Worn - Illustration Friday

Worn Out, a moleskine drawing coloured digitally.

'Return' - Illustration Friday

Doodling on my lunch break I came up with this and thought it made a cute little piece! Don't you find that packing to come home NEVER works as well as when you leave? And then the suitcase you bought specially comes through baggage claim all beaten up and knackered from being thrown about by the airlines? Hmph.

Still, nothing beats a good holiday! :D Back in a week!

'Swamp' - Illustration Friday

Here's my finished entry for this weeks Illustration Friday prompt 'Swamp'. 

I wanted the house on stilts to look slightly run-down, but also lived in. I think the colours plus the light coming from the windows do this quite well. I wouldn't mind living here actually (well, apart from the dodgy flooring obviously! :D )

FINALLY some personal work time!

My poor blog has been a bit neglected lately due to a rather big commission I'm currently working on, but I've made it a priority to also work on this weeks Illustration Friday too!

Here's my quick little sketch for what I want to do for the prompt 'Swamp'. A higglety-pigglety house on stilts in a murky and slightly spooky swamp land (with private jetty and boat of course!) Like I said, quick sketch for now, but hopefully it'll transform into a lovely finished piece today!

'Capable' - Illustration Friday

If only he was capable of telling his owners... but alas, he'll have to put up with the Sex Pistols for a while longer.

'Fluid' - Illustration Friday

A quick sketch this week! This time of year in the UK is always two things: rainy and cold! And working at a property management company in my spare time this means a nightmare. Leaky roofs and burst pipes makes some unhappy tenants :(

'Popularity' - Illustration Friday

Sheep likes the fact he has so many friends to talk to! Even though social networking has changed how people communicate, it's not all bad. I've reconnected with people from childhood and far away places through the internet, and blogging has changed my creative processes for the better. Although, nothing can beat a 2 hour phone call to catch up with a friend in my opinion :)

'Suspense' - Illustration Friday

Drum roll please!

'Twirl' - Illustration Friday

A really really quick pen and pencil sketch for this weeks word 'twirl', as oh boy it's been one of those weeks!

We have a miniature toy poodle called Saffy who, when excited or pleased to see someone, twirls round and round and round and round, sometimes on her hind legs! Which inspired me to draw a circus dog, as I sometimes think our poodle belongs in the circus - she's a very little but very cute performer!

'Prepare' - Illustration Friday

The Ant and the Grasshopper

In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"

"I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same."

"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew:

It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

'Grounded' - Illustration Friday

Finished! Really enjoyed doing this one, I added more seagulls of different sizes and got rid of some of the heavy black lines keeping it quite serene. You'd need to be calm if you were stuck grounded on that boat!

I need a phone with a better camera...

Apologies for the terrible photo, it was taken on my phone. Note to self: next upgrade get a phone with a decent camera!
Anyway, here's progress on this weeks Illustration Friday contest with the topic 'grounded'. I loved the idea of a little fishing boat getting stranded in a precarious and slightly ridiculous place. I've gone sailing a few times before and I always get terrified of getting grounded! Although, to this extreme is thankfully impossible :)
Next to the finished drawing is my tiny 30 second sketch I did whilst on the phone at work, inspiration comes at the strangest times doesn't it? Really pleased with this one so far, looking forward to finishing it tomorrow!

'Highlight' - Illustration Friday

This year hasn't been the best, and unfortunately the highlight was seeing the end of it!

Here's to a better and healthier New Year!

'Separated' - Illustration Friday

One of the bonuses of Christmas, everyone coming together. People usually separated managing to spend some time together over the holidays :)

My first post for a looong time due to working on some really exciting projects! I can't disclose any details but boy it's exciting!

'Round' - Illustration Friday

My entry for this week's Illustration Friday, the topic being 'round'.

This is the second drawing I did for this week and definitely the better one :) time to get those Christmas decorations out folks!

'vanity' - illustration friday

I love faux fur; it looks nice, it feels nice, and it's perfect for winter.

But why can't all fur be faux?

Killing and maiming for vanity is never right, and I myself will never own anything made of real fur thank you very much!

'silent' - illustration friday

Christmas is on my mind 24-7 at the moment, so it's only fitting this weeks entry to Illustration Friday is festive!
I remember being a kid at 2am on Christmas morning, silently sneaking down the stairs with my stocking to open my presents whilst trying not to wake my parents up... they'd make us go back to bed if they caught us! So this is what this lad is doing too. Is it bad that I STILL can't wait 'til Christmas morning, even though I'm 23?

'stripes' - illustration friday

Another quick one this week, I've been frantically crafting to get ready for a Christmas market! But here is my stag/cow (I reckon it has a very cow like face, which isn't what I wanted but hey!) ready for winter with his striped scarf :)
Incidentally, I've started crocheting a snood for myself, why buy when you can make aye?

'scary' - illustration friday

This weeks Illustration Friday prompt got me thinking whether there are any tales of ghostly happenings around where I live, and it turns out there are a few!
I found this story on the Luton Paranormal website, and thought it was a tad odd...

"Burials have not been permitted at the Priory Church in Dunstable for some time over concerns of releasing an evil that is buried there. A long time ago a witch called Sally was burnt at the stake along with her cat and broomstick but she returned to haunt the priory which stood on the site where the Priory church now stands. Ghostly hands would box the monks around their ears and the altar candles would burn with an evil green light. If Sally's ghostly fingers touched the prayer books the covers would be singed. 

Things got so bad that a Palmer (a wandering medieval European pilgrim who carried a palm branch as a token of having visited the Holy Land) was called in to remove the spirit. As the Palmer began the service Sally struck him so hard about the head that he fell to the floor of the Chancel. Eventually the Palmer outwitted Sally by luring her into a bottle. This bottle was then buried in the grounds of the Priory church but no one knows where. No more burials were allowed which might break the bottle and release the witch."

'fuel' - illustration friday

My entry for this weeks Illustration Friday prompt 'fuel'.
I used pen and pencil for this and then tidied it up digitally. Out of my comfort zone a bit but I'm pleased with it :)