Bunyip

There's no precise description of a bunyip - the one above is something I knocked up in relation to the bird-face bunyips. There's also dog-faced bunyips too...

O1 Pilot drawing pen and then edited via Picasa to get the speckled effect on the background

Boggart

I've just scratched this up for the Unconventional A to Z.

It's a boggart - or rather it's what I think a boggart would look like if they existed ;)

Pilot drawing pen (03), Yellow Indian Ink and a slight edit on the shadowing via Picasa.

Blossom

Okay... this is a portrait for one of my nieces - it was her 16th birthday the other day and I thought that this would make a bit of a unique present for her. I'm not 100% happy with how it's turned out though, I'm usually okay at drawing faces but I was using oils which is still a new medium to me.

It's entitled 'Blossom' as that's what she has done, blossomed into a beautiful young lady who is as daft as a brush (after looking like a little monkey for the better part of her childhood! she'd kill me for saying that... )

When one of my friends saw the early stage of the painting, she remarked how much it looked like my SIL (the kid's mother) which is a bonus as she does resemble her mother somewhat.

Icon

I did this at the same time I did the Cthulhu icon. I do have a bit of a thing for old icons and tryptichs. I'm a bit of a collector.

Jack-in-the-Green

This is a commission that came about due to the illustrations on the Unconventional A to Z (mentioned in my first post on here)

"Based in Glasgow, IOTA (Images Of The Archetype) is a private research collection of representations of the green man. IOTA buys mass-produced examples and, where possible, commissions and encourages current artists. IOTA does not accept gifts or donations of pieces without prior discussion: inclusion is by invitation. Dialogue is most welcome although access to the collection archive is limited by practical considerations. IOTA has no party-line or fixed interpretation of the images. Copyright of original works remains with the artist unless otherwise agreed. IOTA can be contacted through included artists, if they are agreeable, or at IOTA@stonedog.co.uk"

Ancient

I found an old GCSE project from (counts on fingers) oooh, about 12 years ago, that I thought I'd thrown away or burnt with the rest of my school art work. Some I sold, namely some sculptures and the final piece for my exam, but the rest I rather stupidly burnt during a fit of pique as I felt that I didn't need them anymore.

Anyway, my chosen design brief was to design a new visitor centre for Stonehenge. I had to also write about some of the customs/traditions associated with Stonehenge and produced some page illustrations as well as having to hand letter the whole bloody thing (we weren't allowed to do any part of the project on a computer - how times have changed). I would have used a Pilot drawing pen or similar, over an initial watercolour wash - possibly having drawn first in pencil.

Eyes

oil pastels

Sphinx

"Which creature in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?"





2B pencil

Kali

This was the original sketch I made for this project. Indian ink - although it looks more like felt-tip pen!



The finished piece in oil on canvas. I may still add some copper gilding to it though.

finished cthulhu

After gilding and sorting out cyrillic characters, this is the finished piece:

Cthulhu

This was an early stage of a painting, I'll post up the finished product later:

Bones

This came about during a doodle after I'd found out a pen that I particularly liked drawing with.

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones
Don’t you hear the word of the Lord?
Toe bone connected foot bone
Foot bone connected leg bone
Leg bone connected knee bone
Don’t you hear the word of the Lord?

Leg bone connected knee bone
Knee bone connected thighbone
Thighbone connected hipbone
Don’t you hear the word of the Lord?

Hipbone connected backbone
Backbone connected shoulder bone
Shoulder bone connected neck bone
Don’t you hear the word of the Lord?

source

Why I'm here

I've been a blogger for some time but I've finally decided to create a space where I can post up my artwork.

After a number of years where I haven't even looked twice at a sketchpad, I picked up a 3B pencil sometime last year and drew an illustration for someone. I'd always felt self-concious about my art, possibly just one of the reasons I didn't take it up at higher education. I actually lasted two weeks at art college but I couldn't get funding to pay for the course. I was 17 and living away from my parents and I got told that I couldn't carry on with it so I had to get a job instead.

Anyway, enough of my sob-story, this is the purple baboon:

there's a story behind this, I had a dream last summer where I saw multi-coloured baboons trick-riding up and down a hill on tricycles. It was so surreal that I had to draw one! It's indian ink and at the moment is being used on the main page at The Cabinet of Wonders.

You can also see my illustrations here at The Unconventional A to Z on the same site. It's a work in progress and at the moment I've provided all the artwork on it but I'm ever hopeful other people will get involved in it too.