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.

Recent Sketchbook - Faeries

Okay, some recent sketchbook. Since everything I'm doing these days is still NDA protected there is very little that I can share, but my sketchbook is still mine and there isn't anything anyone can do about it - so here goes.

These first couple are variations on a pose that I came up with for one of the projects I've recently been working on that I can't actually talk about. I have changed them of course and they no longer resemble their original incarnation but there is a vague similarity which you will see if I am able to obtain permission from the publisher to share a bit of said project with you.

These next ones are just for fun and come straight out of the old sketchbook. The way faeries appear in my mind they are misty and indistinct and it is not easy trying to pin them down in a drawing, when describing them seems to take away their magic. Thus the paradox of drawing the Unseelie.

That's it for now. I hope to get back here much sooner with another post. Thanks so much for stopping by. More soon.

Cheers

Root Cellar Books

Root Cellar Books

As anyone who has visited the Gwelf region can attest, it's very well known for the variety and quality of it's book shops. This is a topic I have been meaning to get to for quite a while now. The problem was,  where to start, what with there being so many worthy establishments deserving a mention. So, as luck would have it, I ran into Fox the other day at the Belle Flower Inn and he told me, over several pints, how much he still enjoys popping into Root Cellar Books, the one out there on Kenilworth Road near the old stone bridge. I know the place well and was quite prepared to launch into my own reflections on time wasted and hours spent browsing those same dusty shelves when old Foxy began reminiscing himself. He is a gifted story teller and so I gave way.

Young Fox

He discovered the place many decades earlier when still a teen and began frequenting it regularly instead of going to school. He didn't have any money in those days so he would borrow the books, sit outside on a stone, which is now known as Fox's stone, and read in the warm autumn sun. At the end of the day he would return the books to the shop and in exchange, would sweep out the shop and empty the receptacles. According to Fox it was much different in those older, simpler times and borrowing a book from a shop meant to sell them was not frowned upon. Fox borrowed and read many.

Old Fox

Epic poetry and history were his subjects in those days and it is not at all surprising that he would grow up to become a scholar and a writer himself, despite his lack of formal education. I couldn't help but agree with his opinion that advanced mathematics and geometry have little or nothing to do with writing, story telling and the creative arts. There are of course some that say mathematics is a creative art in itself but that world is so foreign to me that I shan't comment. Needless to say, old Fox went on to have a brilliant and well known career as local historian, bard,  composer of fiction and patron of Root Cellar Books. Pop in if you're in the area and have a moment. I'm heading over right now. It hasn't changed a bit.

Thanks so much for stopping by again.

More soon.

Cheers.

Rabbit's Cottage - New Watercolour

Yes, this is a new watercolour, but it is also a reworking of a picture I made about a year ago that I called Rabbit's Garden. At that time, when I painted Rabbit's Garden, I also started this one which is about twice the size. I wasn't sure which one was going to work but I was curious to see if I could get this larger version off the ground. However I felt at the time that the smaller one was looking stronger so I completed it and put this one away. I recently pulled it out again and felt as though I was now ready to pick up where I left off with it.

For the past year or so I have been working through the most horrendous creative block. You've probably noticed posts going up and coming down as I search for a path out of this wilderness and try to get around whatever it is that's keeping me from moving forward. I feel, for now at least, as though completing this picture is a step in the right direction.

Thanks for bearing with me.

More soon.

Faun Colour Study

Just a wee colour study this time - 8 x 10 inches, acrylic on board. This is a preliminary warm up for something a bit larger I'm hoping to get to shortly. More soon.

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Two Fauns

Okay, I warned you that there might be some more stone heads coming and I wasn't kidding. Here we have a small Rubenesque faun relaxing on just such a head and gazing out over the Arcadian landscape. Below her we've got a prancing faun making his way through the fields and below him we have an in-flight faerie drifting over the very same fields. All three of these characters exist in the same area at the same time, feeling the same breeze and the same sun, and are aware of each other, but all have agendas of their own and will not be influenced by the presence of these or the many other characters at play on this hillside at this time, such is the manner of these beings in this place. Thus the magic is cast over all. More soon, on these hills and many others.

Leap

While walking through  the neighbourhood the other evening, just as the sun was going down, I noticed a small flock of grackles at the top of a tall, leafless tree. They looked cold up there, huddled amid the twigs and branches. Seeing them up there with the naked tree standing out against the grey sky seemed to me to be a very Canadian scene. Not cozy or warm but cold and bleak - after winter but before spring. This put me in a nostalgic and introspective frame of mind. The kind of mood that, for me at least, will often spark an idea. It's all very spontaneous. You can't plan for this, but an idea came nevertheless and the sketches below are me attempting to work it out. A forest nymph leaping from one monumental stone head to another. I'm not sure why she is doing this, perhaps it's a game or maybe she is escaping from something unseen. At any rate, the last one is the closest to my original idea. The heads need to be bigger and she needs to be smaller.

I'm into stone heads at the moment, not sure why, but it's happening and there is no hiding from it. I'm sure it will pass, but until it does I will probably be drawing more of them - just so you know. But for now, more drawing required.

More soon.

Dwarf

Much of what I have been working on for the last year or so has been protected by NDA's which means I can't share any of it with you. This fellow was protected by just such a contract but the publisher is allowing me to post him. He is an Arctic Dwarf and will be part of an Arctic Myths field guide we are putting together. A lot of work has gone into the field guide and there is yet more to do but this is a little peek at what we've been up to. I was given permission to put up one or two more so stay tuned.

More soon.

Recent Pencil

This Faun turned up in a doodle session a little while ago. There's not a lot of drama here - she's meditating. I really hope I get to paint her one of these days. It's been a while since I've had a chance to do one for myself. I start getting a little twitchy if I don't occasionally get something of my own done.

Here are a few more ideas that are patiently waiting. First up is a friendly Giant. He couldn't wait to say good morning so he's coming in through the roof. After that is a wee gnome sculptor working on his masterpiece. I like the idea of the small artist and the big work. I think she will be bigger when I finally get to doing the final on this one. He should be no taller than her knee. I'm also thinking now that it might be cool if he were carving her from a living tree rather than a piece of stone like he is now. That way I could work some branches and leaf clusters into the design - could do some interesting things with cast shadows.

And finally we have a couple of adventurous girls visiting the cottage of a bird witch. I'm not sure what the story is going to be here. I'll have to think about it. I like the stairs though.

More soon. Travel in peace.  :)

More Hunter and Waif

A bit more thinking about Hunter and Waif. These two just won't leave me alone. They're in my head now, my imagination. And the thinking was primarily about Waif, not so much Hunter. I'm trying out different looks for her. I can't quite seem to nail her down. Should she have big doe eyes or not ? What kind of hat, cap or toque ? Maybe a hood. Scarf or no scarf ? Suitcase, duffel bag or satchel ? For some reason I need to figure this out.

There is a story brewing. I can feel it, and heaven help me, I'm actually considering a graphic novel - ugh ! I haven't drawn a page of comics in many years but I'm feeling inspired. A lot of things have to fall into place first and there is much to do, but I'm thinking about it. Also, in case you're wondering, you don't usually see their feet because they are in the snow. This is a winter story.

These two characters won't be enough though. We need a mean-ass villain to get in the way and really mess things up for Hunter and Waif. A witch would be perfect. A Northern Snow Witch with no scruples and really bad timing, or really good timing depending on your point of view. I have some ideas for her too but that will be the next post.

So much to do now.

More soon.

Revisiting Hunter and Waif

Hunter and Waif is a theme I posted on a month or two back. I've been doing a lot of character design lately for clients, but not much for myself and so I thought I might come back to H and W because I kind of like them and think they might be interesting characters to work with if I can nail them down. When I'm working up my own ideas like this I usually start to get story ideas while I'm drawing. That was the case here. They went from being interesting shapes that I wanted to experiment with, to a couple of characters with back history and motivation.

I began to imagine a story in the far north like say the Yukon or Siberia. Waif has escaped from an orphanage or perhaps she was taken by a witch from the orphanage and later escapes. In any case she is wandering alone in a winter forest world when she is found/rescued by the hunter. Now they are together and he must try to save her but his range is limited and so he will have to hand her over to the next hunter and then the next and so on and so forth until the final hunter will be able to deliver her to safety. Maybe she would rather stay with Hunter, or perhaps she would like to become a hunter herself. These are merely the opening thoughts/ideas for a possible story but I'm curious about them and so I will continue to investigate.

I was pretty happy with the design for Hunter. He is a big simple shape and doesn't say too much but I found the Waif character a little harder to simplify properly. I couldn't quite decide how I wanted her to look. Is she happy and upbeat, not yet tainted by captivity or depressed and lonely ? Is she glad that Hunter has rescued her or does she still feel like a prisoner ? I need to have answers for these questions before I can finalize her design. Still working on her, and of course the story ideas keep coming.

More soon. I know the posting has been a little sparse lately but so much of what I'm doing these days is protected by NDA's that there isn't really much left over that I can share. I still occasionally find a few minutes to get into my sketchbook, and that is what we have here this time.

Peace   :)

Witch Market

I have finally decided after much prompting to get out of my comfy little chair and do a sketch/art book. The theme of this book will be "character design" because I love designing characters and much of the work I've been doing recently has been oriented in this direction. Last year I was lucky enough to have been involved in several animation projects where I was doing character design and I am definitely interested in more of the same. So with that in mind I have made a list of possible concepts for the book to use as design spring boards. The Witch Market is the first of these. What I am showing today is the rough work which will hopefully get me to a final drawing. These are still pretty rough and will require some streamlining and simplifying, or perhaps more to the point "designing". But that is what this process is all about - working your ideas and distilling them down to their most simple and clear incarnation. I still tend to get a little pencily. I could and should be more more graphic and direct. Lots to do !

Meanwhile I am still working on the stop-motion film concerning Arctic Mythology that I was working on before the holidays, but it is all top secret and I'm not allowed to share any of that work yet. I will be sharing the pencil work I'm doing for my new book however. This will be an on going project with many updates so stay tuned.

More soon.

Happy New Year

Not sure where I found this. I think it might be Roald Dahl. Sums it up pretty well I think.

Best wishes to all for the new year.