How to use this Page

Add a Comment

This self Portrait Project is getting out of hand, and I like it!
Doing self portraits gives me the opportunity to try out many techniques, and it gives me a lot of practice on making a portrait that looks like me (so far I haven't succeeded many times, but I'm having a lot of fun anyway)

So I did.



Then, I got the question what would be the next film?
And.... another idea was born: to bring a bit of extra challenge, and to add diversity in my self portraits (it is, after all, the same face over and over again).
On my Facebook Page, people have been suggesting film titles and characters, that I could use for my film-themed selfies.


So if you have a suggestion for me... bring it on!

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

Still going strong, with A Selfie A Day!
Hated the one I did on April 4 here in the left corner of the page. I had a sketch date with my dad the day after and decided to ignore the ugly face and draw half through it. I now really love the page, as I took a lot of time to draw my father's kitchen and get all those details and colours in too.

As you can see in the selfie in the bottom right corner, dinner was great.

Today is the second official World Wide Sketchcrawl of this year! I will be sketching with a group of like minded people in Amsterdam this afternoon, and looking forward to it.
You can find out more about the Sketchcrawl I am hosting in this earlier post or find a sketchcrawl group to join in your area by clicking here and type your town or city in the search bar.

Add a Comment

Suddenly, I got myself into a Project, even though I wasn't aware of it in the first place.
I finished my last art journal, and opened a new one. I chose a Moleskine Sketchbook this time, instead of the watercolor version, because I felt like I could use a bit of change. A different type of paper, and a different format than what I got used to with the last few sketchbooks would bring some nice variety.

Yikes, that first page was kind of awful.

I had to get used to the smooth paper again, and I chose to draw myself in the reflection of the open window, which wasn't easy at all... but hey, the book has a lot of new pages, so onto the next drawing! and at least I enjoyed the process, while sitting in the spring sun for the first time this year.

The next day, I took some more time and chose a familiar tool: I have been drawing with ballpoint pen a lot on this type of paper.
I sat in the kitchen, on the kitchen table in fact, and chose another challenge: my own reflection in the lamp above the table. Wow that certainly was interesting! Not just my own distorted reflection in the round lamp, but all the details I discovered.
A fun drawing, and a fun hour of drawing.

I had such busy days with the very first semester of Sketchbook Skool coming up, and a lot of ropes to tie together still... So I didn't take the time to sit down and draw something around me, like I'm used to do in my daily drawing journals. but what I did do, was snap a picture of myself and use it as a reference to draw just before going to sleep, a few days in a row.

So yeah, The Project was born. Why don't I do A Selfie A Day? I have this ongoing self portrait project, on which I work on and off, but wouldn't it be interesting to see how I draw a self portrait each day? Will they be reflecting my moods? Will I get better at drawing my own face and its features?
We'll see. I don't plan to fill this journal with self portraits only. because I want to keep journaling too. Just drawing my face won't do. And it won't be satisfying every day either. As sometimes, it just doesn't work out well. Like the one below.
Now that is just insulting towards my husband, whom I tried to draw from, admitted, a bad photo.
If I can I will do a portrait and drawing of my surroundings. we'll see how it goes!

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

I'm bored with drawing so here are two photographic portraits.
Click to enlarge.

Add a Comment

This is the story of a wedding gift (my contribution to it, anyway) for a dear friend. I thought you might like to see the process. The picture is of my friend Jamie and her husband, who got married last June. As a surprise to the couple, her mother asked friends and family each to complete a design on a muslin square. She collected the squares and then had them made into a patchwork quilt as a gift to Jamie and her husband.

Jamie and I go way back, and a big part of our friendship has been about shared words. Books, movies, music, poetry, television. We have a lot of inside jokes about obscure quotes. So I sifted through our collective “library” of shared references, looking for the perfect quote to decorate the wedding square. Nothing seemed quite right.

When I saw the bride and groom, though, I knew nothing could be more Jamie and Jon than their fabulous wedding outfits.

I decided to make an embroidered picture and started with the best photo I had of the event. It’s blurry but gave me a good pose to work with. I used Picasa to play with the colors and then used the “posterize” effect to get the lines of the image to show up more clearly.

I printed the picture, traced over the lines with a Sharpie, and then transferred these to the fabric with a temporary fabric marking pen.

I like the back almost as well as the front:

Here’s the final:

If you’re interested in seeing more of Jamie and Jon’s wedding, click here.

Meanwhile, I’m hard at work on my nonfiction project and just got some excellent notes on my novel from an old friend. A little sewing going on, which hopefully I can show you soon. Back to writing now!

Display Comments Add a Comment

Might have taken this project simply to play with the "Mississippi" type. But had a great time working  Twain's handwritten manuscripts into the image

Display Comments Add a Comment

Add a Comment

Today's model was excellent to draw, albeit something of a narcissist. He suggested the religious pose.
Biro, A4 size. Click to enlarge.

Add a Comment

Working on the cover art for a fantasy book series. These are portraits of the two main characters. (And yes, there will be dragons)

Add a Comment

When you purchase an item from MY STORE, 10% of your purchase price will be donated to my favorite animal charities; Last Chance Animal Rescue and Horses Haven, both in lower MI. Which charity the donation goes to, will depend on the item purchased and I will love you forever from the bottom of my little black heart. ...and even if you don't purchase anything from me, you can go to their site and make a donation! They deserve a chance too!

Display Comments Add a Comment

My nickname for this model is Gaitskell although he doesn't really look like Hugh Gaitskell. But when politicians are pontificating I find it helpful to visualise them with no clothes on. I drew this in Zen Brush which is fun to use for lifedrawing.
ZenBrush on iPad. Click to enlarge.

Display Comments Add a Comment

I haven't posted a drawing for a few days, so here you go, a caricature of Michael Portillo.



I like trains - I even illustrated a train book - but Stuart loves them more (he's a proper anorak) and has been obsessing over Portillo's Great Railways Journeys series. I've been watching the first episodes of Mad Men Series 5 with headphones on to avoid the show, but this evening it seemed companionable to watch it together while we ate our pancakes. Drawing made it much more fun.



That is my favourite pancake sugar, which we always buy when we go to Brussels. And I found the chocolate sprinkles in a suitcase I hadn't used for awhile, from a trip to Amsterdam. They still hadn't gone stale. Gary and I have been putting in long hours at the studio and trying to eat sensibly, but we sort of lost it today, even before the Pancake Hour. I popped out this afternoon and Gary sent me along with a little shopping list:

Add a Comment

It just occurred to me that I could draw the person I'm Skyping while they rant on unawares.
Pen and ink 15cm x 10cm. Click to enlarge.

Add a Comment

Morning sketch: this time I got down a book of Hermitage paintings and redrew Antonio Allegri da Correggio's Portrait of a Lady from about 1519. (But I thought I'd put something in her empty dish.)



People sometimes ask me if they can colour the things I draw, so I've made this into a free colouring sheet, if you'd like to download it and have a go (with crayons, in Photoshop, whatever you like!). (Here's a link to the PDF file.)



Click here if you'd like a closer look at the painting in the book. She's fun to draw. Her clothes are solid colours, but you could change things and put in all sorts of patterns and textures. She might even have some awesome tattoos.

Oh, and check out Francesco Mugnai's website of photos of beautiful abandoned places and modern ruins. So amazing. Wow. (via Aliette de Bodard and EwaSR on Twitter.)

Add a Comment

A self portrait as, er....moons.
123D and PShop Touch on iPad. Click to enlarge.

Add a Comment

I love watching Jonathan Edwards' drawings pop up on my Instagram feed, and this picture of Stuart is inspired by some of the things he's been trying out.



Some diary dates: I'm appearing at Chipping Norton Lit Fest on Sat, 20 April, for a family event with my new book, Superkid: Startling superpowers! Astounding monsters! Madcap battles! Join writer, illustrator and comics creator Sarah McIntyre in designing THE SILLIEST SUPERHERO ON THE PLANET and unleash your creation on the weirdest, vilest, dribbliest baddies you can throw at it. For children of all ages, accompanied by an adult.</i> Free, booking details here. Loads of other fab authors are appearing the same day, including Philip Ardagh, Jo Cotterill and Sue Heap.

And I'm leading a Comics Jam workshop with Philip Reeve at Animated Exeter on Sat, 23 Feb, details here! Lots going on, Philip's even written a whole new short story (set in Exeter) for the occasion and I illuminated one of the letters in the story.

More links:

I was very excited to hear that Viv Schwarz has got her first few copies of her upcoming graphic novel The Sleepwalkers with Walker Books. Can't wait to get my hands on this, Viv's amazing, and from the peeks I've seen of this, the book will be, too.

I always mean to read more science fiction, and Jared Shurin from The Kitschies Awards has just posted his 50 Essential Fiction Novels. I've bookmarked this for further exploration!

Nichola Morgan has posted an excellent article, How much should writers charge for events? (People are always asking me for advice on this.)

Here's a little dinosaur song for you, via Woodrow Phoenix:

Add a Comment

Been a while since I updated this blog.
I do have a good excuse, and we will be seeing more of him over the years.

Add a Comment

In demonstrating the Paper 53 app to Paul, I ended up drawing him.
Paper53 on iPad. Click to enlarge.

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

Another kid from the Almussafes series of child dreamers, this one is Maria Angeles. For a forthcoming book and exhibition of Spanish children's dreams collected by Roger Omar.
Adobe Ideas on iPad. Click to enlarge.

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

Phytolacca americana

Add a Comment