August blogfest – day 5
Some process videos of recent illustration work. It’s always strange watching these back, like watching someone else draw. I never know where the pen or brush is going next.
this northern boy
Illustrations for an imaginary age
Tag: landscape
May 6, 2016
What’s been going on…
I’ve been reasonably quiet on the blog recently, and I’m determined to post more regularly for the rest of the year.
As a bit of a catch-up post, here are some pictures – illustrations and photographs – from the last couple of months.
A little view in to my studio/office set-up at the moment.
Tools of the trade.
Pens and pencils.
The slip case for Taschen’s amazing book on 2001: A Space Odyssey.
A fairly typical, and amazing, spread from the 2001 book.
I met a parakeet.
Shadows in the walled garden at Ham House.
Ham House under a brooding sky.
What we do in the shadows (take photographs).
A seventeenth century teapot at Ham House.
Nothing vile about a classic Penguin book cover.
A flavour of the excellent Monotype Recorder.
Sketching some sci-fi scenery for a commission.
Doodling spaceships.
Spaceships.
More spaceships.
I’ve been freelancing here, on Eel Pie Island, for a couple of weeks.
Eel Pie details.
Eel Pie Slipways.
Ship chains.
I was featured in this month’s Artist & Illustrator magazine.
Big sky, big clouds.
Beautiful light in Bushy Park near where I live.
Green Woodpecker (or Yaffle) in flight.
Green Woodpecker.
Red deer in Bushy Park.
Bushy Park.
Sketching landscapes for a commission.
Griff Gristle
April 4, 2016
A Big City Triptych
I love drawing city scenes, which is why it’s always been one of the options I’ve offered for my illustration commissions.
Last year Rob Harris contacted me to commission a medieval/fantasy street scene, and he must have liked the result – because he came back for two more illustrations.
This was the first image…
I loved putting in as much detail as I could, making it seem like a place that had a story to it (even without the addition of any people). Rob then asked me to do another illustration, continuing the scene to the right…
It was fun to be able to tell more of the story of the town, adding in the celtic style cross, the strange section of bridge, the silhouette of a figure in a window. Finally, just a couple of weeks ago Rob asked me for a final (I think) illustration to continue the scene to the left of the original image…
This has been my favourite commission so far, I had a great time producing these for Rob and I’m delighted he liked the first one enough to commission the second and third.
Seen together I think the three illustrations look pretty good…
If you would like to commission a street scene, or anything else, from me – have a look at this blog post for more details.
March 10, 2016
Commissions
I’m now happily accepting a new round of illustration commissions. If you’ve ever wanted to own some original art – and like my work – now’s your chance.
Commissions
If you would like to buy an original drawing, email me at rob [at] thisnorthernboy [dot] co [dot] uk , and you can request one of the following:
A robot
An Astronaut
A Spaceship
An imagined place
Something else entirely
What you’ll receive will be a black and white pen drawing, on an A4 sheet of good quality, 220gsm 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. If you would prefer a colour illustration – let me know and we can have a chat.
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 three weeks of receiving payment.
What might your commission look like?
Well, it could look a little like these…
The Day of the Dead. £40.
The City and the Tree
The Copse
The Astronaut.
February 9, 2016
Crenellations!
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.
November 18, 2015
Beneath the Sea
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.
Initial inky shapes.
Tentacle details
Onto the illustration proper – outlines.
Adding flat blacks and thicker lines to create depth.
Detail goes in with a very fine pen initially.
I always get carried away at this point.
Inks complete.
Final image, ready to send to Canada.
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.
October 3, 2015
Inktober so far…
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
July 20, 2015
Imagined Places
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.
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- Stilted City
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- The City and the Tree
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- The City and the Tree II
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- The Light on the Rock
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- Stilted City II
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- Sky Town
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- Two Sides of the Street
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- Stilted City III
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- Stilted City IV
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- The Island. 4788 likes on Instagram.
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- Sky Town II
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- Nobody Gets off this Rock
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- Fragment of Laputa
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- The Giant’s Ring
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- Slater’s Bridge
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- Stilted City (coloured)
April 14, 2015
Fragment of Laputa
A floating island, or a fragment of one. Not unlike the Kingdom of Laputa described by Jonathon Swift in Gulliver’s Travels.
Fragment of Laputa.
Rocks.
Lonely tree.
Drawn with Copic Multiliners on cartridge paper.
Floating islands are a continued theme with my drawings, more here and here.
April 2, 2015
The Giant’s Ring
The Giant’s Ring is a neolithic henge at Ballynahatty, on the southern edge of Belfast. The site dates from 2700BC – making The Giant’s Ring older than the pyramids.
The illustration below was inspired by a great photograph on Instagram by my friend Jonny. I’ve taken a few liberties with the landscape though.
This illustration continues my fascination with stones and henges.
The Giant’s Ring
Cloud details
Stones detail
this northern boy 