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.