I’ve been working on this drawing for the past couple of days in between commissioned work and in the evenings. I drew it at a size that’s 3-4 times larger than my usual working size and have found that I can work at twice the speed, more large work to come methinks…
It’s late and I’m about to go to bed, very tired (yawn)… I’ve been tinkering away at this to wind down after a very long day, it’s still very much a work-in-progress, anyway, here it is as it stands….
You can hear the gentle music if you still yourself and listen carefully.
I’ve been feeling the urge to get out the watercolours for the past few weeks, unfortunatley, due to the commisions I have on the go, this hasn’t been possible. As it was Sunday yesterday, I thought I’d do a little something for myself…. Here’s the finished image…
… And here’s the line art before I added the paint…
I bought a new sketchbook this morning, the paper is an off-white colour, is rougher than the paper I’m used to drawing on…and I love it. This is the first entry, had to be a tree of course!
and on a different note… A project I’ve been working on for teh past 4 months or so has just been completed and approved… I’m very excited! More on that later.
Another doodle from last night, just splashing the paint around….
The weather was terrible here yesterday, searing heat, harsh thunderstorms… I couldn’t focus on work too well so I doodled instead, here’s what I came up with. (Still on my quest to master watercolours- a tricky medium…)
I love drawing these old witchy-types…. CACKLE!
Currently on the easel (acrylic). See earlier posts here for youtube progress videos.
A few small colour doodlings from the weekend (size- roughly 7×5″).
I adore the Narnia books, they rank up there as my favourite books of all time. I’ve read them many times over the years and will probably continue to do so. here’s a doodle from before Christmas 2010…
Just found this on one of my hard drives, I’ve a feeling I posted the line art for this a year or two ago, but I haven’t posted this version, it’s been coloured in photoshop, an early effort to make my digital art look more traditional, I’m not a huge fan of that overly ‘digital’ look…
As an illustrator using mostly digital mediums, I don’t get to indulge in traditional mediums such as oils, acrylics and watercolours as often as I’d like. I’m thinking of making the switch back eventually but right now, I’m a little too busy to do so. This painting (acrylics and oils) was painted around 5-6 years ago and currently sits above my desk in the studio, staring down at me and reminding me to get my old paints out and just let loose- and I will do soon…. honest.
Life’s pretty hectic right now. I guess most people are feeling it. Family commitments, work commitments coupled with the fact that time passes by so quickly nowadays. I’m feeling pretty frazzled and wishing I could just walk into an old forest, find a comfortable branch, plonk my bum down and just while away the hours. Doing nothing. I guess I’ll have to content myself with this little drawing. (for now).
I’ve been very fortunate with this blog to maintain rather good daily stats, the only thing is, sadly, I don’t often get to see who stops by, I can only tell via the odd comment or the info the stats pages share… That said, I’d just like to say Merry Christmas to all those who swing by regularly and to those who just happen here by accident. Have a lovely Holiday Season- eat, drink and be merry!
My art, due to the high level of detail I’m having to put into current projects, is beginning to stiffen up… So in order to get over this, I’m going to sketch myself senseless every morning before I begin my commissioned work. Here’re a couple of colour doodles I painted today (photoshop)….
I’ve been playing with my watercolours in front of the telly and warming up before I start working on commissioned stuff lately, here’re a few of them(click for larger view)…
Regulars of my blog here’ll know I’ve been in la-la land playing with my watercolours lately. I simply adore them. Here’s a painting from a few weeks ago. I’ve been told it looks like Scotland, in truth, it’s a mindscape, I daresay Scotland influenced it somewhat though….. I love the Scottish Landscape. The finished size for this one is approx 4 x 4″
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I can’t post what I’m working on right now so I thought I’d post a recent sketch. Part of an old drawing I cropped and coloured in photoshop…
Sketched this one quickly in front of the telly tonight.
I’ve been working hard on the website lately, giving it a general tidy and I’ve now added a shop section to it where prints of my art, and originals can now be purchased. Here’s the link:
New art for my personal project….
I’m very pleased to announce that my book ‘That Space In Between’ (A collection of my personal drawings and sketches) is now available to purchase from Amazon.com. Her’s the link:
(Cover art below)
As usual, plenty of things on the drawing board (and scattered around the studio), here’re a couple of things I’m currently working on, the top one’s an acrylic/oil version of an earlier digital painting and teh bottom one’s an image for a personal project…
I’ve got so much on the go at the moment, I don’t know which way is up. I started this illustration the other night and fully intended to paint it with watercolour (which I still will…eventually) but I needed something to wind down with last night so I coloured this digitally instead.
Yesterday’s telly sketching. Just can’t stop scribbling away at old trees and roots and things at the moment….
I came across this drawing last night in one of my sketchbooks. It’s an old one, but I still have fond memories of it.:
I spent yesterday afternoon in the rainforest with my son and came back with all kinds of inspiration. I love old roots curling and twirling around rocks and into the ground… just had to draw some as i was winding down after finishing my quota of work today….
Last night’s sketching in front of the telly….
I’m currently working on a YA cover. I took a break to have dinner and came back with little enthusiasm. I usually draw my way out of these slumps. This is what I drew tonight…
More telly sketching- from last night…..
Just laid some colour down over this drawing from the other night….
and here’s some cover art I painted for a Young Adult book recently entitled ‘Ele mental’ written by Steven O’Connor, for Murdoch Books first YA title.
and here’s an older watercolour sketch…..
My wife was watching her crime shows on TV last night so I thought I’d get the drawing pad and pens out and do a little drawing:
I played around with the oil painting I posted yesterday digitally, someone mentioned they saw faces in the rocks, I picked up on this and ran with it….
I’ve also been tinkering away with this:
and here’s a new one I finished a few days ago….
I recently found this old painting from around nine years ago. It’s been sitting under a pile of my other art. I still rather like this one so thought I’d post it here so you’ll get an idea of the fine art side of my creative life that doesn’t make it’s way onto this blog too often….
This was a great job to work on after such a long break away from the drawing board… It’s a cover for a book the wonderfully talented Sally Odgers is putting together, such an honour to be asked to paint this…..As you may have noticed from the WIP posted yesterday, I reversed the image as I went and settled on the lassie facing inwards, far more intimate IMO….
Here’s a WIP for a cover I’m currently working on…..
Another pic drawn in front of the telly last night… My studio’s so COOOOLD at the moment.
I’ve got so much work to do, but I’ve just gotten back from holidaying in New Zealand and I’m not in ‘work’ mode yet. I need to loosen up and myself in gently. Here’s the first sketchy thingy I’ve done to aid me in my plight…
Back from Holidaying in New Zealand today. Had a great time with the family and now it’s back to the drawing board… Lots to do….
here’re a few pages from my sketchbooks over the past three weeks…
Been a little on the busy side these past months, here’s the latest finished piece for a YA book cover…
One of my young Facebook friends has been after this little sketch off me for a while and I finally got around to drawing it this morning…
I thought I’d posted this already, but I hadn’t… Here’s the coloured version of the drawing from a couple of weeks ago.
Just idly sketching in front of the telly again. I enjoyed working on the art for Uncle Tree last week, so I sketched this up tonight, there’s something about the chaos of branches and form that seems to keep me quite happy.
This was painted as a blog header for a new writer friend of mine:
http://me2watson.wordpress.com/
He writes about all things woodland, whispy and wonderful (right up my alley). I enjoyed this one immensely.
Another lunchtime watercolour sketch (size: 5×5″) I rather enjoy these little sketches. Improving my watercolour techniques as I work on them-no pressure stuff.
This little pic (5 1/2 x 5 1/2″) took me 15 mins this lunchtime. I gave it away to the first person to comment on it (over on my facebook page). I might just do more of these, I don’t get to paint in watercolour anywhere near enough.
Here’s the line art from the other day with some colour added.
The latest drawing I’ve been working on in my free time. As usual, it’s waiting for a splash of colour which I’ll get around to doing soon. Sorry for the crappy scan. I only have an A4 scanner and I’d drawn this larger and had to piece it together in photoshop.
I had a few hours spare and wanted to colour the line art from the other day- here’s the result. funfunfun.
I’m on a shameless watercolour kick right now (when time allows)… and I’m very keen to improve. It’s great to look over old work and see that there was maybe something there to build upon. As I mentioned in my last post, watercolour is the most difficult (for me), yet most satisfying medium to work with, it’s totally unpredictable and a constant challenge, and to try and tame it seems to be a worthwhile pursuit, so I’ll keep plugging away at it. the pic below was painted quite a few years ago… I’ll add my newest efforts here as and when I get the chance to paint them.
As an illustrator, I colour my art mostly via the PC, mostly due to the fact that it’s a much quicker medium and I have so much more control over the finished look of the art (most illustrators will agree that it’s a nightmare when a book comes back and the colours have been mercilessly altered). That said, I have another side to my character…fine art. I’m an avid student, wishing to learn as much as I can about the subtle nuances of any medium I happen to be interested in… (which is most mediums. I paint in oils, acrylics, gouache, watercolour… pen and ink, graphite (etcetc)). Watercolour, for me, holds such a mystique about it, and, if I were to be totally honest, it’s just about the only medium where I’m 100% happy on the ‘ journey’ to a finished piece of art. I bought a new travel set of Pebeo (French manufacturer) watercolours last week and received them yesterday, this is the little sketch I did last night- taking approx 2 hours.
This is a sketch I worked on tonight, no references. Loosely based on a little watercolour sketch from a week or two ago (see earlier post). Photoshop CS3.
The third sketch of the night…. Now I’m beat and want some sleep. I’m off to bed.
I just finished work for the day and wanted to do something to loosen me up after drawing and painting in a rather controlled style. This is what I came up with:
Nothing worth watching on TV tonight so I got out my watercolours and had a play.
After being up very late last night and an early start this morning, the cover for the book’s now finished. just going to go through the interior illustrations and tidy up any loose areas.
I’ve been scribbling away at coloring the line art for the cover of the Children’s picture book I’m currently working on. I’m enjoying it immensely. After a rather time-consuming false start, this one actually seems to be flowing rather well.
Here’s the line art for the cover of my latest picture book effort. Looking forward to colouring this.
This one’s an old drawing from maybe 8-9 years ago. I’m still rather fond of it.
I’ve coloured this illustration for the picture book I’m working on this morning. It veritably flew out of me…ON A MONDAY! Onto the next one after I’ve had some well-earned lunch.
I managed to find a place inside me with a modicum of discipline today. I’m so very close to finishing the picture book I’m working on. The double page spread (landscape format) has been a little challnging. I worked on one a while ago and I’d honestly forgotten just how hard they could be. No matter. things are continuing quite well-bodes well for tomorrow, my first full day since the Christmas/New Year break. This image is the 16th spread for the book. I’ll be spending tomorrow colouring it in Photoshop.
Oil/digital.
The model is the lovely:
[link]
I’ve been working on this image on and off for a very long time. Due to work commitments, I only get to splash a little oil paint onto this every now and again. I’ve been feeling a little out of sorts when I settle down to work (due to the Christmas break), so I thought I’d add a little paint and loosen up this afternoon.
I’m getting close to finishing the book I’m working on. I’m having a greattime with this book, it’s a little on the ‘cute’ side, but that’s allright. Nothing wrong with ‘cute’. Here’s the latest image. I’ve enclosed the preliminary line art also:
We had an incredibly powerful storm here today. Heres’a little scribble in honour of said storm. It’s a wee bit on the abstract side for me eh?
Here’s my most recent illustration for the puppy picture book I’m working on…. Rather an interesting format to work with, the pages being landscape rather than portrait. I’ve done one other book in this manner and in all honesty, I’m still getting to grips with it.
(line art coloured in photoshop).
Here’s the finished art for a drawing for a children’s picture book I’m working on that I posted yesterday. (coloured in photoshop).
After a false start, I’ve repainted this image and am far happier with it. I’d recently completed two books that required approximately 140 illustrations. It was hard work and left me a tad ‘burnt out’. Getting started straight away on a new image in a totally different type of book was kind of what the doctor ordered, but in reality, I should have taken a bit of a break. No matter, the other served as a rough for this one:
I’ve been working on an image lately in my spare time for a project I’m hoping to sink my teeth into eventually. I’ve posted a couple of the steps before but not the finished image. Here’s how I generally work from pencils to finished image. I coloured this using Photoshop CS3 and Corel PainterX.
As I always intended this image to be quite simplistic (ie- not too much in the way of unnecessary details), I keep the drawing as simple as I can. I am a big fan of leaving an image ‘open’ to change along the way. I do appreciate people who work out their images to the nth degree beforehand, but that approach simply doesn’t work for me. I guess I paint the same way as I live my life….
This is my favourite part of working in this style… the inking. I adore rendering in pen and ink. The thing about working with line art and colour is that it’s easy to take things too far with the pen. A little experience goes a long way. I’ve ruined many, many images and obliterated some wonderful pen and ink drawings with the colour as sometimes, it’s not necessary to go over the top. Just enough rendering to hint at things before laying the colour down. One thing worth noting here is that I work on the PC almost identically to the way I work with pen and ink and watercolour…
Here I’m laying down colour washes. this is the part where I set the tone of the image and begin to think about depth of field, centres of interest etc. The waterfall to me, is the centre of interest, hence it being the lightest part of the painting and all the elements leading the viewers eye to it…. Depth of field in a painting is one thing I’ve always been interested in, I’ll explain my process more in the next step….
here’s the final image. I’ve been painting digitally for 4 years now. I find it’s made my life a lot easier as an illustrator for it’s sheer speed and ease of colour correction etcetc… But one of it’s major assets, for me, is that I’m able to achieve the illusion of depth in an illustration. Traditionally, I may have achieved this by using a very ‘wet’ wash for the backgrounds in watercolour or acrylic, in oils, I’d gently smudge the background with a fan bruch creating a blurry effect and not using the same techniques in the foreground…. Digitally I achieve this look by using the ‘blur’ tool. Quite simply, used sapringly, it can replicate the effect ones eyes are used to in nature- things far away are ‘blurrier’, things up close are sharper etc (depending on the state of the person’s eyes of course-chuckles). the placement of the dragonfly in this illustration was the hardest thing about the whole image for me. After much toing and froing, moving the initial drawing this way and that, I settled upon his current position as he seemed to quite ‘fit’ on the end of the branch leading the eye into the image. Finding a natural placement for objects is constantly challenging, but ultimately satisfying when, on the rare occasion, it actually works.
Here’s a drawing from one of my sketchbooks that reflects exactly my state of mind at the moment. 
