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One of the most important skills in art, is drawing. You can create wildernesses, vast landscape, detailed cities, fabulous creatures and just about anything your imagination can muster. Allowing yourself to be free to ‘JUST DRAW’, no matter where it takes you, is a freeing

Making digital graphics from simple digital photographs with Year 4 at Birkby Junior School. This workshop was all about making striking digital graphics from a really basic set of digital photographs. Using iPads, the children were encouraged to take a series of photographs of every-day,

These fab images are a sample of the digital portraits recently created by the Year 6 children at Birkby Junior School. They worked with iPads and the program Procreate. Using their own portrait photos as reference, the children were taken through a series of processes

A recent simple line illustration of my wife. Dozing on a ‘Friday Night’ after a long week. My wife and I were just chilling out watching a bit of Friday night TV. I looked around and she was absolutely sparked out. So I took a

MYRIAD FRONTIERS Concept art and idea based on future gaming. © EMELBI 2022 – All Rights Reserved Portrait illustrations based on the concept that we will soon live in a world where gamers will be able to connect to internet streamed game systems using cybernetics

The illustrations that the year 11 students created at Pleckgate High School in Blackburn, are outstanding. I worked with them for a day looking at portrait illustration techniques using the iPad and the Procreate App. I often work with young people delivering creative workshops in

I got a lovely surprise in my inbox recently. A group of year 5 and year 6 pupils from Horsington Church School in Somerset, had been following my Drawable ‘Making Layered Portraits’ resource on the AccessArt website. They sent me a handful of the images

Procreate Portrait Workshops I recently had the pleasure of running a weeks worth of workshops with all the children in St Mary and St John Catholic Primary School in Wigan. Working with Reception children, right through to Year 6, we used an app called ‘Procreate‘

This was such a fun project with years 4 and 5 at Birkby Junior School. All the children were introduced to the process of making striking digital graphics from really basic digital photography. STAGE ONE – THE PHOTOGRAPHY Using iPads, the children were encouraged to

In this recent workshop, the year 5 and 6 children at Ash Croft Primary Academy made some strong graphics from hands on illustrative beginnings. Starting with their own portrait photographs as reference material, they made some detailed portrait illustrations of themselves using biro pens on

This is a recent illustration created in Procreate on the ipad and finished in Photoshop on the iMac. I love working between these two platforms. It’s a real organic process much of the time and a slightly different way of working than I am used

This dude, who I have affectionately called Geoff McGeoff, was created on the iPad Pro using Procreate. I was messing around with just one brush. The ‘Syrup’ brush, under the ‘Inking’ menu of brushes. I love hard line illustrations. It’s probably because I have always

This image was made as part of a new series of two minute time lapse illustrations that I am embarking on for my YouTube Channel. I’ve called this one Red Ed. As part of this journey, I want to explore a variety of different mediums

I have decided to undertake a 365 sketchbook. An illustration/sketch a day for a whole year. No rules, multiple mediums and any subject. I will draw whatever comes into my head on each particular day. Just for the sheer love of drawing and for the

I was recently invited to collaborate on ‘The Laughing Boy Project’ by the artist and photographer Hersley Casero. Hersley-Ven Casero is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Dumaguete City, Philippines.He and his partner Toulla contacted me through Instagram just before Christmas and asked if I

Here is an art project recently undertaken by the Year 3 children at Silkstone Primary School in Barnsley. They created some interesting illustrations based on ‘Equality’ using the outline of their own arms. The children made their images using words/text to form some strong detail

These self-portraits were made by the year 4 children at Silkstone Primary School in Barnsley. This project was a creative experience that brought about some inspiring results. Based on their own portrait images, the children explored the line and structure of their own faces, through

This scrumptious bunch of impish lovelies are part of an ongoing illustrative project. I am interested in the uniformity of the illustrations. I follow a particular set of rules in the creation of each of the characters so that they relate to each other in

My wife asked me to do a quick continuous line illustration for a presentation she’s doing over Zoom. It had to be a self portrait and done quickly, almost without thinking. (Fig 1) She then asked me to take that initial drawing and embellish it

During this lockdown period I have been getting around to one or two things that I have been meaning to do for ages. There seems to be a lot of stuff that one puts on the back burner until there is time to address whatever

A quick exploration of negative space and assumed negative space within this symmetrical image of a dude on a BMX. I love how art and design can take you on a journey beyond the obvious just by using colour and form. I’ve always been fascinated

I’ve been having a bit of fun with editing today and I had an idea to make the shortest Photoshop, time lapse, illustration tutorial ever! This is an image of mine called Street Angel. I took 30 snap shot images in Photoshop at various stages

Yesterday, I was mostly being Van Gogh. I created this version of Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ for my wife’s art classroom doors, ready for the new school year to start. It was a lot of fun to do. In doing so I felt that

  Here are some of the images that the pupils at Codsall Middle School in Wolverhampton produced during a recent portrait illustration workshop. The images are derived from their own portrait photographs. They learned to look for dominant parts of their features to pull out

A gif animation of the EMELBI Boi Carton. I love animated gifs. They’re great things to play with in terms of a quick bit of animated creativity. They make brilliant little adverts too.

It absolutely is. Everybody has the ability to create and make art. Exercise your right to be creative. Exercise your right to make art.

I recently designed the ANNIE posters, flyers and social media promotional material for the forthcoming summer show by the All Stars Performing Arts school based in West Yorkshire. The show will take place at the Bradford Play House where tickets can be purchased via the Box Office.

This has been a wonderful project where the children have explored a wide range of mediums including photography, pen line portrait illustration, textured mark making with a variety of tools, paint blending experimentation on canvas, digital illustration and layering techniques and then bringing all these things

Some quick sketches from a recent sketchbook. Number six was drawn by my 4 year old daughter. I added the kiss speech bubble. We work collaboratively some times. Children’s unbound creativity is a wonder to behold most of the time.

Here are some of the images that have been created by the children at Gomersal Primary School in recent creative workshops. These will be added to the canvases that they have been working on for the last few weeks. Can’t wait to see the finished

A quick sketch of the Vocal Beatbox and Musical Noise genius Beardyman. He posted a video this morning on his Facebook page running a little competition for fans like myself to get involved with. I freeze framed the video and made this image from the freeze frame.

It’s not united, but this is the state of America.

This was a super day long project working with a group of talented creative children on a personal story telling project. The artwork produced was towards part of a community art exhibition with many other schools being involved. The children rolled out a large piece