Garstang & Flock

comic
Tweets
The Twitter feed: I stuck with the text of the original tweets.

My thanks to Suzy Scavenger and to her hen Garstang, the chicken with the twisted beak. This is the latest assignment in my Mattias Adolfsson online course, The Art of Sketching. We were asked to draw a comic featuring the self-portrait comic character we’d created.

The dialogue is taken from directly from an exchange of tweets between Suzy and I about the removal of slave trader Edward Colston’s statue from his plinth overlooking the harbour in Bristol. What could have been a serious discussion of whether it’s acceptable to destroy works of art has been somewhat undermined by Garstang, who has overacted in every frame she appears in.

Roughs
Roughs: ‘Pencil’ blocking out (drawn on the iPad); colour rough (iPad); final rough (pen on paper, real paper)
Garstang

“Marvellous!” said Suzy, when I explained what I had in mind for the comic strip, “Garstang deserves some recognition.”

As you can see for my Clip Studio iPad cartoon (left), all this celebrity could easily go to Garstang’s head. In my cartoon, she’s standing on a copy of the popular Victorian magazine Tit-Bits (which I remember still being in print in the late 1950s). A copy dating from 1895 was discovered hidden in Colston’s plinth.

studies
Garstang drawn from a photograph Suzy sent me. Yes, hens do sometimes have long wattles.
Published
Categorized as cartoon

Gavin Campbell

gavin

Gavin Campbell, illustrator, on today’s Adobe Live ‘From the Sofa’ session, started his career with a series of portraits and photo-realistic pencil illustrations, ‘drawing’ with the rubber to create the highlights. Watching him working through a composition featuring multiple layers in Photoshop, I could see his pencil-drawing background coming through, for instance in the way he built up the tones. In places where some illustrators might have used a 3D mesh to create a contoured effect across the subject, he preferred a ‘liquify’ option which enabled him to create the same effect through drawing.

I’ve drawn this in Fresco on my iPad Pro, making a lot of use of the cross hatch brush which I was reminded of during one of the ‘Sofa’ live streams last week.

Link

Gavin Campbell on Behance

Published
Categorized as Drawing

Martina Martian

“You might not have heard of me, but you’ve probably seen my work.” said Martina Martian, illustrator, designer and lettering artist, on today’s Adobe Live ‘From the Sofa’ session. As her animated graphic GIFs have had 9.2 billion downloads, you have probably seen her work literally popping up on social media.

I’ve drawn this in Adobe Fresco, the iPad drawing program that she often uses for her lettering and design. After starting my usual pen and wash approach, I went for Fresco’s Conte Crayon and Old Bristles brushes.

Published
Categorized as Drawing

Fresco Cat

cat cartoon

In today’s ‘From the Sofa’ live stream, Tony Harmer gave us a masterclass in how to draw cats, using Adobe Fresco and Adobe Capture. Okay, mine didn’t turn out looking quite like Tony’s . . . but I learnt about masks and generating textures and I particularly enjoyed drawing with the Fresco ‘Cross Hatching’ brush.

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Categorized as cartoon

Rodley Nature Reserve

Rodley

You drive down through what feels like a factory yard, cross a small swing-bridge over the canal then cross the River Aire via a century-old 38m long Pratt truss steel bridge to reach a low-lying area of lagoons and meadows, enclosed on three sides by a meander of the river, so that being on the reserve feels like being on an island. We’re actually on the inner side of the busy Leeds Ring Road, but I feel as if I’ve got a long way away from all that rush.

As a change from my usual approach, I thought I’d launch straight into watercolour for this sketch – no pen, no pencil – which is based on a panorama that I took from one of the hides on a Wakefield Naturalists’ Society field meeting at the reserve in August this year. No field meetings at all this year, which is probably a first for the Nats since the end of World War II.

Dalesman article

This is the header image for my August Wild Yorkshire nature diary in The Dalesman.

Idea and Maker

Krofts

Really appreciated the dedication of London-based Johana & Maxim Kroft, a.k.a. Idea & Maker, who are currently living in Vancouver getting up at 4.30 a.m. for today’s lunchtime Adobe Live ‘From the Sofa’ session.

Link

Idea and Maker

Idea & Maker

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Categorized as Drawing

Rachel Millar

Rachel

Rachel Millar, lettering artist, on today’s Adobe Live ‘From the Sofa’ session.

Link

Rachel E Millar

Rachel E Millar signwriter (or signpainter) and lettering artist based in Glasgow, Scotland.

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Categorized as Drawing

Make Yourself into a Character

Cartoons
Richard drawing

Barbara says the one drinking tea looks most like me, but I guess that’s the default position that she sees me in. My favourite is the first where I’m drawing. I like the out-of-control pen work! Gives him some life.

This is the latest in my Mattias Adolfsson The Art of Sketching: Transform Your Doodles into Art course. The idea is to simplify the character as far as possible. It doesn’t have to be a portrait as such. The next stage is to feature the character in a cartoon and I think that will be helpful because when I work out what I want him to do, that should give me a few clues about how to develop the character. If he just has to look blank and slightly worried, I’m there already!

Richard drawing
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Categorized as cartoon

Thomas & Tony

Today’s Adobe Live From the Sofa session, introduced by Tony Harmer, featured the 3D designs and illustrations of Thomas Burden.

Thomas Burden: wearegrownup.com

Thomas Burden on Instagram

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Categorized as Drawing

Broad Beans

broad beans

There’s a background buzz of bumble and what look like honey bees amongst the flowers fo these broad beans. A song thrush sings from nearby bushes. Yesterday afternoon there was a bit of drama as a crow chased a jackdaw away from the ash trees at the edge of the wood – perhaps the crows have a nest there.

hand fork
Published
Categorized as Garden