Commissioned work: Leaving Drawings

I was contacted a few weeks ago about a possible illustration job. It's only in the early planning stages and won't be ready to work on until later this month, so I haven't started anything yet, but it's nice to have some work lined up.

But then a few days later I got an email from them asking if I would be able to draw a couple of cartoons of some staff that were leaving, that they could get printed and give to them as leaving presents. They sent me photo references and gave me a brief summary of what they wanted, and away I went. This was a fun commission and they were really pleased with the drawings I sent, which is a good feeling. I hope that the people leaving were happy to get them too.

Blog-Me-Do Part 7: Portrait Commission

My friends Anna and Paul got married last year and commissioned me to draw a picture of them and their parents at the wedding, which they could have framed and give to them as presents. They sent me a reference photo from the wedding. This was a fun job. I've drawn both Paul and Anna before for cards I've given them, but it was a challenge to draw a good likeness of their parents. I'm very pleased with the final image and happily so were their parents.

Happy Father's Day

It seems like every time I get around to writing a blog post so far this year it starts with a disclaimer about not having managed to post so often in 2016 and a promise to try to post more in the future...and this one is sadly no different! I've been quite busy the past month or so working on a couple of projects which I can hopefully post about very soon, but in the meantime radio silence will continue I'm afraid.

Anyway, yesterday was Father's Day in the UK and I did manage to find some time to make a card for my dear old Dad, busy "working" in the garden...

Olive and Jake portrait

My friend Chris recently commissioned me to draw a portrait of his daughter Olive and her friend Jake...

Happy Birthday Giacomo!

It was also my friend Giacomo's birthday over the weekend. He had an 1001 Nights-themed party, but sadly I was unable to attend. But I did draw him a suitably themed birthday card for the occasion...

Happy Birthday Sylvie!

My friend Sylvie's birthday and I drew her a card. She also recently completed a 10K Run to raise money for the Nepal Earthquake appeal and got a medal. If I got a medal for something, I'd be wearing it every day, so I included it in the picture I drew of her...

Happy Unbirthday!

Sometimes things don't go entirely to plan...

It was my friend Saul's birthday the other week and while his initial last minute drinks gathering didn't go quite according to plan, fortunately there was some hasty reorganisation and Birthday Drinks: Take Two was a much more successful endeavour. And I finally got to give him the card I drew for him, featuring Saul cosplaying as his favourite superhero*, Captain Marvel...



My friend Chantel had her birthday earlier this week, and recently relocated to Hull for a new and exciting job. A bunch of friends went up to Hull this past weekend for birthday celebrations and drunken Mario Kart, which I was particularly sad to have missed, but unfortunately I was working over the weekend. But to make up for my absence, I drew her a card which I posted to her new address as a surprise!



*I'm not 100% sure if she's actually his "favourite" superhero, and he'll definitely correct me if I've got that wrong, hence this small disclaimer! But definitely Top Five, for sure!

Who Let The Dogs Out?

A few weeks ago, I was contacted about doing a pet portrait of a dog called Pirate. I was sent some reference photos of the dog and they asked if I could use all of the poses in the picture. I did a rough sketch, and once this was approved I went ahead and drew the final piece using a Zebra Fude brush pen. I then coloured it using Photoshop and added a grass texture before also adding some ink washes that I scanned, to give a bit more form to the dog.

Portrait commission

My mum recently commissioned me to draw a portrait of her friends, Chris and John, for their 40th Wedding Anniversary. As they spend a lot of time gardening, I used a photo of them together in their garden, which their daughter Karen sent to me.

Happy Anniversary Elizabeth and James

My friend Elizabeth commissioned me to draw a portrait of her and James as a present for their five-year anniversary. She sent me a lot of photos for reference, plus notes about hair, clothes and glasses, and I was pleased with how it turned out (and happily, so were they!)...

Congratulations Rianne and Adam!

My friend Jenny commissioned me to draw a portrait of her friends Rianne and Adam as a wedding present. She told me that Adam had wanted to get married wearing a Stromtrooper outfit, so thought it'd be a nice idea to make his dream a reality. I got some photo references from Facebook and after drawing a rough sketch, which Jenny approved, I drew the final portrait...



Jenny bought a frame for the picture and when they got back from their honeymoon this week she gave it to them...



I think they liked it! :)

Congratulations Kyoko and Teppei

My friend Kyoko recently got married in Japan, where she lives. I sent her this card, based on some of the photos she posted online...

Happy Birthday Coni!

It's my friend Coni's birthday tomorrow - April Fool's Day! - and she went out for drinks on Saturday night to celebrate. Coni is a really good cook and is often posting photos of her cooking, but one thing she likes to cook with that I really dislike is nattō!

I drew a card for her birthday with a picture of Coni and one of her recent dishes, poached egg with nattō on toast!

Happy Birthday Alyana!

It was my friend Alyana's birthday the other week. Here's a card I drew for her...

Happy Birthday Anna!

The other week it was my friend Anna's birthday. Here's a card I drew for her...

Happy Birthday Guthrie!

Yesterday it was my friend Guthrie's birthday, and he had a very sunny get together at his flat in the afternoon. Here's a card I drew for him, with a picture of Guthrie enjoying a joke and a drink (a good combination!)...

Hitchcock sketchathon

Earlier this afternoon I was busy drawing moustaches, when I noticed a tweet from Little White Lies magazine (@LWLies) announcing their latest #sketchathon - one hour to draw a picture of Alfred Hitchcock with the chance to win the Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection Blu-Ray. So I stopped what I was drawing and got to work on a Hitchcock sketch...

While I didn't win, my drawing did get a "Special Mention" as one of the Runners Up. It was a good exercise to take part in and I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for the next #sketchathon...

Happy Birth-Dee!

Today was my friend Dee's birthday. We are also both members of the Illustrious Artists Facebook group, where the current creative challenge is to draw a portrait of another member of the group.
So I thought that I would combine these two things and draw a picture of Dee for her birthday...

Damien Hirst & The Emperor's New Clothes

Yesterday afternoon I went to Tate Modern with my friend to see the Damien Hirst retrospective exhibition that opened this week, part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

Now I'll admit straight away that I'm fairly unimpressed with Hirst's work. But I'm also slightly intrigued by the manner in which his work is regarded among the general public. Indeed, while my friend was thinking out loud whether she wanted to see the exhibition, a woman standing in front of us turned round and exclaimed: "Oh you must! He's the BEST British artist! He has a shark in a tank!". It's hard to argue with such a rousing endorsement...

So we went to see the exhibition. And there was indeed a shark in a tank! And a sheep in a tank. And a cow cut in half in a tank. And a baby cow cut in half in a tank. There are probably 4 or 5 different ideas in there – dead creatures in tanks, spots, butterflies and things in cabinets... – and these are then slightly revised and repeated throughout. It's about death. Or it's about love. But is it art? Whatever it is, it is at least thought-provoking and creates debate. Me and my friend had a long discussion about the exhibition afterwards. And maybe that is what art should do? But I still don't understand this need to parade Hirst around with such acclaim.

Hirst's work reminds me of the story of The Emperor's New Clothes, where the Emperor is told that a stupid person is unable to see the clothes that the tailor creates for him. And so as not to look stupid, the Emporer parades naked around the city to avoid admitting that he can't see the non-existent clothes.

We are told that Hirst is a great British artist, and so we hold him up as such, for fear of looking ignorant if we question the hype...

The exhibition Damien Hirst is on at Tate Modern until the 9 September.