12.5.08

The Apple Mustn't Fall Far From The Tree..

I reckon the artist I'm about to go shamelessly fangirling on now needs no introduction, but Emily Martin of Inside A Black Apple really does make some of the loveliest, cutest paintings, drawings and cakes (sadly, she doesn't sell cupcakes in her Etsy shop) I've ever seen. I first found her blog a little over a year and a half ago, and couldn't resist making up little stories about the girls she painted- it helped that they had names and titles as quirky and pretty as they themselves were (Violaine and Bubblegum Betty were two of my favourites, along with everything involving hedgehogs- if the things in her paintings ever turned three-dimensional, my first instinct would be to cuddle them). She also makes pins, dolls, t-shirts and postcards (and I loved the recent addition of book plates to the shop, even though they're all sold out by now), but her prints are the sweetest of eye candy for me...
The Quiet Room. (one of my personal favourites, I've always loved the combination of the girl's demure pose, the room's stillness, and the kitten looking- to me, anyway- like it really wants to go and play instead of sitting for a painting)
A Good Egg Is Hard To Find. I think I like this one because she has my glasses- or, considering the fact that they're lost, my former glasses which I still don't want to replace with contact lenses- hairstyle, and permagrumpy expression. And she's green- my favourite colour!
Laundry Day. Hedgehogs with socks trigger urges to hug them, despite prickles.

She also has a fashion blog over at Some Girls Wander, which I recommend having a look at...
PS: Many apologies to Emily, this is one post I've sat on for far too long (I first thought of it and asked permission to use the images in February!).
images from The Black Apple's Etsy shop.

10 comments:

Perakath said...

Oh very nice. The Good Egg one reminds me of T Rex!

Do you always ask permission to use the images you do? I thought you simply credit them...

Anonymous said...

Really really cute... they remind me of another illustrator whose name has escaped me but his stuff is really well known....similar 'big headed girl' type illustrations...

Adge said...

what beautiful illustrations so innocent yet sinister all at the same time. I adore that dichotomy.

Romeika said...

This is really cute and unique, so cool she has a fashion blog, definitely going to check it.

Francis Girard said...

Oh how very cute. Perfect for a little girls room, girls never grow out of pretty pictures. xf

Blue Floppy Hat said...

Perakath: I always ask permission if it's an artist and there's some contact information given. Otherwise, I credit.
Wendy: I know, they're adorable..and just my kind of adorable too.
Susie: They remind me a little of Margaret Keane, only not teary-eyed. I have a feeling I know the name of the illustrator whose work you speak of, but have lost it somewhere in blogland..
Adge: You have it spot-on, in fact I think none of the Black Apple's subjects ever smile- or they rarely do so. It's the moodiness that makes them so interesting to me..
Francis: That's so true, my mother adores them too- one of the few instances where our tastes in art don't clash :)

Rebecca, A Clothes Horse said...

I love these pictures so sweet. And the geeky-chic third girl is a doll.

Rumi Neely said...

These are so lovely, that perfect mix of beautiful and eery and odd. I want the kitten girl's dress!

Elizabeth said...

I really like these. Thank you for sharing!

MASALA CHAI said...

These are so Mark Ryden inspired. He started the big headed girl thing. One of my friends in arts school used to draw a comic strip of a girl not unlike the ones in these, she caller her "lollipop girl" . And the thought of you wanting to hug the sock wearing hedgehogs made me giggle. Baby hedgehogs are soo cute.

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