ABOUT MY ILLUSTRATION WORK

Whilst I specialise in illustration for children, my work is far from simple . I thrive on the little details - from textures in tree trunks to intricately designed houses, complete with bricks and roof tiles.

My passion and strength is in background design. I find that compelling backgrounds can set scenes and tell stories in themselves, with characters adding an extra dimension to the story afterwards. I usually find that an image can look quite bare without any greenery or botanical elements - so whether it’s a desert scene, a built- up city, or even a beach, there’ll be a tree or plant in there somewhere!

Recently, I have been exploring lighting and shading more in depth, and love the drama that can be added with light and shadows. I am currently improving my skills in hand-lettering, so that I can add that extra playful element to children’s books, and am also learning more about surface pattern design, in order to create some fun end pages.

CAMPFIRE TALES:

A 44-page fully illustrated storybook, made up of three short stories. Aimed at children aged 7+.

My Work on This Project:

- Illustration and design for the complete book

- Rewrote one of the stories based on a draft provided by a colleague

Cover and illustration snippets shown below, all created using Procreate and Photoshop.

Designed spreads with layout and formatting can be viewed on the Book Design page here.

THE ADVENTURES OF ADAM & ANISAH SERIES

A series of 3 published storybooks, with another in progress. Aimed at children aged 3+. The storybooks are also supported by accompanying activity and colouring books.

My Work on This Project:

- Illustration and design for all books, which can be found at i2astore.com

Sample spreads shown below, as well as snippets in more detail.

OTHER Illustrations:

Shown below are illustrations from various projects, both personal and commissioned.

**Edmonia Lewis:** Assignment for MATS course, *Redrawing Black History*. Created using Procreate and Photoshop

**Inhale:** Character illustration, created using Procreate and Photoshop

**Floating:** Created using acrylic paint and Photoshop

**Camel:** Background for an Eid greeting card

**Hajj:** Cover illustration for Hajj-themed activity pack

**Bringing the Outside In:** Created using Procreate

**Love of Learning:** Created in Procreate

**Into the forest I go...** Created using Procreate

**A rainy day in Lancashire:** Created using watercolour paint, Procreate and Photoshop

**Oh deer, it's snowing:** Created using Procreate

**Respect:** Illustration for a Positive Affirmation postcard

**Blue Monday:** Created using Procreate and Photoshop

BARAKAHVILLE PRODUCT DESIGN

Illustration and design for a variety of products, for With A Spin

My Work on This Project:

- Illustration and repeating pattern design for pyjamas and wrapping paper

- Vector illustration for the Barakahville advent calendar

- Design and illustration on a variety of greeting cards and planners

The challenge for the advent calendar, wrapping paper and pyjamas was to work with a very limited colour palette, whilst still keeping the illustrations varied.

Illustration for Eid cards and Ramadan planners

ANIMATED VIDEOS

Below are some animated videos created in Photoshop, using my illustrations.

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