Archive for January, 2011

Stephen Pierce-Smith Biography

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

Stephen Pierce-Smith is an artist represented by Advocate Art.

Stephen started painting very early on, with lots of encouragement from his father. He then went on to study graphics, but his first love was always illustration.

He was always very inspired by the illustrations of Frank Bellamy and Luis Bermejo in his Eagle comic books, running to the door every Wednesday morning to receive his new edition. He also enjoys the watercolour portraits of Michael Frith.

His own work is a watercolour interpretation of nature. Trying to get the feel of and texture of everyday objects with an eye to design.  So, he often drops in a graphical background to enhance the subject matter and changes colour hues to suit the clients decor.

He describes himself as a graphic designer who prefers to paint. In his spare time Stephen loves the great outdoors and is ever attempting to become a better skier.

Sarah Goodreau Biography

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Sarah Goodreau is an american born artist represented by Advocate art – illustration agency. Sarah was always interested in reading books as a child and her love evolved into creating her own words and images. Now Sarah’s own work is rather whimsical, once described as ‘non-saccharine whimsy’, which seems pretty fitting. She uses a lot of ink, sometimes with more linework, sometimes more block colours. She likes to add a little more detail around faces and the rest more relaxed.

Outside of Art Sarah enjoys antiquing, finding unique and old objects in any place she can.

Bill Bate Biography

Sunday, January 23rd, 2011

A Graduate in Fine Art from the Central School of Art, Bill Bate has been successfully exhibiting for many years, including in the Advocate Gallery.  His main body of work focuses on the human form.

Painting primarily in Oil his recent series of works concentrate on the female form within water, here his adept brushwork interlaces light and figure to create the shimmer of movement within a floating world.

His atmospheric works are emotional responses to the body in nature, the body at rest and the body observed. His paintings demand an instant response supplanted with gentle observation to lead the viewer to the inherent beauty on view and within.

Graziano Farinaccio Biography

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

Graziano Farinaccio is an illustrator represented by Advocate Art Illustration Agency. He has been drawing for as long as he can remember and it is his passion for art that led him to his career as a freelance illustrator.

His work is full of character, inspired by artists such as Arthur Rackham and Lisbeth Zwerger and mixed with a world full of pop details and creepy illusions. He always begins with pencil sketches of the composition idea and completes the overall piece with acrylic paints or digital technique. His favourite pieces (so far) are ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ which is also happens to be one of his favourite books!

Terence Davis Biography

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Terence Davis, photographer and Master Printer has worked alongside some of the worlds top photographers, producing over 50 books and exhibitions. He is now represented by Advocate Art for his Art photography.

As a photographer his aim is to create pictures rather than take photographs. He hopes the viewer will see what he sees, and spend time discovering and enjoying the contents they exhibit rather than seeing a simple photograph.

Liza Lewis Biography

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Liza Lewis is Children’s and Greetings Card Artist represented by Advocate Art illustration agency. She has always loved reading comic books, since she was a little girl, and still does now. Her favourites are Asterix and Obelix, Snoopy and Garfield. She has also always loved Richard Scarry’s books, as they are so full of wonderful animal characters and little details.

Liza’s specific interest lies in children’s illustration and design. She enjoys infusing her quirky animal characters with colour and creativity. The creative process for Liza usually begins with a collection of pieces that will influence her on a particular project. She starts with a rough drawing and builds it up using Illustrator or Photoshop. Currently Liza is working with lots of different textures, giving her designs/illustrations a fresh new approach.

In her spare time Liza likes to walk her dog, (a cheeky Cairn Terrier named Lucy), watch movies, bake cakes and spend time with her children.

Irene Laschi Biography

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Irene Laschi is a book illustrator and artist represented by Advocate Art – Illustration agency.

Irene is basically self-taught; when she was fifteen she bought her first paint brush set and began to spend all her free time painting, drawing and coloring; in the meantime she studied science and got a degree in Prehistoric Archaeology at Università degli Studi di Siena in 2006.

Her turning point was in 2007, when she started to collaborate with Studio Inklink in Florence – She had always looked at them as a tool for inspiration and so working with them has been a very valuable experience in her artistic career.

In 2009 Irene moved to Florence, where she worked as a freelance illustrator specialising in non-fiction, specific stock illustration images. She creates very detailed illustrations, mainly with airbrush and liquid acrylic – but also with pencils, Indian ink and Photoshop, using most suitable style depending on the project.

Trends for 2011

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

This year Advocate Art has designed mood boards in order to brief our artists, depicting trends that are emerging in 2o11.Advocate sends it’s agents out to search the shops for trend indicators, uncovering new looks that are going to be huge in 2011-12. We have broken them down in to the following categories;

Highland: deer, tartan, craft
Pink and Blue / contemporary cute: kitsch, japanese characters, soft, foamy graphics
Peacock Jewel: feathers, jewels, rich opulent colours, geometric, metallic
Vintage pink: soft pink, hard edge graphics and stencil
Charming souvenir: 1950s, ice-cream colours, lemon yellow
Nostalgia: tourist souvenirs, flags (especially union jack), city landmarks (especially eiffel tower)
Candy-cane / red and white: red and white, minimal, laser-cut, intricate
Fluffy fawn: white on white, natural, wood/feather/fluffy textures

Christine Sheldon Biography

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

Christine Sheldon is a greetings card illustrator originally from Manchester, now living in Northamptonshire. From an early age Christine was inspired by the books she was read as a child, becoming more interested in the illustrations than the actual stories! She then decided to become an illustrator, promising her former primary school teacher that she would try her best not to waste her creative talents.

Christine admires the work of a variety of artists including Quentin Blake, Roy Lichtenstein and Ralph Steadman amongst others. Her own personal style varies from whimsical, traditional characters to bold contemporary designs. She begins her work with a pencil or fountain pen sketch that she then builds on digitally.

One of Christine’s biggest artistic achievements has been having a range of ‘Winnie The Pooh’ cards approved by Disney!

Nikko Barber Biography

Monday, January 17th, 2011

Nikko Barber is an English-born freelance artist and childrens illustrator, now living in Berlin. Nikko is represented by Advocate Art, illustration agency.

He was inspired to become an illustrator by the children’s books his father read to him as a child. He’s also inspired by other illustrators such as Sean Tan, Isabelle Arsenault and Marc Bouvant to name but a few. His work employs mixed media but now Nikko is moving more and more towards mainly digital methods.

Outside of Art, Nikko enjoys Thai boxing, cooking and languages – he speaks Spanish, German and Greek!

James Stayte Biography

Friday, January 14th, 2011

James Stayte is comic/children’s book illustrator as well as artist, represented by Advocate Art. A steady diet of cartoons, comics and action figures lead to his artistic career, as well inspiration from other comic artists.

He describes his work as having one foot in a cartoony world and another in reality. To create his pieces he uses pen and ink then colour in photoshop, but lately he has been using as much water colour as he can.

James has just self-published his first comic book, “Now We Are Running”, which he is really proud of.

Linda Monk Biography

Friday, January 14th, 2011

Linda Monk is an artist represented by Advocate Art – illustration agency.

I was born just after 1.00 am  on the 6th April 1961 in the house where my parents still live. If I had come into this world before midnight my parents would have received a handsome tax break.

As a young child I was inspired to be an artist by my great uncle who was a commercial artist. He worked for the Eagle comic and also produced chocolate box scenes for Barker and Dobson confectioners.

After leaving school I obtained an Honours Degree in Fine Art.

I grew up on the Wirral Peninsuala in the North West of England and the sea and all things nautical are the main influences in my oil paintings. Presently I live in Berlin with my husband although I have a tendency to move regularly in search of my dream home”.