Creative Café #29 ★

hello there dearhearts, you might be wondering where on earth i've been for the past... 2 weeks! has it really been 2 weeks?! it's probably been more...

crikey. anyway, i haven't actually been away anywhere or anything, i've been right at home stuck in a little world of my own alternating between doing work for college, clients, college, commissions, college and so on and so forth.

anyway, there is literally NOTHING going on in my life right now worth blogging about so instead, it's time for another lovely, colourful Creative Café post

follow 'the drill' and grab yourself a snack + a drink and settle down for some pretty illustration because today it's all about the very groovy Jen Oaks

Jen is an American illustrator who produces very VERY awesome designs and illustrations featuring all manner of funky characters and creations

although it must be said that i am particularly fond of her curvy pin-up girl illustrations, they are rather fabulous after all, in fact they are absolutely ruddy marvellous!

 i just adore the way she captures their expressions, you can tell that all of her curvy pin-ups are very sassy and cheeky + they're all so gorgeously feminine, it's really refreshing to see some sexy plus size pinup illustrations! brilliant...

more of those lovely ladies later. so what else does Jen do?! well, as well as being a generally glorious illustrator she also designs groovy characters and scenes for various editorial clients + takes part in super duper art shows around the USA

in her spare time when she's not being an awesome arty superhero, she also gets her work featured on sparkly blogs and sites such as a post featuring her fabby prints on Apartment Therapy or the lovely interview and feature about her Curvy Pin-ups on SF Today

she's also extra awesome and that's because she doesn't just design groovy things for magazines and the like, she also sells very jazzy cards, prints, stickers, badges and calendars!

the detail in her work is what i love the most though. the way she packs so much into a figure or a scene, the illustrations are never overcrowded they're always spot on and manage to convey the appropriate emotion or feeling through these often delicate and intricate little details

do you know what time it is now?! it's time for me to hush up and let you have a nice scroll through some more of Jen's cute work in your own sweet time. enjoy...

you see, i told you it was all gorgeous! sometimes it's not easy always being right...

time for some links now!

to see even more of Jen's quirky, colourful work you can head on over to her offcial website here - Jen Oaks Illustration

she also has a fab Etsy shop chock full of lovely printed goodies and merch featuring her designs - Jen's shop

you can also 'Like' her work on Facebook - Jen Oaks

and follow her on Twitter - @jenoaks

she's also on Tumblr - jenoaks

and has a great Flickr full of sketches and other lovely things - Jen Oaks

and there you go. all that's left for me to do now is say a big ol' THANK YOU to the very lovely Jen for saying yes and letting me run this little feature, so thanks again Jen :) x


All images featured in this post belong to Jen Oaks © do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or trace AND of her work without her express written consent. All Rights Reserved.

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so like i said, nothing to report on in my world at the moment. i am truly swamped with work. i spend almost every day painting in my room and i spend the rest of the week either at college or at home editing files for commissions. busy, busy, busy.

so until next time, whenever that may be, that's all folks... xX

Creative Café #21 ★

so today i thought it was time for another groovy Creative Café post, so... you know what to do!

get some tea/coffee/cocoa, and some cake/biscuits/sweets, get comfy and prepare to see some very lovely artwork!

i'm kind of excited about this post because it features one of my favourite digital illustrators and artists, so without any further ado, let's get on with it because today it's all about the very awesome and truly fabulous Kei Phillips aka Kinkei

Kei is a British 2D/digital Illustrator, animator and character designer. i first discovered her work about 4 years ago, during my first year at College. my graphics tutor told me to research some digital illustrators and i found her work on deviantART, i've adored it ever since and have to admit that i've gotten a lot of inspiration from her work over the years.

she creates the most gorgeous characters, they're often very girly and cute with brilliant expressions and little details. Her pinups are particularly wonderful, each one has it's own personality and individual look. she also draws her girls in all shapes and sizes which makes them especially fabulous! but regardless of their theme they always look amazing. 

i've always been a fan of characters like Betty Boop and Jessica Rabbit but i think it was Kei's gorgeous pinup girls that first inspired me to have a go at drawing some pinups of my own. i just love the way she captures their characteristics, with a saucy wink or sultry pout, her style of drawing and colouring is just so brilliant.

as if she wasn't amazing enough already, Kei is also a really talented animator. check out one of her showreels here... 

pretty super duper right! of course it is! anyway, now it's time for you the have a nice scroll through some of Kei's stuff, take your time and enjoy... because trust me, you will LOVE her stuff!

utterly fabulous! ok it's links time now...

to see even more of Kei's wonderful artwork, be sure to visit her deviantART page here - Kinkei

she also has a blog chock full of lovely sketches and digital pieces - Keiframes

+ to see more of her animation work, visit her youtube stream - Kinkei Animation

you can 'Like' her artwork on Facebook - Kei Phillips

and 'follow' her on Twitter - @kinkei

all that's left for me to do now is to say a mahoooosive THANK YOU to Kei for saying yes about the feature and for being such a fabby-dabby artist in the first place! thanks :)

All images featured in this post belong to Kei Phillips © do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or trace ANY of her work without her express written consent. All Rights Reserved.

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so another week has started, and we're another week closer to Xmas 2011 (yay!) i've STILL not started my xmas gift shopping since i've been so busy with commissions and college stuff! 

speaking of stuff like that, i've got a few pieces of artwork in a groovy group exhibition at a local gallery over Xmas.  some framed digital prints + some painted canvases.

so if any of you local Manxies fancy seeing artwork from some of the islands best artists (i do NOT mean me... i mean the professional artists!)  then get yourselves to Tynwald Mills and go visit the old courtyard gallery. 

the preview night is tomorrow from 6pm and i think it opens to the public properly on Thursday, but if you can't make it tomorrow, don't worry because it'll be running right through December!

and on that note, i shall dash off and make some tea

so until next time, that's all folks... ◕‿◕ ★ xX