elidillonart

I've been MIA from this little slice of the internet for a few weeks. Several reasons... 1. I've been doing a few commissions for weddings, baby showers etc and don't feel it's right to share the artwork as someone has specially paid for it. 2. Little hiccup has decided not to nap during the day anymore, napping is for wimps. Ride or die. 3. We are doing up our house little and often but it often means outings to Homebase, B&Q and Dunelm. However I have managed a couple of personal projects in the hour after baby is put to bed! I'm working on promoting my artwork more and putting together the bits and pieces I need to open an online shop. Sometimes it feels like I'm starting from a mile behind everyone else; this is a new career path, I'm older, I graduated a long, long time ago however I try to stay away from that particular rabbit hole of worries and just keep pushing forward. I try to remember that someone, somewhere will like my work, just as...

I finished a picture this weekend between feeds and naps and the pain of first immunisations for a child's bedroom. Colours were specifically requested to match the room and it is printed A3 size.  Media: watercolour, ink and digital. Hope you enjoy! This has inspired me to crack on with my children's book pitch and finish the artwork for the first few pages. Now stay focused Eli, staaaaay focused.

Hello! It's been a busy few weeks with birthdays and babies and houses and drawings and commissions and hot weather and lethargy BUT I did manage to finish the Hook and Ladder drawing that is now up on the website and part of the New York Project! Hurray for personal work!

Today I thought I would express my love/hate relationship with browsing the internet. On one hand, it's a great place to find inspiration and ideas. I often save modelling photos and fashion blog photos for inspiration or use google maps to screenshot buildings. I look at other illustrators and feel inspired by their work and it makes me want to improve and learn more and research and try new techniques. On the other hand however, I can be happily clicking around and reading and looking and all of a sudden, without even really realising it I'm feeling as if my work is super inferior to everything else that I'm seeing. This is the pitfall of the art world online. I think it's so great to be able to really quickly see what other artists are up to but if you happen to be looking at a time when you're not feeling so confident about your own output; maybe you've done a lot of not so great sketches that day or a commission just isn't coming along as you would lik...

Finished a picture of local attraction Merchant Adventurers Hall in York. This is the street entrance on Fossgate and the beautiful hall is hidden behind.

Happy Monday morning! This morning the baby has been sleeping for hours as we had a busy weekend so I've been able to begin work on updating my portfolio (www.elidillon.com). I have a personal project called The New York Project. As I've been drawing York architecture being a local York artist I thought it might be nice to pair those pictures with famous locations in New York City. I started with the set from Rear Window - an Alfred Hitchcock film starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly (and my all time favourite film). Though this isn't a real location, it was an epic set building on a multi floored stage, it was designed to be in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan. I'm updating that project with 3 new pictures - Katz's Delicatessen - the famous location seen in When Harry Met Sally Hook and Ladder Company 8 - the fire station seen in Ghostbusters Holly's Apartment building - from Breakfast at Tiffanys There are others on the horizon, perha...

Now that the ol'baby is getting into a slightly predictable napping routine I can plan my day a little more and be a little more creatively productive. I have finished a portfolio piece for the Food Project and a couple of buildings in York - my usual go to sketchbook work. I have a couple of commissions of people's homes and families to draw in the upcoming weeks so all the nap gaps have pretty much been filled with drawing. This is good as I was a tad worried that a baby would change absolutely everything and though life is definitely different - baby is so chill that I can still retain bits of life pre 4 weeks ago!

So it's still dark. It's no longer festive and you have to go back to facing the daily grind with a lot less money. However! January is also a great time to set intentions for the coming year, resolve to do something better (for me it's tidying up after myself) and focus on bringing into your life those things that will make you feel happy and purposeful. I have set 4 intentions for 2018. Last year I set a lot more and quite a few went on the back burner or I just didn't have the time or energy to focus on them enough. This year is the year of change in our household so it's a great time to focus on bringing positive change and actively seek new challenges and opportunities. I miss the city centre and our nightly walks so here is a doodle of St Michael Le Belfrey next to York Minster as seen at night. Happy January!

I have nearly finished 'Home' a Sketchbook Project that I started in January ready to send to the library in New York. I printed a little stamp for our recent wedding anniversary and thought to include it in the book. These are the colour tests and how it looks in the sketchbook. I especially like the cup of tea because if I'm home before him (which is rare) I always seem to be looking out with a mug of tea just as he pulls up. You can see more pictures over on my instagram or by looking at my online portfolio . Next week I'm finishing up a wedding invite and beginning a rather daunting sketch of York Minster. :)

Today I finished a drawing where I added some people! This is a new one for me. Usually it's buildings or people. A set or a character but this time I was drawing a bar/restaurant and felt that it needed some life as it's always so busy. I really enjoyed this process, it was obviously more time consuming but I limited my palette of colours and kept the people super simple though tried to give each a small story within the picture. Judge's Lodging - York Here is just the building itself.

I like lines. Mainly black lines. Lots of ink and felt tip pen. I also like drawing buildings. At the moment I'm working on a few personal projects alongside normal work. One is a poster of York's architecture; a sort of trail of old buildings to take you on a wandering path inside the walls. I think one of the posters will focus on places of worship as there are so many beautiful buildings in York that are either still in use or converted for another purpose. One poster will just focus on brilliant buildings; giving a bit of history and information about them. Here are some of the pictures and sketches I have been working on.