Trolls - Recently Observed

This one flew past me near The Crown and Otter, followed by a flock of crows.

It's getting to be that time of year again. The final days of summer will soon be upon us and we can already sense that Autumn is just around the corner. The nights are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter. The annual migration of Trolls out of the Big Hill Country has begun and a few have recently been observed on the outer regions of Gwelf. These aren't the scary ones though. These are the harmless and the curious ones coming down out of the hills for a little look around in advance of the bigger and nastier ones that will arrive closer to Halloween.

These 2 were standing in a turnip field just off the Post Road near Bambury.

Don't be fooled by these early arrivals though. They may not be looking to start any trouble but if you scare one, or if they find their way into your wine barrel, there is still the potential for property damage, broken bones or worse. I just want to take a moment and remind everyone traveling in the Gwelf area this season to be cautious. I don't want to scare you but it is always better to put safety first. Trolls are easy to spot and even easier to smell. Stay vigilant and look for clues. Trampled gardens, broken gates and stray livestock are a dead give away.

This one was on Albion Bridge. There was something wrong with him, not sure what.

There will be a lot for tourists to do in the Gwelf area this fall so please be careful and enjoy yourselves.

Thanks for stopping by. More soon.

Draw !

In the past I would often post the warm up drawings I do in the mornings in preparation for a day of sitting at the drawing board. I haven't done a post like that lately and someone asked me if I'm still doing the warm ups or have I let that side of it go. I'm still doing it most days. Not every day mind you but quite often.

So in the spirit of full disclosure, here is a recent sampling. I draw lots of heads. I probably draw more heads than anything else. I also still draw lots of hands - sometimes my own, or I'll find random pictures of hands in magazines and draw those.

And figures of course. There is still a lot of work to do in that department.

Facial expressions - very important.

And sometimes when I'm drawing my own hands I will use a little mirror I keep on my desk and draw the reflection so that I can get a bit more variety out of the old left hand - see above.

Thanks again for stopping by.

More soon.

New Painting - Long Bow

Well, I managed to find a bit of time to actually paint this one. I was hoping for slightly better results, but then I'm always hoping for better results. Anyway - watercolour and gouache on cold press paper. More soon.

Long Bow

I'm anticipating having bits of free time on my current project as communication passes back and forth between myself and the art director. These things usually take time and I wanted to have something to work on while the wheels of production turned - you know what they say about idle hands. I've had this little Redwall inspired mouse archer in mind for a while so I thought I would jot him down while I was thinking about it.

With any luck I'm going to be able to find the time to paint my Robin Hood Mouse while continuing to push forward on the commercial work - fingers crossed.

More soon and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers.