A 'Dinosaur Smarties' Easter egg.

Erm, they're called palaeontologists, actually.

Boom Brief #8: How you brought a fictional Italian bakery to life From open-crumb wordmarks to watercolour sunrises, this month's challenge demonstrates how the best briefs smell like fresh bread and demand something genuinely original. Welcome to the eighth in...

This work is now featured on @creativeboom.com with some exceptionally lovely words about it: www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/...

Watercolour paintings of three baked goods: Focaccia, ciabatta, panino all'olio.

Watercolour painting of three baked goods: sfogliatelle napoletane, cannoli, and cornetto.

Watercolour painting of three baked goods: Pasticciotto, crostata, and antipasto di torte salate.

Baked Goods!
Bread, pasties, and pies!
Do you have a favourite?

A digital collage of watercolour images. One is a yellow image of a baker backlit kneading dough. One is a shop in a sandstone building. One is watercolour line art of hands kneading dough. There is a set of watercolour baked goods, and the words Alba Bakery written down.

A watercolour painting of a sandstone building with a bakery under it with an orange and white awning and greenery.

A watercolour yellow painting of a backlit baker kneading dough.

Watercolour brown line art of hands kneading dough.

Alba Bakery, an Italian Bakery in a small English town, focussed on hand made goods done with patience and care, I chose to design some of the brand identity for it, focusing on the hand crafted artisanal elements of the brand.

I really enjoyed this, especially painting the baked goods!

Amazing! We have friends everywhere! London is holding its largest protest against the far right today marching in solidarity with No Kings (Tyrants) Day!

A photo of someone holding up a sketchbook. In the background is a British garden with a lamppost visible in the background. In the foreground is a painting of the view, with two illustrations underneath of sapphic stardew valley fan art.

For the Spring Equinox, I sat in my mum's garden and drew the view. You can see it at the top of this page just over some Stardew Valley fan art!
It's been really nice listening to the bird song and seeing how the light changes and the movement of the leaves. A good way to spend the day.
💚

Sketchbook spread featuring stuff drawn in biro and painted with watercolour. There are three of a femme figure (La Maupin) in blue, a gun labelled Brown Bess, a scene of someone talking about armour, a small scene of a pirate in brown (Stede Bonnet), and a femme figure in 80s attire. There's also notes in biro and a collaged image of calligraphy and illuminated lettering in a book.

A sketchbook spread featuring collages, biro drawings and water colour. There's a collage of knightly figures, including Dev Patel from The Green Knight. There's a painting of some badges on denim. There's a painting of two guns and a sword, and a painting of a female duelist (La Maupin)

My sketchbook pages from Queerying The Armouries that I went to last week. The first spread was sketched live, with the paint added a little later.
The second spread was collaged at the event, with the badges being drawn in the pub after, and the page at home based on references taken at the event
🏳️‍🌈

Stardew Valley - 10th Anniversary - An Illustrator’s Perspective - An Illustrator's Thoughts - Beth Dooner Illustration - Stardew Valley - 10th Anniversary - An Illustrator’s Perspective Illustrations and Artwork by Beth Dooner

I did a post on my blog celebrating 10 Years of Stardew Valley and talking about the art I have made for it over the years, check it out if you have some time, also you can see the first SDV art I ever did in the thumbnail image:
www.bethdooner.co.uk/blog/stardew...

Gouache painting of a group of people sitting on a tables in a beer garden and enjoying each others company. They are sitting under bunting from the pub and lights, which illuminate them and the trees behind them.

The Opening Act of Spring
My latest piece inspired by a trip to pub last year on the first unequivocally nice day of the year, where it seems everyone came out to do the same thing. Bless the staff for having to put up with the sudden swell of people.
Painted with gouache and gansai watercolours.

A circle image captured like a fish eye lens, with a figure in the middle looking up and smiling as the landscape flattens around them and reveals a huge scene in the British Countryside.

I Am Present

One of the pieces of advice I got when I was doing therapy for CFS was to try engaging in mindfulness; and yeah, I'll be real, it didn't cure it. I didn't expect it to.

But it helped, oh gosh it helped.

This piece is a celebration of that, for me at least.

#illustration

I'm not a big fan of the term "sheeple" as it takes me back to people criticising those of us who chose to follow COVID procedures AND YET---

"We can't fight it so we may as well go along with it 😂 " is a comment I've seen a lot with regards to people doing the Ai slop cartoons.
And I'm just here like, wow, what an utterly terrifying thought to have in this climate 🙃

Luigi Mangione surrounded by flames grinning with the text Repent or Perish

Westboro Baptist Church tried to make an Anti-Luigi Mangione poster but it just looks like Luigi is threatening billionaires and goes unironically hard af

Painting of various food including: Sushi, an apple cinnamon roll shaped like a rose, khachapuri, more sushi and bao buns, egg in rice, burnt rice, vegetables in casserole dishes, and dough balls.

Paintings of various foods including: banana cake, chicken in roulade sauce, guacamole and spring veg and salmon sandwich, kare pan, peaches in cream and biscuits, yakitori, diced potatoes, fish, cauliflower, and asparagus tarts

Who's hungry?
I went through a bunch of my photos and selected some fun images to draw.
These include takeouts, cafe food, other wedding food, restaurant food, and home made food!
Do you have a thing you've spotted on here that you want to eat? Mine is the dough balls on page one 🤤

Painting of a monument surrounded by overgrown greenery, with a single red flower visible in the bottom left. The monument a rectangular plinth with a female figure bent over a draped urn.

Little painting I did for myself in between some bigger projects.
Based off a monument in a church I visited a couple of years ago. It was super fun working with all the greens and the textures on the grave.
Done with a mixture of watercolours and pencil!

Illustration of a brightly dressed girl on rollerblades being pulled forward by an older man on a mobility scooter, they are both smiling.

Illustrated portrait of a small child being pulled by an older woman on a skateboard, they are both smiling.

Illustrated picture of three people sitting on a park bench, they are chatting and smiling. One of them has a small dog on her lap.

An illustrated picture of two people lying down. One is lying on their front on a bench, staring down at their phone. The other is lying on their back on the ground, with their arms in front of their face.

Despite enjoying that winter landscape series, I am currently missing warmer weather.

Drawn some interactions and scenes I've seen myself over the years, just the joy of being outside!

Let me know which one if your favourite 😊

Witnessed an adorable interaction of a little girl who squealed in delight at the train approaching and the train driver gave her a honk and a wave.
Her parents also lifted her so she could press the button to open the train doors.

Just some little light to share in these bleak feeling times.
🌥️

Picture of 6 illustrations of the same female figure in 6 different outfits. Top left is a red coat and beret with captioned with "Snow Day'. Top centre is a brown and gold shirt and leggings combo captioned with "Celebration Meal". Top right is a green dress with a denim jacket captioned "Art Gallery Date". Bottom left is a blue hoodie with a pink beret and grey skirt with the caption "Spring Art Picnic" above it. Bottom centre is a bright blue blazer with a tropical blue themed skirt captioned "Friend's Wedding. Bottom right is a light blue long dress with a green floaty jacket also captioned "Friend's Wedding".

Image of 6 illustrations of the same figure in different outfits. Top left is a blue shirt and red dress in a giant black hat captioned "Summer Art Picnic". Top centre is a different blue shirt worn open over a black top with dark jeans, captioned "Canal Walk". Top right is a black and gold styled outfit with a black beret, captioned "Art Visits". Bottom left is a mult coloured scarf over a black and gold jacket, with an umbrella being held, captioned "Rainy Walk". Bottom centre is an all black and grey outfit with the caption "Running Errands". Bottom right is a tartan dress with black boots, captioned "Brother's Wedding".

Best Outfits of the Day from 2025!

This was a fun little project to do, looking through some of the outfit selfies I did over the year and putting them all together!

Which look is your favourite? Mine is the Spring Art Picnic, it just all went together so well!

Went to the dentist today, I expected a few things... what was a true surprise was the dentist chair sounding exactly like the opening honk in "We Like To Party - VengaBoys" as it moved up to get into position. Naturally, it was all I could think about during the whole process.

Painting of two apples joined together with leaves surrounding them and ladybirds crawling on them.

Part of my Apple Day sketchbook spread, I really liked this painting so I wanted to give it some focus. Might make this into a wee print one day 🍎

It’s a dark night when you look at the news and are forced to admit that you no longer believe in the power of the FIFA peace prize

You know... It's finally dawning on me why I can't get anything fucking done.

In what reality does a person wake up to FUCKING BATSHIT NEWS *every* fucking morning and want to do anything but numb the hell out just to try and make it through the day.

In what fucking reality.

Painting of a grey cat asleep on a chair of laundry in front of a window with visible snow outside.

Seasons Greetings lovely followers!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays if they apply to you.

Whatever the period of time is for you, may it have a moment of cosiness like my little guy asleep on a pile of my laundry in front of a radiator whilst it's snowing outside.

Thank you for being here 🩵

A photo of a sketchbook spread which combines collaged and painted elements to document a day out at an apple orchard.

After finishing a couple of major projects I have been in desperate need of doing some stuff for myself which is pretty chill, doing a sketchbook spread about a really lovely autumnal day back in October really hit the spot for me.
I really like the bottom right one, it might become a print someday.

A watercolour painting of trees reaching over a misty cliff, with evergreen trees visible through the branches.

Watercolour Painting of a loch with misty pieces of land sticking out on the right hand side, each getting paler as they move further back. The nearest one has a bench on it. There is a wall in the bottom right of the image. Bare trees also dot the land.

Watercolour painting of a pond surrounded by tress and reeds. On the left of the image, the sun is hitting the the tress so they glow bright gold. On the right, everything is in in shadow aside from the tops of the trees, which are gold. The pond is frozen and reflects the lighting above it. The sky is blue and has a curved moon in on the right hand side.

A black and white painting of a snowy landscape, with snow on the trees and a tiny robin visible on a bench.

Sharing a few of my faves from the Winter series, and you can purchase them in my shop, last day for postage before Christmas for the current P&P pricing is the 14th, with it going up a little before the 16th, with everything closing just after that.
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Beth...

All of these images are still for sale in my shop, and we are coming up to the deadline in which they'll arrive in time for Christmas, so ordering sooner rather than later is preferable. www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Beth...

Winter Landscape Project - An Illustrator's Thoughts - Beth Dooner Illustration - Winter Landscape Project Illustrations and Artwork by Beth Dooner

For those who enjoyed my Winter Landscape Project, I wrote a blog on my main website which talks more about the origins, process, and thoughts behind each painting!

Take a read or a look if you feel like it, I would really appreciate it 🩵

www.bethdooner.co.uk/blog/winter-...

My mum taped that series and we had a whole load of the visible on our dining room dresser for ages... I wonder if we still have them 🤔

Supporting small businesses helps a lot, as I cannot put into words how much seeing this come in helped me breathe a sigh of relief for the coming season. You can find the other originals and prints of my winter series in my shop here: www.etsy.com/shop/BethDoo...

Photograph of a top down look of a brown envelope, pink post-it note, blue biro, snowflake washi tape, a tissue with dark paint dabbed on it, a brush, and a painting of a misty lake with skeletal trees.

I am sending off an original painting today! 🩵
It's always slightly bittersweet as it's something I created and worked on, but I am so happy to know it's going to a good owner and that they want to pay for the work I create.