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! :)

WInchester Reverie

When at work and not thinking of crazy stuff...my tender side kicks in...sometimes...When work gets too much, I go into my head and think about being somewhere else. One of my favourite places that I do like to go is Winchester. So this picture helps save me sometimes, when i'm stressed and want to be somewhere else, I have my Winchester Reverie to help me through the day!

The Eye of the Zammo!!!

Here is another of my work drawings based on my friends at the company (forerly known as Unichem) that I work. This piece is based on my mate Lewis Zammit (known as Lew-Lew or Zammo). I had the idea for a piece, giving a nod to the Rocky films. Lewis was batching a huge load of invoices one day and it's no easy feet! (I can vouch for that!) So I decided to put him up against the Batch monster that I created earlier this year to represent my never-ending workload. Thankfully Zammo has been helping in my never ending battle of work...So Zammo is Rocky and Dino and I are his trainers. Dino is the guy with the afro...

Here is the first piece I did earlier this year... titled: You wanna play?!! Let's Play!!! This was when I was still working on the workload alone. A very stressful month!...

Even in the mundanity of work...I can still be inspired!... :D

Coast- My Alice!...

I didn't like my education growing up! Maths wasn't a strong subject. But ART has always been a passion. Now that i've finished school and Uni, there is no motivation to learn anything new. But that all changed a few years ago, when I got into my history. But something I always watched even as a kid...documentaries. I love wildlife, history and geograhical documentaries. One such documentary series is the BBC and Open University's COAST. My favourite presenter from this programme is anthropologist and medical doctor, Dr Alice Roberts. She makes me stop whatever i'm doing and glues my eyes to the screen. Her sexy girl-next-door look and voice still has me drooling. Alice...(sigh)...

So one day at work, whilst doing my boring job, I thought about Coast and what if I was a dog watching Coast...so here it is...

...Colour version will come soon!...

Back in black!...(colour actually!)...

Hello all! Anyone who has been checking my blog and seen nothing for months, i apologise. Life is busier than ever with lots of different projects (creatively and socially) happening all at once. But please accept my latest offerings. I have been drawing lots of pictures. Sadly not been on photoshop recently to digitally enhance my drawings. But i've discovered a quicker way of colouring thanks to Letraset pens. This has given me more creative freedom and adds the element of colour that I would like to see more of in my drawings. This was one of my first attempts at colouring using the marker pens...

Gorgeous ain't she!... ;P

Beating the Bounds...

Hey guys, for anyone who does actually check my blog, I apologise for no recent activity. life seems to keep getting busier! Well here is something to wet your appetite...A potential new project for me in collaboration with 2 of my friends who are experts in the field of archaeology and folk lore...

Beating the Bounds is the name of the project and it's an ongoing work in progress. This image started it all...

It's a mock cover for a graphic novel/comic book series with a lot of folklore and tradition that used to be common place in England...more specifically London...

More will be posted when the project gets underway!

Travel Sketchbook: Scotland, Edinburgh Oct 08

In October 2008, my friend Paddy and I went to Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland (home to the Haggis, the kilt, Whiskey, Lochs, mountains and...well Scots...) and one of my favourite cities in the world. This was my second time in Edinburgh, for Paddy, it was his first. The last time I visited this city, I was 18, and that was 7 years ago. Now a little older, and a little wiser, I decided to do some sketching in and around the city. The architecture blew me away! What a magical city! These sketches show how I got on...

Paddy on Arthur's seat. This was the first sketch I did, an extreme sketch on top of Arthur's seat the extinct volcano, situated in Holyrood park, at the bottom of the Royal Mile. It was blowing 70 mph winds on top and I was only wearing a t-shirt, scarf and fingerless gloves...

The ruins of St Anthony's chapel, situated 1/3 of the way up Arthur's seat...

Whilst in Edinburgh Castle, I saw a few parts of the building I wanted to sketch. The image above is of the castle book shop. Edinburgh Castle, wasn't really a Norman castle, it looks more residential.



Detail of the National Monument, Edinburgh Castle. This was the first attempt at sketching the National Monument at Edinburgh Castle. The monument commemorates the young men who gave up their lives in the world wars. This was a detailed sketch as I wasn't used to scaling down. I wasn't happy about this sketch. But Paddy was with me and a load of 6-7 year old school kids were watching me draw. They were mesmorised. Paddy asked them if they thought my drawing was good and they all shouted "YES!" I felt likeI was in Playbus/days...



The National Monument, Edinburgh Castle. This was the second attempt at the National Monument, and thankfully i'd scaled it down! So here is the vision I had in the first place...

St Giles Cathedral (on the Royal Mile). This was my favourite drawing. I sat on the side of the road, on the Royal Mile sketching the cathedral and tourists and locals alike came and watched me draw and asked me questions about my sketches. That was great. This sketch took me 45 mins to an hour. I'm very proud of this picture and is one of my best...

Pipe Organ, St Giles Cathedral. Inside the cathedral was this magnificent modern pipe organ. I decided to sketch it as it was a strong image. I know some organists who would cream their pants for a chance to see this, let alone play it...

Scot's Monument, Princes Street. This was the last sketch I did. i sat in the park sketching this, with the wind blowing about me and people going about their business. I also heard a bagpiper collaborate with an African drummer. The pipe was playing traditional Scottish pipe tunes, whilst the African drummer, was providing a rhythmic beat. I would call it Scottish Fusion... But Scot's monument (devoted to Sir Walter Scott, Scotland's national writer, Rob Roy and Ivanhoe are amongst his works) was very detailed. There were so many inticate carvings, so i simplified it. It was also nicknamed Thunderbird 3, because it looks like the rocket. Here is the end result.

So here are my Highland adventures told in sketches. I'm proud of this series as my work gets better everytime I draw. Enjoy...

Gav, Nov 08.

I am Gavin! Hear me ROOOOAAAAARRRR!!!!!

This image I did for my 25th birthday and also imagery for the start of my band. I have now started a 80's Rock cover band. As I am a Leo and i feel my temperament is that of a lion, I drew this, scanned it and digitally coloured it. ROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!

Travel Sketchbook: Portugal, Cascais Sept 08

In September 08, I went to Cascais in Portugal with my marching band. What a great long weekend. The weather was beautiful beautiful and the temperature was cooler like the U.K. I decided to do a travel sketchbook after the success of my cathedral sketches. So Portugal was my first attempt at capturing the foreign surroundings.

I did a few warm-up sketches, the statue of the soldier and the medieval wall. the last picture is of a hotel on the beach of Cascais. The best drawing i've done and it will be hard to better it. I'm very proud of the hotel sketch and the building itself is beautiful, we marched on the plaza near the building. Portugal was fantastic!

Dover Pharoas

On a trip to Dover to visit an old uni friend, we went for a day out to Dover Castle, a majestic example of Norman dominance. The castle was brilliant, I managed to do a sketch of the Roman lighthouse known as a Pharoas...

The day was mix of cloud and sunlight, the clouds give the drawing more atmosphere as do the people, who were standing chatting by the flagpole. They talked for ages, very professional models... :) The sketch also reminds me of Victorian renderings, like the ones at the beginning of the Cheers credits..."Where everybody knows your name!"...

Lucie's Guardfrog...

A dear friend of mine from my foundation course, who I reconnected with after going to seperate universities.

Anyways i digress...

Lucie and I are bus buddies now and get on the same morning bus & we chat about life and it's realities. Lucie has a fear of frogs and hates the thought of them hopping towards her. She told me she thought of a Guardfrog that would protect her from danger...and other frogs...

We discussed what it would look like, and that it would be like a tribal frog with grass skirt and spear.

So Gav's blog proudly presents...

...Fresenius the frog!

Jade dragon

A colleague of mine who has become a good friend, asked me to draw her a Chinese dragon as she was born in the chinese year of the dragon. I love chinese dragons, because they aren't just a big lizard like the european dragons. They are an amalgamation of many animals, including the deer, tiger and fish. Eastern dragons tend to be good. Here is my dragon, a jade dragon to be precise...

No Cheese!

Another work inspired piece, this time in the canteen... My mates Nish and Gav asked for cheese sarnies, and they had run out! So after two days and no cheese, i decided to do a comic strip about my theory of why there isn;t anymore cheese! The dinner lady is real and she is that stern looking, but she is very funny! Wallace and Gromit, eat your cheddar heart out! :D

The Wicked Nish of the west!

Whilst working in my admin nightmare, after so much data entry, there is only so much you can take, so to relax i do a few sketches! This pic was inspired by my mate Nish! He had a desk plant which we called Marge! Anyways, he used to water Marge with rain water from a bottle. The bottle contained Mozquito larvae and i told him to kill them otherwise the will become mozzies! two weeks later, he told me one actually flew out when he opened the bottle! It reminded me of the Wicked witch of the west and her "pretties!" Here is my homage!...