on the beach

So as the rain continues to fall, and fall, and fall, and fall here in the UK look what's turned up in my inbox. Yes, that's only my little Moos sunning themselves on a beach in Hawaii. The swines!!

They don't 'alf get around, you know. See them in other lovely locations HERE. Thanks to my friend Joanie for these lovely pics.

with my small axe

Here's yet another little themed book I have on the go. It's a book I turn to when I don't want to do one of those big mad drawings, but just a small (ish) sketch. It's a little book of travels around my house. Around my life.

It's been cold here in the UK. Non stop rain. Absolutely chucking it down. I was looking at these logs that live in a box in the wall of my living room. It's been so chilly I was even considering burning them. I didn't, a) because it's July and therefore supposed to be summer and b) because I thought I'd draw them instead and c) because they look too good to burn. They are a box of good looking logs. Yes, I'm shallow.

i'll be back again and again and again and again and again...

....with a little help from my friends (you know, I only ever speak in song lyrics these days). So, a little while back I asked if anybody fancied colouring in my black and white drawings of this girl. And to my amazement some of you did! And, with the most fabulous results, too. Way better than my attempt. So without further ado...

Kathleen (age; post adolescent):

Hannah (age; 10 years):

Beth (age; 9):

Jeanne (age; 60):

Laurel (age; 7):

Grace (age; 13):

Gianluca (age; 29):

Andrea Joseph (age; no spring chicken):

And, finally...

Lara the cat. Age; what's it got to do with you?

Thank you all so much for taking part, guys.

Psssst, also check out Pippa's gorgeous blog for her versions and a bonus story about my girl and her mess; HERE.

don't be light

I've been piling on the pounds recently, so I dug out all my old wholefood cookbooks in an attempt to get healthy. I have an extensive collection of cookery books from the 1960's and 70's. I found them all in charity shops and bought them all for the illustration. I just love those drawings. I believe that this illo was heavily influenced by that whole vibe.

This one started life as a 'simple line drawing', as many of my drawings do. Five days later I'm still undecided about it, but after all that time it's being posted. Undecided or not.

born to (not) run

Another drawing from my travel themed Moleskine. And some more nonsense that, no doubt, I'll regret sharing.

every day, once a day, give yourself a present

Bowl of chips and malt vinegar, Vanilla Kitchen, Tideswell.

I love Tideswell village. Recently I've been making the trip at least once a week to do some drawing. I love drawing so much. I want to keep learning. I want to learn how to draw buildings and landscapes. And, for me, there's no better place than Tideswell. It's a gorgeous village. Hopefully, one day soon, I'll show you some of the drawings I have made there. Drawings, that is, of the views, rather than the things I am comfortable drawing. Like chips.

Wooden Owl, charity shop, Tideswell.

My buddy Tim and I spent the most perfect day there recently. Apart from a gorgeous meal at Vanilla Kitchen (which is one of the best places to eat in the whole of the Peaks) the whole town was gearing up for Wakes week so there was all sorts of stuff going on. And, my favourite little charity shop was open. It's very rare to find it open. I've blogged about it before, and if you don't have much of a life you might want to read about it HERE.

I got this little wooden owl, a tiny padlock and 6 used German stamps for just 50p. Bargain. Actually, Tim treated me to them, as a birthday gift.

To be fair, he did also treat me to Neil Young tickets, a bed settee in a Travelodge and dinner at Ikea. He sure knows how to treat a lady. Thanks, chuck. This note's for you.

the way we were

These two drawings are a kind of memory drawings. Well, the idea is from a memory. I've just used a bit of creative license. I remember as a kid being told to go and tidy the living room which would have been full of toys and books and stuff. I would pull the settee out and pile absolutely everything in the room behind the settee then push it back into place. You see, creative even back then.

So, this girl has been told to tidy up, and that's what she's done. In her way.

These drawings are crying out for some colour. I really love monochromatic drawings. I am never that happy when I add colour, but with these I really feel the urge. So you might just be seeing them again, sometime in the near future.

Kids, (big and small) you have my permission to print these off and colour them in yourselves. You have to let me see the results, though. And, I might just post them.

take a pinch of keyhole

(Click on drawing to view)

This drawing had all the ingredients to be great. A beautiful subject matter courtesy of my friend Annette. Stunning colours. Heaps of nostalgia. And hours of time to simmer. Somehow, for me, it falls short of being an extremely tasty dish.

Everyday Matters #37, draw some keys.

all i wanna do

The Travel Moleskine

Click HERE to see my Travel Moleskine, so far.

I thought I'd condense this travel themed Moleskine down to one post, so that it's not dominating the main page of my blog. Instead of cutting it down, however, I've just ended up doing a big huge Moley post. But, what's wrong with a bit of Moleskine love between consenting adults, eh?

The most frequently asked question from visitors to my blog, who are not part of the drawing community, is what is a Moleskine? Well, Moleskines are sketchbooks. Great ones! I think the mark of a really great product is when you don't have to advertise, your customers do the advertising for you. HERE is a link to my first ever Moleskine post, from my first ever Moleskine. I was smitten straight away.

The Ballpoint Moleskine

HERE you can see the beginnings of my Ballpoint Moleskine. It's a bit rubbish, so far, but it's just the start.

The Spare Moley

And, HERE you'll find the drawings from my Spare Moleskine. A kind of back up Moley. It's the substitute I call off the bench when the others are worn out from too much cross hatching.

The Sepia One

Finally, you'll see the entire set of drawings from my Sepia Moleskine HERE. It's the only one, to date, that I've finished.

But mostly, I'm the most excited about my New Moley. Which'll be coming to your screen some time soon.

And, if you are not convinced about how great the Moleskine is yet, check out Moleskinerie for all things Moley.

(Surely, I've broken some kind of record for the use the word Moleskine in one blog post? Somebody call Norris McWhirter.)

the ghosts of night, the dreams of day

Somebody, who was recently leafing through one of my sketchbooks, remarked on how unsketchbooky my sketchbooks are. It's true, of course. Almost all of my books are obsessively finished and presented. I rarely sketch, and have been meaning to change the name of this blog from 'sketchblog' to 'drawing blog' for as long as I can remember. I see every sketchbook I'm working on as being an actual finished piece. As a whole.

So, I don't really own any sketchy type sketchbooks. I do, however, have books that are filled with words, quotes, titles, names. References, basically. Ideas and references. They are the closest I get to a sketchbook. In the past I always wanted to be the kind of artists that is really sketchy and loose in the way they work. Here, in a pathetic attempt to show how sketchy and free and easy I am, I turned one of my reference pages into this drawing. Convinced? Nah, me neither. It just looks like a doodle by somebody with a serious mental illness.

I have accepted that I am not one of those artists. I'm as obsessive as the day is long. And what's really bugging me about this drawing is that I didn't add more to it, especially in the bottom left hand corner. There's always tomorrow, I suppose.

there's a thousand things i want to say to you

I did warn you that I'd be boring you further with this travel themed Moleskine, didn't I? Oh, right. Well, I will be. I'm like a dog with a bone when I get hold of a subject. I just cannot let it be.

So, anyway, here's a couple more spreads. Today, boys and girls, we will be covering London and Italy. In a roundabout sort of way. And, just out of interest, does anyone know of a UK stockist for this licorice? It's amazing.

Now, children, I won't tell you again, click on the drawings to view.

where'er you go

Click on drawings to view.

These are a couple of pages from one of the themed Moleskine sketchbooks I have on the go at the moment. This one is a kinda sorta travelly themed Moley. Sorta. Kinda.

You'd have thought I'd had enough of keys after the last drawing. But, it seems not. My friend, who'd heard about my thing for drawing keys, came into work with the most gorgeous old tin of the tiniest keys you could imagine. I cannot wait to get stuck into drawing them. So, more keys at a later date.

It's funny how these things happen, though, isn't it? Last night, I only popped out to the pub for half an hour and ended up coming home with a huge Tupperware box full of sea anemones, conchs, pebbles, lava, snail shells. And, a seahorse. Yes, a seahorse!! Cannot tell you how excited I am about drawing the contents of the Tupperware. But, more of that later, too.

Can't chat now, I have way too much to draw. Cheerio, my ducks.

for a minute i lost myself

What can I say? More Moleskine madness.

you been going through changes

I'm happy with this one. I hope you like it, too.
You have to click on this drawing to view it. Stick your beaks right in and have a proper rummage around.

blink and you'll miss it

Hey, guys and dolls. I am drawing. Really I am. Here's the proof. It's just that I've suddenly taken to drawing on A3 paper, and I don't own an A3 scanner. I'm loving this bigger paper, though. Just what I needed, double the size paper to fill with the tiniest most intricate of details.

Also, I now have to go to the print shop to get my drawings scanned. I'll have to post photos until I do that. Or, until I (can afford to) invest in an A3 scanner.

Something else I love is making life more complicated for myself.