Brandon Draws

The Prince And The Sea

2011-06-28T10:20:00.004+01:00

Head over to Emily Carroll's website for this great little story, The Prince & The Sea, found through the ever helpful Drawn.

Illustration by Emily Carroll (emcarroll.com).

David Lyttleton

2011-06-23T15:43:00.008+01:00

Every so often you stumble upon the work of an artist with which you instantly fall in love; the artwork I'm speaking about belongs to David Lyttleton (you can find him at davidlyttleton.com).

His The Times newspaper insert showing the kings and queens of England mysteriously appeared in the house the other day, despite the fact that no one here reads The Times (I'm not saying you should or shouldn't, it doesn't matter to me which paper you read). His cartoons are bold, colourful and overflowing with character, all of which combines to make an unmistakeable personal style. I am jealous. There's something very familiar about his work, but considering his list of clients, I've not doubt seen it before in some capacity.

Here's his Kings & Queens of England piece, which you can click for a larger version. After you've looked at it, make sure you head over to his website to see more of his great work.

Illustrations by David Lyttleton (davidlyttleton.com).

Newspaper People

2011-06-20T16:06:00.005+01:00

Here's some more recent sketches, this time of people I found mostly in the newspaper:

I Made That Part 2

2011-06-15T08:57:00.005+01:00

Back in November of last year, I posted about randomly finding my cartoon family image on someone's personal blog. It wasn't a big problem, but it was one of my first encounters with my artwork being used without my permission or proper credit being given.

For whatever reason, that cartoon family illustration has had fluctuating levels of popularity and I recently found it on two more personal blogs. This site had it being used as an example of a bride-to-be's family - as before, it wasn't being used for personal profit or gain, so it wasn't a real concern. This blog used it as part of the blogger's Christmas list - again, not a problem...but in this particular case, I'm not sure I'd have been heartless enough to ask the blogger to remove it even if it was being used for personal gain.

My friend, James Provost, a technical illustrator that I've previously written about, is a contributor to TechnicalIllustrators.org; back in April, he wrote a great entry about further protecting your images with Metadata - you can find it here. It's an easy and effective addition to your files that could be the difference between your image getting you hired and just remaining a nice picture with an unknown creator sitting on an art director's computer.

Truth be told, I haven't gotten around to doing this yet, but I'm about to and so should you.

Disney's Multiplane Camera

2011-06-06T10:30:00.005+01:00

Apologies for my recent short(ish) absence from the blog - I had the fortune of gallivanting around Rome this past week. I took my sketchbook with every intention of using it, but decided to just take in the more impressive works of others in city and never even took it out of my bag.

When I got back, my feed reader was loaded with the endless goodies it picks up from other artists' blogs. One of the most interesting artists I follow is James Gurney, whose Dinotopia captured my imagination as a kid and who seems to be filled with an endless amount of artistic wisdom. His blog (Gurney Journey) directed me to this video about Disney's multiplane camera, which was used to make some of their classic films. As a kid, I used to dream about working for Disney (although I grew up to question whether I had the patience for animation) and I still love this combination of art and nerdy behind-the-scenes technology.

(In case you're having trouble loading the video here, just follow this direct link.)

Faces Of Men

2011-05-26T09:03:00.004+01:00

More recent sketches, this time of various men's faces loosely based on some found in magazines and photographs:

Fleet Foxes And Cows

2011-05-23T08:16:00.007+01:00

Fleet Foxes and cows (among other things) have recently found their way into my sketchbook:

Similar Mindsets

2011-05-17T14:36:00.009+01:00

Quite some time ago, I randomly came across the work of David Brunell-Brutman and was amused to find we'd drawn similar images of tank-driving animals; David's tiger is on the left and my commissioned t-shirt design with the badger is on the right.

Illustration by David Brunell-Brutman
(www.davidbrunellbrutman.com).

I emailed David to point it out, but his spam filter swallowed up my message or he just wasn't as amused as I was - either way, I never heard from him. David, can you read me? Over.

Further back still, I found a sketch by Eric Canete that really reminded me of one I'd done earlier; again, Eric's is on the left and mine is on the right.

Illustration by Eric Canete
(kahnehteh.blogspot.com).

Eric's is superior to mine in a number of ways, but I'll hide behind the fact that mine is an older sketch and far from being up to scratch. Yes...that's what I'll say...

Anyway, the illustrations by David and Eric aren't exactly like mine, but it's nonetheless strange to see how different artists in entirely different locations will sometimes produce similar images.

Never-ending Adventures...And Diapers

2011-05-12T11:04:00.001+01:00

And now back to your regularly scheduled blogram...

This illustration of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell was done as a personal gift for my sister's recent baby shower. She's cultivating a Neverland theme for the baby's room - something my mother attributes to her "lifelong love" of J.M. Barrie's famous story; a lifelong love once rightfully attributed to me. Tell me mother, which of your children has actually even read the story? (I'll give you a hint: only me.)

These were my initial sketches for the piece:

I eventually kept it simple and went with this option. It's mostly drawn in my semi-realistic style, but does wander into the cartoon realm:

Do you like your picture, baby? Kick once for yes, twice for no...

My Imminent Departure From Facebook and Twitter

2011-05-04T18:04:00.016+01:00

You may have noticed that I've been extremely quiet in the online social networking world since early April; even my blog has felt deserted and alone. Truth be told, my disappearance was simply because I needed to take a break from computers and the Internet. To say "need" seems almost ridiculous considering that I'm hardly a frequent Facebooker or Tweeter, but the reality is that I'm very often online, waiting to add something to conversations, but rarely knowing what or even wanting to - sort of like those creepy people that stand near groups of friends, intently listening to everything being said, but never offering more than a dopey smile and the occasional chuckle at inappropriate moments.

I'm perfectly happy and able to socialise in the real world, it's just that there's not enough sociability in me to contribute equally to the offline and online realms. I can completely understand the appeal of Facebook, Twitter and similar sites to the countless (more socially engaged and/or energetic) people that use them, especially considering their marketing potential, but the cons outweigh the pros for someone like me and my decline in focus and productivity has demonstrated that.

So, within a few days, I'll be disappearing from Facebook and Twitter (having already waved goodbye to the lesser-used Google Buzz). That might sound like illustration career suicide to many of you, especially in this age of limitless digital self-promotion and Internet techno-magic, but I'm optimistic about shifting my focus back to some old school marketing techniques.

All that being said, my website will very much continue to exist, as will this blog, and I'll continue to be active across the blogging community (it's a bit less demanding on someone of my lower social aptitude). As always, you can reach me by email at info@brandondraws.com, by phone on +44 7415 327331 or just comment on my blog and I'll be sure to get back to you.

Into the social darkness I go...

Dingy Dublin

2011-04-11T18:46:00.003+01:00

I'm back from roaming around Ireland and just catching up on some things that piled up while I was away...

Dublin was the beginning and end of the journey; as my second visit to the city, I had more time to explore some of its hidden alleys and dingy areas away from the tourist centres. This is a sketch of one of those areas, seen from out hotel room:

Soul-searching

2011-04-08T11:39:00.002+01:00

I'm still wandering across The Emerald Isle avec my lovely wife, but here's my latest finished project, thanks to the magic of the Interwebs.

A friend once told me about a guy they had met while travelling in the south of Asia; apparently, he'd sold his house, packed his bags and set out to do some travelling...which he was still doing, four years later. I suppose this piece is a little inspired by him.

Pencilled and inked versions:

Near the end of the colouring stage, the image looked like this, but it just seemed boring and lifeless to me:

My problem was solved when I accidentally applied a brown colour to all of the black, which immediately gave it a different feeling, and, with a bit more work, I eventually ended up with this:

Marcos Mateu-Mestre

2011-04-06T10:14:00.007+01:00

Marcos Mateu-Mestre is an illustrator and graphic-novel artist originally from Majorca and now living in California. Since 1991, he's also been working in the animation industry on 2D backgrounds and layouts, storyboards, and visual concepts and development. He's currently at Dreamworks Animation and his film credits include We're Back, Balto, The Prince of Egypt, Eldorado, 3 Wise Men, Toto Sapore, Asterix and the Vikings, Surf's Up and Megamind. A portfolio of some of his work can be found at marcosmateu.net, but he regularly updates a blog with newer work at marcosmateu.blogspot.com.

Illustrations by Marcos Mateu-Mestre (marcosmateu.blogspot.com).

Whether drawing people and animals, landscapes, technology or anything in between, Marcos is one of those artists capable of giving an important role to every line and mark on the page. He also has an incredible eye for composition, a topic about which he recently wrote and illustrated Framed Ink, drawing and composition for visual storytellers. I got my hands on a copy of it a few weeks ago and have been meticulously working my way through it. It's definitely a book worth purchasing and he's definitely an artist worth following.

Totem Sketching

2011-04-04T09:45:00.003+01:00

The final composition of a page in my sketchbook can often seem disjointed and lifeless; the individual sketches might be full of energy, but I'm frequently frustrated by the overall look of the whole page, even when I had no intention of working toward a single final image. I think my separation of sketches on a page comes from the very technical side of my brain, but sometimes I'm able to ignore it and just mash everything together. This random sketch, a collection of images loosely based on photographs, was one of those cases - it reminds me of a totem pole:

I also used it to play around with different brushes in Photoshop (the colours weren't exactly carefully chosen):

I'm off to Ireland for the rest of the week, but I've scheduled a couple more posts to load up, so hopefully you won't miss me too much.

Unrequited Love

2011-04-01T09:26:00.004+01:00

I don't normally sit down with the idea of drawing a comic strip, but this idea popped into my head and it seemed like a fun departure from my usual pieces.

It's a tale of unrequited love. Ladies: Although guys are often pigs, they aren't always. Guys: Even if you're not being a pig, chances are that your dopey face looks like you are anyway. Thankfully, I'm happily married and have a wife that can easily decipher the stupid looks on my face.

Pencils, inks and the finished product:

Scott Campbell

2011-03-30T08:18:00.010+01:00

Scott Campbell, otherwise known as Scott C, is a "maker of paintings, illustrations, comics, kid’s books and video games". As a student at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, he focused on comic and children’s book illustration; he has since found success as a concept artist for Lucas Learning, as an Art Director for Double Fine productions and in his published comics and personal paintings. You can find Scott's website at www.pyramidcar.com and follow him on Twitter (@scottlava).

The first thing that struck me when I discovered Scott's work was the original, unmistakable style of his paintings; ever since first visiting his website, I've been able to see one of his works and instantly recognise it to be his. Working primarily in watercolour, Scott has a way of injecting humour into any scene and somehow capturing someone's likeness with even the simplest of cartoon expressions. His ongoing "Great Showdowns" project, which depicts famous showdowns from films in simple, upbeat and amusing ways, does this especially well. Head over to www.greatshowdowns.com to have a look.

Paintings by Scott Campbell (pyramidcar.com).

The second thing that struck me about Scott was his energy. His enthusiasm for his work and life in general seems unending and, for someone more low key (lazy?) like myself, it's surprisingly infectious and uplifting to see another artist so motivated to create great pieces of art. Just look at this photo of him; it alone contains more energy than I'll be lucky to see in a week's time. Scott would be a very rich man if he could figure out how to bottle and sell his enthusiasm.

Scott Campbell has become an inspiration to me both with what he creates and with the joy he so obviously has creating it. Definitely make your way to Scott's page to see for yourself.

Sketching In Richmond Park

2011-03-28T17:28:00.005+01:00

Richmond Park is a 2,360 acre park in southwest London. At nearly three times the size of New York City's Central Park, it's a pretty impressive bit of greenspace right on the doorstep of the UK's largest city.

Last Thursday's warmth and sun meant it was no day to stay inside, so I grabbed my sketchbook and headed for the park. Truth be told, I got preoccupied with wandering through the woods of Wimbledon Common en route to the park, so I didn't end up having much time to sketch.

The park also has a large population of red and fallow deer, which number over six hundred; it has entire areas set aside for kiting sports; and has become home to a wild population of parakeets, of all things:

Piggyback

2011-03-25T09:43:00.006Z

Here's my latest illustration, one that I can happily say I'm quite pleased with; I can't always say that, and it's not that this is a masterpiece for the ages or the most exciting thing since sliced bread, it's just that I went out even farther on a limb with both my colouring technique and colour choices and found success (at least in terms of my own measurements). As with my previous corporate ladder illustration and recent experiment, I moved well away from a painterly style of colouring and went with one that uses flat colour areas to create shadows, depth, etc. With a photograph as a quick, initial reference, I was able to sketch, ink and colour this fairly rapidly (my colour selection probably took as long as everything else combined). I enjoyed the quicker pace of the colouring much more and increasingly feel like this is a creative path I've been searching for. It's still early days, but hopefully some more experimenting will help decide.

I inked and scanned the couple first in order to more easily separate them from the background for later tweaks. Here are the pencilled and inked versions:

And the final illustration:

I'd love to hear whether you love or hate this new direction.

Nicole Gustafsson

2011-03-23T07:48:00.008Z

Nicole Gustafsson is a born and raised Nebraskan illustrator. Her website, Nimasprout, can be found at www.nimasprout.com, while her blog is at ngustafsson.blogspot.com. I recently discovered that she also inhabits the world of Twitter (@nimasprout).

Her artworks are incredibly imaginative and aim to convey "the spirit of discovery and adventure" that she developed as a child. Her paintings (typically made with combinations of pencil, ink and gouache) are often dream-like scenes set in natural environments and made of surreal colours. I've grown particularly fond of her numerous paintings of treehouses, often inhabited by amusing, clothed rabbits.

Paintings by Nicole Gustafsson (nimasprout.com).

Although Nicole works with materials and techniques that are quite different from my own, she continues to inspire me to reach beyond my previously narrow comfort zone to explore new colour combinations and artistic possibilities. I'm also envious of her ability to create such great artworks without the aid of a computer; like many of today's illustrators, I've become heavily reliant on computers and I'm glad to see that we haven't all fallen victim to them.

Head over to Nicole's website, it's definitely worth a look.

Colouring Dave King

2011-03-21T13:20:00.006Z

Good afternoon from sunny (for now) London, I hope you're all enjoying the signs of spring as much as I am.

Last time, I posted a finished illustration that used a simpler colouring technique than I'm used to working with; it essentially involves breaking the regular, highlighted and shadowed areas into clearly defined, uniform colours rather than employing looser painterly techniques. I've never made any great attempts at improving my (almost untested) painting skills, but I've always coloured in a painterly manner and the confidence to clearly define blocks of highlights and shadows in a believable way just hasn't existed. My patience for painting, maybe even colouring in general, can be almost non-existent at times and I've been increasingly aware that my work is suffering from laziness and a lack of enthusiasm.

Enter Dave (King, that is), the leader singer of Irish-American Celtic punk band, Flogging Molly, whom I randomly chose as the victim for my latest experiment. The first image was a return to colouring via watercolour pencil crayons; after scanning the image, I started to correct and manipulate the colours, but I quickly grew frustrated and stopped trying when he looked like a victim of the plague:

Next, I used my usual painterly technique to colour on the computer; a boring result from a lack of interest:

I then converted the previous image to a greyscale version and added colour overlays; the idea behind this is to do all of the highlights and shadows in grey before adding colour. You get a similar result to the last one, but this method lets you focus on the image's values before you add in the complication of colour:

Finally, I coloured him in with the simpler method I mentioned at the start. I didn't like it at first, but it quickly grew on me and I'm really starting to see the benefits it offers someone with my illustration style.

This method is still very new to me, and it might not be your preferred option, but you can definitely expect to see more of it as I experiment in the future.

Bypassing The Corporate Ladder

2011-03-19T19:43:00.012Z

I felt inspired to do this piece after a conversation had on a rather wealthy street in London's Primrose Hill area. I just wanted to simply depict someone whose money and connections helped to rocket them above and beyond the masses of people scrambling to climb the corporate ladder. Here is some of the process:

It was also coloured in a simpler way than some of my previous semi-realistic work; I'm quite enjoying exploring this method of colouring, but I'll save any elaboration for next week. Here's the final piece:

Katie Cook

2011-03-16T13:39:00.010Z

Katie Cook is a comic book artist and illustrator based in Ann Arbour, Michigan. In addition to a fondness for cats, she also claims to be a lover of nerdy things and has been lucky enough to pursue this interest through artwork for DC and Marvel Comics, Star Wars, HEROES and Lord of the Rings, to name a few. You can find her at www.katiecandraw.com or on Twitter (@katiecandraw).

Much of Katie's style has an undeniable cuteness to it that brings fun and energy to anything she draws. Working in my own cartoon style always helps to lift my spirits and I can perfectly understand why Katie so obviously enjoys doing what she does.

Katie also produces a weekly webcomic about an adorable little monster named Gronk, who's too cute to be a real monster and spends her time learning about the human world instead. You can find it over at www.gronkcomic.com. You'll find no dirty language, scantily clad women or explosions here, just an amusing weekly dose of innocence.

I recently made a sketch of Gronk and quickly found myself compelled to ink and colour it. The pencil, ink and final colour stages are below:

I hope Katie feels that it's done her creation some justice.

Walking London

2011-03-14T09:24:00.006Z

I've lived in London for a total of a few years now, but it's so immense that I never feel like I've even scratched the surface of things to see and do. That feeling, combined with a need for a change of scenery, a desire to explore and the nicest day in a long while, lead me to leaving the house bright and early last Tuesday for a cross-London walk. By its end, I had walked about twenty miles from Croydon in the south to Hampstead Heath in the north, seeing areas of London that you just don't encounter on public transport or around the usual tourist spots.

I also packed a little sketchbook and spared a few minutes here and there to do some extremely quick sketches of things I came across. Here's a sample of them: the dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park, The Parish Church of Saint Stephen in South Dulwich, a signpost in Burgess Park, St. Mary Magdalen Bermondsey and Arsenal FC's Emirates Stadium.

I'm already thinking about my next walk - maybe twenty miles east to west across the city.

Yaaarrrrrr!

2011-03-11T15:06:00.007Z

After a brief interruption by King Gaddafi, here is the final version of my treehouse pirates illustration. The last version you saw had a very typical tree with green leaves and a brown trunk, but I really wasn't happy with it; after some messing around with colours, I broke out of my boring colour routine and came up with this. As much as don't enjoy colouring with the computer a lot of the time, it is extremely helpful for testing out colour options.

Hope you like it.

Previous related posts:
1) Treehouse Pirates
2) Ahoy, Matey!

Drawn

2011-03-09T07:50:00.000Z

Today's mention is Canada's Drawn and its related blog, "a daily source of inspiration for illustration, animation, cartooning, and comic art". It works similarly to my Wednesday posts about things that inspire me, only in a much, much better way. A lot of my artistic "education" comes from studying the works of other artists, past and present, and Drawn does an excellent job of continuously providing me with new material to absorb. Subscribe to Drawn's RSS feed and find it Twitter (@drawn) to boost your daily art dose.

Spooners

2011-03-07T17:34:00.007Z

For something a little different from the usual sketches today, I wanted to post some costume photos of my inaugural "Spooners Pub Crawl" (a day-long drinking tour of Wetherspoon pubs across London that friends in the UK warmly welcomed me into). Before you start to worry that I'm turning this into a "what I did on the weekend with my friends" blog, let me reassure you that there actually is an artistic angle.

This year's costume theme was "Song Titles" and after debating about several options, I ran out at the last minute to purchase my supplies: Bristol board (I think it's called card stock or something here in the UK), green tissue paper, white balloons, pink pipe cleaners, an orange bedsheet and green tights.

Idea sketch.

I built the structure for my mask around my baseball hat - this was key to providing the utmost comfort and security throughout the day. It also called upon my engineering side, which doesn't see the light of day very often. I then covered the structure in the tissue paper, made some balloon eyes and attached a tongue (plus captured fly) before using the tights to make a curled tail (of which I don't yet have a photo).

Top and front view of mask structure.

With the help of my darling wife and her ever charming family, I was able to get myself into some additional tights and suit up in the orange sheet before jumping into a pair of flip-flops and heading off into the busy London crowds.

The costume (minus the tail, green tights and flip-flops).

(I blanked my face so it's beauty doesn't distract you from the costume.)

The whole event was a huge laugh and the other costumes were hilarious - I'll try to post a group photo once one comes my way. In the meantime, can you guess my song title?

The Madness Of King Gaddafi

2011-03-04T17:34:00.009Z

My treehouse pirates illustration is actually complete, but I'm going to keep it under wraps until next week in order to post a newly completed semi-realistic piece that is a bit more appropriately timed.

In light of the uprising in Libya and some of the almost unbelievable things that Colonel Gaddafi has said this week, I felt inspired to portray what I can only assume is madness.

Here is most of the process work for the piece:

And here is the madness of "King" Gaddafi:

Hopefully the Libyans can find some peace soon.

Leonardo Da Vinci

2011-03-02T12:15:00.011Z

Today I thought I'd shine the spotlight on an inspiration from days gone by: Leonardo da Vinci. He seems like a hugely stereotypical inspiration to cite, but he was awesome (nay, gnarly) in a way that few people have ever been. Of course, he could have been a total butthead to speak with, but I just choose to ignore that possibility since he went belly up a little before my time and I'll never get to find out for myself. I say "never", but I'm still hoping for the day that time machines become as widely available as iPods. Or Big Macs.

The impressiveness of all his artworks is undeniable, but it's always been his sketches, studies and plans that I've loved, not so much his paintings (which are still amazing, don't get me wrong). There's an incredible mix of diligent observation and vivid imagination in his sketches that epitomises what I love about art, even if I don't typically produce the same sorts of works myself. And as someone with an extremely wide-ranging set of interests beyond art, I often dream of being a "painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer" (as Wikipedia describes him), but I'm just not quite smart enough and far too lazy.

Drawings by Leonard da Vinci, source: Wikipedia.

I think it's safe to say that I may never be an artistic and intellectual juggernaut known the world over, but Leonard da Vinci certainly was and he continues to inspire what I do.

Ink, Colour And Texture

2011-03-01T07:55:00.005Z

Over the weekend, I joined the small percentage of Google users who logged in to find all of their emails wiped; shortly after that, I was completely locked out of my account while they tried to remedy the issue. Thankfully, I can access my blog again and I've been informed that my email account will be restored soon. I currently operate my Brandon Draws email in conjunction with my Gmail, so if you're waiting for a response from me or have had emails rejected, please be patient and I'll hopefully get back to you shortly and/or let you know when you can email me again.

Today's sketches (yesterday's, actually) are a little more finished than most. Using some random photo references, I pencilled each thing, quickly inked them and started to mess around with colour in Photoshop. Overall, there's nothing dramatically different about how they were coloured except that I added some texture by using samples of watercolour washes and some metal patterns. I had seen it done countless times, but had never tried it myself. I definitely like the results and will no doubt look to add more, probably bolder, textures in the future.

Ahoy, Matey!

2011-02-25T17:35:00.009Z

Back to the treehouse on the high seas today - here's a clearer version of the pencils I showed last time, the inked version and the initial colour flats (which look dull and boring at the moment).

Finished colours next Friday, me hearties.

Previous related post:
1) Treehouse Pirates

Laura Barnard

2011-02-23T18:32:00.021Z

Laura Barnard is last, but not least, in the trio of illustrators whose direct help and support has been invaluable to me in recent times (James Provost and Scott Garrett having already been mentioned). She is another freelance illustrator based in the UK - her website is LauraBarnard.co.uk and you can also find her tweeting away on Twitter (@laura_barnard).

To be perfectly honest with you, I can't remember how I found Laura; I do remember wandering into a computer store in Central London and seeing her HP laptop wallpapers on some of the computers, but whether or not that was my first encounter with her work has been long since wiped from my memory. In any case, Laura is another artist that received an email from me and was kind enough to respond and get sucked into my endless loop of questions. Lucky her. Thankfully, she seemed to take a genuine interest in helping me struggle through the freelance trash pile of which she seems to have come out on top, smelling like roses. In addition to offering countless words of advice, Laura has even been kind enough to send possible work my way and I can't speak highly enough of her for doing that. It seems natural to keep all possible jobs safely locked away from other artists, but Laura's attitude about sharing opportunities could do wonders for new and established artists if it was more widely adopted.

Illustrations by Laura Barnard (LauraBarnard.co.uk).

Laura specialises is cityscapes. Big, detailed, mind-boggling cityscapes. When I was younger, I hated the idea of not using a straight edge to draw buildings, but that mentality has shifted in recent years and Laura's loosely drawn cities, overflowing with character, could not be more appealing to me. They seem especially suited to cities here in the UK, where so many buildings are as bent and bowed as those in Laura's illustrations. But cities are not the extent of her talents - head over to her Flickr site to see a sampling of various quirky characters that I think would fit perfectly into her cityscapes.

Make sure you visit Laura's website and spend a while getting lost in the details of her cities. Thanks for the help, Laura.

Lineweight

2011-02-21T16:49:00.006Z

These sketches are some more experiments with pencil vs ink and the strength of my lines. I started by making two pencil sketches of a woman and a man and scanning the image:

Next, I used the eraser tool to clean up some of the lines, added some colour and used the eraser tool again to lighten various internal lines (such as those in the hair and on the faces):

To give the images a slightly different look, I outlined them with a dark line and then added a few dark lines along key internal features as well:

I'm still all over the place with my opinion of lineweight; initially, I liked the image without any dark lines added, but after a week's time, I now seem to be leaning toward the option of adding dark lines to external and internal key features. I did a few more sketches that I ended up inking today and really liked them for a change, so maybe today's just an ink-positive day.

That's all for now because I have to leave the room for a while - the cat pointing it's backside at me on the bed just dropped a stinkbomb in it's sleep...

Previous related posts:
1) Friday Female Faces
2) Experimentation
3) I'm Bringing Sketchy Back

Treehouse Pirates

2011-02-17T10:32:00.007Z

After my frustrations with my giant killers illustrations, I decided to make something fun in my cartoon style; treehouses and pirates are always high on my list and cute animals are good at adding a sickly sweet element. Here are some rough sketches and the inital pencils:

Next Friday, I'll have this inked, if not coloured. Sorry for the "enhanced" Blackberry photo quality of the pencils - I've run out of time to scan it properly because I'm off to put on my costume for a "Song Titles" themed pub crawl that is guaranteed to wreck someone of my fragile drinking nature. This may be the last you hear from me...

Scott Garrett

2011-02-17T07:39:00.012Z

I'm not off to a good start with these new posts - another one missed yesterday, this time thanks to our Internet being down. But late or not, the show must go on and today it's all about Scott Garrett, a freelance illustrator based in the UK. His website can be found at Garrett World and he blogs at Garrett Life.

Once upon a time, Scott appeared on a home-buying show; unfortunately for him, I happened to catch a repeat of it and, after they briefly introduced him and his work, I looked him up and contacted him. Why? Because he seemed like a nice guy and I assumed he had a good handle on being a freelance illustrator in the UK - he'd have been wiser to seem rude and angry, but he couldn't have known I would be tuning in. To my surprise, Scott emailed back soon after with the most open and honest response any artist has ever given me. Thankfully, his honesty didn't compel him to detail the endless failings of my illustrations, but he did offer insights and suggestions that really helped me to look at what I was producing and to plan for the future. Unfortunately for Scott, he was friendly enough to leave an open invitation for further communications and he's been the victim of my questions for several months now.

Illustrations by Scott Garrett (GarrettWorld.com).

Scott illustrates in a crisp, clean cartoon style with quirky characters that are often in unexpected and amusing situations. (I'm really not very good at describing art styles and doing them any justice, so hopefully Scott isn't offended by any of this). His portfolio is full of clever images and he regularly posts hilarious new themed characters on his blog (the latest theme being "How Will I Die Today?"). He's also taken a shine to pottery and nicely mixes things up with the highs and lows of that pursuit. He seems like a busy man of many talents, so be sure to keep an eye on what's he up to.

Scott is among a group of illustrators that have helped to point me in the right direction and given me the confidence to continue the uphill battle that is freelance illustration; for that, I can't thank him enough. Cheers, Scott.

Valentine's Day Sketches

2011-02-14T14:52:00.006Z

It occurred to me that I was about to make a post without even the slightest mention of Valentine's Day (not that it's my favourite day of the year by any stretch), so here's a lazy sketch of a Valentine's Day bear. I'm not sure why I chose a bear, but anyway...Following that is a page of random (and rather poor) sketches including a chameleon sheriff based on what I could remember from the Rango movie trailer and a page of sketches I did after seeing (and very much enjoying) Disney's Tangled:

Happy Valentine's Day (unless you hate today, in which case you can just ignore this last sentence).

Giant Killers

2011-02-12T10:26:00.006Z

How did you like my first Friday post dedicated to ongoing projects? You didn't see it? Oh right, there wasn't one. It was there and ready to go, but I got caught up with helping to code a website of all things - another website hack job by yours truly.

This "project" was three concept images based on the idea of giant killers in the FA Cup - the basic explanation is that England's Football (soccer) Association Challenge Cup is open to teams right from the lowest leagues to the top of the pyramid, which gives unheard of teams the opportunity to become giant killers. It's all very appealing to the little guy, underdog mentality. Anyway, I reached the colouring stage only to realise I had a deep hatred for what I'd created and because it was purely a personal project, I had no problems hitting the cancel button and setting it aside to collect dust. I did throw in some lighting and the odd extra to get a better idea of what could have been, but they otherwise remain very unfinished black and white images. I still think there's a lot of potential, but I'll be taking a breather from it before giving it another go.

Here's the initial sketches, pencils and semi-finished black and white versions:

James Provost

2011-02-09T09:53:00.021Z

James Provost is a Canada-based freelance technical illustrator that works with a variety of publishing, communications and corporate clients. You can find his website/blog at JamesProvost.com and follow him on Twitter (@JamesProvost).

A cutaway of a yacht and an editorial how-to illustration by James Provost (JamesProvost.com).

James and I have known each other for a long time now and despite rarely being in the same part of the world at the same time, we've always kept in touch. I've chosen to mention him as my first official Wednesday post about other artists and artistic inspirations not only because he's a fantastic illustrator, but because he's consistently been there to lend a helping hand or word of advice. At some point in our younger years, James' casual sketching lead him to a formal illustration education while I sat staring at the ceiling in civil engineering courses. Needless to say, James was off and running in the world of illustration before I'd even gotten to the gates, so I've often headed straight for him whenever I've had a question. Whether or not he wanted to throw me in front of a train with frustration, he's always provided service with a smile.

As James says, he creates "highly detailed and accurate illustrations of science and technology subjects" and seeks to "reveal hidden value and evoke new perspectives". I'm not sure how he manages it, but he does just that and I'm increasingly impressed with every new technical, editorial and motion illustration he creates. With my interest and background in engineering, I've often thought about shifting into James' line of illustration, but I have no doubt he'd always be one (or one hundred) steps ahead of me.

Whether you're an art director looking for a technical illustrator or just the sort of person that would appreciate a beautifully illustrated robot, make sure you visit James's website and follow his progress.

What's The Matter, Ray?

2011-02-07T18:28:00.006Z

Just one sketch to start off my regular Monday sketches, but it has some ink and colour, so hopefully it does the trick. It's a very quick sketch of musician Ray LaMontagne, done with pencil, ballpoint pen, brush pen and some digital colour experiments.

It's not exactly accurate, but I hadn't intended to do much more than a few minutes of scribble. He also seems a bit inexplicably angry - maybe he's in some sort of trouuubbllleeee, troouuble, trouble, trouble, trouble...

(Now I've just embarrassed myself.)

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2011-02-04T15:12:00.006Z

Bonjour mes amis, comment allez-vous?

January wasn't exactly devoid of posts around here, but they were a bit more sparse than during previous months. As I mentioned, I wanted to take some time to think about how to better tackle regular posts and that lead me to thinking about how to better engage with the wider online art world.

Starting next week, Monday posts will be dedicated to sharing some of the previous week's random sketches, while Friday posts will be dedicated to ongoing projects; with any luck, these deadlines will spur me on to sketch more than I have been and to speed up my general output.

What about Wednesday? Wednesday posts will be entirely dedicated to sharing who and what inspires me; it might seem counter-intuitive to trumpet the greatness of other artists on my own blog, but I've come to realise that my naturally insular approach to art and the art community is in no way helpful and a complete disservice to anyone that has directly or indirectly helped me. By doing this, I hope to give a little back and to open your eyes to some of the amazing artists out there that continue to put me to shame.

The other change to mention is with my website. Unless you're using a feed reader, you've probably already noticed that the blog has been rearranged a little; the main website has been similarly rearranged, primarily to shrink things a bit and eliminate scrolling down for most viewers. While it was nice to see the slightly larger versions of my illustrations, anyone without a high resolution couldn't see an entire image all at once and the overall impression I wanted to give was being lost. If you do still want to see larger versions of my illustrations and sketches, you can hop over to Facebook, Picasa or Behance.

That's enough for now. I hope to see you back here on Monday for some sketches.

A Lion At My Window

2011-01-26T14:09:00.008Z

A lot of my recent illustrations have been in my semi-realistic style, so I wanted to turn my attention to my cartoon style to do something simple and fun.

This illustration is largely based on an imaginary lion that I used to say lived outside my window; to be honest, I actually have no recollection of the lion, but my mother has frequently told the story over the years and always assures me that I claimed the lion was my friend and not there to eat me. Not only do I not remember the lion, but I have no idea why I would have picked a lion in the first place considering my favourite stuffed animal was a bear, so the toy lion in the picture is just there as a way of suggesting a logical origin for the child's idea.

Here's a couple rough development pages, followed by the final illustration:

Now I'm too old to have an imaginary friend without being labelled crazy...

I'm Bringing Sketchy Back

2011-01-24T13:35:00.007Z

The neverending battle between pencil sketches and finished inks that plagues me on a daily basis (and, in turn, plagues you) flared up again last night, leaving me feeling restless until I was able to get back to the computer this morning. In a nutshell, I want the sketchiness of pencil and the dark, solid appearance of ink, which has already been spoken about here and here.

Today's experiments turned out a lot better than previous ones; with some extra Photoshop adjustments, I was able to darken the pencil lines of previous sketches, clean up some of the loose lines and add colour in a much more appealing way.

First up was my sketch of Prince William and Kate Middleton, previously seen here (I realise that William's face continues to look a bit scary, but I just found other photo references that suggest my drawing is, in fact,...accurate):

Next was an on-site sketch of the Tower of London, previously seen here:

These sketches were maybe a bit too messy to work with and consistency with line darkness could be a future problem, but overall, it's given me renewed hope that pencil, ink and colour might finally become one happy family.

Any opinions on these illustrations versus the cleaner inked sort in Style One of my portfolio would be greatly appreciated.

Previous related posts:
1) Friday Female Faces
2) Experimentation
and
3) A Royal Wedding
4) Tower And Bridge

Another Lazy Day

2011-01-17T17:24:00.007Z

I'm still mulling over some things, but here's a new illustration to keep your appetites at bay for a while longer.

I wanted to do something simple that relied on filling half the image with nothing; it seems strange to actively set out to draw nothing, but I thought it would be ideal for conveying the lazy summer days I've been thinking about more than usual lately.

Most of the early work was done in my head this time, but here's a glimpse at what made made it beyond my thoughts:

And finally, the lazy day:

Mumford & Sons Update

2011-01-11T10:03:00.008Z

After posting my illustration of English folk rock band, Mumford & Sons, the ever helpful Scott Garrett (more on him in a later post) suggested I might want to try some different colour options for the sky (which was originally blue, as seen here). I immediately loved this suggestion:

It adds a completely different feeling to the image and ties in better with the overall colour scheme and rustic nature I was going for.

It was also a much-needed slap in the face that helped to remind me of the importance of looking beyond my own thoughts and opinions when it comes to my artwork. My artistic knowledge and skills don't even scratch the surface of what there is to learn and I'm only harming myself if I ever let that slip from my mind.

Thanks Scott.

Previous related posts:
1) They're Not His Sons
2) Strum Me A Tune
3) Mumford & Sons

Mumford & Sons

2011-01-07T16:01:00.007Z

In my last post, I mentioned that I'm hoping to change a bit about what I'm blogging to give me some more direction and to make things more interesting for you.

While I'm coming up with my cunning (or not so cunning) plan, I still want to post some current artwork in the usual fashion. This is my completed Mumford & Sons illustration. I wanted to do a simple image of the four band members and took inspiration from various videos and photographs that I watched before putting pencil to paper.

And just for fun, I quickly made a slightly old-looking black and white version.

I hope you like it.

Previous related posts:
1) They're Not His Sons
2) Strum Me A Tune

Looking Ahead

2011-01-05T16:15:00.006Z

Many of the personal and professional changes to my life in 2010 have followed me into this new year, leaving me simultaneously excited about ongoing challenges and wondering how to rid myself of year-end apathy, that unrelenting demon always just over my shoulder. Making a series of specific New Year resolutions to combat that would just seem too out of character, but I am very determined to increase my overall focus and to improve my work.

As a result, I'm expecting January posts to be a bit sporadic in their purpose, if not their actual frequency. Regularly blogging about some of my artwork and hearing your feedback has been extremely rewarding, but I think more direction is needed to liven things up. So, while I'm staring off into space, desperately searching for inspiration (or food), please let me know what you would like to see and I'll do my best to keep you coming back week after week.

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T18:07:00.003Z

This late New Year's Eve post will likely go unnoticed by most people, especially as I'm sure the majority of you are already well into the alcohol, but I just scratched down this quick sketch and took a photo to say Happy New Year (and to show the size I'm likely to achieve if I keep eating as I've done over the holidays).

See you in 2011.

Strum Me A Tune

2010-12-29T18:35:00.005Z

I thought I'd take a break from drawing and watching cartoon films to post the progress on my Mumford & Sons piece.

Hopefully the holidays are still treating you well and fattening you up.

Previous related post:
1) They're Not His Sons

They're Not His Sons

2010-12-27T20:11:00.004Z

I'm on the computer a little less at the moment, but I thought I'd quickly post a new drawing I'm doing of Mumford & Sons, a London-based folk band; they're all the rage these days with the kids in the know (which is obviously not me, since I somehow only recently heard about them). Sorry for the poor photo of the preliminary work.

On Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T00:42:00.008Z

The Christmas legend of Santa Claus (or any one of his countless other names) has existed for centuries, but many of us have become most familiar with him as he appears in the Capitalist Bible; in this all powerful book of consumerism, we are taught to remember that every December 24th, Santa Claus rises again to deliver gifts. Lots and lots of gifts.

Regardless of what you might celebrate at this time of year, I'd like to wish you all the best for the holidays and the new year.

(Dear Santa, you know I love you; please don't pass me by this year.)

Previous related posts:
1) One Gift Before Bed
2) Too Much Egg Nog

Too Much Egg Nog

2010-12-22T11:51:00.005Z

Christmas is getting ever closer and Santa just can't lay off the egg nog...

Previous related post:
1) One Gift Before Bed

One Gift Before Bed

2010-12-20T15:06:00.003Z

With Christmas arriving at the end of the week, I thought I should sketch and post a few festive scenes.

Several friends of mine used to open one present before going to sleep on Christmas Eve and I was always a little jealous, even though the morning was only hours away. I probably imagined them to feel something like this...

Paul

2010-12-17T22:37:00.009Z

While I was touring Twitter today, wondering what to sketch, Simon Pegg posted the link for the trailer to his new film "Paul"; I immediately got a sense of the characters and, whether accurate or not, started drawing this image. Although I took it right to the colour stage, it's still very much a sketch. Apologies to Simon Pegg for any perceived insults...

Imagine Lightsaber Noises

2010-12-15T16:54:00.009Z

At long last, I've come to the end of my pile of uncoloured illustrations that I've been slowly chipping away at. Of course, this means that I now have to step up my artistic output, both in terms of quality and quantity, but I'm hoping that will only force better and better results out of me.

In the meantime, I hope this coloured version of the final Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader duel will keep you content.

Previous related post:
1) Kenobi And Vader

Experimentation

2010-12-13T10:29:00.007Z

If you've been visiting my blog for a while, you might be familiar with my personal debate over pencil vs ink, just as I mentioned in this post. I have completely different, but equally positive, feelings about my pencil sketches and inked drawings; I think most people would argue that the ink adds an additional layer of completion and refinement, but it can also detract from the movement and spontaneity of quick pencil marks.

Both options can really affect the colouring process and outcome, as well. The two styles in my website's gallery both have crisp inked lines; Style Two is very influenced by cartoons and so benefits from the ink and clearly defined areas of colour, but Style One has a looser appearance (even if it is just a ghost of the initial sketches' movement) that allows the colouring process to maintain a more painterly feel. With that in mind, here's some example experiments I've recently done:

This first image was sketched in pencil, inked and scanned to preserve a copy of the dark lines. I then added shadows, etc. with the pencil, scanned it again, and put it all together on the computer. With the underlying pencil shading, less colour work needs to be done; adding flat base colours and emphasising highlights was about all I did. It was all done too quickly to come to a proper conclusion and while I think it has potential, the end result seems a bit too muddy for what I try to produce.

This second image is a cropped version of this one in my Sketches section. It never progressed beyond the pencil stage, so when adding colour to it, I immediately felt a little more free to mess around and venture outside the lines. It makes the colouring process more enjoyable for me, but I'm not immediately in love with the fainter pencil lines next to the colour, even after darking them. Didn't I just say I like the sketchier pencil work? Make up your mind, Brandon!

So what lessons have I learned? I'm really not sure. I still like pencil sketches as much as inked drawings, but what I think I should take away from this is the reminder that, despite how other artists might work, I'm most comfortable with the pencil-ink-colour process and I should look to loosen it up rather than aim at a completely different target if ever I'm feeling unhappy with something I'm working on.

This post was a lot longer than most, so many thanks if you've come this far. If you're still with me, I'm always happy to hear what YOU like and dislike about my work, so please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. You can also give me your opinions via Twitter, Buzz and Facebook.

Previous related post:
1) Friday Female Faces

She's So Wonderful

2010-12-10T18:18:00.003Z

This wonderful woman is now in colour.

High School Sketches

2010-12-08T21:23:00.007Z

In my last post, I showed the pages of an old comic book I made during my high school days. Continuing with the theme of old high school drawings (most likely done during class), I thought I'd show this railroad hobo...

...and this angry young gentleman (who may have been some sort of vampire, if my memory serves me correctly)...

Nothing special, but just another quick glimpse at days gone by.

Previous related post:
1) Underdogs

Underdogs

2010-12-06T10:39:00.007Z

I missed posting anything on Friday, so I thought I would punish myself by showing some embarrassing comic book page inks that I made over ten years ago in my high school creative writing class. With my irresistible charm, I once convinced the teacher to let me make a short comic book instead of the usual written story and so produced this..."masterpiece". Between my inexperience and rushing of the pages, the drawing quality was lacking, to say the least, and the "story" was cut off extremely early; thankfully, the text now exists only in the printed version that sits hidden from the light of day, never to be read again.

Amazingly, I was able to do another comic later in the year, but even more shocking was the fact that I received the top of class honours for that course; there must have been a bug in the computer's grades-tracking program because I fail to believe that I could earn a creative writing award at the best of times, let alone after replacing two major stories with mediocre-quality artwork...

I particularly enjoy the floating heads on the cover.

Snowman Time

2010-12-01T16:20:00.003Z

It doesn't often snow here in London, especially by the end of November, but we've got a thick blanket of it on everything. I went out to build a snowman and frolic in the snow last night and felt inspired to draw this picture. I realise that it's of a little girl, but that was probably what I looked like to anyone passing by our driveway last night.

It's Too Early

2010-11-29T19:03:00.009Z

Very simply, here's the coloured version of an earlier Mega Man drawing previously posted here.

Previous related posts:
1) Mega Man: World Without Wily
2) Early Morning Bus Ride
3) Drowning His Sorrows
4) Pour Me Another

Friday Female Faces

2010-11-26T17:23:00.003Z

Just some female faces sketches (ignoring the random devil) on this fine Friday. I was playing around with pencil vs ink shading because I often dislike inking over my initial sketches; although the final product is usually just as rewarding, it's a different sort of reward. When I have some time, I'm going to try adding colour to a combination of ink and pencil - can't I have my cake and eat it too?

Why Is He Glowing?

2010-11-24T17:37:00.009Z

Last time, I posted some of the process work for the piece I've been colouring; this next first picture shows how the pencil crayons looked before I started working with them on the computer...

...and this is how it looked when I was finished...

I ended up spending longer on the digital stage than I had intended, so I'm not convinced this method is better after all; a few more experiments might streamline my efforts and make it manageable, but that's for another day.

Previous related post:
1) It's Getting Hot In Here

It's Getting Hot In Here

2010-11-22T19:12:00.005Z

I've recently been adding colour to several black and white images in my portfolio; there's a general process I follow to add the colour, but I've been trying some different methods in an effort to break out of my narrower comfort zone.

This image of a crowded club has so far looked like this...

...and I'm currently adding colour like this...

Rather than using only the computer, like here, or watercolour pencils, like here, I'm trying to add colour with coloured pencils which I'll then enhance with the computer. The end result will probably look similar to a digital-only piece, but if I'm successful than I might have another way to use pencils for as much of an illustration as I can, which would be ideal. I think...

Stay tuned to see how it turns out.

Go Bananas

2010-11-19T14:08:00.007Z

I've recently made a few changes to my portfolio and general website in an effort to better showcase my work.

My portfolio is now divided into two styles (plus some sketches) in order to clearly separate the more realistic (in relative terms) style from the more cartoony style. From now on, anyone interested in working with me or requesting a commission can easily identify which style they want rather than being uncertain about how the final image could look.

I also decided to update my website's homepage image because the previous picture had a very sketchy quality to it and didn't give a clear idea of what you'll find if you continue into the site. The new image shows my two portfolio styles in a single image and has the added bonus of monkeys; everyone loves monkeys.

This is the rough sketch,...

...this is the inked image...

...and this is it coloured (as with any image I post, click on it to view the larger version).

The big monkey is my favourite.

A Royal Wedding

2010-11-17T18:47:00.006Z

The long-awaited engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton is all the rage here in the UK (and, apparently, around the world). With all the excitement in the media, I couldn't help but sketch a picture of the happy couple. It was done pretty quickly, so please forgive me if the likenesses are less than kind.

Don't you just love a wedding?! *sigh*

Tower And Bridge

2010-11-15T16:04:00.004Z

I recently found an inviting bench behind the Tower of London and spent some time sketching the tower and the nearby Tower Bridge.

The Nice Kind Of Demon

2010-11-12T18:17:00.005Z

I'm not overly familiar with Mike Mignola's Hellboy, but I've become increasingly interested in the comic's unique style since discovering Mike's artwork. I previously added a version of Hellboy to my own work and recently returned to the character with these sketches.

Spooky Sunset

2010-11-10T14:18:00.005Z

I've been returning to some of the inked illustrations in my portfolio and adding some long overdue colour; my previously posted inked picture of some ghosts of York is the latest picture to get an upgrade.

Previous related post:
1) A Voyage Across the Sea

Wasting Ink

2010-11-08T17:18:00.004Z

I sketched this first page on a bench in Golden Square, one of many quiet spots hidden throughout London.

Despite almost immediately losing interest in this sketch of a deep sea explorer, I kept spreading ink all over the page...

The second sketch is arguably a bit of a waste of ink, but depending on your tastes, you might enjoy it more.

Big Bear Beatdown

2010-11-05T18:11:00.006Z

Here's the coloured version of Goldilock's showdown with the three bears after they found her enjoying their breakfasts.

Previous related post:
1) Goldilocks Unleashed

I Made That

2010-11-03T18:33:00.003Z

I recently experienced the first unauthorised use of one of my illustrations when I randomly discovered that the image, a cartoon-style family portrait I made a couple of years back, had been used in a personal blog post made by a mother in Texas; random, but no real harm done. Nonetheless, I contacted her to say that I'm glad she liked my drawing enough to use it, but that I'd really appreciate her adding a link back to my site as it's there to help make a living for myself. Instead, she simply deleted the image from her blog; the extra exposure was lost, but it was at least somewhat positive overall.

The whole situation was hardly a major concern, but it did make me think of the stories I've read about the works of other artists being taken straight from their websites and printed in art books, on posters, etc., etc. That's just part of the "dangers" of the digital age, I guess, but knowing that doesn't make it any easier to stomach.

I'll be keeping my eyes open for other pieces of mine showing up where they shouldn't, but hopefully I'll be spared any real trouble...

Donkey Kong Revisited

2010-11-01T16:02:00.006Z

It's been a while since I posted my inked Donkey Kong image, but I was finally able to revisit it and add some colour. Behold!

Previous related posts:
1) Donkey Kong Madness
2) One Angry Ape

Trick-Or-Treat

2010-10-30T20:40:00.004+01:00

My Friday post has been bumped to Saturday for the second week in a row (tsk tsk), but I didn't want to let the week pass by without posting a drawing for Halloween. I don't get quite as involved in Halloween as I used to, but it doesn't mean I love it any less and some day I'll have a kid and re-live my childhood through the hilarious costumes I'll put him/her in. In the meantime, here's a pencil sketch of a cute little trick-or-treater.

Happy Halloween, all you ghosts and ghouls.

Goldilocks Unleashed

2010-10-27T21:40:00.005+01:00

My wife recently asked me to draw a different version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and it seemed obvious to me that she could have shown those bear who's the boss rather than running off into the forest once discovered; this is the pencil work for my view of that. It looks really cartoony at this point, and may turn out to be, but I think it'll take on my more usual style once I make some changes and add ink. We shall see.

Blog Address and Feed Update

2010-10-25T13:29:00.004+01:00

I've finally been able to update my blog's URL to the more appropriate http://brandondraws.blogspot.com. Although links previously posted on Twitter will no longer link to the blog, all of the links contained within previous blog posts have been updated and should continue to work.

Please update any bookmarks to reflect the new address. Your RSS feed reader can also be updated with http://brandondraws.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss.

Otherwise, thanks for continuing to read my blog, it's much appreciated.

Teddy Ruxpin In Technicolour

2010-10-23T19:15:00.011+01:00

Teddy Ruxpin, Grubby and Newton Gimmick are coloured and ready for another adventure. These are clearly very childish characters to have illustrated, but I really enjoyed working on this piece and will happily indulge my childhood memories with another set of cartoon characters sometime soon.

(I got stuck out of the house yesterday, so this Saturday post is in place of the usual Friday one.)

Previous related posts:
1) Teddy Ruxpin In Pencil
2) Teddy Ruxpin In Ink
3) Teddy Ruxpin Colours Progress

Teddy Ruxpin Colours Progress

2010-10-20T18:59:00.005+01:00

I managed to find some time to lay down the basic colours for my Teddy Ruxpin piece. There's still some shadows to add and other things I want to try, but I want to keep this fairly simple, so this progress image gives you a good idea of the final product.

Previous related posts:
1) Teddy Ruxpin In Pencil
2) Teddy Ruxpin In Ink

The Redcoats Are Coming

2010-10-18T11:24:00.007+01:00

Today could prove to be my most productive day in ages considering that I've already ticked off more items on my to-do list than I usually seem to do in a week's time (and most of those things were done before I'm normally even out of bed). Unfortunately, I haven't had time to progress beyond the initial colouring of my Teddy Ruxpin piece, so here's a couple of sketches to feast your eyes on (not that these sketches provide much of a feast).

I took this sketch from pencils to colours very quickly, resulting in the semi-disastrous appearance of dreaded computer clip art...

And this was a quick sketch done of the Royal Academy of Art's courtyard exit onto Piccadilly in London.

Teddy Ruxpin In Ink

2010-10-15T17:34:00.005+01:00

Teddy Ruxpin and company now find themselves in ink...

Previous related post:
1) Teddy Ruxpin In Pencil

Teddy Ruxpin In Pencil

2010-10-13T19:20:00.004+01:00

After finishing my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles picture, I decided to revisit another cartoon from my childhood: Teddy Ruxpin. How could I resist watching a bear, a caterpillar, and a nutty scientist have adventures in their flying airship? Impossible.

This is the thumbnail and initial pencil work for this Teddy Ruxpin illustration.

I'll post the inked version soon.

Turkeyless Sketches

2010-10-11T18:50:00.005+01:00

It's Thanksgiving for Canadians around the world and to celebrate this great turkey day, I'm posting sketches that have absolutely nothing to do with Thanksgiving. If I can't have Thanksgiving here in England then no one reading this blog gets any Thanksgiving illustrations either...

PS - I would have drawn a turkey if I'd actually remembered it was Thanksgiving.

PPS - Please send turkey.

Jamie Oliver

2010-10-08T23:48:00.007+01:00

I was recently flipping through a cookbook written by British chef Jamie Oliver and randomly decided to draw him doing his thing in the kitchen. My first basic sketches went well,...

...but I seemed completely unable to draw an accurate representation of him after that, as demonstrated by these sketches...

So I eventually settled on an illustration that bears some resemblance to him and took it a little beyond the usual roughness of a concept image.

I'm going to attempt to draw him again, but not until a moment of celebrity-chef-drawing inspiration strikes me.

Kenobi And Vader

2010-10-06T22:30:00.004+01:00

The final battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader is a well-known part of nerd lore and, for some reason, my first real attempt at drawing Star Wars characters. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bothered by some aspects of this, but I hope to improve with future Star Wars illustrations.

Superhero Scribbles

2010-10-04T13:36:00.005+01:00

Superheroes seem to be on the brain recently; here's a few quick sketches of some:

In Person And On Paper

2010-10-01T00:59:00.004+01:00

More from the sketchbook: the first page was sketched during some recent time with friends and family; and the second page was done loosely using magazines.

I See London, I See France

2010-09-28T12:52:00.007+01:00

I've managed to sketch a bit on recent trips to Paris, the southwest of England, and into central London when the weather and time have permitted.

The Obelisk and Arc de Triomphe in Paris:

The City of London from the Southbank:

Two sketches made in the crowd watching the Changing of the Guard:

Stonehenge and inside Wells Cathedral in the southwest of England:

Turtle Power

2010-09-24T19:21:00.004+01:00

Here's the watercoloured version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles drawing I was working on. It's always a struggle to scan a coloured image and make it look as it does on paper, but I think this is pretty close. Turtle Power.

Previous related posts:
1) Heroes In A Half-Shell
2) Most Fearsome Fighting Team

Most Fearsome Fighting Team

2010-09-17T12:21:00.005+01:00

Just a quick post to show the inked version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles drawing you saw last time. I'll be adding colour to this once I have some more time.

Previous related post:
1) Heroes In A Half-Shell

Heroes In A Half-Shell

2010-09-09T14:21:00.004+01:00

I loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a kid. I still love them. When I wasn't watching the show or reenacting it with my toys, I was drawing the characters. I don't seem to draw them much these days, but every now and then I'll sketch out a turtle and return to the good old days.

These are the preliminary sketches for a new drawing...

...and these are the pencils.

I'll post the inked piece next time.

Wrinkled Like A Prune

2010-09-06T22:14:00.002+01:00

Heavier paper resists wrinkling like a prune with the addition of any water, but it's usually too rough for pencil and ink work. I'm far too impatient to soak and pre-stretch paper for most finished pieces, let alone quick watercolour sketches, so I was happy to find a medium weight, smooth-surfaced paper that slightly warps at first and then dries relatively flat. It's the little victories that matter.

These first sketches were done on typical sketchbook paper...

...and these were done on the new wonder paper to test it out. Fascinating, I know.

Ho, Ho, Ho, Green Giant!

2010-09-01T22:36:00.005+01:00

Last time, I posted the preliminary sketches and mostly inked version of my cave giant illustration. I think the trolls in the Lord of the Rings films were in mind when I first started sketching this out.

This is the cleaned up inked version...

...and this is the "final" watercoloured version. I say "final", but there's really quite a bit more effort that could have gone into it. Because it was just a personal drawing, and especially because the flimsy paper was wrinkling like crazy as I added more and more water, I left it as you see it (which is as a colour-corrected photograph of the piece, on account of the wrinkles not liking to be scanned).

Previous related post:
1) Beware The Cave Giant

Beware The Cave Giant

2010-08-31T11:42:00.003+01:00

This drawing deeply rooted itself and grew into something more than the paper should have allowed. It started as these simple sketches.

I then sketched it larger, inked it, and set it aside to debate about whether or not to abandon it and move on.

I'll post the end result next...

Ballroom Dancing

2010-08-28T09:50:00.004+01:00

Thumbnail roughs and a worked up sketch for a ballroom dancing scene.

Faces and Bodies

2010-08-23T14:29:00.005+01:00

These faces and bodies were sketched from photos in magazines. I could have easily stood in for the muscle man pose, but it's just too difficult to flex and sketch at the same time. What a shame. Most creative licence went into the leprechaun, which was actually based on a funny-looking baby.

All Snug In His Furs

2010-08-20T14:51:00.006+01:00

This drawing started as a simple sketch without any real story or purpose, but I found myself gradually working at it until it became this final inked image. Some drawings seem to dictate their own evolution rather than relying on you to breathe life into them.

Here is a scan of the partially completed drawing...

...and here is the finished piece.

Death To All Humans

2010-08-17T22:25:00.009+01:00

It was the last thing he expected to encounter when he headed to the park with his dog...

Holiday Sketches

2010-08-15T16:40:00.004+01:00

By means of a temporary setup, here are some sketches from time spent relaxing around the pool and in the airport during a recent trip to Malta.

More sketches coming soon.

Transatlantic Transition

2010-07-26T21:39:00.002+01:00

Cue tumbleweed.

Things have been rather quiet around here; although now in London, the dust is going to take some time to settle and posts are likely to continue being sporadic at best in the near future. In the meantime, you can continue to contact me via email (as above), Facebook, and Twitter.

Happy trails to you...

Drawing Spider-Man's Heroics

2010-06-18T02:54:00.006+01:00

Whether you love or hate comic books, it's impossible not to be familiar with Marvel's heroic web-slinger. Spider-Man's death-defying acrobatics add a level of energy to pictures that is far above that of your typical character and it rarely feels like a chore when drawing him.

This animation shows the progression from the initial idea to the final inking for the coloured image you can see here.

Urban Sketching

2010-06-16T03:27:00.003+01:00

Urban Sketchers is a blog showcasing sketches (from mostly urban settings) by numerous amateur and professional artists from around the world. I've come to recognize the sketches of several of the artists and often use it as a learning tool for improving my own observational sketching. Plus, it's just interesting to see places all over the world in this format.

These are two older "urban sketches" of my own...

Through My Eyes

2010-06-10T22:11:00.005+01:00

These are a few more sketches of people and places I've seen in the past couple of years. I like the way old sketches bring back particular memories I wouldn't get from photographs.