Christmas Spirits

Although it's Halloween I have been working on my Christmas card, to me the two are entwined in their myths and human interpretation.

Drawn freehand with dip pen and ink on a scrap of card I found laying around. I will colour it in with Photoshop when I get the time. I am busy with a big project at the moment which will take me through to April and around that I'm doing other nice projects too. I'm not bragging, it's just nice to be occuppied and 'wanted' at this moment in time, having experienced seasonal slumps in the past

New Sketchbooks

Waterstones have got a three for two offer on Moleskines at the moment, I bought a large sketchbook and a 2008 diary and got another large sketch, for nearly free. (The lower priced item is the free one).

They cost a lot more than I would normally pay for a drawing book but having used smaller Moleskines to doodle in I am converted. I love using dip pen and ink in them and the 13 x 21cm size is just perfect, not too big and not too small. With luck I am going to use them on the 'big project' that will be starting soon.

Agbrigg>Saltaire>Leeds

It's that time of year again... nearly.

Pencil sketch for a christmas card.

I might try drawing it freehand in ink as it feels a bit 'stiff' at he moment. I like the idea of Santa being friends with a giant forest spirit and being able to talk to birds and enjoying a glass of wine.

The Joy of Pencils

Things have been a bit sporadic on the drawing side of things, I blame the time of year, the change of the seasons, the cold weather, the warm weather and my body not having proper thermostatic control.

I have updated my website a bit, no real new content that you lucky people haven't already seen on the blog, but it is a start. I have been drawing with bog standard HB pencils recently and getting all excited, my brief foray into dip pen and ink a few weeks ago was fun but felt like it was a bit out of control (in a sloppy way, not a reassuring finding myself way). I remember running a workshop and telling someone how great dip pen and ink was, and that they should have ago, their response was, that they were brought up writing and drawing with dip pens in India, which is a great thing in it's self, they just wanted to have a go with marker pens. I went through school using pencils and have always thought they were at the lower end of mark making implements, how wrong of me. And you can rub the drawing out if you don't like it - just like the undo on a computer. The upshot of all this rambling is I am dead excited about drawing and want to get cracking on more diary pages again. Hurah!

Drink and Draw at.... oh heck, I can't remember....

I just have to say thank you to Jared at Okay Comics for inviting me to the Drink & Draw on Tuesday night and for intoducing me to the giddy memory depleting delights of kasteel Cru.

Paul Gravett Up North

Just to remind anyone out there who actually looks at my blog that on Sat 6th Otcober Paul Gravett interviews three of the country’s leading graphic novelists about their work and the future of the form. Bryan Talbot, Rutu Modan and Simone Lia at the Ilkley Literature festival . He is also talking before the festival at Leeds Art Gallery, check venues for details/tickets/cost.