Northumberland sketchbook & rocks!

A trip to Northumberland to spend a week in a cottage meant lots of big sky beach walks, fresh sea air and castle views. Here’s a selection of pages from my sketchbook and some doodles on rocks too! Fave moments include seeing the dogs go crazy on the sand, end of day light and watching the world go home for tea from the castle walls, and seeing a half yellowing moon hanging over the dunes, backdropped with a star-pocked sky.

Sketches from a hot place

Several weeks ago myself and my partner, Josie went off to Lanzarote to visit her cousin and nieces. It’s the kind of location I probably wouldn’t head to as it’s quite rocky and barren looking in the photos, and I’m not much one for just lying on a beach (English skin ahoy..)

It was such an interesting little island though, and we had a great time! I took my sketchbook and pocket watercolours, doing little doodles when I got chance (we were only there for 5 days and the nieces were high energy!). Highlights included a cactus garden and falling asleep with the sound of the sea from our apartment window. Lush!

Annecy Animation Festival 2019

It’s been a few weeks now but I’ve finally got a bit of time to sort my post-Annecy notes and sketches. I haven’t been for a while, this being my fourth trip. It never fails to inspire you and re-ignite your love for animation! You come away wanting to DRAW haha!

The ticketing system is a bit more high tech than when I last went…all QR code scanning and app booking. It took me a few days to get the hang of this as I seemed to have missed booking ANYTHING. Luckily I bagged an additional screening of ‘I lost my body’ (j’ai purdu mon corps) which was being produced at the last studio I worked at (Pipangai) on Réunion Island.

This film was EPIC. Exactly the kind of animation and storytelling I love to see in a feature at the moment, as it felt very fresh and engaging. It was a bit of a downer of a film. I mean, it’s French so of course it’s moody 😉 But it is beautiful in the way it was executed and blows the socks off anything else in the independent circuit right now. The first 5 minutes are sooo cool. It’s not the sort of shot choices you see in a 2D animated film (probably because of the directors background and the combining of 3D and 2D tools). Here’s a trailer:

I got my head around the ticketing eventually and saw a load of great short films (for me, these are the best bit of festivals). The range of styles and forms the storytelling takes is the big THING that inspires me. I wrote a bunch of notes along side sketches, hence why the long decode time as I’m often writing in the dark..! I met many lovely people there including old friends, which is always a big highlight. I got to chat away to many folks at Toon Boom whom I’ve never met in person, but I’ve recently completed some promo work for as part of their 25th anniversary. You can watch that below:

There’s a whole section of the Annecy festival called Mifa, which is sort of the business area. You can have meetings here, go check out companies who make software, studios who are recruiting, and so on. You’ll often get some freebies too! I did a fair amount of chatting here, so the week was quite busy all in all. I DID manage to squeeze some sketching in though. I’ve also got a collection of sketches from my half day in Geneva before I headed home, which I’ll aim to post soon. I’d like to add some colour to more of these, as the scenery was so bright and often I didn’t get time to paint on location. The storms rolled in for a few days, which meant there was a real contrast! Could’ve just spent a week there sketching and painting, never mind all the films! Here’s a gallery of sketches and many more photos (iPhone is just a bit too easy). I took a disposable black and white camera that I bought in the airport on a whim. When I get those developed, I’ll post a few! I met one of my heroes, Ronnie Del Carmen there. He as a lovely chap and I’ve been a fan of his work and comics for years. We have a lo-fi selfie, so I’ll be sure to post him one when the roll is finished 🙂

Trips in America

We arrived back from a 16 day U.S.A experience yesterday, going from Chicago, into Wisconsin, marriage things and then to New York for a final bit of fun. It was a GREAT holiday and we crammed in so much. The weather was everything from warm, sweaty and sunny to windy, stormy and tornado inducing (no really, we had an alert whilst in Chicago..!) I played golf at some amazing courses, met a lot of ace people (and dogs) and watched my brother get married. The U.S.A is always great fun for me, as for all its faults, it still holds this feeling of freedom for a little boy from old England. Maybe it’s all the Americana I grew up on, but you can’t help but share in a little excitement at the novelty of it all.

Sketches & photos

I made a few sketches amongst the madness, many of which were in New York when there was more time to reflect on things. I did snap a fair amount of pictures, practising with the new camera (low light settings ALMOST mastered!). For now, here’s a snippet of those things.

Unexpected moments from the trip

– Finding out that Sheboygan, WI is a beautiful town with a strong creative vibe (who knew).

– Williamsburg is cool. It was expected, but it was even cooler than I imagined and we had a great time there. The independent shops are awesome.

– Friendly New Yorkers. We met many helpful, kind people there just in passing on the street, at night, etc. Not the stereotype! Mainly off Manhattan island, it has to be said.

– Playing some of the best golf of my life at Whistling Straits G.C. That day will forever live in my memory and I shall not let anyone forget my long game prowess.

– Discovering that Dexter has a rival for the cutest dog in the world. Meet Katrink, of Old Town, Chicago.

Athletic lizards

Okay maybe not lizards that run track or anything, but bear with me…

When I was working away last year I used to see these funky lizards on the wall below the studio window. They’d be sitting out in the scorching midday sun practically frying to the concrete. There were two distinct types, green lizards and the grey/black ones with orange heads. Some of them were a foot long and could move very quickly when bothered! My favourite thing they did was their ‘push up’ routine. When they saw another lizard, they’d immediately enter into a push up contest, bobbing quickly up and down until one clearly gave in due to lack of muscles 😉

He’s a sketch of the triumphant winner. I gave him the name Limmy as he was the most frequent wall visitor and also the one who was most likely to get squashed by a car, judging by his road safety choices. This has absolutely no linkage to why he’s called Limmy, he just felt like one.

The sketch was made in the brilliant (and FREE) Krita software. Support them with a donation if you like what you see, and don’t forget to feed back on your experiences or wish lists! I do love the brush selection but often wish the handling of masks was a little more straight forward. But maybe I’m just used to a different method 😀 Can’t complain for free eh?

push up lizard

Birds of Mauritius

When we were over on Reunion Island there was time for a short trip to the Mauritius. It’s an AMAZING island with beautiful scenery, delicious food and very kind people. There was only one downside to our trip and it was that we were robbed on the way to the airport, losing all our possessions (including passports, camera, sketchbooks, phone, etc)…they just left our suitcase as they obviously couldn’t carry that! But even though it was a tricky few days following and not the cheapest trip after all the extra costs, we were so thankful for the people who helped us and made the experience more of an enlightenment than one massive downer.

I did this sketch when trying out the software Krita. It’s really decent and FREE! It was completed after the trip, so it’s probably a little flatter on the ‘life’ side of things (I always think an on location sketch has a bit more ‘oomph’ than something from a picture) but alas the sketchbook from that day was nicked! I hope the perps have had a good read of it and it’s inspired them to take up drawing themselves 😛 Maybe not hey.

Mauritius-birds

A pair of Red-whiskered Bulbuls sitting on a fence

 

Sketches from New Zealand

NZ sketches

Sketches from New Zealand? But you live in England! So, why?

Well, I spent the end of 2017 and early 2018 in Australia and New Zealand, travelling around with my girlfriend. She was touring a theatre show and as I could continue my animation work with just my laptop and an internet connection, I took the office on the road for a short while! It was great fun and allowed me to meet her family on the New Zealand side, down in Christchurch.

Christchurch

We spent a week there over Christmas, enjoying their summer whilst everyone was shivering back home (sorry, but the gloating rights are still being exercised!) We stayed with her brother and his girlfriend, who live in a traditional workers cottage on the edge of town. It’s even got a tin roof! It was pretty special. I learnt a lot about the town and how it’s still recovering after the massive earthquakes that destroyed most of the buildings and infrastructure back in 2011. It’s still got these containers which acted as pop up shops until new ones were built. They were due to be de-commissioned just after we left, the extent of the re-build project being so huge.

Kaikoura

We also travelled to Kaikoura for a few days, which was actually pretty stormy and a bit chilly! I wasn’t prepared for it at all. The bay was beautiful though and we saw the seals flopping about on the pebbles and near the benches. They had zero interest in humans!

Bay view, NZ

I love to sketch when I’m travelling, although I sometimes struggle to get myself to actually do it! Carving out the time can be tricky when there’s often a limited amount during a vacation, but if I do I always find the images bring back so many memories of the trip. It’s worth it in the long run! I still remember the chilly feeling waking up in Kaikoura, almost like we’d camped as the house was a rambling self build with bits added on and varied materials throughout. Very cool! Seeing the tops of the mountains across the bay tipped with cloud can make you feel very small indeed, especially after the rain storm the evening before. The plants were still looking perky though (and so exotic!)

Jumping out of planes

NZ skydive

Look at my funky hat I had to wear, very professional 😉

For Christmas my girlfriend, Josie bought me a skydive. I’d always wanted to get that close to flying but when I actually was presented with the gift I was instantly bricking it! When we were going up in the little plane, I was very calm (like I’d accepted my fate) but this did me favours as it allowed me to enjoy the free fall and parachute much more. Zipping through the damp clouds then seeing the patchwork of Canterbury appear before you was unbelievable. I would definitely go again! So massive thanks to Josie for it 😀

Anyway, I hope you like my short selection of New Zealand sketches. I wish I could do a tour and JUST draw. One of my aims is to make a book collecting all my sketches that I love. I’ll have to see if I can carve out some time for that!

Bath Spa town sketching

Bath Spa sketch

I was recently in the lovely town of Bath Spa. A GREAT place with lots of beautiful buildings and surrounded by big, bushy trees this time of year! Here’s a sketch from Kings Mead Square whilst having a coffee break in the sun. Fun fact: the famed waters of Bath Spa taste like eggs. NICE.

Bath Spa sketch

The cafes around this little area are buzzing nowadays! The whole of the U.K is constantly hopped up on coffee 🙂

Nuremberg Zoo

Zoo sketching

This weekend just gone I took advantage of those cheap European flights we have over here and hopped across to Nuremberg. My friend and I did the ‘find the cheapest deals online and book it’ kind of thing, without any specific reason to go. I think this made it more fun actually! Just wandering around and working things out, rather than the standard super researching that goes on with most Internet booked trips.

We ended up going to Nuremberg’s Tiergarten Zoo, which is set is a massive, sprawling park and includes a beer garden!

It was a sunny day, so we did a bit of sketching, had a pretzel, a beer and an ice cream. #DasKugel Top day out!

Nuremberg zoo sketches

Nuremberg zoo sketches along with some German chaps at the tram stop

Tate Britain lighting studies

Lighting Studies

I’m gradually working through my old sketchbooks, photographing a few of the pages and putting them together into some form of collection. Whilst the process goes on, I’ll post the interesting ones on the blog. Just for the CRAIC (Irish people very unhappy with my usage of that phrase right now). And to show search engines I’m better than Adams Oliver syndrome (no seriously it’s a real thing, check it out).

Here are a few studies from Tate Britain down London way. I sketched them in pen and shaded a little with grey, then when I got back home I added a bit more light and dark. The main aim of these was to work on capturing light, and keep the drawings quick so I didn’t get lost in detail. I love a quick sketch, probably because if it’s rubbish I’m not too disappointed! These were all around 5 minutes each.

Tate Britain sketches

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