Aky's art

Ink Sketch - Lana Del Rey

2012-01-27T11:50:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I woke up this morning really wanting to draw something. I was still in a silly dreamy mood and spent around 45 minutes on this inky sketch of Lana Del Rey, (I must find the source of the wonderful photograph I used for reference), before I ran to work and got there in the nick of time. I’m enjoying how people are finding it so difficult to define her.

Animals 'n Stuff

2012-01-23T03:30:00.000-08:00

Hello,
these are some ink drawings I did a while back. I scanned them in and played around with them on PS. I'm currently working on some panels for an educational book commissioned by OUP. It's just a few pages but I'm working on the story of Dick Whittington and his wonderful cat.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

2012-01-19T01:23:00.000-08:00

Wahey!

Received my copy of Snow White from the publisher. So that’s the two Classic Tales commissions done. They’re really hard to find on the net. Well they’re not even up on the publisher site yet, and they’re actually for schools. Bleh.

Booooks

2012-01-04T09:51:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to do more reading and less interwebs. It's not working. Oh and Habibi was awesome, have I mentioned already? It's a signed copy! Bought it from Forbidden Planet, London.

Dee Dee

2011-12-19T07:07:00.000-08:00

Hello,

developed that ink drawing of Dee Dee from Dum Dum Girls.

Siren

2011-12-11T03:06:00.000-08:00

Woo,
I've actually got some spare time to doodle.

Mr Bowie

2011-12-10T10:39:00.000-08:00

Hello,

This is Mr Bowie in a suit and bow-tie.

Inky Stuff

2011-12-08T06:34:00.000-08:00

Yellow,

Some stuff I've drawn recently when I should have been working. I don't know if I've mentioned already, but I got a small commission doing some panels for OUP. A the moment I'm doing stuff on Dick Whittington. I'll be getting another story soon.

(Illustrations: some animal studies and a sketch of Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls)

Goldilocks

2011-12-05T11:29:00.000-08:00

Yay!
Received my own copy of Goldilocks from OUP. Can't wait for Snow White now! I don't think it's on sale yet...it's not up on the publisher site. It's a schooly, learning aid sorta book so you would buy it directly from the publishers.

Colour Me Wednesday sampler '11

2011-12-02T09:35:00.000-08:00

Got this from Jen a couple of days ago in the post. The artwork is awesome!

Mummy

2011-12-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

This is my mum :)

Petrify

2011-11-23T03:28:00.000-08:00

Hello,

May be I should have posted the roughs first...Nah - do that later. I've completed that B/W commission I got from A&C Black. The story is written by Beth Chambers and is aimed towards 14-16 year olds who have a low level reading ability. So the text is fairly intermediate. However they wanted my illustrations to be mature enough for that age range. They said they wanted as little of grey as possible due to the dot-printing method. The story involves a group of friends. The main characters include Ella the sensible girl, her stubborn friend Josh and a horrid small witch-like lady named Ma Jessop. I might make last minute changes on these, (never know). Here are my best ones.

Dum Dum Girls: 17th Nov 2011

2011-11-19T08:50:00.000-08:00

Wooo,

Got to see Dum Dum Girls at ULU, London!! Here are some pics

Goldilocks update

2011-11-16T16:12:00.000-08:00

Good news good news!

I'll be receiving a copy of Goldilocks and the Three Bears soon! I haven't got any photos I've taken myself, but heres a link to my agency blog: right here so you can get a glimpse. The snaps are a bit unfocused but what the heck, I'm chuffed.

Yawning lion

2011-11-08T16:50:00.000-08:00

Hey Choo!

I've got myself a tablet now.

Yeah, just practising and getting used to the new tablet. I'm feeling sleepy now. I've been working on that B/W commission I got. I've been really busy lately since mum's gone to Hajj.

Here's a sleepy lion I drew using the tablet.

Raina

2011-10-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I got the B&W commission! The brief from A&C Black. They want me to do 10 illustrations for a children's fiction titled Petrify aimed at 12-15-ish year olds. Just completed the roughs and sent them off. They wanted atmosphere, creepiness and a sort of graphic novel look. Since it's B&W, I've been rummaging the library for graphic novels, comics and other B&W work. I was delighted to find Craig Thompson's Blankets - Absolutely stunning. The ink-work is fluid and very accomplished. I've been analysing it to death. It inspired me so much I went and bought his latest graphic novel titled Habibi, influenced heavily by Arabic calligraphy and a sort of romantic orientalism.

The illustration is of Raina from Blankets. I must must must read it!

More Snow White Stuff

2011-09-11T02:33:00.000-07:00

Hello,

A few more illustrations of Snow White. I can't wait to get a hard copy. I can reveal that the publisher I've been working with is Oxford University Press. I haven't received any dates on when Goldilocks and Snow White will be published but it will be some time as it's part of a series entitled Classic Tales. They've commissioned various illustrators on various classic fairytales, so I imagine they are collating all the work first. They are small paperback educational books for school children with questions at the back designed to quiz the child's observational skills. I hope I get to work with them again, they were wonderful to work with.

Just bought a beautiful picture book yesterday - The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Night. Sumptuous colours and bold compositions. Will look out for more Paul Howard!

I might be getting a possible job on black and white work soon, but it's 50/50.

Isle of Wight

2011-09-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

Hello,

this is a sketch I did at the Isle of Wight. A drawing of Hat standing on a cliff looking over at the sea.

Library Doodles

2011-08-23T04:38:00.000-07:00

Hello,

doodles I did at work yesterday.

Lemuria

2011-08-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Back from the Isle of Wight! camping was fun and tiresome. I'll put photos up later. This photo was taken just after we finished holidaying. we stayed at Southampton for a gig. Got to see Lemuria, they were great. The lovley lady is Sheena Ozzella of Lemuria. Photo taken at Unit (a small venue) on the 29th of July '11.

Snow White Stuff

2011-07-18T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hello,

It's July but it's raining! Anyway here are some more Snow White illustrations.

:)

*Edit: the top illustration looks squished but looks fine when you click on it.*

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Final Artwork

2011-07-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Just finsihed final artwork on Snow White a few days ago. Here are some of my faves, quite a few more than Goldilocks. Despite losing sleep and avoiding social contact I feel quite happy now. I can get back to a more healthier routine and get more active! I should be enjoying yoga tomorrow with Jen's mum. I miss yoga. Oh, and hopefully going to the Isle of Wight for roughly a week at the end of this month, can't wait to look at the stars.

Lykke Li

2011-06-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Listening to the tracks from Lykke Li's wonderfully crafted second album titled Wounded Rhymes. How poetic!

(The illustration is of the splendid lykke Li herself.)

A Boring Waiting Room

2011-06-23T04:04:00.000-07:00

Hello,

This was a pen drawing I did in a boring wating room. I'm currently colouring up Snow White. The Deadline is close!

Listening to Warpaint. Especially Elephants, which is a great example of their dreamy psychedlic style.

It's raining here.

Work in progress: Snow White

2011-05-31T02:07:00.000-07:00

Hiya!

Just a screendump of a page I'm working on at the moment for Snow White. This one's almost done but I've got a lot more to go!

Cat in Snow

2011-05-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

Cat enjoys snow.
Listening to Emiliana Torrini:
Today Has been Okay.

Snow White Roughs

2011-05-24T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I've been working on Snow White stuff for the past gazzilion months. Just finsihed the roughs and got the 'okay' so I'm starting to add colour now. These are some of my faves. Hope you enjoy and will be posting more :)

Sketching People

2011-05-19T04:31:00.000-07:00

Caught drawing,

Senior collegue: *cough* erm sorry to disturb your sketching, but could you start shelving on level two for me?
Me: *hides sharpie* sorry? Yes. Where? Oh level two, err okay.

*tra lala walking purposefuly to level two*

Cats Eyes

2011-05-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

Beware the cat.

Zombie time

2011-05-06T15:35:00.000-07:00

Zombie greetings!

It's been a while since the Royal Wedding but me, Jen, Sam and others dressed up as zombies and headed off to Central London that day. As seen in the photograph, replete with amateur Photoshop-ing! I think Jen's nailed the zombie face. I'm getting there, I'm still a trainee zombie ORIGHT!

There were many zombies enjoying themselves some were there for political reasons, others just to have fun. Police were everywhere (we found out that some were surreptitiously without uniform in plain clothes). We were enjoying a picnic in a public space and were told to leave as we were supposedly likely to cause 'breach of the peace'. The police brusquely announced they'd give everyone 5 minutes to leave otherwise they would arrest us. There unjustified scare tactics were working as I was starting to feel intimidated and very uncomfortable. I usually recoil from talking politics, legality and rights etc, as I feel I don't understand it enough to make a contribution or an informed opinion, What if my opinions are wrong? Am I missing vital information? Am I talking to the right people to learn about a certain subject? Am I putting in enough effort? What is my position in such and such scenario? Does my opinion even matter? But what I saw that day shocked me and taught me a great deal. I was surprised at how rashly the police were dealing with the innocent public and making unwarranted arrests. We were nowhere near the location of the actual wedding; neither causing any unrest. My stomach was churning and I felt like leaving. I managed to persuade Jen and Sam to just leave with me. I felt kind of weak and disappointed in myself taking the train home with these seasoned anarchists who make an effort to understand where and how they fit in as people on this soil and stand up to unjust behaviour.

Although it was quite a sad day we kinda had fun seeing all those zombies gathering!

Check Jen’s Tumblr out if you want more opinions and accounts on the matter (for example this post):
http://silentpunk.tumblr.com/post/5160806355/committing-a-protest-the-charing-cross-arrests

Study: Chair

2011-05-02T05:20:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Just a study from a photograph, (link below). Might be going to Legoland with a few friends coz like Thorpe Park is way too hardcore apparently! Either than the blatantly extortionate prices, deathly long queues and vomit ...It should be a fun day?

http://pinterest.com/pin/15805305/

Sketchbook: silly stuff

2011-04-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

Hello,

More stuff from a small sketchbook. Some of it's from the Natural History Museum, other stuff, like the inky stuff was just doodling for fun creating dragony, zombie-ish, foxy stuff.

Listening to Lykke Li, particularly this song: I follow Rivers. A very haunting song that seems to creep into the folds of my brain, but strangley elating. The video is beautifully simple.

Black Beauty

2011-04-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I did this sample for someone. It's an illustration of the beautiful horse from the above mentioned title and a 10 year old boy character. It was difficult doing the boy, I don't think he looks 10! I'm gonna have to read it properly, I've sort of just skimmed it. I've heard It was a very insightful piece of work when it was written, and still is very meaningful. The story is written by Anna Sewell.

Sketchbook: Billie Holiday

2011-04-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

Sleepy,

just did this drawing, shouldn't be though. Need to finish work!!

Sketchbook: Doodles and Ridiculous Stuff

2011-04-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I've been doodling and also playing around with ink. These are scans of some of the pages from my current A5 sketchbook.

Animal Studies

2011-04-10T14:53:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Back to sketching animals again, Its been quite hectic so the drawing was quite therapeutic for me. The deer belongs at the Natural History Museum. The fangs make me smile, It's only a small teeny-tiny deer.

I'm currently doing the roughs for Snow White. I'm a little worried because I'm kind of on time...Makes me feel all nervous. Typical me; I get stuff done on time and feel nervous or get stuff done in the nick of time and feel all vomity haha.

Someone from work gave me an art shop voucher for Christmas and I saved it for a rainy day. Felt all warm and fuzzy when I spent it on essential supplies (Thank you Maria!). Bought an A5 sketchbook because I tend to leave huge blank spaces when I'm drawing and its come to good use as I've been doodling. I'll scan them in some time, oh and the Snow White Roughs. I really should be finishing those roughs ach.

Featured on SAAHUB

2011-04-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

Hello,

just a screen dump of my Goldilocks stuff featured on SAAHUB. here's the link: http://saahub.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/fairy-tales/

he-he

Happy Birthday Celine the Choo

2011-03-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday dude, wish you the bestest birthday!

xxx

Red Deer Sitting

2011-02-28T03:52:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Just did a study of a Red Deer using ink and developed it on Photoshop. The illustation initially had the deer as an ink drawing with the cut-out style background but decided to just go ahead with the whole lot as cut-out. Feeling ill but enjoying watching Black Books.

More Goldilocks stuff

2011-02-20T10:21:00.000-08:00

Hello,

A spread, and a page from Goldilocks. I'm working on a sample illustration of Snow White now - I'll put that up some time.

Watched Poison Ivy at Jen's yesterday whilst stuffing dried figs and popcorn into my mouth. The figs were nice but the film was...hmm okayish, it was very strange. One of the main characters looked like Otto from The Simpsons as Hat pointed out!!

'If I Was You...'

2011-02-05T09:55:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I took part in the, 'If I Was You' project - Check out the site here.

Devised by Sandra Dieckmann, the project entails producing an illustration based on the previous weeks illustrator.

Goldilocks Final Artwork

2011-01-30T05:40:00.000-08:00

It's been a while!

I thought I'd post some final artwork on Goldilocks. These are some of my favourite ones. I can't wait to see it in printed form of course! I'm just glad it's all finished... phew.

Oh, and you Must read, (or at least have a look at) the, Nausicaa: of the Valley of the Wind series, story and art by Hayao Miyazaki - it's such a great graphic novel. It's clearly an extension on the film but holds its own with tremendous originality. I borrowed the sereis from the library and am reading the last in the series. Some of the panels are just so beautiful in compositoin, I feel like cutting them out and pasting them onto my wall where I can stare at them and learn something. May be I'll buy them all one day. I've already got number 5 for 80p!! from a comic store at Harrow. It was just sitting there on it's own in a box of rejects with a bright yellow 'reduced price' label. Crazy Crazy.

PS:

I may be doing some artwork on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs *fingers Crossed*

Goldilocks Roughs

2010-10-24T04:53:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I've been meaning to put these up for ages actually. I'm waiting for feedback now. These are some of my favourites among the roughs I produced. I feel the text spaces really made me think about how I composed the drawings. I used photographs of my niece for reference, it makes all the difference. :)

Bizzy Bizzy

2010-09-24T06:36:00.000-07:00

sheesh,

been so busy I've had no time to blog. The good news is I've been commisioned to do illustrations for 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears', it's big deal since its my first picture book job. The bad news is I got a lot of work to do and shouldn't get sidetracked! - (Is that one word?)

P.S:

I took this photograph of Katie Harkin of Sky Larkin at the Lexington in London on the 20th September 2010 - a great gig, her voice was amazing. Oh and check out my Tumblr. It's like a condensed version of this blog haha.

Big Heads

2010-08-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Hello,

A small project I did for my agent - some samples of animals and cutesy stuff targetted at very young children. The brief was pretty sharp-edged. The artwork had to be simple, with a soft colour pallete and no outlines.

I couldn't refrain myself from using more vivid colours. I pretty much always use outlines - out of habit I guess, so it was different.

Merrivale Mews

2010-08-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

Yawn,

Merrivale Mews - a road I sometimes pass by. It always makes me smile looking at that street sign. I think of some sort of jazz band made up of a group of yowling cats performing in front of a feline audience.

Common Wood Pigeon

2010-08-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

Pigeon babies sound scary.

Pagan

2010-07-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Hello,

a lot has happened since my last post, for example I've started working at my local library now. It's a big library so there's lots to do and the staff are great. It's so funny because as a child I used to role play as a librarian, setting my old scuffed books in a sort of square wall with me kneeling in the middle, issuing them to invisible readers, looking all important and intelligent ha-ha.

The illustration above is inspired by the pagan goddess Isis and the song Isis (or is it Is Is) by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Yay for Ancient Egyptians!

Flying Fox

2010-07-02T17:38:00.001-07:00

Snore,

It's quite late and my eyes are turning weird again, listening to The Resistance by Muse. The classical inspired pieces calm me down, while the exotically lilting tracks twirl my brain into a swirling frenzy of Paisleys and vivid colour. Great album; they took a gamble.

Anyhow this was a piece I produced just to help me think about the recent news on the media about those urban foxes mauling those poor children. I hope the fox doesn't become demonised and turned into the 'Big Bad Wolf' from The Little Red Riding Hood. The fox is quite a mythical creature - a sort of symbol in my mind, cunning, beautiful, agile, adaptable, cat-like but not quite.

"Counter balance this commotion,
We're not droplets in the ocean". - Muse

Sketchbook: Autumn

2010-06-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Doodled this in my sketchbook and just wanted to develop it on Photoshop. It was inspired by Arthur Rackham's Autumn Fairies. I found the illustration on my 'Celebrating Arthur Rackham' themed tin pencil case packaging, (haha) and kept it because it looked so great, (the pencils are pretty poor, no wonder I barely used them). Anyway his compositions have such beautiful harmony. Hmm, she's not really dressed for autumn, is she.

Portrait

2010-06-22T05:47:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Did this Andy Warhol-ish illustration of Sunshee, (She's so hard to draw, used lots of references and still got it botched!) Anywho it was fun. This Blog template thingy doesn't seem to work on Windows Interent Explorer.

Peace Walker

2010-06-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

Woot!

went along to Uniqlo Oxford Street (was hellish) to see Hideo Kojima, and the awesome Yoji Shinkawa - absolutely loved the artwork he produced for Metal Gear Solid. Everyone was getting their new copy of Peace Walker signed but I took along one of my old battered sketchbooks I worked in at Uni. They signed my animal pics! Kojima on the right and Shinkawa on the left.Kojima there with my sketchbook, oh yeah and I met Fuad there too!

Umm she ate his porridge!

2010-06-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

Hello,

just did this sample for a client - subject: Goldilocks and the Three Bears and also a sketch to go along with it.

Ammy of Okami

2010-06-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

Hello,

fanart inspired by the mega-ultimate-supernova of a game Okami! I've been playing it for quite a while now admiring the intertwining of myth and legend with colour and art. the PS2 is back in business ha ha.

illustration is of Ammy the sun goddess white-as-chalk wolf character along with Issun the bug thing.

Unicorn in Uniform

2010-05-31T06:19:00.000-07:00

Just for fun,

did this mock CD cover for Unicorn in Uniform, song by Colour Me Wednesday. Check out the video here

Momma Nature

2010-05-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hellolo,

Sheesh, this took ages. It was another excuse to draw animals. The figure in the illustration is a sort of mother nature character. Erm, can't think of any other information at the moment - my eyes have burnt away and my brain is a mush.

Sketchbook: Tiger

2010-05-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I was flicking through the Metro and found a chance to draw one of my favourite animals, although the article made me sad :( below is an excerpt from the poem, The Tiger by the great William Blake.

Tiger, tiger, burning bright

In the forest of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame that fearful symmetry?

...Waiting

2010-05-09T06:05:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Just wanted to create something vaguely Hopperesque and I wanted do some backgroundy stuff, although it does seem to be lacking character; something which has been nagging at me.

Smaug

2010-04-28T08:13:00.000-07:00

"There he lay a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep; a thrumming came from his jaws and nostrils, and wisps of smoke, but his fires were low in slumber".

-The Hobbit or There and Back Again

Sunshiney Hair

2010-04-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Its warm in the day but I start complaining in the evening when it begins to get cooler and my fingers become ice-cold. Dunno why but my fingers and hands are always cold, Why?!

Anyway, started noticing the birds lately and realised how much I missed looking at those tiny sparrows, I wish there were more. They barely visit the garden anymore. At one time a couple of sparrows built a nest and laid some eggs in an old teapot we left discarded in the garden hanging on the fence...I've always wanted to look in there, I know the sparrows have long gone but it feels wrong some how, I don't know why blah.

Meow Meow!

2010-04-08T15:20:00.000-07:00

Meow Meow?!

Nooooo, not talking about Mephedrone, I'm on about cats. Having once owned a cat, I've been left with a cat shaped dent in my brain which I need to fill every so often, so I do this by drawing them.

I once read a poem, I think in high school that I never really forgot about. There was a particular line I feel that captured the 'essence of cat':

"Cats, no less liquid than their shadows

Offer no angles to the wind."

Okay then two lines.

Destruction of Convention

2010-04-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

Ach!

I totally gave up on this one, lost my patience and rushed it in the end. It's been a while since I've done some Black 'n White stuff, so in hindsight I think it worked out okay. The problem I find when doing this sort of thing is I can end up putting in too much detail - transforming it into a grey mess, so I guess the rushed ending had its merit.

Its an illustration of Eowyn and her efforts to slay the Fell Beast (in the Lord of The Rings), just before she destroys the Witch King, a foe that:

'...no man can kill...'

A wonderful twist on the part of Tolkien.

Floaty Light

2010-04-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

Yelo,

This was a doodle I doodled, it sort of reminded me of the line:

'...Give me all the Peace and Joy in your mind!...'

from the song Bliss by Muse - a wonderful psychedelic sounding song, one of my favourites.

*edit*

Added some flora to the background to give it some depth

Excuse Me Mr

2010-03-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

Hello,

this was some character development stuff I did for an online puzzle website - wasn't quite what they were looking for but I quite liked the character.

Lotsa Animals

2010-03-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

Yalo,

These are some of the illustrations I did for a client who needed images to animate for a music program. It involved drawing animals so it was great!

Cat!

2010-03-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

Hello

I'm absolutely useless when it comes to photography, nonetheless it's always fun.

This was a snap I took a loooong time ago of Jen with her gorgeous fat cat Tama (or is it spelt Tamma?), when she was only a teeny-tiny kitten.

Tee-hee I can remember she used to be so afraid of her own reflection.

Check out Jeff's music!

Pan and Abe, Abe and Pan

2010-02-27T17:50:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Just did some quick sketches then photoshoped them, (maybe I should have just kept them as sketches).

Anywho, these are two of my favourite fictional characters. Abe from Hellboy and Pan from Pan's Labyrinth. I really enjoyed Guillermo del Torro's version of the Hellboy movie: Colourful and quirky, and how could I possibly forget Pan's Labyrinth! Also directed by the same guy. Must watch again.

Fool

2010-02-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Just a drawing I did inspired by a mixture of different songs by different artists, mostly the music video to IAMX's: Song of Imaginary Beings. A beautiful video which incorporates animation inspired by Lotte Reiniger's shadow plays (I think so).

The image was also inspired by Noisettes: Bridge To Canada...well one single line really,

'I'll Play the fool, but not your clown'.

One gets payed to be a fool and the other regrets looking like a clown!

Think of England

2010-02-19T16:11:00.000-08:00

Hello lo,

You know when you get a song stuck in your head for a whole day, well mine lasts for days on end! At the moment it's Think of England by IAMX, it's that lilt in the singers voice when he says 'England' that seems to intrigue me for some reason. (The illustration is of Chris Corner.)

'I just can't think of England,

I can't see the picture,

I'm still running from the fire, the fire'.

Adrift: Illustration Friday

2010-02-18T12:30:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I thought I'd have a go, (no pressure = no hair being pulled out).

I think her neck is too long and she looks too masculine oh well, it was fun!

enjoy.

Trance

2010-02-14T11:55:00.000-08:00

Yellow,

I had the video to Disturbia on my MP3 player and I remembered how it reminded me of the film Jacob's Ladder, which in turn reminded me of the dark style found in the Silent Hill series - so reminiscent of that film, so I ended up with this. After looking at it, the illustration then reminded me of that film that's coming out (or may be it's already out), about those teenaged demi-gods with divine abilities. One of the characters is played by the strangely perfect Uma Thurman who's costume looks similar to the one in this illustration!

This then reminded me of the question:

why do some people hate Kill Bill?

Habits

2010-02-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I hate the smell of cigarette smoke arg.

*closes bedroom door so that the smoke can't reach upstairs and into nostrils*

Ice cream

2010-02-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

Mmm,

I can remember having ice cream in Rome with Samir and Celine!

We were nomming away as we sat on a bench outside the ice cream store watching all the noisy hubbub go by.

Brian Molko

2010-01-29T05:52:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I just found this pencil drawing I did absolutely ages ago of Brian Molko, lead vocalist in Placebo. I was intrigued by his androgenous look. It was drawn on a really cheap Poundland sketchpad he he. Its funny when you look at a drawing or painting after a long time and you start to see all those mistakes and blemishes!

I used Mary Scanlon's band photography as reference, found in a re-release album.

Dog eat Egg

2010-01-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Was bored so drew. I think it turned out okay although the dog in the illustration was suppose to be a fox, but it was too big, so I sort of morphed him into a dog instead - he's a big tame fox I guess. I took inspiration from Sumi art for this piece!

Oh, and there's really no story behind it. the image just sort of developed as I was going along, but I knew I wanted an animal.

Enjoy.

sheesh!

2010-01-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Haven't been bloggin' for a while now! After some prompting from Celine, I must start blogging and blog I will. I've been lost in retail-land all this time and I'm hopefully making my way back. Anyhow, this was a piece inspired by 'Cinderella'.

Yawn

2009-10-09T04:11:00.000-07:00

Salut!

Imagine a lion yawn...

must be a frightening prospect. Hopefully you're nowhere near him.

Life Drawing

2009-10-08T00:57:00.000-07:00

Hello,

It's been ages since I did life Drawing. Back when I did my foundation we'd spend days just drawing and scribbbling body parts and poses, so it was a welcome change.

Me, Celine and Samir went to a free class a while back and I kept a drawing; not the best one, but the most convenient one to stuff into my bag quickly and carry home in the squishy tube, arg.

It was refreshing and got me out of some silly drawing habits.

The Letter

2009-09-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I need to draw more people! so I did this Victorin-ish inspired piece. I tried to create tension between the two characters.

What's it say in the letter?

Balancing Act

2009-09-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hallowww!

I needed an excuse to draw lotsa animals so I used the 'ol circus theme!

P.S

The image works best when you have a circusy tune in your head.

enjoy

Dancing Ladies

2009-09-25T05:56:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I did this a while back, it's an illustration for the '12 days of chritmas', this one depicts the 'nine dancing ladies'.

Silly Interweb Contraption

2009-09-10T05:52:00.000-07:00

Hello,

my inter-ma-web failed on me, but I'm back now and I've done some work - have a look.

I dont know what he wants, where he came from or why he looks so eager, but he's called the Money Cat...thats all I know about him.

bye ;]

Lyra Silvertongue

2009-08-19T02:57:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I never got round to doing a satisfying illustration after I had read: His Dark Materials, that great trilogy by Philip Pullman, so I had a go.

Lyra is an extremely stubborn and feisty female character - quite tomboyish in fact, whereas her soul or her daemon as they call it in the novels is quite the opposite - prudent, down to earth, almost meek and shy.

I wanted to capture that small fleeting moment where she turns mellow as she shares her fondness and affection for Pan her companion, especially when they where faced with such hardships in that cold and harsh place known as Svalbard.

I think her eyes are too big and she looks a bit too young, and maybe I could have made Pan look more emotive, but it was fun any how.

The Enchanted Horse

2009-08-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hello,

another illustration of a story from the the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. This one was about a magical phantastical flying horse.

What 'm reading at the moment:

Sins of the Father by Mitchel Scanlon, this is an intriguing Sci-fi novel about a murdering child and mutant-giant duo! (Not so confusing if you read it), and going to read Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami - given to me by Celine.

Boo!

2009-08-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hello,

A study of a wolf for once rather than a fox. I wanted a sort of Halloweeny-werewolfy-feel.

Alice & the Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar

2009-08-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hello,

A scene from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The original had too much white in it, and needed more black to balance it out, I think it's O.k now.

Enjoy!

*edit*

I've made slight changes to Alice in this new one.

The Unhappy Circus

2009-07-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I thought the elephant in my drawing from the Natural History Museum looked sad, so I made a point of it, he he.

P.S

by the way, people think that elephants mourn for their dead, check the link if you like, for a more precise analysis. It's very touching,

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1497634.htm

I'm Warning You Stranger

2009-07-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Just been drawing at the Natural History Museum. This tawny owl caught my eye, he's like:

"I'm warnin ya, you take one step closer an I'll av ya nose for tea!"

(note to akbar: *cough* its a stuffed animal).

I couldn't get much done, but I got these done too. The elephant was quite close up and considering its huge size the perspective was a bit funny.

Phantasm

2009-07-14T17:07:00.000-07:00

hello,

I've been looking through some of my sketches I've done in the past at the Natural History Museum and they got me thinking again.

It's amazing how there are pockets of life in places you never think of.

I remember watching Hayao Miyazaki's: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and its thoughtful eco undertones of the peaceful coexistance of humans and other creatures. This piece is a sort of inspiration of Miyazaki's films.

I'ts kind of silly but I can remember how I'd associate different smells to different environments and memories. For some reason I use to think of ancient woods and forests whenever I smelt Lavender, even though lavender doesn't really grow in ancient woods! I also use to associate, and still do, The Hobbit by Tolkien with the smell of Lavender...very peculiar.

The Decline of a Thousand Eyed Bird

2009-07-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hello people,

I produced this image as a response to the poaching of peacocks for its meat and feathers.

Ironically it seems that the proud national bird of India is slowly losing its symbolic representation of the nation that champions it due to poaching.

It' such a shame, it seems that slowly we'll only have photographs and illustrations left to remind us of our loss.

Z for Striped Horse

2009-07-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

Hello,

this is a drawing I did at the Natural History Museum and then embelished on photoshop.

I think a zebra is like a show-off horse, (In a good show-offy way of course)

Have a nice day!

Visitor From the Other Side of the World

2009-07-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

hello,

It was a rainy morning and I had a visitor - the Lost Tribes Man sent to me by Wilkie. I thought he might've felt a little under the weather after such a long journey and the sight of an awfully cloudy sky, so I offered him some hot tea and a few custard cream biscuits!

Thank you Wilkie!

Fish

2009-06-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

hello,

remember Boldfish?

Well I always wanted to see it in colour, since it was just done in line, so I did a colour version based on one of the scenes in my concertina book.

Praying Cat

2009-06-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Inspired by a funny-cute Japanese cat, and those cheezeburger cats. He's praying to 'ceiling cat'.

Dream Brother

2009-06-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

Hello,

really enjoyed the show yesterday - everyone worked so hard! I'll put some pictures up later but now I've done an illustration inspired by Battle for the Sun, a song by Placebo.

I think the song was a response to a member of the band leaving, Stephan's and Brian's 'dream brother', but most importanly it's a song about moving on and choosing to fight for our goals and dreams. Quite appropriate with the show n' all.

I've used stock photos from: freestockimages.org for this work.

"So we both can speak in tongues"

2009-06-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I've been busy preparing for our show, but there'll be a tube strike!! *animalistic screech*

Anyhow on the flip side, I've got Placebo's new album. It's much more optimistic, especially after Meds, a very meloncholic, masochistic and disturbing series of songs.

They've been great to listen to and I've come up with some work in homage to their latest album. This is one of them.

Speak in Tongues

Cat & Dog

2009-06-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

Hello,

some character designs I did for someone, these are my favourite out of the few I did.

Lady with Myrtle Rod

2009-05-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I've been busy reading The Arabian Night's Entertainments I borrowed from the library, (must buy it), and it's been great brain food. This is an illustration I produced of a character in one of the stories.

If you're not aware of the story, it's a story about stories witihn stories, I suppose - read it!

the scan was poor so I tried fixing it as much as I could.

Sketchbook: Animals

2009-05-28T02:51:00.000-07:00

Mello,

Here's some more drawings in my sketchbook I did at the Natural History Museum. I cleaned them up a Little - I had to use tonsa fixative.

(Since they're Full page, and I only have an A4 scanner, scanning and stitching was really annoying arg).

Have a nice day!

Boldfish

2009-05-26T01:38:00.000-07:00

Hello,

These are some spreads from another concertian-book I made called 'Boldfish'. It's about a bold fish *dadum tish*, who leaves his shoal of fish and eats something peculiar then turns absolutely enormous.

This one isn't as strong narrative-wise as 'Dawn', should have worked on it longer, but it was fun anyhow.

Fish is a strange word, you can say 'lots of fish' or say 'lots of fishes', bleh. But then again if you're saying 'lots of...', is it necessary to add the 'es' at the end? bleh, bleh, bleh.