Rainbow Magic

Confined

2010-01-09T22:39:00.004Z

This suddenly appeared when I was trying to think of a suitable topic for the Illustration Friday topic 'Confined'. Appropriate because of the weather here, but it dug up a few old emotions.

Renewal

2010-01-06T21:20:00.003Z

New Year, new resolutions, specifically to get drawing and posting again! 2009 was a very busy year (finals, graduation, starting work, moving house, as well as my normal hobbies packed in!) so drawing fell behind at the end. Now life is more settled I hope to draw more often. Those of you that still visit, thanks for waiting. Anyone new, nice of you to visit.

These are sketches from my photos of a trip to New York. Amazing place, but so busy. The weather was constantly below freezing, but clear skies so great for site seeing. I really liked the Art Deco influences such as for the Empire State Building. For some reason I like the flag best, what do you think?

Blown Away

2009-09-06T20:33:00.003+01:00

A birthday card for my friend who's kitting out his new flat in style. With apologies to Maxell. (I wish I'd found the advert earlier rather than going from memory, there are more elements I'd like to have parodied! However there are lots of details which relate to my friend here too)

Caution - Wildfowl

2009-08-23T19:53:00.001+01:00

My take on this week's Illustration Friday theme 'Caution'.

Modify

2009-08-07T21:59:00.003+01:00

Not quite in time for the IF topic, but I'm posting all the same. This is my 'modified' sailing dinghy.

Sailing Week

2009-08-03T21:31:00.002+01:00

This is a quick sketch/painting done on the beach in Bridlington. There was so much going on, dramatic weather moving through, sailors needing assistance that I didn't get to sit still long. I had a great week and our sailing team (from land-locked Leicestershire) coped well considering the conditions.

Cracked

2009-05-25T22:17:00.002+01:00

My take on this week's Illustration Friday topic, 'cracked'.

Birthday Trains

2009-05-24T12:15:00.003+01:00

Birthday card for my cousin, drawn with permenent ink and watercolour. I really enjoyed this, even if it was a little fiddly! My cousin quite likes trains, if you hadn't guessed already. And the good news is, my final year project is in! I still have exams to do, but more time now for creativity. I have a few little things underway so will hopefully be posting more soon.(Click to view bigger!)

Where did April go?

2009-04-18T21:03:00.003+01:00

Time is flying by... I have 3 weeks to finish my Final Year Project and not that much longer til I finish uni. Very scary stuff considering how much work I have left to do, but the end is in sight. So you probably won't hear much from me but I'll try and post odds and ends when I can. This is the card I painted for my Mum on Mother's Day. I was really pleased with how it turned out considering I painted straight onto card stock. The leaf curls round the back too. I'm not sure why I added the splatters but they seem to work.
This was a birthday card for someone who enjoys wildlife photography and often goes to the zoo. My imagination ran a bit wild with what you could get photos of if you could sneak in after hours. I didn't have long to do it so the drawings aren't great, but I was pleased with the composition.

a little bit of spring

2009-03-15T16:06:00.009Z

I've been experimenting lately. I love corrugated recycled brown card. So I tried watercolouring on it. Very different techniques to traditional watercolouring, but I enjoyed it!

I needlefelted this little robin, with inspiration from Ola Smith and Middle of Nowhere.
And I made several postcards using hand made rubber stamps. Gennine has wonderful tutorial on her blog. The first is made from lots of stamps I'd made before, all together in a sort of colourscheme. The strawberries postcard was for my Mum, the stamp was originally used to make writing paper for her for Christmas.

Breezy

2009-03-04T22:46:00.005Z

My submission for the IF topic 'Breezy'. Great sailing weather is a strong and steady breeze! This is a bit of a re-attempt of a previous topic, Sail. I was happy with the first trial but thought I could do the idea a lot more justice. I'm really pleased with how this one has turned out! I worked from a photo to help with the lighting, and think that made a lot of difference. I've been trying to develop my watercolour skills so before and after attempts at a similar theme give me chance to look at my progress. Let me know what you think :o)

Time

2009-02-11T17:19:00.002Z

My entry for the Illustration Friday topic 'Time'. Pen and watercolour.

Birthdays

2009-02-08T16:03:00.005Z

I haven't drawn much lately so I thought I'd post a couple of birthday cards I've done for friends. The first is done in the style of the Anthony Ant books by Lorna and Graham Philpot... for a friend called Ant... surprisingly.

The second is loosely based on another friend's cats. Apologies for the poor photo but it had to go in the post!

2009-02-01T19:54:00.002Z

A quick painting (well, watercolour, watersoluable pens and pencils) that developed into a stormy scene.

Pale

2009-02-01T19:51:00.004Z

This is a rather late submission for the Illustration Friday topic 'pale'. The female Mandarin Duck is very pale compared to the male, but is none the less beautiful. I saw this pair on a visit to Slimbridge.

I didn't know whether to do more to this watercolour, but didn't want to spoil what I had done so far. I think I might try painting them again to try and give a better idea of just how colourful the male Mandarin Duck actually is.

Contained

2009-01-12T23:51:00.003Z

A quick sketch for Illustration Friday. This tray 'contains' my mess on the table by my laptop and acts as an out tray of things to do. It's actually a lovely blue wooden tray with a painted design on the inside. A Christmas presant from a relation in Sweden. As you can see it's being put to good use!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-12T23:48:00.003Z

It's been far too long since last posting... my final year is very busy but I'm still getting some drawing done when I can. This was done on the last day of my holiday in Wales over new year. It was surprisingly sunny and warm after being -2 celcius some days. First time I've done sketching outside (and painted) in a looong time.

Opinion

2008-11-26T20:34:00.003Z

In my opinion... I sit on the fence too much!

I have had too much uni work on lately for my liking, but can't believe I haven't uploaded anything for a month! I have a half finished sketch for the IF topic Vacant from a while back that will be up as soon as it's done.

Thanks yoon see for the tag... at the moment I don't have time to pass it on, but I will tell you a few facts about myself: 1. My favourite colour is yellow, but I hardly ever wear it (usually purple or green like in this drawing!) 2. I love making soup. Nothing beats homemade vegetable soup. 3. My favourite flowers are daffodils, partly because they're yellow, partly because they show it's Spring (which is incidentally my favourite season).

Reflective

2008-10-26T20:20:00.001Z

A quick pencil sketch in my moleskine. I like the perspective!

what a mess

2008-10-26T20:18:00.003Z

fluff!

Late

2008-10-21T20:04:00.002+01:00

My take on this week's Illustration Friday topic - Late.

Rainbows through the rain

2008-10-13T22:09:00.003+01:00

I'm feeling a little out of my depth (just because I'm tired and have too much to do) so I drew this to make myself feel better (and put off doing any of the things I need to be doing for a bit longer!!)

Its more of a concept sketch for a drawing to do later than a proper sketch. The words incase you can't read them (I had to go over everything with a thicker pen as it wouldn't scan 0.1) say 'Things may seem difficult, but it all depends on your perspective... The sun still shines above rainclouds, you might even get a rainbow...'

In answer to your question yoon see, my studies are going well but are a bit busy at the moment (not that I really expected anything else from my final year...) Thanks for asking!

Catch up

2008-10-13T22:02:00.006+01:00

Unfinished drawings... This was for the IF theme of 'clutter'. Its not finished yet (only a small amount got coloured) but I do intend to at some point... The idea was the clutter inside my head. These are some of the thoughts at the time as I see them. (I was on a train travelling to Wales).

On the way back from Tywyn I stopped over at my friend Katy's in Aberystwyth. We had a great weekend with glorious sunshine and it felt like a proper holiday. A little reminder of some of the things we did. Things have been a little hectic lately so sorry for the lack of finished drawings!

Birthday Cat

2008-09-24T21:56:00.002+01:00

Drawn in ink then coloured on the computer. Mainly from a photo of my Grandpa's (it's for his birthday) but with the cat added in. I was inspired to try and develop colouring on the computer from looking at Christina Jonsson's amazing work.

Memories

2008-09-03T21:46:00.003+01:00

This represents a memory of going star gazing with friends in Wales. We climbed up to a ruined castle and watched for shooting stars. We saw many and even part of the Milky Way. For this and other reasons it will stick in my memory as a wonderful adventure for a long time yet! (What the drawing doesn't show is the field of cows we had to walk back through in the dark... cows you can hear but not see, very spooky! That the the farmer with a searchlight who was 'just walking his dogs'....)

Detach

2008-08-29T21:57:00.004+01:00

My attempt at 'Detach', last week's Illustration Friday topic.

EDM #183 Draw Something Dangerous

2008-08-29T21:55:00.002+01:00

Looks pretty dangerous to me!

Sail

2008-08-14T19:06:00.002+01:00

This is my take on Illustration Friday's topic Sail. Sooo much fun!

Edm #180 Draw Something in your Favourite Colour

2008-08-05T21:56:00.002+01:00

Yellow! This hasn't come out as yellow as it did on paper. It's a woven thing that was in some yellow flowers I was given. Quite challenging but I'm pleased with it.

Static Trapeze

2008-08-01T21:42:00.003+01:00

This is a birthday card I sketched for a friend who's into trapeze and circus skills. One of my aims is to practice drawing figures. This is adapted from a photo, and I was actually really pleased how it turned out. (The colours a bit speckled because it was drawn on very textured card)

poof!

2008-08-01T21:26:00.003+01:00

Illustration Friday topic. A bit of fun! Not one of my best drawings but I'm trying to get back into posting regularly.

Squirrel

2008-08-01T21:22:00.002+01:00

This furry creature visits our garden. He's getting rather fat!
First post after rather a long absence. Since then I have finished my penultimate year at uni, done 3 weeks of a summer job and taken 18 young sailors to the national regatta. (www.mayorstrophy.org.uk/nssa2008) Busy busy!

Forgotten

2008-06-08T16:11:00.003+01:00

Inspired by Illustration Friday's theme. This is based on a photo I remember from when I was little. I was always upset looking at the photo (of me as a baby) that my hat was forgotten. It wasn't until I was older that I realised someone had to have taken the photo, so the hat wasn't forgotten at all.

More Fish

2008-06-08T16:08:00.003+01:00

I had enough of revision last night so I drew and painted the fish. Quite a challenge as they kept moving! Click to view large. (How many snails can you find?)

Liverpool

2008-05-25T19:02:00.002+01:00

Sketches from our day out in Liverpool, I didn't have time for sketching or a camera so I wanted something to remember it by. Drawn from internet photos, but views I saw! My favourite parts were the stained glass so this will appear soon with watercolour. We climbed to the top of the cathedral tower (well part of it has a lift!!) 100m high (331 feet). Well worth it for the view.

EDM #172 Something that Sparkles (and EDM #166 Fish)

2008-05-25T15:19:00.004+01:00

Drawn a while ago, 2 of our Swordtail fish! Unfortunately the male died, but not until we had a total of 16 fish from initially only 4! They have sparkley scales.

Moving House

2008-05-25T15:16:00.001+01:00

Inspired by various friends moving house, a doodle in ink coloured on PC.

All the tea in China

2008-05-19T18:40:00.001+01:00

This is a slightly strange concept I know... the concept was drawn in a (very boring!) Project Management lecture where the lecturer was talking about the difference between quality and fitness for purpose. He used the example that you wouldn't put china tea cups in a vending machine. This just had to be drawn.

Journey

2008-05-19T18:22:00.003+01:00

This was based on an idea I had a couple of years back, I wanted to try and give a sense of travelling. Straight in ink (no pencil - quite scary for me!) and mostly on a train!!

Back Again and EDM #160

2008-05-19T18:16:00.004+01:00

I can't belive its been over 2 months since last posting. I've had so much uni work to do I haven't had the time to post, and I haven't drawn as much as I'd have liked. I have missed it loads and have made the resolution to do a quick sketch every day to help me get through the last bits of coursework then exams! So I'm posting 3 drawings now that I did over the last couple of months, then hopefully more will be posted regularly!

This is from quite a while back, the first big sailing race I did. We'd only had the boat 2 weeks and it was a bit big for me, but I enjoyed it! Every time I rounded the clubhouse buoy I got shouts of "come on you gardners!" as I had leaves everywhere from capsizing into a tree....

EDM # 8 Draw a Piece of Jewellery

2008-03-01T17:53:00.004Z

Or several! I didn't know whether to write the histories behind some of the items on the drawing round the edges, but I decided against it. What do you think? I posted it on flickr here and added comments instead. Drawn in coloured fineliners.

EDM # 159 Favourite Kitchen Tool

2008-03-01T17:50:00.003Z

Also would fit for EDM # 147 Something Made of Wood. This is my favourite tool as I remember making flapjack as a kid, the best bit of course being to lick the spoon! Oats, sugar, butter and wooden taste still sticks in my mind.

Karma Chameleon

2008-03-01T17:46:00.003Z

I got rather bored in a lecture and drew this on the inside of my pad with my fineliners! (I'd been watching David Attenborough's Life in Cold Blood the night before).

EDM #158 Draw a Kernel of Popcorn

2008-02-22T21:20:00.004Z

Popcorn! I enjoyed eating it and choosing some interesting shapes.

I haven't had much time for posting lately, hence the catch up today.

EDM # 157 Draw a Towel

2008-02-22T21:08:00.003Z

A fortnight ago I'd just come back from a very cold and snowy outdoor management course, which was great! I was very glad I bought some thermals, and the towel fitted in this picture. So here is my quick painting for EDM # 157.

Postcard From Anita

2008-02-22T20:55:00.002Z

This is my reply poscard from Anita. I think he's great! I also love the colours in the sea/sand. You're very talented Anita!

Postcard to Anita

2008-02-22T20:44:00.006Z

I have a slight obsession with geese after reading Mick Inkpen's 'Honk' (a Kipper book). I know I'm far too old for that sort of thing, but I do anyway. So I chose geese to paint for Anita. Unfortunately I still can't get watercolour to scan well.

Winding Walls

2008-02-08T20:58:00.001Z

This is a coloured pencil sketch from a photo I took last year whilst walking in Wales. I loved the winding stone walles. I tried originally a more realistic version which didn't work out, so I let myself colour in a smoother fashion and this is the result.

Hidden Linings

2008-01-25T11:02:00.001Z

I loved the lining materials on my new jeans so I painted them! You'd never guess they were there from the outside.

Texture

2008-01-25T10:59:00.001Z

A new leaf stamper and a creative moment!

Return of Pig

2008-01-25T10:50:00.001Z

Pig is quite a character. He loves posing, dancing and generally thinks the world revolves around him. Despite this he is very huggy and enjoys fulfilling his life purpose of being a microwaveable beany heat pack. He will be thrilled to be on here again. He's great to practice drawing on!

Goslings Join the Picnic

2008-01-15T17:07:00.001Z

As breaks from revision I've been drawing... unfortunately it ends up more like revising between breaks from drawing! I love these pencil crayons, the colours and blending work really well. This came straight out my head.

Winter Sunset

2008-01-15T17:04:00.001Z

For several days in a row the sunset was amazing after having rained all day. The trees silhouetted against the sky really stood out.

Broadwater

2007-12-20T15:20:00.000Z

This is Broadwater, near Tywyn, Mid Wales. I had lots of great walks with my Grandpa round here and in the Peak District. Hasn't scanned that well because of the paper but you get the idea!

Powis

2007-12-20T15:13:00.001Z

End of term at uni was rather hectic so havn't had time for much drawing. Having finished now I've done a couple of things for Christmas presants. This is Powis Castle in Wales for my Grandma, we went there at Easter this year.

Lion King

2007-11-24T19:28:00.000Z

I listened to some of the music from The Lion King, and had to draw this. It was a very very quick sketch in oil pastels, just something to get the idea out my head and onto paper. It probably comes as a memory from the film.

EDM #142 Something Hot

2007-11-24T19:26:00.001Z

Pig! Is full of beans and goes in the microwave. He gets all warm and is great for putting on achey joints.

Painting Machine

2007-11-24T19:19:00.001Z

Following the preivous post this is a drawing I did for the railway's volunteer magazine. A lot of engines are being repainted at the moment so I drew this fictional machine. This is posted as Juj liked the bike drawing so this is kind of similar.

Slate Siding

2007-11-24T19:13:00.001Z

As a hobby I volunteer on the Talyllyn Railway - a narrow gauge steam railway in mid Wales. To cut a long story short about why I go... a lot of my best friends go there and it's in a beautiful valley. I do drawings for their volunteer magazine, and was asked to do this for a childrens quiz sheet. The line used to carry slate so I was asked to draw the view from the museum like it would have been in the days when it was a slate wharf. Quite a challenge with little to go from! This was the result.

EDM #1 Draw a Shoe

2007-11-10T23:44:00.001Z

My walking shoe in coloured pencil. Best fitting shoe I've had in years! (Complete with Peak District mud) I sat down and drew this in a bit under an hour (it was supposed to be a quick one!) The material is textured and shiny so was quite hard to draw.

Line Drawings

2007-11-10T21:08:00.000Z

This blog doesn't really show the type of drawings I do a lot of: ink cartoons type doodles. This is from a birthday card for a friend who likes cycling and is on the civil engineering course for me. It's a bike adapted with lots of surveying kit. I love drawing this sort of thing and letting my imagination run riot. This was originally in brown ink.

Autumn

2007-11-10T21:04:00.000Z

This is a postcard I made after I visited Ryton Organic Gardens with some of my family last weekend. It was a quick sketch in water soluble markers. It was the first time I'd used them so I thought the pumpkin came out well, wasn't too sure about the rest of the garden though.

Outside My Eyes

2007-10-21T22:39:00.001+01:00

First attempt at a self portrait. Just in pencil but I thought it worked out ok for a first try. I couldn't work out how to make it look like I was looking down (it was a pic of me drawing I worked from) so I look a bit like I have my eyes closed!

My Bag - EMD #3

2007-10-20T19:53:00.001+01:00

Today the girl serving me in a shop said "I like your bag", so in her honour I drew it.

Old Before their Time

2007-10-18T21:26:00.001+01:00

This doodle was done for my Aunt. When I spoke to her she was moaning of aches and pains and generally feeling an old fogie. So I drew this to hopefully cheer her up!

Industrial Sunrise

2007-10-18T21:21:00.000+01:00

This I drew from memory - its a view from my commute to uni on the bus. I'm not very happy with it, didn't scan well for a start (I need to work on this, have a nice scanner but pencil crayon drawings don't come out well) and didn't really capture what I wanted it to. The pilons are all wrong too! Ah well this is the whole point I guess, learning! I'll have another go sometime, perhaps in a different media.

Home Grown Tomatoes

2007-10-15T14:38:00.000+01:00

These are tomatoes I grew and was dissappointed in that they didn't ripen so they got left in a pot. After a while they suddenly started ripening, I loved the combination of colours so had to draw them. I didn't like the way they scanned so I took a photo (unfortunately a bit grey).
This is drawn in water colour pencils, but I liked the way it ended up without water so left it at that.

Dr Duck

2007-10-15T14:33:00.001+01:00

This is Dr Duck... I've been knitting hats for Innocent Smoothies Big Knit to raise money for Age Concern. So Duck is modelling one of the hats and a scarf I knitted for something else. We decided he looks like Dr Who. He'll probably end up with a background sooner or later.
Drawn in Derwent coloured pencils, which I've had for years and I love.

2007-10-12T11:45:00.000+01:00

I was wondering where to start, if I should put some of my old work from before up, or start fresh and upload any new sketches or designs. I'm thinking for now any new ideas then when I get round to it upload a 'best of' kind of collection!