Ask Andrea

I am currently beavering away, creating my fourth zine in the 'How To Draw' series. This one is, again, about drawing with the ballpoint pen and I'll be taking a closer look at the colour ballpoint. For the first time, I'll also be including a 'problem page'!

So, if you have any questions about drawing with ballpoint pens please ask away. I'll choose a few that I'll endeavour to answer in the new zine - available at the beginning of August.

I'd better get my socks on!

Previous zines available HERE.

under the moon of love

You may recognise this drawing. I posted it some time ago. But, it looked a little different then. Check it out HERE.

This really is an example of doodling in it's purist form. I was flabbergasted by the response it recieved back then, because, for the most, I was just working the inks through my pens and checking out the colours. It was my palette, I suppose. After posting it first time round it didn't stop being my palette. I kept working that ink through.

I don't know if it's improved any but I just thought I'd post this development.

where the feeling stays

I've had the idea for this drawing in my head for so long now, for at least a year, but it's been a real struggle to get it down on paper.
As soon as the idea came to me, probably in the shower, I felt it could look really great.
I put an outline of a couple of pairs of legs on the page and then left it.
At some point later I coloured in those legs but I still wasn't feeling it. So, I left it some more.
When I'd decided that my next zine was going to be about drawing with a four colour ballpoint I knew that that's the direction I should go with this.
This would be one of the 'big' drawings of the new zine.
Finally, over the last few days I sat down and finished it.
Which was when I really got into it.
Then I found myself thinking "why didn't you get into this sooner? I'm enjoying this drawing sooo much".
Welcome to my world.

but far enough to see

I was absolutely utterly confident that today I would post the update, as mentioned in the last three posts. It would be a good way to start the week I'd thought. Over the weekend I caught a bit of sunshine that allowed me to take some photos - I have a very dark house. Then, when I came to upload them I found that the camera had been on the wrong setting and the pictures are no good. Now, I have to wait for the next chink of sunlight. I told you, me promising anything is the kiss of death.

So, I've decided to try a different tack; never bother coming back to this blog. Nothing interesting happens here. Nothing.

Do you think that may work? In the meantime, here's some drawings of pens.

it could be

I don't know about you other creative types, but sometimes I have no idea where drawings come from. There are clues and there are all of those things that have been stored away in that long term memory box marked 'for future use'. But, then there are other drawings where you can recall every little road, and side street, you walked down to get to it. This is one of them. This is the story of where this drawing came from;

1970s films - I love a good old 70s film. I don't care what they are about. I'll just watch them for the styling; the clothes, the homes, the decor, the design of the day. As long as they are drenched in corduroy, big flowery prints and bri-nylon I'm happy. I've actually sat through about three series of Man About the House (British 70s sitcom) just to get a better glimpse of the three prints they had on their kitchen wall (one was a green pepper). The other evening I watched a film from the 70s, in which the main character had her own advertising agency. In the background I caught a glimpse of some seed packets that the agency had designed. I immediately felt inspired.

Classic French typography - I love those classic French style fonts; from Bistro signs to wine bottles. I've been doing a bit of research for an invitation I am designing, for an upcoming dinner party, and I've gone down the French route. I ADORE the Metropolitan typography and have been practicing it.

Art Nouveau - I've also been researching (Googling) a lot of Art Nouveau stuff recently. Just for my own amusement. I love everything about it from the architecture, art and, again, the typography.

1960s and 70s recipe books - I've written about my love of these books before. It's the first thing I look for in a charity shop. In fact, I go in charity shops to look for them specifically. I have a rather lovely collection. They are always bought for the drawings although sometimes I'll dig them out for a mung bean and brown rice salad recipe.

Sweetcorn - one of my all time favourite veg. I bought this corn on the cob the other day. As I was choosing it I was thinking about how pretty it was.

So, there's the story of a drawing. And, the story of my life over the last few days.

my deep shade

So, when I made the colour ballpoint pen drawing for the Pen Addicts pen review, a few days ago, I knew I hadn't finished with them. I made my first drawing of colour pens 4 and a half years ago. I'm surprised that I haven't revisited this subject since then. Yeah, I've drawn loads of pens but not the colour ballpoints. Yet, they are the most delectable of subject matter. And, I am still not finished. In this drawing, I really like the parts where two pens, and two colours, meet. I want to continue playing with that and pushing to see where it can take me. And my pens.

This drawing is for sale HERE.

ringing home so true

Here's a little something I've been working on, and meaning to do, for some time now. I've put a pen review on the Pen Addict's fabulous site. When it came to it there was only one way for me to do a pen review - draw it!

Check out my ballpoint review HERE and don't forget to bookmark that wonderful site (I say 'bookmark it' like I know what that means). I hope this will be the first of many reviews I do for the Pen Addict. I already have the next one penned (sorry) out in my mind.

I must say that it seems that pens have become my new shoes; in that I seem to be drawing lots and lots of them. I ADORED doing this drawing. I just loved drawing these pens, so I'm most definitely finished with them yet. It's also for sale HERE.

in between tonight and my tomorrows

A few posts ago I told you about how I'd swapped the childish purse I'd been carrying around for the ever so grown up owl purse on the left. The childish purse in question was the cat one on the right. When my friend saw my new purse she said "so now you've had an owl and a pussycat". Then we both looked at each other and said "now, THAT would be a good drawing".

I don't know if it's any good, but I do know that these pair are the most delicious of subjects to draw. I love all the patterns and textures. And, I'm not sure that I've finished with them yet.

comes a time

I really must start this Q&A post or I'll continue to put it off. It could be very long so I'm not sure whether I should do it over a few posts or just keep adding to this one. Any ideas on the best way to go about it? Anyway, here are some of the questions I am asked the most and they are about the tools I use.What is the 'sepia' pen that you use?

It is a Pilot G-Tec fine liner. I have recently found other brown pens but the Pilot is still my favourite.
And, which black pens do you use?

I use a whole load of different black pens. Sometimes I use ballpoints, but for the most my drawings are made with fine liners. Again, I use the Pilot G-Tec fine liner, but when it comes to black pens I'm not fussy about brand names as long as they are very fine fine liners! I have used Faber and Castell's Pitt pens in the past but my current favourite is the Uni Pin. I like this one so much because they seem to be have the finest of nibs.

When it comes to fine liners I usually have a variety of nib sizes, to do various jobs. When I get a fine liner that I like I'll try to buy it in 0.5, 0.2 and 0.1 sized nibs. I find all are useful, in fact I find they are all essential.
What ballpoint pens do you use?

When it comes to ballpoints I will use any. I have made drawing after drawing on that subject (just enlarge the drawing above to prove it). I am no pen snob. I'll give anything a go. In my ballpoint pencil case (yes, I have a pencil case specifically for ballpoints) there are Bic, Staedler, Faber and Castell, PaperMate, amongst all sorts of others. There are the freebie pens that you get from charitys and shops, as well as the very cheap packs of ten that don't even have a brand name - they are THAT cheap.

People have often asked about the quality of ballpoints and the blotchyness, and I'll talk about that in future questions that come up about the quality and longevity of ballpoints.

What paper do you use?

For the one off drawings I use a heavyweight cartridge paper. I'm not that loyal to a brand, but Daler and Rowney and Windsor and Newton seem to be the best on the market (I'm NO expert, though!). I always use a heavyweight paper as it needs to be able to handle all the cross hatching that I throw at it. And, that's a lot of cross hatching.

I also use, as you'll know if ever been to this blog before, Moleskine sketchbooks. I adore the paper in these skecth books and always have a few on the go. They are an obsession for me.

Do you ever experiment with other media?

I've used all sorts in the past. I used to do a bit of painting, but it seems an awful lot of faffing around. I’m a bit lazy like that and can’t be bothered with washing brushes and all the setting up process that painting involves. And, anyway I always ended up drawing with the paintbrush as opposed to painting with it.

I've also used graphite pencil. I always thought that my work would be suited to it. After much practice I found this not to be true. But I’m not a fan of pencil at all. I enjoy seeing other people use it but it’s not for me.

I do love colour pencils, though, and all my colour work is made with colour pencils and colour ballpoint.

why don't you come over to my house?

This is the first time in ages that I have not had some kind of deadline looming on the horizon. And, after the stress of some of those deadlines I cannot believe I'm actually going to complain about that - but I am. I'm suddenly feeling so restless. I want something to work toward. Some project. I don't know what sort of project but I'll figure it out. I'll make something happen.

In the meantime, here's a new drawing. A few months ago my coin purse fell apart and I temporarily replaced it with an old purse that had belonged to my niece - when she was about five. It was ridiculously childish purse for 'a lady of a certain age' so, I decided I must replace it and went out to buy a new one. And, yep, you've guessed it; I came home with this much more grown up cloth owl.

This little guy is available for sale (the original drawing, not the purse) HERE.

wish i knew you well

I was going to say that this is the finished version of the drawing I posted part of a little while back. But now looking at it on the screen I think it could do with more shading; a little sepia to give it an antique feel. That's how I had seen it in my head before I began. Also, I always intended adding a handle because it is supposed to be a drawer full of souvenirs. Or, the handle could have made it look like a suitcase. And, I love that ambiguity.

I'm often asked how long my drawings take. Well, at a guess, this one took a mere fifty hours. To appreciate the obsessive attention to detail click on the drawing and stick your conk in. Please do; FIFTY chuffing hours.

Oh dear, it seems that some of you have having trouble enlarging this image. I'll try to fix it, until then you can see the bigger version HERE.

i'm hanging on the wire

I'm so tired these days. I'm exhausted and need my bed as I type this. I just cannot keep up with everything I have to do. When I started this blog I guess I just wanted to start drawing again. Then some time went by and I realised that I might just have some skill and, who knows, I could actually turn my hobby into work. Now I'm at the stage where I can't keep up with it all. I know that all small businesses go through this transitional stage and this is where they can flourish or, for want of a better phrase, go tits up.

I just wasn't expecting to get to a stage where I hardly have the time to draw. These are two pages from my new Moleskine project; the airmail/penpal/Scandinavian themed one. I managed to sneak an evenings drawing in earlier in the week. At this rate this book will be finished in 2036.

Any advice?

trying to remember just what for

Although everything has been quiet around here lately I'm still busily beavering away at this one. So, I thought I'd share another stage of this mammoth drawing with you. So far I've been drawing all the bits and bobs in with colour ballpoints and fine liners. I still don't know how, or if, it'll come together as I rarely do a full-on colour drawing like this. I'm thinking it's nearly there. The final stages will be to get the whole drawing down in pen and then I'll add the final details and, hopefully, a little more 'atmosphere' (is that the right word?) with some soft pencils. That's the plan anyway.

Then what I'd most like to do is get back to blogging. It's just that these days I have lots of things coming at me from every direction. Again, I'm not complaining. Exciting things are happening. It's just that I'm not getting the time to spend with you guys. And, I miss that.

where sleeplessness awaits

So I started this drawing about two or three weeks ago but unfortunately it's going to have to be put on the back burner for the next few days as a new, more pressing deadline has emerged from nowhere.

This is one of the most ambitious drawings that I've undertaken yet. It's on A3 paper which is double the size I normally use. Plus it's full colour. Thus far it has taken approximately 20 hours.

Anyway, I thought I'd take this opportunity to show you how I make these big mad drawings as it is a question I'm asked often. In the past I've been asked if I set up the compositions or whether I draw from a photo. The answer to both of those questions is no. I almost always draw from life.

What I do do is start with a couple objects (in this case the tram ticket, the Mary and baby Jesus and the seahorse) and then add the rest around them. I place the other objects on the paper, mapping it out piece by piece. It's almost as though the composition works itself out. I love drawings like this. I love the way they reveal themselves to me, the way they unfold in front of my eyes.

between the lines

I seem to have been waffling on, in my posts, quite a lot recently. So, in this one I'll just let the drawing do the talking.

You know the drill; click on the drawing for a better view.

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.

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.

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.

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.