I've been trying to get this Moleskine finished before beginning the next one. I know if I don't do it that way I'll never finish it. There are a couple of pages in it that I just couldn't live with. So, I decided to cover them up with a little collage. Collage and drawing, of course. This idea evolved from a drawing that I did in Suzanne's Moleskine for the MoleyX12 group. You can see more about that HERE. And, yes they are REAL stamps. I ain't that good.
(All bugs died of natural causes)
I think I have found the cure for the drawing bug that's been going around. What you need to do is go to the hospital. Really. That's what I did this week. I went to the hospital. Cardiff Children's Hospital to be precise. It is the first, and only, children's hospital in Wales. I donated a couple of drawings, this is one and you can see the other HERE. Just to be a tiny little part of this amazing place makes me feel a whole lot better. Or is that humbled?
These are a couple of drawings I did a some time back, but decided not to post. Frankly, I wouldn't be posting them now if I had anything else to share. Do you find that sometimes a day, or a week, can have a theme running through it? Today the theme, for me, was books. Books, books, books. Which is another reason for digging out these two old drawings. I started the day clearing out my bookshelves and I'll end it by sharing these two books with you.
I don't want to keep harping on about drawing funks, but I've had yet another frustrating week. I have realised what the trouble is. A friend of mine always says that I am 'a bubbling cauldron of creativity', and I have to admit that is a good description of how I feel. Usually the ideas are coming through so thick and fast that I don't always have time to catch them. The ones I do grab are added to a list that's as long as my arm. The last few weeks that hasn't been happening. Even my list looks uninspiring and I wonder whatever made me think they were good ideas in the first place. I am looking at things and willing them to become subjects. Forcing them, in fact.
I still haven't completed a drawing in the last week, I've lost my...erm...*cough*...drawing bug. But, when I was making my last post, and uploading the photos, I remembered this little drawing (above) that I did quite sometime ago. I didn't post it back then because it just looked so small and, er, pathetic (this being less harsh on myself is going very well).
It is one of the colour boxes you can see in the photos from the last post. The orange one. Obviously. I'm also posting the red and green ones -which you may have seen before - so that little orange one doesn't feel so lonely (and pathetic).
These container were all from the Body Shop and once were filled with their gorgeous body butters. From top to bottom; tangerine, pomegranate and avocado. The smell still lingers too, which is a nice surprise when you open the box. I wish this blog was Scratch and Sniff because these drawings smell gorgeous.
Ok, so it doesn't quite line up, but it's not bad for a one (shaky) handed photographer. Don't be jealous of my beautifully manicured nails. No, don't.
I have actually drawn those buttons about 3 or 4 times already, and you know what, I ain't finished with them yet. You can see the orange, green and red boxes, that hold collections of tiny orange, green and red things, behind the Moo card. And you thought I made this stuff up, didn't you? Nope, I really am that anal.
Finally, ONE of my pencil cases. The colour ballpoint pencil case. Obviously. Brightens the place up a bit, don't you think? Anyway, you can see the full set of snaps featuring my Moos in all sorts of compromising positions HERE.
You know, the internet is the best thing that's ever happened to recluses.
Just a quickie. I suddenly had the urge to draw a travel toothbrush. No, I can't explain it either.
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.
Well, when I posted this, this morning, I was really frustrated with the drawing. And myself. I'd worked on it most of the weekend and had a clear idea of where I wanted to go with it. However, I did not achieve what I'd started out to do. So, this morning, I wrote a really grumpy post. Now, I've had some distance from it, though, I don't feel so bad. It may not have turned out like I'd imagined, but hey, so what?
As you might imagine, it is a rather sophisticated and professional setup here at AJ head-quarters. Recently, I have relocated my studio - from the armchair to the kitchen table.
Also, recently, I have been rediscovering the work of a childhood hero of mine Ronald Searle. His work had such an effect on me when I was a kid. It was around that time I fell in love with illustration - the magic of illustration. I was thinking about all of that when I did the bottom of the two drawings.
I've made a deal with myself; I will not start my new Moleskine until I finish this, first, one. I only have a few pages left, but I can't seem to get it finished. This page had been depressing me for a long time. I'd put the bottle shaped bottle opener in months ago, and then didn't know where to go from there. I added a few bottle tops to the page, then some wood grain, but still it had no real direction. Finally, over the weekend I decided to finish it once and for all. I like the result.
I hope you'll all join me in wishing GrIfF a HaPpY sIxTh BiRtHdAy. It's hard to know what to draw a six year old boy, as I'm ToTaLly RuBbIsH at drawing SuPeRhErOs and CaRs. In fact, gRiFf is mUcH MuCh better, at drawing those things, than me. So, I settled, inexplicably, for AlPhAbEtTi on ToAsT. You've got to love aLpHaBeTtI, hAvEn'T yOu? Being able to SpElL your NaMe with your DiNnEr has to be the cOoLeSt thing EvEr. And, when you've fInIsHeD eAtInG you can wAsH iT DoWn with a lovely CuP oF tEa like ThIs OnE.
I had been saving this for a rainy day. Well, it's been a rainy week. The thing, I find, with doing such labour intensive drawings is that you end up feeling totally wiped out when you've completed one. That's how I feel right now. So, I'm going to take a little break from drawing. Maybe just a week or two.
