week 7 in sketches

fb challenge: weeping willow|aquilegia|cannabis|mermaid's wine glass
venus fly trap

fb challenge: parakeet|law|dismember|brain|seed|Petey|Charlie Parker|goose

fb challenge: building|coyote|lapidarium|funhouse|train|farm|house

Onto a new week....

week 6 in sketches

cattails | cherry blossom | peony | pyracantha | thistle | tigerlily

asparagus | aubergine (eggplant) | banana | passion fruit | pomegranate

artichoke | lemon | lychee | parsimmon | rutabaga

hippopotamus | marmoset | narwhal | otter | (huge) puffin

angler fish | fungi the dingle dolphin | puffin (take II)

So my 'sketch of the day' has turned into something else... quality not quanitity? I have five for this week, but as it turns out it's a lot of sketches in each.  My Facebook Sketch Challenges have been very fruitful indeed, and I'm enjoying them 

(as I hope the participants are) !

What do YOU think? Comments more than welcomed!

week 4 in sketches 2014

26-01-14

27-01-14 

28-01-14

29-01-14

30-01-14

31-01-14

01-02-14

A day late, but not a dollar short. I was very occupied yesterday trying to get more of my space in order, which still isn't complete, but is looking pretty good. The most important part is that I feel motivated and inspired to draw and paint while here, so that's a huge plus. Apologies for the massive blue clip in the photos of the sketches. It seems my sketchbook is having difficulty keeping itself opened for photo taking! 

A little peek of 'work'space progress:

week 3 in sketches 2014

19/1/14

20/1/14 (perhaps not the best of days?)

21/1/14 (moo-se?)

22/1/14

 23/1/14 

24/1/14 (date on this one is wrong! Changed after pic taken) 

25/1/14 (dreaming of pondweed)

Soooo by this time next week (hopefully by this time tomorrow) my studio will be mostly set up and I can share some photos. I was thinking about taking a few to show the 'in progress' stages, but honestly it looks like a bomb went off in here, so I'm going to put that off a bit until it's just ever so slightly less embarrassing.

I will say I have two new lamps to make sure I never stop working because of lack of light. I have an actual work table which will hopefully also fit my scanner. I think what I might be lacking are some creative storage solutions for my supplies -- but there's always Muji for that! I'm sure I'll think of something.

Back to table (re)assembly. (Silly Ikea

sent me a faulty part so I had the (dis)pleasure of going there on a Saturday afternoon with the ever-present Ikea vacuum sucking money from my pocket.) I have entertained the idea that they might very well put faulty bits into cheapish Internet orders so people are all but forced to going to their stockpile of material temptation. Astoundingly, their wait time for email response was a whopping 11 days (seriously, I could get hit by a bus in that time) -- and the phone wait ridiculous. Ah well, a few more things to inspire me in my new space.

Stay tuned... and share this site with your friends (and enemies if you like. enemies are fine too --  or at least generally interesting).









Oh, and here's me. 

Don't You Believe It! / Week 1 in Sketches 2014

So it's January, and although I'm a couple of weeks later than anticipated, I'd like to announce that I'm back in the saddle again - artistically, creatively, socially and as visibly as you will allow. The last year and a half or so has been incredibly difficult, and at some point I might even share the complicated details publicly. This would be an attempt to throw myself out there, warts and all, but hey ... not quite up to that warty reality yet, if I'll ever be. Those of you who know me might say I hold my cards close... and so I will continue to do with matters I deem unsuitable for public consumption. But see, I'm also learning that sharing is an awfully good thing, even when you perceive you're putting yourself at risk to do so. I think... I think I've learnt, that often the opposite happens ... connectedness, help, support, encouragement. So suffice it to say, for now, that I've tasted a little bit of hell, if not danced with the devil. And though I'd like to say I've been to hell and back, those lines are often blurred. Still.

Fortunately, for me, a cornered mouse DOES fight.

  (click this link and it will make more sense) http://youtu.be/U5tveO2nRSk

Soooo ... I'm not usually one for New Year's Resolutions, but I made one this year, and it is one I intend to keep. I will make a sketch or some sort of drawing or artistic idea in a book -- one for each day of the year. It goes without saying that sometimes I'll love them, and sometimes I'll hate them enough to want to rip the pages out. I mean, who will know anyhow? Well you will, because I'm going to post them here...love 'em or hate 'em.

So here goes! -- Sketches from 1st January to 11th January 2014. I'll post sketches from this week tomorrow night.

1st January 2014

2nd January 2014

3rd January 2014

4th January 2014

5th January 2014

6th January 2014

7th January 2014

8th January 2014

9th January 2014 

10th January 2014 

11th January 2014

Original Art Under £100

Some of my paintings are featured on the homepage of a fantastic new website, Original Art Under £100, where you can do just what it says on the tin: buy affordable original art from a variety of artists. I have 12 items for sale there, some of which I've pictured here. It's a great concept, minimalist,  easy to use site, and the man behind the curtains is incredibly nice. Hopefully it will take off. Have a visit HERE and let me know what you think! You can go directly to my own page HERE as well. Unfortunately, the link to my website just takes you back to this blog, but hopefully before long I'll have my official art website to link to.

Cats

Early Bird no.1 & Late Autumn House

Determined to get some headway today, I managed to come up with three possible designs for prints. The Early Bird no. 1 has had a final touch-up and I came up with two lovely colours to try out at the printer tomorrow: what I'll call "dunkin' egg yellow" and "soft green". I'm really happy with them, and I hope they reproduce well. 

I also whipped up a simple little ditty called Late Autumn House. The illustration started with the tree in the forefront. I saw a similar tree at Howletts last week that has stuck in my head ever since... with one tiny little yellow leaf holding on for dear life at the end of each branch.

The Bee's Knees

A bit over a week ago I was asked by Bok Theatre Bournemouth to create an illustration for their theatrical adaptation of The Queen Bee, a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. Bok Theatre Bournemouth is "an informative, interactive, inclusive theatre company" created by the uber talented Mr. and Mrs. Parkin. I was happy to accept the project because it seemed like good fun (bees? ducks? ants? ... why ever not?) and also because Aaron and Charmaine easily inspire with their obvious passion for theatre, their unique creativity and their enlightened goal to "use the powerful tool of theatre to benefit society". Do support them if you are able! If you're unfamiliar with the fairy tale, you can make up for that HERE. Well worth two minutes of your time, I'm certain.

Some sketches below: 

Prelim ideas of the personified bee and other characters
- not far off the final results. 

Kind of like this very simplified version ... but not sure she could command the role of "Queen". Below the bee, a note about Charmaine's suggestion to include a key, pearls and honeycomb after I mentioned I'd like to include the King Ant and ducks. 

Working sketch of the queen before being "transferred" to watercolour for the final illustration. The bit cut out to the left was for gauging how close to the bee I should place the ducks.

 For some reason, when I drew this version and decided it was the best, I forgot to include the wings. So, amazingly without realising it, I thought I had completed the illustration when the Queen still didn't have her wings. Thinking I was nearly finished,  I showed it to Dan and he said "I like it, but it looks kind of like an ant without the wings". WITHOUT THE WINGS?? I actually hadn't noticed!! So these wings here were sketched on the above bee the next morning as practice. I cut out a piece of paper into the shape I thought would be best and traced around it on either side to make sure the wings were uniform and to decrease room for error. At this point, I didn't want risk drawing them freehand. I then (very nervously) added the wings to the final illustration using the same method. Voila! I added the little third and fourth wings (yes, Queen Bees have four wings!), and it was a go! PHEW!

Oh! And the tiny ants (some of the 5,000 helpers) around the King Ant were a last minute addition and the idea of my Dad. Thanks Dad! :)