i heard it in the wind last night

Oh well, I didn't get around to a new Christmas drawing this year, so the sprouts are getting another airing. For those of you from outside of the UK who might be wondering why sprouts, well, I'll tell you why. In the UK it is the law that on Christmas day you must have Brussel sprouts. Honestly. You can be locked up unless you have at least one on your plate. And nobody wants that.

Hope you all a have a wonderful Christmas (assuming you celebrate it). Thanks for all the visits, follows and comments. They are much appreciated. I'll be back with loads more drawings very soon.

And, once again, a big thanks to those of you who have bought my drawings, zines and prints. You keep the wolf from my door.

Merry Christmas everybody.

the craziness begins

I'm sorry to bang on about this again but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. So here's a little more promotion, and some photos, of my new zine 'How to Draw Like a Nut'. This zine contains the answers to the most frequently asked questions, some ideas to get you drawing and a mini tutorial. Plus lots of nonsense.

A HUGE big thanks to everyone who has ordered so far. I hope you enjoy them when they do arrive. I look forward to hearing your feedback on this new (compared to my Molezines) format. I shall keep my blog updated with all updates(?) - I ain't great with words.

So thanks again.

Buy your copy of 'HOW TO DRAW LIKE A NUT' HERE.
Cheers, my dears.

i've been whistling down the street

It wasn't until the day I was leaving Clermont Ferrand that I realised that I hadn't bought any souvenirs of the trip. We'd been so busy at the exhibition that I'd forgotten - which is ironic as I was there to exhibit my travel sketchbook that was themed 'souvenirs of my travels'. So on our final day we had an hour before we had to be the airport to find some souvenirs.

Luckily my stadar (a kind of radar, or gaydar, that detects stationery outlets in the vicinity), which had been going off for the whole trip, pointed me in the direction of a great big stationers close to our hotel. Now, for me, stationery plus souvenirs ticks so many boxes I couldn't have been happier.

So, here are my souvenirs of Clermont Ferrand; a half blue and half red pencil, two stencil maps of France and a ruler. Mission accomplished.

I'm not so happy with the blue and red drawing, above. No doubt I'll mess around with that some more in the future.

Of course, there are also all of the sugar packets, napkins, tram tickets, receipts, bills and business cards I also collected during the trip, but hey that's another drawing. Or six.

These drawing are a part of my aforementioned souvenir themed sketchbook. You can see the rest of the series HERE.

leave no track don't look back

The girl who served me at Cafe Nero in Manchester Airport must have thought I was a total pig. I bought three Espressos, Sicilian Lemon cheesecake, these Amaretti biscuits and some hazelnut chocolates in the 15 minutes I had spare before boarding my plane.Of course, what she did not know was that I was only buying these Amarettis to draw. There was no way I could ignore gorgeous packaging like this.

The Aftermath

After I'd finally finished drawing them, earlier today, I decided that the only right and proper thing to do would be to eat them. It would be wrong to let them go to waste. However they had been to France and back in my hand luggage and were pretty much powder and crumbs. Therefore the only thing left to do was to tip my head back and basically pour them down my neck. I am, of course, a total pig.

These drawings are from my travel sketchbook. You can see the other drawings from that book HERE.

Now where are those handmade chocolate Florentines that I bought to draw?

raising the spirit of peace and love

I've been playing the Plastic Ono Band album for about 6 months now. I'm completely obsessed with it. And, it hadn't even occurred to me that there were two significant anniversaries taking place this year. It's hard to imagine John as a 70 year old man. I guess he'll always be 40. And then there's today's anniversary. 30 years since his death. I remember hearing he had died before I left for school. I didn't know then how much he would come to mean to me later in life when I fell in love with music and, of course, the Beatles.

When I came into this world the Ballard of John and Yoko was top of the charts. That makes me happy.

to follow where you are

So you might have seen a bit of this drawing before. Half of it to be precise. This is the last piece of artwork to be finished for the new ballpoint zine. I'm looking forward to seeing it all printed and assembled. It's quite different product from my previous Molezines so, as yet, I have no idea how it'll turn out.

I'm hoping it'll look pretty cute. I'm quite happy with this spread, anyway. But, to bed now. I've been awake until the wee hours for the last three months. Or at least that's how it feels.

Night night.

it's time the tale were told

I've been meaning to post the details about the Jane Austen book that I illustrated for ages. It's been another thing on the list of things to do which seems to grow by the day. So, I'll be brief. Here is the link to the publishers website. Unfortunately the book is only available in Italian at the moment, but the New Year should see the English version. I'll let you know when that happens, but for now, you can read a little about the book and about me HERE (then search Andrea Joseph).

a song that i know

Here's one that started life in one of my sketchbooks and has now been reworked on paper. I was looking for a final image to complete the new 'drawing with a ballpoint' zine and as these were such a hit when I exposed them in France (I can't think why) I decided to go with them.

I've added a little extra something to the zine version (no. I'm not getting my bra out again) but you'll have to wait until you get it in your little paws.

all through the night

Here's one from the up and coming new ballpoint pen zine. It's not completely finished in this version, a little more has been added since. A little something extra for those who purchase the zine. C'mon, I have to entice you somehow. I'll be putting it for pre order in the next couple of days.

This is my living room and the armchair is my workspace.

something to be

So here's a little thing I've been working on for a little while. It's a new zine. Or rather this is the cover. It's not a Molezine, it's a bit different. Not quite as posh as my little Molezines, but, I think, more in the spirit of zines. It's also a kind of 'drawing with a ballpoint/biro/stilo/bic' zine. It'll be out in the next couple of weeks (bad timing I know, with the Christmas mail, but that's typical).

I did wonder about putting it for pre order, but after the debacle with the last one I'm not too sure. What do you think?

your smiles and shells

Another new one from the travel sketchbook. Or, at least, it will be new to you if you weren't rifling through my Moleskine over the weekend.

This one is one half of a pair of drawings. You can see the other half, and the rest of the travel sketchbook set, HERE.

using words i never say

Wow.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

What an amazing weekend I've had in Clermont Ferrand at the Biennale Carnet de Voyage exhibition. I was there to show my sketchbooks, specifically the travel sketchbook, to (what seemed like) the whole of France. The event turned out to more than I could ever have imagined. It really was amazing.

No doubt I will go on and on about it for some time, but right now I just need to say some big 'thank yous'. Firstly to the organizers of this brilliant exhibition, specifically Anne, Anais and Marie who looked after us so well. Merci girls.

Of course a huge HUGE thank you to everyone who stopped by to look at my work. This is the first time these sketchbooks have been exhibited 'in real life'. Obviously, I have shown the drawings here on my blog, to a great response, but nothing beats seeing that response first hand. To see the look on peoples faces and hear the reactions was a beautiful thing and quite overwhelming. I returned to the UK a very happy person.

Finally, a big old thanks to my friend, and manager on this trip, Tim. I couldn't have done it without you mate. It certainly wouldn't have been SO much fun. You were great despite your appalling French.

Over the next few weeks I'll bang on about it a lot more, and I'll post some of the drawings of the souvenirs and memories that I brought back from Clermont Fernand. I hope you come back to see them.

Merci beaucoup.

for such a long time now

Another from the travel Moleskine.

I'll be exhibiting my Moleskines, including the travel Moleskine, at the Biennale; Carnet de Voyage event in Clermont Ferrand this coming weekend. If you are planning to visit the exhibition stop by and say hello.

see the drunkard of the village

See. I told you it would all go horribly wrong. Poor old Alice will be regretting sipping so much Claret tomorrow morning. I hope this is a lesson to you all. Now I just need to practice what I preach.

on the highway of regret

This weekend, boys and girls, I am going to teach you about the perils of too much alcohol. Believe me, I am well qualified to do so. Sometimes it's about knowing when to stop. But, if you don't know when that is it's about not starting at all. Because things can all go horribly wrong. As you will see in my next post.

So, watch and learn. Watch and learn.

my little box at the top of the stairs

If I'm honest this isn't actually my little box. I've also taken to drawing other people's souvenirs in my quest to fill my travel themed Moleskine. This box of crap, I mean beautiful collection of memorabilia, accompanied my friend Tim home from his world travels. I am a big fan of tat and have wanted to draw this for the longest time.

Actually I've probably wanted to use this blog post/drawing title for even longer than I've wanted to draw his little box, so to speak.

forget myself

My last post found me extolling the virtues of illustrated endpapers...

...when it struck me that I now have some endpapers of my own...

...not only endpapers, of course, a whole book, but at the moment we are just talking about endpapers...

...it also got me thinking that not only do I love endpapers...

...but I love a good flyleaf too...

...and you know, I might be blowing my own trumpet here...

...but I think that my endpapers are pretty lovely and my flyleaves look non too shabby either.

the way i feel from day to day

Before I signed with my agent I visited her at her home and we went through all of my drawings, so that she could get an idea of where my work was at and where it might go. When she saw the many drawings of collections, that I create, she said "These drawings look like endpapers. Beautiful endpapers, but endpapers all the same". I have to agree. They do.

You see, I absolutely love endpapers. I've bought many a book on the strength of the endpapers alone. They are often my favourite part of a book. Just Google image 'endpapers' and, if you are anything like me, you'll be drooling for hours.

It got me thinking that my most perfect job in the whole world would be an endpapers illustrator. Seriously, I couldn't think of anything better. So, if you hear of any endpaper-drawer jobs going please let me know. In the meantime here's a couple more from my travel Moleskine.

that's entertainment

It's been a slow couple of weeks drawing wise. I've been having some work done on my house and I've realised that any disruption to the tranquility of my solitude means that drawing just does not happen. But, I do, of course, still have the book illustrations to share.

It just so happens that I live five minutes down the road from a place called Lyme Park, which is where the BBC's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was filmed. It is, quite frankly, THE only adaptation you'll ever need to see (we all remember the lake scene, right girls?). Anyway, as a little nod to that, I made Lyme Hall the house in the Jane Austen story that I illustrated (it also appears in THIS drawing and THIS one). I absolutely love weaving all this stuff into my illustrations. Packing them full of references, messages and clues. There's plenty more in this drawing. Maybe you can spot some?

into something more

Here's a couple more from the travel Moleskine. The first, above, is one of the many postcards I brought back from a trip to Port Meirion, North Wales. I just cannot tell you how much I love this crazy beautiful village. It is one of the most surreal places I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. It was designed by Clough Williams Ellis and the drawing on the postcard is one of his architectural designs. If you ever should find yourself in North Wales you absolutely must visit Port Meirion. I insist on it. Insist.

This pencil, which is quite obviously from the Louvre, was originally going to be surrounded by other objects in the drawing. But, once I'd drawn it on the page I liked the simplicity of the composition. The challenge for me, now, is to leave it as it is. To not add anything else. I'm not at all confident about the chances of that.

all i wanna do

Ooooh. 'Citing stuff. The book I recently (ish) illustrated arrived at my little home today. It's a great feeling to finally hold it. It's a little book, little but cute. I know I keep on repeating myself, but for those who don't know, it's by Jane Austen. I'll tell you more, and add some photos, in the next post. Right now, I'm so excited I just wanted to share this news with you.

This is one of my favourite drawings. It also graces the cover. This scan isn't so great. In the original you can see every hole that the needle made in the material. Yes, I actually drew every tiny hole. Nothing obsessive about that, I'm sure you'll agree.

say hello wave goodbye

Well, hello dolly. Again.

Yes, there certainly seems to be a theme running through my work at the moment. The drawing, above, was another that I really enjoyed doing. I love having so many different textures to tackle, and each of the dolls had a texture and character of it's own. I've finished with the theme, for now, though. I'm all dolled out.

a song for Alice

My drawings are, to say the least, highly detailed. Often I over do it. I know I do. It frustrates the hell out of me that I just cannot let a drawing be. So, on the odd occasion when I create something and resist the urge to cross hatch the hell out of it it I feel quite pleased with myself. Those drawings often become my favourites. Probably because they make a refreshing change.

Here's one of those. It's another from the Jane Austen book.

before the years flew by

Here's a spread from my travel Moleskine. I know. I know what you are thinking. You don't spell recieved like that.

I really enjoyed this drawing. I love the challenge of trying to master a new texture with a few pens and pencils. I like to think I got it, although this version doesn't do it much justice. It looks much better on Flickr, HERE.

message to the universe

Damn, my laptop is playing up again. It's so frustrating. I got a fix back in June, but I suppose I knew that that was not going to be a long term solution. Hope it gets better soon, cos I've got a couple drawings, that I am loving, from my travel sketchbook to post.

In the meantime here's a little drawing from the Jane Austen book. You know what's even more frustrating (there's really no reason you should)? I've been sent the PDFs from the publishers, so I could take a look at the book. But, because my computer is unwell, I can't bloody open them. Aaargh.

when the morning cries and you don't know why

Here's one of those spur of the moment drawings.

Earlier today I was clearing out my bags. Three bags in total. Amongst all the usual rubbish I found these items; a tin of tuna, a dolls head, a sock and a peg.

Now, that reminded me of this thing I once heard. I'm not sure how true it is, or how my source came to find this out. But I was told that the mother of the Bee Gees always kept a pork pie in her handbag. At ALL times. Wherever she went, she would have a pork pie (I'm guessing a Melton Mowbray, but I could be wrong) in her handbag. I always found this the most fabulous piece of trivia I'd ever heard. It quietly waited in my long term memory until I had a chance to use it.

Girls, I wonder what unusual things you have in your handbag? Let me know. I might just make it into a drawing. I'm not talking about stuff like chocolate, tampons, nappies, make up, etc. What I'd like to hear about is your, well, pork pies.

stick with me

A little request here, folks. I know how generous you have been in the past with this kind of thing. I wonder if there is anyone who has Moo stickers of their own work? If so, would you like to swap a page (6) of those stickers with me, for mine? I'd like to use them in one of my Moleskines. Please leave a comment if you would, and we can sort out the swap from there.

Also, a word on my Moo stuff. You know I'm a Moo designer, right? Well, I'm hoping to have an overhaul of all the drawings I currently have available on Moo. As soon as time permits. It's about time too. I'll be getting rid of some of them for good, so if you ever wanted cards, stickers, etc, with these drawings on then get them now. HERE.

Check out my Moo Flickr set. I love this set the best of all. You can see my Moo cards on vacation in all sorts of glamorous places including Paris, Italy, Hawaii and um, er, Lincolnshire. See them HERE (best viewed as a slideshow).

Cheers, my dears.

what can i say?

Just some shells. Drawn in my travel Moleskine. That's it. Snail shells. Oh, and a letter written on a sea shell. Just that.

walk on

If you are familiar with my blog then you'll know that, a while back, I was illustrating a book. Although, I was not really able to talk too much about it (and I'm probably still not supposed to) it's hard to resist. Especially when I do not have any other drawings to post, here. Yet I have over twenty waiting in the wings. Well, one less now.

This is one of my favourite drawings from the book. For those who have asked, it is a Jane Austen book. It's not one of the biggies, i.e. Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice. It's one of her earlier, shorter stories from the Juvenilia collection. I didn't know these stories existed until I was approached to illustrate one. I'm glad I know now. I found this one, in particular, very amusing. Not least because it's about a girl who drinks too much Claret. I feel it was made for me. But, I'm worried that I am being typecast so early on in my illustrating career.

For the most of the book I have tried to tell the story through objects that are part of the story. I'm not sure whether that makes much sense, but here I've illustrated a scene on a wine cork. A Claret cork, of course.

feelin' alright

A few posts ago I introduced you to the Swish hairbrush. Well, it turns out I've actually drawn it before. It's on this table. Can you spot it? The answer is on my book blog HERE.

Also, talking about the book blog, it has been voted as a Froudian website of the month. That makes me happy because Brain Froud is one of my illustration heroes. Faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee is most probably my favourite illustrated book of all time. For those of you who've never seen it, you really really should. It is a thing of absolute beauty.

seems i've got to have a change of scene

A couple more spreads from my travel themed Moleskine. It's a tale of two drawings. A game of two halves. Or something like that. The drawing above is of some bouquet garni I bought in Lyon. Now, I know some twigs and sticks wrapped in leaves isn't going to float every bodies boat, but it does mine.

I enjoyed this drawing, loved the subject, colours and the textures and I like to think it shows.

In contrast, the sea anemones, below, turned out to be quite the opposite. Although, the subject is very beautiful I couldn't get a handle on it. It really should have been lovely - gorgeous shapes, amazing textures, patterns and colours - but I just couldn't make it work. I end up getting so frustrated when I cannot achieve on paper what I see in my head. I didn't enjoy this one, at all.

And, I think that shows too.

Anyway, enough moaning. You can see the rest of my travel moleskine HERE.