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 🙂

Chris Voss Masterclass

So far I’m loving the Masterclass series. It’s so well produced and edited, along with really interesting speakers and subjects. You can see a commonality amongst the best of any field. Recently I’ve been listening to the fascinating stories from ex-FBI negotiator, Chris Voss. The way he talks to the camera is very interesting and I feel myself getting sucked into his conversations when I know it’s all an act! Amazing stuff. Here’s the doodle, all made in Toon Boom Harmony (as that’s the software I had open) using a combination of vector and bitmap brushes (I love the software as a sketching program too).

A sketch of the expressive and captivating Chris Voss! From his Masterclass series

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…

Athletic lizards

Okay maybe not lizards that run track or anything, but bear with me…

When I was working away last year I used to see these funky lizards on the wall below the studio window. They’d be sitting out in the scorching midday sun practically frying to the concrete. There were two distinct types, green lizards and the grey/black ones with orange heads. Some of them were a foot long and could move very quickly when bothered! My favourite thing they did was their ‘push up’ routine. When they saw another lizard, they’d immediately enter into a push up contest, bobbing quickly up and down until one clearly gave in due to lack of muscles 😉

He’s a sketch of the triumphant winner. I gave him the name Limmy as he was the most frequent wall visitor and also the one who was most likely to get squashed by a car, judging by his road safety choices. This has absolutely no linkage to why he’s called Limmy, he just felt like one.

The sketch was made in the brilliant (and FREE) Krita software. Support them with a donation if you like what you see, and don’t forget to feed back on your experiences or wish lists! I do love the brush selection but often wish the handling of masks was a little more straight forward. But maybe I’m just used to a different method 😀 Can’t complain for free eh?

Birds of Mauritius

When we were over on Reunion Island there was time for a short trip to the Mauritius. It’s an AMAZING island with beautiful scenery, delicious food and very kind people. There was only one downside to our trip and it was that we were robbed on the way to the airport, losing all our possessions (including passports, camera, sketchbooks, phone, etc)…they just left our suitcase as they obviously couldn’t carry that! But even though it was a tricky few days following and not the cheapest trip after all the extra costs, we were so thankful for the people who helped us and made the experience more of an enlightenment than one massive downer.

I did this sketch when trying out the software Krita. It’s really decent and FREE! It was completed after the trip, so it’s probably a little flatter on the ‘life’ side of things (I always think an on location sketch has a bit more ‘oomph’ than something from a picture) but alas the sketchbook from that day was nicked! I hope the perps have had a good read of it and it’s inspired them to take up drawing themselves 😛 Maybe not hey.

A pair of Red-whiskered Bulbuls sitting on a fence

Wintery sunsets

Since I’ve arrived back in England the effect of winter is even more stark now. No more tropical steamy vegetation and blazing sun! But I do love the variation of the winter days. Sometimes it’s a grey cloud blanket, almost like the world doesn’t get out of bed for the day! Other times there’s a crispness to the air that makes you feel every minute of the precious sunshine.o

Here’s a sketch I made one winter morning looking towards some distant hills. I remember the colour of the sun being a kind of gold you only hear about in pirate stories! Last week we visited Anglesey in Wales and that was a different atmosphere all together.

I think the changing seasons is one of the things I enjoy most from an artist and observers point of view. The planet is so alive you guys! 😀 Even when it’s raining…

Trooping the colour

It’s the Queen’s birthday today and therefore the trooping of the colour takes place down in London. As a British citizen it’s my duty to dress in ceremonial attire and gallop around the streets on horseback, tooting a trumpet.

As I don’t have a horse and it’s awfully warm outside, I sketched the TV instead. I’m not a devout fan of the Royal family (spare me, Ma’am) but I do find the idea of a Royal family in a modern world pretty fascinating.

After recent events whereby the whole country feels like it’s going down the drain, it’s welcome distraction to watch something of order and control, even if we are paying for it. Respect to Liz for the minute’s silence. Still seems to have more wits about her than our wonderful prime minister.

I did this sketch in Mischief, a nice little drawing app for Windows and Mac. It’s got a mind-boggling ‘infinite canvas’ where you can just zoom and zoom and zoom. Try it! It’s AMAZING and could mean great things to storytelling.

It was a warm one! This chap had rather rosy cheeks.

Misty eyed for the Liffey

Here’s an old sketchbook entry from when I lived in Dublin. I realise I was probably at my most creative there! Drawing all the time…must be all that Guinness I put away 🙂 It was a great time though, and I do miss those funny looking buses.

Ahhh Dublin

New site – the skinny

Finally I’m back!

I took the site down to refresh it earlier this year, but life got in the way and there’s always these growing ambitions about what your website should look like when you start digging. I had a think about what I wanted from it and decided just to get something simple up for now and customise as I need to. My ‘online presence’ has changed in the past few years, so this new site will reflect that.

A place for my show/demo reel from my day job.
Somewhere to share the best bits of my sketchbook.
An online journal for tracking the making of films or progress of projects.
Anything else I find interesting around my career and work life balance.

The main thing is I’m a bit older now, and with a bit of perspective, I’ve not got the narrower purpose my website had 10 years ago (to get me a job!) although keeping my profile ticking over doesn’t hurt.

Sketchbooks help me remember things vividly and it’s kind of like meditation too. I just have to remember to not let my own expectations get the better of me..!

If anyone reading this is looking for advice or feedback on their career in animation, just drop me a line and I’ll do my best to help. Although I don’t work for a big Hollywood studio, I’ve had some great guidance during my career so far, some of which will be useful for those starting out or changing paths.