Corfe Castle
Menacingly set upon the Purbeck hills, Corfe Castle casts a powerful silhouette as you drive into the village. Built in the 11th century by Ol' Willy the Conquerer it resisted countless sieges before gradually being broken down and used by villagers on their own houses!
Nearly as steep as the hill is the admission. "£7.50?!" my Uncle exclaimed,
"I'm not paying that, half of it's missing!"
So we spent our half crowns and two bob bits on warm ale in The Fox Inn instead. The pub was built in 1568 and has a wonderful little side entrance to its beer garden.
Do you have a wonderful little side entrance?
Nearly as steep as the hill is the admission. "£7.50?!" my Uncle exclaimed,
"I'm not paying that, half of it's missing!"
So we spent our half crowns and two bob bits on warm ale in The Fox Inn instead. The pub was built in 1568 and has a wonderful little side entrance to its beer garden.
Do you have a wonderful little side entrance?
Christchurch
Spent last week on the South Coast of England. Popped over to Christchurch for a beach walk but insanely high winds drove me to shelter in the shadows of the trees like Gollum. Lurking in the dark I spotted this intrepid dog walker.
Maribou States new EP- available here for just 1 pound and 29 pennies! Unbelievable! Thanks Liam and Kieran for letting me create the cover.
Drought
It's been raining for about 7 days consecutively which only means one thing in England- a nationwide drought.
Hengistbury Head
Stunning weather last weekend led me to Bournemouth and a stroll along the coast to Hengistbury Head. Unfortunately nature conspired against me on my only painting day, leaving me to produce quick sketches instead. When I painted 2 subjects the next day from my sketches I felt far less reliant on what I could actually see. I felt much more freedom. Hopefully I'll get round to doing something with those wonderful little beach huts.
Where clouds touch mountains
I'm back after a life affirming week in the French Alps. Mountain people are amongst the happiest on the planet and the overwhelming positivity was a real shot in the arm. Wonderful weather, delicious food and unbelievable apres ski! I took a few mornings off to sketch the gravity defying wobbly houses of Meribel, but apart from that the holiday was a haze of sunshine, beer, music, snowboarding and midget's racing camels! It'll be tough to top that!
Illustrating Treasure Island
With the release of Treasure Island on the iPad I'm happy to show some development work from last year. I would work up the roughs on the Cintiq before moving to colour in Photoshop. Many ideas are discarded, but that's the nature of quick thumbnails. You hope to capture the energy of the doodles in the finished artwork. There's over 40 finished illustrations, so here's a small sample of some of them. All art copyright Space Dog Books 2011.
A trip
I'm back in London after a month in California, spending two weeks in Los Angeles and two in San Francisco. Whilst away I thought I'd try some small paintings. Virtually all of my sketchbooks are black and white so I thought I'd take the plunge into colour. It wasn't an entirely comfortable experience but I'm glad I forced myself to do something different. I want to write about all the terrific people I met and drew too but I'm too discombobulated with jet lag right now. More soon......
...Right I'm back after a doze. Below is the first drawing I did in LA before abandoning pencil for paint. Underneath that are some of the characters I saw during my stay.
I just wanted to add that I met some incredible people and artists this time around, and I really have to thank them for making my trip so enjoyable. So in no particular order I salute Matt Jones, Nick Sung, Noah Klocek, Stephane Kardos, Space Dog Books, Ricky Nierva, Kevin Dart, Andy Grisdale, Don Shank, Alex Woo, Dave Needham and Boris Hiestand
If push came to shove and I had to pick a highlight of the journey it was meeting Sanjay Patel. Sanjay's artwork adorns San Francisco due to his outstanding show at the Asian Art Museum. I found it so inspiring to see vector art getting the recognition it deserves. There's no button on the computer that says "make great art". Sanjay's work is pound for pound the best I've seen. Chatting to him was a wonderful experience. There's wisdom, magic and a great spirituality to the man.
...Right I'm back after a doze. Below is the first drawing I did in LA before abandoning pencil for paint. Underneath that are some of the characters I saw during my stay.
I just wanted to add that I met some incredible people and artists this time around, and I really have to thank them for making my trip so enjoyable. So in no particular order I salute Matt Jones, Nick Sung, Noah Klocek, Stephane Kardos, Space Dog Books, Ricky Nierva, Kevin Dart, Andy Grisdale, Don Shank, Alex Woo, Dave Needham and Boris Hiestand
If push came to shove and I had to pick a highlight of the journey it was meeting Sanjay Patel. Sanjay's artwork adorns San Francisco due to his outstanding show at the Asian Art Museum. I found it so inspiring to see vector art getting the recognition it deserves. There's no button on the computer that says "make great art". Sanjay's work is pound for pound the best I've seen. Chatting to him was a wonderful experience. There's wisdom, magic and a great spirituality to the man.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)