Tuesday 28 April 2015

NEW DRAWINGS NEW IDEAS




Another version of the quotation



Eucalyptus grove in Laikipia, Kenya


The top two drawings seem to go together.  My first attempt at text, definitely need more practice.  I saw this quote by Sappho in British Museum last week.

The third drawing is quite a large sketch from a photo I took in Kenya in December last year.
 I did it about a month or more ago, it is quite rough and "instant" but it gives me pleasure.

Monday 27 April 2015

DRAW HORSES IN 15 MINUTES

Front cover of my book!    

I was approached out of the blue at the beginning of 2014 by Zara Larcombe of Ilex Press to ask if I would like to write and illustrate a book about drawing horses.  Naturally I jumped at the opportunity, but it was a sharp learning curve as I had to produce 8 double-page spreads of text and illustrations for a sample "blad" (book layout and design) within the space of about 3 weeks.  This was then honed by Ilex design team and taken to the USA in March.

Later on, around June, the commission was confirmed and I completed the book by the end of October.  There were small alterations to make after that, but basically most of it was done.  The book is part of a series created by Brighton artist Jake Spicer.  I see his books on "Draw Faces", "Draw Cats" and other titles everywhere.  I worked around his basic approach and format, but rewrote the text and created all the illustrations for the horse book. 

I learnt a lot about my own approach to drawing, and how to improve and understand, and how to add to my visual vocabulary. I have just received advance copies of the book, so it seems a reality now.  I will be making the book available at my shows this year, and it can already be found on amazon.