About me

Email: tamsinillustration@gmail.com I am a traditional illustrator who uses colour and pattern to create contemporary fabrics with a vintage feel that captures wildlife in their dreamy habitats. I use gouache and watercolour to create my paintings as I feel they are more successful at creating flat colour and stay vibrant which I feel is an important part of my work. I am heavily inspired by 60s/70s fabrics as I love the colours and bold designs and like to transfer this style into my own designs. Previously studying Visual communication at college, I have developed my observational skills and how to visually communicate what I want to say to an audience. On my degree, I have learnt to develop these skills further into how they can be used in the industry. I have always had a passion for drawing animals and creating characters in their own worlds since childhood and would create stories for my family dog. I developed more characters whilst studying for my degree at Norwich University of the Arts. Using inspiration from my own dog and meeting therapy dogs on campus I created a funny story “The dog that buried socks” aimed at younger children. I also created an information booklet for children about the evolution of the horse, as currently there isn’t anything available. I created vibrant illustrations of the different horses to make it visually interesting for the children to learn and imagine these creatures in their habitats millions of years ago. I also created an interactive fuzzy felt set that would bring nostalgia to parents and a fun learning activity for young children. This was exhibited for the Norfolk Broads society to educate young children about the local wildlife of Norfolk. Whilst working in retail stores such as Cath Kidston and Joules it has developed my interest in surface pattern design this led me to create my own pattern designs to create homeware products as well as accessories for dogs.

QuestionsProjectsExperienceTeam

Projects

• A Dogs Trail ( Cardiff) 2022I was commissioned by Dogs Trust and Wild in Art to paint a Snoopy sculpture for their art trail. It was to raise money for their new shelter in Cardiff, My Snoopy was sponsored at auction and is currently living at their Cardiff shelter.
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  Book Cover DesignHere I created a modernised version of the first addition cover of The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith.
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  The Dog that Buried Socks picture bookA colourful painted children's book about a dog named Russell who gets up to mischief and causing trouble on the farm, stealing the farmers smelly socks and try to make new crops.
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  Surface Pattern Design for Dog productsFor this part of my final major project, I wanted to focus on products for dogs and creating designs that will stand out and give them their own style and personalities.
• Creating Illustrations for productsIn my third year, one of the projects I wanted to create for my final major project was surface pattern designs for products to be sold in retail stores. The clients I focussed on was Cath Kidston, Joules, and Oliver Bonas.
• Fuzzy Felt and Poster set for Norfolk Broads National ParkI created an interactive way of teaching young children about the wildlife that lives in the Norfolk broads for an exhibition ran by the Norfolk broads trust.

Projects credited in

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  Norwich University of the Arts, BA (Hons) IllustrationJungmin Kim: Fashion – Hero image from my book titled ‘Fashion’

Work history

Sales AssistantPrimark
Mar 2022Norwich, United KingdomPart Time
Working on the Mens department my duties include replenishing, recovering and ordering stock, processing S&D (soiled and damaged) stock promptly. Working with management to organise product/stock moves and merchandising. Building rapport with customers , till operation, managing fitting room, merchandising, working in a fast paced environment to meet business needs and customer service desk (refunds and exchanges).
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Social Media AssistantHundred Heroines
Apr 2021 - Jan 2022Gloucester, United KingdomInternship
Created and presented project ideas via Canva - Managed Hundred Heroines Instagram account including creating stories and posting content - Managed a sub-group on Facebook, interacting with participants and setting challenges - Researched and written reviews and photographers’ bios - Actively participated in team meetings, offering solutions and relevant feedback from social media platforms. - Created and presented project ideas via Canva - Managed Hundred Heroines Instagram account including creating stories and posting content - Managed a sub-group on Facebook, interacting with participants and setting challenges - Researched and written reviews and photographers’ bios - Actively participated in team meetings, offering solutions and relevant feedback from social media platforms.

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Skills

• Painting Illustration
• Textiles Design
• Character Concept
• Children Illustration
• Animal Illustration
• Colour Compositions
• Gouache
• Adobe Photoshop
• Surface Design
• Surface Pattern
• Printmaking
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Indesign

Education

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BA(Hons) IllustrationNorwich University of the arts
Sep 2017Norwich, United Kingdom
Graduate 2020