Category: Art

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
Published
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

Published
Categorized as Drawing

Wild Yorkshire on Instagram

Instagram

I’ve been posting on Instagram more regularly since I worked out how to upload images from my desktop iMac. It’s pretty much what I post on this wildyorkshire.blog but with the emphasis more on the images. Recently it’s been mainly cartoons interspersed with a few wild flowers from our lockdown exercise walks but I will have to get back to a bit more drawing from nature for my Wild Yorkshire diary in The Dalesman.

You can find my Instragram page at www.instagram.com/wildyorkshire

Published
Categorized as Drawing

Emojis

emojis

Mattias Adolfsson describes his alter ego cartoon character, as ‘always clueless’ and in this emojis exercise from his Art of Sketching course, that was the expression that appealed to me. The idea is to evoke an expression with the minimum of marks, so, apart from ‘anger’, top right, I’ve dispensed with eyebrows.

Could I evoke a familiar face using the same minimal format? My favourite amongst them is Boris. Probably one of the few times the words ‘Boris’ and ‘favourite’ have appeared in the same sentence recently!

Table Talk

Sofia's table

Another lockdown birthday, this time for Sofia, aged 12, who created a table character for a booklet of What am I? puzzles.

Just been talking to a neighbour who’s a teacher. Getting schools running again is proving an even more difficult than closing them.

From the Sofa Fresco Session . . .

cat and aviator

In today’s session, the 42nd of the live ‘From the Sofa’ sessions that Adobe has been putting out since the lockdown began, we were invited to draw along with illustrator Rachael Presky (who I briefly sketched as the workshop got underway). It’s rare for me to laugh while I’m illustrating, but today . . .

Although my character ended up looking like Catweazle, it’s actually supposed to be Tony Harmer, design ninja, in the character of Biggles. Tony’s cat, also in flying outfit was supposed to be adopting the Tree pose too . . . but it looks as if the duo are dancing the Highland Fling.

It’s drawn in Adobe Fresco on my iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil using the ‘Blotty Ink’ pen and the ‘Natural Brush’.

Taking part in the ‘From the Sofa’ design challenges can seriously damage your reputation as an illustrator.

Thanks to Rufus Deuchler for his advice on what is and what is not anatomically possible in Cat Yoga positions.

Published
Categorized as Drawing

The Lockdown Lepidopterist

Lepidopterist cartoon
pen drawing of cartoon

We’re setting off this morning on our longest expedition since the lockdown began, all the way to Wrenthorpe Park on the other side of Wakefield, six miles away to up in two separate twosomes with my Lockdown Lepidopterist friend Roger and his wife Sue. Roger has put his time to good use by capturing aspects of butterfly behaviour that he wouldn’t normally have had time to sit and wait for, such as butterflies laying their eggs on his carefully tended backyard nettle patch.

This was the birthday card that I drew for him a couple of weeks ago. You can’t buy this in the shops. Even if they were open.

Published
Categorized as Drawing

Saucy Stand-Ups

Saucy stand-ups

Some saucy stand-ups on the open mike night but I’m afraid the Cruets weren’t impressed. They gave the acts a peppery reception: inclined to take things with a pinch of salt was one comment. Even the mustard wasn’t keen and the non-brewed condiment was positively vinegary.

slipper bath

On my Art of Sketching course, Mattias Adolfsson encourages by saying that no idea is too silly to make a drawing. I think that I’ve managed to go a long way to proving him wrong.

Published
Categorized as cartoon

Film Formats

film formats

Yes, I know 35 mm and Polaroid are enjoying a bit of a revival but Instamatic and 120 roll film for Box Brownies are more nostalgia and nouvelle vague.

That’s supposed to be a pack of Polaroid film on the right, but he does look rather like a mobile phone.

Once again, this is more cartooning for my Mattias Adolfsson The Art of Sketching course.