after the rush

Well hello folks, how are you? It's been too long. I always feel terrible guilt when I've neglected my blog for some time. Do you know what I mean? The reason I fell of the face of the earth was because the whole of the last two weeks has been consumed by getting myself ready for a weekend long exhibition I was holding as part of the Derbyshire Open Arts. This is the second time I participated and, just like last year, it was an absolute joy. But then, there's nothing I love more than taking my sketchbooks out of the house and sharing them with people.

I even managed to do a few drawings during the exhibition so will post them, and some more photos, shortly. For now, I'm exhausted. AND, I have a publishing deadline in one weeks time! Yikes. What am I even doing on the internet? We all know how that can swallow up hours, days, your life.

I'll be back just as soon as I've had this nervous breakdown.

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.

please please me

One thing that I get asked a lot is 'which is my favourite drawing' . My favourite of my own drawings, that is. It's a really difficult question to answer as I've made, probably, a couple of thousand drawings over the last few years. And, you know, what I like, or dislike, in a drawing, changes all the time.

I have a love hate relationship with a lot of my work. Sometimes, if I've laboured over a drawing, by the time I've completed it, I usually despise it.

Another thing I've found is that my taste often differs from those (of you) that view my work. The drawings that other people respond to in a positive way can be the ones I dislike the most. I'm almost always surprised by the ones that get a huge response. Sometimes not, but mostly. Then, there are the ones that I love and other people hardly even notice. But, I love that not knowing.

More recently, as my drawing evolves, and I spend a lot more time sketching, the reasons why I like, or dislike, a drawing too have changed. I'm still always chasing a great image, of course (good composition, subject, etc), but now, it's the work where I have challenged or pushed myself, in some way, that I feel most pleased with.

For example, I really love this drawing. I made it in one of the large Moleskine sketchbooks (so, it's on a bigger scale than I used to work). I saw the red chequered table cloth and immediately knew I was going to get a drawing out of it. The food looked great against the cloth was too inviting (but I had to be quick as it was being moved around the table). And, then there were the people, all chatting and moving. I like to think I captured the scene.

Maybe those are the reasons I like it so much, and I'm not expecting it to set the world alight, but it just pleases me. That's all.

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.

show you the way to go

Right then, so as promised in my last post, here is the second part of the third stage of the Little Acorns project. Are you keeping up?!

Meet Archibald Twig again. The drawing at the top of this page is an original and I'm putting that on sale on Ebay (starting at a penny, as always), but that's not all. What you get is the original, the original handwritten provenance and one of the cut-out-and-make limited edition cards.

 You can find the Archibald Twig package HERE.

And, if you pocket doesn't stretch to an original, there are still a few of the printed cards available HERE.

tomorrow see the things that never come today

 Welcome back to Little Acorns. And, say 'Hello' to Archibald Twig. If you are new to my Little Acorn project, and would like to know more, you can read about it HERE. Basically, I can't be bothered explainging it all over again! It was enough first time around, and I'm no good with words - that is why I draw. Anyway, this is the third step in the project so read on...

My last drawing, the second step in this project, was put up for sale on Ebay. It sold at £38.00, which including P&P gave me a grand total of £41.50. This is how I spent/reinvested that money;

Postage (of drawing); £3.00
Ebay charges; £4.24
Printing; £25.60
Envelopes; £8.40

Total; £41.24

So what do I have for you this time? Well, there are two parts to this stage. Firstly, for the £25.60 printing costs I was able to get 25 of my cut-out-and-make Archibald Twig cards made. I'm very excited about this, because, not only because I'm pretty much obsessed with this Little Acorns project at the moment, but also because he is the first of my cut out and make Dickie Bird. This has been a long time in the making.

The card includes an Archie, a nest display-stand and other accessories including eye options and a twig. Also, included is a small piece telling you about the life and times of Archibald Twig. See more in the shop HERE.

The second part of this Archibald Twig is a very special package which will be auctioned on Ebay. That, I'll share with you tomorrow. Cheers, my dears.

i'm only happy when it rains

I've been driving past this bike shop in Buxton quite a lot over the last couple of weeks. A group of bikes, like this, always, without fail, makes me want to draw. You don't actually see it enough in this country. I'm not talking about those freaky serious cycling enthusiasts (there are loads of them), I mean just normal people on normal bikes (I am, of course, joking). It's probably all the hills and because it rains continuously. I think that a gang of bikes is one of those drawing opportunities that, whilst being irresistible, is a real challenge. It's all those wheels.

the evening meet

They come every evening. Around six o'clock. They meet in the school garden for a chin wag. To catch up on the day's gossip. Then they fly off. And it all goes quiet again.

he was really saying something

A few posts back I told you about a recent trip that I'd made and how I'd achieved one of my goals by journalling the whole thing, from start to finish. I'd hoped to share that journal on my blog, however, I hadn't anticipated the sketchbook not actually fitting on my scanner (epic fail). That was because I'd made majority of the drawings as double page spreads. I did make a few on single pages, though, and here are a couple.

The drawing, above, is of my nephew Griff. Throughout the long journey, to EuroDisney, by coach (oh, the joys) I drew Griff over and over again. There's a lot of time to draw from South Wales to Paris. Here's is one thing that I wonder; those of you who draw portraits, do you find that drawing people you know best, your family and friends, is more difficult than drawing strangers? I'm still new to drawing people but I always find this is the case. This drawing of Griff, was the best, but I'm still not sure there's a likeness.

Below is a drawing that Griff and I made together. Actually, a large percentage of the drawings in the journal were joint efforts. I think this one shows what fun journalling can be - for the whole family! We were very lucky that we also had a muse; the chain smoking driver, who we were sat behind. He kept us entertained with his tall tales and his excuses for stopping (just so that he could have a cigarette or five). These included 'stopping for the kiddies to stretch their legs', 'stopping so the kiddies can get some chips' and, the best, 'stopping so we could get some fresh air'.

I absolutely love this drawing. It takes me right back to that time - which is something an illustrated journal can do so much better than a photograph ever can. Plus, it never fails to make me laugh. Thanks for the memory, Griff.

i heard his whisper in the summer breeze

 Above is a brand new drawing. It's actually the second stage (step?) in another of my projects (no, don't roll your eyes) called Little Acorns. I made the first post, about this project, a couple of weeks back but didn't explain it then. I wanted it to start with a whisper. So perhaps I should explain now...

Do you remember the one red paper clip project from a few years back? It was the brainchild of a Canadian dude (note to self, Google him) and basically he started with a red paper clip and traded up and up until he eventually got himself a house. Well, don't worry, I'm not going for a house - unless anyone has a spare one knocking around, that is. Nope, I just really loved that idea and have always wanted to adapt it, so, I came up with my own idea.

 I began with this little drawing of this little acorn, above, and, I put it on Ebay, at a starting price of a penny. Then my aim was (is) to invest every penny I make into the next 'thing'. I assumed it would make a fiver, a tenner at the most, and I'd buy, maybe, a new pen or something. Now, a new pen probably doesn't sound that exciting but times are tough, and I haven't bought any new pens in at least a year. Which is okay, I have LOADS of pens that I can use (pencil cases full of ballpoints etc) but the pens that I use most, the building blocks of my drawings, the black and brown fine liners, had all run dry. And, I just know, that in this Little Acorn project the brown pen is going to feature strongly - as you can see from the new drawing.

Anyway, to cut a long story short (ish), my first Little Acorn drawing made a surprising £24 (plus p&p of 3.50)! So, I had made £27.50. And, this is how it was spent;

Postage £3.00
Envelope £0.40
Ebay fees £2.76

Leaving me with £21.34 to invest. I asked via my blog, and Twitter, for recommendations of brown water and light resistant pens and bought one of each of those recommendations.

Pens £21.28.

I cannot even tell you have good it felt to have that money to spend on gorgeous brown pens (and a couple of other bits). I now have all the pens I need for wherever this project will take me. I will do a brown pen review to tell you what exactly I bought and which I'd recommend in the near future.

But, in the meantime, the drawing at the top of this page, my new acorn drawing, is currently for sale HERE. I hope you'll join me on this journey. Where will it go? Now, that excites me.

Oh, and the Canadian dude is Kyle MacDonald.
Oh, oh, and obviously I used the pens to make this drawing. That was obvious right?!

feels like it's raining all over the world

 Made this drawing yesterday as I waited for a friend to turn up. We are both taking part in the Derbyshire Open Arts exhibition that is happening on the bank holiday weekend, at the end of May. It's where artists throughout the county open their homes and studios to the public. I did it last year and it was a brilliant experience, so it's nice to be doing it again. This year we will be exhibiting at the lovely Pear Tree cafe, in Whaley Bridge, where, yesterday, we met up to discuss it. Amazingly, for once, the first time ever, I wasn't the one who was late.

 If you're in Derbyshire (a long shot?) at the end of May please come along to Pear Tree for a coffee, cake and a rifle through my sketchbooks. Details HERE.

well, we slept underneath all the stars and we talked about girls seen from afar

You might have seen both of these before in photos, on my blog, but I'm very happy with them and so I thought I'd post the scans. They are both from February's Dr Sketchy's circus evening in Sheffield. I still feel I'm a beginner when it comes to life drawing so when it goes well I feel particularly chuffed with myself. We have another event happening next week, so if you are in the area and would like to come along details can be found HERE. It's great fun.

PEN QUESTION: Right, folks, it's that time when I ask you for some help again. I'm looking for brown pens - just like the colours I've used in these drawings. Brown fine liners. Preferably with a variety of nib sizes. They need to be water and light resistant. And I need to buy them soon. Very soon! I would appreciate any recommendations. Thanks in advance, penpals.

try an' find myself again

Last night I found myself wasting too much time on Twitter, for no apparent reason - well, apart from the fact that I just cannot go to bed. I was jumping from one profile to the next, as you do. It wasn't one of those totally aimless bits of time wasting (although, late at night, I can be found doing that too), I was looking at graphic novel bok publishers and the like.

On my late night Twitter stroll, the profile Scriveners Books was thrown up, so to speak. In a strange twist of fate - well, not really, we all know there's nothing coincidental about social networking - it turns out that Scriveners is not a small publishing house but a second hand book shop in my local town.

I recognised the photo. I've driven past it a thousand times or more, but in over a decade of living here, I've never been inside. I've never even stopped or taken any interest. That's rubbish isn't it? So today, I was in Buxton and put it top of my things to do list.

And, am I glad that I did? Wow. It's amazing. I can't believe this gem has been under my nose for so long and I didn't even know. Four storeys full of books. Gorgeous, gorgeous, old books. Old armchairs dotted around the place so you can sit and immerse yourself in their pages. Or, where you can sit and sketch.

I'll be back. And, if you live in or around Buxton, and have never paid it a visit, you should go too.

get your tentacles out for the girls

A new direction for me; poster/flyer/event promo artist. Yep, it's nearly time for another Dr Sketchy Sheffield event. Just, er, um 18 days (? My Maths ain't great)) until we go to sea. So, get your tentacles and pens out and come and join us!

More info on Dr Sketchy Sheffield on our Facebook, Twitter and website.

there's a cat in the kitchen

I spent Easter Sunday drawing my kitchen shelves. But then didn't we all? Didn't we? Oh. OH, right.

I'm really happy with this drawing. Really very happy. There's a couple of reasons for that. Firstly, because this page in my sketchbook had been annoying, frustrating, depressing me for probably six months. I'd committed to drawing the shelves by putting an outline of them, and their contents, down on the page in back ink. You probably can't even see it now but it is there. And, that's as far as I got. But it was a horrible drawing; bland and contrived. I didn't know where to go with it.

So, I'd just let it sit on the back burner ever since. Sometimes that's all you can do with a drawing. There are times, actually, when this approach, of just leaving a drawing brew and going back to it some time later, has produced some of my favourite sketchbook spreads. That's what happened here.

Sunday I decided to tackle the shelves. I used blind contour technique to put the details in with coloured fine liners. Then I added some colour pencil  for the background and chilli lights. Then I put in some shadows with a green brush pen. Then I put in some other thicker lines with other pens (which it really didn't need, but then I never know when to stop). Finally, and for no apparent reason, I blind contoured the cat and added the phrase 'le chat est dans la cuisine'.

So, there we go. The story of a drawing.

Oh, and the other reason I really like it is, well, just 'cos I find it aesthetically pleasing. That's okay, isn't it?