Month: August 2019

28th Aug blog update: it’s all about the sketchbook!

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Excerpt from a sketchbook page.
Sketchbook warm up doodle.
Sketchbook trying out new watercolour markers.

I still feel odd calling my daily book a sketchbook – I don’t actually ‘sketch’ that much. I see it more as a means of jotting down ideas and spontaneous thoughts.

First up is exactly that – just started drawing with my trusty Staedtler pigment liner. Scanned it in and a quick colour in Gimp. I can do the scan and colour within ten minutes these days.

Next up was a ‘warm up doodle’ – the term ‘warm up’ pretty much dictated the two panel cartoon, so I could get a shirt on Coffee Bun – and I had a stain from the previous page, so I do drew the wee creature around it!

Last was based on a dream I’d just had – the images that were still in my head. Trying out a new Faber Castell watercolour pen to add a wee tone here and there. I am quite impressed with them.
I can’t use Promarkers anymore as the pages in my new books are too thin and the bleed goes right through.

21st August update, last week’s drawings. Drawing on mobile phone and games console.

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Mock up Header.
Seth the Poisoner on Samsung Galaxy Note.
Goggsie on Nintendo Switch.
Sketchbook pages.

Last week was busy working on a couple of strips which I am hoping to post samples of soon. They are taking longer than expected.

First up is a mock up header for one of my illustration sites. It uses two characters from the final image which is a from my sketchbook. Quite often I use a random word generator that gives me 6 random words, I then do immediate thumbnail drawings based on each of the words. It’s a good warm up exercise, and it stops all that fannying about when yer’ confronted with a blank page!

The next drawing is Seth the Poisoner which was drawn on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 – I still love how nice it is to draw on this device. I can rough out illustrations, ideas, and strips on the go with it.

The next one is the black and white drawing I did on the Nintendo Switch. I miss the WiiU for drawing, but it’s still great to doodle on the Switch and I love to watch all the amazing ideas and artwork that the Splatoon crowd produce. One of the great things about Nintendo is their encouragement of creativity.  The face is Goggsie, a character from one of the strips I am working on.

Update 14th August. Drawings from last week and an embarrassing love of clipboards!

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Are you alright?!
New clipboard yass!
Sketchbook malarkey.
Detail from a recent illustration with colour tints removed.

So then, what we got?

First up, the rather sinister cat was an early morning doodle. I kinda’ like him (pretty sure it’s a him!). Possibly to be used in later stories.

Then there’s my new A3 clipboard I got from Japan! You won’t (want to) believe how excited I got when this arrived. It does allow me to work on drawings while I am at home (away from my studio).

Another sketchbook malarkey featuring Coffee Bun, who seems to be creeping up everywhere nowadays. Was listening to the new album by Bill Callahan. Been writing down song lyrics in my drawings since I was a boy.

And that last detail was from a drawing I did last week – I accidentally removed the red colour tints and I quite like how it looked. So I darn well posted it!

Ah’m aff ma’ heid!