I’ve been to both York (my home town) and Windsor in the last couple of weeks, both boasting more crenellations than you can shake a sword at. I always try to take plenty of photos when I’m visiting historic places, just to add to my reference folder. You never know when you might need to draw a castle.
I recently completed a commission for Max in Canada. He’d seen an illustration I did a while ago – The Island – and asked me for a new version.
The picture below show some of the process, from initial inky thumbnail sketch, to the final coloured illustration.
If you’d like to commission an illustration from me, message me here or on social media.
This, and most of my illustrations are drawn on heavy, but smooth cartridge paper. I use Copic Multiliners, a Pentel Pocket Brush and Copic Ciao Markers.
Inktober is now done and dusted, 31 days of brush pen drawings completed. I’d like to say it was fun, but actually it was pretty tough, and got tougher towards the end. I do think I progressed a bit in terms of technique, which was the main reason for doing it. I certainly feel like I have a better grasp of how to use a brush pen than I did a month ago. Huge thanks to everyone who liked and commented on my work across Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram, your support and encouragement was very much appreciated.
Now that Inktober is over I’ll be working on a couple of other projects, completing some commissions, and planning ideas for books and a comic – but all at a slightly less forced pace.
Quite a few people have expressed an interest in purchasing some of the Inktober drawings, so the images below are now available to buy. If there’s a drawing you’d like that isn’t included here, drop me an email – it may still be available.
The prices vary depending on how detailed the illustrations are, the size, and the quality of paper they are drawn on. Feel free to ask for more details.
To buy any of these, drop me an email letting me know which you’d like to buy and the postal address it’s to be sent to. I’ll then work out postage, and payment can be made via PayPal.
All enquiries should be emailed to me at rob@thisnorthernboy.co.uk
Illustrations are available on a strictly first come, first served basis.
If you miss out on an illustration, drop me an email and I’ll be happy to work on something brand new for you.
The Ossuary. £30.
The Sword and the Stone. SOLD.
The Android. £30.
The Deep Dweller. £30.
The Berg. £20.
The Creature. £15.
The Peaks. SOLD.
The Clown. SOLD.
The Explorer. SOLD.
The Lonely Robot. SOLD.
The Forest. SOLD.
The Lone Tree. SOLD.
The Island. SOLD.
The Old Town. SOLD.
The Stone. SOLD.
The Moon House. SOLD.
The Astronaut. SOLD.
The Day of the Dead. SOLD.
If you’ve been following my blog, or my Instagram or Twitter feeds, you’ll know I’m participating in this year’s Inktober. For an explanation of what Inktober is, have a quick read of this blog post.
18 days in to the project and I’m part frustrated – that I haven’t made more progress using the brush pen, it still feels damn tricky to get the line quality right – and partly delighted to be producing illustrations every day that I’m (more or less) happy with.
Time, as always, is a big factor. I’m back working in London Monday to Friday now, and getting home at eight in the evening doesn’t leave lots of time to think or draw. I try to get out of the office at lunch time and do some sketching, getting some ideas together for things I might draw that evening or the coming days. This can really help, if I don’t get to my desk until after nine pm once I’ve eaten, having an idea ready to go is a weight off my shoulders.
I am still drawing each illustration with my Pentel Pocket Brush, although I am sneaking in a little detailed line work here and there with Staedtler or Copic pigment liners.
Today’s drawing is still yet to be done. I’ve one idea half finished, that I’m really not too sure about, and a bunch of doodles and notes scribbled over my desk that might become something.
Here are the first 18 drawings for this year. I’ll post another update for Inktober in a couple of weeks when it’s finished.
Here’s a peek at the first three days of my Inktober challenge. I’ll probably post an update in a week or so. Even just a few days in I think the practice is making a difference. The brush pen is pretty tough to control, so it really does pay to use it a lot.
If you don’t know what Inktober is, have a look at my last blog post.
1. The Inkblot.
2. Space Dog.
3. The Island
I’m now happy to accept a new round of illustration commissions. Over the past few months I’ve completed over 40 commissions, so if you’d like some original, affordable art to hang on your wall, here’s how it works…
Commissions
If you would like to buy an original drawing, email me at rob [at] thisnorthernboy [dot] co [dot] uk , you can request one of the following:
A robot
A Spaceship
An imagined place
If there’s something in particular you’d like, that isn’t one of the above, just let me know – it might be something I’d be interested in drawing for you.
What you’ll receive will be a black and white pen drawing, on an A4 sheet of good quality, 200gsm cartridge paper. The artwork will be approximately 240mm x 160mm in size, centred on the paper so you can frame it easily if you’d like to.
You can also request for the illustration to be landscape or portrait in orientation.
Any other requests – type of landscape, style of robot etc. can be made, but there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to take this into account. I know this sounds a little strict, but I only want to accept commissions that I’ll enjoy drawing right now, and in return you get a lovely surprise when you open your finished illustration.
What will this cost?
I charge a flat rate of £60 including post and packaging for the UK, and £60 + post and packaging for the rest of the world.
When you email me to request a commission, if you can include the address you’d like it shipped to, I’ll work out the cost of postage and let you know. If you’re happy with the overall cost I can accept payment by PayPal.
When will you get your drawing?
I’ll aim to complete and post all illustrations within two weeks of receiving payment.
What might your commission look like?
Well, it could look a little like these…
My most recent commission was for a spaceship, with some steampunk influences. I wanted to keep it very much like one of my spaceships though, so it’s kind of an amalgam of my asteroid belt clippers, and some weird alt-history Victorian airship.
I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out, it was one of those rare illustrations that just flows nicely all the way from initial doodles right through to the final ink.
Finished Steampunk Spaceship.
Work in progress.
Initial sketch.
I’ve drawn a fair few cityscapes and imaginary places over the last few months, some of them purely personal, some have been commissions, some have been posted here before, some haven’t, so here they are collected in one place.
The first, City on the Edge of Nowhere, is one of my favourites.
City on the edge of nowhere.
I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut, and even now at 42 years old, I haven’t quite given up hope, so when Jeremy Marshall commissioned an illustration and said “… is there any chance of an astronaut featuring?” I jumped at the chance.
The astronaut.
Details.
Recent commissions
UPDATE: Due to demand, and the amount of time I’m spending on each commission, I’m increasing my prices. My standard commissions, as described below will now be priced at £60.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••
I recently announced that I’m accepting illustration commissions and the response was fantastic. I’ve completed over 40 illustrations so far, and still have a few more booked in. If you’d like to own some original art by me, here’s how it works…
I am now accepting commissions.
I’m keeping things quite strict though, so this is how it will work if you’re interested in owning some original art.
If you would like to buy an original drawing, email me at rob [at] thisnorthernboy [dot] co [dot] uk , you can request one of the following:
A robot
A Spaceship
An imagined place
What you’ll receive will be a black and white pen drawing, on an A4 sheet of good quality, 200gsm cartridge paper. The artwork will be approximately A5 in size, centred on the paper so you can frame it easily if you’d like to.
You can also request for the illustration to be landscape or portrait in orientation.
Any other requests – type of landscape, style of robot etc. can be made, but there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to take this into account. I know this sounds a little strict, but I only want to accept commissions that I’ll enjoy drawing right now, and in return you get a lovely surprise when you open your finished illustration.
What will this cost?
I’m going to charge a flat rate of £60 including post and packaging for the UK. And a rate of £60 + post and packaging for the rest of the world.
When you email me to request a commission, if you can include the country you’d like it shipped to, I’ll work out the cost of postage and let you know. If you’re happy with the overall cost I’ll accept payment by PayPal.
When will you get your drawing?
I’ll aim to complete and post all illustrations within two to three weeks of receiving payment.
What might your commission look like?
Well, it could look a little like these…
So if you’d like to own some original art, and support me as I work at being an illustrator – drop me an email now.
Thank you,
Thisnorthernboy
this northern boy 