Art

My Blog

Welcome to my blog, where I chat about maps, art, nature and sustainability. I'll give you the stories behind the art, 'how to's and interviews, both with other artists and the authors I work with. Do you have something to say and would like to be a guest author on my blog? Let me know below!

C O N T A C T

May 8

5 Ways to Display Your Posters

Inspiration for hanging your posters in your home: 5 ways to display your posters

May 3

New Kids (Posters) on the Block

The story behind my new kid's animal posters: The Monochrome Menagerie series, chatting about inspiration for both drawing and product

Apr 26

Map of the Month: The Ranulph Fiennes Maps

Back in 2022, I created a series of maps for Ranulph Fiennes' book Climb Your Mountain. Here, I chat about the story behind the maps and how

Apr 19

Feature Friday: The Carta Marina

Looking at they 1539 map The Carta Marina and how it has influenced my style as a map illustrator

Apr 4

Future Products: New Kids' Poster Wall Art

What's new for Howell Illustration in 2024? New Kids' posters and punny greetings cards! Check them out now!

Mar 29

Creating a Custom Map for The Winter List

Every month I highlight a map I've illustrated and give you the story behind it. This month, it's the turn of this deceptively simple map...

Mar 27

How To Frame Your Art at Home

Do you sit with your art at home, unframed and unhung for years and years? Yeah, I've been there, but now this post is here to help you!...

Mar 15

Artist Recommendations: My Favourite Artists, Part 2!

A short while ago I wrote about my top 5 favourite artists working today, but once I got going, I found I had way more than 5! So here is...

Mar 13

How To Make Your Own Font Quickly

Creating your own font takes a lot of work, but there is a quick way to do it. I'm going to show you how. Though, if you're wanting to...

Mar 1

My Top Five Artists: Five amazing artists to buy from today!

In this post I run through five of my top five favourite artists currently working as of February 2024. Contents Katie Garrison...

Feb 23

Map of the Month: A deep dive into my illustrated maps

My map of the month for this month is S G Maclean's map for her book The Bookseller of Inverness, read this blog for a deep dive into its...

Feb 16

Feature Friday: A look at the work of artist and mapmaker Emily Faccini

One of the artists that has most influenced my journey into mapmaking is Emily Faccini; she really kicked off my love of cartography with...

Feb 14

Complementary Colours: A short guide on colour theory for beginners

With complementary colours you can make your artwork sing. This blog post will chat you through the basics of colour theory for...

Feb 7

How I Use Procreate: my top tips for using Procreate for a hand drawn style

This blog aims to take you through how I use Procreate for my illustration work. We'll talk about my top tips for Procreate: the pencils...

Jan 31

Where To Find Creative Inspiration

How do you find creative inspiration? This blog post will tell you about where I find mine and how you can find yours. Contents: Books...

Jan 26

Illustrated Map of the Month: Stef Penney's Paris 1870

It's time for map of the month, where I discuss my favourite maps I've worked on and the story behind them. This month, it's my...

Dec 29, 2023

Illustrated Map of the Month: The College of Novelties from Simul by Andrew Caldecott

I'm officially adding a new feature to the blogs: Map of the Month! Each month I'll discuss an illustrated map I have created, going into...

Dec 22, 2023

Feature Friday: The Art of Lord of the Rings Artist, Daniel Reeve

Feature Friday is back! Once a month I'll be introducing you to the work of an artist who has been a great source of inspiration for me...

Dec 15, 2023

Imaginary Worlds: the Allure of Fantasy Maps in Literature

Fantasy is my favourite genre of novel. I read it fanatically, almost to the exclusion of any other genre, I've edited it with the...

Dec 13, 2023

Creating Depth: A Beginner's Guide to Making Basic Shapes Three-Dimensional

When you're making a map, sometimes you need to give it a little depth, so here's a practical, beginner's guide to making basic shapes...