Onehunga princess

A little blanket label drawing...from a blanket made here:

Slings and arrows

The last few nights I've been drawing some repetitive stylised feathers and playing round with colour combinations, painting them with watercolours.  Tonight's feathers are going to be pastel icecream colours I think!  

Fished for my wish

Just a funny little drawing of a sardine that I did on my lunch break the other day.  Thinking I might turn it into a print or something.  "I fished for my wish" is what we used to say when we played "Go Fish" and got the card we were hoping for from the pickup pile...did you say that?

Typographical solutions

 I've been working on a print based on all the things I superstitiously wish on, and I finished inking it this afternoon.  I was working on it in the cafe by my work the other day on my lunch break...when the waiter brought me my coffee he asked me if I was working on "typographical solutions."  Um, yes, I guess I am.  Sounds better than sitting around drawing!

Birds of paradise

I've been drawing some of my collection of feathers to make a new print for the Auckland Art and Craft Fair...and I had a little play with colouring them in Photoshop. I think for the print I'll colour them with watercolour.

In real life the feathers were a bit more drab than this...but I'd like to find a bird with feathers of all these colours!

Green ribbons, tall mountains

 I've been experimenting with some new ribbons for my huia brooches and thought I'd try out some in my favourite colour, a mossy green (I have an embarrassing number of cardigans that colour).

 And I've been planning a painting of Mitre Peak, probably one of the most painted places in New Zealand, but after I visited Fiordland earlier in the year I thought I'd love to have a giant painting of it in my lounge.  I'm having a (legitimate) sick day off work with a cold, so I thought it was a good chance to steal some time and get started on it!

Covered

After so very long I think I have finally finished the drawings for my op shop zine, and these 70s cups are going to be on the cover.  I've only taken slight liberties with the colours...the middle one I got in Thames many years ago for 40 cents I do believe and the others are recent additions from Mayfield.  Years ago my friend told me about a wonderful op shop in Mayfield with rack upon rack of velvet jackets - it achieved a sort of mythical status in my mind.  Finally I got to go there while we were on tour with The Bitter Years and it did not disappoint.  Crown Lynn room, what more can I say!

Fancy a cuppa?

I had a lovely Friday night at home and worked on this little guy.  He's probably going to be on the cover of my zine but I thought I might get him printed as an A4 print or postcard too.  Tiny t-rex? Giant teacup? Who's to say?

You are my cup of tea

Here is a new drawing I've been working on in the wee small hours; I've got a coffee version too:

 

I'm going to be bringing them along to the Auckland Art and Craft Fair, on next Saturday, the 30th of November.

How do you like your tea?  I have a cup of Earl Grey every night before bed and Mr. Millicent Crow always makes it too weak on purpose so that it won't keep me awake.  I grumble about the weak tea but secretly think it is nice!

What does the fox say?

I had another go at this drawing...think it turned out looking a bit more like me this time.  I guess the fox is not strictly to scale though...I have never seen a fox in real life and have always imagined them the size of a cat.  Mr. Millicent Crow assures me they're more the size of a dog!

Love is always making two cups when you only need one.

 

And ain't that the truth.  Something that I heard in a speech at a wedding a while back.  

 Here it is with the real life cups; I'm thinking of doing a tea one too for those who prefer tea.  Black, no sugar thanks!

I'm starting with the man in the mirror

I had a go at drawing a self portrait yesterday...it didn't really turn out looking like me and not just because I don't usually wear a fox around my neck!  But it was fun, back to the drawing board with that one I think!

The cat's pyjamas

A late night drawing that I inked and coloured this afternoon.  I've got this book called Cartoonimals out from the library which is about how to abstract animals into cartoons and I've been practising drawing cartoony cats.  My own cat has to be deeply asleep before I can draw her, otherwise she will attack my pen, but she would look pretty cute in a pair of fishbone pyjamas!

Gone the way of the dinosaurs

 On my lunchbreak today I went down the road for a coffee and sat at one of those big tables you share with strangers.  They were all having serious businesslike conversations and I...was drawing a dinosaur.  It made me laugh.  I'm going to draw a whole lot of dinos like this brontosaurus and turn them into a pattern for printing on fabric...I wouldn't mind a pair of dino print pyjamas!

And this 80s velociraptor patch is from a child's t shirt I bought from the op shop to cut up for patches.  You can see one of the other patches here.  Now what to draw next...T Rex or Triceratops?

In progress

Real and drawn plants, being turned into a pattern for printing on fabric...

Flourishes

The artwork I've been doing for The Explorers' Club lately has been mainly decorative flourishes and borders, making a kind of hand-drawn clip art that can be used in different ways for CD covers, programmes, posters and, most excitingly...screenprinted bunting!  Here are some of the borders and bits and pieces I've been working on - the lyre of Orpheus at the top of the border below is based on one of Mr. Millicent Crow's favourite brooches - our friends The Broken Heartbreakers brought it back from Poland.

And you'll be seeing this one soon on an album cover!

You are next in the queue...

I usually keep the things I'm waiting to draw on my drawing table in a loose sort of a queue, which can end up an odd assortment of things!  First in the queue I have this kakabeak branch, which Mr Millicent Crow kindly brought me on the plane from Wellington.  So far not too weird...  

 

But I've also got this gaggle of dinosaurs!

 

I want to make some dinosaur fabric, and seeing as I can't draw the real things from life I thought I'd draw them from some quite detailed dinosaur toys.  They probably wouldn't have had such a civilised meeting in the wild!

For review

 

Mr. Millicent Crow and I have just finished the artwork for the review copies of his new album...I drew the pictures (except for the map) and he did the layouts.   It's exciting seeing it all put together and to be able to make a few changes to it before the final copy comes out. 

This project has been good practice for drawing gramophones, hopefully I'll be better at it by the time the final version comes out!

Gentlemanly

A little collection of gentlemanly accessories that I've been drawing - they're illustrations for a cover I am working on for Mr. Millicent Crow's latest EP.  When they're on the album cover they'll be tiny, and in a repeating pattern.  I'm still finding gramophones a particularly challenging thing to draw! 

My creative space: cabinets of curiosities

It's so easy to overlook things that are right on our doorsteps, isn't it?  I realised the other day that despite working just a few minutes walk from the museum, I had only visited it once in over a year.  So I decided to make an effort to go there more to draw, and I've started with drawing the huia.

I've spent a few lunchtimes drawing these slightly bedraggled beauties - and getting a few weird looks from people.  I think drawing in public is a good thing to practise though!

The cat guarded them for a while, sadly the opposite of what would have happened in the wild:

And now that they're fully inked they look like this:

and this:

Now I'm playing around with them in Photoshop, making them into a design to be printed on fabric.

 I think it'd be great to have some huia fabric to make into pouches and bags and bits and pieces.

So hopefully I'll use that treasure trove of inspiration more often - I might draw some exotic butterflies next!

Joining in with "my creative space" over here today.

Happy Thursday!