Evening doodles in the living room

As has been the case for much of this locked down year, I’ve spent a fair few evenings in my living room, so I thought it was time to draw it! It’s not that I don’t sit down and watch TV, but in summer I’m normally much more out and about, plus we don’t have the social side available right now. Either way, Dan Gregory and his fab books inspired me once again to draw what was in front of me. If you haven’t read his stuff, I highly recommend it 🙂

MAF update

So far so good at #MAF2019 (or Manchester Animation Festival 2019…to the non initiated!) Great making of talk with Aardman (@aardmananimations) and brilliant to finally see Swallows of Kabul in the evening. As a quick reminder, I’m talking from 10.30am tomorrow (Thursday 14th November 2019) in the event space about animation work and the greatness of Toon Boom. If you have a festival pass, come along! It will be a great introduction to the software, perfect for those curious about what it can do and how best to use it.

MAF 2019 swag including notable additions of chocolate bee emblem and lovely pin badges. 10 out of 10!

Spring sunset

Today apparently marks the start of Spring here in the U.K plus there’s something called a super worm moon whatever that is! The days are getting warmer and the rain has lifted, at least in Manchester, for the time being.

I was wandering around town today, looking at all the incredible development that is going on in this city. It’s like something out of a sci fi novel, except when I read about Hyperloop it makes me think we are actually IN a sci fi novel. It’s very cool but also maybe moving a tad fast. Capitalism doing its thing I guess! Just to be clear though, no Hyperloop in Manchester, just lots of cranes and shiny glass 🙂

Whilst contemplating life in the big ‘Northern Powerhouse’ I saw an ace sunset out of my window. I’ve sketched and drawn this numerous times, but it never gets boring, as the clouds are ALWAYS different. you notice little changes in the tree/building silhouettes, too. this sketch was digital (Krita again) whereas the others are normally in a sketchbook with mixed media. tonight had these wonderful, silky ink clouds that almost dripped across the gradient skyline. Here’s the sketch:

Anyway, enough about skies! A little side note: my short film: Who moved my Penguin? recently got accepted into the Lift Off screenings run by Pinewood Studios. So here’s to the film’s first laurels..! There’s a few other festivals that it’s looking likely to get into due to its theme, so I’ll post updates when I get some 🙂 The work on the new film is going good now too, made some progress today! The trick I’m finding is balancing the time between different projects, keeping all the plates spinning, as it were. Oop, one’s about to drop, no more blogging distractions from me…

Sepia life drawings

Time for another life drawing post! This outing onto the paper was great as I actually felt I captured more of what I was going for in each image. The model had brilliant figure and structure for drawing, with the outside orange street lighting casting an unusual fringe glow. I was using a slightly sepia paper already, so started sketching in a burnt umber/dark sepia charcoal stick pastel thing…I’m not exactly sure what it was! It definitely helped me loosen up though and focus on what I was drawing a bit better. I try out different styles when I’m doing it, mainly to have fun and experiment, but also sometimes it gives me these happy accidents 🙂

: Colour accents

: Constant movement sketches

: Long pencil study

: One angle of two

: Second angle of two

: Silhouette focus

: Hard lighting

Fabulous life drawing

Last week I attended my local life drawing class held by the good folks at Stretford Arts Collective. I hadn’t been for a while and was ready to skulk it out in the corner, hiding my drawings when Lisa (the lady who runs the class) announced something special. A new model with what can only be described as a fabulous array of outfits and some sassy poses to boot 😉

It definitely helped me get back into the flow of drawing again, although the real triumph was the array of work produced by the other attendees. So much colour and fun on the pages! Take a look below. I do love it when a life class wakes you up to just how interesting people can be when you study them for a bit. Can’t wait for the next class so I can crack out a bit more colour!

British Summer

It’s been a LOVELY British summer this year (and we’re not even finished yet!) Lots of sunshine, blue skies and the occasional downpour to ward off the hosepipe bans. One of my main aims with drawing a scene is to try and capture it so that I can look later and feel like I’m there again. Some artists do this so well and evoke a feeling of the weather and atmosphere like it was a snapshot in time. No such luck for me! But I paint quick watercolours like the ones below. The positive side of this is that I sketch more than I would if everything took much longer. Plus, I use it as a memory-jogging tool, and it seems to work! Here are a few pictures from my sketchbook during the summer months (and fingers crossed for another great British summer next year!)

Hot, sweaty Chester. It was spitting with rain at one point and felt like a warm shower, very strange! Here’s the vegetation across the river as my sketchbook page began to get a little damp.

I do love a bit of Mexican food! My mum and I went whilst down in London. Here’s a super speedy sketch I made whilst waiting for hers to arrive. Note the big old Mezcal bottle now used for drinking water in the background!

One of my favourite watercolour sketches I’ve done, just because it was super fast and really nailed the colours of the day. It’s got that early summer feel with a little burnt out grass in the foreground, showing how hot it was! And some bonus sketches from a clothes shop, made whilst waiting for Josie to try on clothes 🙂

Ye Old Nelson

Manchester is one of those cities where the old battles with the new. There’s a constant feeling of nostalgia jostling against the need for modernity. A short stroll around the city might reveal a glistening development thrusting towards the clouds, right next to 150 years of forgotten history.

I like many people would love to see these older structures converted into something usable. Enriching the city whilst moving it forward. As locals lament about the town planning, you can’t help but wonder what other complications and red tape surround the seemingly obvious and more beautiful answer to the problem.

A year ago I was walking towards Manchester from Salford (it’s neighbour and just over the river Irwell) when I came upon this derelict pub, Ye Old Nelson. It had all the charm of an industrial ruin, with exposed beams jutting out the brickwork and greenery sprouting through the damaged roof. I had a bit of time so got the old sketchbook out and drew what I thought was just another dilapidated building. Then a few months later, my friend sent me a message asking if I’d drawn the Nelson, as it had just been demolished! What a shame, although it must’ve been badly damaged. But still, it’s sad to see a building with so many stories erased from the city forever.

Manchester is moving so fast, but I hope it doesn’t get too greedy and erase its soul in the process.

Charity Pet Portraits

I was going through a few old sketchbooks last night and there’s some interesting stuff worth posting or revisiting. You forget how many ideas you churn out in a decade or so of doodling.

For now though, I’ll post this from 2014 when I drew pet portraits for charity. All ink and watercolour. Surprisingly how many people sent me photos saying ‘if you can draw the one where he’s happy and smiling’ when the picture was of just a dark hairy blob! It’s funny looking in on someone’s life and how they turn their pet into family member (my Mum refers to her dog as my brother sometimes…)

My mum’s fluff ball, Harry is top left. Other favourite requests include classic dog poses and activities with the owner (top right!)

Stretford sunset

10 minute breaks in ‘work work’ mean I can draw what I see out of the window. It’s all new and from the second floor, quite a nice view for the sunsets!