elidillonart

Hello! Today I'm updating the website with some new work - I have posted it on Instagram this week too. It's been a lovely week in York as the summer has faded to autumn and today we went for a brilliant walk into town by way of Clifton. What a fantastic street. I could(/should/will???) draw almost every building on it. The area is closely tied to the Rowntree family and many of the buildings are their old family homes or schools they attended or businesses they supported. Many of the buildings are now privately owned but you can still peek through the iron gates and get a glimpse of old York. We walked all the way into town, past the Minster and on to get a slice of pizza... which I then dropped immediately onto the pavement. Just when the walk was starting to reach perfect...oh well. One of my favourite things to do now the weather is getting colder is to walk into town for hot chocolate - particularly the chilli and peppermint 70% chocolate from York Cocoa House. I sug...

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.

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!

I thought I would share some of the pages of my recently finished sketchbook. It is part of the sketchbook project which is based in Brooklyn, New York. Once you complete the sketchbook it is added to their library and people can look through it and buy prints from it. I was gifted the book by my sister and it has taken a while to get around to finishing with other work commitments but I'm so happy it's now complete and ready to send across the ocean! The theme is 'Home' and I've used a range of media: ink, digital art, paper cuttings and paints. I have now started a new sketchbook that is much bigger (this one was A5) to do with food puns and children's illustration. You can see more pictures on my instagram @elidillonart or on my website www.elidillon.com Enjoy!

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 made a picture for my sister's birthday. She's likes a good food themed pun. 'Beetroot to Yourself'.

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. :)

I missed posting on National Relaxation Day! I started drawing a picture about relaxing but then I had to make dinner (a roast) have a drink (red wine) and watch a film (How to Catch a Thief) and after all that it was too late. So I got up early this morning and made some tea, put on one of my favourite background films - Julia and Julia - and finished making a picture. I am normally so busy that relaxing is tricky. I run from the car to work to the supermarket to the gym to dinner, to my desk back to work but sometimes I have these weeks where I can fold all my happy relaxation things into a melting pot of loveliness and calm. These are the top 10 things I do to relax: 1) Sit with a cup of tea in a clean house. Clean is the word, it has to be clean and tidy and possibly sunny, or at least cosy and softly lit. And my tea of choice is posh fancy tea from a little shop on the Shambles in York. There is a space in my apartment, out the back on the fire escape, that gets the best s...

I haven't posted for a while as it's been a hectic month at work but I've finally had some time to decompress and reflect and make some personal art. I love a sketchbook and have been working on an A5 and A4 sketchbook focusing on drawing the city of York and my connection to it. Here are some of the pages. I've been carving rubber stamps, using acrylic and playing with mixed media. It has been great to get back to the UK and use a range of materials that weren't available last year. I have also been updating my website and have just added these as a project. You can find my portfolio here