Category: Artists

In our Artist Spotlight posts, we chat to some of our amazing artists about their work, what inspires them and whether they have any top tips to share with us! In our last post, we spoke to the lovely Amanda Summers of Half Pint Print. Today, we have the pleasure of hearing from Amanda Lincoln, the creative mind behind Hotchocbunni.

Who are you and what do you do?

Hi, I’m Amanda the designer/illustrator behind Hotchocbunni. I work from my studio at home in the garden surrounded by my 6 bunnies and my black Labrador Poppy when I feel up to it – I suffer with M.E & Fibromyalgia so can’t work full time I just like to keep my hand in and designing cards for Wuzci is such fun, I also sell other products via a few other sites Society6 and Zazzle.

Where did your creative journey start? Did you always want to do this?

I have always been creative – as is my mum, so she encouraged me to try so many different creative hobbies when I was young. I never intended to go for a creative career as I was to work for the family business (Tyres & Exhausts!) in an office doing book keeping and reception work but that really wasn’t for me. I was there around 2 years after I left school and used to love painting wildlife in my spare time. I used to take my paintings to a copy shop nearby and they offered me a job as a graphic designer because they liked my work. However, I didn’t have the confidence to take the job, but it drove me to apply for art college and that’s how my journey began. Since college my career history spans from designing licensed product for companies such as Disney, Warner Bros etc, to running my own handmade wedding stationery business.  I have always preferred working in design for kids or pretty girlie stuff and I think my style today portrays my love for both. 

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

Yes definitely! I have worked (in one way or another) in the greetings card & stationery industry for over 20 years and haven’t seen any decline in demand. I think every one loves to receive ‘happy mail’ in the post especially around special occasions, after all, who doesn’t like to know that they are being thought about at those times. 

What inspires you to keep creating? How do you get past drawing block or boredom with your work?

One of my good friends Tina is a constant inspiration to me, she is so talented and as much as I know I will never be as good as her. We often meet up and she encourages me in a way that no one else does. I also love to look on Pinterest at kawaii products, Sanrio in particular have been a love of mine since I was a teenager.

Who are your favourite artists/creators at the moment?

I follow a lot of artists on insta and am currently loving the work of aidazamorailustacion and hope to be as good as Crafter of cute one day.

Can you tell us a little bit about your process? How do you create your work?

I keep a digital scrapbook of past work, other artists work and general images from the world around me which always gets me inspired. I work digitally, drawing in Adobe Illustrator and occasionally adding textures in Procreate or Photoshop. I find this is the best medium for me because my physical difficulties sometimes mean that I cannot sit at a desk for long so instead I can sit with my laptop on the sofa and keep going. 

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

Practice, practice, practice! I’d suggest looking up ‘Draw this in your style’ challenges on Insta where other artists illustrate something and ask you to draw it in your style, that way you build up your skills, gain confidence and make friends with other creatives. Also enter competitions, for example Spoonflower have ongoing surface pattern competitions that anyone can enter, however be warned that there are usually A LOT of entries so don’t be down hearted if you don’t win, it is just a bit of fun and great for building your portfolio and becoming a more accomplished artist.  Also always make sure that you check the T’s & C’s as some comps require you to hand over your copyright which is totally not acceptable. Over all I’d say ‘Have fun’, ‘work hard’, ‘have confidence in your work’ and ‘don’t give up’.

Finally, do you have any projects in the works or exciting things you would like to plug?

I have in the past licensed my own children’s wallpaper, scrap-booking and sticker ranges (amongst others) through large companies which I’d love to do again, but my health limitations currently mean that I can’t guarantee meeting strict deadlines etc so for now I am concentrating on my Wuzci shop and those mentioned above and hope to sell fabric via Spoonflower in the future.

Thanks to Amanda for sharing her words of wisdom and giving us a lovely bit of insight into her brand. If you’d like to see more of her collection on Wuzci, then check out the below button!

If you’d like to take a look at some of our other Artist Spotlight posts, take a look at the banners below!

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.

Thankyou Amanda for sharing your words of wisdom!

If you’d like to check out Amanda’s full collection of cards on Wuzci then click the button below.

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In our last Artist Spotlight, we spoke to Diana Birkett about her work and design process. If missed it, you can catch up here!

Today we’re talking to Beverley Hopwood, a designer and illustrator with over 25 years of industry experience. This is a good one – so grab a cuppa and enjoy!

Who are you and what do you do?

I am Beverley Hopwood, or Bev. Also known as beverleyhopwoodillustration. I’m a freelance illustrator and designer and have been very lucky to have been able to sustain this throughout my working career. I illustrate for various markets including homeware, gift, greeting cards and fashion. I love pattern, colour, typography and I love drawing characters. I don’t like to pin myself down to a particular style which allows me to work for such diverse clients. I find myself swapping from watercolour botanical drawings, to fun slogans, to cats in diving suits! (one of which is a card I designed for Wuzci!) Check out this card here.

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

I tend to mix it up from hand-drawn or painted, to digital. It totally depends on the brief and how I want the end product to look. I will either draw directly onto the Mac or hand draw or paint in a sketchbook, then scan it in and manipulate it. I also use both Photoshop and Illustrator, again depending on the end feel of the design. My medium has most definitely changed from my early days at Uni to the present. Seen as there was only one computer in the whole course department; paint, paper and pens were the only option! Which in hindsight, I think it allowed far more room for creativity and mistakes, the latter being crucial! As computers became more accessible, in one of my first in-house design positions, I was given the opportunity to learn to draw digitally which, as a result, enables me to now have multiple choices to create.

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

A cliché, but there’s inspiration everywhere! I am very visual and take in details all the time which affect my work. In a digital age, galleries, other artists work, what’s in stores, are all so accessible, especially during the past covid year, so Pinterest, blogs and creative art sites are all regularly visited for inspiration. Creative blocks of course happen but when you are working to continuous tight deadlines, there’s not much room for swanning off to a gallery for the day! 5 minutes away from my desk to grab a coffee normally sorts it! I find that just stepping away for even a short space of time allows your brain creatively to problem-solve.

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

Most definitely!…..but as a greeting card designer, I would say that! Personally though, a handwritten or personalised card or letter means so much to me so I can only assume other people feel the same. Because we are all so entwined in digital worlds, in home and work life, receiving something physical that you can hold in your hands or place on a mantel holds far more weight to me than an email or text.

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

Sit up, sit straight and get a good chair! Ha ha! Apologies that it’s not creative advice but most of your working lives – especially in the creative sector, you will spend the rest of your life sat down and almost everyone I know in creative jobs suffer from some sort of back or neck problems, so take heed!
In relation to the actual career though, to survive as a freelancer you have to be willing to multi-task. You are the creative team first and foremost, but alongside that, the media manager, the accountant, photographer, admin, HR, editor and general dogs body!

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 am very lucky to regularly work on such a lovely mix of end products, from greeting cards and childrenswear to homeware. Because they all launch at different times, in different stores and different continents throughout the year, it can be very hard to keep up with launch dates to plug anything!
In regards to new clients, I am working on some lovely children’s book concepts with one client and a new games project with another which are both new areas to me and very exciting. I’ll try and keep you posted on how it goes! Otherwise my instagram account @beverleyhopwoodillustration shows more day to day work and my website: beverleyhopwoodillustration.com showcases my portfolio.

Thank you Beverley for giving us such a great insight into what your creative journey looks like!

If you’d like to see more of Beverley’s card designs, check out her profile and socials via the button below.

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