Binky McKee Illustration

23 FEBRUARY

2/23/2020

When I was at art school still life was my favourite genre, I loved going to the college wardrobes and cupboards to select objects for my paintings. Now, for the last few weeks I have been organised enough to collect elements as I work into a scrap-book file so that at the end of the week I can make a still life with them. Although this work is digital, I have noticed that the process of composing and problem solving is the same as painting and in fact the end result resembles my paintings.

Still collecting ideas based on coastal flora to use in illustrations, I found Sea Stock this week, and on Thursday I discovered that Sea Bindweed and Beach Morning Glory are actually the same plant - I have yet to identify the little yellow flowers which I originally thought were Beach Morning Glory. I would never have known there existed such a wide variety of plants which grow on sand dunes in the UK; now I'm looking forward to visiting the beach in summertime for a good old poke around to see what I can find.

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

16 FEBRUARY

2/16/2020

Just as storm Ciara last week influenced my choice of colour, I sheltered from storm Dennis this week in calm, bright colours; also taking comfort after a personal incident - I upset a kettle of boiling water over my knee on Monday and burnt myself badly. I found distraction from pain in lots of mark-making and gentle, small objects. The seaside theme still prevails, here we have driftwood, seaweed and coral shapes alongside those British seaside classics: flip flops, a mug of tea, a picnic blanket, and a bucket and spade.

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

9 FEBRUARY

2/9/2020

It has been a howling, windy week, and the three old sash windows in my work room have been shuddering and rattling like wild skeletons as the side of the house was buffeted by storm Ciara. The turmoil outside perhaps led me to select muted, calm colours for work.
It has been a while since I made a close-toned still life. I have always loved still life painting; I always used oils at art school, where I learnt painting in the traditional Scottish manner with a slightly modernist twist using tilted perspective and beautiful colour harmonies. At the moment I am working digitally on illustrations for that children's book I keep mentioning, so the images shown here were created using textures created earlier in the week for some of the characters and their environment.

This pattern emerged from a texture made (without giving too much away) for an animal in the story. It forms the animal's skin, but I could see the pattern emerging quite clearly alongside the animal's character as I worked on him. I played with colour-ways for the pattern and was pleased with these two - earth and mineral, my favourites! When I have time I would like to refine them, I already have ideas that would look great on textiles for curtains. Or tote bags. Or cushion covers. Or blankets - I think you know where I'm going.

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

2 FEBRUARY

2/2/2020

We had a flurry of snow which lay for a few hours this week. Apart from that it has been unseasonably mild and very windy, and more weather warnings of high winds have been issued by the Met Office, which makes it feel more like March than the beginning of February.
By contrast, sea bindweed and beach marigolds are still providing delightful settings for summery seaside illustrations, as well as spin-off patterns - so pretty, and a nice way to welcome in February with its promise of spring and longer days.

I do like to fiddle about with filters, especially on patterns where you usually wouldn't expect to find them, and I found this fuzzy filter quite enchanting on the flowery themes.

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

26 JANUARY

1/26/2020

A sea-themed week. I have worked on seaweeds, crabs, fishes, sand dunes, and shells. I discovered a few things to do with seashores, including Sea Bindweed which will definitely be making an appearance in my drawings soon - and I couldn't resist making a little pattern with delightful yellow Beach Morning Glory.

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

19 JANUARY

1/19/2020

I got back to work in earnest illustrating a children's book on Monday, tidying up and finishing drawings as well as beginning new ones. Because the book doesn't have a massive word count it doesn't take too much time to lay out all the text in BookWright (from Blurb). The author won't necessarily use it to publish; it's just a super tool for the way I work, and I do use Blurb myself. Working from paper mockups put together with the author I can see the illustrations in context, interacting with the text and each other. The page layouts themselves suggest tweaks and additions which enrich the final product, and I get that buzz from seeing it begin to really happen. It also prevents many a blooper!

So, I have had a productive, satisfying week. The book is top secret for now of course, but here ia a sneak preview of just a few bits and pieces from the week's work.

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

12 JANUARY

1/12/2020

A collage of drawings based on patterns on Japanese Washi tapes. This was so much fun to do, finding ways to apply patterns to household objects and develop related themes to go with them, and it makes me think of mood boards.

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

5 JANUARY

1/5/2020

<<<<<<<<<< HAPPY 2020 >>>>>>>>>>

A very happy and hearty new year to all!
I don’t usually make new year resolutions, but I made one this year and broke it already: to post more regularly on Instagram. It doesn't even have to be every single day, just two or three times a week; and here we are on the 5th day of the year, and I still haven’t done it. So I’ll make it a goal instead ...

5 Goals for 2020:

1. Finish the children’s book I have been illustrating for an author friend; I am currently working on brightening my palettes.

2. Get back to the 100 Days Project. This may or may not happen, as to be honest I had got to where I wanted to be by Day 50. I got as far as cat no.53 before breaking off to do seasonal work at the end of October. My 100 Days Project may turn into my 50 Days Project.

3. Make a zine - I have always wanted to make a zine!

4. Create a more organised work environment and find a way to keep distractions at bay. Some days all I have to do is open the door to take in a delivery, and the rest of the world jumps in at the same time!

5. Find a way to post more regularly and consistently on Instagram: better lighting to photograph notebook work, for example.

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

29 DECEMBER

12/29/2019

This is how B and I spent our Christmas afternoon - modelling like crazy! These great gifts were from Molly and her husband Ben: miniature kits. Mine was a pack of coloured play clays, referencing my pottery days, with instructions to make a Happy Llama. I did, and made him a little friend and a garden of flowers with the leftovers - I had the best time playing and inventing. B’s kit was a little racing car, rather more challenging than my kit and took more time to build, which kept him busy and in his element all afternoon. It’s so cute and beautiful, and goes really fast on its tiny wheels - not dissimilar to the Caterham 7 he used to run before the Lotus Elise he has now, so it's clear where the inspiration for this gift came from!

We have a £5 Christmas gift rule in our family, and it is great fun. Nobody must spend more than £5 on each other, just put as much thought and imagination as possible into finding a gift. One year I made Theo a bunch of sock monsters using all the odd socks I collected during the year left behind after his stays with us; this year he gave his time to replace the aged fuse-box with a modern trip system for our Christmas present.

For our part, B and I had a lovely afternoon tracking down gifts for under a fiver in the pound shop - we found a 1000 piece jigsaw for Molly the demon ‘puzzer’ for £4.99, and horror slime with a spider in it plus an Aldi Beard Wash for her husband Ben, eminent YouTuber Beardo Benjo who specialises in horror gaming. Look out for a beautifully groomed beard on his channel!

Thanks for visiting, see you next week - or next year, should I say!

Check Fizz Creations for Make-Your-Own kits and other cool products!

22 DECEMBER

12/22/2019

Christmas cards all finished, posted and delivered! The design is a rubbing of the lid of an old Indian box, made by passing an inked roller over Japanese tissue laid on top of the box. Once the ink was dry a shmoosh of glitter glue (obligatory) added a sparkly sheen, which looks speckled in this scanned image.

Somewhat bizzarely, I also got into Peppa Pig this week ...
I often listen to YouTube videos while I work, and one day I suddenly noticed an autoplay anomaly had taken me into the middle of Peppa Pig - Official Channel - I had never seen a Peppa Pig episode before, and I really liked it! I have seen them all now, several times, loving the drawings, fully developed characters, stunning compositional sense and clear, soft colours. The sound track is as good as the animations, rich with fun little touches of giggles, gasps, and 'uh-oh' sounds which carry the stories along smoothly. I find the whole series beautifully put together, and think I can learn a lot from it.

The schoolroom clips are some of my favourites, I love the differences in scale between the characters. I realise I have come rather late to the Peppa party and nobody is going to be surprised by this, but it has made a very happy and relaxed atmosphere in my work space! It's quite inspiring.

Thanks for visiting, see you next week - and in the mean time of course, have a very ...

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The Weekly

HI! Welcome to my illustration blog, where I share what I have been up to during the week.

As you may know, Binky McKee is the nom de plume I use as an illustrator; I am also known as Heather Eliza Walker.

I illustrate under the pen-name of Binky McKee, McKee being my mother's maiden name. Binky was the name of every single cat my great-grandmother kept - about 40 of them during her 94 years of life.

Currently I am working on illustrating a children's book, pattern making, and of course I can't resist a good Instagram challenge such as Folktale Week or Inktober.

I hope you enjoy your visit!

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Heather Eliza Walker
Binky McKee