Oh dear, it looks as if the game is up for our plucky little tenon saw. If there’s a moral to this folksy fable from Yes it is, it’s never put your trust in an even-toed ungulate.
The Carpenter and the Cow
Month: February 2021
Boathouse Features
Gothic architectural features of Newmillerdam Boathouse, which dates from the 1820s. I’d planned this as a small black and white diagram, but it works better larger and in colour. I’m still struggling with joined-up handwriting, some of these were ‘best out of three’, but I think that it’s worth the effort, as it gives a bit more animation to the captions.
Manic Moth
We all know that moths are the unsung nightshift of ecosystem services, busy pollinating and recycling while we sleep, so these days it’s not often that one of them, in this case the humble clothes moth, gets to play the pantomime villain.
Another illustration for the PG-rated children’s storybook Yes it is, or OH NO IT ISN’T! in this case. Manic Moth: “Oh! Yes it IS!!!!“
I thought that I’d nailed it and created a moth that looked as scary as Nosferatu the Vampire but coming back to it he’s more closely related to Peter Firmin’s Nogbad the Bad. I think it’s to do with the way he walks, which would work well as a cut-out animation.
The Farmer and his Pig
These two could have auditioned for the latest series of All Creatures Great and Small but they’re appearing in one of the folksy fables in Yes it is. I like the pig – just need him to tilt his head on one side as he listens to the tale – but for the farmer I need his expression to be flummoxed rather than irate.
Although Yes it is has a retro children’s story setting, it deals with themes that are all too contemporary, like the loneliness and isolation – in this case the loneliness of this green ball. The fact that the author has specified the colour makes me tempted to go for a spot colour, perhaps backed up with blocks of neutral grey, to hint at the style of children’s book illustration in the 1950s and early 60s; I’m thinking of Dr Suess and Gene Zion’s Harry the Dirty Dog, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham.
Margaret Bloy Graham uses a textured line which reminds me of conte crayon with a soft watercolour or gouache wash. With this in mind, I tried bamboo pen, to try and deliberately simplify the line (left) and dip pen (above) but inevitably, as I use it every day, I’m more relaxed drawing with a fountain pen, as in the farmer and his pig drawing, which was drawn in De Atramentis Document Ink with my Lamy Vista with an EF nib. That gives me more of the energy that I’m after, but without getting the particular vintage graphic look that I had in mind.
Gothic Boathouse
Before I add colour, I’ve scanned this drawing in black and white, which might be useful if I ever use it in a booklet. The Boathouse at Newmillerdam is currently celebrating its bicentenary. Although the date is uncertain, it appears on a map of 1826, which puts it in early Gothic Revival style.
Names of features from the delightfully useful Rice’s Architectural Primer. Matthew Rice makes it look so easy but getting all those terms in without overwhelming the drawing is tricky, however I’ve got my lettering on a separate layer so I might alter that a bit when I add the watercolour.
Sunny South Ossett
We’re set to have snow tomorrow, so I thought that I’d make the most of a sunny morning walk around Illingworth Park, Ossett, by taking Instagram-friendly square format colour photographs on my iPhone.
allotment 
Willow Hair and Beauty 
gatepost 
lichen 
manhole cover 
palm 
Station Road 
Ossett Town Hall 
sycamore 
weathercock 
palm