Category Archives: Creative Process

My Two Again

  Not really much to say, apart from that the boys make good subjects, and I like the technique I’ve used here. I hope to use a similar technique for a project that I am planning for the life story of Anne Naysmith. Link here: https://www.facebook.com/RIPAnneNaysmith?fref=ts I will keep you informed of any progress inContinue reading “My Two Again”

Donuts and Plastic Chairs

I’ve not been doing so well with updating this blog recently. I suppose there’s been the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, a wedding to illustrate (see previous post on being a ‘jobbing’ artist) and the small matter of a floundering dissertation. Then Grotsby (another previous post) and the new ideas that I have for two books (one for olderContinue reading “Donuts and Plastic Chairs”

Making Big Doll

This work refers back to the wordless graphic novel style story that I worked on for my second semester of my first year on the MA. The project brief was ‘The Sequential Image’ and I chose to work on a story that developed from two separate incidents; spending time drawing in an old folk’s careContinue reading “Making Big Doll”

Cacti

  I had fun doing these. I wanted to have a very minimal, paired-down look, especially with the colours and use of line in the background. I think this ‘selectivity’ is part of the reason I like the results, it feels ‘illustrative’ to me, making design-based decisions about my drawing rather than simply drawing forContinue reading “Cacti”

Breasts

  Laura Dodsworth has inspired this sketchbook spread – click here to see Laura’s work in a Guardian article. After a friend sent me a link to this article, I thought I’d like to draw breasts, you know, how you do. I like Laura Dodsworth’s work here because it is important; we are all (menContinue reading “Breasts”

Leaf-Stick Man

Well, in an attempt to keep updating my blog regularly, or at least a bit more frequently, I’d like to share my latest sketchbook doodle – drawn predominantly ‘from life’, very quickly, with coloured pencils. I really love the result. Perhaps it is because my son made the wee model, and the character he hasContinue reading “Leaf-Stick Man”

That Butcher’s Shop Again

Progress with architecture – still that Butcher’s shop! But am I making progress? I think I am. The final Butcher’s shop in this series has been created with more clarity as to what I wanted to achieve. And I think it is subtler, with less emphasis on line to sort out tonal issues. Not thatContinue reading “That Butcher’s Shop Again”

The Tension Between Communicating and Hiding

“Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide” DW Winnicot   OK, so what has this to do with the Winnicot quote? And is it relevant? This post is about two things really, and I am not certain if they are linked. Firstly – the 3ftContinue reading “The Tension Between Communicating and Hiding”