Pastel Paradise: Lemon Freckles

Toni or Lemon Freckles is a 30-year-old illustrator and blogger from Sheffield who lives in a pastel paradise of pink hair, her pugs and girl gang inspired drawings. We chatted to Toni to find out more about her fashion and artistic style, how she became a blogger and her tattoo collection… 

Processed with Rookie Cam

When did you start blogging? How did you get into it? I originally started blogging around 10 years ago under a different name but Lemon Freckles is around five years old I think. At the time I was working full-time in mental health and in need of a creative outlet, blogging seemed like something I was able to do while working full-time, I didn’t really think anyone would ever read it.

What things can people expect to see on your blogA mixture of things, I like being able to share what is happening in my world; from my latest cute find to things that inspire me. I want Lemon Freckles to be a positive place, full of colour and silliness.

Processed with Rookie Cam
Do you have a background in art? No, my degree is in mental health but I have always been a doodler. After 10 years of working in the mental health industry, I decided to take a step back and reflect on what I enjoy doing and last year I enrolled in a year long course in design. A few months ago I went self-employed full-time and it has been one of the best decisions I have made.

What inspires you? Colour and my ever so slight obsessive collecting of cute toys from my childhood. I want to bring back a little bit of that magic I left at the school gates sometime between the late 80s and early 90s. I am a firm believer that just because you’re an adult, it doesn’t mean you have to act like a grown up.

What things to do you like to draw? The more colour the better in my eyes. I love doodling toys and making characters out of everyday objects.

Processed with Rookie Cam

What medium do you use? Pen and paper, Illustrator, whatever is to hand.

How would you describe your style, both in art and fashion? I think they are both the same, eclectic. It’s all in the detail, from the Polly Pocket earrings to the denim jacket covered in patches, the more cute the better!

IMG_1584

Can you tell us a little bit about your tattoos? Of course! I actually only got my first tattoo last year, which was a pug (a forever reminder of my two furry pug babies, Doug and Lola) and since then I have got three more; a My Little Pony, a Lefton, Miss Priss Kitty tea pot and a sewing related one. Sam Whitehead of Blind Eye Tattoo Company in Leeds has done all of mine and also has the same love of cuteness that I do, which makes her wonderful to work with.

Processed with Rookie Cam

Do you think they have to have meanings? Nothing deep and meaningful I’m afraid. I get tattoos of things I love, things that make me happy and of course, the more colour the better.

Do you have any future tattoo plans? I’ve got one later this month actually, a Roly-Poly doll, which will be going on my arm. I’m wanting to get my full arm covered in cuteness over the next year, much like my style, eclectic and cute.

The Art of Sarah Howell

Australian artist, illustrator and textile designer Sarah Howell has created mixed media art pieces for over two decades. We love the way she uses photographs, illustrations and work sourced from other artists to create surreal and trippy pieces. Sarah has created campaigns for brands including Topshop, Diet Coke and Nokia.

In an interview with No Cure magazine Sarah explains that:

my art is mostly void of concept or statement, and is purely aesthetic. I like things to look beautiful rather than have a hidden message

 

sarah8

 

Bird Skull Mask

sarah1

 

Nice Kitty

sarah2

 

Tear Tattoo

sarah6

 

Mistake

sarah3

 

Goddess Revival

Romance

Romance

debutart_sarah-howell_11402Eve

buyordie

“Buy Or Die” – Ilustrate Exhibition

2010 Paste-up Mural for Topshop, Topshop Oxford Street London
Plus Limited edition t-shirt
Acrylic, spray paint and collage
4m x 2.5m

 

The Art of Kaethe Butcher

Kaethe Butcher is 25-year-old illustrator based in Berlin, she creates beautifully simple line drawings that explore themes of sexuality, relationships and the body. Kaethe has created an illustration titled ‘Washing out the Realisation’, especially for Things&Ink inspired  by the newly released Horror IssueWe chatted to Kaethe to find out more about her style and what inspires her… 

washing out the realisation - Kopie

Do you have a background in art?
If you ask whether anyone in my family is an artist then no. Once my mother told me that when she was young, she wanted to do an apprenticeship as a porcelain painter and I guess she was talented, although she wanted more practise. But in the DDR (German Democratic Republic, a former state) it was difficult for her and she gave up painting. I studied. I studied fashion design at university but we didn’t draw much on the course, in the first term we had a nude class. I guess that it trained my eyes to see more aesthetic things.

 

_KA_8568_small

Photograph of Kaethe by Robin Kater

How would you describe your style?
Erotic artwork that is melancholic and mournful.

lol

What inspires you?
Mostly through my own heavy heart and mournful thoughts. Melodies and song lyrics inspire me. I also pick out quotes from books when I am reading, or perhaps a movie scene or little details will inspire me. Like Moonrise Kingdom or Tomm Moore’s superb and lovely animation movies – just the colours or scene compositions. Also thoughts from people around me are very important!

What medium do you use?
Pencils from 2H to 8B, fineliners and eddings and copic markers, I want to use crayons again soon.

kkk

Which has been your favourite piece that you have created?
AURYN is my favourite piece currently. And ‘We Don’t Talk About That’ is my most important one for myself.

we

We Don’t Talk About That

Are there any artists you admire? Do they influence your art?
Yes! Takato Yamamoto, Vania Zouravliov, I  enjoyed the Vania artbook that I got from a friend so so much!. I also love Egon Schiele.

kkkk

Where can people buy your art?
Original artwork can be found on my Bigcartel shop. Prints and other stuff like mobile phone cases, t-shirts or totes you’ll find on Society6 and on Juniqe.

Can you tell us about your tattoos? 
I have two! On my left shoulder I have the white rabbit illustration by John Tenniel from Alice in Wonderland, and on my right thigh I have one of my own sketches. It is of a girl and a little rabbit from behind . All of them are just black line work.  I have wanted a third tattoo so bad for a really long time – a sleeping lion illustration from a Grimm fable book.
I mostly like tattoos which emphasize the character of a person or have a little story or thought behind – nothing spectacular but something. I don’t like those old-fashioned, pin-up, rockabilly style tattoos very much or those IT tattoos – even if they’re looking super good. They just bored me.

kaeth

 

AURYN

Come and take a seat…

Come and take a seat… in the Things&Ink pop-up photo studio, exclusively at London Tattoo Convention 2015.

_MG_0116-2

Become part of London Tattoo Convention history in a very special portrait project by Things&Ink magazine. The pop-up photo studio will be located on the upper floor in Tobacco Dock and will be set up for the duration of the convention from Friday 25 September – Sunday 27 September.

Floor plan convention

London Tattoo Convention Floor Plan

Come and see us at the Things&Ink stand to grab a copy of The Horror Issue, as well as back issues of the magazine.

A selection of kewpies from Miniature Ink II, a collaborative exhibition with Atomica Gallery, will available to buy at the convention in the Sailor Jerry room down in the basement, with proceeds going to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

The convention address is Tobacco Docks, 50 Porters Walk, London, E1W 2SF and the closet tube station is Shadwell.  This year the convention are providing free travel on classic London Routemaster buses, taking you from Tower Hill to Porters Walk everyday of the show from 10am- 2.30pm.

Advance tickets are available online until 12pm tonight, get yours here. You can also buy tickets on the door.

Nick Knight’s fetish inspired photoshoot

The photographer Nick Knight has created a beautiful shoot with the London based model Tessa Kuragi for AnOther magazine which has a focus on inspired realities and a persons ever changing sexual fantasies.
Knight discovered Kuragi via Instagram and became intrigued by her fascination with shibari bondage and psychoanalysis.  He then relied on her expertise and narration throughout the shoot which chartered an interesting collaboration between photographer and model.

FullSizeRender

The most intriguing shot is of Tessa adorning some piercings over her left shoulder which were done by the talented Sean Ebb from King of Hearts tattoo studio in New Cross.

FullSizeRender_3

FullSizeRender_4

FullSizeRenderThe entire shoot can be see over at the Show Studio website.