this northern boy

Illustrations for an imaginary age

Category: art

August 15, 2016

August blogfest – day 15

Halfway, almost. Blogging every day is actually tougher than I thought. Thinking up a new subject to blog about every day, tricky.

Today there’s a look at three quick little illustrations I’ve done in one of the lovely orange Field Notes notebooks I received recently. I rarely draw on coloured paper, so it’s a nice change, and also it’s cool to use a similar coloured marker to add a bit of subtle shading. A white Posca marker is great to add a few highlights or stars.

Is there anything you’d like me to blog about? Something about my work, processes, inspiration? Let me know in the comments. And thanks for sticking with me, 16 days to go.

IMG_6976

One-man flyer

IMG_6998

Little droid

IMG_7044

Orange freighter

IMG_7052

Field Notes special edition notebook

2 Comments
August 14, 2016

August blogfest – day 14

Watts.

In the village of Compton in Surrey, not far from Guildford, is the one of the most beautiful and remarkable places I know. The Watts Memorial Cemetery and Chapel was built between 1896 and 1898 by the people of Compton, under the guidance and tutelage of Mary Seton Fraser Tytler, the wife of George Frederic Watts the Victorian painter and sculptor.

There’s a peace and tranquility associated with many churches and chapels, but at the Watts Chapel, and in the beautiful cemetery surrounding it, there’s something especially serene and hushed.

There’s much more about the Chapel, and the Watts Gallery, here. It’s well worth a trip, and if you’re lucky you might just see the hares and deer in the field nearby.

Inside the Chapel
The Cemtery
G F Watts memorial
A watching cherub
G F Watts memorial
Chapel decoration
The Watts Chapel
Courage
G F Watts memorial
G F Watts memorial
1 Comment
August 13, 2016

August blogfest – day 13

“Drawing is taking a line for a walk”, Paul Klee.

 

A wonky doodle
Rocks
Cloud details
Rocky details.
Big fish, small ship
Details…
Tattoo detail
Tentacle details
Stilted City
Slater’s Bridge
Lighthouse work in progress
Filling in the blacks
Lonely tree.
Creature ink
Doodling
The City and the Tree
Lambton Worm
Griff Gristle
Much hatching
Airship
More tentacles
Stilted City
Leave a comment
August 12, 2016

August blogfest – day 12

Mouthmill.

 

When I was seventeen, studying Graphic Design in York, I bought a book called The Anatomy of Illusion. It was the collected art of a British illustrator called Michael English.

The work in the book varied from early psychedelic posters for shops on the King’s Road in London, to hyperrealistic paintings of trains.

All the art was amazing. Staggering really for me to comprehend, as someone just starting out on a career in design / illustration, the level of talent, technique and precision.

There was one painting, part of the Nature Series, that absolutely stopped me in my tracks. Mouthmill, an astonishingly realistic rendering of water flowing over moss, over hanging ferns stand out against the dark background… It’s flawless.

Michael English simply said of Mouthmill – “This painting marked the climax of all my nature work in the 1970’s. It has no equal.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Michael sadly died in 2009, you can read his obituary here.

Michael-English

Mouthmill, Michael English, 1980.

1 Comment