your smiles and shells

Another new one from the travel sketchbook. Or, at least, it will be new to you if you weren't rifling through my Moleskine over the weekend.

This one is one half of a pair of drawings. You can see the other half, and the rest of the travel sketchbook set, HERE.

when the morning cries and you don't know why

Here's one of those spur of the moment drawings.

Earlier today I was clearing out my bags. Three bags in total. Amongst all the usual rubbish I found these items; a tin of tuna, a dolls head, a sock and a peg.

Now, that reminded me of this thing I once heard. I'm not sure how true it is, or how my source came to find this out. But I was told that the mother of the Bee Gees always kept a pork pie in her handbag. At ALL times. Wherever she went, she would have a pork pie (I'm guessing a Melton Mowbray, but I could be wrong) in her handbag. I always found this the most fabulous piece of trivia I'd ever heard. It quietly waited in my long term memory until I had a chance to use it.

Girls, I wonder what unusual things you have in your handbag? Let me know. I might just make it into a drawing. I'm not talking about stuff like chocolate, tampons, nappies, make up, etc. What I'd like to hear about is your, well, pork pies.

on a quiet street corner

I've been living with this drawing for so long I can't even be bothered explaining it. Suffice to say it was a grower. It grew and grew and grew. Stick your nose in and have a look around. And if you don't know by now, you can do that by clicking on the drawing and then on the green arrows in the bottom right hand corner. Fill your boots.

hanging without a cloud

This drawing was never really going anywhere. So, as I have nothing else to show, I'm posting it half finished. I could have worked on it some more, but I know that it would be a pointless task. I think this is probably the best it's ever going to look. Which ain't great. But, there we go. Win some lose some. It does have one moment that I particularly like, though. The finished key on the left. Hmmm. I kinda like that.

take a pinch of keyhole

(Click on drawing to view)

This drawing had all the ingredients to be great. A beautiful subject matter courtesy of my friend Annette. Stunning colours. Heaps of nostalgia. And hours of time to simmer. Somehow, for me, it falls short of being an extremely tasty dish.

Everyday Matters #37, draw some keys.

you been going through changes

I'm happy with this one. I hope you like it, too.
You have to click on this drawing to view it. Stick your beaks right in and have a proper rummage around.

climb onto your seahorse

Click on image to view.

The obsessional part of me knows no bounds. I first did a drawing like this for the MoleyX project. Those little Japanese Moleskines are so tiny, I knew I wanted to revisit this subject because I needed more room to put the notes in. I felt I needed to explain where granny had gotten her jewellery from. So, revisit I did, both in a brand new Moley and on an A4 sketchbook. I abandoned the sketchbook halfway through and kept going with this. I now realise what this drawing actually needs. And, that's an A3 page. So, yeah, one day, in the future, I'll be revisiting it again. On A3!

I hope you can read the notes, they are very tiny. It's almost like a mouse has written them.

could be in a dream

OK, here is one of those examples of taking a drawing too far. I think. I really should have left it as it was. And, now, I'm even contemplating laying down the shadows, in the version below, on each and every one of the woodland hair accessories. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some. Bit annoying, though.

And if you still don't know; click on the drawings for a better view. Go on, stick your beak in.

one day it'll all make sense

Nearly there, folks. I've nearly finished the children's book drawings that have been taking up all my time over the last couple of weeks. I'll tell you more about it in my next post and then, I promise, back to 'normal' drawing and posting.

Oh, yeah, and this is a collection of hat pins that I found cluttering up the old dusty attic. The old dusty attic in my head, that is.

you can't dance alone

Click on image to view.

Well, today is my blogs second birthday. I did have something planned for it, but didn't quite pull it off in time. Ambitious but rubbish, that's me. It will still happen - just not when I intended. Anyway, all will be revealed in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned folks. My excuse, for not getting my act together, this time, is that I am frantically trying to get some of this children's book down on paper. The aim is five drawings by the end of the month. Yikes.

This birthday is a good opportunity to say another big thank you to all you guys. For all the visits, the comments and the encouragement that you've given me over the last couple of years. I've learnt so much in that time. On lots of levels. It has been quite a journey. The fact that you choose to join me makes me happier than you'll ever know. Cheers.

all that you touch

A bit of kitchen kitsch. I've just noticed that this is my 250th post. That seems amazing to me. All those drawings I've drawn, all that rubbish I've written and all the fine folk I've met. Thanks for all the visits and encouragement.

They've been revamping the site over at Moo. I don't like to blow my own trumpet, but when I saw my work on there, looking so good, I felt quite proud. It's mad to think of how this adventure all started, all those posts ago. I'm excited to see where else it'll take me.

Check out Moos revamp HERE (the stickers are cute TOO).

i am lost inside your pocket

This week I lost my marbles. No. Seriously, I did. And, not just because I went and did this drawing all over again. When I completed it first time round I knew that there was something wrong - the marble. Back then I drew it from my head, when really I'd prefer to have the subject there in front of me. Knowing that I intended to re-draw it I went and bought some marbles. It took me ages to find the perfect blue one, one that looked a little like an eye. After all, the marble is the punch line in this picture; it's the cherry on the cake, so it had to be right. So I selected the perfect one, bought the bag and then proceeded to lose them. Annoying. Very annoying.

This is one reason it's taken so long to complete this drawing - losing my marble. I spent hours on Flickr getting lost in stunning photos of marbles, but to me, the one in my drawing still looks contrived. There are a few other new additions to this picture, since the original; my favourite being the corn plaster. There are other things that became subject matter out of desperation to finish the drawing, like...erm...well I'll let you find them.

Anyway, you know the drill; click on image to enlarge.

well i wonder

Tubes of stuff (click on image to enlarge).

It's when you find yourself drawing hemorrhoid cream that you know that you need to ask yourself some questions. What am I doing with my life? Is this normal behaviour? How did it come to this?

you own it now

I NEVER expected to post this. I was starting a drawing the other day and my hand was quite shaky. So I did a little 'warming up' exercise which turned into this drawing. I often feel the pressure to make my next drawing 'better' than the last. I know this is pressure that I put on myself. I also know that I love this drawing and that if I saw it on somebody else's blog I would be gushing about it. So I am going to post it. Now. Before I change my mind.

old spice

Click on image to view.

Yes, this probably does look familiar. One of my favourite drawings that I did in my Moleskine, way back whenever, was this spice rack drawing. I've wanted to rework it onto paper and frame it for some time and so Tim's birthday (see last post) gave me a good excuse to do just that. Something to spice up his life - his forty year old life! I like it, although it just lacks some of the spontaneity of the original and, of course, that gorgeous cream colour Moleskine paper.

View my sepia set on Flickr HERE.

i'm too lost in you

(Click on image to view)

Phew! I feel like I've been drawing this for the whole week...er...actually I have. I feel like I've been away for ages. It's the longest I've left it between posts, since starting this blog, and I'm blaming this drawing for that. I've been lost in it. It's a project that I have been working on for...well, I won't tell you what it's for at the moment. That's where you come in.

So here's a little competition; the first person to guess the theme of this drawing (and yes there is a theme to it) will win a piece of artwork by me. I'm not sure how difficult it may be but the clues are there. Have a try if you'd like!