elidillonart

Hello! Well it's nearly the end of November and my oh my the weather has turned! Dark nights beginning at 3pm, heating on at 6am. Tea on an endless loop to keep warm, always wanting to just order groceries online but forcing baby and myself out into the drizzling rain to trudge around two supermarkets (trying to stick to a budget means a cheap supermarket and a treat supermarket, such is life). On the whole however, autumn has treated us very well. I am always thankful for being able to work from home nowadays instead of rushing out on a dark morning for a hair-raising ride to work down Yorkshire's twistiest 60mph country lane. I spent this month opening my new online shop (hurrah!) and reading back through my diaries realising this was a New Year's resolution of mine for the past 3 years running but also happy in the knowledge that most artists are expert procrastinators. Incidentally you can find my shop here - www.etsy.com/shop/elidillon  It inhabits a quiet cor...

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'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.