Bulldogs, Bull Terriers and a Pinch of Patriotism for Good Measure!

Probably inspired by being in the UK during Remembrance Sunday .... my sketch book seems to be filling up with some pretty patriotic looking Hounds! Also might be down to my daughter Alex loving British Bulldogs (or Baggy Bulldogs as they are known here in NL!) I'm really enjoying drawing some new faces .... and hope to be filling my Etsy store with some new stuff really soon!

Pugs, Bears ... and Bull Dogs!!!!

Have been busy getting things ready to fill the shelves of my Etsy store again! I had a great response last year so working hard to produce some new stuff

Opening Soon!!!!!!

DOG DAY AFTERNOON

pug pug puggy pug pug ...work in progress ... nose to the sketchbook!

 

#pug

And Begin Again .....

Back again after a long break ... for lots of reasons .. but it's good to be back!

My main goal today was just to get drawing again ... and once I actually got my butt in to my seat it wasn't so bad after all. I read about a thing called "resistance" over the summer ... the feeling you get when it actually comes down to getting creative and suddenly you'd rather be anywhere else ... doing anything else??? If this sounds like you, you might want to take a look at "Creative Thursdays" by Marisa Anne Cummings. Not packed with earth shattering revelations but definitely a few "aha" moments and worth a read ... a pretty book too!

Anyway ... having accepted I have resistance on the scale of a world war 2 underground movement and also that not all drawings have to be a conceptually original and brilliant piece ... I decided to combine my love of Yoga with my love of bears just to get me going - and a new little pug popped up (lets call him Horatio for now!) - that I now have lots of ideas for. So here's hoping!

A comment or a follow would be much appreciated

New Pug Stuff coming soon!

Saving Puggy Potter

Today I went back to a drawing of a pug - just to finish it off ... and totally wrecked it. It's not a rare event ... it happens .... I just went at it with no thought and what started out as a knitted jacket turned in to a total smudgy mess. So the options are ... 1. the bin .... 2. try and salvage something.

Scissors and paper at the ready!

Cover up the failed jacket with a paper cape.

I decided to try and salvage something ... nothing to lose - so it was actually really relaxing to get a bit creative with it. I keep scraps of paper that I like along with other bits and pieces so I just played around for a bit ... and this happened. Hope you like it...

Complete with hat and paper bloomers!

You're a wizard Puggy Potter!

Monday is Pug Day ... or How I Draw Pugs

The start of the week can be a stumbling block for me ... just getting going! So I've gone back to one of the small drawings I did for my "Draw Every Day For A Year" as a starting point. Surprise surprise it's a pug .... but you can see the stages below from rough drawing to coloured piece at the end. I always do the initial drawings on layout paper (or marker pad paper ...the Letraset one is pretty good and easily available here in NL) The paper is nice and smooth and easy to do the many corrections I need to do!!! (you can actually see all the corrections on the first drawing where lines have been at the wrong angle ... or just ...wrong!)

Initial rough drawing ... you can see all the mistakes too ...

When I'm happy with the rough drawing ... I use a light box to trace through and add extra details like the collar. Then the light box again to transfer it on to a good quality paper. I find if you're using coloured pencil and you want a smooth finish .. then smooth surface heavy weight cartridge paper is pretty good (I use windsor and Newton 220gsm)

                        

 drawing with collar and crown(left) and final pug (right)

Then all thats left to do is add the colour. 

I used a mixture of Caran D'ache Pablo and Prismacolor for this one.

Finally just blend the colours with a colourless blender and then a burnisher to stop smudging (Derwent do some decent ones)  And thats it! TaDaah!

Thanks for looking in again.

Comments welcome!

Collars and Crowns

It's been a pretty productive week drawing wise. I was getting really stuck in a rut with a story I'm working on so I decided to work on some stuff to go in the Etsy store instead. I've also been trying to stick to my "A drawing a day for a year" ... and so far so good ... There have been a couple of days where I wouldn't have done anything otherwise ... so give it a go -  it helps get rid of that monday morning "creative stutter".

So I've been working on new Pugs and Bears for the store ... which I hope to re-stock and open again very soon. All done in pencil ... Caran D'Ache Pablo and Prismacolour ... and trying to bring the Pugs along a little with better faces and bodies. As for the book ... I'll keep plugging away!!

art illustration pug and bear

Suffering from TWA???? (.... Total Work Avoidance)

This is what I am clearly suffering from ... totally made up .. but sounds real enough!

I think a LOT of creative people suffer from this ... I know at least one writer who does (she knows who she's is ...don't ya buddie!) So how do you move on? How do you "feel the fear and do it anyway"? I just thought I'd share a couple of things:

I've been reading/looking at an amazing book .... "The Daily Zoo" by Chris Ayers. Chris decided to keep a journal of a drawing for every day he was recovering from cancer ... I know it doesn't sound very cheerful but it's hugely inspirational! I am no where near as talented as this guy ... but I am going to aim to do a drawing a day and see how long I can go ...aiming for the year!!

I always dip in to "How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be" (J. Canfield) I suppose its a bit flakey of me ...but it is really useful! Not where I want to be just yet ... but I WILL keep trying!

Good luck creative types out there!!!!

2014??? ... Bring it on!!!!!

Back to it in 2014!!! The Etsy store went amazingly well before christmas ... selling out and making the time I spent putting my work online well worth it! I had great support from family and friends but also from "strangers" ... so a big thanks to everyone ... even if you just did a little window shopping! I know selling this way isn't for everyone - but if you have creative stuff to sell .. Etsy is worth a look. I'm working on more stuff to refill those virtual shelves and I'll let you know when its open again.

So for now ... I'll be working on my book ... more stuff to sell directly ... and also trying to be a little better at selling myself! Wish me luck on that one!! :D (typical illustrator ... hiding away and putting more in the bin than I ever keep :/ )

(Still working on characters and developing the story .... hoping to get out of the sketch book real soon!)