cat studies

 Recently I've got into the habit of doing a little sketch before bed. I've always been a late night creative, I cannot go to bed if I haven't drawn at least a little something or other. But a theme has emerged, as it so often does.

 I have a little sketchbook that I'd sort of given the theme 'cats and dogs', but, as usual, I'd only filled in a few pages. Then, So I dug it out again and began doing a little drawing of my old cat each night. I wanted to do something that was 'live' (not that you'd notice) instead of still life. I've done more than enough still life, from around my house, in my time.

The old girl is really getting on now (by that I mean she is ancient) and does little but sleep. I wish I'd started this earlier.

 There was a time, back in 2009, when I drew her 100 times in just a couple of days (you can see the results of that project HERE) but since then haven't really taken the time to draw her. Until now.

 So, here she is taking a well earned rest after a gruelling grooming session.

 And, her being annoyed about me putting a sketchbook and camera in her face.

 I've also been playing around with collage, just for shits and giggles, recently. So here she is sleeping in collage.

I love those feet.

And, if you did follow the link to the project I did when she was a lot younger, it turns out that here daily routine wasn't that much different back then. 

thank you

Just wanted to say a quick Thank You to everyone who has bought from my shop recently. And, actually, not so recently. A Thank You to any one who has bought from my shop ever. I guess I don't say it often enough, but I really really appreciate it. It is the difference between me drawing for a living and not.

All the recent orders are now in the mail/post.

Thank you thank you thank you.

a thought for Sunday

A thought for Sunday.

Surround yourself with art.

Art that you love.

It doesn't have to be expensive, or high end. Or even high taste.

It may be a load of kitsch you found at a charity shop.

It may be your postcard/flyer/stuff you cut out of a magazine collection.

It doesn't matter.

As long as you like it, that's all that matters

Just surround yourself with it.

Put it up, where you can see it. Put it up everywhere.

Because it'll become part of your own work.

And, I don't mean copy it or even try to emulate it. Don't bother. You don't need to. Just let it be.

Trust that, just by being there, it will seep into your work. Without you knowing, it'll become part of you and your style. Just by being there. I love that. I love knowing that.

how to draw an idle daydream

Here's a little zine bundle I've put together. These three zines are all about the drawing, and are currently on offer.

'How To Draw Like A Barmpot' is from my How to Draw With A Ballpoint Pen series of zines. The first two in the series have now sold out. This one focuses on drawing from your imagination. It includes lots of ideas to get your own imagination working. Limited stock.

 'An Idle Daydream' is a collection of blogposts that is also a little pen guide. I talk about a few of my favourite pens in this zine.

'Molezine 2' is a mini version of one of my sketchbooks. It contains eight of my favourite drawings from my travel themed Moleskine sketchbook. And it's small enough to be popped into the pocket at the back of your own Moleskine sketchbook. Very limited stock.

You can now get all three together, on offer, HERE. Perfect for anyone who loves to draw.
Thanks for visiting my little blog, folks.

why i went missing

I've been spending a lot of time here recently. It was why I went missing, from this blog, for a few months earlier in the year. I've been at The Links. It's an apartment block in New York. On Lexington Avenue to be precise. The tenants are so damn weird. And intriguing. And that's why I couldn't leave. I've been sat in Apartment 24 studying them all. I'll tell you more about them some day.

the reasons i love ink

The reasons I love ink (part 1)

This

This

 This

Oh, and this

And all of this.

late at night, when the world is dreaming

No matter how much I try to change (and believe me, I've tried everything) I'll always be a night owl. I just love working at that time of night/morning. It seems that at any given time, I'll have a million and one ideas, never focusing on one and seeing it through, swimming through my head too. In last night's midnight creativity session I was playing around with the idea of making a pop-up sketchbook filled with upside-down portraits of women who have left their mark on this world and on me. I know, I know, it's just so predictable. Everyone, and their mother, is at the pop-up-sketchbook-of-upside-down-drawings-of-inspirational-creative-women thing, right?  Erm, oh, just me then?

For the love of Tove

No. No. No cat. Not on my drawing of Tove Jansson.

Oh, you are.

a new affair

Recently I've had this urge. An itch to scratch. I just cannot get enough of colour. Specifically watercolour. It coincided with the landscape stuff I've been doing (in my last couple of posts), and has pretty much taken over all of my work.

 I've always known that urge would come knocking on my door one day. My watercolour set has been patiently sat there, like a book that you're really excited to read, that's been in the pile of books by the side of your bed, just waiting for it's time to come.

 I'm not impatient about stuff like that. I totally believe that you shouldn't try something because it's the thing to do, or cos everyone else is doing it or because it's there. I wait.

 Until I really really want to do it. Until I have no choice in the matter.

 Now, you see, I LOVE ink. I am head over heels with it, but lets face it, ink is a pain in the ass. It's a pain to take out. It's high maintenance. I'm not talking about just taking out one colour, that's fine, but if you want a full palette it's just an impractical pain in the butt. And, believe me I tried to make it work.

 So, after a year of juggling dip pens and three or four bottles of ink on a street corner, or scrubbing the table at your regular café because you'd spilled the bulletproof black ink, again, the watercolour set caught my eye.

 Sure it isn't quite as dramatic as Mr Ink, he's more subtle, but, you know, more reliable. True, he's not as intense either, but, you get twelve colours in one set and he doesn't leak all over your bag. And, anyway, I'm kinda enjoying his subtle flatter tones. Plus, it doesn't show you up in your local café.

Yes, I have started falling for watercolours.

 I haven't got a clue what I'm doing yet, but I don't care. The fun bit is finding out where this new affair will go. And, if that turns out to be nowhere that's okay too. I'll have new stuff in my locker.

I've always loved monochrome drawings but it feels liberating to not be tied to that black line.

Prints of my new landscapes now in my Etsy shop

(sorry to be peddling my wares but I have bills to pay. Lots of bills).

how green is my valley

Okay, I'll stop with this soon, but I'm really enjoying this work right now. All of these recent landscape drawings were meant to include a signal box (you can see it in my last post). The white space, on the right hand side of this one, was left so that I could squeeze it in. Now I'm not even sure if I'll put it in at all. It's been a bit of an obsession for me that signal box. I think if anything could become my Monte Sainte-Victore (for those not in the know, Cezanne painted it over and over again, in every season) it would be that signal box. I love it and have done since I moved here. I've wanted to draw it for the longest time, but never got around to it. But the other day it was just calling me. I've been back each day since. So far, it's only made it into one drawing.

that's where you'll find me

 I have this thirst for landscapes at the moment. I don't know where it has come from, I try not to question it.

 I adore the British landscape. It's so beautiful and green and lush.

 I've done quite a bit of travelling in the past, and been to some stunning places, but I think that the colours of the UK are my favourite. There has to be some pay off for all that rain. I always knew what an inspiration it was to me, even though I was drawing lots of man made stuff. I'd drive through these hills and imagine I was breathing in the beauty and that somehow, even though it wasn't obvious, it would come out in my work.

 I've a long way to go before I produce anything I'm really happy with as I'm playing around with a whole new medium in watercolour. My attempts are a bit dull and dirty looking, but that's because I'm a messy worker.

Anyway, I am just enjoying playing in the fields right now.

the world of ideas is also changing

Recently I got to see (hear) author George Saunders, talk about his new book: Lincoln In The Bardo. I made this sketch whilst listening to him. It doesn't really look like him, but, oh well. I really enjoy this kind of work; capturing what people say and the whole combination of text and pictures thing. As part of my work as an illustrator I get to do this. I get to go into places where cameras may not be allowed (eg, prison) and capture what's going on, in sketches and words. It's hard to keep up with people talking so you end up with bits of the conversation. I like to think that the words I do catch are the important ones, but to be honest, I think that is a romantic view of it. More often than not, it's just picking up bits of prosaic conversation. But, I still like that. It's still significant, I guess.

Hmmm, still a romantic view? Look, just read this instead, it's more interesting than anything I can come up with. It's late and I should be in bed.

shiny happy people (drawing)

 Above is my favourite drawing related photo. Ever. I just love it. It was taken in a Korean restaurant in Manchester. I'd made the sketch, below, of the guys on the next table. They knew I was sketching them and were giggling throughout at the idea of being sketched. When I finished they asked the dreaded question; "can we see it?"

I say dreaded question, because when I speak to people who are just starting out drawing in public, and specifically drawing people, that's the number one question. Has anyone ever asked to see the drawing? And, the second question is WHAT if they don't like what you've drawn?

 And, you know, it's a totally valid question. One that I ask myself when I know I've been clocked drawing somebody. WHAT if they ask to see it? WHAT if they are offended? WHAT if they hate me for it? Because, lets face it, it is in a way a bit of an invasion of their privacy. They didn't ask to be sketched. I am always aware of that. If I wasn't in the illustration game, and somebody had made a sneaky sketch of me, how would I have liked it?

So, that's all the concern, paranoia and anxiety out there. It's real. Those thoughts exist. So how do you get over that? I don't have the answers, I'm afraid. I'm not sure there are answers. There may be times when people aren't exactly chuffed. Lily, below, didn't seem that impressed (but actually, she was just being a great model and sitting amazingly still for me). The guys below her haven't quite made their minds up. In fact, that was really great fun drawing them and even if their views and critiques were brutally honest, it didn't take away from it being too much fun to have missed out on.

 A week or so ago, I went into a café where I'd been drawing quite a lot recently. I'd put one of the drawings, that I'd made there, online. The girl in the drawing was there telling her work colleague about it. As I began a new drawing I was aware that they were talking about me and what I was doing. I spent the whole time being really paranoid. They probably hated the drawing I'd put online. They probably don't want to be in this one. More than likely they were going to come up to me and tell me to stop it or to get out. I spent the whole time a anxious wreck. When I went to pay the girls said "we love your drawings, they're really beautiful". Bugger. And I just spent that time listening to my thoughts and wasted the opportunity to create something else they'd have loved.

Thing is, for most, the reactions to my drawings of people have just been pure delight. The comment I hear most, from those who have been drawn, is "I've never been drawn before". And, "can I take a photo of it?" Oh, and, "is it okay to make it my Facebook profile picture?" These cheeky monkeys below brought all their neighbourhood kids out to get drawn.

Seriously, you'll be surprised how positive the response is. As always, the only way to get more confident about it, is to practice. But, whether people are happy to sit for you, or if they don't even know they're posing for you...

 ...if you don't do it you'll miss out on some of the greatest reactions to your drawings. My advise (not that you've asked for it, and I'm no expert) is that it's worth the risk. Be brave it's worth it. For me, the photos in this post are proof of that. It's the best feeling when you get that person to pose with their drawing. THAT, to me, is the money shot.

 And, I lied when I said the photo at the top was my all time favourite. This is...