Pre/During ‘Quarantina’ Diptych

29th April, 2020 // No Comments

Below is an image I created for a new drawing challenge on Doodle Addicts. The prompt was to create a Diptych image of life pre/post quarantine. So I took this opportunity to use one of my existing illustrations and create a new illustration alongside it:

I had an idea for a message I wanted to convey with these two images. During quarantine a lot of people have been learning to appreciate what we took for granted. In this image, pre-quarantine, the girl (Quarantina) is seen relaxing in nature on a sunny day. However, she’s ignoring the natural wonders of her surroundings and choosing to be absorbed in her mobile phone.

(more…)

7 Steps to Becoming an Illustrator

27th April, 2020 // 16 Comments
7 Steps to Becoming an Illustrator

I received an email a while back from another artist who was just starting out. He had a great portfolio of work but was unsure about how to launch off into the illustration world. Looking back almost 10 years now when I started out as a professional illustrator, I was a little naive and wasted a lot of time, money and emotion working things out.

First off, to be a freelance illustrator you do not need a qualification. In over 10 years of being hired to create artwork for clients not once have I been asked if I have a degree or if I’m qualified, nor did I state I had one. These points will help you avoid some of the pillow punching I went through, and ultimately streamline your journey toward making a career as an artist.

you do not need a qualification

The following is my personal take on what I consider the bare essentials required to becoming an illustrator. There are many other little clumps of clay to slap on top but I think everything else builds on the foundation of these seven.

(more…)

Roger Federer Poses

20th April, 2020 // No Comments

Here is an update on the Roger Federer poses I previously asked your opinions on. I selected the two with the highest votes and sketched them out in more detail.

These are by no means the finished article but I wanted to give you a feel of where it’s going.

ONE
TWO

Please let me know in the comments which one you think is “the one”.

Sketch Daily w/c 13/Jun/2020

14th April, 2020 // No Comments

FRIDAY theme of the day: Free Draw Friday

THURSDAY theme of the day: Legally Large Dogs

TUESDAY theme of the day: Hip hop

Hello? Everybody home?

11th April, 2020 // 4 Comments

We’re all in this mess together, aren’t we? I hope things for you haven’t been too bad. Well, like most creative folk, I’ve been trying to make hay while the sun shines (through the glass) and using this isolation to figure out how to make better videos, and also revisiting some forgotten sketches.

Here’s one I spruced up and put a current twist on…

Quaran-time of my life

And here’s another, one of quite a few I’ve found that haven’t seen “the light of day” (whatever that is)…

(more…)

Lunchtime News

19th September, 2019 // 4 Comments

When: Aug, 2019
Duration: Half an hour
What: A man reading the newspaper
Where: Castle Park, Bristol
Details: During my lunch break this guy was keeping up to date with what “was poppin'”. Good sun = good lighting.

Chronicles of Colombia

31st May, 2019 // 4 Comments

A couple of months ago I was in Colombia doing a bit of reconnecting with family, improving Spanish and, of course drawing…

My new favourite sketchbook: Leuchtturm 1917

Santa Marta

My trip started in Santa Marta, on the northern coast of Colombia. A place of beaches and heat.

(more…)

Pandora’s Head and Artistic Licence

12th November, 2018 // No Comments

Pandora’s head is not here.

Pandora's head

Yet.

In my latest video (below), I finally give Pandora the head she deserves. She’s been waiting over a decade.

You may know that I often go out sketching and end up with unfinished drawings. This can be for a multitude of reasons; the person I’m drawing inconsiderately decides to leave, or I simply need to run away because they’ve finally found me. Regardless, I end up completing the sketches much later, usually after I’ve forgotten about them.

This often allows me to attack them with fresh eyes, and new perspectives.

Ignorance is bliss before

Before

Ignorance is bliss after

After

Are you getting at something here?

When we are creating anything for ourselves, for our own enjoyment, we have artistic licence. That essentially means you can give a man tentacle arms if you want. Rules don’t control us, not any more.

Ol' tentacle arms

Tentacle arms is an obvious example of artistic licence, because I’m yet to witness a successful octoplasty in real life. The science just isn’t there yet. But artistic licence can be used in more subtle ways.

An example would be drawing a scene of a building that has no people in it, and deciding to add people to give it a story or some warmth. Or maybe deciding to add shadow to a scene you’re painting which is completely different to the shadow in the real scene in front of you. Why? Because it might make a better picture.

Lady standing in Water

Was there an umbrella and torrential rain, or did she leave before I could finish her feet?

You can choose to paint the picture as it is or you can choose not to. Some people like to replicate what they’re painting or drawing as close to reality as possible because they might see virtue in presenting it exactly as it was. Others might alter that representation of reality because they think the end result would be better. Neither is right or wrong. Just know that you’re probably not going to go to prison if what you’re portraying isn’t perfect or exactly as it is in reality. You have the licence.

New nose

Was he looking at an iPad or looking into a mirror at his new nose?

Back to Pandora

So here I am completing Pandora over a decade later. I don’t have the original source I drew it from so I am using, you guessed it, artistic licence. Enjoy…

As always I’d love to hear from you. Have any thoughts or questions? Let me know in the comments!

Copic Pen Shading

3rd November, 2018 // 8 Comments

Video Number Five

Another video was made! In this one, I chat a little bit about shading, specifically Copic marker shading. I take you through a quick process of how I shaded the image below.

Bread holding illustration showing Copic pen shading

The joys of bread

Copic Markers are a pretty popular tool for colouring artwork, and especially for shading ink drawings.  Continue reading…

Hands On T-shirts

18th October, 2018 // No Comments

A little story about some t-shirt designs

It started with a goal of getting better at drawing hands. Ask any artist and they will say drawing hands are one of the most frustrating areas of the human anatomy to make look right.

So I did a lot of sketching hands of strangers in cafes, from different angles and in different shapes…

TAKING IT UP A NOTCH

Well, I’d been drawing all these hands, so I thought, ‘Why not do something about it? Can I take this subject matter and make it into something good enough people would wear?’ (more…)

Load More