Rolling Over

A couple of drawings that I made a little while back.

Originally, I made a similar one for the branding and logo of a yarn shop.

 I think 'yarn' is what the serious knitters call wool.

But, I have no clue. I don't knit.

 I just draw.

 I really enjoyed this subject matter though. That's why I made a couple more drawings when I'd finished the job. There's something quite abstract about these. And calming.

I guess that's what both knitting and drawing does. It calms us down.

They are also both for sale in my shop HERE. Plus, there's 20% OFF all originals and prints until the end of the week.

how to draw an idle daydream

Here's a little zine bundle I've put together. These three zines are all about the drawing, and are currently on offer.

'How To Draw Like A Barmpot' is from my How to Draw With A Ballpoint Pen series of zines. The first two in the series have now sold out. This one focuses on drawing from your imagination. It includes lots of ideas to get your own imagination working. Limited stock.

 'An Idle Daydream' is a collection of blogposts that is also a little pen guide. I talk about a few of my favourite pens in this zine.

'Molezine 2' is a mini version of one of my sketchbooks. It contains eight of my favourite drawings from my travel themed Moleskine sketchbook. And it's small enough to be popped into the pocket at the back of your own Moleskine sketchbook. Very limited stock.

You can now get all three together, on offer, HERE. Perfect for anyone who loves to draw.
Thanks for visiting my little blog, folks.

advanced procrastination

Ah, my gosh. Somebody please run my blog! I just will do just about anything but do it.

I make myself so mad sometimes. I frustrate the hell out of myself.

Anyways, I'm going to endeavour to update it with some of the things I've been doing whilst I've been away. I can only but try.

COLOURING BOOKS?! I have made colouring in books. It was not something I'd ever intended doing. It all felt a bit, well, you know, done. But when my printers started a new range of colouring books it got me thinking about some of my drawings that may be cool to colour in. And I tried thinking of ways of putting a twist on the whole colouring book phenomena.

 I'm calling it 'advanced colouring' but really it's for any ability. But, if you're already used to wielding the pen then I've added tips to take your colouring to the next level.

There are two sizes of book, you can find them HERE.

See you back here in about six months time!

*I will blog more often. I will. I will. I will....*

if you go down to the woods

I have some lovely new posters in my shop, folks. Professionally printed wall art for great prices. Check them out HERE.

Thanks for stopping by. More inspiration soon.

raining cats and dogs

Still keeping up with #inktober (just about) and the last few days have been all about cats and dogs.

Not sure where it came from, some dark recess of my mind no doubt. Actually this poodle has been trapped inside trying to get out for ages. 

I've also been trying to work outside of the sketchbook. Not that I'm giving up in the sketchbook. NOOOOO way. I'd never do that, my sketchbooks are my favourite places to draw and that was the problem.

I just felt I couldn't draw outside of the sketchbook. And when I feel like that about some drawing related thing, these days, I challenge myself to....well....challenge the 'I can't' thoughts and feelings. 

So, with that in mind, I've decided to use up all of the scraps of paper I have around the house. It started with my bicycle challenge (the one where I felt I could never draw a bike so I drew fifty in a few weeks. Actually, I'm not sure I've blogged about that yet) I gathered every bit of blank paper in the whole house and have started drawing on them. 

A friend of mine bought this 1920s music paper for me so I drew on that. I drew on the cardboard backs of sketchbooks. And on brown paper. On old water colour pads. Anything that's been hanging around. It's getting drawn on.

 Like this poodle, if it's a bit of paper that can be drawn on then it won't be hanging around for long. It's going walkies.

 

Cat and dog drawings available HERE.

Teoh To Me (a reference you'll only get if you're British, unless the Chuckle Brothers have gone global)

Check out this lovely review of my book by Teoh of Parka Blogs. For those of you who haven't yet got a copy it'll tell you all you need to know about the book. Apart from the bit about me being French. I'm not. I've just always wanted to be!

 

Thanks so much Teoh.

You can get hold of a copy of my book HERE.

i got the blogging blues

 

No matter how many good intentions I have, I just can't keep  my blogging up. I sometimes even forget it's here. I can Facebook, Tweet, Instagram and even Flickr, but I just can't get into a blogging habit. 

Here, I bring you some flowers to apologise. Thanks to those of you who still visit. I'm not sure why you would. I hardly ever seem to. For those of you who keep up with yours; HOW do you do it?

Flowers for sale HERE

100 Bicycles

Here's another of my current projects and obsessions. I'm not entirely sure where it came from but it's quickly taken over. Bikes, bikes and more bikes.

 It probably really took hold when I visited the Eroica Britannia festival this year. It's a festival and celebration of cycling. The cyclists ride through the gorgeous Peak District on pre 1987 bikes. So lots of wonderful vintage, classic and iconic bikes to look at and draw.

 The thing, I find with bikes is they are not easy to draw. With all their angles and proportions and round wheels and whatnot, they are difficult little blighters. But I love the challenge of something difficult. Once you get to grips with it and start getting it right there's a great feeling of satisfaction.

So, I think that's where this all started. The bike thing. I always remember reading, when I first started drawing, that you've never really got the handle on drawing something until you've drawn it a hundred times. Now I'd probably agree with that.

 And so in September I'll be holding an exhibition, with a friend of mine artist Emily Pickle, called 100 Bicycles. Yes, the title pretty much explains it. We'll be exhibiting one hundred bicycle drawings. Sketches mainly.

I really can't stop. I really mustn't stop. And, while I'm loving it, why stop? Next, I need to tackle some different angles, rather than the straightforward profile. The thought scares me but another good challenge.

 

I'm adding some of these sketches to my Etsy shop at very reasonable prices (cheap!) so if you're into bicycles grab yourself a bargain HERE. You'd better hurry though, they're going quick!

 PLUS, for this weekend only, anyone who purchases my Andrea Joseph Bumper Pack will get a FREE bicycle sketch. Check that out HERE.

Also, I've relisted my book, which has been out of stock for sometime, HERE.
Right that's it for shop talk. Apologies, but I need to eat this week.

How to Do It (self publishing) Yourself

Here's another of my passions folks. Zines. I am a fully fledged zine maker. A zinester, to use the technical term. What is it about making zines I love? Well, it is the whole process. But the main main thing is that it is DIY publishing which means you only answer to yourself. You write, draw, play, create whatever it is that you want to. Totally and utterly authentic. Nobody else has any say, influence or sway over what you want to produce. What can be better than that? Well, making money out of it would be nice. But, that's never the starting point. You'd be sorely disappointed if it was. They are a labour of love. No, the starting point is 'I'm going to make this because I want/need to'. 

It does, however, mean that sometimes we have to flog our creations. So, here's a bundle of my five current zines. Each has a run of 1000. No more no less. And, I've put a SALE on. Normally $50 but I've knocked 20% off so for this weekend they're just $40.

This is the perfect inspiration kit for anyone who loves drawing or just loves to look at drawings.

Molezine 2

A collection of some of the drawings from my travel themed Moleskine sketchbook. Limited stock.

 How To Draw Like a Loon

Created with nothing but a four colour ballpoint. This zine is all about drawing and handwriting. Filled with lots of exercise for you to try. Including how to make a zine! Very limited stock.

An Idle Daydream

A zine that reviews my favourite (and not so favourite) pens. Also includes some of my favourite blog images from the last eight years.

How to Draw Like a Barmpot

Another tutorial zine. This one focuses on drawing with your imaginations. Includes lots of little exercises to get your imagination working.

The Daily Tamp

A tiny cut-out-and-make newspaper full of stories, film reviews, classified ads and all the usual features of a big full sized newspaper but just tiny.

 

If you'd like to purchase, or read more about this zine bundle you can do so HERE. You will be supporting an artist to create more publications that you won't find on the supermarket shelves.

Many thanks for listening.

tamping!

My new zine, The Tamp, now has an advert. yes, I've hit the big time. This minature zine is not only a tiny newspaper but also a puzzle. The puzzle is putting the thing together and specifically getting the pages in the correct order. It'll only make sense if they are in the right order. I say 'make sense'...

The newspaper has a tiny comic strip, a tiny film and book review, tiny classified ads. So, as the man says 'READ ALL ABOUT IT!'. Limited print run, get your copy HERE.

something old something new something borowed...

I've a few original artworks, in my Etsy shop, going cheap.

The drawing above is brand new. I did it while waiting in the car park, in a local village, Hayfield, here in Derbyshire. It's the village where the BBC production called, funnily enough, The Village is filmed. Throughout the filming Hayfield was transformed into a village from 1914. Which basically means that they hardly did anything to it. It really hasn't changed much in a hundred years. 

Below, is an oldie.

You can find them both, and some others, HERE.

the clay pot against the iron pot

A little while back I was asked why my book was more expensive in my shop as opposed to on Amazon. It is a good question. It is a fair question. I tried to answer it in an illustration. How else?

It is an issue that faces all of us that run a small business. There's no way of competing with the big guys, no way at all, there is no point in trying. But we do have an advantage over them and that is the service we give.

I am not making big bucks off my book, hell, I forgot to even mention, in this illustration, that I have to buy my book off my publisher in the first place - as well as the currency conversion and bank charges that that entails too. That's before the, above, process even begins. No, I'm just scraping by. Always just scraping by.

But when you do buy from a small business or independent seller/artist you are also supporting them in creating their work. Thank you for that. I really don't mind where people buy my book from. It is an honour that they do buy it at all.  

I'm glad I was asked this question. It's an important one and it gave me the chance to try and answer it. Quite coincidentally, I was chatting with my publisher, whilst I was in the middle of this drawing, about the price issue when he said "in French we say 'le pot de terre contre le pot de fer'. It's a kind of  David and Goliath" and that's how this drawing got the title.

read all about it

 My brand new zine is hot of the press and on sale. This cut out and put together tiny little newspaper is for sale HERE.

hot off the press

Calling all creative folks, with something they want to promote/advertise/flog. Ever advertised your new book/project/blog/Page in a newspaper or magazine? Of course you haven't. You're a creative - you'd never have the money for that. And anyway, why advertise in a big corporate glossy magazines with huge numbers of readers who, quite frankly, do not deserve to see (ignore) your ad? No, what you want is to be seen by a lot fewer people, but the right people. What you want is to advertise in a small self published, cutting edge, do-it-yourself ethos zine.

What you get; a small (tiny - this is my tiniest zine yet) unique hand drawn advertisement. The space is approximately an inch squared. Just enough room for a logo, a web address, and a few of words.  All for five British pounds. Above is a couple of pages from my How To Draw Like a Loon zine. Your ads will be similar even though the zine layout is totally different.

Spaces are very limited, and as I'm hoping to get this zine to the press on Monday, time is limited too. Take advantage of this offer now. Interested? Get in touch.

Support self publishing. Support a fellow creative to keep on creating.

back in the old folky days

Happy New Year folks!

As I said in a previous post, I've been making some changes to my business (and life) recently. Some leaps of faith. Which all ties in nicely with the New Year and new leaf/chapter/beginning.

Here's something I've never tried before; bespoke, made to order original drawings. Not just bespoke drawings, but, bespoke pet portraits (and that's something I never thought I'd hear myself saying). They are, of course, pet portraits with a difference. They are kind of like drawings of your pet's ancestors. With a little imagined (by me) biography of said pet ancestor.

 

Where and how the hell do I come up with these ideas?

Anyway, you can get a bespoke, Victorian, made to order, portrait of YOUR pet HERE!

No, really.

forgive me

I can only apologise, profusely, for what I'm about to do. I hate myself for doing it, but I am about to mention the C-word. 

Yes, as soon as you know, Christmas will be upon us. Well, for once, I've been thinking ahead and I've put this bumper pack of AJ goodies together just in time. This includes my book, 3 zines, bag, badges, postcards, greetings cards & stickers.

You can get your little mits on it HERE.

Sorry, again.

rolling over

Here's another one for the knitters. As I said in my last post, I have been doing some design work for a knitting/wool/yarn centre. This was the finished design for their leaflets, website, promo, etc. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. And, I don't often say that.

The exquisite wools made such a gorgeous subject. The colours were just lush. Plus, I love pattern making which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. You can get your mits on this original, as it's up for sale HERE.

all my colours turn to clouds

I've been doing a little design work for a wool/knitting/crocheting centre recently. It took a few attempts to come up with a design that both the client and I were happy with and agreed on. This was one of the earlier attempts and the original is up for sale HERE. yes, I really really need a new phone (see last blog post).