Video time! Here's the other sketchbook I'm using at the moment. This ones the neater of the 2 and gradually filling up with patterns and portraits. I prime the pages with blocks of acrylic colour and then draw on them with paint pens. I probably don't need to prime the pages in this one but I find the ink from the pens causes the pages to fall apart in most of my sketchbooks so this is a tactical way around it. It uses up excess paint I've accidentally mixed for other projects too which is an added bonus. Not to mention the obvious block colour background helps make the colours pop. So there's 3 good reasons! It's definitely work in progress.
COMIC time
Hello lovely humans!
'Want to know a fun* fact about me? (*Debatable) I'm a diary keeper. It's nothing fancy and most definitely not a number one best seller but I started writing a few things down last October and I've managed to keep it up to this day - which is less than a year so it's not saying much! But it speaks volumes to me, ha! It started out as one of those 'line a day' journals and now it's turning into a 'line and a bit a day' journal. I try to pick out little moments in the day that either made me laugh, cry, think, pause or simply pat myself on the back. Some of the entries can literally be as dull as 'I hung up the washing', but sometimes that's exactly the kind of action that needs to be recognised because not every day can fill you with that sense of accomplishment. And also I figured in years to come (possibly) it might be actually quite interesting to look back and read about all those little moments...
ANYWAY! I thought it'd be fun to try and put a few of these little memories into pictures - I've always wanted to have a go at scribbling down some little autobiographical comics and thought what better place to begin. Who knows it might be a new little side project that takes off, no pressure, but for now it's refreshing to try something completely new.
faces in the crowd
Sorry for the quiet week. I've been hiding out in the studio or at home - packing. The house move isn't going as smoothly as I'd hoped but that seems to be the nature of this process. Fingers crossed I'll find myself more settled soon - I'm so grateful for this little home away from home (aka studioland) at the moment!
I've been working on those abstract portraits a lot lately - playing around with detail, sometimes stripping it right back and focusing on block colours, which goes COMPLETELY against my nature of drowning pictures in patterns. I think I can safely say I find it hard to leave a picture alone when it's beginning to look finished. I am however enjoying finding a balance between the 2 styles AND watching the face shapes and styles develop.
Here are a handful of new faces I've drawn over the last week...
Just in case you're curious - I've been painting these using paint pens on a piece of watercolour paper primed with block colour acrylic paint. The same process I use in most of my sketchbooks and for all of my drawings. The colourful background makes the paint pen ink "pop" and adds depth - it also helps direct the colour scheme, which can be a decision that'll easily dominate an afternoon and put your doodling on hold.
I've been scanning these drawings as I go along so if you spot anything you'd like to buy please feel free to get in touch and we can talk prices for prints and original drawings!
youtube!
I now have a youtube thingy! It's a bit sparse at the minute but follow it and watch it grow!
Here's a taste of what's to come..
