Go Radiate is Melissa Doran - Illustrator and teacher, based in Dublin
hello lovely :)
Naturama and My Naturama Nature Journal out now
A dream project for me as a life long nature lover, Naturama and My Naturama Nature Journal were a joy to illustrate. I got to work on researching and drawing Irish wildlife throughout the seasons and I’m so happy with the result. The books were co created with the writer Michael Fewer and published by Gill Books.
Naturama came out first and is a beautiful introduction to Irish wildlife, regardless of whether you live in the countryside or in the city, there’s lots of things to learn about and get you started as a nature enthusiast.
My Naturama Nature Journal has projects for children to do outside and field guide notes sections to write and draw in. It gets everyone outside turning rocks upside down looking for worms :)
Join us for Culture Night. September 22nd at Bí Urban, Stoneybatter, Dublin
photo by Culture Night
Next Friday is Culture Night, the best night ever, full of free cultural events around Ireland! I am delighted to be helping out on the night in Bí Urban in Stoneybatter, home to my Naturama exhibition earlier this year, and exclusive stockists of my Naturama prints!
We had a preview event for the media the other night and I gave a demo of some nature printing and helped a few people make their own.
Please join us next Friday evening from 5pm and you can make your own nature print.
There’ll also be a demonstration of traditional wood carving, as well as seed bomb making. You can also just pop in to see the wormery or learn about bees! It’s going to be really fun so hope you can make it.
Stoneybatter Sketch Walk – October 7th
Sitric Garden and Lilliput Press, Stoneybatter
Stoneybatter in Dublin 7, is one of the oldest, loveliest, red-brickinest neighbourhood and you are welcome to come celebrate its beauty with me and Bí Urban for a Stoneybatter Sketch Walk on Saturday October 7th from 11am to 1pm. Bring a notebook and some pens, and we will take a little wander and stop to sketch local landmarks and places of interest. Places are limited you can put your name down in the Bí Urban Shop (3 Manor Street, Stoneybatter) or else book online here. The cost is €15 per person.
Benson Street Hoarding Illustration for Dublin City Council
Visit Benson Street in Dublin 2 to see my 55 metre long illustration – commissioned by Dublin City Council for a hoarding around the building site for a new park. The drawing moves through the four seasons and is packed full of native flora and fauna, and features some local landmarks too. Here is a timelapse of me drawing one of the foxes from it, and below is a simple animation I made to show you the full thing…plus more photos here….
Like all my work I did most of the drawing by hand in my notebook, then scanned it in and developed it in Illustrator. I collage hand coloured work with vectorised, digitally coloured elements.
Need to learn how to draw digitally? Or simply want to make the most of your hand-drawn work using Illustrator? Check out my Digital Illustration Workshop
November 18th/19th 2017: Digital Illustration workshop in Fumbally Exchange, Dublin, book here.
Develop your digital illustration skills over one fun weekend using Illustrator in Dublin. Learn how to combine digital drawing with hand drawing and bring your skills to a whole new level. 11 CPD point for Architects. I am an Adobe Certified Expert with 5 years teaching experience and my classes are just great!
The two days are jam packed and very hands on but I create a very relaxed atmosphere and give lots of encouragement and one to one help. I work from the latest version of adobe Illustrator so that you can get the most out of the features but I also reference older versions and what slight differences you might need to look out for.
There is a maximum of 6 participants so everyone gets lots of attention. Find out more here.
Hiya…
This is me, I became an illustrator because I wanted to have freedom in my everyday life and to be able to express myself and spread love and happiness through my work. I really enjoy working with people, young and old, and helping them learn new art skills in workshops. I’m good at making things simple.
I love collaging hand drawn and coloured elements with digital to make my own little wonky world.
My undergraduate degree is in Architecture (B.Sc from UCD) and I have a Masters in Digital Media Technology (DIT). I am also an Adobe Certified Expert in Illustrator.
This is me talking about Naturama and how I draw. If you can’t see it on youtube, watch it here on Facebook..
I love my bike!
I did a #100daysofbicycles project, drawing 100 bikes in 100 days and now I offer custom bike portraits. Read more…
View full portfolio here…
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Nature Drawing Walks for Carlow Garden Festival
Carlow Garden Festival has been running for about 15 years now and each year it’s getting bigger and better! The...
Date :22 Jul 2017
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Connemara Summer School
I had a wonderful week this July at the Connemara Summer School on Inisbofin island, off the coast of County Galway...
Date :14 Jul 2017
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Naturama Exhibition at Bí Urban, Stoneybatter, Dublin
I first met Kaethe Burt O’Dea from Bí Urban (pronounced “Bee” Urban) the night of m...
Date :14 Jul 2017
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Talk & Workshop at Body & Soul Music Festival
This year I went to Body & Soul for art, not music! I gave a talk on the Sunday about my work and how...
Date :07 Jul 2017
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Rathmines Garden Trail 2017
Rathmines is a village close to Dublin city centre, and anyone over 40 who went to college in Dublin tells me that...
Date :11 Jun 2017
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Sketch Walk Workshop at Bloom Fringe
Bloom Fringe is a festival run in parallel with Bloom In The Park and encourages biodiversity and sustainability in...
Date :03 Jun 2017
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Naturama exhibition at Íontas Arts Centre
Naturama exhibition at Íontas Arts Centre, Castleblayney, Monaghan, March 31st – May 25th 2017 I had a solo...
Date :25 May 2017
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Synesthesia – Movement Talk
I was delighted to be asked to speak at the Synesthesia talk series in the Liquor Rooms in Dublin along with Susan...
Date :16 May 2017
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My Naturama Nature Journal Book Launch at the National Botanic Gardens
I had My Naturama Naturama Journal book launch in the Botanic Gardens on May 14th 2017, so, now it is officially...
Date :14 May 2017
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Embroidery Workshop with Sarah K Benning
One of my favourite instagrammers is contemporary embroidery artist Sarah K Benning and I was delighted to see she...
Date :28 Feb 2017
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Offsketch February 2017
Offsketch was back this February as part of the amazing free Offsite workshops organised in the week before this...
Date :28 Feb 2017
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Rave Reviews
Melissa’s classes provide the perfect introduction to working with Adobe software programmes. All the ‘How To’ questions are answered as tasks are worked through one by one. Well prepared and approachable she provides students with a comprehensive set of notes for each class. Group numbers are kept small to facilitate an easier learning situation and the atmosphere is very friendly and helpful.
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Email me: melissa@goradiate.ie
Proud associate member of Fumbally Exchange, a community of design-focused small businesses, sole traders and start-ups.
Member of Visual Artists Ireland
I'm an Adobe Certified Expert in Illustrator CC
Copyright Melissa Doran / Go Radiate 2017