretty soon...

Tell me a little about yourself?
Alrighty, my name is Brigid and I… would rather not disclose too much personal info, but how bout some vague-ness? I’ve grown up in a big, catholic family (and I mean BIG), I love movies and unusually so, I get really into my music (with two ipods, how can I not?), and I read practically three books a week. I’m a senior in (a very little and private) high school, where I play soccer for a kick-butt team.

When did you start drawing?
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories of sketching probably took place around 1^st grade though, but I never took it too seriously til later in grade school.

Has deviantArt allowed your art to improve?
Absolutely. It’s insane how much it has changed my style and skill. I learned so much from just browsing other artists’ galleries and super-helpful tutorials.

A lot of your art seems to be based on literature - what are your favourite books and fandoms?
Oh, that’s an easy one. Harry Potter, for damn sure. But I’ve been getting into a variety of fandoms lately. Like Meg Cabot’s books, which include the Princess Diaries (nothing like the movies), and Sarah Dessen’s. Dessen is a romantic mastermind in her books This Lullaby and Just Listen. I just recently started a series by Suzanne Collins called The Hunger Games that I absolutely adore. I have to add that the Mortal Instruments (by Cassandra Clare) and Percy Jackson and the Olympians (by Rick Riordan) are GREAT fandoms to follow. :P

You seem to love Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley as a couple… explain?
Ah, I’m not sure exactly where my obsession of those two as a couple took off, but I’ll explain about Teddy, whom I’m very sure about. Before reading the seventh book, I was (and still am) obsessed with his parents Remus and Tonks. I think they’re incredibly romantic. And, when I found out they had a child in the last book, I pretty much had a fangirl-style fit. A mix of those two was bound to be epic. All it took was a mention of Teddy and Victoire, Bill and Fleur’s daughter, caught kissing in the epilogue of the last Harry Potter book for me to go completely nuts with drawing them. I like the mystery of them, how I don’t know much about their characters. So I can mess around with their personalities and not make them too out-of-character. :)

Which other pairings do you like?  
From Harry Potter, I love Remus Lupin and Tonks (see above), as well as Harry’s parents Lily and James Potter… Harry and Ginny Weasley are a given. ;)

Are you looking forward to the new movie?
OMGYES. I know they’ll get so much wrong and leave a ton of important-to-the-plot stuff out, but I’m a sucker for cinema.

What else inspires your art?
MY AMAZING LOVELY SISTER CLARE!... who just typed that. Even though she’s silly, she’s partly right. My family is a huge inspiration to me, especially my dad, who’s a painter/photographer. I’m enormously influenced by music as well; I can’t do anything without having my ipod or the radio playing. To quote the amazing Sarah Dessen, “Silence is so freaking loud.”

What are your aspirations for the future? Do you want to take this further? 
Of course! It’s becoming more and more real as college gets closer for me. I want to take as many art classes as I can once I’m there. I plan to go into animation and studio art.

What motto do you try to live your life by?
From the mouth of John Mayer, “I feel like the best of me is still hiding up my sleeve.” No matter how much I improve, I know I can get better, do better. I just have to push myself.

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to improve their art?
PRACTICE. Practice like there’s no tomorrow. Haha, but really, if you’ve got the potential, you just need to take classes for a professional point of view and to try out new things. I can’t even begin to explain how much practice I’ve put in over the years; just looking at models and objects in real life help SO MUCH. Take my word for it. J

Where can we find out more?

www.burdge-bug.deviantart.com I'm deviant through and through!

Images all (c) Brigid Vaughn. Thank you so much, Brigid - and I hope you all look at her work; it is so beautiful!

LoveLoveLove

- A -

So, I've still not quite managed to get myself off Planet Potter. I will be a little bit hyper for a few days yet - I hate to break it to you, but I may as well ease you in to this slowly... (:

Eighteen-year-old auburn beauty, Bonnie Wright, has been playing Harry Potter's love-interest since the age of nine, and, until recently, her character had quietly and subtextually been pining for Harry - but in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (spoiler warning - although everyone knows by now!), they finally get "together" - although the way they do it in the books is so much more romantic (I'm a girl. Gimme a break!) and is actually far more evident. Eitehr way, Book/Film Six is basicaly the one where both Harry and Ginny finally grow up, and become "who they're supposed to be".

Coincidentally, Bonnie Wright, now eighteen, seems to have grown up massively recently, too.

In an interview with the Evening Stanard, recently, she descrbes her life, but, most especially she took part in a stuning photo-shoot.

I just love the pose - and the photography itself is stunning too!

Okay - I admit it - this photo freaks me out a little...

This one, though, is my favourite. It reminds me of some of Emma Watson's earlier fashion shoots - and makes me think that, despite the fact that she has never publically expressed a particular interest in fashion, she might just be the next Vogue Cover-girl to emerge from the movie franchise.

I sure hope so.

LoveLoveLove

- A -

Images sourced from Evening Standard

©2009 ~

I just found this image on deviantArt, and for inexplicable reasons have fallen in love with it. It's called "Here you can hear the secrets", and it can be seen and commented on at

:)

By the way, this is my fiftieth post!! Wow. How time flies.

LoveLoveLove

- A -