At long last, after lots and lots of hard work to make it happen, the new tutorial DVD ‘The Wild Girl’ is available. Full of hints and tips and an insight into what it takes to make a fantasy painting in acrylics happen. The DVD is approximately 1hr 40 mins long and is available from:
pocockillustration@gmail.com
email me if you need any more info, here’s the trailer…
I’ve gone all ‘proggy’ and moody with this latest tune. I’ve been doing a little soul-searching lately and have come out the other end a much more well-rounded and happier person, you know, if people could actually program the deep meaning of words such as ‘gratitude’, things would be a whole lot easier (for me anyway). So, to cut a long story short, I’m so wonderfully grateful for my life, my gifts and the people I’ve been blessed to share this latest version of my story with. hope you enjoy the music.
Sorry it’s been a while since I last posted, I’ve been REALLY busy what with the recent Gold Coast Supanova, being a daddy and general work stuff… Anyway I’m back now. My pal Nigel asked for this ages ago and I’ve been tinkering with it in my spare time, I haven’t painted anything like this since I was a typical Frazetta/Boris loving arty hormonal teen. What fun!
…We may not be blessed with physical wings, but when we cut out the noise and breathe, we CAN fly. Hope you like the music…
I’ve recently finished filming the art for my new tutorial dvd, it’ll be available to purchase soon. Here’s the finished art. The model is the lovely Lindsey Hooten.
I haven’t posted for a little while and haven’t really done anything I can post (apart from this one) due to copyright reasons. This is a repaint of an old project I might sink my teeth back into when I’m less busy. I enjoyed working with the ultra-bright colours and the simplistic lines….
My latest video demonstrating some wonderful brushes I received last week from the talented David Jackson- ‘The Brushman’. David makes custom brushes for many applications and his watercolour brushes are brilliant. David can be contacted at:
More figure studies, lots of fun-no pressure telly doodles. I’ll be posting more of this kind of thing soon.
Continuing the watercolour-y trend, this time here’s a figure (referenced from the wonderful characterdesigns.com). Nothing like painting the human figure, I could happily do this for a living.
More watercolour sketching from last night- for therapy. Back to work today…
Here’s a new painting. I’ve been rather poorly of late and have found focus rather difficult. here’s something I’ve managed to squeeze in. I’m really enjoying the loose and freeing properties of watercolour right now.
I’ve reached a waiting point with a few of the projects I’ve been working on lately so I’ve decided to get back into this idea I had on the go a couple of years ago, I obviously can’t talk too much about it yet but here’s one of the sketches and a quick watercolour for the interior art. I haven’t nailed down a final look for the dragon yet…
It feels like I haven’t drawn anything for myself for aaaages. here’s a quick sketch from earlier (in between commissioned work).
Sorry about the lack of arty posts recently, I’ve been very busy with commissions and dealing with personal stuff, thankfully things are getting back on track.
I my have mentioned it before, but aside from my art, I’m also a guitarist. I used to gig regularly with blues/rock/folk bands and every now and again I’ll spend some time in the studio recording. We recorded this one last year sometime. It’s for the incredible Lloyd Sandersons album ‘Left Phase Blue’. The songs were all written by my songwriting partner Peter FitzGerald and myself. feel free to have a listen…
…And here’s a painting of my old Gibson acoustic (just because)
Another mouse. This one’s packing a sword and some attitude. (pen and ink.)
I haven’t drawn or painted anything this past week as I’ve had (what feels like) the most stressful seven days on record. To say it’s been tough would be a very large understatement. I broke the cycle with this little watercolour sketch, here’re the three steps…
Here’s a promotional pic for my new book ‘Touched By Magic’ …
(currently available from Amazon.com and from me in a few weeks time). I’m very excited about this one as it has a lot of my favourite recent sketches and drawings inside, if you’d like to purchase a signed copy, let me know, if not, here’s the link from Amazon.com;
At last, my new book ‘Touched By Magic’ is available for sale on Amazon.com, see the post before this one for a virtual flip-through, here’s the link to purchase the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Touched-Magic-Faery-Sketchbook-1/dp/1468175424/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1
I have a new book out. It’s a collection of my Fae sketchings entitled: ‘Touched By Magic’- The Faery sketchbook. It’ll be available from Amazon in a few days and I’ll be receiving stock through at some point, which’ll enable me to offer signed copies for purchase. I’m really quite excited by this book, it contains many old and new drawings and a small line art demo at the back of the book, here’ s the video….
Another telly doodle, I’m having fun with these animal characters lately… An idea for a book is forming. I’ll just keep sketching and see what happens. (watercolour).
Here’s the drawing from yesterday with some watercolour added.
New stuff… Very much enjoying using the brush and sepia ink for line work lately….
Here’s the initial rough, note the changes in the Echidna, a little more reference material was in order…
Todays warmup…
Here’s the latest ‘Wind In The Willows’ drawing with a little colour added…
… and here’s the inked version, I intend to add some colour at some point.
Yesterday I watched a wonderful ‘Wind In The Willows’ cartoon with my sons, this is what I came up with in my sketching time in front of the TV last night….
I have a special personal project on the go right now and it’s fairly involved in terms of prelimary sketches and preperation, here’s one of the sketches I’ve produced. The model is the fabulously versatile Lindsey Hooten.
I’ve been painting and drawing waterfalls for the past week or so, here’s one I sketched in front of the TV last night (acrylic).
here’s a link to a new blog, I have a fair few sketches, paintings and pieces of line art on offer, feel free to pop over to:
Due to work commitments, This painting’s been sitting unfinished against the wall of my studio for a while, I’d love to finish it. Anybody want to commission this one? It’s a large piece (74x 100 cm) (acrylics, I’d like to finish it in oils though…)) email me for details…. pocockillustration@gmail.com
In the spirit of all good Januaries across the globe, I’m having a sale… Of much of the artwork around my studio. (puts on salesmans’ hat) If you’re after a piece of art, or a gift for somebody, then look no further than here:
http://studioartsale.wordpress.com/
A preliminary for a new painting, very much looking forward to getting on with this one…
the model is the very lovely Lindsey Hooten.
Last nights’ telly sketching… I drew the original of this one a few years ago and wanted to have another bash at it…
I’ve been having a tidy through my old hard drives and came across this, thought I’d post it here….
Hope you have a wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable time…
Just finished this one a few days ago, I’ve been tinkering a little with the colours and am now (more or less) happy with it.
remember… illustrations (c) Aaron Lee Pocok 2011 (unless otherwise stated).
Every day, before I sit down and begin whatever commission I happen to be working on, I try and get at least half an hour of sketching in. It’s a practise I’ve adopted for the past couple of years and is a great way to warm up before I start, every now and again I’ll produce something in that time that I may take a little further down the track. This was a redraw of a very old sketch and I’ve ironed out a few kinks and am far happier with the way it’s turned out. I’ll definately take this one further…
The lovely Michaela- http://eltear.deviantart.com kindly allowed me the use of a brilliant photo to produce this sketch yesterday…
Hmm… I seem to have a tree-thing happening again, I drew this one yesterday in my lunch break, due to a lack of postings recently, thought I’d add it here…
An older drawing, recently inked. I haven’t sat down and inked anything like this for a while and felt the urge last night, I found it very calming after a day that was all very much ups-and-downs. This one’s for sale (email me for price). I’d be happy to run signed prints off also… A4, inks on 300gsm watercolour paper.
Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I’ve gotten into the projct I’m working on and it doesn’t allow me too much time for anything else, anyway… here’s an illustration from my recent ‘Journey Into Faerie’ book (co-authored with Sally Odgers). Here’s a link to the book below if you fancy purchasing one (you can even click on the ‘look inside’ button to have a wee browse…)…
I, (along with a multitude of creative types) am offering a piece of original art an original line art drawing, size: A2 (really quite a large drawing…on Arches 300gsm medium watercolour paper) at a snip of a price if I may say so… for a very worthy cause, the supremely talented author/editor Terri Windling has hit a crisis and needs the help of her fellows, if you’d like to see what’s on offer or even offer some support somehow, please visit:
http://magick4terri.livejournal.com/
I’m donating this piece for $250.00 (Australian)…
It’s Monday morning here, and I don’t have time today to add a commentary, but I thought it’d be nice to show the progress shots of this illustration, of course, if anyone has any questions they’d like me to address, please feel free to ask…
Recent stuff….
A sketch from last night. I’ve been focusing on so many other things lately but it was great to tap back into Faery for a spell
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I’ve been doing a lot of teaching work, exhibited at a fantasy/sci-fi convention and have generally other things that have taken me out of the studio (that can be a very good thing at times…). I have managed to sneak in the odd doodle here and there. Here’s one I worked on last week…
I’ve just been interviewed by the lovely Jenica at her website Design Montage, feel free to pop over and have a look….
http://designmontage.com.au/2011/11/aaron-pocock-illustrator/
Todays drawing. Another Griffin I’m afraid. This particular creature gave me somewhat of a hard time trying to work out a suitable design for the stamp set (although (and maybe for that reason) it turned out to be my favourite)). I’m still having a hard time working out proportions and the way they move etc, but enjoying the challenge as always.
Today’s sketchings… Still very much enjoying the ‘mythical creatures’ theme.
I’ve been scratching away at new work for my portfolio lately but still want to keep my eye and hand co-ordinated. Here are a couple of doodles from the last couple of days…
The first drawing is the lovely Freyia, (singer-songwriter from London) she has the most incredible facial features and those eyes….
Here’s another newspaper article, this one was to promote the art and books I have available for sale in the regional art gallery (the Logan Art Gallery)….
Cassius Croc was a lazy, indulgent wastrel who always ate far too much for his own good and (to his poor long-suffering wife’s dismay) constantly forgot to replenish his supply of Enos…
Last week I was interviewed by the local newspaper, the Logan West Leader, the paper came out today and I was absolutely floored to see that (somehow) the Gods of journalism had deemed me worthy of a slot on the front page…. Here’s the mugshot and the article….
I don’t know why, but I had the overwhelming urge to put a ‘dance’ tune together, hopefully managing to put a little of my own spin on it…
New music, very much in a ‘world music’ style. My (musical) reaction to events currently taking place in the world…
Doodling in front of the telly last night. It was good to get some sketching done after a hectic week, (continuing the ‘Mythical Creature’ theme)….
Re: mermaids… check out the new ‘Mermaids and Mythology’ magazine (from all good newsagents). Issue one has just surfaced (ahem, please pardon the pun)… here’s the link to their website, my art has been/will be featured regularly, the magazine is packed full of art, interesting articles, beautiful mermaids, facts and fiction…
Recently completed this one… Still playing with the watercolours and getting a little more confidence together slowly…
I just found this image on Australia Post’s website, the items are called ‘Maxicards’ and they come as a set of six postcard sized images (complete with said stamp) housing my original artwork in (almost) it’s entirety. Here’s a link to the products page:
http://shop.auspost.com.au/stamps/stamps-issues/mythical-creatures
Hi guys, just a quickie to remind you that the ‘Mythical Creatures’ stamps are available from the Australia Post online shop, here’s the link:
http://shop.auspost.com.au/stamps/stamps-issues/mythical-creatures
I’m currently working on a Narnia painting of Lucy and Mr. Tumnus. I’ve met a few challenges along t way with this one and thought I’d post it as it’s not always plain sailing and sometimes it’s necessary to change track…
One of many rough thumbnails I made to sort out the scene I wanted to go with.
I popped the thumbnail into photoshop and layed a quick colour layer over it to give me some idea as to where I was going colour-wise. This part of the process took approx. 15 mins.
Just refining the drawing a little here. As you can see, little changes here and there creep in as I have more ideas along the way…
Along the way, I showed my wife, who (in no uncertain terms (as is her style)) suggested I should make the scene more intimate. I must have been thinking as a cinematographer with that early version… I set about redrawing the scene with a closer view. (much better) Next, I traced the drawing then laid it onto the watercolour paper (Arches hot Press 300gsm)…
The next step was to strengthen the lines. I used sepia gouache with a small-ish brush to acieve this (probably a 0 or 5/0). When the line work was complete, I added some tonal washes to show areas of light and shade. Taking care not to go too strong with the colour as the whole scene will be painted with predominantly cool hues.
So, this is where it stands at the moment. I’ve laid in some washes with both cerulean and pthalo blue. The highlights were made with white gouache. Not being too fussy at this point, keeping it loose, but controlled. I’ll work on the figures next and have a look at how it all sits together before I proceed. I’ll post the completed art as soon as it’s ready.
There won’t be many chances to see the stamps in their entirety, and this’ll be about the closest you’ll get. I’ve chosen my personal favourite (The Griffin). This comes from a set of six postcards complete with a stamp on the front of the card called ‘maxicards’. Available from the Australia Post online shop (or in stores). Here’s the link to the products page:
illustration (c) Australia Post 2011
Australia Post have put out a new set commemorating ‘Stamp Collecting Month’. I was fortunate enough to be chosen as the featured illustrator for this set which was right up my alley. The challenge was to work at a size that would allow for detail without being too overwhelming, not an easy feat, but the guys at the philatelic were happy with them and it’s great to see them out there at last. I’m a very happy boy. The stamps are available in many formats, including first day covers,minisheets, maxi cards, and for the first time ever in the country a set in 3D, Australia Post have also put out a prestige format booklet containing the immense amount of preliminary work I put into the creation of the images… (available from Australia Post outlets across Australia). here are the designs…. (c) Australia Post 2011
A couple of quick drawings from yesterday…
Here’s what I did with the lion drawing….
I repainted this witchy image yesterday as part of my watercolour practice. (see yesterdays post for the older version…) I liked the painting but wasn’t completely happy with it, then I popped it into photoshop, added a flat blue wash, picked out the highlights and now I’m far more satisfied. Cheat? me?
A recent watercolour exercise…I’m working on some new stuff for my portfolio right now and this is one of the doodles I produced whilst attempting to get my watercolour skills back up to scratch…
And here’s a quickie from a while back….
A recent sketch with some colour added… Just some more traditional exercises, I’m not tackling anything too elaborate as I’m getting re-aqcuainted with traditional mediums…. I’ve used acrylics here, I don’t play with acrylics very often as the colours seem to get duller as the paint dries and it frustrates me enormously. I thought however, that those particular qualities would work well with this particular scene as I was after a more muted look than normal, allowing for the blue and white of the falls to illuminate the piece.
I’m putting together a new portfolio, just traditionally painted for a change, and in order to produce work of as high quality as I can, I’m setting about getting my watercolour skills up to scratch, here’s what I came up with today (based on yesterdays doodlings…)
Not much to report right now, a couple of projects on the go…keeping busy as always. Here’s a quick Peter Rabbit watercolour doodle I scratched away at before starting work yesterday.
And here’s the initial pencil sketch before I added the inks and colour….
