Subarachnoid Haemorrhage

I was asked by my mother to do a picture of her to use on   an invitation to a 'small raising of a glass' she was having to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of not dying from a subarachnoid haemorrhage.

So i did this, which i think is a pretty good likeness... those who know her might agree.

It has to be in black and white for printing purposes, and done in photoshop due to technical difficulties with my Painter software, and time restraints. Though given this experience, i might use photoshop a little more now...

Life Drawing Sketchbook (part 1)

 Thought i'd scan in a few images from a recent life drawing session i did and put them up here.

I'm fairly confident and happy with my understanding of anatomy, and normally can draw from imagination well enough to satisfy my inner critic. It's been a very long time since I've done life drawing, possibly close to 20 years, and i was faced with the realization that this was actually kinda tricky... i felt pretty retarded trying to draw the person before me, and not fall back into the unconscious habits of drawing a posture from my imagination.

I was also , really trying to get my head around foreshortening, and in some instances fairly extreme foreshortening, and life drawing really helped with that.

Feet too; i was looking for feet. I just can't get them right most of the time for some reason, and again, this really helped. That being said, i haven't uploaded many of the feet ones i liked... maybe next time.

Same Thing Every Year

Another pencil in sketchbook piece.

Not sure what the thing is on his head is - possibly a leech, or a hat with teeth.

Terrible scan though. Will have to try it again...

Submitted for Illustration Friday topic: Perennial.

The Smallest Gesture

The feel of lead dragging across good paper. Love it.

Another sketch that began with no real direction while sitting around.  The location of the ears was helped along by my 3yo who found the pencil and sketch pad while i was out one evening, and drew one of them in. I had been thinking about placing them low, but i guess he helped finalise the decision....

Submitted for Illustration Friday topic Gesture.

It Is Not A Toy. (work in progress - 2)

Got a bit more time at it last night while watching telly.

It Is Not A Toy. (work in progress)

Good Lord! Is it late March already? I haven't put up anything since before Christmas.... after a very dark and long winter, filled with flu after flu being passed on between the 2 kids, the missus and myself (we all nearly drowned on the amount of snot pooling in the house), it would appear all is clear, the sun is back, and the finger has been pulled out.

So to ensure people that I haven't died, I thought i'd put up a sketch i'm working on, more of a doodle really. It began yesterday when the Girl was asleep (finally) and i had a hankering for drawing, but couldn't leave her alone in case she fell off the couch.

This is not digital, by the way.

It's been quite some time since i used pencil for anything other than scratching out ideas for complete works - really rough sketches - so i took the time here to feel the lead on the surface of the page, and just see where it took me. I'm still not sure where it is taking me, other than i know i probably should have started this in a larger notebook... the spiral bind is going to stop me being able to finish the top of the head, and  the chin may loose out too. ~sigh~
Let's call this a work in progress; I'll put up more as it progresses....

Blacker Pastures

I've been playing with image ideas to go with the name of this blog. The name Blacker Pastures came from the idea that where greener pastures might be better than where you are, blacker pastures might be worse some how.

I found after 4 or 5 years living in The Emerald Isle there was a few different aspects that made me think that perhaps i'd moved to blacker pastures, which is in a sense why i started this blog - to pull my self out of a rut, and find something positive to focus on, and drawing and illustration has generally been has always been something that i enjoyed.

So in a somewhat literal translation of the phrase this image was produced.

A field or pasture - plenty of those in Ireland.

Lashing rain - plenty of that in Ireland, and on of the things that had begun to kill me.

Black ink and simple, chosen to make it kinda blocky and 'logo'.

Originally i was thinking of a making the animal a sheep, as it's what i think of when i think of pastures (possibly cows too), but i've had a few run ins with goats driving in the country, and i like the silhouette more. Besides, they're horny...

Submitted for Illustration Friday topic "Proverb", after finding the proverb "When rain fall, sheep and goat have to mix" (Trinidad and Tobago).

I stopped at the goat....

Surprised At Discovering No "Serious Consequences" Under The Sofa, The Taoiseach Practices His Look Of "Steely Resolve"

Taoiseach (tee-shuck) is the Irish official term given for the leader of the country; the equivalent, i suppose, of Prime Minister. The unofficial term given for the this leader of the country, is "Biffo".

Triggered by a great line uttered by a friend, in response to the news that there would be "serious consequences" for Israel should any harm come to the Irish being held after the Gaza aid flotilla massacre. Article here.

It was also a chance to practice painting this man, possibly the most uninspiring of individuals....

The Runner

Quick sketch of a beer bellied man in a large hat running nude though a post apocalyptic wasteland.

I can't really explain this one, other that i was doing a study of shadows on the man, and clothes got in the way; and also doing a study of background-as-pale-blur.

I've plans to revisit this at some point, but I'm not sure why....

Swamp Man

Quick sketch of a swamp dwelling man. Wanted a feeling of wisdom and patience, with a twinkle in the eye.

The swamp scenes from Ten Canoes got me thinking about how one might live in such an area. Clearly, you'd need stilt legs.

I've plans ot revisit this at some stage...

The Girl On The Hill

Quick sketch of a girl in a hill, with a fantasy vibe. Wanted a curious expression, and a posture of contained anticipation.

Like she's wondering whether to hurt someone or not, but in a nice way.

I've plans to revisit this at some stage....