i've been waiting for you

Okay, so these may not be the greatest sketchbook pages. They're not going to set the world alight, but, I just needed to shout about the fact that I went to see Neil Young on Sunday!!! Damn, I love that man. He's the most inspirational artist to me. So, we may work in very different fields but how he continues moving on and changing creatively is so very inspiring. I wish I were that brave.

 Above is the inner cover of the little Moleskine sketchbook that I took with me. I drew it as the arena was filling up. And, I drew it over the page where I created THIS VIDEO (the one that shows you how to write your name!). I cannot leave a blank space alone. I just can't stop fiddling.

 I'm often asked about what I do if a page in a sketchbook 'goes wrong'. My answer is usually 'collage', but it's also where a good quote or lyric comes in handy. The page above didn't so much 'go wrong' but the girl I was drawing moved away, just as I got my pens going, so I was left with just a few squiggles. You can see them behind these Neil Young lyrics; behind the top two lines on the right hand page.

 Anyway, you know what? Not every sketchbook page should set the world alight or be all singing and dancing. In my opinion. To me the unremarkable, quiet little pages act as a comma or a pause in a book. Some time for a brief reflection. A page to get your breathe back before you dive back in.

And, the lyrics and quotes; a great place to practice your handwriting. Or better still, make up a whole new kinda handwriting.

How To Write Your Name

Lots of people tell me that when they buy a new sketchbook (especially something like a Moleskine) they get new sketchbook nerves; the fear of the blank sketchbook. I'm quite the opposite. I can hardly wait to get it home before unwrapping it and laying my pen on the paper - that is why I have a hundred unfinished sketchbooks, though.

So, with those of you in mind, and for all of you guys who are starting the new semester of Sketchbook Skool and getting your school bags ready, here's a little video that'll take away the fear. See starting your sketchbook as an exercise too. Hope this helps!

i get my back into my living

A huge thanks for all of the comments and support, in my last post, for my new book. I am very touched. It'll be a whole load of new excitement, as will going to France to publicise it. In all honesty, I'm totally exhausted just thinking about it. But in a good way.

 I seem to be working non stop these days. Burning myself out, not getting enough sleep. But, I don't think there's any other way if I want to make a living and career out of this illustration lark. And, I do. I do everything I do for the love of illustration.

 And, here's another of those things I am doing for the love of it. I've recently taken over the running of Dr Sketchy Sheffield - along with my business partner Hell's Belle (yes, just having a business partner called Hell's Belle is a dream come true). I became a Dr Sketchy addict from the first event I attended, so when the opportunity came up to co-run the gig I couldn't say no.

Again though it's turned out to be more work than I'd anticipated because as soon as one event is over we're planning and promoting the next.

So, that said, if you are in the Sheffield area why not come along to our next event (above) and draw with us? It really is a lot of fun. I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't.

Or check out our Facebook page, to see what we get up to, HERE. You see, never stop working.

na na na na na na naaaa

On Monday night we went to draw our local male voice choir in rehearsals.

Twas a lot of fun.

four drawings, three places, one sketchbook

Four drawings, three places in one sketchbook.

And, a shedload of different pens and pencils.

Edale

Red marker pen, two red ballpoints and two red pencils.

Various green pencils.

Sheffield

Blue fine liner and blue brush pen.

Whaley Bridge

 (above)

Black fine liner, 3B pencil and various colour pencils

(below)

Blue, pink and yellow fine liners.

Blue, pink and yellow pencils.

All made in the small Moleskine sketchbook. I was never that interested in using such a small sketchbook before I got this. It took a few years of drawing before I bought it and I still wasn't convinced. It sat on my shelf for another year or so. Now I'm coming close to finishing this sketchbook - just a few pages left. I really must get a new one in because it's become one of my favourites. A sketchbook I wouldn't be without.

we're in for more rain

Well, another couple of weeks have passed and I am still finding it difficult to pick up a pen and draw. I made this little one some time back, in my mini Moleskine sketchbook, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Tomorrow my sketch crawl group return to the park, for lots of sketching goodness, but I'll be working the day job so I won't even have a sketchcrawl to kick start some drawing. It's okay though. As frustrating as these periods are, I know it will pass. It will, it will, it WILL pass.

Huge thanks for all your kind and supportive messages in response to my last couple of posts. I'll have some drawings to share soon.

songs are like tattoos

I think this was my favourite sketch from last Friday night's Dr. Sketchy. The scaling is all wrong; the hands, for one, are way too small but I don't really care. I'm a little bit obsessed with tattoos at the moment. I'm loving drawing people too. So what could be better than drawings on people? Not much.

and we were rolling, rolling, rock and rollin'

Saturday the 14th of July was International Sketchcrawl day and whilst most of the world's sketching population were in Santa Domingo some of us (Sketchcrawl North, specifically) were out on the mean, and equally exotic, streets of Tideswell.

Well,actually that's a bit of a fib.

No, we weren't on the streets at all. We were mainly in the church where some (amazing) musicians were practicing for a concert. So we spent most of our time there. I did, however, sneak this little drawing of some architecture. Just to prove that we did actually go out sketching on the big day.

The rest of the day we just spent in the cafe eating. Now, that's one thing Sketchcrawl North are VERY good at.

you gotta roll with it

 These are the final couple of drawings from the rock n roll day last weekend. Actually, there's also a motorbike but that might take some time to finish. I must say that I'm pretty pleased that in just one day I produced so much stuff.

 I'l let you into a secret about the car below; it most definitely wasn't that shape. I started off at the front of the car, which was going okay. Not great but okay. Then I realised that there was absolutely no bloody way I was going to fit the whole thing onto the page. It was, after all, a big long Zodiac! So, I had a decision to make and, yes, I did. I squashed the whole thing into the space I had. Ah well, as long as we keep it to ourselves nobody else ever needs to know.

 Throughout this drawing I was thinking of my friend France Belleville and her 'ladies'.

put on your red dress baby

 When I went to the 1950s event last weekend I fully intended to spend the day drawing cars. It's one of those subjects I really want to tackle. I've always been too intimdated to draw them but, these days, I love the challenge of drawing the things that previously scared me off. Anyway, despite that, I ended up getting distracted by all the dancing - as you can see in my last two posts. I did draw a couple of cars and a motorbike though. This was the most successful. It's the car that belongs to the dancing pair in the previous post's drawings.

 I made the sketch at the event and coloured it in at home. I never know whether putting the colour in will be a good thing so I scanned it before I went ahead with the red pencils. I actually like both versions. So, here's the before and after. Which do you prefer?

under the bridges of Paris

A couple more from this week's Dr. Sketchy event. In fact, I think I might just dedicate this whole week to lovely ladies and Dr. Sketchy.
Life drawing is all new to me so I have to ease myself into these drawing sessions. I start by sketching each new pose in my 'warm up' note book (the blue lined paper). If I like the pose, and the composition it makes on the page, I'll then re sketch it into my Moleskine sketchbook. I often then play around with the Moleskine sketches at home. Pimp them up, if you like.

So, that's what you have here; two versions of the same pose by the lovely Miss Pixie Parfait. The bottom is the warm up and at the top of this post the worked up version.

come a little bit closer

My poor little blog has been rather neglected of late. I do have a good excuse though; I have been very busy. Last weekend I was exhibiting my work, along with some other local artists, as a part of the Derbyshire Open Arts weekend. It was a great weekend.

We turned Catriona's little barn into a lovely exhibition space, sent out the invitations and waited to see if anyone would turn up.

I was amazed by how many did. A huge thanks to everyone who went off the beaten track to find us. They came from far and wide (hey Louisa!) to see the arty loveliness our little barn had to offer. I'll post some photos when I get them back from Snappy Snaps.

Before the event I assumed I'd have three days to do lots of sketching. But, no chance. We were busy throughout which was great because there's nothing that makes me happier than sharing my sketchbooks with people.

You know up until quite recently the only artistic community I've been involved in is an online one. Being a part of that community has been amazing, and life changing, for me. It has enabled me to set up a blog, encouraged me to keep drawing, supported me in becoming a professional illustrator and always been there for advice on all sorts of things.

I had not, however, been involved in a local community of artists. In fact, for a long time, nobody even knew I was drawing like a maniac at home. It was my exhibition in Buxton, last summer, that brought me to the attention of a local audience and then everyone knew. Joining Sketchcrawl North a little while later made me realise the great things that come from being part of a group.

Exhibiting with this group of talented and generous artists over the weekend was a joy. I'm so happy that I've connected with a local arty community because you get good things from being with people. People who share your passion. So reach out because we are, after all, just chubby babies floating in a sea of tissue paper.

Check out the amazing work by my exhibtion mates; Catriona Hall, Sandra Orme and Rob Wilson. And a big big thanks to the photographer, and my friend, Lynne McPeake for everything she does.

i'm glad i spent it with you

Another little sketch, in my mini Moleskine, from last Saturday's sketchcrawl in Buxton. While most of the sensible sketchers sat in he warm botanical garden drawing I, like a fool, stood outside and drew this ice cream van. It was such a cold day and drawing an ice cream van just made me feel even more chilly. At least, I guess, Diane our visiting sketcher from Australia got the full Sketchcrawl North experience. Brrrrrr.

This sketch is okay, I suppose. I tackled one of those subjects that I find quite intimidating; vehicles. It's nothing special. If you'd like to see some REALLY good drawings from the day then hop on over to Lynne Chapman's blog. She is the dog's bollocks. And, to those not familiar with that term, who may think I've just been very insulting, it means quite the opposite. Perhaps, to avoid any confusion, I should have just said she's great. Anyway, go and have a look for yourself HERE.

in those cold cold moments

Yesterday we were in Buxton for a little sketching and a lot of sitting in a cafe (it seemed). It was a lovely day, despite it being freeeezing, and I got quite a few sketches done. I'm desperate to get my (cross hatching) hands on them but this week I'll be drawing nothing but peaches.

In the meantime you could visit the Sketchcrawl North group on Facebook for lots of gorgeous drawings from the day and news on our future get-togethers HERE.

close my eyes and drift away

Here's another little spread from last Sunday's sketchcrawl in Sheffield. The weather was a bit on the wild side so we ended up drawing in a couple of pubs. A perfect way to spend a wet and windy Sunday afternoon.

I can't quite decide whether to add some colour to this. The Delerium Tremens sign was purple with a pink elephant which could work. But you never know.

This drawing was made in the little mini Moleskine sketchbook. This book had sat unused, on my shelves, for at least a couple of years. I never thought I'd like using it. I thought it was too small. But it's really grown on me. And whilst I always take the larger sketchbook with me, on my travels, I love having the option of this little one too. It's just really cute.

If you are interested you can take a peak at the drawings I've made in this book so far HERE.

and we remember

On Saturday our lovely Sketchcrawl North group spent the day drawing at the Imperial War Museum in Manchester. Well, Salford to be precise. It's a brilliant place for sketching. There are drawing opportunities around every corner. I absolutely must have visit again.

At the end of our sketchcrawls we gather to share our sketchbooks with each other. I was surprised how little I'd done (too much chopsing) but when I got home I pimped up the line drawings I'd sketched at the museum and produced two of the best journal spreads I've made in a long time. In my opinion, that is. This is not one of them. I'll post them together tomorrow. This Trabant is just a little taster.

To balance it out I also produced one of the worse drawings I've ever made, too. Funnily enough, I won't be posting that.

behind blue eyes

Slightly freaky, I know. It still freaks me out every time I open this sketchbook, and, for that matter, every time I open my kitchen door to find the Queen staring at me. This, actually, was probably the better way to post it....

Well, imagine how freaky it was for the other poor folk who had to sit sketching with Her Maj. These drawings were from our last sketch crawl. The theme of the day was curry and masks. Yes, curries and masks, together at last! And, as you may have guessed, I went as The Queen.

Not great drawings of the mask but it was difficult to draw. There were some photos floating around too. I'll post them when I get my hands on them, to prove just how freaky sketch crawling with The Queen is. Now, THAT is something I never thought I'd say.

out of the corner of my eye i think i see you standing outside

The chutney, above, is one of the delicacies I took to our Mad Hatter's Tea and Sketching Party back in January. Inspired by, my drawing buddy, Lynne Chapman's work it was created with colour pencil alone. I'm amazed by the way she uses this medium, from the depth of colour to textures she achieves. Now I often use colour pencil but it's always with other media, whether that be ink pens or ballpoints. But, here, I thought I'd challenge myself to make a drawing purely with colour pencil. As the great Judge Judy says everyday should be a learning experience. I'm quite happy with it but I'm not sure colour pencil (alone) is for me. I just love the impact and intensity you get with inks. So, I guess that's what I learnt; I love ink!

And, as promised, below is the recipe for Eyeball Chutney. I'm kind of kicking myself because I intended to add a spoon to the jar in the drawing. I felt that would have completed the composition. Who knows I might try to worm one in there yet.

all the way home

Saturday saw our sketch crawl group's monthly meet up and we ended up at Lynne's house again (well, it's still very cold in these parts). This time we gathered there for a curry. Us Brits LOVE our curries.

Now, it might look like all we do on these meet-ups is eat, but we do actually get some drawing done too. No, really we do.

I've recently started using this little mini Moleskine, in fact I've dedicated it to our sketchcrawls. I'd never used one of these pocket Moleskines before. This one has been on my bookcase for a couple of years. I'm sure I won it as a prize back then, but I never fancied drawing in such a small book (A6). While it will never take the place of my larger Moleskine sketchbook, I'm enjoying using it. It's a really cute size and, of course, the paper is as beautiful as ever. Plus, it's always good to have the choice, isn't it?

Anyway, back to our curry sketching day. A couple of the members of the group did us proud with five different homemade curries. One of my drawing buddies, Matthew Midgely, not only made three curries but also drew up the recipes for each. This (below) was one of the stars of the show. It was amazing and I, for one, will be giving this recipe a go.

Check out Matthew's blog for the other recipes HERE, and while you are there have a look through his gallery. There's some lovely work on show.

More drawings from this sketch crawl to come. Cheers!