Irregular Choice

I'm still drawing

2011-07-12T02:47:00.006+01:00

Don't let the lack of update let you think any differently. I've been working crazy hours for 6 months as a junior animator here at Aardman. It's been fantastic, but not left a lot of time for blogging. Only just coming out of the coma now, looking back through the scribbles made in Dailies and drawing up ideas. So there's more on the way.
Oh yes!

Rachel

2011-02-27T00:54:00.004Z

Moving house. Finding forgotten things, like receipts, bits of string I thought would be useful one day, old love letters and this sketch of Rachel. She'd come in for a chin-wag and then had a snooze on my bed. Pretty much sums up living together (aside from the wall climbing, dancing and bed-diving). I'll miss our housematey times. Change is good. You keep with you the things that matter. Recycle the things that don't. I keep thinking of a Douglas Adams quote at the moment, I can't remember it exactly but it's along the lines of - 'ask yourself, does it matter? And if it matters, does it matter that it matters?'
It's late and I'm talking shit.

One Last Thing

2011-02-04T01:39:00.010Z

I often find creative highs right before I have to stop. Last thing at night, over the dregs of my coffee, the final minutes of lunchtime. Like right now I'm avoiding going to bed. I don't know why, I'm exhuasted. These are a few sketches done right before I had to do something else.

Nightsun. Drawn whilst listening to this on repeat.

Ladies lunching in the winter sun.

Three beautiful Somalian women in Boston Tea Party. I love the shapes of their faces.

Art lovers at the Tate Modern.

And it's life drawing time again. A little rusty after such a long break. For a brief moment all the planets aligned and I was able to squeeze this one out. The moment passed and ineptitude returned. I shall be going again next week with the aim to get better.

Comickery

2010-11-14T15:14:00.002Z

It's been a long time since my last post, quite a shockingly long time. I've been working hard on my contribution to Tales of The Spiffing, a comic anthology for a certain cracking Bristol stop motion animation company! The gorgeous cover above is by Luis Cook. It's very, very exciting and will be published end of this year, my first book! Be sure I won't stop gibbering on about it and posting links to buy as well as a few rough sketches from my comic. Yipee!

Festival Time

2010-08-17T00:44:00.002+01:00

It's that festival time of year and it's breaking my heart that I'm not going to Greenman again (or indeed any festival). I can't even read the newsletter, it hurts too much. Right now I'd pretty much do anything for a ticket.

This is round the back of the Louisiana whilst waiting for The Acorn to play in June. I bit off more than I could chew in twenty minutes so I went back and finished it last week.

A Snow Story

2010-07-15T22:26:00.009+01:00

This is supposed to be viewed full screen but to save you all scrolling and scrolling I've put them into contact sheets. Please click on each image for the imax experience. Thanks, I hope you enjoy it.

Driveby

2010-07-05T00:37:00.003+01:00

As I drove home late last night, this view whipped past. The moon was so big.

You know you're not in Bristol anymore when

2010-06-29T23:50:00.003+01:00

the only cider on tap is Strongbow. I'm away from my lovely city for a couple of weeks and I'm suprised how much I miss it. I've been called to the big smoke for work which I'm both thoroughly enjoying and unable to talk about. Which is how I imagine Glastonbury was for those lucky 230,000 people; unspeakable fun.
Just a couple of sketches to bridge the ever increasing gap between story installments. (it's a biggun and taking a while to finish!) Here I tried to up my use of black, slightly happier with the second sketch and moreso with subsequent drawings for work. I'm drawing more and more on paper and falling out of favour with my cintiq. I took the wee beasty into work, plugged it in and then continued on paper. I had a whale of a time with my markers and felt far more content than usual. Maybe they spike the water up here. Yahoo.

A cameo from the Bristol Wills Building on the Triangle. Drawn from a cafe on the last morning in Bris. I enjoyed working into the black with the markers and making the line bleed a little.

And you know you're in Greater London when parks are fenced with iron and cower beneath the watchful eye of local council decisions circa 1985. I walked around the perimeter for 5 minutes trying to get in! I grew up around here but it's funny what you notice when you come back.
I probably won't live in Bristol forever but I think I've lost a little piece of my heart to the West Country that I'll never get back. Which is ok with me.

YOU MUST ENJOY YOURSELF

2010-06-08T00:40:00.003+01:00

It's fun to be an outsider and observe situations but I find it a bit upsetting to see unhappy people in forceably happy surroundings. I always want to take them home and make them a cup of tea.

There has been a short delay

2010-04-28T00:37:00.002+01:00

Good lord, nearly a whole month since my last post, shamefull. I've been really busy with work but I have many stories I'm desperate to draw up and post, hopefully I'll find time in the next week. Until then, here's just a couple of scribbly thumbnails for an old script of mine Mike The Telephonist.

Odds n Sodds

2010-03-28T10:48:00.005+01:00

Sifting through my folders last night I found a handful of drawings I hadn't posted, so I thought I'd clump them together. (which is such an appetising word) It's hard to be objective about your own work, especially if you're so used to looking at it and then flaying the skin from your back on a nightly basis for every mistake you made, like I do. I have Photoshopped the bloody finger prints off the pages for your digestive comfort!

Pieminister, St Nicks Market

The Caribbean food stall, St Nicks Market.

The Lanes. They now serve the famous Monmouth Coffee here, which drew me in one lunch time. It was no cup of Boson Tea Party Continental!

The Deli Cafe, St Ives. Her feelings for him were also on the menu.

Doodling in Photoshop.

Bit o life drawing.

Xeenie hard at work.

Comments are always appreciated, fank you.

Curly Fries & Ravioli

2010-03-14T16:00:00.002Z

Yesterday was lovely, one of the first days of spring. I was happily sat on college green sketching and banishing my winter blues at the same time.

However the drawing is unfinished because the following happened:

I have no idea what sort of buckles he was talking about.

Interference.

2010-02-15T22:45:00.003Z

These little boxes we carry around with us are supposed to make our lives simpler and more accessable. Well you know what, sometimes- they just don't. That is the end of the lesson.

The Lady Vanishes

2010-02-10T00:19:00.000Z

Hysterical women are always worth listening too.

2010-01-27T23:08:00.000Z

it must have been important.

2010-01-27T18:21:00.000Z

what to have, what to have...

It burns!

2010-01-26T01:10:00.001Z

I celebrated my first Burns Night in as Scottish a way as we Southerners could manage: With celeriac in the nips and sea shanties. Haggis is delicious. They don't teach you that at school. And of course the whisky, oh the whisky...

Vince holds court as our half Scot from England and Janette prepares suprise honey flapjack in Xeena's kitchen.

2010-01-25T00:45:00.000Z

America

2009-12-07T18:58:00.002Z

Thought I'd upload some sketches from my trip to California. I went with my good friends Kris Pearn and Matt Jones. We spent a whole week in a car together and didn't kill each other. But a pidgeon did die. They're both amazing artists and I found it a very inspiring trip- I have finally been bitten by the sketchcrawl bug and just want to draw all the time now. It is also my very first Moleskine, thanks to Donnie Long, and I can see what all the fuss is about and where my next paycheck will go. In reverse order they are!---

Tanners Coffee Shop, Playa Del Rey. Lovely beach side part of LA.

San Francisco. I don't think I spent enough time here to learn how to love this city. Every place has it's own rhythmn. We found a great bar in Haight, by far my favourite area in SF.

Jakes bar in Portland. I'm considering drawing and painting this one up. I LOVED Portland!

Salt Lake City showed us a good time for our one night stop over. Great rock pub which served excellent food and then into The Red Door martini bar where I got drunk in the name of trying everything. If I met any mormons, I couldn't tell the difference.

Hermosa Beach where our journey began in LA.

Getting on the blog train

2009-12-01T02:42:00.001Z

So I'm finally going to use this thing properly from now on. Early resolution. To kick things off, I have a massive dump *ha* of things I've been working on in the last couple of months. Here are some beat boards and concepts from my own projects. First is a feature script, working title The Engineers Cat.

And a short film of mine I'm writing, 'Dad's Coat'-

Now lots of life drawing done at the best life class I've ever been to, in lovely Bristol.

I've some sketchbook drawings I must scan in and post. Next time.

T is for Tea

2009-11-12T15:22:00.002Z

It's Lydiavilles Birthday today! Did a quick card for her as I missed the post yesterday. I must, must, must post on here more often.

2009-01-25T23:58:00.002Z

2009-01-12T12:05:00.003Z

2007-07-11T18:59:00.000+01:00

Shorties and Longies

Recent life drawing from Kilkenny of the lovely Anna, what a great model she was. Coming soon; some colour.

2006-10-25T17:40:00.000+01:00

And yet more storyboards!

....And a character page.

2006-10-23T18:40:00.000+01:00

More storyboards!