hubble bubble, toil and computer aided colour

Well, i think it's possibly finished, finally. I didn't want to put too much colour into this image as i think it works better with the suggestion of hue. I'm waiting to hear from the client and then hopefully i can hand it over soon. I have a 2nd one to do for them and am chomping at the bit to get that going. It's all formulating inside this brain, so i need to get that down on paper. I'm pretty pleased with this image as a whole.

now to drink some tea and eat some toast to celebrate....

hubble bubble toil and pencil smudges

Just getting to the end of a commissioned piece for a friend of a friend. I've thoroughly enjoyed doing this pencil image. I pretty much had free reign apart from a few requests. I'll soon be adding colour to a scanned copy, which i'm really excited about as i can't wait to experiment with colour on this. I've still to add more to the back ground and darken some areas but i'm really happy with what i've created. Hopefully i'm getting my confidence back, finally, after a couple of years of it hiding away.

I need to note to myself, it's amazing how much smudge i can create, even when hardly touching the piece, there's always a little bit of pencil dancing around in the wrong place. I bet if i stared at it long enough there'd be a smudge forming in unwanted places!

Well, it's time to finish this up and move along to colour, i'll post here soon. Wish me luck.

Dusting off the pencil and birth of a new story

Well once again i look at the lack of entries into my blog and feel a bit cacky-poop i haven't written in a while but since the move from Exeter to Brighton, it's all been a bit hectic and unsettled. So finally i feel a lot lighter and more inclined to start blogging again. So here's a little peak at the image i am working on for a new story.

Nothing much but my sketchbook is getting full of little doodles and thumbnails. I haven't felt this good about my work in a long time.

I'm also working on 1 of 2 commissions which is very exciting as i think it's going to look good. Yup, i'm blowing my own trumpet.....parp parp parrr parp

It's that time again! Blogbedy blog

Gosh i haven't blogged in a long time, i haven't even visited my blog in a long time. I think it needs an overhaul, i think i'm just too lazy to try and make it look nice (well not lazy, just that i find it hard work trying to put something together that looks nice for me, whereas i like doing it for other people!)
So as of today i shall start my blog, and write....write....write and maybe show some work. I thought about trying' 'do a drawing a day', but that's too much pressure, so i'll 'do a drawing whenever'...

Here's to 'doing a drawing whenever'.

Much ado
Loo
x

Thank you and the Flying Egg

Just thought i'd share this image i created recently for a charity called Home-Start. I was asked to pick a month for a charity calendar and create an image with Home-Start in mind. This idea for April came very quickly to me as i'd always wanted to create a flying machine of sorts, just never thought it'd be a flying egg! As much as it is obvious that it's a flying machine, i also wanted to incorporate a weather vane, external and an internal. We all get sad some days and i wanted to express that with a bit of help we can change our internal weather-vane to something happy and that is where the rainbow comes in. It's quite a meaningful image for me as i am too aware of how life can have it's lumps and bumps, how people can come and go, how we can be served a curve-ball smack in the face. With a little nurturing, with help and a bit of love we can change how we feel.

I have recently been feeling slightly dampened with my work and creativity, but from people reaching out to me, my internal weather-vane is starting to change shape and colour. I had a lovely email from John Pollex a wonderful potter, who i'd never met or heard of before. Just giving me a bit of encouragement and making me realise a few things made me feel very warm. I also received a lovely email from Louise Mortley who helps run Home-Start with words of encouragement too. People never cease to amaze me when they share their feelings and kind words. We all need it, some more than others but i am always grateful when someone reaches out past their own selves to share their thoughts and feelings. so a big thank you to those that have. I also want to thank Cass for pushing me to show my work and give me some good advice, it's always appreciated :) and my very good friend The Garrulous Griffin, who ALWAYS has wise words to share (see his blog, it's bright and shiny and new)

Who knows what is in store for me this year, i'm not sure if i'm still working with the publisher any more but i do still love drawing and painting so will keep on keeping on.

just some waffle

I've been looking up at the moon recently and stars, wondering about my work and where it is going. Since having a few knock backs from the publisher, i noticed, almost in slow motion, i'd been floored by it all. I like drawing, i like painting, i know what i want but when someone else is in your way it's difficult to move such a mountain.

I constantly questioned whether i should be doing this art thing, but i never ever stop, i wonder what would happen to me if i did stop this artymalarkythingy? Would i combust into a ball of stars/moths/dust/lego? Would i fall into a stooper that smells like a storm trooper? Would i rot away like a mouse in a trap?

I'm in limbo, that's where i am. I can't give this up, i don't want to. I just need to find my way around the mountain that has been placed in front of me. I need to carry on looking at the stars but i also need to let those stars guide me instead of me being still.

Maybe i'll take some tea, cake and a polar bear; sit down, stare into the sky and decide upon my next move. I hear North is a good place to go (or under the bed with the fluff bunnies).

the forecast is rain, with intervals of sunshine

Wow, it's been a while since i last posted. I did one around xmas time but it wasn't in keeping with my illustration stuff so it had to go *chop chop*.

I think I've not posted because I'd been working so hard on the book and getting stuff done for deadline. I finally sent some work to the publisher which i was really proud of and thought would make great pages. Due to some mis-communication, problems and hair pulling i was told they weren't suitable. I shan't list the negatives as it'd only refuel my thoughts I'd had about this and anyway it'd probably feel like pulling a plaster off real slow.

The negatives knocked me side-ways, upside down, all over the place and i found it difficult to pick myself back up. I'd worked so hard on these images and to find they only liked one small vignette and wanted me base the rest of my work around that was hard to stomach. I didn't pick my pencils/paintbrush up for a couple of weeks and sought advice from anywhere i could get it on how to pull through this. But at the back of my mind i thought...

*It's hard to face a bag of negatives in a positive light when you're only offered a positive in a negative reflection*


My thoughts started to spiral downwards and i became very negative. It felt like someone was stabbing me over and over again. My brain kept saying *what do i have to do to please these people*, but i was told over and over again by friends that *these people* are business people and in the end they have to make money, so my feelings aren't really a concern.

i really thought I'd got a grip of negative criticism over the years, but this made me realise i needed a new safety net for when i fell.

From all the negatives , i had to eventually find some solace in the little positive remark and the remarks from friends and strangers. But mainly, I had to realise that i am not just book illustration, that is not who i am, i am more than that. I can't rely on that external work to pad out my own psyche, i needed to reach inside and get back to me.

I can't say it's been easy, but i can say it's been a bloody weird journey! I am still not 100% but i feel better about myself and my work. Who knows where all this will go, maybe i am not destined to stay in this industry, i can't control that but i can have bloody good stab at it.