Gavinius and Angus the "Hairy Coo"

So as some of you may know how much I love Scotland, especially Edinburgh! My sketches from 2008 were some of my best architectural sketches and I was really proud of the evolution and continued improvement of my work... Well I have decided to relocate up to Edinburgh and will be doing so after Easter!...I have been on a few visits to Edinburgh recently and have fallen in love with the place all over again.

This is a illustration for a thank you card for my manager Louise, who has been a fantastic boss! I just wanted to say thank you in my own quirky way. The "Hairy Coo" Highland cow is Angus and I have not drawn him for a few years. I have not put any other Angus pics on the blog, but I may have to. He is a stubborn cow that just won't move!!!...Thankfully I will be taking the Eastcoast train which will get me to Scotland quicker! :D

Beauty and the Beast

A Couple of years ago, I took part in the wonderful world of amateur dramatics. I was cast in the lead role of Beauty and the Beast as...The Beast! It was a wonderful experience and a very intensive 3 months of rehearsing; learning lines, singing songs and learning how to dance, growling and snarling and acting like a Beast, as well as designing the background sets, as well as holding a full time job.  Here are a selection of the backgrounds I drew and coloured. I was very proud of the work and finally want to share these with you!...Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Ploppy Poo Poo MacYong

This strange creature is based on my canoeing trip with a group of friends up the Caledonia canal on one of the worst weekends to canoe up the canal. the wind was against us and made our journey slow, arduous and painful. I didn't go canoeing or camping for a year or so after. The beautiful, rugged, romantic landscape was marred by the pain of the canoeing and I wish I could have enjoyed it under better circumstances. In Scotland you are allowed to wild camp and basically pitch your tent anywhere. This was on the banks of Loch Lochy and the creature is based on a package I delivered and buried in the woods... I imagined my fecal matter mutating and becoming sentient, roaming along the banks of Loch Lochy... Maybe they will write a song about this creature or it may become part of the mythology of Scotland like Nessy!...

The Return of Gavinius! (With Dimbers!)

Hello, if anyone still looks at this! Apologies for the very late (3 years) of posts! I have been so busy on many adventures, having a Lego addiction, Rock Band stuff, delving into amateur dramatics, learning to Scuba dive and generally not being motivated to put stuff up... But I am back!!! So the last few years I have been experimenting with Letraset markers to bring out the wonderful world of colour to my work!... I love using the markers as they let you go over layers and add darker shade. An example does exist on the blog - the Barbarian chick Shanya is coloured using these pens. I will be posting more of these pics up including the work I did for an amateur dramatic production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Here is a picture I drew of me and my hero the broadcaster and television presenter David Dimbleby in his signature pink shirt. For those of you who don't know who David is: He is a BBC presenter known for doing the debate programme Question Time as well as a portfolio of documentary series' to do with Britain; It's history, art and architecture. I am a big fan of these series' and decided to draw me and my hero!...

Travel sketchbook: Prague, Nov 09

Greetings everyone and a Happy new year to you!...

I hope you had a great Christmas and enjoyed the festivities. Apologies again for the lateness of my postings. But as always, I have been very busy with other activities. November and December were especially busy and I haven't had time to sit down and post. Sadly no Christmas imagery as all I have are little sketches of Christmassy stuff on post-it notes. I may make a montage and put it up here soon.

So last November after deciding that I needed a holiday, my mate Paddy and I decided on going to Prague. I have only been once before, 6 years prior, and only for a very short time, sadly not getting to see much of the time. I decided that I wanted to explore the city in more depth. I remember Prague being a very beautiful city. most of all, I regretted having not taken any decent photos of the most recognisable part of the Old town Square, the two Gothic spires belonging to the Church of our Lady before Tyn. So Paddy and I checked into our hotel 5 mins walk from Wenceslas Square and 15 mins from the Old town...We set off on our adventure and voyage of discovery...

Above is the first image I sketched. this is a view of St Nicholas church a Baroque beauty that houses the Prague conservertoir Orchestra. Many of the churches in Prague are now used for Classical concerts (a good chance to see the interior of the building). Fortunately Paddy and I were able to see one. It was an cultural experience to remember.

This next sketch, was a quick sketch in the dark or Prague and was a quick one as it was drizzling. So it is very simplified (like my Edinburgh sketch of Paddy on Arthur's seat...see 08 for details). But i managed to get the prowess of St Wenceslas (who is the inspiration for the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas). Although technically not a King, he was a Slavic Prince killed by his younger brother Borslav who did become King, Wenceslas was canonised by the church and is one of the most famous of Prague's saints. The building behind is the National Gallery of Prague a most impressive building, especially at night when lit up.

One of the days was spent walking to and around Prague castle on Hredcany over the other side of the Vltava River from the Old town. So walking over charles Bridge, you climb a slope to get to the castle. Not a medieval looking one as it has been rebuilt time and again over the years in many different styles, (similar to Edinburgh castle, which doesn't have the Norman look of many castles in Europe). Framed in the castle is the synonymous St Vitus Cathedral. It's silohette can be seen from the Old town. the Cathedral is beautiful housing many chapels including St Wenceslas's chapel the most ornate chapel. A glorious gothic cathedral. But as you can see the spire had a Baroque makeover. This image took me an hour to do as I decided to make it a double page spread.

Now for my most proudest and greatest achievement this trip (definately my favourite drawing, with St Giles). This is the most famous image of Prague for me...The Church of our Lady before Tyn. The church is a most impressive gothic building, sadly the interior was not so impressive as it had a Baroque makeover, so I was disappointed. But the exterior was just as I left it 6 years ago... So I sat on my last day sketching the famous spires. I took my time over this drawing and I hope the effort shows. Sweat, blood and tears went into this drawing and i'm most proud of it. This time round pictures were taken, I filmed it and drew it...that more than makes up for last time...so please enjoy these visual treats...Hopefully more to come this year!... :D

Happy Halloween!

Hello all! It's nearly that time again!....Happy Halloween! So here is my offering for you as the night where ghosts and ghouls wander freely! This picture was based on a dream I had when I was younger. The reason I was afraid of the dark when I was a child. I dreamt a witch flew in on her broomstick and took me from my bed. Clinging onto her ragged dress, fearing I would fall. But I didn't want to be the witches next victim, so i jumped off and ran back up to bed. Then i woke up. I never forgot that dream. So finally here is a part of it visualised into a picture!

United Nations of ROCK Logo

Apart from art, my other passion is music and I play various instruments. I also front an 80's classic rock cover band. We are known as the United nations of ROCK (also known as UNR). This is the logo based on the design from a friend of the band. This is my spin on it!...

Note: Love using these Letraset pens! :)