Children’s – Blog: Emma Metcalfe Illustration

Castle Howard Explorer: New children’s illustrated trail

Published on September 1, 2017April 15, 2018 by emmametcalfeillustration

Castle Howard were one of my first ever clients, and remain one of my favourites. It’s a magical place, and the team always have lovely, creative ideas and a real sense of fun.

I normally design a new activity for Castle Howard’s children’s trail offering every year or two. This year it was a new page of nature activities based on the Walled Garden. I’m really keen on activities which encourage children to appreciate the natural world, so this was a lovely project.

All the various activities have been combined into a new ‘Castle Howard Explorer’ booklet with a new front cover.

Therapeutic Flashcards: Using animals to help children talk about their feelings

Published on September 1, 2017April 15, 2018 by emmametcalfeillustration

I recently enjoyed working on this series of illustrations depicting different emotions using animals. They are for a set of therapeutic ‘feelings cards’ to be used to help children talk about their thoughts and feelings in a fun and non-threatening way.

A Therapeutic Treasure Deck of Sentence Completion and Feelings Cards (Jessica Kingsley Publishers)

The cards are designed to complement a book by the same author, Dr Karen Treisman.

A Therapeutic Treasure Box for Working with Children and Adolescents with Developmental Trauma

Birds, Beasts & Medieval Treasures: St Mary’s Church, Nottingham

Published on April 28, 2017September 4, 2017 by emmametcalfeillustration

Front cover showing interior of St Mary's Church with lion and unicorn illustrated cartoon characters Illustrated children's trail depicting animals to spot around the church

I really enjoyed working collaboratively with Jarrold Publishing on this new children’s activity trail for St Mary’s Church in Nottingham. The trail contains two activities, a Beast Hunt aimed at younger children, and a more general trail identifying the church’s main features.

The lion and unicorn characters are based on statues in the church.

Illustrated Roman characters: Colchester Castle

Published on June 22, 2016August 30, 2016 by emmametcalfeillustration

Wealthy Roman lady sitting down admiring reflection in hand mirror (circa AD 61) I was commissioned by Colchester Castle to create two illustrated Roman characters to form part of an exhibition of Roman jewellery from the Fenwick Hoard. The characters are intended to help visitors imagine the kind of people who might have owned such jewellery. Working with Colchester Castle, I created characters based on a retired Roman soldier and his wife. Their costumes and hairstyles are appropriate for the period around AD61, when it is thought that the Hoard was buried.

Illustrated character of Roman lady wearing a stola

Wealthy Roman lady

Retired Roman soldier

Illustration of Roman man and woman talking and looking worried

Roman husband and wife talking

View more illustrated characters.