children’s illustration

Learning about global warming.

Mother and daughter searching for a lost cat.

School Well Being Garden Illustration

My son’s school PTA are working on creating a Well Being Garden for the children. I contributed by making the garden plan “come to life” by creating this illustration.

The following illustrations are some examples of how I use pencils to make gentle images suited to children’s stories. The short text which goes together with the images are also my own.

wonder

I wonder what is in her mind… Does she hide, does she fly, does she travel through time?

Magpies

This is a traditional children’s nursery rhyme.

One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy… (ends with, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for secrets never been told.)

publications

FOOTBALL STICKER ZINE

I recently collaborated with a photographer friend Carole Evans to make a football sticker book in the form of a zine as a personal project. I designed the cover taking the football team logo as a starting point. Together with Carole’s brilliant portraits and actions shots, we became a dream team (in my humble opinion) for this fun project!
The kids in the team were given a copy for Christmas and it was such a joy to see them being so excited about it.

The coach Marc Bentz is a brilliant football coach based in South London. You can find out more on the E.W.T.B website or Instagram.

Anna Woodford

I had the pleasure to work with Anna Woodford, an author and a poet. I was so flattered when she contacted me to design and illustrate her book cover. There are many layers to her work and I hope to have captured that in the cover I illustrated.

Carole Evans

I worked for Carole Evans on her photography project - ‘The Bravest Little Street in England’. I illustrated the map featuring images of the buildings which existed in 1914 on Chapel Street. The project was exhibited at the Lumen Gallery in London in 2019.

BRANDING

REFLEXOLOGY SOUTH

I had the pleasure of working with Reflexology South designing their new logo. If you ever need a treat for yourself, head over south for your time of relaxation.

Craft beer design

It takes a village

I was lucky enough to be selected to design a logo for It Takes A Village - a local community group in Crystal Palace supporting mothers who breastfeed. The support group will be held at Crystal Palace park so keep your eyes peeled for this logo on a picnic blanket! You can book your space on the Happity website.

“Hisako approached the project with care, authenticity and a real understanding of what ‘It takes a village’ is trying to achieve. ”

— Emily Harper

Ethical natty

It was a pleasure to work with Ethical Natty to design their logo for their new exciting venture. They are a Leicester based household refill delivery business and all you have to do is order online, and they deliver by bike! Zero emission and they have a brilliant range of products so you are lucky if you live within their delivery range!

Here are some concepts I’ve worked on beyond the logo to deliver the full branding package.

“She was easy to work with and took our ideas on board adding her own creative input to give us a logo that symbolises exactly what we are about. We hope you like it as much as we do!”

— www.facebook.com/EthicalNatty

Food

These are my food series, more light hearted in tone and illustrating what we all must need in life - Caffeine and sugar! It’s funny how as parents we spend our time encouraging children to not choose sugary foods and yet… here I am, loving them all!

Prints and framed Illustrations

This is No.66. It was a private commission to be gifted to a neighbour moving from their house No.66.

Edinburgh drawing

I’ve recently finished a drawing of the beautiful city Edinburgh for a private commission. I’ve visited the city many times but the most recent visit made an impression on me - the layered city of red bricks lined with greenery. I hope I captured the atmosphere.

These below are some of my work illustrating my favourite places. The first two on the left are available as prints. Contact me if you’re interested or framed versions available at the gift shop Pengetout in Penge, SE20.
The last image on the right is of a drawing I made for my baby niece, Orla. See if you can spot her name in the picture! Contact me if you might be interested in commissioning me for a customised drawing for someone you love.

From left, Crystal Palace Transmitter, Crystal Palace Lake, Lockdown in the Garden, For Orla.

large drawing

This woodland piece was a private commission. It’s special to me as it’s a large scale drawing ( 12” x 24”) which I hardly ever have the time to do but love making.

About us and the environment

This is a series of images I made using neon colours as highlights, using them to point out the toxicity in our environment. When we look at our landscapes, we think we’re experiencing the pure beauty of nature. But are we? Do we see the air which pollute our lungs? Is it the sunset which makes the sky orange? Do we know that the water is clean? We might be becoming easily satisfied with the instagrammable landscapes which we use as backdrops for instant gratification. What do we do beyond that? These are questions I’d like to ask.

A,B,C

Pre-Covid outbreak, I started a seemingly innocent Alphabet series but they are a comment on our environmental crisis.

From Left, A - Air pollution, B - Dying bees, C - Carbon emmission.

Birds

Birds. They are the species most affected by the increase in the number of roads being built. There are two sides to it. On the one side, the more common birds such as blackbirds, pigeons and gulls are doing better and becoming more abundant. Roads provide heat and birds are nesting closer to them, but at the expense of less common birds - the ones which are shyer, less tolerant of humans and general disruption to their habitat. Here is a series of illustrations depicting different kinds of birds.

From the left, Blackbird, Green Honeycreeper, Peregrine Falcon, Toucan.

TEXtiles

I worked on a lovely project with a friend of mine who wanted to use my Larry the Liger as a print for her children’s wear brand. Unfortunately her business has since folded but my textile collection is still available on Spoonflower so if you fancy a quirky fabric, get your needle and thread out and click the link!