Arnold XIV

Above is a whimsical illustration that I produced for Suzanne's Birthday card last year. The style is very similar to that of the children's book I am currently working on but as I can't release any images from that project I thought Arnold XIV would do. Arnold might just be a stuffed toy who resides in our home but he does comes from a rich heritage of Arnolds. At the beginning of April I tend to discover another portrait taken from the Arnold family tree and present it to Suzanne so she can fill in another gap in Arnold's geneology. I think the 'Who Do You Think You Are' TV crew are missing a trick by not featuring Arnold in their new series, maybe I should persuade him to write a letter.

Levi Art Order Challenge Pt 5

By the end of Tuesday morning the ArtOrder Levi painting was looking like this (above). I had just about taken the watercolour as far as I wanted, there was still an abundance of elements that need refining such as the faces of both characters, weapons, leather doublet, background, rocks... I could go on. My plan was to use gouache, gradually becoming more opaque, until I had sorted all the problems and ended up with a finished painting.

Below you can see the final artwork which I finished Thursday evening. I'm pleased with the outcome but still feel I can push further with the gouache paints. No doubt I shall bear that in mind for my next fantasy illustration.

38 x 29cm

Center For Media And Democracy

 
I had a lovely email from Rebekah Wilce recently who writes for the online publication PRWatch requesting the use of my 'Cracked Matador' watercolour. The metaphor 'a Bull in a China shop' was used in her article to describe a well used (in the U.S) herbicide where the China shop was you. I thought her cause a good one so I agreed the use of my image. Read her article here.

Levi Art Order Challenge Pt 4

How would you like to see some more WIP photos? Well, you're in luck! Above is the pencil for the final colour artwork I will be entering into ArtOrder this Friday. The following shot shows the background blocked in with watercolour, this is how the painting looked by the end of Monday 6th.

Pen Drawing Of Marlborough Town Hall

I shall be getting married in the above building this summer and this drawing will be featuring on the front of the invitations. I was attempting to channel Franklin Booth as I hatched away.

Selected For The RWS Contemporary Watercolour Competition And Exhibition

'Cracked Matador'

 'It's Raining, It's Pouring'

Who'd 'av thunk it!? (yes that's thunk with a U). Both 'Cracked Matador' and 'It's Raining, It's Pouring' have been selected for the Royal Watercolour Society Contemporary Competition. The exhibition of all finalists will be held at the Bankside Gallery from 24th February - 14th March. You can get a sneaky preview of all the selected artists by visiting the RWS website and downloading their PDF list.

I'm especially pleased that 'It's Raining, It's Pouring' was accepted as it didn't make the cut for the RWA last Autumn.

Levi Art Order Challenge Pt 3

The sketch deadline for the ArtOrder Levi Challenge is today! Above is my entry. If you've been following my recent posts you've seen how the composition and anatomy of the figures has developed. If you haven't click here for part 1 and part 2.

Another recommendation I picked up from Andrew Loomis in 'Figure Drawing For All It's Worth', was to sketch with a soft pencil, using the point for line work and the flat of the lead for tone. I tried it out with the above sketch and I'll be sticking with 3B pencils for now on. Using a softer pencil gives me a broader range in tone and speeds up drawing no end!