work in progress - sneak share of a new series

I've been drawing up a storm lately - it's been so much fun visiting London attractions in pursuit of groups of people for work on a new series. After a day out drawing, I do a day at home in my studio, scanning the drawings and colouring them digitally. 

Here, a drawing of a visitor viewing a Mayan fertility figure at the British Museum. 

It's work in progress mind you, but I thought I'd drop in and say hi along the way.

goodbye, february

The sun has been a stranger this February, maybe we'll see more of it in March. I'd like that. Though I do like a good misty morning walk, even if it is freezy cold. This was taken a few days ago along the Lee Navigation canal in Hackney, my breathing space fifteen minutes walk away.

At our meeting earlier in the month, my illustrator friends could barely contain their mirth when I said I was painting cabbage leaves. Rude companions one and all!

Sprout tops not cabbage leaves, to be precise but still. To practice my greens you see. Laugh if you will, yes yes.

I learned a lot, not sure I totally love any of these, but it's nice to see development and progression from 1 - 4. I painted slowly, building up layers of translucent washes for precision. I do find it pretty damn tedious, this way of working, really, having to wait for each layer to dry properly and planning the colours. At least the greens and I are on speaking terms now - mixing them from scratch and adding a bit of cadmium red is the thing.

And just as well I got cosy with greens, since I was asked if I do planting plans recently. Well, I do now.

From that happy result to... a more um, digital looking sketch on my new drawing tablet below. Obviously still a long way to go, but I'm looking to integrating all of my working methods by experimenting, having fun and keeping an open mind.

Goodbye February, I'm a bit glad to see the back of you.

2012 Serco Prize submission

Entry for the London Transport Museum's annual illustration competition, run in collaboration with the AOI. The 2012 theme was 'Secret London'. I had a lot of fun thinking about the unexpected surprises you very often come across wandering the neighbourhood streets, far away from the main tourist attractions. This way of working, I'm finding, is a great way to be expressive and graphic. Painted acrylic collage paper on watercolour paper.

central line to epping

 

Curiously, older people are harder to draw unobserved. Perhaps they aren't so used to the invasions of privacy a younger generation regards as unremarkable - the constant photographing, blogging and sharing images of ourselves on facebook.  I try to be discreet when drawing on the train, and hope that at the very least I'm celebrating people's individuality in a sensitive, if not always conventionally flattering way.