The Red Case

Wow what a ridiculously long time between blogs. Possibly the longest yet. I don't know what to do to fix it; this (non) blogging issue, that is. I don't know why it seems so hard to do. I'm drawing all the time. And have all sorts of projects on. But just never seem to get around to blogging about them.

 

But, I'm here now, and here's one such project that's been occupying my time and mind. It's a drawing session/class/event that I've been running at a local studios. Once a month I arrange for a great model to pose in various scenarios for a group of sketchers. The difference between this and a (clothed) life drawing session is that there is a story, a narrative, running through the sessions and is passed on from model to model via

A RED CASE.

We started in session, or chapter, one with a show girl...

(drawing by Steve King)

...who held a dark secret...

...no matter what she did...

(drawing by me)

...to try to forget...

...it was always there, so one night...

 Drawing by Kate Yorke

 ...after too much to drink, she wrote a letter...

 ...asking the only person she trusted...

...to pick up the red case...

(drawing by me)

...which she did...

(drawing by Paul Gent)

 ...and now she carried the burden...

...and now, no matter what she did...

 (drawing by me)

...to try to forget...

...or who she talked to...

 (drawing by Kate Yorke)

...she too now held the secret...

 (drawing by me)

...so she decided to dispose of the case...

(drawing by Lynne McPeake)

...but...

(drawing by Karrie Brown)

...she was caught in the act...

(drawing by Kate Yorke)

...and she was marched off to jail...

 ...which all proved too much for her mother...

...but her cousin was there to pick up the pieces, and the inheritance, including the red case.

It would be his undoing.

 

You can see where the story goes here;

#TheRedCase

 

Photography by Rod Walton

Showgirl played by Pinky DeVille

Edith played by Miriam Gent

Hector played by Mike Cross

#TheRedCase

 

Fancy joining my class? Get in touch.

 

a bit about perseverance

At the half time break, at life drawing this evening, I was ready to give up forever. I wanted to sneak out, go home and never pick up my pens again. My drawings were an embarrassment and why was I even at life drawing? I shouldn't be there. I didn't deserve to be there - not with what I was producing. I, obviously, was getting ideas above my station going to life drawing. But I finished my cuppa and went back in. I persevered and I'm glad I did. I pulled this one out of the bag. And now I can carry on drawing for a bit longer. 

WARNING: freaky ventriliquist dummy alert

If you follow my blog you may well know

that I draw anywhere and everywhere.

But where better than somewhere that combines your other interests. And I bloody love stuff. Old stuff. Which is why I love the antique auctions.

Which is why I love an antique auction house. Today I was at Adam Partridge's auction house in

Where else can you sit on an antique chair and draw surrounded  by spooky ventriloquist dummies and tiny chaise longue? 

 
And then there's the vast array of fabulous and insane subject matter. It's everything I love in one afternoon.

 And if I'm drawing I'm not bidding.

Although, I always end up bidding too. Not on the spooky dummy though. Not this time anyway.

How to upcycle and old radio (drawing)

 As I may have already mentioned, I've been cleaning up my house recently. It fell into disrepair due to neglect (by me) and now I'm giving it some much needed attention. I've put a deadline on getting it done too; August. I have decided to do an Open House then, to show off all my hard work - decorating and drawing - and you're all invited. I need to, not only paint the whole place, but, get my work together to frame and hang. I came across this radio drawing whilst sorting through stuff. I made it, about six years ago, whilst in Italy. It was on that trip that I met lapin for the first time too. I also drew his hat. But that hangs in his home.

 Anyway, I decided I'd like this drawing to be at my Open House exhibition, so last night I played around with it a little. I upcycled this old radio, if you like. There were practical reasons for doing it; the brown pens I used back then (my beloved Pilot G-tec) are just not light fast, and so, as I wanted this radio hanging on my wall, in August, it too needed a little attention. I went over it all in brown light fast fine liners and added a little colour pencil. An improvement on the original? I don't know. That's all subjective.

Now, I haven't got time for all this. I've got walls to paint. AUGUST?! The whole house by August

i'm going to clear out my head, i'm going to get myself straight

I've been cleaning up my house recently. And cleaning up my act. I've always kept stuff 'for drawing'. For that day when I finally sit down and draw my stamp, matchbox, buttons, receipts, doll's heads (really), cork collections. Amongst many others.

But, this isn't fitting in with my quest for minimalist living. So there's going to be a cull. Things are getting serious. But how can I get rid of these corks? They are thing of beauty. I've drawn them before (above and below) and I may want to draw them again. They all have their own characters and personalities. They're all slightly different. You can make rubber stamps out of them. They have sentimental.....

I'm walking down your street again

Right, once again, it's been too long since I last posted here. So, here's a mega post. I won't bore you with words. I'll just show you in drawings and photos some of the things I've been doing (drawing) in the gaps between posts.

I've been drawing in bars

and in antique showrooms

drawing bikes in galleries

and bodies in museums,

drawing the guy at the bar of the brasserie

and the girl at the café,

the chip van

and at lunch with my niece

at the cricket with friends

more bones at another museum

whilst working at the gallery

at another bar

on the high street

at a transport museum

and another bike

at another pub

with a sharply dressed man

at a bus station

at a flea market

and at another museum.

Which all tells me that I like old things and spend a lot of time eating out in bars and cafes. Yep, I think that pretty much sums it up.

Have you signed up to Sketchbook Skool yet? The course I teach on starts today. You too may end up drawing your life too if you do. Enrol on 'Seeing' HERE.

How to Do It (self publishing) Yourself

Here's another of my passions folks. Zines. I am a fully fledged zine maker. A zinester, to use the technical term. What is it about making zines I love? Well, it is the whole process. But the main main thing is that it is DIY publishing which means you only answer to yourself. You write, draw, play, create whatever it is that you want to. Totally and utterly authentic. Nobody else has any say, influence or sway over what you want to produce. What can be better than that? Well, making money out of it would be nice. But, that's never the starting point. You'd be sorely disappointed if it was. They are a labour of love. No, the starting point is 'I'm going to make this because I want/need to'. 

It does, however, mean that sometimes we have to flog our creations. So, here's a bundle of my five current zines. Each has a run of 1000. No more no less. And, I've put a SALE on. Normally $50 but I've knocked 20% off so for this weekend they're just $40.

This is the perfect inspiration kit for anyone who loves drawing or just loves to look at drawings.

Molezine 2

A collection of some of the drawings from my travel themed Moleskine sketchbook. Limited stock.

 How To Draw Like a Loon

Created with nothing but a four colour ballpoint. This zine is all about drawing and handwriting. Filled with lots of exercise for you to try. Including how to make a zine! Very limited stock.

An Idle Daydream

A zine that reviews my favourite (and not so favourite) pens. Also includes some of my favourite blog images from the last eight years.

How to Draw Like a Barmpot

Another tutorial zine. This one focuses on drawing with your imaginations. Includes lots of little exercises to get your imagination working.

The Daily Tamp

A tiny cut-out-and-make newspaper full of stories, film reviews, classified ads and all the usual features of a big full sized newspaper but just tiny.

 

If you'd like to purchase, or read more about this zine bundle you can do so HERE. You will be supporting an artist to create more publications that you won't find on the supermarket shelves.

Many thanks for listening.

the fear of a people sketcher

Yesterday I went back to Gallery Oldham where I'd previously done research for the Museum job that I've talked about in my last posts. This time though I returned for a little mini sketch meet up with some friends.

When I was there last time I made this sketch, below, of the guy who worked in the gallery's lovely Naked Bean cafe. It was a sneaky sketch, I didn't show him but I did post the sketch on Twitter and the cafe saw it. They said that he loved it - even though i'd made him look pretty grumpy in it. Which he wasn't. He was the opposite to grumpy. 

Anyway, yesterday, when I returned and with the knowledge he was happy with the sketch I took the opportunity to get a photo of him with it. He said "I've never been drawn before. It made my day. I put it on Facebook and everything".

I think the fear for all of us that sketch people is their response to it. Will they be offended? Will they hate it? I know it's my fear which is why I don't often show them. But his response made my day. This time it paid off.

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.

getting with the programme

So, I'll be honest, this is basically a test post. For a long time my blog has just been chugging along. There was a time, way back when, when I would blog, religiously, a few times a week. Then social media happened.

Like many people, I suppose, I started 'blogging' there. It seemed easier. I'm not really interested in sharing the ins and outs of my life online, or social media, but sharing my artwork through those platforms seemed to make sense. Blogging suddenly seemed like much more of an effort. I mean you had to switch in the laptop and all that palaver. 

I blamed blogging, and blogs, for that - for being behind the times. Not catching up with social media. But it was me that was behind the times and not keeping up with the technology. It hadn't even dawned in me to download the Blogger app. But now I have. 

I took these photos on Friday. My friend and I, Kate of Emily Pickle design (haven't worked out if it's possible to add a link when blogging on your phone. Anyone?) took her 'pencil case' out to the pub to draw. Her pencil case/make up bag is filled with all sorts of goodies I'd never have dreamtof using to draw with. The drawing above is made with glitter mascara, liquid eyeliner and Christmas wrapping tapes amongst other things. I loved experimenting with all this stuff. I'll never look at an old eyeliner in the same way again.

Right, I'm going to put the laptop on to see how this worked out....