i drew a car

The Jaguar E-type has recently been voted Britain's favourite classic cars in this poll. I was commissioned to produce a drawing of it. It's not surprising that it is in the number one spot as it really is a thing of beauty.

I used pencil (a soft thick 4B) and marker pens, to make this drawing, both of  which are drawing materials that I've recently started using. I've never been much of a pencil girl. It doesn't really do it for me, but I kinda like these soft pencils now and again. The marker pen has been a revelation and I can't get enough of them these days. I did all the darker tones and areas with the markers, and it struck me that at one point I would have filled all that in with tiny cross hatched fine lines. Just the thought of doing that, now, brings me to tears.

You can see the rest of the list of Britain's favourite cars, and if you vote you can actually win this drawing HERE.

you are always on my mind

Tonight I am donating the fiver that I would have spent on my Thursday-night-end-of-the-working-week-wine, if I had not been taking part in Go Sober For October, in support of the amazing MacMillan Cancer Support.

The drawing was made with graphite and colour pencil. The donation was made with ease. And gratitude.

i got a deal for you right here

A couple of new additions to my Etsy shop here. Above, an original drawing I made a couple of years back. It is actually my kitchen table which also doubles up as my work space. Read more about it HERE.

Below, another original, a brand new little drawing of this poorly saggy old owl. Go on, give him a home. He can be found HERE.

many dreams have been brought to your doorstep

Over the years I've heard many people say that they find starting a new sketchbook the hardest part. They become frozen with the fear of messing it up. Especially, it seems, when it comes to Moleskine sketchbooks. Why is it that they are so intimidating? Is it because of the history of Moleskine? The prestige? Or is it just 'cos they are not cheap that makes you want to take extra care? Funnily enough, I never have that problem. I LOVE to start a new sketchbook. I (almost) cannot wait until I get home. I'm scribbling my name in it in the car (almost). No, I have the opposite problem.

This is the last but drawing of my travel themed Moleskine. There's just one more little page to fill. It's a travel sketchbook with a bit of a twist as I've created all the drawings at home with the souvenirs and memorabilia that I have brought back from my trips. Actually, not just my trips. This book also contains souvenirs from my friends travels too. That's the good thing about being a memorabilia artist; people always seem to bring me bits and bobs back from their trips. For example, a friend brought this back from the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery, London, earlier this year.

I started this Moleskine on the 29th of April 2009. I cannot even begin to think of how many hours work, and love, have gone into it. I think that it is my favourite sketchbook so far. In fact, it most definitely is. I am very proud of it. And now there is just one more page to go. Will I ever finish it?

You can see the whole of the sketchbook (minus that last blank page) HERE.

with a sleeping roll

Another from my new travel journal. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. It's not quite as all singing all dancing as some of the other spreads in the sketchbook but sometimes I think you need the quieter moments. I see these kind of drawings as the commas in a sentence. A moment to pause for a second.

The handwriting's pretty rubbish to be honest, but corrugated cardboard is a new texture on me. Oh well back to the drawing board.

little by little

You may remember that some time back I created this drawing, above, as the publicitiy image for Buxton Festival's production of James and the Giant Peach.
Well, they kinda liked it and asked if I would do a series of illustrations that would become the back drop for the actual prodcution. I've never done anything like that before and I thought it would be cool to see my illustrations become something bigger, so to speak.
I thought it might be interesting to blog this process, starting these are the first rough sketches. At this point I am just mapping out the drawings.
I was a Roald Dahl freak when I was young. In fact, Danny Champion of the World is still in my top ten favourite books (maybe even top 5). I have a vague memory of reading James, but I've never seen the film. I did consider watching it but decided against it in the end. I don't really want to be influenced by anything else.
I shall watch it after the event. Which will be a nice way to end a project. I'll post all ten (!) of the drawings as I complete them.

comes a time

I really must start this Q&A post or I'll continue to put it off. It could be very long so I'm not sure whether I should do it over a few posts or just keep adding to this one. Any ideas on the best way to go about it? Anyway, here are some of the questions I am asked the most and they are about the tools I use.What is the 'sepia' pen that you use?

It is a Pilot G-Tec fine liner. I have recently found other brown pens but the Pilot is still my favourite.
And, which black pens do you use?

I use a whole load of different black pens. Sometimes I use ballpoints, but for the most my drawings are made with fine liners. Again, I use the Pilot G-Tec fine liner, but when it comes to black pens I'm not fussy about brand names as long as they are very fine fine liners! I have used Faber and Castell's Pitt pens in the past but my current favourite is the Uni Pin. I like this one so much because they seem to be have the finest of nibs.

When it comes to fine liners I usually have a variety of nib sizes, to do various jobs. When I get a fine liner that I like I'll try to buy it in 0.5, 0.2 and 0.1 sized nibs. I find all are useful, in fact I find they are all essential.
What ballpoint pens do you use?

When it comes to ballpoints I will use any. I have made drawing after drawing on that subject (just enlarge the drawing above to prove it). I am no pen snob. I'll give anything a go. In my ballpoint pencil case (yes, I have a pencil case specifically for ballpoints) there are Bic, Staedler, Faber and Castell, PaperMate, amongst all sorts of others. There are the freebie pens that you get from charitys and shops, as well as the very cheap packs of ten that don't even have a brand name - they are THAT cheap.

People have often asked about the quality of ballpoints and the blotchyness, and I'll talk about that in future questions that come up about the quality and longevity of ballpoints.

What paper do you use?

For the one off drawings I use a heavyweight cartridge paper. I'm not that loyal to a brand, but Daler and Rowney and Windsor and Newton seem to be the best on the market (I'm NO expert, though!). I always use a heavyweight paper as it needs to be able to handle all the cross hatching that I throw at it. And, that's a lot of cross hatching.

I also use, as you'll know if ever been to this blog before, Moleskine sketchbooks. I adore the paper in these skecth books and always have a few on the go. They are an obsession for me.

Do you ever experiment with other media?

I've used all sorts in the past. I used to do a bit of painting, but it seems an awful lot of faffing around. I’m a bit lazy like that and can’t be bothered with washing brushes and all the setting up process that painting involves. And, anyway I always ended up drawing with the paintbrush as opposed to painting with it.

I've also used graphite pencil. I always thought that my work would be suited to it. After much practice I found this not to be true. But I’m not a fan of pencil at all. I enjoy seeing other people use it but it’s not for me.

I do love colour pencils, though, and all my colour work is made with colour pencils and colour ballpoint.

the way i feel from day to day

Before I signed with my agent I visited her at her home and we went through all of my drawings, so that she could get an idea of where my work was at and where it might go. When she saw the many drawings of collections, that I create, she said "These drawings look like endpapers. Beautiful endpapers, but endpapers all the same". I have to agree. They do.

You see, I absolutely love endpapers. I've bought many a book on the strength of the endpapers alone. They are often my favourite part of a book. Just Google image 'endpapers' and, if you are anything like me, you'll be drooling for hours.

It got me thinking that my most perfect job in the whole world would be an endpapers illustrator. Seriously, I couldn't think of anything better. So, if you hear of any endpaper-drawer jobs going please let me know. In the meantime here's a couple more from my travel Moleskine.

a dream passing by

This really was a quick drawing. Quick for me. It's all relative, of course.

I drew this one in front of the mirror, before putting away my woolly scarves until next winter. I guess it's the closest I've come to a self portrait. But, when it came down to it I preferred the negative spaces.

I'm calling this one Everyday Matters Challenge #22, draw a piece of clothing. See the rest of my challenges HERE.

dragging a dragonfly

Well, here's the thing. About a month ago I made some half arsed attempt to lay down some plans for this year. Some drawing goals. But, the main one, the burning one, the one that I've been wanting to do for the best part of a decade I never even mentioned. It just seemed like such a massive job. I didn't know where to start. But I just cannot let another year pass without giving this a shot. I just cannot. It'll drive me insane. More insane.

So, I have to make a start. Right now. I've told you about this project before. In words and in drawings. It is the children's book that has been cluttering up my head for the last decade. It's not exactly a story but a whole world I want to share with you.

I think that the way I am going to do that is by starting a new blog just dedicated to the book. There I can reveal the whole story of how I happened to find out about this world and, essentially, begin to publish the book online. Until a publisher picks it up, that is.

What do YOU think of that? Does it sound like a good idea to you? I would be really very very grateful for any feedback about the idea. If I don't start asking these questions and making these steps now I might never do it. And, then all these field notes will go to waste or just continue to clutter up my already dazed and confused head.

Thanks in advance.

drop me anywhere

This fiver was really interesting to draw. All those lines and creases. As unique as a fingerprint.

This is my response to Everyday Matters challenge #191, draw some paper money. I'm really enjoying doing some Everyday Matters Challenges at the moment. I hadn't done any for quite some time, so it's really good to get back into some good old observational drawing.

I also very much enjoy being a part of the Everyday Matters group. Especially when I need some information on something arty, like in my last post. Thanks to everybody who emailed me, commented and left a message at the group forum. Here's that fiver I owe you.

Oh, and the detail in this would have been much finer, if my bloody pencils would have sharpened without breaking.

you little charmer

Everyday matters #200. Draw something lucky.

It's been so long since I did an Everyday Matters challenge, so today I thought I'd have a go at the latest one which is 'draw something lucky'. This little Welsh pixie charm is supposed to be lucky. That, of course, is if you believe in luck. I don't.

it's been a long time coming

So, some time back France Belleville and I started this draw off thingy.

It started with France's great drawing of Tom's camera that you can see HERE.

I came back at her with THIS drawing. I wasn't too happy with back then, but it has grown on me a little since.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, she threw THIS at me.

And finally, here's my response. Drawn in black ink with a little help from a big fat 2B.

Yes, it was supposed to be a drawing of the front of the camera. I did try but I got all freaked out by all the circles (I have terrible OCD tendencies when it comes to drawing circles, they have to be perfectly round or I'll have a nervous breakdown). So it ended up being a side on version. I will attempt the full frontal version again sometime in the future. But, one thing is for sure, I definitely won't be getting into any drawing matches with Mademoiselle Belleville* ever again.

*Of course, I'm always up for a challenge with Madame Van Stone. Congratulations France and Tom.

hanging out my old love letters

(Click on drawing to view)

This was an interesting drawing to do. It stirred up so much stuff, about school and what it was like being that age. I hated school. I know that's a strong emotion but it's how I felt about it. What I didn't know then was that such strong emotions would make good material further down the line.

I can't remember doing much graffiti on my desk at school. But that's one of the great things about drawing. Now I can live out all that stuff on paper. My teenage rebel can have the space to run wild (with her pen) and do all those things I was to scared to do.

Another thing this drawing brought back was how many crushes I had back in the day. Lots. And lots. Even though they've now all drifted off into my long term memory they, too, make good material. There's one still continues. Decades later and I'm still worshipping at the altar of Paul Weller.

'Exercise Book' print available HERE.

our house

This is an old drawing. It may look a little familiar, I reworked it for the earlier pinboard drawing. It's one from the archives. 1993, in fact. The only drawing I have from that period. The only drawing I made in that decade, I believe. I always seem to revisit the same old themes in my drawings. I wonder what that's about? Anyway, this one is for Tim and for the good old days.

a midsummer night's dream

(Click on image to view)

I did this drawing a while back. It was for an idea that I have for a kid's book. It's loosely based on the house where my friend Toby grew up; in the stunning, yet dark, hills of Whitland, Wales.

I dreamt about Toby last night. It was New Year's Eve. He was carrying a packet of bacon and was scared of step ladders. We were on our way to Neil Young's house for a party. Then I woke up. I tried to force myself back to sleep just to go to the party at Neil's place but that never seems to work, does it?

Oh, and there IS a step ladder in this drawing. I love coincidences like that. They really spark my imagination.

cheerio me ducks!

Just been away for a fabulous break in sunny Norwich. I'd been hoping to get lots of drawing done while there as my friend, Tim, has loads and loads of crap....I mean 'collections'. Unfortunately I only came home with this little drawing - but with lots of gorgeous memories.
Thank you my lovely friends.

the answer is...

In answer to the question from the last post; this guy would live in a house like that!

too bland to bear

Gosh, this picture is so bland I can just about bring myself to post it. I was going to do a bit more work on it but it was boring me too much. I actually feel sorry for the this little guy!

By the way, it's a hedgehog made from sticks and pine-coney type stuff.

Griff the cat

I'm not sure if many of you (who draw) work in this way but I, more often than not, will sketch stuff in a sketchbook before I go onto re-draw it. I then, if I feel happy with the original sketches, will commit it them to 'proper' paper. One of the things I find over again, though, is that the characters or objects that I draw often lose something when they make that move from sketchbook to paper. Obviously the spontaneity is lost in the process but for some reason the character can go missing too. It's really frustrating. He just does not want to leave my sketchbook! Does anyone else have the same problem?


By the way, if you'd like to see the original photo* that inspired this drawing CLICK HERE. *Warning, this photo contains serious levels of cuteness.