Dee Dee

Hello,

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

Siren

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

Mr Bowie

Hello,

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

Inky Stuff

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

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

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

Mummy

This is my mum :)

Petrify

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

Wooo,

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

Goldilocks update

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

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

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

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

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

Hello,

doodles I did at work yesterday.

Lemuria

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Snow White Roughs

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

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

Beware the cat.

Zombie time

 

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

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

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.