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Welcome to Draw Tip Tuesday!
Today I'm drawing hands drawing shadows!

Procrastination. The word alone is intruiging to me. I can hardly pronounce it correctly, and still, I know very well how to do it. Procrastinating I mean, not the pronouncing.

I know nobody who doesn't procrastinate.
Nobody. I think people who claim they never procrastinate on anything, are not being honest.
I think stopping by at the procrastination station is perfectly normal and healthy. Or well, at least I tell myself. I just did a very, very good job on folding the laundry. Instead of uploading stuff for one of my upcoming online classes. In fact, this blogpost is partly procrastination.
The upside: procrastinating on one thing, sometimes leads to something good on something else that you may loath doing if that's all you need to do: doing the dishes, painting a wall, rearrange your living room interior, do grocery shopping, scrubbing the bathroom floor.... Other times it's just sort of paralyzing, and you're spending way too much time browsing through Facebook feed, Instagram art or get buried deeper and deeper into Pinterest.

Now here's the kind of 'productive procrastination' that I really like: making a drawing while putting off doing a drawing. I was working on an illustration that I promised to make for a friend. She's getting married, and we wanted to give her something personal during her bachelorette day. Once I started working on the illustrated cocktail recipe for her, it felt great to be making something personal, but before starting, it just looked like a big mountain to climb, an assignment for which I actually really didn't have any time in my schedule.

Once I planned some after-dinner drawing time, I did some doodling and sketching, but then got so intrigued by drawing orange peels.... this is what happened:

I feel like a celebrity! Check out this interview by Stephanie Levy, who gave me a push forward two years ago in the very first round of  her fantastic ecourse Creative Courage.

I am determined to meet her in person in Berlin, where she lives, one day in the near future, and have a cup of coffee with her. 

Is it spring yet?

A while ago I had a little chat with someone about my online classes, and about her art. She told me that she hasn't got a style of her own and gets frustrated about it often. I totally understand the frustration, but at the same time, even though I never saw any of her work, I knew she was being too hard on herself.
Just like we all have our own handwriting, our style, even when still developing (I sure hope so, because as an artist, you're never 'done' learning and developing), we also have our own style. Even if it's not that distinct (yet)
Searching for the right path, the right way and the most suitable skills and techniques, you might just be overlooking that 'je ne sais quoi' that is solely yours.

And then there's this too: as an artist, you gotta give yourself some credit!
Of course, you need to be your own critic about what you make, but also: there's always that inner critic that can really nag inside your head, and put you down. Saying that what you're doing is crap, or should be perfect.
I bet you know what I'm talking about.

I found this quote by Harriet Braiker, that I think is very suitable:
'Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing'.

Do you love the quote as much as I do?

'Insalata di Arance'. 
I remember reading this on the menu of a terriffic restaurant in Palermo in Sicily. It was a hot summer day and I was about to order a copious lunch involving fresh fish and pasta. As a side dish, 'orange salad', sounded refreshing and sweet.
This was the culinary discovery of the decade for me. The juicy orange slices were simply tossed onto a plate, a generous amount of olive oil poured over it, and sprinkled with course sea salt and chilli flakes. Quite a surprise and sensational for the taste buds! Since then, I've prepared it many times and enjoy eating it immensely, both because of the memory and the fabulous taste.

Here are some studies for today.

I did the lips yesterday and made a video of the painting progress on youtube.

I’m a bit of a mushroom fan, I’ve got about 6 books on the subject now. I just love the different shapes and colours.

The Color of Change: Can Colorful Images Help Solve Social Problems?

I'm so close to finishing this travel Moleskine sketchbook I can almost touch the finishing line. There's just two pages left to finish. It was started almost three years ago and I dread to think how much time has gone into it. Not that I mind though. 'Cos I just love drawing.

The pencil case, above, was a Christmas pressie from my best mate. It came filled with all sorts of bits and bobs. From sugar sachets, badges and labels, all of which had designs that were right up my street and that could have only been collected by somebody that knows me so well, to old notes, letters and things from way back in our past; from times, places and people I'd forgotten all about.

I think this is such a fabulous idea for a gift. Why not do something like it for somebody you know? I think I will. Because what could possibly be better than receiving a Colman's mustard pencil case full of inspiration and love?


You can see the whole of the travel moleskine sketchbook HERE. And, buy the little travel Molezine HERE.

By Dr Ivan R. Schwab

Well, yes, sort of. Dogs see colors, but their span of color vision closely resembles the array of colors seen by “color blind” males.

About 8%, or 1 out of 12 males (humans) and about 1 out of 200 females are “color blind.” We use that term to describe individuals that are color deficient, but they are not truly color blind. The eye has cells that perceive color and these are called cone photoreceptors or “cones.” We use another set of photoreceptors called “rods” for the black and white vision of dim light or nighttime. Our cones contain three visual pigments each of which responds to a different spectrum of wavelengths of light. It is these three visual pigments that combine their signals to permit us to have color vision by blending the signals, depending on the wavelengths received. Although it is an over-simplification, and misleading to some extent, we can describe our visual pigments as blue, green, and red. The brain receives the input from these three channels and then interprets the color we see. At least two different color channels are needed for color vision because the brain needs to “compare” these two different channels to determine color.

Color blindness in humans is caused by the genetic deficiency or loss of either the green or the red photopigment hence that input into the brain. So, the brain learns to see only those colors that can be interpreted or constructed by combining the input from the other two remaining visual pigments. The result is a less robust spectrum of colors, but colors are still seen. True color blindness in humans does exist when two of the three visual pigments are genetically unavailable, but it is exceedingly rare. If only one visual pigment channel is coming to the brain, say the blue cone input, it isn’t seen as blue but rather as on or off—hence that is “real” color blindness and would be a black and white world.

So, almost all color blindness in humans is not true color blindness but would be better described as color deficiency.

Now, let’s go back to your dog. Normal dogs have two different visual pigments in their cones, and much like humans afflicted with so-called “color blindness.” But they would see color. The color input would be weaker to some extent because dogs have fewer cones than we do because they are evolutionarily closer to their nocturnal ancestors. Cones are needed less, if at all, at night.

So, what about the other pets in the household? Your cat will have a similar color distribution as your dog although there are some subtle differences.

Birds, on the other hand, possess rich color vision, in many cases better than our own. Most birds have four cone visual pigments, although this varies. In general, birds have an additional ultraviolet pigment in their cones and many more cones than we have. Furthermore the visual pigments that would be similar to ours span different wavelengths. Their visual experience is richer than our own in ways impossible to describe or understand. Not o

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.

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.

Migy’s illustrations make me go YES YES YES! 

Chemical Color Chart

The art of colouring comics has come a long way.

Hi everyone, I have a fresh website with some new colourful illustrations and surface pattern designs. Also, I'm featured in Augusts Digital Artist Magazine with a tutorial, on detailing line art :)
New work called Tron Down Town... more here
http://www.mousetricks.co.uk/