the day you happened to come by

I am so addicted to drawing people at the moment. I just cannot stop. These were all drawn on a block of post it notes, which I obsessively finished within a week. There are a hundred or more mini portraits all drawn from the TV. The challenge, I find, is not just a different subject matter, but the amount of time you have to draw. My trademark drawings are highly finished highly laboured pieces, so trying to draw something - someone - in a minute or two is part of the challenge but also part of the excitement.

Old politicians:

BBC news readers:
People from daytime TV:

and a couple of national treasures:

I still haven't plucked up the courage to draw real live people in real life. I mean, that would mean going outdoors, being in the company of people and all sorts of things that are alien to me. But that's the next step. So for now I'll keep drawing folk off of the TV.

Please don't mock me. These people are my only friends.

one thing that was bothering me

(Click on drawing to view)

So America, there is a little chat I've been meaning to have with you. In fact, I've been meaning to have this chat for quite some time. I was reminded of this after seeing THIS POST by the rather fabulous Suzanne Cabrera. Listen up, apart from the very obvious 'fanny pack' (and, lets not go into that right now) I do believe that 'bangs' is the silliest word, I've ever heard, to call something. Something like your fringe. I mean really. Bangs? I want you to all stop using it immediately. Do you hear me?

IT'S A FRINGE. IT'S A BLOODY FRINGE.

sing to me

Well, I'm back. After a visit to the homeland it's back to business. And, I mean it this time, I'm just itching to draw draw draw (although saying it is usually a mistake, it means I won't draw for a month). No, no, I really am in the mood for drawing.

And it's a new me that returns. A new diet and fitness regime. I'm giving up the chocolate and the vino and am going to get my shit together (again). I'm all inspired. Seeing things with new eyes. Like this. I'd never considered drawing a cork before. But you know when an object suddenly surprises you with it's unexpected beauty and you just have to draw it? Yeah? Well, that's what happened here. I'd never noticed how lovely a cork could be before.

Not half as lovely as a nice Claret though.

get back

This is very strange. Not that I'm drawing shoes, trainers to be specific, in ballpoint pen. That's probably pretty predictable. What's strange is using somebody else's pc and somebody else's scanner. It all looks so strange. I have no idea what the quality of this scan looks like to you, but it's not looking great from where I am sitting. Which is in somebody else's chair.

Still feeling a bit blue about my scanning issues.
But shoes always seem to cheer me up. View my shoe collection HERE.

and it's you and it's me

I love it when one post inadvertently flows neatly into the next. This one is connected to my last post in a couple of ways. Not just visually, via Anah's gorgeous pink portrait. But, also I got this block of post-it notes in Bologna. In fact, Anah got it for me. She was very very good at getting all the freebies and at the Fair there were lots of freebies to be had.

I completely forgot I had these post-it notes until I stumbled across them last week. Since then I have obsessively drawn these very quick portraits of girls, until I'd finished the block. They are all ladies that I work with or from tv. Jacqueline Wilson is probably the only recognisable one. There's also a self portrait in there somewhere. Each one took about a minute or two.

It was an interesting little project and is something I am going to do more of from now. Not post-it note portraits specifically. But drawing people. When I was a kid I only ever drew people, I don't know why I stopped. So that's another of my drawing resolutions. Not just for the New Year but for life.

the light of day was on them

A photo from last year at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. The sketchbooks, and coffee cups, belong to Miguel, Anah and me. I shall try to keep making posts whilst my technical difficulties continue. These issues I'm having seem to have interrupted what I wanted to do, which was share some of my drawing aims for 2010.

One thing that I am definitely going to do this year is enter my drawings and book idea into Bologna's Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition for 2011. Last year being selected for the exhibition changed so much for me and I couldn't recommend it more for those who are interested in children's books. Plus, it's free to enter. What have you got to lose?

If you should be selected your work is featured in an annual that publishers and editors use all year round. After the fair, the work travels across the globe to be exhibited in all kinds of exotic locations. One of the most lovely things for me was getting a handwritten letter (how often do you get those, these days?) from a girl in Japan who had seen my work in the travelling exhibition. Getting selected doesn't end at the Fair, it goes on and on and on...

girl

Still trying to sort out my technical issues. Thanks for the advice which, essentially, was 'try turning it off and back on again'. I have tried that. I've even 'switched it off at the wall', but it hasn't worked. Hmmmm. I have a temporary fix so that I can make some posts over the next few days, but I think that it is just temporary.

Anyway, for now, here's a girl. On a post it note.
A post it note portrait. And here's a previous post poem (if you don't know what I'm talking about just take a look to the right);

Girl,
I'm walking down your street again.
Singing with my feet.

The world is turning, but I get so blown away.
I know that's who you are.

I want you, I want you so bad.
It's written in the stars.

i'm walking down your street again

You know, I'm in split minds about New Years resolutions. Yes, I do believe that possibly they are a way of setting yourself up for failure. However, last year, with the help of my very talented friend, Caryl Hart, I found out the value of writing a business plan. Huh? Well, in some ways, a business plan and New Years resolutions are pretty similar.

Anyway, I thought I'd go ahead and set out a few drawing aims for the year.

One of those aims is to go in search of my perfect Mod drawing.

The 1960s are my absolute favourite time in history. I'm always inspired by the Mod movement. My love of it started when I was a kid, watching old 60s British black and white films and grew deeper through my father's record collection. The style, the clothes, the music, the art, I love everything about it. So I want to make a special drawing that reflects that.

What does all that have to do with desert boots? Well, for those not in the know, they were part of the uniform of any self respecting young Mod.

So, that's one of my drawing resolutions for the year. I'll be setting out the rest, post by post, over the next couple of weeks.

singing with my feet

Here's the dilemma folks; to buy or not to buy. I really want these shoes. I have them here in my house. I ordered them from the catalogue. Just so that I could look at them. But, if I'm honest with myself, I cannot afford them. I am poor and I cannot afford new lovely gorgeous shoes. Shoes that I really really really really want.

If anyone would like to buy this drawing for exactly £75 that would really help me out with this dilemma. I admit it, I'm a shoe whore.

Lovely shoe in black ballpoint.

(Update: the shoes are mine!)

the world is turning

I've been looking forward to the new year for a long time. I love that feeling of starting afresh. Starting a new chapter. However, now it comes to it, I just can't get started. I can't be bothered. I sabotage myself all the time. And, I feel so nervous about drawing. I feel like I don't know what to draw or how to draw it.

Last night I finally sat down with one of my many new Moleskine products. This is my new 'all things' diary; a diary, an idea book, a reference book. Even some sketches. And, these are the pens that I've selected to use in it.

I had intended a week full of posts about new projects and drawings. I don't know if that's going to happen now. But, maybe tomorrow I'll feel different.

I hope you don't turn away.

but i get so blown away

So another one been and gone, folks. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas, if, of course, you celebrate it. It was a very traditional British Christmas here.

It started just after the sun crossed over the yard arm, when we opened the tradional bottle of Christmas Champers.

We then had a little Christmas sherry, to warm the cockles, before setting out for the traditional Christmas walk. I managed a little Christmas draw with my new Chritsmas pens.

Then, when we got back home we had a traditional mulled wine so that we didn't catch colds, of course.

And, then it was time for another little Christmas draw. The draw for the drawing above. All the names, of everybody who bought my little Molezine, were put into a bowl. Then in a flash of creativity (a Christmas brandy or two) we decided to get the dog to draw the name out.

And, you know what? He did it. With a bit of encouragement (rubbing his Christmas bone on the names) he pushed one name out of the bowl. Honestly.

Unfortunatley, he then proceeded to eat it! Mwah mwah mwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

But we did manage to wrestle the half eaten name off him. And the winner is, drum roll please, Kristen Ehmen.

Because I know you want to know; the day continued in a very traditional way. We ate lots, drunk lots more and then fell asleep on the setee in front of the Christmas telly. Perfect.

Back in the New Year with lots of new stuff, folks. Can't wait to get drawing again. Have a fab 2010.

i know that's who you are

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting to be posting this as my Christmas drawing. No, siree. I was trying out some more of those upside down portraits. This motley crew were copied from the newspaper and my dvd collection.

As you can see, at the beginning of this exercise I kept getting confused and getting the book the wrong way up. I absolutely LOVE this exercise, though. Not only are you drawing but you have a real good laugh, too. What can be better than that?

They are all, unbelievably, celebrities. I'd LOVE to hear if you think you might be able to name some. There are the obvious ones; Swelling (as I used to think she was called) Ewing, Boris Johnson (was that obvious, I don't know?). And, then there are some...well...if you could name them, not only would I eat my hat I'd give you my...er...car?

Happy Happy Christmas, one and all.

(Disclaimer: I will NOT really give you my car)

i want you, i want you so bad

Still not a great deal of drawing going on around here. So here's a little doodle I did, a while back, with one of THESE PENS. It wasn't my pen, I'd borrowed it to doodle with. However, finding this drawing has reminded me of how truly amazing those pens are. In fact, I do believe they are the greatest inventions of all time. Why don't I have one?

I'm off to source four colour ballpoint multi pens....

it's written in the stars

This is an oldie, yes. But it's not on my blog, no. Until now.

I did post it, for about five minutes, about a year back, when I'd drawn it. But I couldn't bear looking at it. I don't why I disliked it so much back then. Well, apart from the composition - which I still feel is a bit contrived. I remember posting it and then deleting it later the same day.

Today, while I was looking through the Moleskine drawings that I'd saved to a pen drive, I came across it again. And, with a year or so between us I feel that maybe I was being a bit harsh back then. It's not too bad. It's not great. Not my best. But it ain't awful or owt.

So, especially as I have nothing else to post, I thought I'd give it another outing. Better owt than nowt. As they say up North.

come gather 'round people

Finally, a drawing.

You know, every year I intend to make Christmas cards. And every year I leave it until it's too late. What makes this scenario more frustrating is that I am actually a Moo designer, so it really is an opportunity going to waste.

But whilst it's on my mind, I was thinking that perhaps, maybe, I could get some Christmassy drawings together now. So by next year I'd be really really prepared. There'd be no excuses. Next year I'll be the kid who doesn't leave their homework until half an hour before it should be handed in.

I was never that kid. I was the one doing my homework on the school bus. On the way to school. Times they are a changing. I like to think.

I'm calling this one Everyday Matters challenge #95. Draw a holiday card. More challenges HERE.

(Just a note to explain why Brussels sprouts should make a Christmas card. Because, from the response, it's obviously not a tradition that travels. In the UK sprouts are not just a tradition they are the law. You HAVE to have sprouts with your Christmas dinner - whether you like it or not - or you'll be tracked down and actively thrown out of the country. It's true.)

why i went missing

a) Thank you to everyone who has ordered my little Molezine. Aaw.

b) I do hope you like them. Yikes.

c) I've been so busy with packing and posting them that I haven't had time to do anything else, including draw. Phew.

d) All packing was done with an excruciatingly painful, and probably life threatening, paper cut on the thumb. Ouch.

e) Every single order, zines and prints, that has been placed up to this point in time (15:44 GMT on Friday afternoon) has now been posted. Yipeeee.

f) If you want one before Christmas, and live anywhere but the UK, order right now. Shazam.

g) It seems I've lost the ability to take a half decent photograph. Damn.

h) It's back to drawing. Yay!

THANK YOU ALL. I'm touched by the amazing response and I'm cream crackered. I was up til 3:30 last night/morning packaging them all up. Time for nice sit down and a cuppa, I think. AND I'm going to eat an entire packet of Jaffa Cakes. Do you have a problem with that?

Cheers, my dears.

thinking back down the roads to then

So, here it is. My first zine. My Molezine. Oh yeah, you can't believe how much joy it brought me when I came up with that. 'Molezine'. It was, as Oprah would say, a light bulb moment.

You can find out anything you might want to know about it on Etsy. So I'll keep this brief. It is basically one of my Moleskines condensed into a little zine. Covers and all. I'll just reveal a few of the nine drawings that feature, the rest will be a surprise for those of you who order one or two or five (!). If you follow this blog, though, all of the drawings will be familiar.

To anyone who has already ordered they'll be shipped over the weekend. I'm so excited to be sending them out around the world. I like to imagine you sitting on buses looking through them. I don't know why buses specifically, it just seems appropriate.

Just a reminder, too, if you order before Christmas Eve will be put into a draw to win THIS DRAWING. Thanks folks.

Buy my Molezine HERE.

Last thing (I can't do brief), any Brits who'd like to buy the Molezine direct from me, email me and I'll tell you how to do that; andreajoseph24 [at] btinternet [dot] com.

dressed in stolen clothes

I actually can't believe I'm posting this. It's something I doodled on the cover of the address book insert of my Moleskine Diary. A doodle in the true sense of the word. I was working the ink through some old fountain pens. And this happened.

Chances are if you are reading this now, it won't be here the next time you visit. That's if you ever come back, of course.

open up your door

This didn't really go to plan. I had something quite different in my head. And, the perspective is all over the shop. However, considering this is actually a drawing of a pixie's bunch of keys I think that bad perspective is the least of my worries, don't you?

Yes, I live alone.