Some roughs for the watercolour landscape of a few posts back (see it here). Because this project was quite a learning curve, I took several roughs nearly to completion to check my methods were working! Click on the pictures to view them bigger.
Raa Raa storyboard
Posted by – 15 May, 2012
A page from a recent Raa Raa The Noisy Lion storyboard. He’s a toy lion and comes with various safari friends. On this job I did 4 storyboards in 3 days; they’re all for different products in the range but the same sort of set up each time – this one was for the playset.
You can see the rest of the storyboard here, and the finished ad here.
Bolinda Vale
Posted by – 8 May, 2012
A friend commissioned me to paint this watercolour recently as a present for her in-laws; it’s of their farm in Australia. This was actually one of the hardest jobs I’ve had; it may look simple but watercolours are a lifetime’s learning so there were a few trial runs! I often use them but this was the first time as the primary medium (as opposed to the drawing being the focus); also there was a challenge in keeping the definition and features of a landscape that’s set into the distance.
The picture was drawn with diluted waterproof black ink and the dimensions are 7 x 23.5cm. I find scanning doesn’t pick up the paler washes of my watercolours, I’m going to look into how to improve on that. Having said that, I quite like that the transparency and delicacy of the medium is a bit beyond a clunky digitising machine.
Click on the image to see it bigger.
NB – you can see the roughs for this painting on my later post here.
Dizzy
Posted by – 4 May, 2012
Some socks I knitted recently… The pattern is from The Gentle Art of Knitting by Jane Brocket and I used self-striping yarn, which is fun. I enjoy it when something happens like a heel but not sure how patient I am when it comes to the long straight bits.
Better to have loved and lost
Posted by – 2 May, 2012
A sad tale – this is a little phone bag I knitted for my spanking new smartphone. But alas it was lost in the pub. So now my screen is slowly getting covered in little scratches.
Business card finally materialises
Posted by – 1 May, 2012
I’ve spent rather too long working on my business cards. I had an idea which was never right, but I kept working at it like throwing good money after bad. Eventually in despair I scrapped the whole thing and started over, with a better idea which meant it all happened much faster.
Here’s one side:
And here’s the other:
It’s not quite as random as it might appear. I wanted a person in it – they’re the prominent feature in most storyboards and my favourite thing to draw – and an animal because they’re important to me. The bird is a Cock-of-the-rock, which is a daft but beautiful species I got quite attached to in Peru. I wanted a sequence to take place over the two sides, partly because it was possible (by using moo) and partly because it would fit with the storyboarding theme. There are a few tweaks I’ll make for the next batch, but for now this idea can stay.
M&S Storyboard
Posted by – 27 April, 2012
I was asked to do the storyboard for the Marks & Spencer Jubilee ad recently – here’s a page. Very cool to do it, M&S can’t do a lot wrong in my eyes. Featuring Twiggy, Myleene, Dannii and Jamie Redknapp. The turnaround was very tight – Sunday afternoon to Monday lunch! You can see the rest of the frames here and the finished ad here.
Originally I was asked to do it in colour but the client came back to ask if it could be in grey instead. Here’s the first colour version..
Elsie
Posted by – 25 April, 2012
Various things including lots of work, getting engaged and trying to address the garden before it takes over Hackney have kept me from my blog. Here is a picture I just did of the latest thing to occupy my time – our puppy Elsie, who is meant to be a Jack Russell/Shih Tzu cross but looks nothing like the latter. This is her favourite spot, against the radiator in my study. Peace comes at last.
Topiary in the afternoon
Posted by – 21 February, 2012
The topiary garden at Levens Hall in Cumbria, one of my favourite places. It’s straight out of Alice In Wonderland, you half expect the Queen of Hearts to come stomping round the corner.
