Member’s News: A personal project by Claudine O Sullivan

Leaves is a new self initiated print range – the name is pretty self explanatory!

I’ve been freelancing now full time for just over a year, and have been very lucky to be kept busy with client work. I often struggle to commit to personal projects — so setting a date for a solo show and spreading the word is a great way to ensure I make time for personal work.

Most of my print work to date is wildlife focused, I work as much as I can from life. I attend wildlife drawing classes every couple of weeks. The idea for this range came from a wildlife class focusing on botanics – it turns out leaves make easier models than meerkats! I found greens to be a fresh step away from my usual colour palette. The next week I went to my local plant shop and picked up some more leaves to draw, just for fun.

As I had a couple underway I met up with my friend Gemma who runs an online plant subscription store, Sprout London. We started chatting about my new found leaf obsession. Some tips from her on interesting species, a trip to Kew Gardens and a weekly dash to the flower market and my collection is starting to come together! Gemma was up for collaborating so there will be real life greenery on show as well.

I work quite slowly, so there’s still a long way to go! Teaming up with Gemma, my studio space Hotel Elephant and London Design Festival has been a huge motivator to get the work done!

I’m really excited to share the finished pieces, if a little anxious on the narrowing time. Most of the drawing is after hours, as I still need to focus on project work too, but it’s definitely a fun balancing act. I’m aiming for around 10-15 prints in total.

Find out more about Claudine O Sullivan or follow her @claudineo_os
You may also be interested in Sprout London and Wildlife Drawing.