EMELBI

Digital Artist and Illustrator

Education

Character Illustration Workshops at Pleckgate High School – 2026

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Back at Pleckgate High School this week delivering a Character Illustration Workshop with the Year 9 students. Armed with pens, inks and good quality cartridge paper, we spent the day exploring how simple lines and marks can quickly develop into expressive, quirky characters.

The session focuses on a straightforward set of techniques, building up drawings through confident pen work, bold shapes and playful details. It is always great to see how quickly students gain confidence once they realise that illustration does not have to be perfect to be interesting. In fact, the oddities, the exaggerations and the unexpected marks often give a character its personality.

What never fails to amaze me is just how different the results are. Every student receives the same instructions and follows the same general process, yet the finished illustrations are always wonderfully diverse. Some characters lean towards the strange and surreal, others become humorous little personalities, and some develop into detailed narrative figures that feel like they belong in their own stories.

This Character is one of the images I produced during the tutorial.

It is a great reminder that when people draw, they are not just following a technique. Each student brings their own imagination, influences and sense of humour to the page. The same starting point can lead in dozens of completely different directions.

Workshops like this are always a lot of fun. There is something very satisfying about watching a room full of blank pages slowly fill with characters, ideas and unexpected creativity. By the end of the day the tables are scattered with drawings that are full of individuality and energy.

EMELBI (“,)

Take a look at some of Year 9’s creations below.

Westhoughton High School – Year 8 Character Illustration Workshop with EMELBI

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This was my second visit to the school, where I delivered a pen and ink Character Illustration Workshop with the Year 8 students. Using simple materials, pens, ink and cartridge paper, the session focused on showing how a few clear techniques and a bit of playful experimentation can quickly bring illustrated characters to life.

One of the most enjoyable parts of these workshops is watching the students settle into the process. At the beginning there are always a few tentative lines, but it does not take long before confidence builds and ideas begin to take shape on the page. Once they realise there is room to experiment, exaggerate and have a bit of fun with their drawings, the characters start appearing thick and fast.

Although everyone follows the same approach and techniques, the results are always wonderfully varied. Each student brings their own imagination, humour and sense of style to the exercise, which means no two characters ever feel quite the same. By the end of the session the tables are usually filled with a lively mix of odd, funny and expressive creations.

It is always rewarding to see just how much creativity can be unlocked with a few pens, some ink and a bit of encouragement.

Here are a few of the characters the Year 8 students came up with…

EMELBI (“,)

Pleckgate High School – Y11 Digital Portrait Workshop with EMELBI – 2025

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Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to work with a number of different year groups at Pleckgate High School, returning regularly to deliver illustration workshops with the students. It is always a pleasure to be welcomed back and much of that comes down to the dedication of the staff in the art department. They work incredibly hard to create a supportive and inspiring environment for the students and it really shows in both the atmosphere of the classroom and the quality of work being produced.

Each visit offers the chance to see how creative confidence develops as students move through the school. There is a real sense that the students are encouraged to explore their ideas, experiment with techniques and take pride in their work. The result is a vibrant mix of creativity and individuality and it is clear that there are some seriously talented young people coming through the department.

Every year I deliver my Digital Portrait Illustration Workshop with the Year 11 students and they never fail to impress. The session focuses on building portraits using digital drawing techniques, combining observation with stylised illustration methods to create bold and expressive outcomes. It is always fascinating to watch how quickly the students take hold of the process and begin to push their ideas further.

What makes these sessions particularly rewarding is seeing how each student interprets the techniques in their own way. Even when working from the same starting point, the finished portraits develop into a wide range of styles and approaches, each reflecting the personality and creative instincts of the individual student.

They are consistently a pleasure to work with and I am always impressed by the work that emerges by the end of each session. It is a real testament to both the students’ enthusiasm and the strong support provided by the school’s art department.

Take a look at some of their images below… 🎨

EMELBI (“,)

Rode Heath Primary School – Y6 Digital Portrait Workshop with EMELBI – 2025

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This was my second visit to Rode Heath, returning to deliver a repeat of last year’s Digital Portrait Illustration Workshop with the current Year 6 class. It is always nice to revisit a school and see a new group of students respond to the same creative challenges. Once again the results were fantastic.

The workshop introduces pupils to the process of building a portrait through layers and making confident use of colour. By working step by step, the students quickly discover how simple techniques can come together to create striking and individual images. By the end of the session the iPad screens are usually full of colour, texture and a wide range of imaginative portraits.

One of the ideas we explore during the workshop is colour itself. We spend a little time looking at the colour wheel, thinking about complementary colours, limited palettes and how colour choices can change the mood or impact of an image. For many pupils this is an opportunity to experiment in ways they might not normally try.

Some students choose to work with more natural or conventional colours, which can be very effective, while others enjoy pushing things a little further by experimenting with unusual skin tones or unexpected colour combinations for clothing and backgrounds. This freedom to explore often leads to some really interesting and diverse outcomes, with every portrait developing its own personality.

As with last year, the pupils produced some brilliant work, full of bold colour, inventive textures and confident ideas. It is always rewarding to see how quickly young artists embrace the process and make it their own.

Rode Heath is a lovely school to work with, supported by a great team of staff and enthusiastic students. It is always a pleasure to spend time there and see the creativity that emerges during the workshop.

EMELBI (“,)

St. Wilfred’s Church of England Academy – Portrait Illustration Workshop with EMELBI

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This was such a lovely school to work with. The staff and pupils were brilliant, engaged and attentive throughout the day, creating a really positive atmosphere in the classroom. It is always encouraging to walk into a space where students are curious and willing to take part and that sense of enthusiasm quickly shaped the tone of the workshop.

Over the course of the day we had some great conversations about art and creativity. There were a few lively debates along the way, along with some thoughtful discussions about different techniques, materials and the many ways artists approach their work. Moments like these are often just as valuable as the drawing itself, as they help students see that art is as much about thinking, questioning and exploring ideas as it is about making images.

The Year 10 students that I had the pleasure of working with produced some wonderful imagery during the Portrait Illustration Workshop. Using a straightforward set of techniques, they explored portraiture through the use of various pens and inks, building their images through confident lines, mark making and expressive details.

As part of the session we also talked about the idea of rules in art. Some guidelines can be helpful when learning a technique, but creativity often comes from knowing when to step outside those boundaries. Encouraging students to experiment, adapt and occasionally ignore the rules that do not serve their ideas can open the door to much more personal and interesting work.

By the end of the workshop the tables were covered with a wide range of portraits, each one reflecting the individual choices and creative instincts of the student who made it. It was a really enjoyable day with plenty of positive outcomes and some genuinely impressive work.

Take a look at some of the fantastic images produced during the session. 🎨

EMELBI (“,)

Birkby Junior School – Digital Character Illustration Workshop with EMELBI – 2025

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I spent a full week at Birkby Junior School, working with both Year 4 and Year 6 students and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish. By the end of the week, I had a free session on Friday afternoon which I decided to turn into a special treat. The students who had worked particularly diligently and demonstrated exceptional behaviour were invited to join me for an extra creative session, building on the portrait illustration skills they had developed during the week.

For this bonus session we used the iPads once again and the program Procreate to explore Character Illustration. The students quickly got to grips with multiple layers, different brushes and a variety of creative tools having used these methods during their portrait workshop. This allowed them to experiment and play freely with their ideas. This sense of freedom encouraged them to take risks, push their designs in unexpected directions and ultimately produce a more diverse and imaginative set of outcomes.

To kick things off, I created a quick character illustration as a live demonstration, showing them how rapidly a strong, impactful and fun image can come together. Watching me build the character step by step gave the students confidence and sparked ideas of their own. We followed this with a short Q&A session to cover some technical tips and tricks and then I set them loose to create their own characters.

The energy in the room was fantastic. Students were eager to experiment with tools, try out new techniques and see where their imagination would take them. By the end of the session there was a lively mix of inventive characters, each one showing how much creativity can be unlocked when technique meets playful experimentation.

This video shows the process of the quick illustration I did as part of the tutorial.

These images below are the characters that they came up with.

I think that they did a great job in such a short time.

Birkby Junior School – Y6 Digital Portrait Workshop with EMELBI – 2025

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Some more impacting digital portrait illustrations from Year 6 at Birkby Junior School.

This workshop is one of my favourite workshops to deliver. I love the way that the students really get involved with the task and the amount of diverse imagery that comes out of these sessions is always impressive.

Once again, the Year 6 students at Birkby really delivered with their hard work. It can be a challenging workshop, as the students have to take on quite a broad array of instructions and new information all at once in order to learn the involved process that is required to make these images.

Check out their efforts below.

EMELBI (“,)

Birkby Junior School – Beautiful Mundane Project – Y4 Digital Graphics and Photography Workshop with EMELBI – 2025

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The Beautiful Mundane Project – Making Graphics from Simple Digital Photography

Here is a selection from this year’s The Beautiful Mundane Project produced by the Year 4 pupils at Birkby Junior School.

This is a hands on photography and creative graphics project that gets students moving around and exploring their school environment like they have never done before. It taps into observational skill, spacial awareness, composition appreciation, colour awareness and image layering. It’s always fun and young people love to get involved with this exploratory and creative project.

Using the Snapseed app on the iPad, the pupils manipulated their own photographic images, taking them through a series of treatments in order to enhance the imagery and create a set of striking graphics from simple beginnings.

Here are a sample of the fabulous images that they created during the workshops.

Copmanthorpe Primary School – ‘Out Of This World’ Illustration Workshop 2025

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Another great workshop at Copmanthorpe Primary School creating some more brilliant illustrations with the year 6’s.

Using ink pens, water and tissue paper the pupils set to creating illustrations based around the theme ‘Out Of This World’.

There was a lot of fabulous texture work and I love the characters that were brought to life using this lovely technique. Funky aliens, spaceships, cats in space suits and much more. I really enjoyed seeing all these illustrations coming to life over the course of the day.

Brilliant work and a fun day indeed.

Check out some of the children’s work below…

Westhoughton High School – Year 9 Portrait Illustration Workshop with EMELBI

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I always really enjoy these portrait workshops. Especially as the students are creating images of themselves. It makes for interesting conversations and at times some real critical analysis.

I visited Westhoughton High School recently and delivered my Portrait Illustration Workshop to a group of Year 9’s. The mark making was strong and they set to the task will wild abandon. Well, almost! There was a modicum of control. I

t was my first visit to this school after having met the art teacher on another workshop that I had delivered some months before. There was a lot of strong wotk over the day and the students really got to grips with the techniques that I had suggested and squeezed in a few of their own, which I always love to see. Experimentation and exploration are always encouraged in my workshops.

EMELBI (“,)

Character Illustration Workshops at Castleford Academy

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I returned to Castleford Academy last week to deliver some more creative workshops. I had a great time working there again. Staff are lovely and the students did some fab work.

Here’s a glimpse into some of the artwork created. I worked with Year 10 students to bring characters to life! Over two days, we explored the art of character illustration—starting with simple shapes and transforming them into dynamic, expressive figures. Using a few key principles, the students developed strong character designs, then elevated their work with rich ink textures and hatching techniques. The creativity and progress they showed were truly inspiring!

EMELBI (“,)

Stanhope Primary School – Space Character Illustration Workshop – 2025

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This was my second visit to Stanhope Primary School, to work with Year 4 and Year 5 students delivering my Space Character Illustration Workshop for a second time.

The students did not disappoint, They came up with an array of brilliant characters displaying what fabulous imaginations that they all have.

EMELBI (“,)

Take a look at their creations below.

Rode Heath Primary School – Y6 Digital Portrait Workshop with EMELBI – 2024

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This was my first time working with this school and I was immediately struck by their enthusiasm for the arts. Creativity is clearly celebrated at every level and the school is filled with inspiring displays of the children’s artwork around every corner. Walking through the corridors, it felt like a place where imagination is truly valued, so I felt right at home from the very start.

After introducing myself and sharing a little about the work I do, Year 6 dived straight into their Digital Portrait Workshop using iPads and the Procreate app. The day was full of energy and creativity, with students exploring layers, brushes and colour in ways that were both experimental and confident. Watching the portraits develop throughout the session was a real highlight – the students’ ideas, attention to detail and willingness to try new techniques made for some genuinely impressive results.

The children were a pleasure to work with: well behaved, engaged and clearly enjoying the opportunity to create. They put a lot of care and thought into their work and it really showed in the finished pieces. By the end of the day there were plenty of vibrant, dynamic portraits, each one reflecting the individual personality of the student who created it. Some students got their images printed so that they could take them home. They wanted to show their parents and carers what they had been creating as they were really proud of what they had achieved.

It was a wonderful school to visit and the combination of talented, enthusiastic students and supportive staff made the day a real success. Don’t just take my word for it, check out these fantastic images that Year 6 produced during the workshop!

EMELBI (“,)

The Importance of Joining In

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I created this quick portrait illustration working with Year 6 students at Birkby Junior School in Huddersfield. They had already been taken through the process of how to make their own versions in a workshop I delivered earlier in the week. There were 12 students that had an extra bonus session with me at the end of main workshops. I took them through the process again but this time looking at making further embellishments, adding extra detail and shading etc. They were all very keen to see me go through the whole process on my own from start to finish. So this image came out of the hour we spent together.

I often show my work and present plenty of examples in slide shows when running workshops. I am meticulous when taking students through the method or the working process regarding how to achieve certain outcomes. Often there is no time for me to work along side my students and create something with them. That’s because much of my time is focused on answering questions, trouble shooting and going over things that were perhaps misunderstood during the tutorial. This is something that is very much needed when young people are working with technology that they are not used to. Creative workshops are fabulous things to get lost in, but when people are unfamiliar with the tech, it does need that extra support structure, so my time is divided during these creative sessions.

So on this occasion it was nice to have the time to work with a set of students and show them what I did in real time so to speak. It certainly helped them diversify their process and lead to more in depth outcomes.

Blog post of their work coming soon.

© EMELBI 2024 – All Rights Reserved

Birkby Junior School – Y6 Digital Portrait Workshop with EMELBI – 2024

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This year’s digital portraits at Birkby Junior School were as strong as ever, and it was a real pleasure to see the Year 6 students in action. The Digital Portrait Workshop continues to grow in popularity and it’s easy to see why. The session is a fantastic way for students to explore how layers can be used to build up digital imagery, how to apply colour flats like professional comic colourists and how to experiment with texture and graphic interest to make each portrait truly unique.

One of the highlights this year was the line work. Many students demonstrated a strong eye for detail, taking care with every stroke and gradually shaping their portraits with confidence. It was inspiring to watch these images develop from initial sketches into fully realised digital pieces, each reflecting the student’s own creativity and style.

The workshop also encourages playful experimentation. Students were not afraid to try new colour combinations, explore different brush effects and layer textures to give their portraits depth and personality. These explorations added energy and variety to the work, ensuring that no two portraits looked the same.

Overall, it was a brilliant effort from all the Year 6 students. The combination of careful technique, imaginative choices, and willingness to experiment made for a truly impressive set of outcomes.

Take a look at their work below!

Check out these wonderful images that Y6 created below.

Birkby Junior School – Beautiful Mundane Project – Y4 Digital Graphics and Photography Workshop with EMELBI – 2024

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The Beautiful Mundane Project – Making Graphics from Simple Digital Photography

Back again to work with Year 4 pupils at Birkby Junior School. The Beautiful Mundane Project is always a winner and captures the creative imagination of children. It’s a hands on photography and creative graphics project that gets students moving around and exploring their school environment like they have never done before. It taps into observational skill, spacial awareness, composition appreciation, colour awareness and image layering. It’s always fun and young people love to get involved with this exploratory and creative project.

Using the Snapseed app on the iPad, the pupils manipulated their own photographic images, taking them through a series of treatments in order to enhance the imagery and create a set of striking graphics from simple beginnings.

Here are a sample of the fabulous images that they created during the workshops.

Stanhope Primary School – Space Character Illustration Workshop – 2024

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This was the first time I had visited Stanhope Primary School, nestled up on the North East coast. It was a real pleasure to spend time there working with the Year 4 and Year 5 students, who took part in one of my favourite sessions, the Space Character Illustration Workshop.

This particular workshop is designed to really stretch the imagination. Once the theme of space is introduced, the possibilities open up almost immediately. Suddenly the students are thinking about aliens, rockets, asteroids, strange planets, spaceships, lasers, moons, satellites and all sorts of other cosmic curiosities. It does not take long before the ideas start flowing.

What is always lovely to see is how quickly the children become absorbed in the process. With pens moving across the page and ideas bouncing around the room, the classroom fills with energy and excitement. The workshop encourages students to think creatively, combine unusual elements and invent their own strange and wonderful characters from the depths of space.

Each child approaches the challenge in their own way. Some design peculiar alien creatures, others create elaborate spacecraft or adventurous space explorers. Even though everyone begins with the same theme and techniques, the results are always wonderfully varied.

By the end of the session the tables are covered with a whole universe of imaginative creations. The characters that evolve are often surprising, sometimes hilarious and always a joy to see. It is one of those workshops where the enthusiasm of the students really shines through and their ideas take the activity to places you could never quite predict.

EMELBI (“,)

This Character is one of the images I produced during a quick tutorial.

Take a look at their creations below.

Woodlesford Primary School – Year 1 Portrait Illustration Workshop with EMELBI

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I have just had the pleasure of working with the fabulous children in year 1 at Woodlesford Primary School in Leeds. These children took part in one of my ‘Portrait Illustration Workshops’ and stunned me with their energy and creative talents.

Look at this wonderful sample of work below. These children are 5 and 6 year olds. They did such a great job and added their own individual bits of flare to their work. We explored line work, talked about the face structure and features, had a think about where light was coming from, discussed adding different ink to their work and then finally looked at shade and texture to finish off.

I enjoyed working at this school enormously. The staff where so friendly, accommodating and helpful, I felt like I had been part of the team for years. It makes such a difference to me.

The children were brilliant and one of them said that it was… “the best day in school yet”.

I’ll take that! (“,)

Look at these wonderful images.

Pleckgate High School – Digital Portrait Illustration Workshop with EMELBI 2023

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Brilliant work from the Year 10 students at Pleckgate High School.

Both the year 10 classes I worked with produced some lovely imagery. Working mainly in Procreate to build the initial illustrations, they further developed their work using various other apps, adding filters, colour treatments and textural fills.

It’s always nice to work across various apps, each one bringing a slightly alternative feel to the creative process. Once you have a solid image to work with you can make multiple versions of the imagery and have various outcomes.

If you know my personal work, you will know that this is something that I explore quite a bit.

Check out these lovely images from the Year 10’s at Pleckgate High School.

Student Sketchbook Examples – Based on My Work

Copmanthorpe Primary School – Character Illustration Workshop 2023

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I had a fantastic time at Copmanthorpe Primary School creating these fabulous illustrations with the year 6’s.
I love the diversity across the images that they produced.

The pupils were shown a particular process of drawing starting with a simple shape and then they looked at turning those shapes into weird and wonderful characters using a set of simple techniques. They added further embellishments like shade and texture to finish the process.

We talked about the characters and what they stood for, what their names might be and what sort of things they might carry in their pockets etc, if indeed they had any! Some brilliant ideas developed and interesting discussions ensued.

There are a super array of expressions and some really strong line work. It was a delight watching all these illustrations come together over the course of the day.

Terrific work from all the children who all worked diligently throughout the day.

Check out some of the fabulous images produced below.

Birkby Junior School – Y6 Digital Portrait Workshop with EMELBI – 2023

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I have worked with this school for a number of years now and the children always come up with the goods. There are some super, creative and talented pupils among the children at Birkby Junior School.

The digital portrait workshop that year 6 took part in this year brought some really striking results. Based on their own portrait photos, the children explored a set of techniques using the program Procreate on the iPad. The resulting imagery is bold and striking.

I am always fascinated in the results regarding individual style. Especially after the students are taken through the same set of processes regarding technique. Regardless of age, I find that people creating any type of artwork will always apply their own unique set of ideas or experiences to the process. This is what makes each individual piece of art diverse and unique and have its own energy.

Check out these wonderful images that Y6 created below.

Birkby Junior School – Beautiful Mundane Project – Y4 Digital Graphics and Photography Workshop with EMELBI – 2023

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The Beautiful Mundane Project – Making Graphics from Simple Digital Photography

Working with the year 4 pupils at Birkby Junior School we looked at taking photographs of really mundane subject matter in order to make some striking graphics.

Using the Snapseed app on the iPad, the pupils manipulated their own photographic images, taking them through a series of treatments in order to enhance the imagery and create a set of striking graphics from simple beginnings.

Here are a sample of the fabulous images that they created during the workshops.

Bridgewater Primary School – Digital Portrait Workshops 2023

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Creating Self Portraits in Procreate with Bridgewater Primary School

This lovely school booked me in to deliver my Digital Portrait Workshops and I got to work with years 2, 3, 4 ,5 and 6.

I will never tire of these portrait workshops. Young people always come up with the most fabulous and diverse imagery. The children at Bridgewater Primary School in Manchester were no exception. Some really expressive work came out of these sessions. I especially love some of the colour use and the exploration and treatment of form.

Here are a selection of images from across the year groups. Brilliant work from all of them.

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Making Layered Portraits – King’s School and Nursery, Devon

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I have had some wonderful feedback from a school in Plymouth, who have been creating their own fantastic illustrative portraits following my Drawable ‘Making Layered Portraits’ resource on the AccessArt website.
The images below are some examples of the terrific work that the Year 6 children have produced during their creative sessions working on their class topic of Diversity and Identity.

It is always such a pleasure and honour to have inspired young people to embark on new creative journeys and learn new artistic techniques. Sharing the creative process is a gift that opens up new opportunities in a multitude of directions. It is almost impossible to know of the fruits that will grow from the seeds that we sow as creative professionals and creative educators. It is such an important thing to have sown those seeds.

Thank you so much to King’s School and Nursery in Devon for sharing these with me. These images you have created are fabulous. I hope it has given you some interesting ideas to go on and create some more fantastic artworks.

See the resource that they followed here.

The Hill Primary Academy – Portrait Illustration Workshop with EMELBI

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Here are some fabulous images made by the year 6 children at The Hill Primary Academy in Rotherham. Using photographs of themselves, the children made some super line illustrations using pencils and pens. Looking at certain aspects of the portrait process, year 6 focused on dominant aspects of their features and looked to capture a true likeness of themselves using a certain set of techniques. Afterwards, the children coloured their images using a limited colour palette of acrylic paints. The results were absolutely fabulous. I had great fun working with them all and the work that they produced over the course of the day, was brilliant.

East Ardsley Primary School – Space Illustration Workshop with EMELBI

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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 experience and it will always throw up surprises in term of what is created.

So many people say to me “I wish I could draw, I’m rubbish at drawing!” and I always ask, “Well, how ofter do you draw?” to which the answer is always either “Never.” or “Not often.” We get good at doing things by doing those things. You will never get good at anything by not doing it. Except perhaps, doing nothing.

This workshop has been devised to make the drawing process really free, where mistakes are encouraged and exploration is the key to making a collaborative piece of art. It’s always fun and the overall effect is fabulous, as a huge pice of cartridge paper is filled with wonderful and incredibly detailed drawings. The workshop is always fun and all the participants are always fully engaged and excited to create more and more.

This particular workshop at East Ardsley Primary School was based on the theme of Space. Below are a set of images taken from the collaborative piece of work that the children created over the course of the day. There are some fantastic characters and wonderfully brilliant and  imaginative spacecraft within this imagery. When you make a process fun, inhibitions always seem to dissipate, leaving you with pure creativity.

The children also took photographs of the collaborative artwork and made digital edits of the imagery using various apps.

Birkby Junior School – Y4 Digital Graphics and Photography Workshop with EMELBI

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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, mundane objects. Objects that would usually seem humdrum and perhaps largely taken for granted, like sinks, radiators, window cills, light switches, air vents, skirting boards etc.

Using the apps Pixlr and Snapseed on the iPad, the children manipulated the images, taking them through a series of treatments in order to enhance the imagery and create a set of striking graphics from those mundane beginnings.

Here are a sample of the fabulous images that they created during the workshops.

Birkby Junior School – Y6 Digital Portrait Illustration with EMELBI

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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 and techniques in order to make these beautiful illustrations.

It was fabulous to work with them all and the images that they created are striking. I am always stunned at the diversity of image and the variety of different outcomes that young people come up with. Even though the creative process is the same, each individual artist brings all of their own ideas, experiences and flare to arrive at each unique outcome. This is the beauty of the creative process.

Pleckgate High School – Digital Portrait Illustration Project

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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 order to inspire and share the skill set that I have acquired and developed over the years. The beauty in sharing is watching young people pick up those skills and do something completely different with them, often with brilliant and stunning outcomes. In turn, I end up learning a thing or two from them in the process.

This is the beauty of creative learning. Through the shared experience of creative exploration, so much is learned on a myriad of levels. I really enjoyed working with this school and the artwork that they produced in such a short space of time, was nothing short of brilliant. Check out some of their work below.

St Mary and St John Catholic Primary School

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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‘ on the Apple iPad. Many of the children had never seen or worked with Procreate before so there was a steep learning curve regarding some of the technical aspects of using the app. I am pleased to say that they all took to it like ducks to water and the strength of creativity speaks for itself.

The project was tailored to look at self portrait illustration, to think about the structure of the face and what it is that makes us look like us. Working form their own photographs that they took themselves, the children explored their face structure, examining strong lines and also the negative spaces in the construction of their imagery. Working over multiple layers they eventually finished off by delving into the world of colour where we discussed colour palettes and what sort of hues worked well together. The emphasis was always based around the notion that ‘less is more’. This was a deliberate exercise throughout the workshops, simplifying the process of the illustration in order that the students ended up with the strongest lines. There are key, dominant marks that are the critical elements that make up the character of the face. They inform the viewer about certain expressions and the overall personality of the portrait that they are viewing. The children went through the process of learning to identify these elements and incorporating them into their illustrations.

The students and staff at this school were a delight to work with. I was with them for a whole week and was able to work with every student in every class. The work that they produced is exemplary. Fun, bold, really exciting and full of energy.

Years 5 and 6 also got to work with me in the production of some hand drawn portrait illustrations. They photographed their finished line images on the iPad and worked into them digitally using and app called PIXLR.

Procreate is an app that runs on the Apple iPad. It is an exceptional bit of kit used by many illustrators working in the creative industry. It is intuitive, powerful and exciting to use.

Check out some of the work below from each of the year groups and also some photos of the children working.

RECEPTION

YEAR 1

 

YEAR 2

 

YEAR 3

 

YEAR 4

 

YEAR 5

 

YEAR 6

The Beautiful Mundane Project – Birkby Junior School

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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 take a series of photographs of every-day, mundane objects that would usually seem humdrum or of a dull subject matter. Things like light switches, radiators, air vents, skirting boards etc.

STAGE TWO – THE IMAGE TREATMENT

Using various apps on the iPad, the children then took the images through a series of treatments in order to enhance the imagery to make it a little less dull, introducing textures, colour overlays and light leaks to name but a few.

STAGE THREE – THE TEXT LAYOUT and GRAPHIC DESIGN

The children were then asked to produce a poster for a mock local event using one of the images that they had made as the background. They were given the choice of either:

1. A Music Festival

2. A Technology Convention (Tech Con)

3. A Horticultural Show (Flower Show)

4. An Art Exhibition

Using the same apps that they had used in the creation of their graphics; but this time using a different set of tools within those apps, the children created some wonderful work based on these mock events.

The graphics that they produced and the subsequent posters are full of colour and energy. They have vibrancy, great structure and beautiful detail. The whole workshop was to show that you can create beautiful graphics from bland imagery with a bit of imagination and technical know-how. The workshops were a great success and the children really enjoyed that whole process.

Best comment: “I didn’t know that you could create amazing things from nothing!”

IMAGE MANIPULATION DAY

GRAPHIC DESIGN DAY

Ash Croft Primary Academy – Digital Lift Off Day

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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 heavy cartridge paper. Exploring a series of techniques, these images were then worked into with thicker pens honing the major detail. Special attention was paid to the areas that make characters and features stand out.

Once this stage was finished the pupils then photographed their images using an iPad and worked into them digitally using various creative apps, exploring and experimenting with textures, colour overlays, light bleeds and numerous other layers. The outcomes were a series of strong digital graphics based on their initial drawings.

The school and staff were fantastic and a pleasure to work with.

Hands Up For Equality – Silkstone Primary School

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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 for the inside of their arms. Adding various textures with pens, and colour from a limited colour palette, they came up with these striking graphics. The limited colour palette was used to form a modicum of uniformity throughout the images. The colours are also based on the school logo. This was a great project and I love the energy in the resulting imagery. They’re all so very unique.

Silkstone Primary School was a lovely school to work in. The staff and children were brilliant.