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 5 in sketches - FB sketch challenge

seed pod of some sort. I drew it from a photo I'd taken years ago, but I still can't figure out exactly what it is.

Came up with the idea the other day to ask my FB friends to pick some animals for me to draw, and it seems it's something people want to do! So, above is the result of the first challenge. I had to do: pangolin, ladybird, chicken, rhino and Bostie. The Bostie became an alien. Let's just call it artistic licence. Overall, pretty happy with it. :)

The second challenge gave me saddleback pig (a la wheelie), bumblebee, lemur, bongo and giraffe. If anyone wants to play,  I'll probably be doing them quite a lot. Just go to my BBE Facebook page to see what's up. There's usually going to be a pretty tight time frame in which I'm collecting 'subjects' ... so get in early!

My friend Victor wanted an axelotl. Couldn't resist that even though he missed the cut. Need to work on it, it's simply not nearly as cute as the real thing... although I do have a soft spot for the little fella on the right.

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. 

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! :)

Elephants & Hand-lettering

The neon blobs from my Bonkers post now have the company of some lovely (if I do say so myself) elephants, one of which has its own company of a little visitor. I've put them up for sale in the shop today along with No Place Like Home no. 6. 

I also recently did a bit of hand-lettering ... this one's a favorite quote by Henry David Thoreau. Unfortunately, watercolor paper wasn't the best thing to use, but it was a fun exercise. I'd like to do more hand-lettering. There's something about putting meaningful quotes down on paper that breathes new life into them for me, and it would be nice to share them with others. Maybe they would make good prints, too... and perhaps with a bit of illustration. What do you think? 

No Place Like Home no. 7

Approx. 6" X 4" in watercolour and ink.

pink neon kitties

New illustration just listed in the shop! Playing around with kitty faces and shapes, obviously not necessarily relying on realism. Who needs realism, anyhow? Which is your favourite?

some detail -- MEOW

painting catch up to now

no place like home - no. 4
10" x 7" watercolour & ink

no place like home - no. 5
approx. 6" x 4" watercolour & ink

no place like home - no. 6
approx. 6" x 4" watercolour & ink

The continuation of the No Place Like Home series. Apologies for being so absent ... and for lack of words to accompany these pictures. Would love to hear what you think of the latest additions though! 

little one from Ireland

From the 12th to the 20th of May I was in Ireland enjoying this view from the rented house's kitchen/dining/lounge windows. It was beyond stunning and ever-changing with the changes in sun and clouds. Having brought some supplies and used them very little, I thought it would have been a shame to not at least jot the memory down. I'm glad I did, despite the fact that other than one other quick painting, this was all I accomplished on the creativity front while away. I never added the sky (or any cows or sheep in the fields for that matter), and the paper is still attached to the block so I might do that yet. But as seems to be happening more and more, I'm becoming attached to what once seemed unfinished.

No Place Like Home #3

I was on holiday with my family (including my Mom!) in Ireland for a week mid-May and have had trouble getting back in the virtual saddle since then. This third painting in the series No Place Like Home was started before I left and finished just after returning! I didn't have it with me! Thought I better put this  up here before I lose track of where I am. :) More soon.

No Place Like Home - #2

The second of this series.. measures 10in X 7in. 

watercolour & ink. 

And a sneak peak of #3 in the works...