to the moon and stars and back

Aw, I found this a drawing whilst looking for something else.  I made for my Art O Level  many many moons ago. Around thirty years ago. I did this and some studies of denim with blue ballpoints. I'd never have imagined then that I'd become known for drawing with a ballpoint pen. Or that I'd have a drawing of a pair of converse in ballpoint that would go viral. Although, I was a real dreamer so maybe I would have imagined that. Well, not the bit about it going viral. I couldn't have dreamt up the Internet. Even my imagination couldn't have come up with that!

i drew my friends shoe

Here's a couple of drawings that I made back in the day. When my eyes could see better.

The top one was made with a ballpoint pen and the bottom one with colour pencil.

I'm pretty proud of both of these actually.

There's a little collection of my shoe drawings (if you'd like to peruse) HERE.

talking about good things and singing the blues

Another thing I've noticed, since giving up the demon drink, is that you feel very smug when it come to putting your recycling out on the street.

This drawing is from my ballpoint pen zine How To Draw Like A Loon. This zine was previously thought to be out of print but over the weekend I found a handful of them in the boot of my car (as you do!). I have signed and numbered these final few and have put them for sale HERE. I am donating half of the price of them to the Cancer Support charity that I am supporting by going sober throughout October.

have you ever had it blue?

Damn, I'm going to miss this place this year. These are drawings of Clermont Ferrand. They're a kind of mixture of realism and imagination, fact and fiction. I like that place in between both. I have an idea for a small series of these drawings. So, if I will not get to physically visit this year, I will travel there through drawing.

Ask Andrea

I am currently beavering away, creating my fourth zine in the 'How To Draw' series. This one is, again, about drawing with the ballpoint pen and I'll be taking a closer look at the colour ballpoint. For the first time, I'll also be including a 'problem page'!

So, if you have any questions about drawing with ballpoint pens please ask away. I'll choose a few that I'll endeavour to answer in the new zine - available at the beginning of August.

I'd better get my socks on!

Previous zines available HERE.

lost in France

I started this drawing on New Years day. It felt good to start the new year drawing. I really needed to. With everything else I've had going on, I haven't really got lost in a big detailed drawing in a long while. This is the first in what I hope will become a series. It was drawn from a mish mash of photos, and memories (and a bit of imagination) from a trip to France in November. I've always loved France. When I was young I used to wish I was French. My favourite film is French. It's the country, outside of the UK, I've visited the most. For the last few years I've exhibited my work in France. And, now, of course I've had my book published by a French publisher.

So this is a love letter to France. Je t'aime.

you'll have to trust it

A double spread from my latest zine How To Draw Like A Barmpot. These art zines are filled with ideas and info that will, maybe, might get you drawing. From favourite pens to exercises like this one - which I made up, off the top of my head, as I was creating the drawing. I can honestly say that is my favourite favourite things to do. Just letting these ideas reveal themselves to me and unfold on the page in front of my very eyes. It's a bit like magic.

All my zines available HERE.

Now picture yourself in a room......

blue video

Okay, so after years of people asking, I've finally made a little film of me drawing. I say 'I've' made a film but that's not strictly true. Here's a film that my friend, with the technology and know-how, made of me drawing.

 I'd found this old half finished drawing, hanging around the house, so thought I'd complete that for the film. It was filmed over half a day - so, you can imagine how long we'd have been filming if I'd completed the whole thing. Too long.

 Can't think of much else to say. I've just received the film in my inbox and am excited to post it. Please ask if there's anything you'd like to know.

 Oh and a big huge thanks to Tim for making this and for everything else he does.

 

Probs, best watched HERE.

our favourite shop

If you are near the Buxton Gallery in the next few weeks pop in and see the Derbyshire Open Art Competition. This drawing, of mine, is in the exhibition. It's of the gorgeous Atticus Boo in Buxton. It's the shop where I buy my Moleskines and other sketchbooks and is jam packed full of gorgeousness.

So get your arses along to the Museum. You can also vote for your favourite piece, so vote for this! Even if it's not your favourite still vote for it. There's a cash prize. And, boy, do I need cash prizes.

crazy love

Hi guys, just a heads up here; my third zine How To Draw Like A Nut is now VERY limited. My shop has about twenty left in stock. And, that's it. All my zines (apart from some special limited limited edition ones) have runs of one thousand. So, if you are new to my work, and don't already own a copy now is the time to get one HERE. There's also an offer on the first two ballpoint zines HERE.

Right, that's it for the selling, for now. I hope you understand that I have to do it. It's how I get the time to draw and post all this crazy stuff. Back with more crazy stuff very soon.

feathers fall around you

Later this month, the Bank Holiday weekend of 25th-27th of May to be precise, I will be exhibitng my work as part of the Derbyshire Open Arts annual event. A photographer friend and I will be showing our wares at Pear Tree Cafe in Whaley Bridge.

There is an information board just outside the cafe. You can just see the top of it in this picture. It's in the hedge, next to the road sign, across the road from the car, got it? I said I'd knock something up, you know, a quick sketch to go along with the official event poster, to tell people we'll be there.

A quick sketch, my arse.

put your lights on

I'm back. Circus life was not for me. No, I have too much baggage (well, boxes) to lug around.
Not much to say about this drawing, really, except that throughout it I had this song playing in my mind;

Hey now, all you sinners
Put your lights on,
put your lights on

'Cause there's a monster,
living under my bed,
whispering in my ear
And there's an angel,
with a hand on my head
She say I got nothing to fear

There's a darkness,
living deep in my soul
it still got a purpose to serve               
So let your lights shine,
deep into my home
God don't let me lose my nerve,
don't let me lose my nerve

From Supernatural by Santana.
'Put Your Lights On' lyrics by Everlast.

and it gleamed in the distance and it shone like the sun

A new one here. When I started this it was going to be one of my trademark pen drawings. Just a bunch of pens on a page. I don't know at what point it became London Bridge. That's even if it is London bridge and not, in fact, Tower Bridge.

Can you read the text on this one? Cos, I seriously have NO idea what I'm doing when it comes to resizing these days. It's pot luck.

Anyway, this one drawing is not just new to my blog, but it's new to my shop too. I've put a few originals up for sale over the last few days. Have a gander HERE.

way past the stars

Yesterday, for the first time, in a long time, I finally sat down and drew (is that a word?). I mean really really drew (why does it not sound or look like a word?). Or, I lost myself in a drawing, that's what I'm trying to say. I let the drawing direct my pen and just went for it. I went nuts all over the page. I love it when that happens and it's been too long since it did. I wanted to draw how it feels to be hyper creative. To the point where sleep escapes you.

So, here's a bit of a milestone for me (I seem to have been hitting these milestones left, right and centre recently);  this is my 700th blog post! SEVEN chuffing HUNDRED?!! How did that happen? I'm flabbergasted (now, there's a word I love and do not get the opportunity to use often enough).

I'd like to ask for a little advice, folks. Since inheriting this new laptop, and all it's programmes, I am trying to learn Photoshop. For a long time (for about 700 posts) I've been concerned that the size of the images I've been posting are MASSIVE. They've been stolen and printed on all sorts of products. I have, for the first time, here, posted an image that (I hope) is not printable and pinchable (now that can't be a word). Does that spoil your viewing experience? Is this the only way to protect my work? What do you think about it? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

And, thanks for all the visits and comments over the last seven hundred posts. Did I mention that this is my seven hundredth post?

hold on

A little commercial break here, folks.You know, as uncomfortable as I find doing this kind of thing, I HAVE to.

Today, I am offering a unique little piece of art. Well, two actually and a special edition of the zine How To Draw Like A Nut. I have just put these two little drawings above for sale. Also, included in the package is a version of the said zine, jam packed full of extra handwritten notes. So pop on by my shop for a better view HERE.

Cheers!

hidden in the back seat of my head

I've been given a couple of these lovely Moleskine Volant diaries as gifts in the past. They are things of beauty, but I've never really known what to do with them as I found them quite impractical as diaries. Plus I was always losing the individual months.

I came across this one the other day when I was searching the house for old receipts for my tax returns (which I got in on time, by the way). I found it behind the magazine rack. I haven't seen it since back in January 2010.

I think it shows that I wasn't sure what to do with them. It was filled with bits of this and bits of that. Back then, it seems, I even tried drawing outdoors. Well, I say outdoors but I actually mean in the car. I remember this day well...

We'd had a lot of snow that January. I'd made a trip to the bank and parked here where I almost always park. But this day was the first time I'd ever noticed the bulls head on the wall of this building. I felt the need to draw it, and did so in the ca rwith the heater and radio on. Yeah, you've guessed it I went to drive off after making this drawing and the car wouldn't start.

Anyway, since then I have come up with a for my Volant's, and I'll share that with you shortly. Cheers!

when we got to the top of the hill

This, ahem, 'lovely' ashtray was a present from Rome (who'd have thought it, eh?). In fact I got a big bag of goodies from there. Including one of the more unusual souvenirs anyone has ever brought back from their travels for me; butter. Yes, I did say butter.

Here's a question, a little quiz actually; can you guess the what I used to create this drawing? Yes, obviously paper. And, of course, the trademark ballpoints were used but how many? Do you think anything else was used? Pencils? Crayons? Paint? There's a copies of How To Draw Like A Nut & Loon in for the winner, that's the person who guesses the closest (because I cannot actually believe anyone will get it spot on). Comment here, Flickr, FB, Twitter, all the usual places. And you might want to click on the drawing to get a better look.

Thank you for all taking part in this little quiz. It was hard to judge (again, I hadn't thought that through), in the end I made a little bar chart marking each item you got. The winner came up with the most correct items.

So, this is how I did it;
I used six blue ballpoints to draw in the ashtray - yeah, six! I drew around it but I went straight in with the pen instead of , as a few of you thought putting it in with pencil first.
I used two red ballpoints - actually no black, which a lot of people guessed.
The outline was made with a dark blue fine liner, as was the stippling in the centre.
Then I used two blue pencils - one was an indigo blue which can give the opaque look to the drawing.
Two red pencils.
And a touch of graphic tint pencil for the shadow.

That's it! Fourteen items in all, I believe. Yes, I know; totally obsessive. The person who got the most correct items (they guessed nine) was Maureen. Zines on their way to you.

waiting just to fly fly fly

Click on drawing to view... Hope your bodies are warm this Christmas.

rulers at the ready

Just a note to say that 'How to Draw Like a Loon' my new zine, and mini tutorial, is now available on Etsy. Buy your copy HERE. Plus, there's a special price for three copies HERE.

And, another little note to say that you'll need a ruler to read all the craziness on the first page. Thanks to everyone who has bought it so far.

so lift off love

Finally, finally my new zine is up for sale. But, hold your horses. This time I made sure I was ready to go. I've waited until I had the zine, the envelopes and the other bits and pieces in my hands before listing it. In the past, you may recall, I jumped in head first, not prepared and I vowed to myself that I'd never do that again. It was soooo stressful.

However, in waiting until I had all the components ready for the off I have missed the 'rest of the world' Christmas deadline. So, I am only going to be putting this little zine up for sale to the UK this side of Crimbo. Sorry, about that rest of the world. Don't forget to keep some of your Christmas money to get your copy after the holiday.

I'm absolutely chuffed to bits with 'How to Draw Like A Loon'. It's the best yet. I hope you will be just as chuffed.

Some actual photos to come.

So, get your copy HERE.
UK order this NOW to get your Loon before Christmas!