Monday, January 31, 2011

Lavender Sketchbook 2


Here we have a few more faeries and the rough for the cover of the Lavender book. In the cover rough we see Lavender alone in the woods with a whirlwind of faeries swirling up around her and down below on the right hand side a couple of goblins are lurking.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Lavender Sketchbook - Faeries



Some recent pencil work concerning the Faerie Tale I've been working on entitled Lavender Blue and the Faeries of Galtee Wood.  We originally considered using one of the interior illustrations to serve also as the cover, but we have since rethought that idea and have changed our minds. I'm glad we did because this gives me a chance to make a picture that will work exclusively as a cover and be a much stronger image and will be much more successful at conveying the mood and spirit of the book. At the moment I'm simply drawing characters and searching for the figures I want to be in the picture. There will of course be Lavender and there will also be faeries and quite naturally, goblins.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Lavender 3

This is the third completed illustration for the Irish Faerie Tale book I'm currently working on entitled Lavender Blue and the Faeries of Galtee Wood. This is actually image number 10 and appears about mid way through the story. Like a film director I tend to create my scenes out of order. However, in my case I don't have a good reason for working this other than I feel like it. Here we have poor Lavender now entering the sticky part of the story and you could say that she is having an "adventure". Although I would imagine that it feels to her much more like a nightmare. The nasty creature that is confronting her at the moment is a shape shifting Pookah. He is not very smart and was not gifted with a great deal of imagination but what little intelligence he does have is now bent completely toward Lavender and her destruction. Thank goodness Lavender was born with superior faculties and the ability to use them. That is all I'm authorized to reveal at the present time. The story continues on from here. Please stay tuned.

More soon.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Lavender 2

This is the second finished illustration for the Irish Faerie Tale project I'm currently working on entitled Lavender Blue and the Faeries of Galtee Wood. This will be the third image in the book and shows a Faerie approaching Lavender's home in the middle of the night to secretly deliver a magical object that will propel Lavender on her journey. This will of course not be known to her when she wakes up in the morning but that is the way it is with Faerie adventures. By the time you begin to realize that something is amiss you are well down the rabbit hole and hip deep into your journey, or cataclysm, take your pick.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Lavender - First Illustration

A few months ago I started to post some of the illustration roughs I had been doing for an Irish Faerie Tale project I'm working on called Lavender Blue and the Faeries of Galtee Wood (we're thinking about shortening the title). Since then conflicting deadlines and other circumstances have been competing to keep me away from finishing the final illustrations for Lavender, until now.

This image is the first picture in the book. Here we have Lavender in the garden clipping flowers, blissfully unaware of the catastrophic events awaiting her in the Faerie Realm just a few short pages away.

This picture is all watercolour with some colour pencil work over top.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Winter Music



Winter has come back to this part of the world. The ponds and creeks are frozen over and the snow is starting to come down. Here's a song for a winter afternoon.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Another Faerie Doodle

Another quick faerie doodle to begin the year. I hope you don't mind.  Soon we'll be on to more serious work :)