Alene Illustration

Colouring Page: Bawang Putih

2012-01-29T17:02:00.000Z

Any nearby kids who need entertaining? There's a new colouring page up on my website, from part of Bawang Putih. It's heavily simplified, because the trees and things are just too complicated to make a good colouring page, and it's been sitting on my desktop for months. Schools are back in WA this week, which means my mother is back teaching, so I thought I'd better finish it off, and remove a bit of computer clutter.

It's free for home or school use, just don't use it to make a profit, and don't remove my credit line.

Click the thumbnail to download:

There are four other colouring pages currently available on my website, so feel free to check them out.

Illustration: Dragon Dance

2012-01-28T18:02:00.001Z

I am really quite sick of this picture! I started it in July; I caught a glimpse of a very cute little girl in a kimono as we walked through the Bon Odori festival in Georgetown, Penang, and sketched her down as well as I could remember when we got back to our hotel for dinner. And it stayed like that, a half-finished sketch in my watercolour sketchbook, until the beginning of January, when I figured it was about time to finish her off.

I changed my original sketch, which had her holding on to her mother's hand, as by necessity I couldn't show the whole mother, as the paper wasn't big enough, and gave her a balloon. And then I added dragons. I'm not quite sure why, maybe the idea of the Chinese year of the Dragon had got into my subconscious (But yes, she's Japanese, not Chinese). But it's never the best idea if I start something without any clear idea of where I'm going.

And I've been trying to finish her for over a week, but everything got very busy, and it got hot. And I mean hot. If you've ever tried to watercolour when it's 42 degrees (that's 108F) you'll know that even if you can get up the inclination, it doesn't tend to work very well at all. >.<

But I've made it, she's finished. Hooray! I'm not quite sure if I like it or not, but she's finished, nonetheless. I hope you like her!

Winsor and Newton watercolours in a Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook

Quotes: Lord Tony's Wife

2012-01-17T16:46:00.000Z

This, as Makenzi points out, is rather bleak, but it's also from a book set during the Reign of Terror, so bleak is.... what's needed. And believe me, I could have made it bleaker! =P

I was reading Baroness Orczy's Lord Tony's Wife as a bit of fluff, and thought this quote was a good image to practice black and white photoshop work with:

"….and Yvonne like a trapped bird was bruising her wings against the bars of her cage"

Adobe Photoshop CS4 with a Wacom Intuos 3, about 1 to 1.5 hours, using just a size 8 hard round brush in black and white.

Illustration: Adele on a Swing

2012-01-14T17:29:00.001Z

A bit of relaxation for me, which I can slot into my watercolour illustration portfolio. I felt like drawing an historical dress, because they're always such fun.

I took a reference screenshot from the 1976 movie The Slipper and the Rose (Which is a cute film, but I bought it pretty much solely for costume reference; 18th century gowns are usually seen on mannequins, and having some shots of them in use is always handy) and used that as my starting point, and I went with Adele, because I'm fond of the characters I designed for my Honours project, and like to bring them out now and again.

Here's Adele (and Katia and Edmund) in the final spread from my Honours project (so long ago! o.O), which I thought it might be fun to show. I designed two costumes each for Katia and Adele, but the second ones were only used for this spread, so I reused this one for my new painting.

For your amusement, I'm including the original reference in this post, and also an animated progress, since I haven't posted one of those for a watercolour before.

Adele on a Swing in Winsor & Newton watercolours and Artline Drawing System pens in a Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook.

Honours Spread from 2008, Winsor & Newton watercolours, Prismacolor pencils, sepia ink with dip pen on Bristol Board.

Card: Lotus

2012-01-10T17:59:00.001Z

Here's a card I designed on Friday for my Aunt's 60th birthday.

I chose a lotus theme because I'd wrapped up the parcel with an origami lotus, and the present was a circular pendant with Swarovski crystals, which transferred well into stylised water ripples. There's a bit of confetti glitter softening the edges of the centre of the flowers, and adding a bit of sparkle.

The design was put together in Adobe Illustrator CS4, and printed on double-sided Epson Matte paper. The floral pattern on the petals is from the pattern set in the font Melany Lane – I didn't have time to come up with my own pattern.

And tagging along on this post are a few digital gesture sketches from more photos of the dancer, done in Adobe Photoshop CS4 over the course of about 10 minutes. I should do more gesture sketching.

Sketch: Village

2012-01-09T18:12:00.000Z

First sketch in my new sketchbook for 2012. I managed to neatly finish my last sketchbook right at the end of December. ^.^ This would have been finished earlier, therefore, but I was quite busy, and on top of that I've been in bed with a very nasty migraine for the last two days. I am not impressed! Hopefully I'll be getting plenty done this week!

The starting point for this was a photograph my friend's father took of Rastoke in Croatia. It doesn't look like Rastoke any more, although the central buildings and the large bridge are quite heavily influenced by the photograph. After that I just added lots of buildings over the course of a few days. I was fascinated by the concept of a village built pretty much on top of a waterfall.

0.5 mechanical pencil with #B lead in a Moleskine Sketchbook

Progress: Wrens on a Wire 4

2012-01-04T18:14:00.000Z

A bit more progress. Painted Lady butterflies are slow going! So are blue wrens, actually, the brown ones are much easier.

And here's a peek at my current little illustration, again finishing off something I started in July.

Progress: Wrens on a Wire

Progress: Wrens on a Wire 2

Progress: Wrens on a Wire 3

Illustration: Nap Time

2012-01-03T18:17:00.002Z

I started this in July, when we were in Kuala Lumpur. o.O I'd inked half of it, and after that it languished in my watercolour sketchbook, until I decided to finish it off yesterday. There are a couple of unfinished things I started then that need doing, and too many unfinished pictures are depressing in a sketchbook. She's based on a sweet little girl I saw asleep in (and practically sliding out of) a pusher. =)

Originally I was going to put stripes on the cushions, but I think that would have made it too busy, so I left them plain.

Winsor & Newton watercolours and Artline Drawing System pens in Moleskine watercolour sketchbook.

Illustration: Dancer

2011-12-31T18:34:00.000Z

I saw this girl busking in town today, and wrested my father's phone from him so I could snap a few reference photos (my own phone is so old that it doesn't even have colour, let alone a camera =P) and used one of them to do this tonight.

I'm not at all sure what type of dancing she was doing, certainly something Asian, but it was pretty, and she was so gorgeously happy while she was doing it. This is based heavily on one of my photos, but naturally not completely. I wanted a little illustration in my usual watercolour style, not a realistic piece.

It's quite heavy on the gold paint, so here's a photo as well, to show off the shininess:

Winsor and Newton watercolours, Artline Drawing System Pens, Reeves Gouache in Moleskine Sketchbook, about 2.5/3 hours.

Progress: Wrens on a wire 3

2011-12-29T18:11:00.000Z

A bit more progress. I've also been pencilling in some texture on the background around the wrens already done, so progress isn't quite as slow as it looks. Two and a half wrens and a butterfly to go, and hopefully I'll get more done in the next few days, when it isn't 40-odd degrees. Weather like this is not only flattening, it also isn't at all good for attempting to use the watercolours until the cooler evenings. >.<

And as a bonus, here is my warm-up painting from tonight. My friend's parents are holidaying in Slovenia, and we're enjoying seeing the photos they upload (and being jealous of all the snow =P). John takes some of the most gorgeous pictures, and I based this on one of them. I did it no justice at all, of course, but I quite like it for what it is; Winsor and Newton watercolours in a Moleskine watercolour sketchbook, 30 minutes.

Progress: Wrens on a Wire

Progress: Wrens on a Wire 2

Illustration: Trouble

2011-12-28T18:24:00.000Z

A quick little spot illustration from a small sketch I did on the one morning I spent lazing around in our hotel room and by the pool when we were on holiday in Penang. I like the original sketch, which was tucked into the corner of a page full of gesture sketches of the hotel cat, so spent an hour or so tonight transferring it to my watercolour sketchbook and painting it.

Here's the original sketch:

"Trouble" in Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook with Winsor & Newton watercolours and Artline Drawing System pens.

Sketch in Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook with #B 0.5 mechanical pencil.

Illustration: Reindeer

2011-12-24T17:27:00.000Z

Merry Christmas to everyone in a Christmassy frame of mind! And for anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas, just have a generally merry day anyway. =)

Here's a Christmas picture in a Christmas post. I forget where the idea for this came from, but it popped into my head the other day, and I reprehensibly ran with it, instead of working on wrens. It's the holidays, after all! And I've naughtily stayed up to finish it, when I should be in bed.... but I like the result. I haven't drawn a reindeer for years... probably not since primary school. o.O

I may go back and touch up a few areas, but for now I'm calling it done.

Winsor and Newton watercolour and Artline Drawing System 0.1 & 0.4 in Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook; about 4 hours, including initial sketch.

Portrait: Tilly & Ashby

2011-12-18T18:40:00.002Z

A smallish coloured pencil portrait done for my friend's parents as a joint Christmas and 25th Wedding Anniversary present. It's from a truly beautiful photograph my friend Tilly's father took of her and her brother on her wedding day. It wasn't quite as sunny, Tilly was in shadow, and there was very harsh light on Ashby's cheek, so I improvised with the lighting, and I think it came out rather nicely. It's nice to be able to alter what's in the photograph (beautiful though it may be) so that the portrait is different. Some things you can't do with Photoshop. =P

They opened it before they went on holiday, and seemed to really like it, which always makes me happy. =)

It's a bit looser than some of my other portraits, mainly because although I started several months ago, I didn't have enough time to spend 40+ hours on it. =( It probably took somewhere around 20 hours, perhaps a bit less.

Prismacolour pencils on bristol board, 18cm diameter.

Related: Portrait: Murray & Lintilla

Sketches: Princess & Christmas

2011-12-15T18:45:00.000Z

A couple of quick digital sketches, just for purposes of fun and relaxation. Playing around with different styles, as well.

I read an article while waiting for my allergy jabs at the doctor's today, in which the writer bemoaned the fact that after starting daycare her daughter relegated Thomas the Tank Engine to the back of the cupboard, and started being obsessed with princesses, which her mother had been trying to avoid. I said to my mother that she could have tried explaining that it's okay to like trains and princesses (I know I certainly did =P) rather than getting upset that a chance remark from a small boy had changed her daughter's tastes so much.

So then naturally I had to draw a princess driving a train. And lots of pink, to see how I could manage with a limited palette. Pink is not a colour I use a lot of.

Adobe Photoshop CS4 with a custom brush, Wacom Intuos 3

And here's a very rough sketch I did on my father's iPad while watching tv this evening. I don't have a stylus, so this was done with my finger in Sketchbook Pro, which I'm still learning my way around.

This started with no plan at all, I think I've ended up with a character who looks like she belongs in the film White Christmas. =P

Progress: Wrens on a Wire 2

2011-12-10T18:11:00.001Z

No, I'm not as slow as it looks, truly!

In addition to these wrens, I'm working on two posters, a bunch of BLM illustrations due the 20th, and a portrait that should be done by Friday if I can manage it. And somewhere in there I need to put up the Christmas tree and actually get to some shops. o.O

But I'm busy, and that's a good thing!

So to prevent blog stagnation from lots of private work, here's some progress on the wrens – I am now halfway through; three wrens and one butterfly to go. Plus I want to work some pencil and stuff into the background and make it look a bit more leafy and lush.

Winsor & Newton watercolours, Reeves Gouache, Chromacryl acrylic and Prismacolour Pencils on watercolour paper.

Oh! And hello to new watchers! =)

Progress: Wrens on a Wire

2011-12-03T17:37:00.001Z

Here's some progress shots from a current commission from someone who likes the little wrens I do. These wrens are watercoloured, not digital, which is a bit trickier, and the painting is pretty huge (26" across) but I think it's coming along pretty well:

This is the original concept sketch:

Which was then, after approval, developed into this refined layout.

I drew all the wrens separately, and compiled the image in Photoshop. (Yes, an extra wren was added, as originally the image was not supposed to be so large =P)

And a fresh colour study:

After that had been approved, and I'd waited a couple of days for the weather to cool down sufficiently to make watercolour washing not a completely idiotic idea, I could start. I'd purchased a large sheet of watercolour paper, and trimmed it to size, and I printed out the layout on several sheets of paper and stuck them together so I could trace it:

And I then did the watercolour wash. Which for some reason, like every wash I ever attempt, did not work. I always end up with blotchy areas that just don't cover properly, no matter what paint, brushes or paper I use. Arrg!

I soaked the whole thing in the bath and then did a new wash over the top, which fixed it up a bit (I did stretch it out on my desk and tape it down, but the darn thing escaped bondage while I was out of the room, so it's a bit wrinkled, too >.<)

And then, since my mother had brought a spatter tool home from school so I could practice before helping with her art, I did some extra salvage work by spattering gouache over the whole thing:

After which the background was much better. Phew!

And now I'm just down to painting wrens and butterflies. Even with a painting this size, most of the work is done with a #1 brush, along with a #00 and even occasional touches with a #000 (for the butterflies), so it's not the fastest of work. Extra work is done with coloured pencils and a touch of gouache.

The wren pictured above is 9cm from beak to wingtip.

Tomorrow I start on the cuddling wrens. =)

Covering Books

2011-12-03T10:52:00.001Z

Yesterday I went into my mother's Year 3 class to help with art. Every now and then she does a fabulous activity day called 'round-and-round-the-classroom' where the kids go from table to table doing subjects in the order of their choice. It gives them some autonomy, and they love it – every two conventional subjects they do (like literacy and number) they can go to a 'fun' activity. It being almost the end of the school year here she wanted some nice covers made for the Memory Books they've been constructing. The kids hear all about me over the course of the year, and wanted me to come in for a day, so I joined them to make sure the art table stayed under control.

The original activity was to spatter the covers, but we had a small crisis – possibly due to the staticy weather, the acrylic paint (however much watered down or not) refused to spatter, and just dropped on the paper in huge blobs. >.< However, I haven't spent years having various artistic accidents for nothing, and instantly changed the activity to make stars out of the blobs using a matchstick to drag the paint around.

Later on I found some different paint in the art cupboard, that allowed us to spatter and then add blobs of acrylic to make stars.

I think they came out fabulously, don't you?

There were six paint colours for the kids to choose from, and I let them do almost everything by themselves, except for putting on the blobs of paint – because year threes, however well behaved they are (and they were gorgeous) can get quite silly with really wet paintbrushes and blobs. =P

After school my friend Tilly (who has been helping out at various schools since finishing her teacher training) and I covered all the books, and we were done! =)

November Challenge 4

2011-11-30T15:35:00.001Z

Made it! It hasn't ticked over to midnight yet, so it's still November, and I'm done with the challenge. It would have been nice to do full-blown illustrations, like some of the other people in the challenge, but I just didn't, alas, have the time. November has been far too busy!

#27: Someone You Love

I love lots of people – my family, my friends. If I'm in a good mood I love practically everyone. =P However, I already have some family and friends in this challenge, and wanted to do something different. But I don't have a fella, so here is a Mystery Man. (Don't think I'm a sad lonely person, I'm quite happy as I am, truly! ^.^)

#28: Anything You'd Like

Here's the start of a sketch for what will hopefully turn into a small ink-and-watercolour. Inspired by a little girl I saw in Dunsborough – she was rollerskating, and fell over. She didn't cry, she just looked really shocked, with her mouth forming a perfect 0. ^.^

#29: A Place You'd Like To Go

I visited England four times when I was little – once when I was 6, again when I was 7, 9 and 11. I'd love to go again, I really loved it there. I couldn't decide on one specific place in England, so we have a freehand sketchmap of the England, Scotland and Wales.

#30: A Congrats Banner For Finishing The Challenge

Yay!

And your bonus sketch for today is an Egypian shadouf that I knocked up extremely quickly for my mother, who has been doing getting-water-in-harsh-environments with her year 3s, and needed a picture that wasn't breaking copyright.

Clearly it could be much better, but she wanted 24 of them on one A4 page, so I wasn't going to go into much detail. =P This was done freehand in Photoshop CS4.

November Challenge 1

November Challenge 2

November Challenge 3

2011-11-26T17:08:00.001Z

No, I hadn't forgotten the challenge. I just got rather swamped. I was down in Margaret River from Saturday to Tuesday (leaving just before the awful fires, which was fortunate for us. It's so awful to see that so much of the area right around where we were staying is now obliterated. =( ) When I got home I found work waiting for me, and this week I also wrote in our mammoth pile of Christmas cards, which took me quite some time.

However, without more adieu, we resume the broadcast of the November Challenge:

#13: Comic

This is based on an incident last week where I'd just washed the dog. For the first time in ages he forgot that he's ancient (16) and rather decrepit and did the classic crazed running round-and-round the house. I was actually playing the piano while he was doing this, and he was running in and out of the room around me, so you can imagine the theme music from The Saint to go with this.

And after all that he put himself to bed, poor thing. =P

#14: Favourite Fairytale

Beauty and the Beast, despite the fact that I've now done 3 illustrations for various versions of Cinderella, and two for the Little Mermaid, and none for this one. =P

#15: Family Portrait

Based on a photo taken in Penang earlier this year.

#16: Inspiration

Uh.... everything?

#17: Favourite Plant

I don't really have a favourite plant, so I went with the orange tree in our back yard, which produces the world's best oranges.

#18: Just a Doodle

My ground state of sketching is faces.

#19: Something New

This is a scarf I bought myself recently. It's white with navy stripes and a red trim.

#20: Something Orange

Voila.... an orange. I am so original. >.<

#21: Something You Want

A personal laser cutter is high on my list. I covet them.

#22: Something You Miss

My Grandmother, who died in 2006. I knew her the longest and best of all my grandparents.

#23: Something You Need

My sketchbook and basic sketching tools. I carry them pretty much everywhere.

#24: A Couple

A bit of a cheat here; this is a sketch I did about a month ago, and never posted. It's based on some publicity photos in the programme from the WA Ballet's Taming of the Shrew; Bianca and one of the suitors.

#25: Scenery

#26: Something You Don't Like

Spiders! *shudder*

End of broadcast, with four sketches to go!

November Challenge 1

November Challenge 2

Illustration: Wedding Card

2011-11-18T09:40:00.001Z

Here's something I put together for my cousin's wedding, which is tomorrow. I doubt there's any chance she'll be seeing this here, that being the case, so I'm posting it tonight. ^.^

My cousin is a graphic designer, and put together a fabulous folded invitation, themed around 'our journey', so I chose to echo the colour scheme of that (which was actually salmon and blue, not mauve), and include suitcases to continue the journey theme. Last I heard the plan was to have a vintage suitcase as the 'wishing well', so I thought it fit.

She had a very graphic invitation, in that sort of retro-modern style, with 50s fonts and graphic patterns and icons, so I thought I'd attempt retro-modern with the card. I like to tailor cards to the weddings themselves, if possible. Not that this is a duplication of the invitations, by any means, but a nod to what I know of the theme is always nice, I think. It was tricky to be so unrefined with my edges; I'm not used to that!

Here are some photos of the final product:

Parts of the card have clear embossing powder on them, so they're raised and shiny – not that that comes across too well in the photos. My mother likes me to use glitter, but this really isn't a glitter card, so I compromised. =P

And there's a small motif inside the card as well:

Adobe Photoshop CS4, with a Wacom Intuos 3. Printed on double-sided Epson Matte Heavyweight paper.

November Challenge 2

2011-11-14T16:42:00.001Z

Plus random sketching.

This should have been posted on Sunday, but I was at a concert. I was also out all Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, so there was no blogging time.

However, to continue with the November Challenge hosted by Shealynn:

#7: Favourite Word

I don't really have a favourite word. I like lots of words. So in my mental search for a word that I liked the sound of, the first one that came up was 'spaniel'. I may be a bit odd, but go on, say it. Spaniel. Isn't it a fabulous word?

#8: Favourite Animated Character

Okay, two of them, you can't have one without the other. Bernard and Bianca from Disney's The Rescuers, which has to be my favourite Disney movie. Plus, they're mice! From a screenshot.

#9: Favourite Tv Show

The Avengers, represented here by Steed's bowler and umbrella.

For more Avengers on my blog:

Ancient sketches of all the female leads

Sketch of Linda Thorson

Painting of Linda Thorson

One day I want to do a proper illustration of all the characters, because they're such fun. At the moment that's not happening any time soon though.

#10: Favourite Candy

'Candy' isn't really a word we use in Australia, and I'm not sure if chocolate counts. Not having much of a sweet tooth, I chose Malaysian Kueh Lapis (a steamed layered rice and tapioca flour confection), which I'm currently trying to learn how to make myself. My first attempt was not a complete failure, but did not, alas, look even this good. =P

#11: Turning Point in Your Life

A definite candidate would have to be when I decided I wanted to be an illustrator. Which would have been about year 10. I don't remember the exact moment, though....

#12: Most Recent Accomplishment

I'm going to cheat here, because my most recent accomplishment is finishing Bawang Putih, and I ain't drawin' that again.

If this prompt had only been a week or two further down the track it would have been 'finally mastering the theme to The Avengers on the piano'.... but I haven't quite got there yet.

And now for some random sketching:

Practicing children, based on some photos in the latest David Jones catalogue, but simplified down to my style:

And I did some gesture drawing today, and thought I'd share some. I was using the pose videos provided by ClockSketch on Youtube.

These blue ones are one-minute sketches:

And these pink ones are three-minute ones.

All done freehand in Uni-ball Eye pens, so no rubbing out (and even if I'd wanted to, I do my gesture stuff in my most vile sketchbook, which clogs up ballpoint pens and coats erasers, the paper is so revolting =P It's great for not being too precious about what I do in it, if nothing else.)

And finally, last night's concert was the music of George Gershwin. Bramwell Tovey conducted and played the piano, and at points was almost completely curled up while playing. Couldn't sketch at the concert, the lights were too low, but I found him playing on YouTube, and quickly sketched this out, to remind myself to take it a bit further some time in the future.

This time it was a brown Artline, 0.4, in the same horrible sketchbook.

End of broadcast. =)

Previous Posts: November Challenge 1

Illustration: Rainy Day

2011-11-10T16:58:00.001Z

Another from the archives.

This has been in my portfolio since 2009, and has just been removed to make way for new images; rather than kill it off entirely, I thought I'd post it here, as I'd done with a Much Ado About Nothing illustration a few months ago. There are of course things I don't like about this now, but there's enough that I do like still remaining.

Adobe Photoshop with a Wacom Intuos 3.

I don't know why I persist in doing things with umbrellas, I hate drawing them! =P

And for your amusement, the fairly hideous original sketch:

Illustration: Bawang Putih

2011-11-08T05:22:00.001Z

Finally managed to finish this off!

Here we have an illustration for the Malay Archipelago folktale Bawang Putih Bawang Merah, a variant of the Cinderella story (although despite the fact that my depiction has Bawang Putih minus one shoe from her swinging, shoes do not feature =P).

In this scene Bawang Putih is singing, which brings to life a magic swing containing the spirit of her dead mother – a passing prince hears her, and is captivated. You can read a synopsis of the story here.

This was entirely done in Photoshop CS4 with a Wacom Intuos 3, barring pencil sketches for the figures before I started the computer work. Almost all the photos used for the background and textures are my own, although a couple come from cgtextures.com. Almost all the references are mine as well – I did use google to find costume references, reasonably authentic-looking baskets, and female jungle fowl.

A large part of this was forcing myself to come up with an effective way to do a jungle background, which is not something I'd done before. I also wanted a different type of tale for my portfolio.

Here are some details. You can see the whole image bigger over here.

And here's a progress animation:

Sneak Peek: Bawang Putih

Sneak Peek: Bawang Putih 2

November Challenge 1

2011-11-06T18:47:00.001Z

I was invited by Shealynn over at Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe to take part in the November 30-Day Drawing Challenge. I'm afraid I have only time to do sketches, rather than drawings, but I am attempting to do so.

#1: Yourself

My father's been telling me I'm not cartoony enough with my drawing, so I attempted to cartoon myself. In reality, I look like my blog banner, not like some slightly-crazed 60s-escapee. =P

#2: Favourite Animal

A mouse, of course. A very wonky mouse, in this case, but a mouse nonetheless.

#3: Favourite Food

I'm not much of a foody, but after a bit of thought I decided you can't go past a nice sandwich. This one here is curried egg and lettuce. =)

#4: Favourite Place

Okay, I know, it's not a sketch. The weekend has not been conducive to sketching time, I've either been entertaining, out, exhausted, cleaning or working. But keeping to the schedule, here's a photo of me at my favourite place – my desk. My father took this a couple of months ago. The piece I'm working on is a rough watercolour from a picture in my Tangled music book. You can see it here.

#5: Best Friend

This, I'm afraid, is not even vaguely recent. In an ideal world I would have lots of time, in the real world I don't have enough (and also while I did do a sketch it's such a terrible likeness that I hate it =P)

So this is a mixed media piece of my friend Tilly, in a kimono. She went on an exchange trip to Japan in mid-2009, and at one point was naturally dressed in a kimono. She sent photos, and I came up with this – a completely imaginary kimono and parasol, but the hairstyle is real.

#6: Favourite Book Character – Can't be a Movie

I have too many favourite book characters, so I picked Moist Von Lipwig from Terry Pratchett's Going Postal and Making Money. I happened to have the former on my ipod at the time.

True, they made a telemovie of Going Postal, but I didn't much agree with the casting, which didn't at all match my imagination. We'll just say this is Moist at the beginning of Making Money, before he switches hats. That has not been filmed. =P

*****

And a bonus sketch. I recently finished reading Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm.

I'd seen the movie before, and they set it in the 30s, which is fabulous, but I discovered that the book is set 'some time in the future' – it was published in 1932, and a war is mentioned as being in 1946, so at a guess I'd say it's technically set somewhere around 1950. There are some odd futuristic things mentioned, but it's quite bizarrely easy to transfer costume descriptions from the 30s to the 50s.

So here we have Flora Poste. Not as portrayed by Kate Beckinsale – this Flora with blonde hair, and a no-nonsense early 50s suit, probably contemplating how to sort out someone's life to her satisfaction.

Sneak Peek: Bawang Putih 2

2011-11-03T18:29:00.001Z

Slow going, mainly because I've had other things to do, but I'm very nearly finished Bawang Putih. This pleases me very much, as I'm getting sick of it sitting on my desktop, staring balefully at me while I work on other things. =P

Click for a bigger size. =)

As I mentioned before, this was mainly practice at backgrounds. I find natural backgrounds rather alarming to attempt, and I'd never tried a rainforest-type before. What we have here is a mixture of elements that I've drawn, and a montage of photographs that I took in Malaysia. Very much an experiment in technique!

I've been trying to get across that heavy, humid, saturated appearance Malaysia has when it's just been raining, and I think at any event the result could be worse. =P

Hopefully I shall have this completed in the very near future!

Previous Post: Sneak Peek: Bawang Putih

Sketch: Little Witch

2011-10-31T17:32:00.002Z

I don't usually pay much attention to Halloween, but it seems to be everywhere this year, so I thought I might make my evening's sketching thematic. Although I don't think this comes under the heading of 'scary', by any means. =P I was rather influenced by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite when it comes to witches, and though I wasn't thinking of her, I think it still shows, years after I last drew one.

So here we have a 30 minute Photoshop sketch, texture from cgtextures.com. Could be better, but I don't hate it enough to prevent my posting it. =)

Progress: Matt Smith

2011-10-22T15:57:00.000Z

If you're interested in Dr Who, you might remember my saying that I had plans to do a portrait of Matt Smith back when I did this silly little sketch. This was partly because I'd previously done three other Doctors, and partly because I was going to be demonstrating portraiture at the Kelmscott Annual Show and wanted someone more in the popular consciousness than a 30s film star.

I'm quite picky when it comes to references for specific characters (as opposed to just people) and rarely go with promotional photographs. I prefer screenshots, so I went through a number of episodes from Series 5 until I found one I liked. I also gathered other references, which I printed out, as the laptop I usually use for my references was not going to be with me while demonstrating. Working from a screenshot (especially a printed screenshot) means the reference isn't very clear, so high-quality pics of the same person are a great help.

The gridded black and white reference (which I was enlarging from A4 to A3) is a mixture of three shots. The Doctor from "Cold Blood", a promotional shot of David Tennant looking out of the Tardis door (sans Tennant) and a promotional shot of the inside of the series 5 Tardis. I slapped them together rather haphazardly in Photoshop, so I knew what I was doing.

I sketched everything out and started with one eye on Thursday, just so that I wouldn't be starting cold, and people wouldn't be faced with what, from a bit of a distance, looked just like a blank piece of paper. Then I left it alone until today, when I demonstrated all day, starting at 11am, and stopping only for lunch and tea, until 8.30pm. It wasn't quite solid work, as naturally I talked to a lot of people.

And here is the result so far:

It's a bit wonky still; I was without my clear laptop-references, without my nice desk lamp, or any sort of directed light, and stopping and starting all the time. But all things considered, I think it's coming along pretty well.

I'm demonstrating at a different Show tomorrow, but haven't decided whether it would be best to continue with Matt Smith or revert to an old half-completed Myrna Loy or Clara Bow, which have been languishing in my sketchbook for ages. I'll see how it goes.

Finished Christmas Cards

2011-10-17T09:20:00.000Z

I actually finished these last week, but things also got rather hectic around then, and I didn't manage to photograph them until today.

I chose to turn the window illustration into a 'framed miniature' - you can possibly see by the shadow that the bottom is raised up with a little double-sided foam tape, while the top is stuck down firmly, with a ribbon bow. There's also some white glitter making up the snow – not very noticeable, but adds a little sparkle when the card catches the light.

The blue wrens are constructed more simply – but have much more noticeable glitter.

All together they make up quite a hefty pile (the windows take up extra room because of all that foam tape =P) and they're being stored in my cupboard until it's time to write in them. If you look closely in this photo you'll see a variety of other cards from my cardmaking orgy this afternoon; 12 misc cards for a client, and three family birthday cards that need to be sent off this week. Plus one special occasion card that I did on the weekend.

My life seems rather full of cards at the present moment....

Sketch: Headdress

2011-10-07T18:51:00.001Z

The more I have to do, the more I just want to sit down and draw something really unnecessary and elaborate..... and this is the result, from a little bit of me time while I was producing cards and BLM illustrations and graphics. It was nice to do something just for the sake of ending up with something pretty. =)

I may end up colouring it, not sure at this stage.

About 45 minutes over two evenings, 0.5 mechanical pencil in A5 Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook.

Progress: Christmas Cards

2011-10-05T07:00:00.000Z

Progress has been made! I finished off the scarlet robin cards on Monday night - it took about three hours to put 40 of them together, including cutting the paper down and everything, and another hour to produce 12 generic cards with photos of flowers and the like, for the same client. Happily I have a large selection of flower photos for just that sort of purpose.

Here's a photo of one of the finished cards, nestled in one of our bottlebrush trees, which seemed an apt place:

I have also finished off the blue wren cards. Not as happy with them as the robins, but they're not too bad. When I went and got the robins printed I also ran off 50 blue wrens and 50 window cards – and spent the better part of yesterday evening cutting them all out. I now have everything ready for assembly. I'm looking forward to getting the red glitter on the baubles; it really lifts the cards. =)

Progress: Yet More Christmas Cards

Illustration: More Christmas Cards

Illustration: At the Window

2011 Christmas cards 1

Progress: Yet More Christmas Cards

2011-10-01T18:02:00.000Z

The start of a little something by way of parent-appeasement. They were perfectly happy with the Christmas cards I designed for this year until they saw these ones. So I thought I'd try and whip up something similar, and have two card designs for this year. I want to go with a blue theme this year (for several years our cards have been red) so have gone with a splendid fairy wren.

Blue wrens take a bit longer than scarlet robins – this has taken me 1 hour 20 so far (yet again reusing that long-suffering bauble) and I've still got a fair bit to do.

I haven't yet decided what colour to do the background, blue will make it too heavy overall... I may well move the bauble more to the right as well; I'm not sure that I'm happy with the balance at the moment. I didn't start with a sketch, which is often not the best of ideas. =P

Adobe Photoshop CS4 with a Wacom Intuos 3

Sketch: Annette Andre

2011-09-29T08:14:00.000Z

Having spent pretty much all day alternately typing and playing the piano, I really needed to do something that didn't involve fingers and keys before bed.

Here's the result, a 1.5 hour sketch of actress Annette Andre, from a screenshot from "The Saint Steps In", from season two of The Saint.

It's not perfect, by any means, but it does look like her, so it's not a failure either. I usually grid-to-enlarge my proper portraits (and spend a huge amount of time on them to boot) so I can get some wonky results when just sketching. =P

1.5 hours in a Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook, with a 0.5 mechanical pencil, #B lead.

Illustration: More Christmas cards

2011-09-27T18:17:00.000Z

Here we have another Christmas card design – for a client this time. (Yes, it's rather early, but they do recommend that international Christmas mail be sent by the end of October)

I was given absolute free reign as to the design itself, so since I have some splendid fairy wrens to do shortly, I thought I'd practice plump birds by putting a scarlet robin (native to south western and south eastern Australia) on the cards.

Here's the original sketch. This is heavily influenced by the fairy wrens I did on some wedding invitations last year, as I like the way the flat black branches contrast the fat little birds.

It came out looking quite Japanese in style, so I added a faint fan pattern behind, using a texture from here. I'm not quite sure if I like the effect; I may remove it later.

When I turn these into cards there will be gold glitter on the bands of the bauble (hence my deciding to preserve my sanity a little by simplifying the bauble design =P)

Adobe Photoshop CS4 with a Wacom Intuos 3, somewhere in the region of three to three and a half hours.

Sketch: The Taming of the Shrew

2011-09-18T07:34:00.001Z

Yesterday we went to a matinee of the WA Ballet's Taming of the Shrew, which was great fun. Shrew ties with Much Ado About Nothing as my favourite Shakespeare play (I don't go for tragedy much =P) and although there were of necessity plot changes to allow the story to flow freely without words, the ballet did retain the spirit of the original. When we came home we rewatched Kiss Me, Kate, and having already refreshed our memory of the play with the 1980 BBC version of the play with John Cleese earlier in the week, the characters were naturally in my mind.

So I splashed around with the paint a bit, trying to be much more loose and less precious, which was a nice change after so many hours in Adobe Illustrator earlier in the week.

This started with a pencil sketch, which I didn't even clean up before sloshing the paint over it. Once it was dry and went over it with a Uni-Ball Eye Needlepoint pen in as sketchy a manner as I could manage.

The costumes are not entirely accurate, as I couldn't be bothered researching Italian costume of the early 16th century – so I went with German fashions, which were to hand in one of my books.

Winsor and Newton Watercolours with Uni-Ball Eye 0.5 in Black, in Moleskine watercolour sketchbook.

Illustration: Mother Nature

2011-09-17T18:44:00.000Z

Client work, for the Kelmscott Agricultural Society.

The Society's 2012 theme is 'Life on the Land: Mother Nature'. I've done several themes for them before, but never this early; the illustration was needed for inclusion in an ad featured in a year-long tourism publication that is to be released next month. I'll probably do a few tweaks before this is used in the rest of the Society publicity next year, but the deadline was short, so for now it's done.

This is the original concept (I did five) but it was requested that I change the globe to animals and farm produce. Given the short deadline, this was a bit of a struggle, but I think it came out all right. I quite like the ducks.

Given that this has to be used in a large variety of applications, I did it in Adobe Illustrator. This is the outline map, and a detail of Mother Nature herself.

Adobe Illustrator CS4, 20.5 hours.

Illustration: At the Window

2011-09-10T06:05:00.001Z

Finished this off yesterday, and I think it came out pretty well. =)

I still yearn for a watercolour paper that works for me properly, without randomly not letting the paint (especially my favourite payne's grey) cover it, or drying unevenly, but nothing too major happened here (despite large quantities of payne's grey =P).

And now I can forget about Christmas cards for a while again. I think one makes for a nice change – I haven't done a blue card for years, they've all been dominated by red.

0.1 Artline Drawing System fineliner, Winsor and Newton watercolours.

Previous post: 2011 Christmas Cards 1

2011 Christmas Cards 1

2011-09-07T17:46:00.000Z

Since I've a bit of time while waiting for clients to work out what they want, I'm starting this year's Christmas cards. If I don't do the family Christmas cards, they just don't get sent – so any time after June I start thinking about them, since I never know when I might be swamped with work – and knowing my luck, that will be right when I need to work on the Christmas cards. Last year I had the card design done by July, and put them together in my next block of free time, in November. So this year I'm actually running a bit late! =P

Originally I intended to do a third musical angel design (you can see the previous two here) but I have decided to be lazy and work from an already done sketch.

This is the final colour study, preparatory to painting tomorrow:

Here's the original sketch, done in January, when it was so hot (on that particular day the minimum didn't even drop below 25C), and I just wanted to think of snow.

I liked it, so it languished on my desktop for months, until I decided that it could work well on a Christmas card, and did a pencil version:

And then I inked it. It's annoying, but you never get quite the same expression on characters when you ink. I could have varied my line weights a bit more, but I'm planning on fairly flat, slightly Deco colouring; They won't be big cards, I don't want something overpowering for such a small space. Once the paint is on I'll touch up the lines that need thickening.

Tomorrow the plan is to paint it (unless the clients make up their minds in the meantime).

Illustration: Wonder

2011-09-05T17:04:00.000Z

This was a commission for my Great Aunt. She lives in a nursing home in a country town, and was brought an enormous Mr Lincoln rose – a small boy was completely amazed by it, and she was very taken by his expression. So she wanted two pictures, identical (which makes one feel rather as though one is regarded as a Xerox machine). I think one is to go to the boy's mother, and the other to his grandmother.

However, there was a slight problem: I have never seen this little boy, I had no reference photo, and only the information that he was about three, sturdy, and blond. In addition, while I can render a photo very accurately, my illustration style is completely different, and who knows if the recipients will appreciate such pictures – of a small boy that probably looks nothing like the one in question? His expression is probably nothing like the original either, but I'm afraid I can't help that.

But one does not argue with 92 year old ladies.

So here we have the two images, as close to identical as I can get them.

I actually ended up doing two and a half pictures – I was halfway through painting the first one when I realised that I'd given him five fingers. Arrg! I'd never done that before, and no one picked up on it when I was begging to be told if the sketch looked okay – so I just had to start all over.

The rose was painted in Ecoline, which never scans at all well. Here's a photo which shows the nuances of colour slightly more effectively.

Artline Drawing System pens (0.1 and 0.4), Winsor and Newton watercolours, Ecoline liquid watercolours, Prismacolour pencils.

Sketch: Dr Who in a Tux

2011-09-04T06:06:00.000Z

Watching the Dr Who episode 'Let's Kill Hitler' last night, the Doctor appeared in a tuxedo. Now, I watch so many 30s movies that a tux is likely to make me go slightly weak at the knees. We don't see enough of them these days. =P Matt Smith is so gangly that I was reminded of Fred Astaire, and whipped this up.

Doctor 11 and his sonic cane:

This is in no way marvellous, but I had such fun doing it, so I don't mind the mistakes too much. The pose is inspired (although no longer bears much resemblance to) Fred Astaire's 'I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan' in The Bandwagon.

Here's the original sketch, done while watching Silent Witness.

Original sketch in Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook with a 0.5 mechanical pencil with #B lead. Colour done in Photoshop CS4 with a Wacom Intuos 3.

Dr Who is copyright the BBC. This picture is copyright Alison Mutton.

Illustration: Running

2011-08-30T16:09:00.000Z

Playing about with a trial version of Sketchbook Pro – which is nice, although I miss the rotate function from Photoshop, and keep hitting the wrong shortcut keys (but that's entirely my fault =P).

This is based around two cute kids I saw through the car window in Perth. I think they must have been to some sort of function, and the brother was taking off down the street with his big sister following him in a very protective way, her knees bent to keep herself at his level.

Sketchbook Pro Trial with Wacom Intuos 3, around 4 hours.

Illustration: A Lady Comes To An Inn

2011-08-25T18:25:00.001Z

For my educational illustration portfolio – looking at poetry with a single image.

Oddly, I have seen two versions of this poem, with different last stanzas.

It can also read:

Nobody learned the lady's name

Nor the marvellous land from which they came,

But still they tell through the countryside

the tale of those men and that beautiful bride.

I'm not sure which would be best to use....

Adobe Photoshop CS4 with Wacom Intuos 3, 4 hours.

Portrait: Emma Watson

2011-08-23T10:04:00.000Z

Here's the finished portrait of Emma Watson, started in January 2008 (*cringe*), and just dug out of the archives and finished off. The original photo is from the December 2007 edition of InStyle magazine, which I found online. I liked the vintage styling and wanted a good reference to practice reflective surfaces.

Originally I was going to add on to the image and draw the rest of the vespa (which isn't shown in the photo) and the background – but for the purposes of getting this done I stuck to the reference to just fulfil the original objective (practicing shiny stuff), and slapped a graphic background behind her.

A few details, so you can see that this is actually a painting. =P

And here's an animation showing part of the process – not all of it, as I didn't have any screenshots for the 2008 part of this. The first frame here is the work I'd done in Painter 9, at the stage I'd got to when this fell by the wayside for whatever reason. All the other stages are in Photoshop CS4.

Previous post: SneakPeek: Emma Watson

Sneak Peek: Emma Watson

2011-08-17T18:14:00.000Z

Rescuing a recently uncovered portrait from the depths of my computer. I've got a terrible cold, and portraiture is a nice way of being productive without actually having to think too much.

I started this way back in January 2008, and just remembered it's existence the other day, and thought I'd finish it off.

The original photo is from the December 2007 issue of InStyle magazine. I found it on the web somewhere, but after all this time I don't remember exactly what site it was. The photoshoot comes up with a google search, however, so it's still out there. This is just a small portion of the image – I'll post the whole thing when I'm done.

Started in Painter 9 as en exercise in shiny surfaces, and then taken into Photoshop CS4, with a Wacom Intuous 3.

iPad sketch: Wistful

2011-08-06T06:44:00.000Z

I borrowed my father's iPad while we were watching the news last night, and sketched this out using SketchBook Pro – about 45 minutes all up, using my finger (I don't have a stylus, worse luck). I quite like how it came out, so thought I'd post it here. =) It was started while watching a report on the plight of the poor people in Somalia, but it's not exactly anything to do with that.

SketchBook Pro on an iPad 2, slight levels adjustment in Photoshop CS4.

Sketch: Marguerite Blakeney

2011-08-04T16:53:00.002Z

A little sketch for relaxation. I spent a lot of today preparing files for print and uploading them to a printer, and most of the remainder working on a commissioned illustration.... until I realised that I'd made a glaring error and would really have to start all over again. Fortunately the necessity of cooking tea prevented me from jumping off the nearest cliff, but I didn't feel like going back to work on it once I'd finished with the print-uploading today.

So, here we have Marguerite Blakeney, of the Scarlet Pimpernel novels. She gets on my nerves because despite being described as 'the cleverest woman in Europe' more than once, she's actually incredibly dim, especially once you get past the first novel. Said 'cleverest woman' should not be continually walking into traps... unless the entire female population of Europe at the time was infinitely less clever, which I find hard to believe!* =P

So here I am taking out my frustration on this extremely frustrating character. Also, I needed to redraw her from the last sketch, as I discovered that she's blonde. Too many screen adaptations, that's what it is! She's always a brunette in those.

Oh, and if French is not your thing, the thought bubble reads 'empty'.

About 45 minutes, grey marker (and a hint of pencil) in a Jasart 'My Memoirs' A5 sketchbook.

*Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the books – a little over-the-top melodrama never hurt anyone. I just wish that Marguerite would stay unconscious for longer when she fainted/got knocked out/fell asleep of fatigue/etc. =P

Quotes: The Elusive Pimpernel

2011-08-01T16:13:00.000Z

I read two Scarlet Pimpernel novels back in highschool, thwarted in my attempt to read the series not only by the fact that I couldn't get my hands on any more, but also because Marguerite was really getting on my nerves. Now that I have an ereader, I've found the books on Project Gutenberg, thus reducing my obstacles by one – Marguerite is still a problem, though. =P

I'm currently working my way through The Elusive Pimpernel, and here is a sketch from that; one of those sketches that got away from me. I was sketching in a desultory fashion waiting for clients to get back to me with some vital info, and since so far they haven't.... I just kept sketching. Originally this didn't start out as a Pimpernel picture, but I let it go where it wanted.

[Marguerite] had at the last moment the supreme courage and pride to turn her head once more toward her husband, in order to reassure him finally that his secret was safe with her in this hour of danger, as it had been in the time of triumph.

0.5 mechanical pencil with #B lead in a Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook. Unhappily there was a fault in the paper right where the gentlemen are standing, so I couldn't rub out much. As a result they look stiffer than I had planned.

Malaysian Photos

2011-07-28T08:10:00.000Z

Long time no post! I've just returned from three weeks in Malaysia (a few sketches later) and thought I'd share a few of my favourite photographs. These were all taken with a Pentax K-x with an 18 – 50mm lens. Postwork was done in Photoshop CS4:

Rajah Brooke's Birdwing Butterfly (the national butterfly of Malaysia) at the Cameron Highlands Butterfly Farm.

Racoon at Zoo Negara, KL – I'd never seen a racoon before, and this one knew how to play for the cameras.

Camel at Zoo Negara, KL.

Horned Tree Lizard at the Cameron Highlands Butterfly Farm.

Inside the Batu Caves, KL.

BOH Tea Plantation, Cameron Highlands.

Tugu Negara War Memorial, KL.

Baby Orangutan at Orangutan Island, Bukit Merah, Perak.

Dancers preparing at the Bon Odori Festival, Georgetown, Penang.

Illustration: In the Rain

2011-07-02T18:36:00.000Z

My father wanted company when he went for an appointment, which meant I had an hour to kill in a waiting room. So I sketched myself (for a given value of myself, all I had was a lipstick mirror) in the rain. It was very wet that day, and I'd already had to change my clothes once, due to being caught out without an umbrella.

The umbrella is a bit wonky. They've never been my strong suit, and I was drawing and inking on my lap, in a narrow Moleskine watercolour sketchbook.

So the inked version sat in my sketchbook for a few days, and I just sloshed some paint on it in a sketchy sort of way (it is in a sketchbook, after all). Marvel at my utter inability to be in fashion. =P That is, by the way, my favourite hat. ^.^

Artline Drawing System pens in 0.1 and 0.4, Winsor & Newton watercolours in Moleskine watercolour sketchbook.

Illustration: Reading

2011-06-29T17:56:00.000Z

The latest of my little watercolur paintings, done in odd moments over the last three days, and finished up while I was waiting for some job info to come through this afternoon.

Artline Drawing System pens and Winsor & Newton watercolours in Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook.

I'm making a small series of quick watercolours of children; previously was Ready For Anything.

If anyone wants to see the linework for this, just let me know. =)

Misc Sketches 2

2011-06-25T16:59:00.000Z

Some more miscellaneous sketches.

Some family friends holidaying in Canada sent me a lovely photo of a historical dress (it looked to be 1900s-ish) as they know I love historical costume, so I wanted to do a sketch based around it.

This is the result:

And here are two pages filled with random sketching.

This lot was started while I was accompanying my father to a doctor's appointment so I was sitting in the waiting room. The little girl was sitting across from me, playing her DS in a variety of poses, although this is the only one I caught.

The Roman-esque girl started as a doodle with big hair (I'd seen a lot of big 80s perms just prior), and the chair I saw on an episode of Time Team. The medieval woman was also inspired by that.

And these are some sketches from today's Weekend West. One Thai dancer, and a bunch of kids. It's easier than stalking real children and hoping you don't offend their parents. =P

All 0.5 mechanical pencil with #B lead in a Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook.

Sneak Peek: Bawang Putih

2011-06-20T17:30:00.001Z

Here's a peek at a portfolio illustration I'm currently working on. It's a double page spread storybook illustration for the Malay Peninsular folktale Bawang Putih Bawang Merah, which is a Cinderella variant, quite similar to the Chinese variant, known as Yeh-Shen, but instead of golden shoes, Bawang Putih has a magic swing that only moves when she sings, which captivates the prince. I thought that was a lovely image, so chose that scene as my subject.

Since the beautiful Malaysian national dress really only came into existence in the 1790s, and dress worn before then was a bit on the dull side, I've smoodged together aspects of a number of traditional costumes from various Malaysian states with the Kemban, the sarong-like garment worn in more ancient times. So we're not exactly accurate, but it's a fairytale, so it doesn't really have to be.

This is good practice for backgrounds – I've never done a rainforest type of background before, and trees have never been my strong point. I'm getting good use out of the reference photos I shot (on the offchance) when in Malaysia last year.

Adobe Photoshop CS4 with Wacom Intuos 3

Illustration: Showgirl

2011-06-16T14:01:00.000Z

We went to see WAAPA's (The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) performance of Crazy for You on Tuesday night, which was great fun. Lots of Gershwin music and a silly plot. =) It also included Showgirls, and I realised that despite my large musicals collection, I have never drawn one. I think the closest I've come was an arial gymnast while watching the Sydney Olympics opening ceremony - back in 2000. It was ....not good.... =P

So after the show I doodled this Showgirl in my Watercolour Moleskine, and I inked it the next evening, while accompanying my mother to her quilting evening. Because of this, my lines aren't as crisp as usual - the table was very wobbly.

I watercoloured it this afternoon, and just now I digitally coloured it, as I'd run out of actual work to do for the moment. I've got to do something while waiting for feedback, so I tried out an attempt at the 'painting on cardboard' look.

Artline pens in Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook, Winsor and Newton watercolours with Prismacolour coloured pencils, Sailor White Writer and PITT Artist's Pen in gold.

Digital version done in Adobe Photoshop CS4 with Wacom Intuos 3.

Illustration: Ready For Anything

2011-06-13T17:39:00.001Z

Here's a quick little piece I whipped up in spare moments over the last two days. I'm still practicing kids.

I did the sketch and most of the inking while watching tv on Sunday night. I'd been planning on watercolouring it too, but I was called off to tech-support for an uncle, which ate up my time. So I did my watercolouring as a warm-up before work today, and then (after I'd done six work-related pictures and decided to call it a day) I thought I'd try the effect of digital colouring as well. So here you see the linework and two colour variations.

The sketch and inking took maybe an hour and a half all up, with Artline Drawing System pens in 0.1 and 0.4 weights in my Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook. (No reference)

The watercolouring was done with Winsor and Newton watercolours, and took about half an hour.

The digital colouring was done in Adobe Photoshop CS4 with a Wacom Intuos 3 and took about 40 minutes.

Illustration: Much Ado About Nothing

2011-06-10T07:04:00.000Z

This is not a new illustration, rather, it's from June 2009. I'm in the process of updating my website, and this has lost its place in my official colour portfolio so that the number of pictures is kept to a manageable size. But I still like it, and it's not posted anywhere else, so I thought I'd blog it.

It's an illustration for Act 3 Scene 1 of Much Ado About Nothing, which is one of my favourite of Shakespeare's plays. Hero and Ursula are gossiping especially so that Beatrice can overhear them.

"Then go we near her, that her ear lose nothing of the false sweet bait that we lay for it – No, truly, Ursula, she is too disdainful."

I liked my original sketch for this better than the finished piece; I love the colours, but the characters lost something during the inking phase.

And here's a companion piece for Act 2 Scene 1, which is remaining in my black and white portfolio for now. But they do go together, so I'm adding it to the post. This time it's witty banter at the party:

"Will you have me, my lady?"

"No, my Lord, unless I might have another for working-days; Your grace is too costly to wear every day."

Two years before I did these pieces, I'd done a set of four posters on Shakespearean quotes for an educational publisher. Most of them were modern in theme, and they were very text-heavy, which was challenging. I think I ended up doing these illustrations more so I could have a chance to do Shakespearean pictures with proper costumes (and to prove that I understood the plays well enough for illustration purposes) than anything.

Act 3 was inked on bristol board with sepia ink and a dip pen, and painted with Winsor & Newton watercolours and Prismacolour pencils.

Act 2 is graphite on Quill sketching paper.

Sketches: Dr Who

2011-06-05T17:15:00.000Z

I recently realised that I hadn't actually done any sketching from Doctor Who in anything approaching recent memory. The last Doctor Who pic I did was a portrait of David Tennant (which I was never even remotely happy with) in 2007 to accompany a portrait of Christopher Eccleston that I'd done previously. I love to sketch people and I grew up watching Doctor Who, so the lack of sketching had to be remedied.

I have plans to do a full portrait of Matt Smith as the doctor later this year, when I'm doing a live portraiture demonstration, but in the meantime, he's awfully fun to sketch. So here's my tv sketching from this evening:

I want to get better at caricaturing people into my style (and pushing that style a bit, too), so a couple of these were trying to head in that direction, and the others were just semi-realistic sketching (especially the top centre of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan). All bar that little one in the lower right corner were referenced from screenshots I took of episodes in Season 5.

These were done with a 0.5 mechanical pencil with a #B lead in a Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook.

Also, here are some ink and Ecoline sketches I did of the main Season 6 cast, referenced from publicity photos, as experiments in ink outlines and single-colour washes.

These did not want to scan, and they weren't too happy about being photographed, either, so quality is low and not indicative of what they look like in person. Which is a shame; they're nothing stellar, but they do look a bit better offscreen.

Artline 0.1 and Ecoline ink (in red, brown and yellow) in a Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook.

Misc Sketches

2011-06-02T18:00:00.000Z

Sketch dump time!

Here are a number of sketches that I've been working on over the past month or so. None of them are particularly stella, so I thought I'd share them all at once.

1. A Tangled sketch in my watercolour Moleskine. I'd been doing work-sketching all day, and wanted something brainless to do. Since I'd also been annotating some Tangled music for piano, my music book was to hand, and the promotional shot this is based on was in it.

(Pitt Artists's pens in Sepia, and Winsor & Newton watercolours)

2. A small sketch done after 'Lavender's Blue' rolled around on my shuffle.

3. Redesigning Adele's costume. I'm thinking of redoing one of my honours pictures featuring her, and thought she needed a dress redesign.

4. Two cats inspired by my uncle's very fat tabby (who unfortunately instantly ran away, so these aren't very realistic) and two life drawings of my dog, who has taken to sleeping with his back end right off his cushion.

5. And lastly, Eleanor Powell in Born To Dance, ref from Doctormacro.com

I'm curious, which do you like best?

Painting: Tara

2011-05-30T10:37:00.000Z

I finished this in April, but cleared off my desk for some educational publishing work, and pretty much forgot all about it.

This is Linda Thorson as Tara King in The Avengers. The original photo is from Marcus Hearne's The Avengers: A Celebration, and I used it to take a bit of a break (I find most portraits quite relaxing), and practice my watercolouring, patterned fabrics, and being looser with my paints.

This piece is purely watercolour (barring a tiny bit of gouache in her hair), not mixed media, which I've previously resorted to for painted portraits. Not slaving over every little detail was a bit tricky, but I think it paid off, and I'm pretty pleased with it.

Progress: Tara King

Sketches: Little Girls

2011-05-26T17:21:00.000Z

I've been seeing a lot of very cute little girls around lately (it must be something about the cooler weather, but the world seems positively overrun with small girls in coats and tutus and stockings and lots of layers.) I've been sketching down the cutest as quick gesture sketches in my sketchbook for future reference, but yesterday my Moleskine watercolour sketchbook arrived in the mail, so I did a couple of little girls in that to try it out.

This one was done mainly with Ecoline ink and a little watercolour (outlines with an Artline Drawing System 0.1). For coloured sketches like this I prefer Ecolines, but the colours didn't scan very well, unfortunately.

She was inspired by a fashion spread in a parenting magazine my mother (who is a teacher) had out from the library, and which I flicked through over lunch. A similar coat and skirt appeared (separately) in that, and I put them together when I was thinking of costume options. I also wanted to draw a skirt flipping up at the back when held down at the front – possibly the product of looking at too many hooped skirts in a costume book. =P

This was my first attempt in the new sketchbook, from a sketch titled 'The Knighthood' in my pencil sketchbook. I like the pencil version better, actually. I think I used too thick a pen.

The dog became a teddy bear in the coloured version, as that was what was originally supposed to be there.... until I changed my mind.

Winsor and Newton watercolours, outlines with a sepia PITT artist's pen.

Illustration: The Little Mermaid

2011-05-23T17:48:00.000Z

Here's my finished Little Mermaid illustration; She's visiting the Sea Witch (I hope that's clear enough =P)

(Click for a clearer view)

I started this quite some time ago, based on a sketch I did after seeing a programme on the deep sea on tv, and thinking how well an angler fish would work as the Sea Witch.

I think this sketch was done around June or July 2009, but I didn't date it.

I'd had the idea for a mermaid with a jellyfish lantern for quite some time, so I decided to put the two together. I'd also seen underwater vents in the tv programme (whatever it was) and thought they would make a suitable lair for the witch. I wanted to steer away from the Disney version; Although I love a good Disney film, it's sad to see so many books published which are evidently highly influenced by Disney. There are so many red-haired Little Mermaids, so many short-haired Snow Whites – I prefer to see different versions.

I started a digital illustration, soon after, but it wasn't high on my list of priorities, and languished on my desktop for quite a while. I picked it up again in November last year, and then again recently, to finish it off.

Some details:

And here's an animation showing my progress from start to finish:

I usually start with a pencil sketch, but I worked directly on the computer for this image.

Photoshop CS4 with a Wacom Intuos 3

Sneak Peek 1

Sneak Peek 2

Sneak Peek: Little Mermaid 2

2011-05-17T18:09:00.000Z

Remember the sneak peek of the Little Mermaid I posted way back in November last year? Well, here she is again. I got busy with work, and it also got a bit too hot to sit at the computer for hours on end unless I had to, so I put this image on hold. But I've picked it back up again now and it's nearly finished:

Photoshop CS4 with a Wacom Intuos 4

Sketch: A Lot of Hair

2011-05-13T17:54:00.000Z

I posted this last night, but it appears to have completely vanished, which is a bit bizarre. So here we go again. I apologise if this turns out to be a repeat broadcast.

A little warm-up to get me back into drawing mode. I've been sick for over a week; just got over a sinus infection, and I caught a nasty cold, so for several days I didn't even pick up a pencil. On wednesday I curled up with the tisses and the dvd of Tangled, which was just released here, and discovered through the special features that it's apparently set in the 18th century. Now, I love the movie, but surely there's a missed opportunity here? What's the one thing everyone knows about 18th century fashion? Right – Biiiig hair. With boats in.

So I sketched this. It's a long time since I did anything with really silly elaborate hair, so it was fun and relaxing to do. I didn't really base it on any 18th century hairstyles – the closest I got to those is the general bouffiness and the looped ringletty things. But I managed to include not only a boat, but also a tower and a magical flower. I could have gone taller, but I was using an A6 offcut of my least-favourite watercolour paper, and ran out of room. I used a screenshot as reference for the face, and looked at The Art of Tangled for the boat, tower and flower, but mostly I just had fun going crazy with the hair.

PITT artists' pens in sepia on watercolour paper, coloured in Photoshop CS4 with a Wacom Intuos 3, with an overlayed texture from cgtextures.com, as the paper texture didn't scan too well.

1 to 1.5 hours, maybe a tad more.

Illustration: Royal Wedding

2011-05-02T17:18:00.000Z

I love drawing weddings, and how often does the opportunity come about when the groom isn't in black? I'd spent nearly two weeks working almost exclusively in Adobe Illustrator and equally exclusively in sophisticated, rather muted colours. I needed a break from the computer and the colours, and so took the opportunity to break out my wonderfully un-subtle Ecoline inks.

This was intended as a very quick little ink and pencil piece, just as a break, but I was kicked out of the room (oh, for an office of my own!) so my father could watch something on the tv in here, and was packed off to sit with my mother, who wanted to watch Midsomer Murders. So I was left with the better part of two hours in which to do my sketch – I could use Ecolines while working on my lap in the lounge room, but I foresee disaster =P – and so this ended up as something rather more detailed than was first planned.

Not based on any one photo, but rather on a lot of separate ones from Friday and Saturday's wedding supplements in the West Australian.

A4, Artline Drawing System 0.1 in black, Ecoline inks, Winsor & Newton watercolours and a touch of Prismacolour pencils. Around four leisurely, unhurried hours.

Sketch: Tangled

2011-04-29T18:40:00.000Z

It's been impossible to look at any sort of media without having ROYAL WEDDING!!! screamed at you from all sides this past week, and while I have no objection at all to a nice royal wedding (plus it was nice to take a day off and watch it, after working straight through the easter holidays =P) it naturally made me think wedding-themed for sketches.

This was inspired by a piece of concept art in my Art of Tangled book. The painting was by Victoria Ying, and was a wedding scene, where Rapunzel had a really long veil that mirrored the long hair she had for most of the movie. I liked the effect, and since there were no fewer than 8 wedding dress designs in the book, I was quite surprised when there was no wedding scene in the movie (and a bit sad to miss out on the lovely veil). So, since I was thinking weddings, I did a little Tangled wedding sketch, with my own dress design, but keeping the long veil.

I have mixed feelings about this sketch. I like the dress and veil, but the likenesses aren't good (not surprising considering I saw the movie once. In January.) and Flynn is not very good at all. However, I tried out a technique I haven't used before, so thought I'd post it. Plus I have been doing lots of work and not much sketching lately. Work is good, of course, but can make the blog a bit neglected.

0.5 mechanical pencil with #B lead in Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook, with some painting in Photoshop CS4, texture from cgtextures.com.

A4.

Illustration: Sarah Jane

2011-04-22T18:14:00.000Z

I was so sorry to hear of the passing of Elisabeth Sladen recently. I was practically brought up on Doctor Who, and Sarah Jane was always one of my favourite companions, so I thought I'd do a tribute sketch. It's years since I last drew Sarah Jane (You can see that portrait, from 2004, here) so it was about time.

I chose her costume from Robot for this sketch (it's one of my favourites), and though I based her pose on her running around during that episode, it has nothing to do with it really. I went for a more comic-like look for this, and it was done pretty quickly, so it's not perfect. I prettied up the sketch in Photoshop with the aid of the halftone filter.

0.5 mechanical pencil with #B lead in Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook, coloured in Photoshop CS4 with a Wacom Intuos 3.

Progress: Tara King

2011-04-15T17:30:00.000Z

A work-in-progress shot of a portrait I'm currently working on while waiting for some job info to come through.

I found the original photo in Marcus Hearne's The Avengers: A Celebration and liked it. It's also a good opportunity to practice patterned fabrics, watercolour portraits (having previously only watercoloured miniatures, not full portraits) and being a bit looser and more watercolour-ish with my paints.

I'm working hard on putting in the patterns in the fabric, but not slaving over every little detail. That's a bad habit of mine.

Winsor & Newton and Reeves watercolours on Bristol Board.

Sketch: Deckchair

2011-04-14T18:25:00.000Z

Makenzi Crouch (who loves cats) linked me to the Tumbler Writers and Kitties and I saw this photo of Elizabeth Bishop. I liked the form of the chair and the general pose, and I'd also been looking at the work of J C Leyendecker, so decided to use the photo and Leyendecker's style of profiles as springboards for a sketch:

And then I went all thirties with the dress, mainly because I felt like drawing spectator shoes. I don't think that's accurate for the chair, though. (I realise as a design graduate I should know who designed that chair and when, but ... I don't. I majored in Illustration. =P)

Nothing particularly special, but I quite like it. =)

0.5 mechanical pencil with #B lead in Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook. Around 1.5 hours while watching tv.

Illustration: Tina Arena

2011-04-12T17:40:00.000Z

We go to the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra's Contempo concerts – about three a year, which cover a wide range of not overly-highbrow music. This year it's Tina Arena, James Morrison's Tribute to Louis Armstrong, and Gershwin.

Tina Arena was on Sunday, and I did a small sketch of her during the interval. Monday I decided I didn't like the sketch at all, and rubbed the whole thing out and started again. And today I mucked about with it in Photoshop. I used myself for the pose reference, youtubed Tina to make sure I got something vaguely resembling facial likeness, and checked Aurelio Costarella's website for the dress, which I'd sketched at the time, and then stupidly rubbed out before I'd refreshed my memory as to what it looked like >.<.

There are parts of this I'm not too happy with, but overall I don't think it's a failure. =)

All in all about four hours, maybe five. I forced myself to leave it a bit unrefined.

Adobe Photoshop CS4, Wacom Intuos 3

Sketch: Roger Moore

2011-04-09T16:07:00.000Z

A small brainless sketch of Roger Moore as Simon Templer in the 60s tv series The Saint.

I spent all day colourising an army photo for my father, which basically melted my brains, and to top it off I had to take a tablet for my teeth (will I ever forgive the dentist? It's nearly a year since he worked on my teeth and they still ache on me!) which made me sleepy. In the mood for thinking while sketching I was not, so I did this:

This is based on a screenshot from the intro to #33 'The Wonderful War'.

And I thought I'd also show you the results of my colourisation.

My father purchased a framed set of prints from the dedication of the National Servicemen's Memorial in Canberra, and there was a slot to replace one of the standard prints with a personal photo; he wanted a photo from his time in Malaysia, but being from the 60s they're all in black and white, which would have looked really odd surrounded by modern coloured photos. So I coloured it in, doing my best with an unfortunately rather grainy high-key photo. The result doesn't look completely natural, but it looks pretty good in the frame with the others, if I do say so myself. =)

Roger Moore in 0.5 mechanical pencil with #B lead in a Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook, 1.5 hours.

Photo coloured in Adobe Photoshop CS4.

Illustration: Sleepy Time

2011-04-04T17:06:00.000Z

The finished Dormice!

I'm quite pleased with how they turned out – it was quite tough refraining from painting them all soft and furry, and sticking with the flatter colours of Caravanning. The two look nice together, and the (long-term) plan is to have four hedgerow pictures, two portrait and two landscape, to make a set. There are things to do before I get round to that, however!

'Sleepy Time' done in Winsor & Newton and Reeves watercolours and a sepia PITT Artists Pen.

About 15 hours not-so-solid work. Part of that time was due to the higher detail in the nest and berries, and part to my being lazy – it probably should have been more like 10 hours.

Previous Sleepy Time posts:

Progress: Dormice

Progress: Dormice 2

Sketches: Pride and Prejudice

2011-04-03T18:19:00.000Z

These continue on from Lady Catherine, being on the next two pages of my sketchbook (the fact that several things have been posted here before these is neither here nor there! =P)

I was playing around with the 1795 date of the original First Impressions, rather than the 1813 date of Pride and Prejudice. I don't often draw costume from that era, tending to somehow miss the mid-to-late 1790s. Possibly it's because I don't read all that many books set at that time, and my sketchbooks are a pretty good indication of what I'm reading or watching at any given time. So I thought it would be good practice, and pulled out my trusty Costume: 1066 to the Present by John Peacock for inspiration.

So here we have Lizzy and Jane, Darcy and Bingley. I'm much happier with this Darcy than with this one... but this time I'm not so happy with Jane. Such is life, I suppose.

I'm currently sketching some Diana Wynne Jones art (Probably quite inaccurately, as it's over a year (0r 78.5 books) since I last read her work >.<) Her books have been on my mind since I heard of her sad death the other day. Naturally this gives me sketching ideas, but as there isn't a Wynne Jones book in the house (scandalous, I know!) I'm working from memory.

And to add a bit of colour to this post, here's a shot of my desk:

I always like to see people's workspaces, so here you can see how very messy everywhere gets towards the end of a painting. You can see the almost completed Dormice here, along with references and lots of paint.

The Dormice are just awaiting a few final touchups tomorrow, and then they shall be finished, and my desk shall be completely cleared ready to start a coloured pencil portrait commission.

Sketches in 0.5 mechanical pencil with #B lead in Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook.

Sketch: Jorinda

2011-04-02T18:17:00.000Z

A little character sketch. I'm reading Joan Aiken's Midwinter Nightingale, and this is Jorinda. I'm only halfway through the book, but she appears to not be a particularly nice character, and also not to be entirely sane – but I was taken with the image of someone sitting in a train carriage with a Siamese.

My costuming is a bit off – I learned after I'd inked this that the setting should be somewhere around 1838-40ish. But it's an alternative universe.... maybe I can blame it on that. =P Also, I clearly should not try to draw Siamese without a reference. That is definitely a wonky cat.

This isn't actually based on any one quote (and I took artistic licence anyway, as the cat should be in a cage) but here's one that fits:

"The girl who came in gave him an intent, considering look, half frowning, half friendly, before settling herself in the diagonal corner with a swish and a flounce of dark brown velvet skirts and a twitch of her long fur driving coat. She neatly aligned her feet in well-polished boots and the, when she had made herself thoroughly comfortable, gave Simon another long, shrewd scrutiny. [...] Her hair was dark and short and curved close about her head under a fur cap. Her round freckled face was not pretty – her pink cheeks were too plump, her nose and mouth too big – but she looked lively and keen, dimples showed in her cheeks and a pair of dark grey eyes laughed at Simon as she settled a foreign-looking cat in a cage on the seat beside her." (pg 8-9)

PITT artist's pens (one S, one B) in sepia in a Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook.

About 1 to 1.5 hours.

Progress: Dormice 2

2011-03-30T17:21:00.000Z

I should, by rights, be much further along with this.

I was happily working away when my father completely killed the printer, which necessitated taking several hours to try (vainly) to fix it, go and buy a new one, and, of course, set it up. Eww.

However, we're back up and running now, as evidenced by the fact that I could actually scan this image! =)

As you can probably see, I build up my paints on the paper, rather than mixing the paints to start with (partially that's because I have a lot of pan paints, which don't really lend themselves to mixing, partially because I don't much like mixing paints, and partly because this way works like coloured pencils, which suits me just fine.) After laying down a lot of base colours (which, to my credit, I did mix =P) for the foliage and nest, I've been working in from the corners, mainly using layers of Sap Green, Burnt Umber and Payne's Grey.

My dormice really need some whiskers, but they're reserved for the last step.

PITT artists' pens with Winsor and Newton and Reeves watercolours.

About 4.5 hours so far, including sketching.

Progress: Dormice

2011-03-28T18:08:00.000Z

Sketch and colour study for an upcoming painting.

This is in the way of a companion piece to Caravanning – It's the same dimensions (albeit in portrait rather than landscape) and a similar subject, only this time it's dormice, not shrews.

As you can see, my sketches and colour studies are usually pretty scrappy (not like the nice tidy one I did for Fred just recently =P) ; I just want enough to tell me vaguely what I'm doing.

This image wasn't always going to look like this. Yesterday it was a square format image, and I'd got as far as the colour study before I decided that I didn't like the composition much at all:

Something about it just bothered me, so I started again from scratch (barring the sleeping baby mice) today. I especially wasn't happy with mother-dormouse, and the hawthorn was a bit distracting, and a bit spiky. I think switching to an elongated format and blackberries was a move for the better. =)

Sketch is mechanical pencil on layout paper.

Colour studies were done in Photoshop CS4.

Fred

2011-03-21T05:37:00.000Z

I actually finished Fred last week, and he was collected on Wednesday – I just haven't got round to posting him until now.

I'm happy to say the commissioner was very happy with the result; I hope the person this is intended for will like it as much. =)

I enjoyed doing this portrait – most of it was very relaxing, just colouring in! =P Since my last posting, I finished off the coloured pencil work, and added considerably to the inking. I also added a white spot on colour-Fred's eye; not quite true to the Franz Marc style, but it made him look much more alive.

The abstract squares were a little challenging, as I've never done anything like them before, but once I worked out what I was doing, I think they worked quite well. I based them on Marc's Piggies (no idea of the date) because they added a bit of the abstract qualities of Marc's later work without being too overpowering of the linework, or being too difficult for me to execute (with a view to the facts that I have never been very good at abstracting things, and I was using coloured pencil, not paint.)

All things considered, I'm pretty pleased with this. I hope you like it!

Winsor & Newton and Reeves watercolours and Prismacolour pencils, Carbon Black Atelier waterproof drawing ink on Bristol Board.

About 23 hours.

Previous Fred Posts:

Progress: Fred 2

Progress: Fred

Studies: Franz Marc

Sketch: Sergeant Jackrum

2011-03-18T17:50:00.000Z

A follow-on based on my previous sketch of Sergeant Jackrum (From Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment).

This has been on the go for some time – every now and then I'd go back to it and scribble away for five minutes, and I finished it off today waiting for my allergy vaccination at the doctor's surgery.

I didn't want to define the scenery too much, so it's very scribbly. And I got the shako right this time – the advantages of starting a sketch with resource books and google easily to hand. =)

Click for a larger view!

0.5 mechanical pencil with #B lead in Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook.

I have no idea how long it took. =P

Sketch: Lady Catherine

2011-03-17T19:27:00.000Z

A sketch of Lady Catherine DeBurgh from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

I came across a bunch of C E Brock's illustrations for the novel and was hit with a desire to do Austen sketches. Why I then chose to do Lady Catherine, who I feel would not approve of the regency fashions and would not wear them, I know not. Her dress was fun, anyway (c.1780s), and gave me something to do while I was beating my head against brick walls coming up with unrelated concepts for work-art. And yes, her head is too big... but that's apt, right? =P

0.5 mechanical pencil with #B lead in Jasart My Memoirs Sketchbook.

About 1.5 hours.

Sketch: Linda Thorson

2011-03-12T18:59:00.000Z

Finished the coloured pencil work on Fred today, so rewarded myself with sketching in the evening. Tomorrow, all being well, I'll finish inking Fred, and then that shall be done. =)

Here we have Linda Thorson, as Tara King in The Avengers. I love that show, and recently we got a book (Marcus Hearne's The Avengers: A Celebration) which is just full of gorgeous photos.

This is from a really tiny one, so it's not the best likeness, but considering I was working from a face that was 1cm in size, I don't think I did too badly. Could be much worse, certainly! I think the main problem is with the eye on (our) left. Ah well, things in sketchbooks aren't meant to be perfect, right?

0.5 mechanical pencil with #B lead in Jasart 'My Memoirs' sketchbook.

About 3 hours while watching tv.

Progress: Fred 2

2011-03-09T18:26:00.000Z

Moving right along!

Further progress on Fred, who I think is coming along quite nicely.

Winsor & Newton and Reeves watercolours and Prismacolour pencils, Carbon Black Atelier waterproof drawing ink on Bristol Board.

About 11.25 hours so far.

Previous Fred Posts:
Franz Marc Studies
Progress 1

Progress: Fred

2011-03-08T18:49:00.000Z

This is the project that those Franz Marc studies were for. I'm moving a little more slowly with this than I would like – it just hasn't been my week. I was down with a cold, bounced back for an unexpectedly social weekend, and then went down with a 36 hour migraine. These things I could seriously do without!

However, progress has been made, so I thought I'd post some pics:

Here's the final approved outline-and-colour study. I don't often have such detailed colour studies, but since this is as unfamiliar style, I wanted to get all my experimenting done in Photoshop, and give myself a detailed guide for the final piece.

I chose to put a detailed ink-work portrait of Fred The Horse on the right, as it's not really possible to draw any one specific horse in Franz Marc's style and this is supposed to be a portrait of Fred. I based the pose of the background Fred on one of the horses in Marc's 1911 painting The Large Red Horses, to get a properly Marc-like feel.

For those interested in the hideous-ness of my thumbnails, this was the original concept.

The Stages So Far:

I removed the colour layers from my study and printed out the linework on two pieces of A4 (after first altering the position of the background horse's legs, which were bothering me) paper to give me a ~35 x 22cm copy to trace, and cut out an appropriately sized piece of Bristol Board.

Traced the outlines using my lightbox, and then refined them.

Completed most of the inking (until I got tired with it, and decided to play around with some colour for a while =P) with Carbon Black Atelier waterproof drawing ink, a small brush, and a dip pen.

And started adding the first of the colour.

What you see here is a combination of Winsor & Newton and Reeves watercolours and Prismacolour pencils.

About 7.5 hour so far.

Studies: Franz Marc

2011-03-03T18:48:00.000Z

A couple of studies in preparation for an upcoming commission.

The commissioner wants a horse, and would like it to reflect the style of Franz Marc – so practice is needed to emulate Marc's paintings using watercolour.

These are studies of Horse in a Landscape (1910) and The Large Red Horses (1911)

Click on the image to get it larger, if you want to read my scrawled notes. And yes, I usually leave my studies unfinished. =P

I've come to the conclusion that using coloured pencil over my watercolours is the way to go – it gives a more solid result which fits better with the style. However, I'll need to do the final on Bristol Board; I used Eraldo di Paolo medium tooth paper for these studies, and it's much too rough to take pencil.

Winsor & Newton watercolours, Prismacolour pencils (on bottom study)