Here's another sketching opportunity that came my way recently, I got to go into a studio to sketch band. A local band, including a couple of members I know. I realised that I've never actually been into a studio before. I could have spent hours, days, in there drawing all the equipment.
I have some larger drawings that I made in my Moleskine sketchbook, but these drawings I made in a cheap little pretend Moleskine that was about a quarter of the price. I'm not somebody who moans about the Moleskine sketchbooks being expensive. I actually don't think they are. Or, at least, for me it's well worth the price for the amount of time, effort and love I put into filling them. But, there is something to be said for these cheaper sketchbooks. You're less precious about them and about wasting the paper which gives you the freedom to make different kind of drawings. More sketchy.
Anyway, here are some sketchy sketches. And, here, if you are interested are the band, Sharma. If nothing else just check out this first track. I think they're good. Really good. You can watch them
HERE.
These are my Day Three sketches of the Post Three Sketches in Five Days challenge.
Today I chatted with
Koosje Koene, one of the founder members of
Sketchbook Skool, on Skype, and we caught up on all sorts of things that had been happening, for both of us, since I went to Amsterdam last year to film my classes for Sketchbook Skool with her. It was good to talk. You know when just chatting with another person who has the same interests and passions as yourself can give you a boost? It can be uplifting and, well, the conversation left me feeling all inspired. So, it felt fitting to post these three sketches, that I made whilst I was there, in Amsterdam with Koosje, today.
If you are unaware of
Sketchbook Skool (is there anyone who hasn't heard about it yet?), well, it's this online school where all the tutors are sketchbook artists from around the world. An eclectic mix of tutors who are pretty much obsessed with creating sketchbooks. In fact, there's no pretty much about it, they're totally obsessed with creating sketchbooks. And, that includes me! Yes, I'm one of the tutors on the 'Seeing' course which starts on Friday. Still time to sign up. You can do that, and find out more,
HERE.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a fantastic New Year!
This alpaca is one of two that friends of mine are looking after at the moment. I've taken some creative liberties with proportions and perspective, but I'm sure they will forgive me for it. They are sweet, playful, and perfect for wishing everyone a warm, woolly Christmas and a friendly, positive, wonderful end of 2014. Have fun and be safe! Cheers.
I feel like I haven't sat down and actually created a 'proper' drawing, or worked on a project, in ages. Life, and making a living, has got in the way of that.
Not that I've stopped drawing, I've never drawn as much. And, I'm loving drawing in a different, faster way. I do long, though, to just sit for an entire afternoon or weekend, week even, and just work on a big mega drawing. The kind of thing I can get lost in.
But, I need to capitalise on this time of year. That's the reality, right now. I've finally just begun, after a couple of years of real hardship, to see the wood for the trees and to really start thinking like, and seeing myself as, a professional artist/illustrator. Whatever that is.
And, now, I've forced myself into a situation where I have to make money from this. Which is a good thing. A scary thing, but a good thing.
Before I was just selling online to top up my wage, now my wage tops up my selling online. The balance has shifted. And, I'm no longer just selling online, recently I've been selling offline too.
All of these drawings were made over two days, and two art fairs, last weekend. I've come to realise that I need to sell myself in lots more ways (not like that), to keep a roof over my head.
It's not easy to see your work in those terms; as a saleable product. Well, at least, I don't find it easy. But that is the reality of it.
It's been a long time coming too. I've been talking about it for way too long; taking steps to turn professional. And, it hasn't been the greatest of timing, on my part, in this recent financial climate. But, there's something about the struggle that makes it even more 'rewarding' (that's not the right word, or not the word I'm looking for, but it's late at night and I'm tired).
So, I've been getting my work out there, and, actually, even if it still feels uncomfortable selling me, I couldn't love sharing and talking about my work more.
I'm constantly amazed anyone wants to know.
My plan for 2015 is to get better at all that stuff. The presenting of my work, that is. I've had a practice run this year, but I want to make my 'show' bigger and better. I want it to be a visual treat, to compliment my sketchbooks.
I want to make lots more lovely creative products that show off my drawings. And, I want to get out there, further afield, and meet and share them with more people.
And, I want more adventures. So that when I finally get back home,
to sit and draw, I'll bring all that I've learnt and seen back to my work. And make it richer than ever.
Looking forward to the New Year already.
I had no idea where this post was going when I started it. Absolutely none. I'm glad it ended on such a positive note. I think I've inspired myself!
I've been busy. I've even gone on a couple of short trips recently, to get things in order and to meet up with family. So I'm a bit behind ... the slow internet connection doesn't help much but it seems to be behaving today, so am taking advantage and posting a few more pages from the sketchbook ...
This (very sketchy) illustration was based on Aesop's Fable, The Crow and the Pitcher. The crow is standing on a little booklet that tells you the story but if you'd like to read one of the (many) versions online, you can find it here.
And here are some 3D pieces I've worked on, a woven case for the ketupat (Malaysian rice is cooked in this for festive ocassions, read more here), and some metal-work that I thoroughly enjoyed. Might make a pendant out of one -- or all -- of those.
Yes, the theme for the moment is shoes. Well, sort of. More on that later. Meanwhile, have a fantastic week.
I'll be posting the final "I Choose" free printable next Saturday, and that will be available (along with the previous 11 from 2014) till the end of December to all subscribers of the Floating Lemons monthly newsletter. After which it will be gone, and I'll be thinking up something new for you for 2015. If you'd like to sign up for the newsletter and the free printables, just click here.
I've been busy at college. Started learning metalwork recently and it's wonderfully fascinating. I've done a couple of rough, small pieces and will show them off soon. Meanwhile I've managed a few doodles when time permits, adding colour to my Float Like A Balloon drawing and sketching a few ravens for fun, all in my moleskine blank book ...
So yes, I'm still fascinated by the black birds and their mythologies and fables, so will pursue that further whenever I find spare moments to do so. Right now I'm occupied with filling in college sketchbooks and drawing tons of shoes ... so expect to see loads of footwear up here soon.
Wishing you a week full of blessings and lightness. Cheers.
This is one of the projects I've been working on recently, for an art college class. Yes, birds and mail art. Wonderful. Loads of cutting, slicing, collaging, and then drawing and painting, was done. I ended up with a couple of options to work on, and liked them both but ended up picking this one below for the final review.
I went through a bit of exploration and research and managed to develop quite a fascination with ravens, sifting through poems such as Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Raven', folklore, fairy-tales, fables--almost picked Aesop's The Crow and the Pitcher--so it isn't too surprising that I went with this pair in the end ... In Norse mythology, Huginn (from Old Norse "thought") and Muninn (Old Norse "memory" or "mind") are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world of Midgard, and bring information and news back to the god Odin. Flying messengers. Perfect.
I've depicted them as a white and black raven, and addressed the envelope to them. Their names are written in ancient Nordic runes just above their respective beaks. Yes, there's a message inside as well, written on rice paper 'parchment'. Private, of course. Let's hope that the envelope will eventually be returned to sender (me!) with a postal mark to show that it's been in the system. Here's a glimpse of the bit of mess I made while researching and working on the project ...
Here's the back of the envelope with a depiction of the Nordic mythical Tree of Life, Yggdrasil ...
The ravens and the tree were paper cuttings (my sketch book suffered somewhat) that I painted (watercolour for the birds and some marker pen on the tree) and collaged onto the envelope. On the front I'd also glued crosswords (to symbolize thought, naturally) onto the original white envelope, and then placed a thin sheet of rice paper over the whole thing so that it looked like parchment, slightly aged. I quite like the result, what do you think?
The other attempt at mail art was slightly a different one: I made an envelope from black paper and then cut straight into it, collaging and shading only the white bird on the front. Then I placed white paper inside the envelope so that it showed through the snipped out leaves, flowers and insects.
Simple, but I think it's quite cute. The back is a more abstract representation of a (meaner) raven and its wings, can you see it?
I did like this black and white bit of mail art, but once I'd begun on the research for the winged messengers of Odin, I fell in love with them and that was pretty much that. I think I made the right choice picking them as my final piece, what do you think? There are infinite possibilities for both options though, and I may end up using them somehow on cards and other goodies, so keep an eye out for them up at the Floating Lemons shops in the near future ...
Meanwhile, I wish you a fantastic week. Cheers.
Here's just a little (it's all relative) something I knocked up in my sketchbook.
The story of the drawing goes a bit like this...
Sometime back in May I went to my friend, and
Dr Sketchy partner,
Lara Gothique's fabulous vaudeville extravaganza (I do love that word, extravaganza. In fact, I love both of those words; vaudeville and extravaganza) called Cupid Stunts. I sketched the whole show that evening. I came away with a load of drawings. Over twenty quick sketches.
One of the fabulous artistes that night was a Victorian strong man called
Sir Leopold Aleksander. I got a good handful of sketches of him. They were pretty much all as below - simple line drawings.
Over the last couple of weeks, as I have been living a life of sobriety, I seem to have a bit more time on my hands in the evenings. Time to do the things I've wanted to do for ages but not got around to because wine got in the way. Time to go back through my sketchbooks and rework some of those quick sketches that needed a bit of the AJ treatment. So that's what I did with the, now, tattooed gentleman above, and, at some point, will do with the sketch below. Sure, they don't exactly look like the Victorian gent, but that's what happens when you a) sketch in the dark and b) complete the illustration using only your memory and a lot of imagination. And, that's what I love about drawing.
Thanks to Sir Leopold for the use of his body(?!)
Thanks to Lara for her fabulous show.
And thanks to Go Sober For October for giving me the headspace to draw instead of drink wine!
If you can spare a bob or two please donate to my sobriety challenge. I am raising money for MacMillan Cancer Support. The most worthiest of causes. You can do that
HERE.
And if you'd like to see a vaudeville extravaganza, and are in Sheffield next weekend (a long shot, perhaps), Lara is putting on another. Check it out
HERE. Take your sketchbook!
This is one of several preliminary drawings for a project I'm working on.
I can't believe that it's been less than two months since I moved to the UK ... so much has been squeezed into that small amount of time that I'm still in a bit of a daze. But the good news is, of course, that I'm finally back on the internet.
Have tons of catching up to do but it will have to fit into the cracks between my college artwork. And I haven't been completely idle creatively either, despite 'real life' competing for my attention lately. Here's a glimpse into what I've been doing - tons of research and a few sketches for an upcoming class project. First though, here's the art-space I've set up for myself in our new, temporary home:
And a glimpse into the pages of a new sketchbook:
Different mediums, styles, cutting, collaging - lots of lovely experimentation going on. Birds (I'm developing a particular fascination with ravens and crows) and mail art. I've also been pinning for inspiration so if you'd like to have a look, check out my Pinterest Boards, Art: Mail Art, Art: Crows & Ravens, and Art: Birds. Have fun.
Wishing you a week full of flights of fancy. Cheers.
Remember the exciting news I've been holding onto these past few months? Well, it's all happening now: I've moved from France to the English countryside. Why? I'm going back to school! To be precise, I'm going to attend, for the first time ever, art college. There's a ton of reasons for my doing so, and I'll chat about them as we go along to classes together this year, but it's a huge step for me and wonderfully exciting. I'm looking forward to learning tons, and to adding depth to my work and my life. It's never too late.
Which is why everything has been slightly haywire, upside-down, inside-out and choatic lately, and I have to apologise again for the lack of updates here, but you'll have to admit that it's for a brilliant reason and that you can't help but feel happy for me ...
I did manage to find time here and there to tackle a few more Spoonflower daily drawing challenges, though I was left far behind during the packing and moving bit of my journey. I'm still going to carry on and complete their themes despite the fact that the spoonchallenge is officially over today. Still, it keeps me therapeutically content having my pencils, pens, and trusty moleskine journal in hand.
Here are another 5 of the Spoonchallenges:
#SpoonChallenge 6: LEMON
#SpoonChallenge 7: BOOK
#SpoonChallenge 8: ARROW
#SpoonChallenge 9: TEA
#SpoonChallenge 10: TOAST
I have a ton of mundane practical things to take care of before courses begin mid-September, but today is Sunday and it's lovely and sunny here in the English countryside, something not to be taken too much for granted. So I'm having a short but, I think, well-deserved break with tea and the papers in the garden of wonderfully welcoming friends where I'm staying for the moment. Join me ...
Wishing everyone a glorious week. Will update again very soon! Cheers.
I've been so extra busy this past couple of months that I've barely had time to draw. So you'd be forgiven for considering me certifiably insane when I tell you that I joined the one month Spoonflower daily drawing challenge ... but you see, it's because I couldn't make time to draw that I joined it. I needed that push, excuse, motivation ... to pick up the pens or pencils again and indulge in some much needed creative therapy.
And it's been wonderful. Fine, I was a bit late with a couple of the pieces (busy busy busy, remember?) but so far I've managed to keep up - by the skin of my teeth perhaps, but still. Here are the first 5 themed sketches, drawn in my moleskine sketchbook:
1. CACTUS
2. MOUNTAIN
3. TREE
4. LANDSCAPE
5. RIVER
I'm quite pleased with myself. I had tons of fun, and there are loads of ideas that I can use and carry on playing with, from each of the drawings. But the main thing is (have I mentioned?), I had tons of fun.
One of my in-progress pieces was also featured in the Spoonflower blog round-up of drawings from week 1, how absolutely cool is that? Can't wait for the coming week - and it's not too late to join the daily challenge if you wish to. Just pick that pen/pencil/brush up, and then #SpoonChallenge the results onto your social media ... for details and the daily topic, check out the Spoonflower blog. Wishing you a fantastic week. Cheers.
I won't have much time at all to do the artwork for this book, but that's fine. I know how I want it to look, and it will be a lot of fun.
At the moment I am painting with brushes made from horsehair. It seems to suit it. - I'll need to dig out my lightbox so I can follow my roughs a bit more closely. This drawing was made free-hand on top of a rough colour sketch, which explains why the crocodile is skipping more than he usually would - I was following the jaunty watercolouring I'd put down first.
I am working silly hours to meet my deadlines... this is a sketch of Anna and Crocodile, the heroes of a new book I am working on. I had to cheat a bit and fix the original watercolour digitally to get it in on time, now it'll go away to be presented at a meeting to show people who these characters are. That sort of thing.
My niece is visiting from Germany. I just ordered her a pizza over the internet because I'm still at the studio well after dinner time... I hope she's having fun with the cats at home. I'll pack up and go see if there's a slice of pizza left for me now.
This piece was drawn in coloured pencils as an assignment for my MATS Bootcamp e-course. It started off as a preparatory sketch in my moleskine, but I got carried away and ended up putting down layers and layers of colour. This was the result, "I Choose to Embrace the Unknown":
As always, I'm offering all the "I Choose" designs monthly as A4/A3 free printables to those who sign up for the Floating Lemons newsletter, so if you want to print them out at home for your personal use, or pass them onto friends, just click HERE to subscribe.
I sketched out quite a few ideas before the drawing above insisted on picking itself as the final. Here are some of them, and the prep sketches that refused to stay preparatory ...
All in all a wonderful nautical exploration. Hope you've enjoyed a peek at it as much as I enjoyed working on the whole project. Wishing you a fantastical day. Cheers.
Here's a fun thing we did at the pub.
Close your eyes, then someone tells you what to draw: an animal that's doing one specific thing.
Here are mine:
 |
| Lion eating whale |
 |
| Mammoth trying to eat watermelon |
Here are the two sketchbook spreads that I mentioned in my
last post. Both were made whilst in Amsterdam filming for
Sketchbook Skool and both were finished when I got back home.
The top drawing is a drawing that I wanted to make when I went to Amsterdam. I guess I wanted to make it before I went out there. I knew that I wanted to get at least one drawing of those old Dutch tall, thin houses along the canal banks. But, that's not all. When I saw this drawing in my mind, this is the style and these are the lines I wanted to achieve. And, that doesn't always happen. Sometimes, I have no idea where the pen will take me.
The second is a sketch I made at Erasmuspark in Amsterdam. I just added colour pencil at home. I shouldn't have bothered with the lettering though.
Yes, I'm in London. Which is wonderful, especially as I'm with family, about to go on an amazing trip to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday ... yet a wee bit frustrating as well, as I'm missing two whole weeks of the e-course that I've been so thoroughly enjoying ... But yes, I am definitely counting my blessings.
I did manage to take some time off and doodle. We're having a few internet connectivity problems so I'll keep this short and sweet, and post it before I get cut off. Here's the black and white sketch:
I'm not sure if I'll be able to carry on blogging much till I get back home, but I'll be posting photos and updates over at the Floating Lemons Facebook page so pop by there if you'd like to accompany me to Istanbul ...
Have a wonderful day. Cheers.
Yes, I love studying. So I've just started on The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design's Module 4, having taken the previous 3 Modules last year and loved them. The e-courses are doing me a ton of good and, if anything, letting me know how much I have as yet to learn about art and design. It's the first week of ABSPD, and I've been sketching Things and Characters. Here's a bit of what I've come up with so far. I'm calling this first one "Cat Blobs" ...
I don't know about you lot, but I really want it on a print and, oddly enough, a tea towel - perhaps even a journal/notebook! The second one was just organic blobs really, and I'm not sure where it came from but quite liked it:
And this final one was an attempt to sketch birds. OK, it needs more work, but I can see a few there that can be improved on and used for something later, what do you think? Any favourites?
I'm not too sure of how that cat got in the bottom of the page, but it probably thought the birds just too good to resist. I'm off to sketch more today, let's see what pops up. Can you tell that I'm thoroughly enjoying this?
WIshing you a day full of pleasant surprises. Cheers.
An actual person I met on an actual train, not my mother who was never like this.
Here's an in-progress shot where you can see how rough my pencils are. They are pretty rough.
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