A seaside wedding

I'm returning to my hometown at the seaside next week for my best friend's wedding.
I've known Louise since I was three years old. Here's a picture I painted of us a long time ago...that's Louise on the right.

Louise is a twin. As children, we were often referred to as 'the triplets'. We were pretty much inseparable... 

Here we are...spot the scruffy 'shabby chic' one! C'est moi!

These days, however, many many miles separate us (549! I've counted).

We're lucky if we get to see each other once a year, but when we do it's as if nothing's changed...the best kind of friendship, I think...

Louise kindly asked me to design some of her wedding stationery. Here's to the bride and groom! May you enjoy many years of love and friendship of your own x

Children's illustrators - a few of my favourites

Good children's illustrations stick in our minds way beyond childhood.

For me, as a young reader, the illustrations were often more important than the text. I spent hours just poring over the pictures and often took the same books out of the library week after week just to look at the pictures again.

Here are a few illustrators who made a big impression on Love Lucy Illustration:

I adore Shirley Hughes' rich detail and the scenes she sets...

Raymond Briggs is a firm favourite too. In my family it's a tradition to watch 'The Snowman' every Christmas Eve, without fail. Magical...

'New Blue Shoes' by Eve Rice was the book I took out of the library time and time again! Looking at it now the illustrations seem quite simple but it had a real charm to my 4 year old self...

I feel like a bit of a child all over again since moving to France and seeing everything with fresh eyes. I can very often be found in the children's departments of libraries and bookshops discovering great French illustrators who I missed out on as a child, like Alain Gree, for one...

And Agnes Rosenstiehl with her adorable character 'Mimi Cracra'

                               So these are my favourites...who are yours?

Happy holiday / bonnes vacances!

With the holiday season in full swing I thought I'd share with you some photos from a super dooper stay in Brittany last week. If you're reading this while on yours, hope you're having a good one!

This is what we woke up to each morning, aaaahhh...

                 
Every few days I picked fresh flowers from the garden...

And some herbs too...

 While I picked flowers and herbs, Frenchie went fishing and caught our dinner.            Yumyum or miam miam as the French say.

We ate rather a lot of crepes too, well it would be rude not too, when in Brittany...

We had some great days out; Dinan, Rennes, St.Malo - where we saw this lovely street display (particularly fitting for Frenchie and me - we met under an umbrella!)

     

I also did a little bit of work on Love Lucy Illustration while I was away. In here!! My summer studio...

And I'll show you what I painted in there soon...

In France 'la rentree'  is deeply fixed in the culture, meaning to go back to normal life after the holidays. For some this brings with it a sense of dread. Not for Love Lucy Illustration! 

Our little holiday in Brittany filled me with inspiration and now I'm ready to get BUSY!! 

Love Lucy x

A big hello from a first-time blogger!

Well, here goes...my first blog! I'm Lucy Smith and I'm a freelance illustrator, specialising in greeting card design and personalised children's paintings.

 

                                  

                               

Love Lucy Illustration began when people who liked my Phoenix Trading cards started asking me if I could paint personalised pictures for their children. Of course I jumped at the chance and now here I am! 

The Love Lucy Illustration blog is as an 'online diary' : there's lots of exciting things in the pipeline for Love Lucy Illustration, so if you like what you see please pop back regularly by bookmarking this site or sign up for free email updates at the top of the left hand column.

Love Lucy x