Panels in illustration

Icecream

Now we are learning narrative art at college. Learning how to lay out panels. I think you are meant to have an idea and base the shapes of the panels on what we are drawing, but as usual I did it back to front, drawing the panels first, adding the speech and thought bubbles, then adding the people. The ideas for the story came last! My mind is strange. Anyway it worked quite well. I would try and make it neater if I were to do it again and perhaps import it into photoshop to tidy it up? Overall it was relatively painless to do. Note to self, why has the mother’s dress changed?

Horse

When we were out yesterday we saw this lovely horse in a field. There wasn’t much grass so we pulled some up from our side of the fence and the horse came over and tugged it out of my hand… It soon wandered off in search of some more. I think the colour was Bay, its coat was very shiny and well groomed. It was good to see a different living creature. We usually only see cats, dogs and people.

If we go back we might take an apple, although I’m not sure if you can get in trouble for feeding it?

Doodled faces

Artrage oils and photodirector used to make these slightly worried faces in a crowd. Perhaps I should have given one of them a mask? They certainly feel crammed together. And what are they watching? Why are they there? Is it something pleasant or unpleasant? Who can say. From the depths of my mind to the page. I sometimes don’t know what’s coming!

Cats outside adventures.

Last night the cats stayed out till dawn. I called them every hour but they were not bothered. The two indoor cats are fine, they love being out now. They sit on garden walls and seem to stick together. They follow the outdoor cat around and the dynamic between them all has really settled down. They are being very loving when they are in. Lots of purring and cheek rubbing. They seem to be staying round the back of the house and garden, keeping away from the road.

If I can find them in all the foliage I will try and post some photos of them.

Baby Coot

At least I think it’s a Coot dabbling away at the water. I always get Coots and Moorhens mixed up. One sort has a white patch on its head, the other a red patch. They look very similar except that Moorhens are slightly smaller? The weird thing about the chicks is that the have a slightly red patch of feathers above their beaks. The parent (not sure if it’s male of female) certainly seems to be keeping an eye on the chick.

Photo taken at Westport lake a couple of weeks ago during a walk round the nature reserve.

drawing of a profile

drawing with an ink roller

This was one of the portraits I did in a student led portrait group at college during the last few months.

The face was mostly drawn with one of those ink rollers you can use to blank out your address on letters so that you can throw them away without anyone seeing your details and stealing your data. Its quite hard to use because you have to sort of turn and twist your hand and press firmly to sketch curves. AfterId done that I added colour using pastels and the thick black lines were done with black calligraphy pen (most of these have run out so I need some more).

I quite like the strong feel to this. I am trying to find my illustrational voice. I have been told to look for illustrators that my work resembles, but I think mine is different? Is this a good or bad thing? I’m definitley developing my analogue skills. Digital work is more difficult for me.

Pool at Dorothy Clive Garden.

The one thing that did disappoint me today was the pool, usually there are mounds and shapes of lots of different plants, but with the cold wet May we had things haven’t grown yet. Hopefully on our next visit it will be burgeoning with flowers and foliage.

Still we think we saw a couple of newts in the pond, together with goldfish and dark carp. The waterlilies are growing up and starting to spread. All in all it was a lovely early Summer day out.

Blue sky

warm water

goldfish swim lazily

mayfly dart across the surface

waterlilies open pale petals slowly

the world is calm

clouds float in an azure sky

contemplate

and relax.