Illustration

"About, well, must be two years ago you had a suggestion in the newsletter about using snails as tea lights," Hampster Squared writes to b3ta.

"I'm an artist and I work with live insects and plants, but had no idea how drawing would fit in with the rest of what I was working on. The snails were a revelation. So I've spent the past two or so years painting on snail shells. Have a look at some of them."

Every now and again, I love a good plagiarism story! In this case, it's pretty bad. Maxine Carsboult has pretty much ruined her career as an illustrator by blatantly retracing work of established illustrator Julia Pott, amongst others.

The work in question is pretty-much exactly the same, with some slight differences. What's more - it's not just one piece of work, but a whole portfolio of work. Carsboult even plagiarised the work of Pott and other artists / illustrators for the majority of her degree show exhibition. Bad move.

Since Pott is an established artist, the case has gained quite a bit of attention with work comparisons being posted on You Thought We Wouldn't Notice and Soho agency Yellow Jelly have removed any references to Carsboult on their website - which is where she worked on a design placement.

Cartsboult has since gone into hiding online; deleting all social networking profiles and illustration portfolios. Oops.

(h/t Nicola Rowlands)

I love birds and so was pleased to see a range of bird illustrations by Jacqui Oakley hit the front page of Behance Network.

Using a combination of oil paints, ink and digital media in her work, Jacqui explains why the feathered creatures are so fun to illustrate; "I love working on bird illustrations. There's so much personality and texture to work with. It is funny lately that I've had multiple requests for similar 'bird song' compositions. I try to make each one distinct though."

You can see more of Jacqui's work on jacquioakley.com

My girlfriend, the wonderfully talented Sally Renshaw, has recently completed some illustration work for arts and literature magazine Corridor 8.

You can (and should) hire her on a freelance basis for all your drawing needs.