Sketchbook - Giants - Again

Some more fun doodling.  Another page of giants, at least I think they're giants, they might be dwarfs. Anyway, they felt like giants when I was drawing them.

More soon.

Sketchbook - Giants

A sketch page - a warm up page really - after a couple of weeks of being flaked out with bronchitis I wanted to see if I could get back into the groove of drawing. I've been doing a little drawing lately but not much and certainly no painting - so today, a page of giants, just for fun.

Hill Giant

A new painting - watercolour, gouache and pencil crayon on hot press paper - 15 x 20, which is a bit larger than I normally work but I wanted to push this one a little. The scan didn't quite capture it. The piece is actually a bit darker, but all in all it's pretty close - thanks Patricia :)

Recent Pencil Activity - Giants

More giants.

Sketchbook - More Trolls and Giants

Some more recent pencil work - just for fun.

Sketchbook - Old Trolls

Finally finished the book project I've been on since January - hoping I might have time for a personal piece before the next one gets going - until then, some more morning pages.

Sketchbook - Giants and Ogres

More goofing around - how many ways can I stretch and squash a head and come up with new characters, postures, anatomy - the endless possibilities are of course endlessly fascinating and bring me back to the drawing board every day.

Sketchbook - Ogres

Some recent doodle activity. I'm on a new project at the moment and am doing a lot of drawing but I decided I wouldn't post too much of it out of respect for the publishers who generally like to keep their projects off the radar until they're ready to release them. The work here is just a little left over, yet unrelated activity at the end of a long day.

Sketchbook - More Giants

My good pal Paul Rivoche had contacted me a while ago to possibly do some work on a comics project he was organizing. I don't really draw comics, at least not any more, but couldn't stand the idea of being left out so I suggested perhaps I might do a single page something or other for him. He thought a one page illustration with lots of little text boxes and things carrying descriptions of various parts of the picture might be a good idea. The kind of thing a kid can study and go back to. I came up with the idea of a giant who carries a village on his back. The village houses all the little workers and craftsmen who help the giant in his day to day comings and goings - leather workers, black smiths, carpenters, butchers etc. The project is up in the air at this point but I'm still thinking about this idea.

Sketchbook - Giants and Trolls 2

Still messing with ideas for the giant or troll trundling through a landscape. I want to paint something big and round and heavy moving through the mist. Maybe with a nymph or faerie of some kind riding on his back or shoulder. Still thinking .....

Sketchbook - Giants and Trolls

Some more messing around with ideas for new pictures. I'm starting to feel like I want to do a big guy lumbering through a landscape again. I've gone this way before, but not lately. I love the idea of big round figures pushing past the trees, almost like hot air balloons only much heavier.
Anyway - still thinking.

The Secret History of Giants

This picture is from the recently published Secret History of Giants book from Templar. I worked on this project through last Christmas and am quite happy to see it out now - in a book shop near you ;). This illustration seems to be one of the more popular ones as it keeps turning up in the promotions. It depicts the giant wearing all his artifacts and doodads.

The Secret History of Giants - Sketchbook 6

The last of the sketch work that went into the Giants book. This was one of the most fun projects I've had the pleasure of working on. For me the best part was the pencil work. That was also my favourite part of the Giants and Faeries books we used as inspiration on this venture - fun !

The Secret History of Giants - Sketchbook - 4

Yet more drawings for this Templar project - character designs and concepts.

Secret History of Giants - Sketchbook - 3

More drawings for this really fun book project.

The Secret History of Giants - Sketchbook 2

Some more drawings done for the is book project - lots of experimenting with character, pose and design.

The Secret History of Giants - Sketchbook

I recently had the privilege of working on an excellent book project called The Secret History of Giants. I did a lot of drawing to both prepare for this project and also to contribute spontaneous drawings as illustrations. I accumulated quite a pile of these drawings and can now safely post some of them, being as how the book has been printed and will be out shortly - it's already out in England.