Melody Seal | Illustration

Rain

2011-10-11T14:52:00.001+01:00

It's been a rainy week in Melbourne!

Imaginary Town

2011-08-09T10:12:00.001+01:00

SUN-day

2011-07-24T04:34:00.004+01:00

I am having a lovely chilled sunday in Melbourne, I've been here for a week now and just LOVE this city! So many amazing creative people, very relaxed, easy going and friendly, and so much cool stuff going on- I think I could stay forever!

Carnival!

2011-06-21T11:04:00.002+01:00

We had a carnivalesque fancy-dress party a couple of weekends ago here. I was so amazed at the creativity and thought that everyone put into their costumes, and people really got into the idea of carnival as an escape from reality and a chance to express other facets of your personalities! it was good fun :)

Birds!

2011-05-30T00:59:00.004+01:00

Patterns and birds, two of my favorite things to draw at the moment..

Rabbit Painting

2011-05-02T12:41:00.000+01:00

Continuing the easter theme from yesterday, I remembered this rabbit I painted on the door of our beach hut in Om Beach, India around this time last year :)

Easter Vibrations

2011-05-01T11:12:00.004+01:00

Hey Folks, Happy Sunday and I hope you've been enjoying all the recent festivities and are having fun wherever you are..
I have managed to get completely stuck near a little town called Denmark in Western Australia, and at the moment I'm not sure if i'm going to make it anywhere else ever! I love it so much,. One of the highlights of our time here so far was the Easter weekend which included cupcakes, live music and a great little arts festival, good friends, great food, bbqs, beach time, toasty indoor fires at night, cosy time and unbelievable views of the clouds, stars and sea up at Bazza's hilltop hideaway as well as an easter egg, easter bunny and two chocolate wombats..! So all in all it was pretty good. These are a couple of easter doodles that i did during :)

Read more about Denmark arts stuff and all the cool stuff thats going on here if you fancy

Strange Buddhist drawings

2011-04-25T10:14:00.000+01:00

These are some unusual paintings that I saw while staying at the Suan Mokk Buddhist Monastery in Southern Thailand. They are meant to teach all the aspects of Buddhism in a visual way to students and monks at the monastery, and all have deeper symbolic meanings behind them. I thought they were pretty interesting (especially the last one!) Enjoy

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Parts of Process

2011-04-14T12:23:00.005+01:00

Hey, This is an illustration I did a few months ago- and I thought some of you might be interested to see a little bit of the process behind my work. I very rarely draw with a pencil first because I like the permanence and spontaneity of ink and the fact that 'mistakes' have to be accepted and incorporated into the drawing somehow. This also means that I'm never quite sure how a drawing will turn out until it's finished! I love the process of drawing, making marks on paper and just letting the image evolve until it feels like it's finished. Most of my work at the moment is inspired by nature, especially plants and animals, and I'm constantly amazed by all the patterns and beautiful intricate details that can be found everywhere around us..

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Maybe we will meet again in another life..

2011-04-12T12:31:00.005+01:00

...when we are both cats!
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Temple Love

2011-03-27T08:55:00.001+01:00

So we are settling into life on the road 'down under', enjoying the sunshine and the wide open spaces! I haven't had a chance to do much drawing for the last few weeks so thought I would dig out these photos that I've been meaning to post on here for a while - These are mosiacs from a very old temple I went to in Luang Prapang, in Laos. They completely blew me away, the whole wall was covered in these detailed little scenes made from glass. I especially love the combination of colours and the simple shapes of the figures, they make me want bring more colour into my own work, but I'm still loving my black pen so we'll see.. :)

Cats with Beards

2011-03-06T05:20:00.006Z

Here's a few sunday sketchbook doodles, EnjOy

Space Invaders

2011-03-04T02:04:00.001Z

:-)

Twelve Birds

2011-02-22T02:30:00.005Z

Quiet Days

2011-02-20T15:49:00.002Z

I have spent the last three weeks in maybe one of the most beautiful and certainly one of my favorite places in the whole world - Lake Toba in Sumatra. This was my second visit. There is an island in the middle of a lake in the middle of the biggest volcano in the world, and hardly anyone knows about it... shhh

I stumbled across this and loved it.

Although the days of the week don't really bother me much at the moment, there's just something about Sundays... don't you think?

Fish Love

2011-02-19T05:31:00.008Z

Love is in the air (and the sea) this week...
.

2011-01-21T08:46:00.005Z

Yogya Street Art

2011-01-18T09:07:00.004Z

I saw some pretty interesting artwork while wandering around Yogyakarta in Java. The city is considered to be the cultural heart of Java and is one of the best places to see traditional Indonesian arts such as batik painting and puppet making. It's nice to see that the city has a cool contemporary art scene too

2011-01-17T09:15:00.001Z

The view from my window.

January Blues..

2011-01-15T16:22:00.008Z

So christmas is over, the final echoes of new year are fading (as are the hangovers) and its that January time again.. I always try to start lots of new and exciting projects around this time to keep me happy til the sun comes back - but this Jan I am in Penang, Malaysia and its SO hot I kind of wish the sun would go away! Hope you are all happy wherever you are :)

It's 2011!

2011-01-06T11:34:00.001Z

and I have revamped the blog a little..

An Illustrated Christmas

2011-01-04T15:03:00.005Z

Hope you all had a cosy christmas and here's to an exciting, inspiring and happy 2011!
These are some of the little decorations I made for our tree and presents, a little hint of christmas in the tropics! This is my second christmas away from England and although I was very pleased to be here in sunny Thailand instead of the snowy chaos of Europe; a part of me wished I was there in the snowy sparkly winterland with all our friends and family eating lots of roast potatos and mince pies.. xx

Happy Christmas

2010-12-24T07:27:00.004Z

Love from the Christmas Cat Lady! (and me xx)

Cosy Christmas Cats

2010-12-10T13:25:00.005Z

Hey guys!
Well christmas is almost here again and although Java doesn't feel particularly christmasy at the moment (baking hot, torrential monsoon storms and the odd volcanic eruption here and there) I have heard all about the snowy weather in England and hope everyone is all wrapped up and cosy like these little cats x

Meditation

2010-10-21T09:59:00.005+01:00

I finished the retreat, and it was a great experience,
10 days of silence, waking up at 4am, meditation for most of the day, smiling monks, crazy tropical thunderstorms, fire-flies flickering under the moonlight, the sound of frogs and insects after the rain, friendly cats, hot springs at night, huge spiders (!), a giant toad in a little round water-lily pond, the wind rustling through the forest trees, sunsets, sunrises and so much time to watch and listen and enjoy it all..

(P.s. there was also aching muscles, frustration, boredom, HUGE spiders, centipedes, scorpions and sleeping on concrete with a wooden pillow!) But over all it was great and I feel like I learnt a lot about myself and feel very relaxed so we'll see

Suan Mokkh Monastery, Thailand

Dog in Thought

2010-09-30T04:08:00.000+01:00

Sihanoukville, Cambodia

I am going on a 10 day silent retreat in Thailand, starting today, so this photo seemed appropriate! I love the way the dog looks deep in thought as it gazes towards the distant hills..

Stupa at Night

2010-09-27T18:37:00.003+01:00

A traditional Buddhist stupa in Kathmandu (drawn while eating home-made lychee sorbet in a lovely roof-top cafe overlooking this square)

A large Nepalese lady and a small man..

2010-08-27T04:20:00.001+01:00

This was painted on a sign showing a trekking map in Nepal, I don't know who the artist is but isn't it great?

Two Plants

2010-08-26T05:02:00.002+01:00

2010-08-24T13:50:00.003+01:00

A little bit of something, a current obsession

In the Himalayas

2010-08-24T05:16:00.003+01:00

Some photos from the Annapurna Base Camp trek I did in Nepal a couple of months ago, pictures can't even begin to show how amazingly beautiful these mountains are..

So nice

Breeze

2010-08-21T07:36:00.003+01:00

I hope the weekend is going well for you all, I am in a peaceful little town called Pai in North Thailand sipping green tea in the shade, and this is a leaf inspired creature from my sketchbook.. x

2010-08-15T17:24:00.003+01:00

Leaves are amazing when you look at them closely

One day

2010-08-14T02:22:00.000+01:00

I want to have a crazy patterned floor in my house like these ones I saw in Vietnam!

Hoi An

2010-08-13T12:57:00.003+01:00

A very pretty town in central Vietnam

2010-08-10T10:52:00.005+01:00

A crying fox from my travel journal

They are cool

2010-08-09T10:39:00.004+01:00

Ancient Heads

2010-07-22T12:40:00.007+01:00

This is a sketch I did at Angkor Wat in Cambodia - It was too hot to do much drawing there but the place really blew my mind(!) and I spent 7 days waking up for the sunrise and cycling around soaking it all in. I know it's all there inside my head though, and i'm pretty sure once I get a chance to stop awhile it will all come flooding out one way or another

Holy Art, yoga and goats

2010-07-18T14:21:00.002+01:00

Varanasi, the holiest town in India and the most most beautiful! This was my last stop after almost 6 months in India and it really cemented my love for the country and made me even more sad to leave..

The hills are alive..

2010-07-15T16:29:00.003+01:00

Patterns in the Kathmandu skyline

Rainbow Internet

2010-07-12T10:17:00.003+01:00

The view from our balcony in Manali
(Himalayan Mountains, India)

Chandigargh Rock Garden

2010-07-10T07:39:00.001+01:00

While I was in North India I decided to travel to a 'new town' called Chandigargh to check out the famous rock garden there, and it was AMAZING! The story goes that a man called Nek Chand built the entire place secretely over the course of about 30 years using rubbish from the demolition of the original Chandigargh town. He was only discovered in 1975 and now his creation has become a national treasure, what a crazy brilliant man he must be!

You can read the whole story on Wikipedia here

Squirrels squirreling

2010-07-05T06:56:00.007+01:00

The squirrels in India are the cutest, they have little white stripes down their backs and are super friendly :)

India 3 - Castles made of Sand

2010-06-26T14:08:00.004+01:00

From the top: Our sandcastle in Agonda; Ahmedabad kite festival; 'Mr India' my camel on a camel safari in Rajasthan; Jaiselmer Fort; 1008 sand mounds at the Shivatri Festival in Gokarna; Sand spiral in the Tsar Desert; Jaiselmer Fort from a distance and a lovely sketch I saw on the wall of our guesthouse in Jaiselmer.

2010-06-22T11:42:00.008+01:00

A few more India drawings

So Inspiring

2010-06-22T10:44:00.005+01:00

I've seen so many beautiful things during my 6 months in India, these are just a few of my favourites

Puppets

2010-06-07T11:19:00.006+01:00

A little doodle from my India sketchbook

Holi Festival

2010-06-07T09:44:00.001+01:00

Holi Festival, Hampi - India. There was paint everywhere so I covered my camera with a plastic bag , I quite like the weird underwater effect

Together

2010-06-02T13:14:00.004+01:00

A drawing that I did for a travelling friend
(sorry about the poor image quality, not so easy to find a scanner in India!)

India 2 - Kaleidoscope

2010-05-25T09:02:00.006+01:00

More India photos: Dancers in Rajastan, pots of powdered paint at Holi festival in Hampi, little Shiva and Hanuman in Gokarna, the rasta cafe at Om Beach, the blind leading the blind at the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, Chowpatty beach Mumbai.

India 1 - Blue Skies

2010-04-24T09:31:00.006+01:00

Finally some photos from India! Blue buildings in Jodhpur, Rajasthani doorway, children in the Jaiselmer desert, cute goats in Bundi, sunset in Munnar in south India, the cutest puppy ever in Udaipur, Jama Masjid Mosque in Old Delhi, Shiva statue at the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar.

Shahid Parvez

2010-01-03T12:59:00.003Z

While I was walking around Udaipur a few days ago I stumbled across a lovely little gallery run by the artist Shahid Parvez. His work just blew me away! I sat with him and drank tea and he was so lovely, answering my questions about his process and techniques in depth (lots of artists get secretive at this point!) His characters are great and the colours are amazing in real life, he also has some really great etchings. Anyway one day when I'm a bit richer I'm going to come back and buy some of his work! He doesn't have a website but can be contacted at gallerypristine@yahoo.com :)

a sunset and a brand new year

2010-01-01T18:10:00.002Z

A sunrise would be more appropriate I know, but I can't get up that early! I hope you are all having a lovely first day of 2010 :)

2009-12-31T04:27:00.004Z

Pushkar, a holy town full of temples. I got head-butted by a massive cow in one of the narrow lanes here

India!!

2009-12-29T17:14:00.003Z

Armed with a very small backpack, a sketchbook and a few pencils I have finally left England to travel around the world! This is a trip that Dev and I have been dreaming and planning for quite a few years now and I am so ridiculously excited.
First stop is India where I've been for just over a month now, and will probably be for another 3 months or so because it is AMAZING!!!

As I travel I will try and share as many of the cool things I see, the funny things that happen, and of course pages from my sketchbooks too, so this will become a sort of diary of a travelling illustrator. Woohoo!

(this is my first attempt at wearing a sari at a wedding in Kolkata)

Autumn in London

2009-10-28T19:39:00.005Z

Today I rushed over to Regent Street to visit the new Anthropologie shop.. it is so beautiful, like an oasis of calm after the crazy half-term crowds everywhere in london. I want EVERYTHING in there (sadly I forgot my camera but am going to go back again soon and take some pics to show you)

Birds

2009-10-26T19:18:00.006Z

Mutate Britain

2009-10-22T16:40:00.003+01:00

Probably best described as an 'art experiment' rather than an exhibition, this is "Mutate Britain" by The Mutoid Waste Company (it's under the Westway near Ladbroke Grove). I think what I liked about it most was the raw messiness that you never see in galleries, most of the work was painted directly on the walls (which were anything but white!) and there were also some pretty amazing robots. Some of it was quite weird, but in my opinion weird is usually good..
(p.s. i love the kid in the 4th photo down, so oblivious!)

Hibernation

2009-10-20T21:23:00.006+01:00

I think winter is here already. Now it is time for drinking big cups of tea and looking out the window at grey skies and falling leaves, while being all wrapped up in slippers and cosy woolly jumpers.. mmm
Also tomorrow is the last day of the Dark Tree giveaway so go and enter here to win 4 beautiful fine art prints.

Time Travel

2009-09-30T18:03:00.004+01:00

Sometimes I feel like I've stepped back in time when I walk around London

Daily Favorites

2009-09-29T19:41:00.003+01:00

Today is the last day of the Papernstitch exhibition, it's been fun! These are some of the 'daily favorites' that my work was included in and that were featured on the front page of the site over the last month. These lovely collections were compiled by Brittni, who is the lady behind the whole operation, and who runs a wonderful blog here

Off to the Fair

2009-09-27T20:59:00.005+01:00

The weather in London has been stunning, and perfect for a bit of country fair action! A couple of weekends ago I was working at the Mayor's Thames Festival which is a massive arts festival that takes place all along the Southbank of the river Thames, and then yesterday I decided to go down to the National Theatre to check out the Alternative Village Fete. It was very cute and quaint and had all sorts of crafty things happening, there was even a 'make your own pom-pom stall' which brought back many a fond memory from my childhood! ;)

Papernstitch

2009-09-21T16:36:00.004+01:00

Just 8 days to go for the Papernstitch exhibition so if you haven't checked it out yet then get your skates on! I am celebrating the last week with an amazing buy-one-get-one-free offer on EVERYTHING in my store, just click the picture to have a look :D

Delhi

2009-09-20T00:06:00.004+01:00

A new drawing, I love the chaos of cities!
(Prints available here)

Sketchbook Ramblings

2009-09-17T20:04:00.009+01:00

Some snippets from my current sketchbook :D

Weird

2009-09-16T19:15:00.004+01:00

Hello everyone, I thought I would treat myself to a little (well-deserved) break from the big job i'm working on and show you this yummy treasury that my horse ladies were included in. Also, very exciting - the same horse ladies were showcased on the Storque which is Etsy's blog, and they got 961 views, 41 hearts and sold out!!!!! Yippeee (you can read it here;)

Well-to-do

2009-09-07T15:23:00.004+01:00

Dusk

2009-09-06T21:13:00.002+01:00

The sky this evening

Little Horses

2009-09-03T18:02:00.003+01:00

Some drawings from my sketchbook today with a vintage feel, enjoy!

Rainy Days

2009-09-02T21:22:00.003+01:00

make me wish I was somewhere else...

If I wasn't an Illustrator I would be...

2009-08-31T18:17:00.006+01:00

A professional dog walker!

Cute Shadow Creatures

2009-08-31T18:00:00.004+01:00

My colourful life

2009-08-27T15:59:00.003+01:00

From the top: Neil's Yard in London, graffiti in Neal's Yard, my lunch (mmm), my box of random paper, more paper, and the 'Robot Cat' card I made for Dev's birthday yesterday :)

Papernstitch

2009-08-26T22:57:00.004+01:00

Yay the new Papernstitch shop has launched today and the current exhibition goes on til the 29th of September. There are loads of great sellers so go and check it out x

Light

2009-08-23T22:50:00.006+01:00

Little Houses

2009-08-19T15:32:00.007+01:00

Ahh my little house notebook was included in this super-cute treasury! You can check it out here
and buy all these lovely little house things from etsy :)

Weekend in the Countryside

2009-08-17T17:36:00.003+01:00

I've just got back from a lovely camping trip in the countryside, it's so nice to get out of the big city sometimes and just breath the fresh air.. I hope you all had a great weekend too

The Dark Tree

2009-08-14T18:29:00.005+01:00

It's friday(!) and I thought it was probably about time I formally introduced my new shop The Dark Tree. It wasn't really a secret, I guess I just wanted to try something a little different, without mixing it up too much with all the other stuff I'm doing. Anyway these are a few of the new paintings - from the top Genevieve, Edmund, Lulu, Charlie and Fifi (some of them have sold already - i can't believe it!) and I also have prints available too. As you can see they are quite a bit cuter than anything else i've done..
www.thedarktree.etsy.com
www.thedarktree.blogspot.com

A Rabbit Treasury

2009-08-13T14:42:00.012+01:00

My dancing bunny bag has been included in this AMAZING treasury by ihaveaprint (who by the way has a very cool shop) Oh i love everything, alas i must save and save and save...

Brown is the new Green!

2009-08-04T19:17:00.012+01:00

Loads of new stuff in the shop today - lots of which is made from recycled materials, yay!

SUMMER SALE!!!

2009-08-03T22:57:00.004+01:00

Greetings!
Just to let you know I am having a little summer sale in my etsy shop, these are some of the items that are mostly half price or less!! :)

Bag Lady

2009-07-28T18:43:00.004+01:00

These are some of the brand new 100% unbleached natural cotton illustrated tote bags that will soon be available over at etsy, as well as loads of these new stationary-things xx

Larmer Tree

2009-07-26T17:54:00.008+01:00

After two weeks of muddy freezing festivaling and what I can only assume was swine flu...I'm back! :)

Feed Your Soul

2009-06-21T22:06:00.005+01:00

Hey guys,
I'm very happy to announce that one of my prints is available to download FOR FREE from the Indiefix website. Loads of other great artists including Ryan Berkley and Gemma Correll have also taken part so go and check it out. Enjoy! x

Treasury

2009-06-21T16:01:00.005+01:00

The lovely ranzangel has included my card in her weird and wonderful treasury!

Showtime!!

2009-06-16T22:10:00.005+01:00

Thanks to everyone who came and made it such a brilliant night!!! :)

The Show

2009-06-11T12:20:00.003+01:00

Wooo it's the private view of my graduation degree show tonight! If you live in london do come along, lots of free drinks for everyone! I am very excited now that most of the hard work is done, the venue is amazing (it's a massive basement space underneath baker street that used to be an airplane hanger during the war)!! Anyway the link with directions is here and I will post lots of photos asap for those of you that live very far away :)
xxxx

Always Fresh

2009-06-04T17:07:00.004+01:00

Wow, check out this little collection of houses over at Cathie U! My London shopfronts are featured, and so is the best ring I've EVER seen :)

Work in Progress

2009-05-30T20:51:00.003+01:00

Hey guys! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend so far?
It has been the most wonderful sunny day today in London town, summer is definitely on its way now! Anyway this is a picture of my studio table last night, and some of the new foxy things that I've been making. Mr Fox seems to be sneaking into almost everything I do at the moment, but he's great fun so i'm not really complaining ;)
Unfortunately there are many boring'ish' tasks waiting to be done, so it's over and out for today xx

Books Books Books

2009-05-28T11:49:00.004+01:00

In my opinion you can never have enough books! Here's a peek at all the lovely books available exclusively in my Etsy shop :)

Chalk and Cheese

2009-05-27T00:25:00.006+01:00

A new print on etsy!

London Shops

2009-05-25T21:41:00.009+01:00

Hey everyone! These are some scans from my latest sketchbook looking at old traditional London shopfronts which unfortunately are getting more and more scarce :(

I'm back!

2009-05-14T12:04:00.009+01:00

And the winner is...

2009-05-02T09:17:00.003+01:00

Congratulations!
and thank you so much to everyone else who entered, I will have another one very soon :)

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-30T18:52:00.006+01:00

I can't believe it! I just got a phone call from Macmillan Children's Books telling me that my storybook 'Strange' has been given a highly commended award in their competition! Yippee, i just had to tell you all straight away!!

(you can read more about this amazing competition here)
P.s. these are some of the spreads from my book :)

Last day of the giveaway!!!

2009-04-29T13:58:00.001+01:00

If you fancy your chances of winning a white rabbit don't forget to comment on the post below by end of day tomorrow, and you may be favored by the magic hat :)

GIVEAWAY!!!

2009-04-20T22:40:00.007+01:00

Hey everyone!

Thank you all for following my blog and for being so lovely!
To celebrate having a massive 50 followers (!) I have decided to hold a giveaway of this lovely Rabbit print.
It is 8 x 11 inches, printed on stunning 315gsm textured fine art paper, and has a white border making it super easy to frame! This is one of my favorite pieces of work, and i hope you like it too :)

To win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post (including your email if you are not on blogger), and on the last day of April I will pick a number out of a magic hat and announce the winner!

Good luck xxxx

Grannies in the City

2009-04-14T13:42:00.003+01:00

Busy City

2009-04-13T13:40:00.005+01:00

I was trying to capture the 'hectic-ness' of the city, but also the idea of it being an impersonal place. This is why although there are crowds of people, none of them are really clear enough to distinguish.
I want to use these in contrast with the elderly people portraits from before, who are detailed and full of character, to try and portray the idea of growing old in the city and the experiences this might bring. Come back soon to see how they turn out :)

Cherry Cherry is now OPEN!

2009-04-11T12:37:00.003+01:00

Hi guys, well Cherry Cherry opened with a bang on thursday night, and looks absolutely amazing! Here is a sneak peek courtesy of Gemma and Kate (what a wonderful job they've done!) more pics can be seen here. If you look very carefully you may even be able to spot a few Mr Foxes running around in there :)