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By: andrea joseph,
on 7/7/2014
By: andrea joseph,
on 10/17/2011
I was absolutely utterly confident that today I would post the update, as mentioned in the last three posts. It would be a good way to start the week I'd thought. Over the weekend I caught a bit of sunshine that allowed me to take some photos - I have a very dark house. Then, when I came to upload them I found that the camera had been on the wrong setting and the pictures are no good. Now, I have to wait for the next chink of sunlight. I told you, me promising anything is the kiss of death.
So, I've decided to try a different tack; never bother coming back to this blog. Nothing interesting happens here. Nothing.
Do you think that may work? In the meantime, here's some drawings of pens.
By: andrea joseph,
on 8/1/2011
I don't know about you other creative types, but sometimes I have no idea where drawings come from. There are clues and there are all of those things that have been stored away in that long term memory box marked 'for future use'. But, then there are other drawings where you can recall every little road, and side street, you walked down to get to it. This is one of them. This is the story of where this drawing came from;
1970s films - I love a good old 70s film. I don't care what they are about. I'll just watch them for the styling; the clothes, the homes, the decor, the design of the day. As long as they are drenched in corduroy, big flowery prints and bri-nylon I'm happy. I've actually sat through about three series of Man About the House (British 70s sitcom) just to get a better glimpse of the three prints they had on their kitchen wall (one was a green pepper). The other evening I watched a film from the 70s, in which the main character had her own advertising agency. In the background I caught a glimpse of some seed packets that the agency had designed. I immediately felt inspired.
Classic French typography - I love those classic French style fonts; from Bistro signs to wine bottles. I've been doing a bit of research for an invitation I am designing, for an upcoming dinner party, and I've gone down the French route. I ADORE the Metropolitan typography and have been practicing it.
Art Nouveau - I've also been researching (Googling) a lot of Art Nouveau stuff recently. Just for my own amusement. I love everything about it from the architecture, art and, again, the typography.
1960s and 70s recipe books - I've written about my love of these books before. It's the first thing I look for in a charity shop. In fact, I go in charity shops to look for them specifically. I have a rather lovely collection. They are always bought for the drawings although sometimes I'll dig them out for a mung bean and brown rice salad recipe.
Sweetcorn - one of my all time favourite veg. I bought this corn on the cob the other day. As I was choosing it I was thinking about how pretty it was.
So, there's the story of a drawing. And, the story of my life over the last few days.
By: andrea joseph,
on 7/25/2011
So, when I made the colour ballpoint pen drawing for the Pen Addicts pen review, a few days ago, I knew I hadn't finished with them. I made my first drawing of colour pens 4 and a half years ago. I'm surprised that I haven't revisited this subject since then. Yeah, I've drawn loads of pens but not the colour ballpoints. Yet, they are the most delectable of subject matter. And, I am still not finished. In this drawing, I really like the parts where two pens, and two colours, meet. I want to continue playing with that and pushing to see where it can take me. And my pens.
By: andrea joseph,
on 7/20/2011
Here's a little something I've been working on, and meaning to do, for some time now. I've put a pen review on the Pen Addict's fabulous site. When it came to it there was only one way for me to do a pen review - draw it!
Check out my ballpoint review HERE and don't forget to bookmark that wonderful site (I say 'bookmark it' like I know what that means). I hope this will be the first of many reviews I do for the Pen Addict. I already have the next one penned (sorry) out in my mind.
I must say that it seems that pens have become my new shoes; in that I seem to be drawing lots and lots of them. I ADORED doing this drawing. I just loved drawing these pens, so I'm most definitely finished with them yet. It's also for sale HERE.
By: andrea joseph,
on 7/4/2011
A few posts ago I told you about how I'd swapped the childish purse I'd been carrying around for the ever so grown up owl purse on the left. The childish purse in question was the cat one on the right. When my friend saw my new purse she said "so now you've had an owl and a pussycat". Then we both looked at each other and said "now, THAT would be a good drawing".
I don't know if it's any good, but I do know that these pair are the most delicious of subjects to draw. I love all the patterns and textures. And, I'm not sure that I've finished with them yet.
This drawing is for sale HERE.
By: andrea joseph,
on 6/19/2011
This is the first time in ages that I have not had some kind of deadline looming on the horizon. And, after the stress of some of those deadlines I cannot believe I'm actually going to complain about that - but I am. I'm suddenly feeling so restless. I want something to work toward. Some project. I don't know what sort of project but I'll figure it out. I'll make something happen.
In the meantime, here's a new drawing. A few months ago my coin purse fell apart and I temporarily replaced it with an old purse that had belonged to my niece - when she was about five. It was ridiculously childish purse for 'a lady of a certain age' so, I decided I must replace it and went out to buy a new one. And, yep, you've guessed it; I came home with this much more grown up cloth owl.
This little guy is available for sale (the original drawing, not the purse) HERE.
By: andrea joseph,
on 3/25/2011
I was going to say that this is the finished version of the drawing I posted part of a little while back. But now looking at it on the screen I think it could do with more shading; a little sepia to give it an antique feel. That's how I had seen it in my head before I began. Also, I always intended adding a handle because it is supposed to be a drawer full of souvenirs. Or, the handle could have made it look like a suitcase. And, I love that ambiguity.
I'm often asked how long my drawings take. Well, at a guess, this one took a mere fifty hours. To appreciate the obsessive attention to detail click on the drawing and stick your conk in. Please do; FIFTY chuffing hours.
Oh dear, it seems that some of you have having trouble enlarging this image. I'll try to fix it, until then you can see the bigger version HERE.
By: andrea joseph,
on 2/16/2011
So I started this drawing about two or three weeks ago but unfortunately it's going to have to be put on the back burner for the next few days as a new, more pressing deadline has emerged from nowhere.
This is one of the most ambitious drawings that I've undertaken yet. It's on A3 paper which is double the size I normally use. Plus it's full colour. Thus far it has taken approximately 20 hours.
Anyway, I thought I'd take this opportunity to show you how I make these big mad drawings as it is a question I'm asked often. In the past I've been asked if I set up the compositions or whether I draw from a photo. The answer to both of those questions is no. I almost always draw from life.
What I do do is start with a couple objects (in this case the tram ticket, the Mary and baby Jesus and the seahorse) and then add the rest around them. I place the other objects on the paper, mapping it out piece by piece. It's almost as though the composition works itself out. I love drawings like this. I love the way they reveal themselves to me, the way they unfold in front of my eyes.
By: andrea joseph,
on 1/31/2011
I seem to have been waffling on, in my posts, quite a lot recently. So, in this one I'll just let the drawing do the talking.
By: andrea joseph,
on 12/17/2010
It wasn't until the day I was leaving Clermont Ferrand that I realised that I hadn't bought any souvenirs of the trip. We'd been so busy at the exhibition that I'd forgotten - which is ironic as I was there to exhibit my travel sketchbook that was themed 'souvenirs of my travels'. So on our final day we had an hour before we had to be the airport to find some souvenirs.
Luckily my stadar (a kind of radar, or gaydar, that detects stationery outlets in the vicinity), which had been going off for the whole trip, pointed me in the direction of a great big stationers close to our hotel. Now, for me, stationery plus souvenirs ticks so many boxes I couldn't have been happier.
So, here are my souvenirs of Clermont Ferrand; a half blue and half red pencil, two stencil maps of France and a ruler. Mission accomplished.
I'm not so happy with the blue and red drawing, above. No doubt I'll mess around with that some more in the future.
Of course, there are also all of the sugar packets, napkins, tram tickets, receipts, bills and business cards I also collected during the trip, but hey that's another drawing. Or six.
These drawing are a part of my aforementioned souvenir themed sketchbook. You can see the rest of the series HERE.
By: andrea joseph,
on 10/19/2010
Well, hello dolly.
There certainly seems to be a theme running through my work at the moment. The drawing, above, was another that I really enjoyed doing. I love having so many different textures to tackle, and each of the dolls had a texture and character of it's own. I'm leaving them there, for now, though. I'm all dolled out.
By: andrea joseph,
on 10/16/2010
Here's a spread from my travel Moleskine. I know. I know what you are thinking. You don't spell recieved like that.
By: andrea joseph,
on 9/29/2010
A couple more spreads from my travel themed Moleskine. It's a tale of two drawings. A game of two halves. Or something like that. The drawing above is of some bouquet garni I bought in Lyon. Now, I know some twigs and sticks wrapped in leaves isn't going to float every bodies boat, but it does mine.
I enjoyed this drawing, loved the subject, colours and the textures and I like to think it shows.
In contrast, the sea anemones, below, turned out to be quite the opposite. Although, the subject is very beautiful I couldn't get a handle on it. It really should have been lovely - gorgeous shapes, amazing textures, patterns and colours - but I just couldn't make it work. I end up getting so frustrated when I cannot achieve on paper what I see in my head. I didn't enjoy this one, at all.
And, I think that shows too.
Anyway, enough moaning. You can see the rest of my travel moleskine HERE.
By: andrea joseph,
on 9/13/2010
So, as I said, some brand spanking new drawings from my travel Moleskine. Ah, I just love those sketch books so much. That beautiful smooth cream paper. Plus, of course, it's a heavyweight paper which means it can just about withstand all my obsessive cross hatching. I don't think there is anyway you can improve the Moleskine product - although I'd love them to add a bigger size paper size, and perhaps a nice bright white paper to their range. Not that I'm complaining. I just love these books.
I am now feeling determined to finish this travel themed Moley. Maybe by the end of the year. I know it might not sound like the most ambitious ambition (?) in the world, but these spreads do take hours - and sometimes I'm talking about double figures. Not that I'm complaining. I just love to draw, so I'm going to go hell for leather in this sketchbook. Time permitting, of course.
Anyway, to celebrate my return to the travel Moleskine I've put a sale on the zine that I've produced from this book. It contains nine drawings all with a travel theme. Buy it now by visiting my little shop HERE. 
By: andrea joseph,
on 8/31/2010
Finally a new post on my children's book blog. If you want to know more about this mad drawing (and, quite frankly, why wouldn't you?) then head on over HERE.
By: andrea joseph,
on 8/14/2010
I remember at the beginning of the year, making a whole load of New Years drawing resolutions. I then proceeded to draw loads of shoes. Even though that hadn't been one of the resolutions. I had a big old shoe binge (or should that be purge?), for about a month and half. It seems that I have one of those every six months.
It's totally unintentional. I'm not that obsessed with shoes. I like them, yes, but I don't spend most of my day thinking about them. Despite what you may see on this blog. It's made me think about it. Why? Why shoes? Why do so many people like shoes so much?
Anyway, here's another drawing of a Stan Smith. It belongs to Josh, who has a thing for Adidas trainers. So it's not just a girl thing.
By: andrea joseph,
on 5/3/2010
So, if you caught the last post you might just have spotted this drawing. I have drawn this little tin bus in the past. Twice, in fact. In some ways I think it might have been more successful back then. The colours worked better, I think. But, I wanted to draw it in my Moleskine. My travel Moleskine. So I drew it all over again.
Crazy. I know.
By: andrea joseph,
on 3/2/2009
Well, sorry to leave you hanging like that. I've been a little busy. And, I've been struggling with this drawing. It's been a love hate relationship. I've given up on it a couple of times, then I've given in and worked on it some more, then finally, after a couple of weeks, I finished it. It's another drawing from, erm, 'my book' (!). Which is another reason I've been away for so long - getting ready for Bologna. Yikes, folks, it's getting close.
So, click on the drawing to get a better view. Go on, stick your beaks in.
By: andrea joseph,
on 8/7/2008
A real quickie here, folks. I've been working on lots stuff that I can't post quite yet. So I thought I'd do a quick little drawing. Just something to post. So here it is; a cat toy, before and after it had a make-over by my cat. Poor sod.
I did these in pink ballpoint which, I'm sure you'll agree, is a truly classy medium.
By: andrea joseph,
on 2/23/2008
By: Rebecca,
on 6/6/2007
It has been a lot of fun (and educational!) to have John Ferling featured on the OUPblog this week. Be sure to check out his original essay and his Q and A. Below we have excerpted the beginning of the introduction to Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence, entitled “My Country, My Honor, My Life”: Bravery and Death in War.
October 18, 1776. Captain William Glanville Evelyn, resplendent in his British uniform, stood tall in a coal-black landing barge, the first orange rays of daylight streaming over him and glistening on the calm waters of Pelham Bay above Manhattan. Men were all about him, in his craft and in countless others. They were soldiers, part of an operation that had begun hours earlier during the cold, dark night. (more…)
By: Rebecca,
on 6/6/2007
Yesterday John Ferling, author of Almost A Miracle wrote a piece for the OUPblog about the turning of the tide in the Revolutionary War. Today he has kindly agreed to answer some questions about his work. To learn more about Ferling keep reading and be sure to check back tomorrow for an excerpt from his new book!
OUP: Compared to the Civil War and America’s twentieth century wars, the War of Independence appears to have been pretty tame. Do you agree? (more…)
By: Rebecca,
on 6/5/2007
John Ferling, author of Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence is the author of nine books and numerous articles on the American Revolution and early American wars. In the article below Ferling looks at the turning point in the Revolutionary War. Be sure to check back tomorrow for a Q and A with Ferling. (more…)
By: Gina MarySol Ruiz,
on 4/27/2007
Dancing to Almendra
Author: Mayra Montero
Translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
ISBN-10: 0374102775
ISBN-13: 978-0374102777
Dancing to Almendra takes place in Mafia-dominated 1950’s Cuba before Castro takes over. It begins with a bizarre killing of a hippopotamus at the local zoo and young journalist Joaquín Porrata is sent to write up the story. Joaquín usually covers fluff pieces but desperately wants to be a real reporter covering more important things. He stumbles onto something at the zoo where he learns that the killing of the hippo was a warning to mob boss Umberto "Albert" Anastasia, who really was murdered in 1957. Joaquín starts investigating and begins to uncover an incredible story. He is threatened, beaten, warned and scared the hell out of, but he keeps on investigating and uncovering more and more.
As the investigation deepens, Joaquín’s life starts to spin out of control. He travels to New York, meets both Meyer Lansky and George Raft and finds out much more than any person should know about the Mafia.
The characters are all intensely interesting and detailed. Joaquín’s father and brother Santos, his lesbian sister and his tragic martyr of a mother are all fascinating. Yolanda, the ex circus performer, one-armed mulatta lover of Joaquín as well as Santos Trafficante and mother of a trapeze artist is simply too wild and wonderful not to love.
The story is told in Joaquín’s hard-bitten, matter of fact voice with alternating chapters told in a mystical way by Joaquín’s lover Yolanda. The Cuba of the 50’s comes to life with Mayra Montero’s incredible writing. She paints a decadent picture of nightclubs, music and gaudy casinos where an underlying threat of revolution is bubbling to the surface.
Dancing to Almendra is a gorgeous book about a crazy time and Montero manages to paint both the garish, brightly lit surface as well as the darkness underneath it all with a deft hand.
Dear Andrea, I relate to your dark house, as the house I live in is also quite dark, so I usually go outside with my work when I want to photograph it. So we can wait on the update and in the meantime I MUST TELL YOU that your sketch of the pens is just WONDERFUL. Have a nice week! Gabriella
Gorgeous pens!
Well, actually, I like your blog. I know the feeling of not being able to make things happen when you wish you could. But never give up! I love your drawings. I can't believe the subtle values you get while working in pen. It's wonderful. I plan to visit regularly. Happy day.
The realism with which you draw everyday items is just amazing. And you manage to make it look so effortless. I am in awe!
Wow... Thanks.. I'm at the first time on your blog! And I like it! Thanks for sharing info. Keep up the good work.
Nice one! Thank you for sharing with us!
, I've decided to try a different tack; never bother coming back to this blog. Nothing interesting happens here. Nothing.Car movers Panchkula
when I came to upload them I found that the camera had been on the wrong setting and the pictures are no good. Now, I have to wait for the next chink of sunlight. I told you, me promising anything is the kiss of death.when I came to upload them I found that the camera had been on the wrong setting and the pictures are no good. Now, I have to wait for the next chink of sunlight. I told you, me promising anything is the kiss of death.Car movers Panchkula
Your blog is fantastic!! A friend shared the URL with me and I am so glad she did! I love your sketches, especially the ones of pens. I do hope you continue as I would very much like to see more. =)
Dear Andrea, I love your work, its always fantastic to see you in my blog list with something new, I also can wait for the next post, so dont stop to come to your blog as you always do.
I also live in a dark house, just keep your heart lighted.
Ale.
Please be encouraged Andrea. Your work inspires me to move forward with my own, as well as your many other artists that I am slowly studying as well. I need this little community to thrive, and I hope you never give up blogging. I love what happens here.
Please know that I'm praying for you to feel the SONSHINE. ~Mona in Vermont
Oooh, I love your pen drawings! Eye candy for us artsy folks.
Gorgeous ordering. I really impress with your work. you always doing a great thing in your photography work. I also taking lot of shoots but never shared, will share soon.
I truly hope you don't leave your blog. You say nothing interesting happens here, but that's not true. I find every piece of your work truly fascinating, particularly the pieces with winding lines of beautiful handwriting trailing across the pages, and your insightful semi-tutorial-esque pieces. I'm sure we'd all miss you if you left. :(
love the pen drawing, so colorful! plus i'm partial to your drawings of pens/pencils anyway, so for me it's all icing on the cake ;)
nothing happens here? whatcha talkin' about?! anything you post is big doings as far as i'm concerned. just dangle a carrot here and there and we'll all come back for more :D
i am a pen and pencil collector! i love love colorful pens!
http://infinitelifefitness.com
http://mscomposure.blogspot.com
i am a pen and pencil collector! i love love colorful pens!
http://infinitelifefitness.com
http://mscomposure.blogspot.com