Unexpected
It's been a long time with no updates on this blog but I've come out of hiding briefly to write a catch-up post and make a little announcement.
Posts
Sheep
This Christmas I received a wonderful book of illustrations by the famous British artist Henry Moore. He's more well-known for his very large and distinctive sculptures, but he was a very good draughtsman as well. As a gift for his young daughter, who loved sheep, he filled a special sketchbook full of wonderful pen and ink drawings of them. The best thing about the book is that all the backs of the pages have been reproduced faithfully as well, where the ink bled through the paper or rubbed off onto the opposite page, so it's almost like having the real thing! Brilliant!
Charity cats!
Soon to be sold at a charity stall on behalf of Cats Protection , these slightly weird looking cats are part of my first batch of greeting card designs, printed by Moo ! The original pictures were made in pen and watercolour.
Cripes! Space biscuits!
They said it was impossible, they said it was madness, they said it was, frankly, a waste of money... but the naysayers are eating humble pie now (or should that be humble biscuits...?) Yes - the first bourbon* in space! Another IF illo (bit late). *Mmm, my favourite!
Similar
Another effort for IF . I made this a while ago hoping to turn it into a T-shirt design, but as usual never got around to it. I was reading a book about Marx and sketched a quick charicature from a photo of him. He's always depicted with that serious look, hence the captions. He had a hard life, but I think he would have had a chuckle now and then - and he'd certainly appreciate all the bloggers who are "rising up" and producing their own content...!
Vacant
Somewhere in between card-making and sleeping, I found time to do a quick sketch for the topic "Vacant" for this week's Illustration Friday . Sharks always seem to have vacant eyes, which tends to make them seem scarier (that and the fact that a lot of them have huge teeth!), but actually I quite like them! For this illo I took a pic of my drawing (for lack of a scanner) and inverted the colours using GIMP to make it look like it's looming out of the dark.
Silly cow
It's very difficult to concentrate on making Christmas cards when cows keep wandering across to see what you're doing...
Sour
A silly one for IF . Possible alternate tagline - "Lemon suspected nepotism was the explanation for such a quick promotion..."
Doodling
Ah, the joys of the doodle... the best use for leftover paint! Tiny characters with a life of their own.
Punchline
"Waiter, waiter! There's a fly in my soup!" "Well sir, don't speak too loudly or everybody will want one...!" Yet another slightly tenuous offering for Illustration Friday . This two-tone style always puts me in mind of those magazine illustrations from the 1950s. The third fly also seems to have turned out a bit Gorey ...
Wide
If you open your eyes "wide" at night, you might just see something unexpected... A tenuous effort for Illustration Friday , with apologies to the inimitable Goya.
