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.

tamping!

My new zine, The Tamp, now has an advert. yes, I've hit the big time. This minature zine is not only a tiny newspaper but also a puzzle. The puzzle is putting the thing together and specifically getting the pages in the correct order. It'll only make sense if they are in the right order. I say 'make sense'...

The newspaper has a tiny comic strip, a tiny film and book review, tiny classified ads. So, as the man says 'READ ALL ABOUT IT!'. Limited print run, get your copy HERE.

read all about it

 My brand new zine is hot of the press and on sale. This cut out and put together tiny little newspaper is for sale HERE.

will draw for money

Thanks for the interest in getting your own classified ad in my new zine. The spaces are now full. Sorry, if you didn't get one. You must be quicker next time!

This little zine (and I mean little) is probably (definitely) the most complicated layout I've ever worked with yet. It was born out of an idea I had when I saw some of the mini zines that people are making. I really wanted to have a go.

It also had to cheap to make. Very cheap. Basically, in true tradition of zine making, it had to be produced with a photocopier. A photocopier and a bucket load of creativity.

I spent my childhood making stuff like this; tiny little books. I haven't made anything on this scale since then. The pages are all double sided too, which complicates things further. It's been a concern, after doing all this work, that when it was all folded up and cut out it might not even work.

So, I crossed my fingers and had a trial run....and phew! It works. It actually seems to work.
I'm hoping it'll be for sale in a day or two. Please come back if you'd like a copy of my first  tiny teeny weeny ziney.

hot off the press

Calling all creative folks, with something they want to promote/advertise/flog. Ever advertised your new book/project/blog/Page in a newspaper or magazine? Of course you haven't. You're a creative - you'd never have the money for that. And anyway, why advertise in a big corporate glossy magazines with huge numbers of readers who, quite frankly, do not deserve to see (ignore) your ad? No, what you want is to be seen by a lot fewer people, but the right people. What you want is to advertise in a small self published, cutting edge, do-it-yourself ethos zine.

What you get; a small (tiny - this is my tiniest zine yet) unique hand drawn advertisement. The space is approximately an inch squared. Just enough room for a logo, a web address, and a few of words.  All for five British pounds. Above is a couple of pages from my How To Draw Like a Loon zine. Your ads will be similar even though the zine layout is totally different.

Spaces are very limited, and as I'm hoping to get this zine to the press on Monday, time is limited too. Take advantage of this offer now. Interested? Get in touch.

Support self publishing. Support a fellow creative to keep on creating.

forgive me

I can only apologise, profusely, for what I'm about to do. I hate myself for doing it, but I am about to mention the C-word. 

Yes, as soon as you know, Christmas will be upon us. Well, for once, I've been thinking ahead and I've put this bumper pack of AJ goodies together just in time. This includes my book, 3 zines, bag, badges, postcards, greetings cards & stickers.

You can get your little mits on it HERE.

Sorry, again.

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.

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......

the barmpot has landed

So finally, here he is; Barmpot. Or, How To Draw 3. Above is the original artwork created for this new zine. I can't believe that the second in the How To Draw series (Loon) was made in 2011. Where did those two years go? And, how did it take so long to come up with the third? I love making this kind of work. It's probably my favourite thing to do; write and draw all the craziness, that would otherwise be filling my head, onto the paper. And, that's what Barmpot is about; drawing with your imagination.

As with the other two in the series it was created with nothing more than ballpoint pens, paper and too much time on ones hands. There are lots of ideas for you, too, to get your imagination and pen working.

How To Draw Like A Barmpot available HERE.

Now, I need to lie down in a dark room.

deconstructing a daydream...

 Here's a brand new drawing.

It was never really actually meant to be a drawing, if you know what I mean? No?

Well it started life as a series of little drawings...

They were just individual drawings of individual pens.

Some of may favourite pens to be precise.

That's all they were ever meant to be, but sometimes I cannot leave a page be.

I cannot rest until I've filled it full of stuff; words, doodles, daydreams...

 I originally drew the pens to decorate the pages of my latest little zine.

But then it grew and grew and grew.

Into one big daydream.

 You can buy the original drawing HERE.

Or if your budget does not stretch to an original (I know mine doesn't), then you get buy the zine HERE.

 

Cheers, my dears.

Happy daydreaming.

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.

what are zines?

This is one of the questions I am most asked (asked most?); what are zines? Or, to be precise, what the hell are zines?I tried to answer it in this drawing, above, that I made for my latest zine 'How to draw Like a Loon'. I'm not sure how well I answered it, it was a pretty clumsy attempt. But then, I ain't that great with words. Which is why I draw.

While, I'm not sure how to explain exactly what zines are I absolutely know why I love making them so much. This little video by the folk at Salford Zine Library tells the joy of being a zine maker a lot more eloquently than I ever could. Watch it HERE.

You can view and buy my zines HERE. Also, there are now limited stocks of Molezine 1. I've always wanted to say that!!

i'll tie us together

So, here's another thing I just love about the artistic process. A while back I came up with the idea of making these little limited edition compliment slips to accompany all sales of zines, prints etc. Just a little way of saying thank you. Amazingly, I am running low on compliment slip no.1 ('wolf at my door') so I got to work on no.2.

Now, THIS is the bit I love; if I had not had the beret that I wore when I dressed as Penny Crayon, for my friend's children's tv character themed birthday party, I would never have thought of going to our sketchcrawl's Mad Hatter's Tea and Sketching Party dressed as a French artist and then I would never have come up with THIS drawing which in turn would never have developed into this idea for the next compliment slip. With me?

I really LOVE that about the artistic process.

I think these two look so cute side by side. I, in my mind, am seeing a poster of nine of them. So get buying so that I can work on he next seven! Only joking. A big thanks to each and everyone who has purchased my wares. You really do keep the wolf from my door. And my cat in fish.

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.

the lonliness of an illustrated zine maker

Thanks to everyone who has purchased a copy of 'How to Draw Like a Loon' thus far. They are still available HERE, before Christmas, to those in the UK. I'll open that up to the 'rest of the world' after the holiday.

You know, I've come across many a learning curve since opening my little Etsy shop, a couple of years back, and especially since I started making and selling zines. One of those curves, that I am currently in the process of tackling, is how to keep the personal touch whilst running an efficient small business.

You see, the postage and packing of the last couple of zines was ridiculously time consuming. I didn't make things easy for myself. In fact I seemed to make them impossibly difficult. Some of you who follow my blog, and who have purchased my zines, may recall the 'Nut' envelope decorating debacle. Plus, you may remember the hand written teeny weeny pixie letters and gift tags that came with 'About A Book' zine and caused my last nervous breakdown. I totally underestimated the time all of these little touches would take.

To say those experiences were stressful is a big fat understatement and I will not be going back there. Imagine hand decorating envelopes for over 250 zines. The scene below is just a glimpse into how that felt.

That HAD to change. Since then my friend has taken over the running of my shop and the mailing of zines. While this has meant that the orders are being sent out a day or two after they come in, the personal touch has been lost along the way. So, how do you do both? Is it possible to do both? I think so. And, have a few ideas on how to redress the balance. One is little limited edition compliment slips that change every so often, drawn especially to express my gratitude to you, like the one at the top of his post.

I hope these experiences of mine may be useful to you should you be considering zine making and opening up your own little Etsy shop.

And, finally another little plug for my new zine 'How to Draw Like a Loon'. The perfect stocking filler for anyone who loves to draw. Buy it HERE now.

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!

into the light of the dark black night

Here's the last of he classified ads that will feature in my next zine. You know, last year I made a post where I vowed to never ever launch a new zine before Christmas. I am such an idiot. I really am.

Plus, on the subject, I was going to list 'How To Draw Like A Loon' today but after consulting my part time manager/shop keeper/advisor, Tim, I was advised not to. It is currently at the printers and he suggested that I do not list it until I have it in my hands and it's ready to go. That way, I shouldn't be making future posts where I apologise for it being late. Like I usually do.

Also, I would like to take this opportunity to ...er....ahem....apologise to all those who have been waiting to see their classified ads for bloody ages. I....er...welll.....uh....ahem....you know?

and any eye for detail

So loons, just a little note to say that I will be finally putting my new zine in my Etsy shop in the next couple of days. 'How To Draw like A Loon' is along the same lines as 'How To Draw Like A Nut' but with more pages. And, we know what more pages means; more drawings! I'll post the last of the classified ads tomorrow, too.

'Citing!

waiting for this moment to arise

Okay, so page two of the classified ads (above), that will appear in my upcoming zine, is finished Done and dusted. If you have bought some space a big thanks. I hope you like your ad. The last page (below) is almost complete. After fitting in all the ads I have a little space left. Three ad boxes to be precise. If you click on the drawing you can see the space. If you would like to purchase that space then you can; HERE. I will be finishing this drawing in the next day or two so please be quick.

By the way, Wil, don't worry that's not your ad!

that is where i'll be

So, here's the first of the advertising pages completely finished. Well, apart from the mysterious secret message, that is. I've loved drawing these pages. Taking your ideas and making them into little adverts has been a whole load of fun.

I'm just putting the finishing touches to the other classifieds, they'll be blogged shortly. Thanks to all who bought their advertising slots. The funds will help towards getting this zine printed. And, as ever, thanks for your patience.

Y'all know the drill by now; click on the image to see it in detail, and to read the (end of the)story that made front page of the Bugle.