Bringing Eddie & Leo to Life
Illustration by Julia Newell from Eddie & Leo’s Day at the Park (Shandel-Elton 2022)
I have to come clean and admit that the first time I met my mate Karl’s two dogs - Eddie and Leo, I was a tad bit apprehensive. Okay, maybe more than just a tad bit, but I did put on a brave face. I think it was more so because of Eddie’s size and his angular jaw that I got the impression he would be aggressive and it would only be prudent to keep my distance. But, how utterly and completely wrong was I! Like so many other dog breeds that get a bad rap for temperament, I had really misjudged these two Staffordshire terriers. How dogs are treated and trained plays a significant role in the demeanour and persona they present. And despite their past experiences both being rescue dogs, I quickly became captivated by their endearing personalities. They were hard not to love and this was a huge testament to the warmth and care they had been freely given by Karl since he had adopted them.
Eddie always sits with an extremely stoic and sophisticated posture - reminiscent of a highly respected Lord overlooking his domain. Beyond a doubt though, what he loves most is attention - constant petting, back massages and neck rubs. He’ll approach you with sad looking perpetually sleepy eyes that compel you to oblige to his every whim and fancy. Leo?- the exact opposite! I’m not sure if dogs can be diagnosed with ADHD but if they could then this is Leo. Extremely playful, can’t sit still, always on the move - unless he has his chew toy. And he WILL chew this for hours. I think he also secretly loves a fireplace. Many a time he’s been caught in a sphinx-like position in front of the fireplace, peering into the distance through half-opened eyes. And perhaps the funniest quirk about Leo is his head tilt - so pronounced and the perfect picture of inquisitiveness.
I was always going to write a story about these two! How could I not?
And it came so easily - inspired by seeing them in their element during a walk in Liverpool’s Croxteth Hall Park. I had a really clear vision of the type of art and the illustrations I wanted for this project. Whether it was pure luck or by some supernatural design that I happened across an Instagram post featuring beautiful digital pencil-work art with a watercolour type effect, the final element to bringing the story of Eddie and Leo to life was artist Julia Newell of Leo & Blake Designs. I immediately reached out to her about the prospect of illustrating for the Eddie and Leo story and she was fully on board. Impressed by how fluid and organic the lines of communication were about the artistic vision and direction, I’m not surprised at how quickly it all came together and I had every confidence that she would truly capture the essence and personalities of both dogs. With this first story in the Eddie and Leo universe now complete (and yes, a second is currently being written), I wanted to feature Julia on my blog as a credit to the simplicity and brilliance she delivered in the artwork for my new book: Eddie and Leo’s Day at the Park.
Leo & Blake Designs (Studio) was born in 2015 when Julia hand-painted a selection of portrait canvases for her then 4 year old son's group of friends' 4th birthdays as gifts. A friend of hers suggested that she could retail them and Leo & Blake was created! The name is a combination of her two sons’ middle names (Harper Leo and Finley Blake). She is based in Berkshire, UK and the Leo & Blake brand has grown and evolved a lot in the past 6 years.
For the first few years, Leo & Blake specialised in personalised hand-painted canvases (mostly family portraits), seasonal wooden sign art, Christmas baubles, Christmas cards and the like. Julia began locally with word of mouth, local social media groups and school/craft fairs, but it was in 2016 that she discovered digital illustration using an iPad Pro and Apple pencil. She quickly became impressed with this medium continuing to develop her craft and technique on a digital platform. It was not long before she slowly began migrating from physical canvas over to fully digital design.
Julia has since established a hugely successful retail platform on Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LeoandBlakeDesigns) and benefits from a truly thriving global business. In addition to individual portrait requests, some of her other work includes logo creation and illustrations for businesses - some of which have been made into merchandise such as t-shirts, social media icons/profile images, commercial Christmas card design and even cake toppers!
Fortunately for me, one of Julia’s longstanding desires was always to illustrate children's books so I was relieved when she expressed her delight and willingness to be involved in the Eddie and Leo project. She remains open and excited about what the future holds in this regard and has had several other authors approaching to discuss their book ideas. Not shy about her own talent and creativity, Julia would also love to write and illustrate a book of her own and I’m just thrilled to see this come to fruition.
I have always always loved drawing, design and illustration of any type and am so grateful to be able to do this well into my adult life as a career. I look forward to Leo & Blake Designs' future! - Julia Newell, Leo & Blake Designs and Leo & Blake Studio.
From 2019 onwards Julia grew her business even further, expanding into vector based illustration and combining it with her original style. This branch of the business is Leo & Blake Studio. She describes this avenue of her design as a more grown up modern style, using Adobe Fresco and Illustrator to create silhouette art, vector digitally illustrated portraits and surface pattern design. Leo & Blake Studio has and continues to work with Ralphie Bear (https://www.ralphiebear.com/) - a luxury baby boutique brand - to create unique patterns for their product range. Work has also been undertaken alongside the National Trust, to create a digital illustration of a restoration project for the Wellington Monument (Wellington, Somerset UK).
For more information about Julia’s work you can follow her on Instagram:
@leoandblakedesigns
@leoandblakestudio
Be sure to check out her shops on Etsy too:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LeoandBlakeDesigns
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LeoAndBlakeStudio
Thanks for reading and see you in my next blog post where I’ll talk a little bit more about dogs like Eddie & Leo and what they mean to us.
-Shandel
