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.

all that is mine is in my hands

I have shaky hands. People often say to me when they see my work "you must have a steady hand" when in fact the opposite is true. I have to warm up when I start drawing. I have wondered whether this is where my cross-hatching techniques come from; because drawing a clean line is not always easy I tend to go over the line a few times to correct it. Of course, there are drawings that I have created that are quite clean and simple - my cats, umbrella and Birkenstocks come to mind - but they are rare. I was really nervous when I made those drawings. One shake in the wrong place and it could have ruined them.

chasing dreams across the fields in the shadow of the sun

I was recently tagged by Nina, Nick and Juj. I thought I'd take it as a challenge. A drawing challenge. So here's number 1. During my twenties I spent a lot of time travelling and fruit picking to fund my travels. I have picked all these fruits and veggies at some point. In some place.

I always remember one evening, when I was working on an organic farm in stunning Camarthenshire, Wales. We were riding back to the yard on the back of a tractor as the sun was going down over the fields and hills. I had just been cutting or weeding a field of cabbages, working alongside some lovely people. I remember thinking this was the best job in the world. I still do.

This is the first time I've used some colour on a drawing in my Moleskine. I'm not sure that I like it actually.

10 years on and still drawing onions

I first posted this onion (above) some time ago, actually I think it was my first post, or at least my first EDM challenge. Back then I was just getting to grips with the scanner and so the picture was blurred and cropped far too close. I've just uploaded it for Flickr so I thought I'd post it here again. Also another little offering from just over 10 years ago. A decade of drawing onions!

EDM#95. Draw a holiday card

Now I don't know whether this is a Christmas tradition outside of the UK, but here everybody HAS to have Brussel sprouts with their Christmas dinner, whether you like them or not - it is the law. Most adults and, 99.9% of children, dislike (no HATE) them with a passion, but they still have to have at least one on their plate.

Recently Teri tagged me to choose my 5 favourite Christmas songs. So here they are;

1. River - Joni Mitchell (maybe not a traditional Christmas song but it's MY favourite, and it does start with Jingle Bells!)
2. Little Drummer Boy - Bing Crosby & David Bowie (just lovely and such a cute video)
3. The Fairytale of New York - the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl (a perfect song).
4. So This is Christmas - John Lennon.
5. 2000 Miles - the Pretenders.

I'm going to pass the tag on, back over the ocean, to Suzanne. Look forward to seeing her selection.

EDM#26 Draw a vegetable

Aubergine in coloured ballpoint.

happy accidents

Mostly I get really frustrated with scanning work. You can labour over a piece for ages; choosing the right shades and colours for your subject to find once scanned it has somehow changed.
With this picture, though, I am quite pleased with whatever happened during the whole scanning process. It was painted on a plain white board but hey! A 'happy accident' as dear old Bob Ross would have said.

a couple of quickies.

Just a couple of quick sketchbook page drawings. They haven't scanned very well - a little washed out. Still I've finally managed to get two pictures in one post. Of course, they are not quite where I wanted them to be, but still, one step at a time....

Onions in pen and watercolour.

feeling hot hot hot

Just a quick one. Four chillis in biro.
Not sure about this, there was some problem somewhere between the scanner and blog. You might not be able to see the cross-hatching too well and the colour is way off. But I liked the shapes of these chillis.

It's a start

Everyday Matters Challenge #26 "Draw anything you like. If you want to draw a vegetable, that’s fine, too."

Ok so it's probably one of the more ambiguous challenges but I have drawn something I like and it's a vegetable - and it's a start! Probably the first of many onion pictures. I love drawing and painting onions, not sure why, possibly the colours and markings.

I'd just like to say a great big thanks to all the people from Everyday Matters for their response to my first post and for their help with setting up this blog. I have been visiting, and admiring, your blogs for some time and there is some amazing work out there. Thank you all.