Unbelievably, people sometimes ask how I me how I make my drawings. Here's a little insight. Actually, not so little. Yes, this is the biggest blog post in the worldiverse.
So, as you can see, with this one I started by mapping a little bit of the drawing on the page. Not too much, just somewhere to start, because I like the rest to unfold. I like the drawing to reveal itself to me. 
Contrary, to popular belief, I actually am rather inpatient and usually want to jump right in. So already I've started drawing the bits and pieces. For this spread I am treating each card as an idividual drawing. I'm mostly using colour ballpoints and colour pencil. Ah, Bangladesh Airlines. Now that was an interesting airline. And, an interesting flight. It was cheap, though. VERY cheap.
Actually, it was the red and yellow of the Bangladeshi baggage label that first appealed to me when it came to turning this collage into a Moleskine drawing. I love the pop art colours. Ooooooh, British Columbia and Alberta. Probably, still, after all this time, my most favourite place I've been lucky enough to visit.
I know, drawing wise, this kind of subject matter isn't much of a departure for me, but this drawing in itself was certainly challenging. Emotionally speaking, that is. I do believe this was one of the most emotional drawings I've ever created.
Obviously it took quite some time to complete, and it was spending all that time with all these memories. All the places and people I've left behind. All the things I've done. Some joyous and others not always easy to be with.
And there are times and places and people I'd never have remembered if I hadn't made this drawi
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By: andrea joseph,
on 10/16/2009
Blog: andrea joseph's sketchblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: sketches, cat, step by step, flo, Add a tag
Recently, I read on one of the drawing blogs (sorry, I can't remember whose, but if it's you let me know and I'll link you here) that you never really get to know a subject until you've drawn it 100 times. I can relate to that. I know that confidence you get from drawing a subject over and over.
So, last week, when I was housebound, I decided to tackle a different subject, instead of my usual still life. And, I drew my cat 130 times in a couple of days. As you do. Just rough quick sketches.
I also conducted a highly sophisticated survey on how my cat spends it's time (it would be too technical for you lot to grasp so I won't go into it here). The results were;
sleeps 90%
washes/grooms 9%
eats 0.5%
goes outside 0.5%
(I was going to draw a pie chart of the results, but then I realised how ridiculous this would be.)
Anyway, back to the drawing project.
I'm really happy with the results. At the beginning the sketches were tentative and a little nervous, this is right out of my comfort zone, but I think you can see the confidence growing throughout. I can definitely say I'm now quite confident at drawing sleeping, washing cats.
I couldn't post all of the sketches. As, it would have been the most gigantic post known to man. So I've just posted some of my favourites. But you can see the full set HERE on Flickr. If, of course, you are interested.
Another note on this recession. I'm finding that I'm so much less wasteful (is that a word?). I used to spend so much money on pens, art supplies, pens and more pens. I have pencil cases full of unused pens. For this project I dug out pens that I'd never even used before. And, an old practice pad that would never have seen the light of day if I wasn't so poor.
Here's that link again to the FLICKR SET.
By: andrea joseph,
on 11/22/2008
Blog: andrea joseph's sketchblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: illustration friday, doodles, desk, step by step, Bob Ross, ballpoint drawing, Add a tag
Right guys, I promise, I PROMISE, this is the last you'll see of this drawing. I have no choice in the matter anyway, the the doodles are the only thing holding the paper together.
To anyone who fancies completing one of these step by step drawings, before the eyes of the world, it's really simple. Just follow these twelve easy steps;
Step one. I think I'll start a step by step drawing.
Step Two. Yeah, that's a good idea.
Step Three. Yes, I'm loving this.
Step four. I knew it was a good idea.
Step Five. Of course, now I'm committed to this.
Step Six. I couldn't just give it up now.
Step Seven. How long exactly have I been doing this?
Step Eight. Seriously.
Step Nine. I AM getting rather irritable now.
Step Ten. I'm losing the will to live. 
Step Eleven. I'm considering murder.
Step Twelve. Finished. Thank f**k for that. 
I have noticed that Illustration Friday's theme this week is 'Opinion'. So, as I finished this yesterday, I'm calling this my contribution. Some might say I should have given up on this drawing a long time ago. But as you can see I'm of the opinion - I mean the naughty kid who drew on desk is of the opinion -that it's better to burn out than fade away. Me and this drawing. Totally burnt out. Never again.
By: andrea joseph,
on 11/22/2008
Blog: andrea joseph's sketchblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: illustration friday, doodles, desk, step by step, Bob Ross, ballpoint drawing, in my head, Add a tag
Right guys, I promise, I PROMISE, this is the last you'll see of this drawing. I have no choice in the matter anyway, the the doodles are the only thing holding the paper together. It's falling to pieces, but still, at least I feel better about it than I did a while back.
I have noticed that Illustration Friday's theme this week is 'Opinion'. So, as I finished this yesterday, I'm calling this my contribution. Some might say I should have given up on this drawing a long time ago. But I'm of the opinion, I mean the naughty kid who drew on desk is of the opinion, that it's better to burn out than fade away. Me and this drawing. Totally burnt out.
So, that's it. I'm calling this one Done. Finished. Finito. Doneski.
By: andrea joseph,
on 11/9/2008
Blog: andrea joseph's sketchblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: doodles, ink, desk, step by step, Add a tag
Done.
I am more nervous about posting this than any other drawing. I had something completely different in mind for the larger doodle but when it came to it it just didn't seem right. I just had this compulsion to draw this. I am so nervous because I rarely draw people. Plus, I know it doesn't look like the person it is meant to be. But, get this, I have an excuse. And, it's a pretty good one, I reckon. This is not my doodle. This is a drawing by the naughty kid, that draws on school desks, that I was channeling at the time. So, it's not mine at all. I did not draw it. Nope. Nothing to do with me.
By the way, these step by step drawings are pretty cool to watch on slideshow mode, which you can do HERE.
By: andrea joseph,
on 11/7/2008
Blog: andrea joseph's sketchblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: desk, step by step, ballpoint, doodles, drawing, Add a tag
Now for the varnish.
By: andrea joseph,
on 11/3/2008
Blog: andrea joseph's sketchblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: ink, desk, step by step, sepia, Add a tag
Ok, boys and girls. Settle down, please. This week we will be learning how to draw a battered old desk. In the style of Andrea Joseph. For no apparent reason.
Yep. I haven't done one of those step by steppy things for a while and this subject would make a good 'un. So, here's the start.
By: Aaron Pocock,
on 8/4/2008
Blog: sketchworld (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: step by step, children's books, book illustration, children's art, digital painting, digital art, Add a tag
STEP ONE Here's the reference I used for the image. Note, I turned the cottage around, just in case the owners ever saw it, I'm not sure if the M.I.L. got permission. I'll carry on as if she didn't.
STEP FIVE See the chalky look to the colour?I use the chalk option for ease of getting the colours down quickly.
STEP SIX Some details added and keeping a watchful eye on the tones at the same time.
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 2/20/2008
Blog: LadyStar (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: anime apparel, anime collectibles, anime gear, girls fashion, manga apparel, manga gear, officially licensed merchanside, rock camp, willie mae rock camp, The Tree Shores High School Band Room, gifts, manga, fashion, anime, Gift Shop, Jessica Hoshi, Talitha Hayashi, Ranko Yorozu, Alanna Kawa, Leila Hakumei, Shannon Ka Yoru, haunted, fantasy adventure, collectibles, free anime, books for free, adventure stories, beautiful flowers, enchanted forests, fairy princess, healing power, high school marching band, magical warriors, music, warrior, myths and legends, princesses, natural world, spells and magic, Add a tag
“Hi everyone! Shannon here. You probably already noticed I opened a New Gift Shop, and Hayashi really went all out with a really cool new design. I’d be really happy if you would all come visit us because this is the best Gift Shop we’ve ever had, and we’re starting a new thing on our site today.”
“Teko likes to explore, so he’s going to fly through our shop to find a new item each week that will be ‘Teko’s Magical Treasure.’ We’ll announce it here along with a link.”
“This way we can announce our best Gift Shop gifts with our best designs.”
“And you know we’ve got the best designs!”
“This week’s Magical Treasure is the Warrior of the Night Tote Bag with our brand new Starlight Huntress design.”
Teko’s Magical Treasure of the Week
“Yay for Teko-chan! Don’t forget, minna! Shannon-sama donates some of what the Gift Shop makes to benefit the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls which is a super-neat camp every year that’s all about music! Have fun! Ja ne!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 2/14/2008
Blog: LadyStar (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: The Tree Shores High School Band Room, Gift Shop, Jessica Hoshi, Talitha Hayashi, Ranko Yorozu, Alanna Kawa, Cecilia Daichi, Shannon Ka Yoru, Add a tag
“What.”
“Oh, nothing.”
“Waaaaait a minute, I know that look.”
“What, Shannon-sama?”
“Miss Shannon’s up to something, that’s for sure.”
“Hmm?”
“Really, it’s nothing.”
“Hey, I wonder where Teko went?”
“Hikousen too. He was sleeping on my coloring books but he’s not there now.”
By: Amber T. Kingston,
on 1/3/2008
Blog: Laura and the Leprechauns (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Laura and the Leprechauns, cafe press, store, gift shop, cafepress, gift shop, store, cafe press, Laura and the Leprechauns, Add a tag
Happy 2008! I hope everyone had a safe and joyous New Year! I am really excited for everything I have planned during the upcoming year. For starters, I’m continuing to improve upon and add different features to my website. I just recently discovered a site called cafepress.com which allows you to design all sorts of personalized things from T-shirts, to tote bags! I thought this was really neat since I like to design and create, and so I decided to open up my own Laura and the Leprechauns gift shop so you can browse my latest creations at your leisure. I will be updating designs and merchandise offered periodically, so if there is something specific you are looking for—a favorite character or slogan, or illustration from the book—please don’t hesitate to let me know. I would be happy to add it to future designs. Right now I think you’ll find that there is quite a wide variety of things to choose from. You can locate the gift shop directly at: http://www.cafepress.com/chrysalispress or access it through www.chrysalispress.com. Just select the “Gift Shop” button at the bottom of the page and it will redirect you to the store. I hope you will enjoy all the shop has to offer. As always I look forward to hearing your feedback and opinions, so feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]. I’ll be in touch soon!
Sincerely,
Amber
By: Irisz Agocs,
on 7/26/2007
Blog: artista how to (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: painting, watercolour, pencil, step by step, dye, step by step, dye, Add a tag
I was starting to make a step by step painting picture, but after few step I just snapped into painting and forgot to take photos, and accidentally I finished the illustration. But here some photos, and the result.
Nekiálltam egy lépésrôl lépésre festôs dolgot megfotózni, de néhány lépés után belejöttem a festésbe és megfeledkeztem a fotózásról, és véletlenül hipphopp kész lett az illusztráció.
De íme néhány fotó és a végeredmény.
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 7/6/2007
Blog: LadyStar (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Gift Shop, Jessica Hoshi, Ranko Yorozu, Alanna Kawa, Leila Hakumei, Shannon Ka Yoru, Add a tag
“Okay this is like, super important. Ever since I started my Gift Shops I wanted to give donations to a charity and since I’m a musician and all of my friends are too I think this is the best one I could choose. Our official Gift Shop charity is the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls.”
“This is super neat, Shannon-sama. I think Rock Camp is the best and I’m glad we’re going to donate lots to them.”
“So it’s official now. I had a feeling you were planning on donating to the Willie Mae Rock Camp ever since our feature on it.”
“I’ve been playing music ever since I was little, and my first trumpet was donated along with a lot of other instruments for our school. I never would have gotten to play or be in band with you guys if our school hadn’t gotten that donation.”
“Music programs are important, and girls should get to participate too.”
“Yeah.”
“We’re going to donate 15% of everything we get from the sale of any LadyStar merchandise from my Gift Shop. We even put their logo on all the pages. So whenever you make a purchase from our shop, you’re helping support the best summer music camp for girls.”
“Miss Shannon, you rock.”
“Yay for Shannon
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 7/6/2007
Blog: LadyStar (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Gift Shop, Ranko Yorozu, Alanna Kawa, Leila Hakumei, Shannon Ka Yoru, Add a tag
“Okay this is one of our announcements today. We have this new exclusive design from the Tales of Pylea web comic, which is one of our top affiliates. They even did some extra cool drawings for us which we’re gonna introduce really soon.”
“Whoa. He looks tough. Who is this guy?”
“This is F’nor. He’s the main character in the story. He’s a pretty tough fighter I hear.”
“Ooh! He’s a cutie isn’t he?”
“Alright, alright, careful over there Drum Major girl.”
“There’s going to be a second design soon. The Tales of Pylea shirts are featured in my Shopkeeper Specials section in the Gift Shop.”
“Well folks? What are you waiting for? Get over there and get yourself a shirt before Drum Major girl buys them all!”
“Heh.”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 7/6/2007
Blog: LadyStar (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Gift Shop, Ranko Yorozu, Cecilia Daichi, Add a tag
“Hey, Space Girl, what’s the good word?”
“Shannon said you’ve got a big announcement today about the Gift Shop. Just wanted to check in and give you guys the all systems go signal. Whatever Shannon’s cooking up, we’re in at the Powa.”
“Solid. What’s up there, Z-bot?”
“All systems are functioning within design parameters for this environment.”
“Uhhh…”
“sigh… I’m still trying to program Z-bot for conversational language.”
“No problem. Check out the new Gamepowa Design at Miss Shannon’s Gift Shop folks, because Girls Play Video Games Too.”
“Yay video games!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 7/6/2007
Blog: LadyStar (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Gift Shop, Jessica Hoshi, Ranko Yorozu, Leila Hakumei, Cecilia Daichi, Add a tag
“Look what Shannon-sama did! Look what Shannon-sama did! It’s meeeeeee!”
“Jessie’s on a t-shirt in Shannon’s Gift Shop!”
“Sweet.”
“Good timing too because we’re going all out today. This just might be an unannounced ten update day because we have a LOT to get to. Stay tuned folks.”
“Hurry and go see Shannon-sama’s Gift Shop! It’s super-neat!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 6/19/2007
Blog: LadyStar (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: The Tree Shores High School Band Room, Gift Shop, Jessica Hoshi, Talitha Hayashi, Ranko Yorozu, Alanna Kawa, Leila Hakumei, Cecilia Daichi, Shannon Ka Yoru, Add a tag
“Okay this is super-important everyone. Since I’m in charge of our LadyStar Gift Shop I want to announce that we’re getting ready to adopt an official charity.”
“Yeah. We’ve been planning this for a while and we’re just about ready to present the page with all the information. If you visit often, you’ve probably already figured out where we’ll be donating.”
“It makes all the sense in the world. If we’re going to have a real business, then its important that we give something back, and I want to donate to lots of different causes, especially ones that help animals.”
“We should give to an Earth Day one too for Talitha-chan ’cause that’s her birthday!”
“Oh, my goodness…”
“We should also consider a children’s literacy charity. After all, our stories are books.”
“Good point.”
“I wanna give donations to Commander Acey and her robot on the Gamepowa site ’cause she has lots of fun video games!”
“That’s a very nice thought, Cici, but Gamepowa isn’t a charity. What we want to do most is help people who might not have as much as we do, or people who can’t really help themselves.”
“I want us to help lots of people.”
“Me too!”
“Cici’s got a point there. We should get Gamepowa in on the action. They could probably help us a lot.”
“I’m on it. I figure Commander Acey will put together a sweet space-age galactic high-technology plan.”
“You guys are the best, you know that?”
“Yeah, we know.”
“Heheheeee… watch our site minna! We’ll have lots more exciting information real soon! Ja!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 4/25/2007
Blog: LadyStar (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Gift Shop, Add a tag
“Hi minna-san! We’re all having so much fun! It’s Bring a Friend Month and that means it’s almost time to introduce aaaaall of our new friends but first there’s something new in Shannon-sama’s Gift Shop that we got!
“We’re rotating all of our new designs through the shop to make it easier for people to find what’s new. This is our newest design. We have a poster print and women’s t-shirts.”
“Yay! It’s got Shannon-sama and meeeee! We get to be on a poster together ’cause we’re best friends!”
“We’ll have some new designs soon. Have fun everybody!”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 4/9/2007
Blog: LadyStar (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Gift Shop, Add a tag
To understand the meaning of the ancient legends of the LadyStar, one must understand the heart. On the rays of a winter’s sunrise come the Wings of the Legend: a sign to the hopeless and beseiged that a Champion shall soon walk among them. The traveler scribes of Chaer called the first Winged Crest found carved into semi-precious shale rock “Crimson Thunder.” Now, the Winged Crimson Heart symbolizes the strength and power of the Pure Defender of the Realm.
“All of our Winged Crimson Heart Gifts are available now.”
“So, how many items you got in the Gift Shop now?”
“About 200″
!
“When this girl gets her mind set on something, she don’t mess around.”
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 4/9/2007
Blog: LadyStar (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Gift Shop, Add a tag
“Hi everyone! I’m so excited about our new Gift Shop! I hope you’ll come visit soon! We already have over 100 items and going to be adding new gifts all the time featuring all of the LadyStar characters and our adventures together!”
“Our first designs are the Crimson Heart, Forest Heart and Snowflake Heart, and I’ve opened my Shopkeeper Specials section where I’ll be featuring all our best designs every day. Oh! And in case you missed it, be sure to look at our Exclusive Poster Preview from our last Ten Update Friday! We have a new Gift Shop Category too where Hayashi will put all of the updates as we add new fun gifts.”
“Be sure to visit the LadyStar Gift Shop often, because we’ll be having some fun special events just like the Magical and Mysterious World of LadyStar site does, and soon we’ll be adding ‘Teko’s Daily Magical Treasure’ which will have a new featured gift every day! All of my friends will have their own sections on the site too, like Leila’s Collectibles, Jessica’s Sunshine Boutique and Ranko’s Strong Girls Gear. We’ve all worked very hard on our Gift Shop and I really hope you like our new designs! Have fun!”
And even after you've taken us through it, explaining it...I STILL wonder how the heck you can do this!
You are so talented and so generous.
Thats amazing, would never think that you are the type who "wants to jump in and do them all at once" I thought for sure this was again a month long project... Im a jump in head first kind of artist (wish I wasnt, and I know so bad how I have to calm down and do one step at a time. Im so glad you did it this way and show it to all of us, very intersting... And as always I love your work. The picture of your parents is lovely.
I just don't know how you do it - it's totally amazing to me. It's spectacular! nancy
Fantastic walk-through! Eventhough you described yourself as an impatient person, it shows in your arts and techniques that you have a great deal of patience. I've seen how people do photorealistic drawings, and those people have unbelievable amount of patience!!
But it's really nice to see how it's done, and it's a good learning experience for a lot of your admirers I am sure(me being one of them fans!)
Great work as always Andrea...thanks for taking us on the journey of its creation.
i SO wish i was that patient...... amazing :)
ox
Sharly
Lovely work and lovely walk through!! Your work is gorgeous.
one of my fave things to do is to flick through someone else's sketchbook. Even better is to see their processes and progression, watching the work unfold and evolve. Thank you so much for sharing this, it was very generous of you.
nice to see the step by step work of yours... You have a great hand with dry colours
Thank you for that - I love to see how other people work, it is always fascinating.
thank you for sharing!
after seeing this I'd say you can feel comfortable drawing in public and drawing people.
Bloody brilliant! BTW Keep hearing Paul Weller on t'radio and who springs into my mind?? Hm?
thanks for sharing. i always enjoy reading your posts and your drawings are amazing.
beautiful as always and i loved all the stories that went with it! thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you!! It's wonderful!
Wow!!! Good work. Lots of patience and talent.
hi andrea. G