Abi Heyneke's Blog

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Image Hoard: Pink & Peach

This collection of images is a little less 'Skulls & Death' and a little more 'Light & Feathery' than usual. I noticed that a lot of the images I have been collecting recently have a touch of salmon-hue about them. Maybe it's because it's Summer, who knows...

Left: Cigarettes on sale at todokuyo.net
Right: Tiger Bone Wine by Sam Wolfe Connelly

by Alyssa Nassner

Altamira / William Merritt Chase colour comparison by Diana Moss from missmoss.co.za

Album artwork for Brother Mitya and Friends by Kristina Collantes

From Marie Claire May 2011

Illustration by Einar Nerman from Fairytales of the North

Source Unknown

GTLK from Andrey Muratov on Vimeo.

Still from GTLK by Andrey Muratov

Source Unknown

Proposed tower to be added to Selfridges
via ianvisits.co.uk

Waxwing by Sam Wolfe Connelly

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Dead Air

Hi y'all!

I have been super busy moving house, redecorating and living in semi-unpacked chaos; dealing with plasterers, electricians, carpenters, the council; receiving a million deliveries from online shopping and driving a van round to B&Q, Ikea, all sorts. This is mine and Josh's first purchase in the property world and we have big plans and high standards (which equals a butt-load of work). There's still plenty to do, but we're getting there. We haven't even started on the garden, which will be an epic task in itself.

I have located my laptop, tablet and a chair to work from, and have done enough nesting to feel like I can start getting back to work. Plus my hands and nails are wrecked from all the manual labour, they are longing to get back to the drawing board where they belong.

I will do a proper before and after with the estate agent's photos when it's a bit more finished, but for now there are a few pics below.

Sold! To us! (it's the lower-ground floor)

Tester pots

Our first piece of mail; a hand-made card from my Mum & Dad

My motivational lunch box: to help me with the cleaning and painting

The flat came with built-in shutters; handy for protection against rioting

We're sleeping on the living room floor (the walls used to be red)

Pot Noodle: the Work-Women's lunch of choice

Freshly painted bathroom

Peaches has no clue what's going on

Garden, I will conquer you... (note bottom left, BBQ is at the ready)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Mami Wata

Mami Wata is an African deity, revered in a number of African countries, the Caribbean and parts of North and South America. They have a shrine to her at the Horniman Museum in South London; that's where I first learnt about her. She is basically a mermaid; half fish, half beautiful woman. Mami Wata is a water goddess, associated with rivers and seas, and often accompanied by a snake. She is seductive, sometimes ensnaring men and then demanding fidelity.

Below is my own take on Mami Wata. It's quite different to most traditional images of her, because I have enhanced the grotesque nature of a woman-fish hybrid. I have also used the idea that mermaids are often reported to have hypnotic red eyes, and so the attraction becomes more sinister.

Mami Wata

a close up of the fish lady

I also have to tell you to go out and buy the latest issue of Disorder magazine, because my pic "The Hazards of Love" is in there alongside buckets of other good stuff.

The Hazards of Love

Chuffed

And Natalia Kills is on the cover. Bonus.

Look out for this

Friday, July 15, 2011

Image Hoard: Feathers and Furrr

I'm back from holiday so it feels like Monday to me but is in fact a Friday, which is both good and bad at the same time.

I have been reading 'Venus in Furs' by the original Masochist: Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, and this post is like a coincidental tribute. Here are some gorgeous pics and links for you to feast your Friday eyes on.

Bull by Sam Wolfe Connolly

Savage Beauty Costume by Alexander McQueen

Slick by Kate MccGwire

Medusa 9 by Javier Piñón

Mood Board by Emma Shipley

Cheetahs

Cuteness via Kimya Dawson's Tumblr

Evelyn Nesbit

Veronica Lake

Those last two are due to the fact that I found a website dedicated to pictures of women on polar bear skins, aimed at quite a niche market I'm sure. I didn't bookmark it, so don't have a link. A google search should get you there if girls on Polar Bears is your bag.

Another blog post done and dusted: It's Business Time...

Business Time

Monday, July 4, 2011

Whiteout

I finished these critters last week, but didn't have the time to post them because my extended weekend was overrun by family time and excellent eating. Now I'm back at work so I have the time to blog it.

Society6 had an open brief (that closed on Friday) for submissions on the theme "Whiteout". Whiteout can mean one of three things; a polar blizzard, the correction fluid (American for tipex) or a state of reduced visibility due to a lack of contrast.

There are places where the changing of seasons creates a drastic difference in landscape. A few animals have adapted to these conditions, to camouflage and blend in. Both hunting and hiding would be quite futile if you're brown and scurrying accross the white blanket of winter snow. The animals I chose to draw: Arctic Fox, Arctic Hare, Ptarmigan and Ermine, all loose their colouring in winter and turn white to match the snow around them.

My images are all painted with ink and white gouache. They are available to buy as prints on Society6 here:

Whiteout: Arctic Fox

Whiteout: Arctic Hare

Whiteout: Ptarimgan

Whiteout: Ermine

Whiteout: Arctic Fox

Whiteout: Arctic Hare

Whiteout: Ptarmigan

Whiteout: Ermine

Ermine are too flippin' cute! (as you can see in the vid) But they are wild animals and carnivores to boot, so they can be pests if you are raising chickens or other small animals. They're widely known as the white fur with black bits that English kings and queens used to trim their garments with. Below is Marilyn Monroe sporting a very fetching ermine bikini; a good call for British Summer.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

City Kids Competition

Hey folks! I thought I should let you know that my friend Nicci Bruce is running a competition over on her blog: City Kids. If you enter you're in with a chance of winning a totally one-off illustrated header for your blog, and if you don't have a blog I'll do you a profile picture (for FaceBook, Twitter etc). Below is one I did for Nicci. Yep, she's a hottie.

To enter you have to follow my blog and my twitters (which you should anyway!), but the full instructions are here. If you are the winner you will also get a very pretty Vamp necklace.

Winning.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Show RCA 2011

Saturday turned out to be a scorcher of a day but the Graduate Exhibition season must go on. In the sweltering heat I and some friends attempted a turn around the Royal College of Art in Kensington. The College is "the world's most influential post-graduate art and design school" according to their website. That may be a fairly boastful statement but I think most people would agree.

We saw a wide range of disciplines, including Fashion & Textiles, Design Products, Design Interaction, Innovation Design Engineering, Architecture, Metalwork & Jewellery, Ceramic & Glass and Vehicle Design. Phew! On top of that there is another building with Curation, Comunication Design and Animation that we didn't get to see, and you can also visit the Battersea site to see the produce of the RCA's Fine Arts section.

The Kensington show is packed with loads of exciting and inspiring stuff, and with such a range there's something for everyone. You might have time to see it for yourself because the show is on until 3 July, daily from 11am to 8pm (closes at 4pm on 28 June and doesn't open on 1 July). Details on their website here.

The following is a round up some of my favourites.

Emma Shipley

Textile Print Design

www.emmajshipley.com