Here’s a new Christmas Card designed by illustrator Alison Edgson especially for Dads, which was published by Nigel Quiney. Check out her portfolio of work, which includes both greeting card design and children’s book illustration, on our website if you like her warm fuzzy bear!
Advocate Art would like to tell you a little bit more about one of our artists, Jo Parry. Her colourful images are perfect for children’s book illustration and greetings cards as well as for other print products.
Read on to learn more about Jo and her background or see more of her children’s book illustration and greetings card illustration by visiting our website.
My mum always said she was sure I was born with a pencil in my hand. I was scribbling and painting before I could walk and talk she maintains, though I’m pretty sure that’s an exaggeration!
After leaving grammar school at 16 I went straight to art school and in total completed 5 years before embarking on my career as a freelance illustrator, predominantly working for magazines and design agencies between my home and London, supplying art for editorials, packaging and advertising.
In 1998 I joined Advocate and my work developed into a more greetings based style, and following on from this into children’s picture books, calendars, kitchenware and wall art.
I try an inject a little humour and whimsy into the artwork I produce, I’m the sort of person who likes to enjoy the lighter side of life and believe art is a fantastic way of expressing an enjoyment and irreverence for the many wonderful things around us.
Originally I produced traditional pastel illustrations but have progressed to working entirely digitally on my beloved iMac using Illustrator, Photoshop and Corel Painter applications, combined with a Wacom tablet and stylus. I like to vary my technique and style according to the requirements of the brief but all the while maintaining a certain ‘feel’ across the portfolio.
My work has spanned the globe and has been published across the continents, often popping up in the most unexpected of places! Over the years I have run into my designs in Tunisia, South of France, the Czech Republic, friend’s homes, schools, medical waiting rooms and even a baptist church in the deep south of America! As well as the more expected locations of card retailers, book shops and high street retailers, the occasional TV show has featured my designs including The Office, This Morning, QVC and Hollyoaks. To date I also have artwork on the current sets of both Coronation St and Emmerdale which even as a non soap watcher is a great thrill.
In my free time I am an avid sport fanatic, photographer, tweeter, reader, flower grower, ‘chef’ (!), frequent runner and lover of the great outdoors. Being lucky enough to live on the south coast in Poole, Dorset, I’m often at the beach scouring the strand line for shells or trying to capture a breathtaking sunset, and when the weather allows, swimming in the evening.
Art takes centre stage in my life and I feel I am entirely defined by it, it is the prism through which I see the world. Creating images for others to enjoy whether a children’s picture book or a decorative composition for a wall is an extraordinary privilege and one I will never take for granted. My love for the profession and the wonderful opportunities is has given me is unremitting and I hope I have the good fortune to continue with my work for many years to come.
At Advocate art, we were all thrilled to hear that Elli Moody’s Mothers Day card design is currently being featured on the Funky Pigeon TV advert! Elli is one of our fantastic greeting card illustrators, below you can see her featured design and a YouTube link to the Funky Pigeon advert. We are very excited about this, so keep an eye out and see if you can spot her design! If you want to see more of Elli’s work click here to visit her online portfolio on the Advocate art website.
At Advocate art we are very excited to be representing new illustrator Suz Hughes. Suz illustrates for both greeting cards and children’s illustration and we think her fresh style will be a great addition to Advocate. Read on to find out more about Suz and click here to visit her portfolio on the Advocate art website.
I think I have always aspired to work within the creative industries and feel I have been a creative spirit all of my life. At Christmas and birthdays I was often just as excited, if not more excited, about the wrapping paper and boxes than the presents themselves; I would sit for hours and make things. I became obsessed with art and design to the point where in school I would offer to do my friends art homework (looking back, I probably should have charged!).
After school and college I went on to De Montfort University, Leicester and was awarded a BA Hons in Decorative Artefacts. These were the best years of my life; I just loved being in the studio environment and would be there all hours, with or without a hangover (often with!). It was here I developed my individual style that I would describe as fresh, fun and childlike. I love to make people smile.
A few years after graduating I decided I needed to develop further and was awarded an MA in Children’s Illustration from Glyndwr University, Wrexham and have never looked back.
I’m inspired by what goes on around me, usually the minor idiosyncrasies in life that pass most people by. I am also inspired by my own childhood; many of my designs, characters and stories are based on games my sister and I would play.
Below you can read the biography of new Advocate illustrator Stella Plage. Stella’s soft illustration style will look fantastic in children’s books as well as on greeting cards and art for licensing. To see more of her work on the Advocate art website click here.
If my life was described by songs, I was Born in the USA, brought up in the Green Fields of France, now living in Sussex By The Sea. When my artist mother let me run barefoot in paint through the house I got the idea that this might be my vocation. I studied design and illustration in Paris, after a couple of years making mosaics and fresco paintings.
My daughter is my best critic: if she doesn’t scribble on my work and try and feed it to the cat then it must be appealing to a pre-schooler. Clients who have commissioned my work have included Hodder & Stoughton, HarperCollins, and Carphone Warehouse. My work has previously been used on book jackets and marketing material but also in digital format in the form of website graphics, characters and background illustrations for several iPhone/iPad apps available now on iTunes.
It’s that time of year again for an Advocate update! Read Ed’s letter to find out about our new heads up calendar and book, the growth of the company and what exciting things we are doing this year, including fairs and events. We need some fantastic new designs to take to all of these shows so keep sending in new ideas! Check out the Resources section of the website at the bottom of the ‘About us’ page for plenty of inspiration and ideas.
“Hope you had a great Xmas and Happy New Year!- for me, the break is usually the one time of year I don’t get e-mails so can turn the blackberry off, however since we now do more work overseas with countries that take less time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve I think this year has seen a possible end to that tradition. I should not complain, usually we don’t cover our staff costs in December and actually record a loss- however this December our sales were double (yep 100%) last years, which was a record year itself.
Heads Up 2- has just gone out phew! but hold on… it’s a calendar and has a CD resource folder as well this year..that’s going to be useful. We have sent out to 1100 publishing contacts worldwide, (eye watering when they cost $10 to post each) we have another 400 to go out this month.
2011 has been a busy year here at Advocate, we moved to larger premises and doubled in staffing (what’s that story about fish growing to fill the size of a pool?). We believe bigger makes us stronger, we can do more things for you, hey like the heads up book and more besides. I think being bigger means we have become a destination agency, by giving clients choice and back up. It also means the artists and clients get a better fit, like a store that is big enough to stock half sizes…..but we don’t want to act like the biggest, the (more creative) team here are all about working like a one-man-band would work from a kitchen table, one- to- one attention – ahhh those were the days.
Oh, did I mention “we” picked up 15 awards last year? Check our blog for details. We have even commissioned a little animation to celebrate it on the front of the site. Sure it’s about the art, being paid for a good job, seeing your work out there and working with great people but nothing quite beats a swelling trophy cabinet as well. Just enabling talented people to carry on working is enough to see them simply get better and better at what they do each year…….. actually it’s that, which gives me the biggest kick.
We are planning for growth in 2012. We now have Becky Reece on staff who runs telesales, lead validation, and works with Lesley. Also new is Martin Tidy who is a trainee Agent, that brings the team to 14. What’s on now -Kate is off on Sunday on a week’s sales trip to the US, she is going to Boston, Atlanta (including Americas Mart) and Florida. She’s seeing a mixture of greeting card and book publishers. – We have taken space at Paperworld in Frankfurt at the end of the month and then the Spring Fair in Birmingham on the 5th of February. I’m panicking already about what work we have available for this, please dedicate some time to new designs! We have a new large stand at each….now just to pay for it.
We have some cool things in development that will benefit you coming up later in the year. -New upgraded back end engine to the website. (cumulus 8.1) The site will be faster, compatible with the next generation of browsers and have better SEO capability. It’s a £25,000 project intending to get your folio out there to new art buyers and make it easier to find that perfect fit. -New artists internet interface. Means you can login, check what work is pending, what jobs you have in progress, what is waiting to be be paid and how much $$ is going out to you. You can print statements and create invoices. (It will be similar to your on-line bank statements). It will be completely transparent i.e all credit control notes will be recorded so you can see at first hand the often epic battles we have to get your money in! It will also have a note page that we will be able to add what call outs we have had for you etc. -New lifestyle calendar, based on the success of the “heads up book” we are producing one for art licensing clients. It will run from May to May and be a working day calendar so 252 pages long.
20 years ago I went freelance and set up the advocate cooperative, this year is also my 10th year married, the Queens Jubilee, London Olympics, Kate’s 30th and Caroline’s 40th. I hope there is even more to celebrate to come. Don’t forget new designs for the shows! Happy New year Ed.”
Advocate Art are proud to be representing Susan Frank; an exceptionally talented fine artist who creates landscape and still life studies. Her images are beautifully painted, capturing the atmosphere of the moment - read on to find out more about her and the way she approaches her work. To see more of her work on the Advocate website click here.
“I was born in New York, and spent most of my childhood in the small City of Kingston, on the Hudson River near the Catskill Mountains.
I moved to Los Angeles, California at 19, to escape the cold winters. I spent eleven years in California before moving to Houston, Texas, and then to Colorado where I now reside.
I attended art classes at the University of Houston, and the Glassel School of Art in Texas, and continued taking classes at the Art Students League of Denver for two years upon arriving in Colorado. Mostly I read a lot of art technique books and practice as much as possible.
My artwork is displayed in several corporate collections in Colorado, including Cable Labs in Louisville, CO, Cisco Systems in Denver and Boulder, CO, and Great West Life Insurance in Denver.
I share a 1500 sq ft town home with my dog (John Brown), and two cats (Lily and Agatha). I enjoy city life, but I truly love life in the countryside. My current home is in a fairly rural area, surrounded by ranchers (cows from the neighboring ranch have wandered into the park in front of my home and coyotes are frequent visitors), open space trails, mountains, and just enough city life close by to make it all work well.
Spending long days creating art in my studio is my idea of pure bliss.
My favorite art book is “Composition of Outdoor Landscape” by Edgar Payne. My approach to my own artwork is to plan each design with preliminary sketches, but then let go and feel confident, once the real execution of the artwork begins; …….allow for surprises in the process, and try to keep a good sense or feeling about when to end the piece. It’s never the same adventure twice.”
The Henry awards are the Card Industries version of the Oscars, and one of Advocate’s fantastic illustrators Paula Doherty has won an award for the best children’s range for the second year in a row. Fantasia Felts is a card range that includes a toy hand puppet, each gorgeous animal puppet is handmade of felt and great fun for kids. An image of the puppet is also printed on the front of the greeting card. The range is complimented by florescent coloured envelopes and are cello wrapped. Styles include a duck, cat, dog, pig, mouse and goat (see all the styles below). As well as winning a Henry, Fantasia Felts has also been selected as a finalist in the National Stationary Show’s Best New Product Competition in the Paper Style Category. Not many ranges win Henry’s two years in a row so well done to everyone involved, it is a fantastic card range and a brilliant achievement!
Advocate Art will be exhibiting at two shows in the new year, Paperworld and Spring Fair. Spring Fair, from the 5-9th February, based at the NEC in Birmingham is where the retail industries exhibit all types of home and gift products available. This is the ultimate opportunity for suppliers to showcase their current ranges, launch new products and meet those all important customers – both current and new. Paperworld is the world’s leading fair for paper, office supplies and stationary and will be held from the 28th- 31st January in Frankfurt.
We would love it if our artists and illustrators could send in new work in preparation for these shows, just a couple of new greeting card designs or art for license will trigger a publisher to revisit your main folio, it is all about “new” at these shows! You can check out the resources page on our site for inspiration and ideas by clicking here and scrolling to the bottom of the page. The deadline is the third week of Januray, we look forward to seeing some new ideas!
At Advocate art illustration agency we represent a diverse range of creatives from oil painters to digital illustrators. Owner of Advocate, Ed Burns has written a short piece on how to decide whether you are an illustrator, an artist or a designer.
“Designer, illustrator or artist – Edward Burns of Advocate Art says it’s important to decide who you are.
When reviewing an artist’s submission, I’m guilty of skimming over the intro letter – where studied, where lives, age, what inspires them, what they want to be… I suppose it’s all immaterial really if the work does not fit our market. However the one thing in the letter I do look out for is what the person describes themselves as – designer, illustrator or artist. It may sound obvious but how a creative describes themselves within these 3 terms speaks volumes on how open they are to accept commissions, or do they simply want their creative output commercialised (i.e. sell the rights and originals). What is much less obvious is it does NOT describe their work – not at all.
“I’m a textile/greeting card/typography designer”
“I’m a childrens/editorial/graphic novel illustrator”
“I’m an artist”
I list the terms in degrees of openness or “up-for-it-ness”, not by the sophistication of the technique or the medium, or complexity of composition. eg. Damian Hirst’s famous screen print circles could look at first glance pure design, but it’s art. How would you describe a fine art greeting card of say a cricket scene produced in oils, to us it’s design, not art. Illustration lies somewhere on the spectrum between graphic design and artistry, here the lines are even more blurred. To further make my point it could be said that prior to the advent of photography most art was illustration, often the greatest paintings were slabs of propaganda, serving the church or monarchy. Those creatives were illustrators, maybe designers: but creatives like Monet, who had an idea and technique, they were artists. Today it’s about whose idea you want to work with, whose story – who’s propaganda if you like, yours, or someone else’s.
We represent the whole spectrum of creatives at Advocate Art, we sell rights and win commissions. We would choose a designer for a different job than an illustrator or artist of course. More over we won’t offer commissioned work to someone who describes themselves as an artist at all, but market what comes out from them instead. We don’t define a creative by medium, because designers paint, as do illustrators and artists: it’s not the media they work in that defines where they position themselves, or even what they produce – but their openness to be a hired hand.
So if on the submission email “Dorothy, 26 from Gosport that got a 2.1 in Leeds” has NOT described herself in one of those 3 terms it will be my first question when I call her. I’ve been there – yep, and looked for an agent as well. I’ve also struggled to describe myself in creative terms. Some styles can be commissioned and some come from ideas deep from within. How you describe yourself in these 3 commercial terms tells the world if you are commissionable or an artist of self expression – “stand back it’s all me” or “I can illustrate your point”.
Images: Top left – Simon Mendez – design, Top right – Leila Fanner – art, Bottom – Louise Anglicas – illustration
This year marks the third annual celebration of freelancers, and at Advocate Art we thinks it’s great that freelancers are being acknowledged with their very own day! We would not be able to run Advocate Art if it wasn’t for all the wonderful freelance artists and illustrators that we have on board, so thank you everyone! the There are 1.4 million of you in the UK alone, and more and more are joining the ranks, so Happy Freelancers Day! Even David Cameron has written a short note to mark the occasion. Click here to visit the National freelancers website.
At Advocate Art illustration agency we are very excited to announce another one of our featured illustrators, Jim Mitchell. Jim works very traditionally creating beautiful images for greeting cards and art licensing. His subject mater is extremely varied, from people to cityscapes, countryside themes to sport, christmas imagery to animals and military figures and war scenes including the iconic Spitfire amongst others. As it is nearly christmas we have selected a range of his beautiful christmas cards to showcase! If you want to know more about Jim you can read his biography below.
“My early years were spent in Stoke on Trent, son of a ceramic pattern and transfer maker, and nephew of a famous aeroplane designer. So, it wasn’t surprising that I went to Art College, gaining my degree in Graphic Design and Illustration, discovering all the materials and methods that were available , investigating how they worked and how other illustrators used them.
My first commercial work involved producing military illustrations for units of the British Army stationed in Germany, soon followed by a long relationship with aviation art and illustration, including book covers and other work for Arms and Armour Press, Sidgwick and Jackson, and Orion Books.
An interest in style and media techniques has led me to develop skills in oils, acrylics, gouache and watercolour – I was fortunate enough to produce early commissioned illustrations for such widely differing clients as the Licensed Victuallers Association, Trend Paints and Waddington’s jigsaws. Among other types of work at this stage, I was producing impressions of proposed developments for architectural companies.
Next came working as a freelance for Mirage Fine Art, producing historical event aviation prints, and then curiously my family background of ceramic transfer manufacture was echoed in my being offered the opportunity to paint commissioned images for the Past Times company, subjects such as sports, trains, cars, animals, historical events and famous people. These were used on such items as mugs and teapots. My aviation designs were used on collectors plates by clients such as Royal Doulton, Coalport China, and I produced the artwork for the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain plate , sold jointly by the RAF Museum and the Sunday Express. More recent work has included large amounts of Greeting cards featuring children, atmospheric landscape, architecture and aerial views, Book illustration (including work for the children’s market) children, adults and military, Illustrations for product labels, Commissioned Jig-saw designs, subjects including nostalgia, people, vintage transport and settings and Calendars.”
To see more of Jim’s work on the Advocate website click here.
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