Artist Spotlight: Half Pint Print

Artists - May 31, 2021May 24, 2021 by Sophie Hargreaves

Last week you might have seen our Artist Spotlight with Beverley Hopwood, where we talked to Bev about her creative process and her amazing work.

This week we’re featuring Amanda Summers, the wonderful creator behind the brand Half Pint Print. Amanda’s work is bright and often features adorable characters and fun word play. So if you’re interested in finding out how she creates her designs, keep on reading!

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Amanda, and I run an online illustrated stationery shop called Half Pint Print. I design wedding stationery, wall art and greetings cards.

What medium do you like to work with the most? Has this changed since you began your creative journey?

I love watercolours and an inky brush pen. I also like using collage. My bumble bee designs are made up with bits of textured papers and colouring pencils for the detail. I’ve pretty much been using these materials since the beginning of my illustration career. The watercolours are just so simple and easy to use. I can get designs produced pretty efficiently with this medium. Collage is great too. I like the interesting textures that it creates. It is something unique to other designs.

What or who inspires your work? Do you ever suffer with creative block?

I really love children’s picture books. I specialised in children’s book illustration at university. I love the appealing characters that you find in them, the simple stories and the bold striking designs of each page. These books were really what initially started my interest for a career in illustration.
It’s surprising, but I suffer from creative block every single day. Some days it takes me a while to get in the zone but I just look through my children’s book collection and get some inspiration. I don’t panic when I get creative block, it’s just part of the process and I always seem to produce work that I am really pleased with in the end.

Do you think greetings cards are important in the world today?

Yes, definitely! Even in a world that is turning into some sort of ‘digital era’, we all still love a bit of snail mail arriving on our doorstep!

If there was one piece of advice you could give to a creator at the beginning of their journey, what would it be?

Just keep drawing, and have fun with it. Whether it is for your career or even just for fun, it really is a lovely industry to be a part of.

Finally, do you have any exciting projects in the works that you’d like to talk about or anything that you’d like to plug?

I have just launched my first ever wholesale greetings card catalogue! I’ve been furloughed most of the Coronavirus pandemic and I really worked hard on designing over 140 new cards. I’m really looking forward to taking this next step in the greetings card industry.
I have also worked hard on my illustrated wedding stationery range. I now have a ‘Rustic Woodland’, ‘Tropical Caribbean’ and ‘Country Lavender’ themed wedding stationery in my online shop. Now that the wedding industry is finally emerging again from the pandemic, I’m beginning to see these designs in particular getting really popular.