Dr. Freud, I presume?

Renewed respect for all portrait artists. It's the most difficult subject matter in the world! This is from a project that I've been working on (well, struggling with actually) and it's right out of my comfort zone. I gave up trying to do realistic and went for the old line-drawing-stylized type of thing. I still feel unsure about posting it especially as there are such great portrait artists out there. I feel like a bit of an impostor. This is a subject (portraits, not Freud) that I would really love to get better at. However I choose to draw inanimate objects as opposed to living breathing beings. I wonder what Dr. Freud would have to say about that.

right back at you sister!

A little while ago the brilliant France Belleville made a post that claimed I'd inspired her to draw her old Converse - after she'd seen a drawing of mine. Well, right back at you sister! I was inspired to draw my Birkenstocks after seeing this amazing pencil drawing of hers. Take a look at it here.

picture of guilt

I am really happy with the colours I've achieved in this drawing. However, I'm not sure about the composition. I drew around the purse to get the shape down onto the paper and now I wish I'd pushed the side in first. Damn.

I bought this purse specifically to draw. It was very very cheap. This kind of purchase always causes me a moral dilemma. Whilst I adore a bargain the guilt always creeps in. How can they make these things so cheap? Where was it made and by whom? Adult? child? How much were they paid? Were they paid? What were the conditions like? How much damage to the environment was caused just so I can get a bargain like this? Am I a bad person? Welcome to my world.

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.

driving nowhere, come along for the ride?

I had no idea where this picture was going. It started as an inventory of my keys. So, I put all those down on the paper. However it looked really quite dull. I liked the individual drawings of the keys, but it just wasn't working as a whole. There was just too much white space. I considered putting text in but then came up with the idea of framing the keys. I like the result.

I'm going away for a few days. I just wanted to say thanks to everybody who has visited my blog. Thank You! To all those who have left comments (new and old) I really appreciate it and will get around to paying you all a visit when I get back. Cheers folks.

old sock seeks old shoe

A quickie. Not much time for drawing this week...again. I did this whilst listening to an interesting BBC documentary, on intelligence, last night. I really overworked it; far too heavy with the pen. Oh well, I just needed a ballpoint fix. I feel like I've been neglecting my favourite medium of late.

Oh yeah, just in case you can't tell, it's a pair of socks. Very old stripey socks.

small blue thing

(click on image to view)

I feel like I've been doing this drawing for half of my life. When I embarked upon it I never would have guessed how difficult it would be to find enough very small things to fill the page. I've been scratching around in every nook, cranny and drawer in the house. And in the shed. Which always freaks me out. You can never be sure what, or who, has made a home in there. Anyway, thank heavens for Cluedo.

Also there's something I'm undecided about. Do you prefer the drawing with or without the text? Sometimes I wonder whether the text detracts from the drawing? I'd be interested in knowing what you think. Ta.

I've got a heavy soul...

....and it's a joy to own.

I am a wild seed ~ let the wind carry me

In my quest to draw everything in my house I stopped by the spice rack. I'm quite happy with this. It reminds me of the illustrations you'd find in recipe books from the 70's. Books that were usually called something like 'The Whole Food Kitchen'. The kind of book that gave you interesting ideas for things to do with lentils and chick peas. The type of book where you can still smell the patchouli wafting through the pages. I dream of illustrating one of those books. One day. One day....

every old sock needs an old shoe

isn't that a great saying?

some things are design classics

Thought I'd draw them one last time before they are put in the bin. Aaaw, they are twenty years old! I would not have thrown them away but for some time they have been in the boot of my car which randomly lets in water. So they got mouldy and smelly. Goodbye old Cons.

buttons reloaded

So this may be a bit of overkill on the button front, but I've been working on a piece for an upcoming exhibition. I had originally intended to enter my 'chips' picture, however, I tried reworking it but it just wasn't happening. So it was back to the drawing board and as I really enjoyed drawing the original buttons picture, last weekend, I decided to go with that.