The Cannibal Ogress

Here's another of the Trolls for the Arctic Myths Project I was recently working on and will be getting back to in a few weeks. She's big and mean. She eats people, smells bad and never cleans up. Watercolour on paper with a bit of gouache on the hammer head.

The Child Stealing Ogress

This is the first of eight Arctic Trolls I will be rendering in colour for the Arctic Myths project I'm currently working on. She is a nasty child stealer whom we have decided should have longs arms and short legs in an effort to make her appearance unique and also give her a cool silhouette. She has the usual Inuit tattoos on her arms and face and wears tokens of power around her neck. The problem I am going to have here is to make each of these eight characters different. One of the best ways I can think of is to start with the body shape as we've done here.

Life Drawing

Yesterday we went to a vendors fair just down the road in a nearby town for the day. We sold a couple of books and a few prints and generally had a good day out. For me it was a great opportunity to do some life drawing. I had my sketchbook with me and couldn't help noticing all the terrific poses the people around me were hitting while the were browsing.  We have recently returned to traditional life drawing - in a studio with a model - and I was very eager to maintain the drawing momentum with these would be models. Many of the drawings are of women and the simple reason for that is that many of the patrons at this show were women. This is of course fine with me because I find women much more fun and interesting to draw ;) You may have also noticed that many of the poses are seen from the back or side. This is because I like to remain discreet while drawing in public. It's just easier that way - no explanations or apologies.

Garden Pixie

 

I was able to find the time to paint the wee sketch I posted last week. That little doodle was very small and simple and there wasn't really a lot there to paint but I managed to fill in some details and add some grass and twigs and leaves - my usual solution to finishing a piece like this. The paper I used this time was 300 pound hot press which I have not used before, mainly because 140 pound hot press, my usual paper, is cheaper. But let me tell you, the 300 pound paper is a dream to work on.
Expensive yes, but it can take anything you can throw at it. No stretching or taping to a board. It will now be my paper of choice when the situation allows.

The End Of An Era

A lot is being said right now about the passing of Frank Frazetta, and rightly so.  My favourite piece so far is to be found here, by David Apatoff on his blog -  http://illustrationart.blogspot.com/

Arctic Myths - The Child Stealing Ogress

Some more development work for the Arctic Myths project I am currently on. Here we have the Child Stealing Ogress with her distinctive Inuit facial tattoos, crooked teeth and wild hair. The Inuit seem to have many stories of Nasty Critters wandering in from the Tundra to steal children and commit atrocities. I can imagine that living in the extreme climate and terrain of the frozen north would impel you to tell your kids just about anything to keep them close at hand. Getting lost up there is pretty much certain death.

Arctic Myths - Grizzly Bear Ogres

The Arctic Myths project that I have been waiting for, is starting. It looks like we will be dealing with Ogres in Arctic Myth. The first ones are Grizzly Bear Ogres which are actually Bear spirits in human form. They are grave robbers and corpse eaters - very nasty. I am continuously amazed at the density of the Inuit legends and stories. There are new beings, deities and creatures emerging all the time.
Neil Christopher, the project leader has interviewed many elders all over the Arctic in order to obtain these stories and it looks as though there are still many new ones to get.

Garden Pixie

At the moment I find myself with a few days while I allow several projects to follow their natural course through the development process. And so I have this small personal piece in the works. At the top in brown pencil is the initial sketch that came during a doodle session and below is the tracing I made in order to clean up the image and make it easier to trace on to a piece of watercolour paper. With any luck I will have a chance to paint this before everything kicks back into gear.

Why Beauty Matters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65YpzZrwKI4

Please follow this YouTube link and see an absolutely fascinating documentary on the importance of beauty in art. The documentary is in 6 parts of 10 minutes each. Be sure to watch all 6 parts :)

larry

Irish Witches

A bit more of the recent pencil work for the story I'll be starting shortly rooted in but not specific to Irish Folklore - a few more witch ideas - just because  :)

Faerie Twins

This latest watercolour is the final illustration for my long running book project, Teeney O'Feeney King of the Leprechauns. The project was actually finished when it was decided that one more picture was required, and this is it. Here two Faeries are teaching a bird to sing. I was recently asked how long it takes me to finish a picture. This one took 3 days without rushing. That is not counting the time it took to do several colour roughs and the sketch work that lead up to the final composition. All in all it took about a week - a work week that is.

More Brownies and Leprechauns.

Another page of possible characters for the new Irish Myths inspired book project I will be starting in May. I'm just trying to get a bit of a head start on some of the character designs. I'm anticipating the need for a variety of colourful bit players to populate the backgrounds and border regions of some illustrations.

Brownies

A bit more of the pencil work done for the Irish Myths project - just designing and drawing and trying to stay loose and open to whatever may present itself.

Irish Witches

A new book project is on the horizon and looks like it is going to require a lot of drawing and designing. We will be dealing with Irish myths and folklore - especially witches. This is the first bit of pencil work done for the project. There will likely be a lot more coming. :)

Title Page - The Secret History of Hobgoblins.

This image is the title page for the soon to be released book, The Secret History of Hobgoblins by the fine, old UK publisher, Templar. I was starting this project just about a year ago and it's now at the printers and due for a spring release. The blank area in the upper right will have text over it which is why it was left so unfinished, although I suppose a full moon would also explain a bright are like that in the evening cloud cover. The book will be concerned with the Hobs which are good and the Goblins which are bad that live in and around our homes, bringing either a helping hand or a nasty prank. Many of the mysterious things that happen around our homes every day will hopefully be explained. Please look for it in your local book shop  :)