I had a whole folder full of artwork masters, so I decided to stick them into sketchbooks this afternoon (these kraft paper folio-sized books are around £6 from Muji). I tend to draw the line artwork by hand with a non-photo blue pencil and posca marker, and correct mistakes/add the colour digitally.
Tag: posca markers
Pinup Payback- Anti sexual harassment campaign
I recently made this poster for Pinup Payback, a feminist/anti-sexism organisation in Medway run by a friend. I was given the theme of “girls just want to have fun” without creeps, so here are some gooey, sticky creeps. My hometown has a really disproportionate rate of sexual assault for the population, and a lot of people whose attitudes are stuck far, far in the past. Growing up there, and also going back to visit, I have had men say the most appalling and disgusting things to me and my friends, far more than any other place I know. This poster (along with training for staff) will be going up in the pubs and bars in town that sign up to the campaign to show customers that if someone if harassing you, the venue promises to take it seriously, a campaign also being run in London by Hollaback.
To find out more about the campaigns, phone app and to donate, visit the website.
(and yes, girls in this instance does include anyone who feels they fall into that category)
Kerguelen Islands
Recently I was looking up something on a map, and my eyes were drawn to the Kerguelen Islands at the bottom. They seemed quite substantial, yet I’d never heard of them. It turns out they belong to France, are uninhabited except for a few scientists, and are full of penguins and cabbages. Sailors used to stop off there to have a grim cabbage feast to fend off scurvy. Here is a lonely penguin in the cabbage fields. I will never have another reason to draw that. The picture is available as a print and various other items on Society 6.
Lassay les Châteaux
Last month I went to visit my mum in France. She lives just outside a small town called Lassay les Châteaux. It does indeed have several ruined castles. It’s on the Pays de la Loire / Normandy border, and most of the houses in town are old stone cottages. She considered buying one, but it was too damp. When people are thinking of France being cosmopolitan and chic, they are not thinking of rural Normandy. It’s a lot like Derbyshire, but without the mountains. The local cuisine is heavy on tripe, bacon and sour cream, served with teacups full of cider (there are two rival triperies in another nearby town). While I was there, I mostly ate my own weight in brioche and sour cream, and sat in the sun reading a book about the post-war political history of Europe. I took quite a lot of photos on film, so I’ll wait until I have those developed before writing more.
Life Drawing
Last night I went with some friends to a life drawing class in the basement of a pub in Stoke Newington. I went to life drawing most weeks when I was in 6th form, but have been very sporadically every since. I think the last time I went was 9 months ago. Usually they’re in some sort of neon-lit municipal hall. This one was in a purple room, with music playing and with the most flattering lighting I’ve ever seen at a life drawing class. It was nice, I’m going to go back. Usually returning to life drawing after a long break makes me want to cry in frustration, because my pen just won’t do what I need it to do, but it wasn’t so bad this time. I didn’t produce anything of any value, but it was a good start, and I’ve lost the knack of foreshortening and hands. Here are my sketches. I had to resort to taping them to the door and photographing them, because the paper was too big for the scanner. I always write comments all over my sketches. Is that the drawing equivalent of talking to yourself?
Space is Ace
Tomorrow at Power Lunches in Dalston, my friend Melanie is putting on an event with her compadres from the Art & Science MA at St Martins. There’s going to be bands, sound art, projections, edible sugar glass planets, and a very large amount of tinfoil. I did the artwork for the flyer. If you like it, and are coming to the event, you will be able to buy A3 posters of it (a few people asked already). I don’t know the exact prices yet, because I haven’t got them printed yet, but the b&w edition will be roughly £1.50 and the colour version more.
Sketching
I’ve had the bug that’s been going around over Christmas, albeit not badly, but I haven’t really done as much work/creative stuff as I’d like. Here’s some sketches I did this afternoon. I didn’t really plan what I was drawing, I just started making some lines and went from there. Mostly I just wanted to try out the white marker.
Et tu, pipio?
Last March, I drew these fat pigeons for Moogie Wonderland’s Ides of March event. I did a silhouette projection about Julius Caesar, and made some fortune telling games based on the Roman practices of divining by watching birds or inspecting livers. The birds read “turn me over for your fortune”, and were hung up with strings around the room (you can see that version here).
Printable Castle
I drew this castle that you can cut out and fold. There are two pdf versions for A4 paper and US Letter. By the way, it’s deliberately trapeze shaped rather than rectangular, so if you make it, don’t worry about one side being longer.
Were Pigeon
I drew a werepigeon for Tukru . It was a silly private joke, and she insisted I drew it. So I did. I don’t draw much. It’s for a halloween zine she’s putting together, you should make something for it (details here). It’s probably good that I gave her the drawing before it frustrated me so much I threw it in the bin. This is what always happens when I draw stuff.