Oh, Let's Go Fly a Kite

I sent three cards last week.  The first two you've already seen, the third was for my Mother's boyfriend.  My Son calls him Grandpa, though he technically isn't he's taken on the roll with aplomb.  He likes flying kites, as does my mother, so the logical thing to do was a card of someone flying a kite.  Something as carefree as flying a kite didn't feel right having an overworked card, so I decided on something light and simple.  Japanese brushwork sprang to mind, and while the end result isn't as loose and natural as that tends to be I like it all the same.

Welcome Harrison Part 2: Mum

So I was fairly early on in the creation of the card from the last post when it dawned on me that I was going to need to d a second one; this time for Rachel, Stu's fiancée and the (then) expectant mother.  I didn't mind this at all, despite having only met Rach a handful of times I think she's great, and only wish I could spend more time seeing the both of them (a distance of 4,000 miles and an ocean between us makes that difficult, and more than a little expensive).  The problem is that while I like Rachel, I don't really know her, not in the way I know Stu, so I had no idea what to do for her card.  What I eventually came up with, and how I arrived at it, you can see after the break.

Welcome Harrison Part 1: Dad

So my best friend now has a Son, born last Tuesday morning.  this is a big deal in my book, and since I knew he was coming I figured I should do a card.  Well, that's a lie; the realization that I needed to do a card came to me shockingly late, and via one of those random things that like to just happen, but a card was the result.  You'll get the full story on the card below the break, right after a look at the artwork for the card itself.

September Catch-up

I was hoping to go for the hat-trick last night, but then I got distracted by a site dedicated to British road signs (don't ask, but it was more interesting than it sounds).  So, maybe I'll get it tonight; I have three posts to write, but I also have a large headache and need to get up early tomorrow, so we'll see what wins.
First up is some more random sketching.  I finally went back to basics on this one and just started drawing small, and very quick, gesture thumbnails.  These were so densely packed that I couldn't really split them into good vs bad, nor squeeze them into the usual square image.

Blart #7 Artists Choice

Two in one night!  How lucky you are.  Maybe I'll make it three and we can all pick favorites! Or not.
This one is actually out of order - it's the 7th Blart I drew, but it wasn't the 7th official one (That was Galactus I believe, which I did next).  Anyway, it was the artists choice Blart, so I chose Judge Dredd.  I originally chose Johnny Alpha, but then my brother mentioned that he was coming down the Blart pipe anyway, so I held off and did his occasional partner, occasional nemesis instead.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Like a man with blog constipation I'm not very regular.  Still, we shall see what nuggets I can produce over the next few days.  Okay, enough with the dire analogies (I just can't help myself), it's time for a post.

This one's just tying up some loose ends from last month (The next one does the same for this month).  It's a good, bad and ugly collection of sketches you'll find below - I wish I could hope it was worth the wait, but A) you ain't been waiting, and B) it won't be...

Blarts # 4,5,6 & 7

Despondent, that's the word that comes to mind about my feelings after the last post.  I don't really know why; it's not like the picture was that bad, bu that's how I felt nonetheless.  As a result I haven't posted for a while - I'd do some art, and then think "Meh, I don't have enough for a new post. Stuff it."  And then today I actually went through a few pages in my sketchbook, and I'd done rather more than I initially thought...  Quite a lot more in fact. Add to that that I was under the impression that I'd already posted some of the following and, well, I have some catching up to do.  4 Blarts in one post coming up - I've done more, but these were rough enough that I don't think they deserve a post each:

Face Forward

Time for a little progression test.  You may remember Nephania from way back in May, when I decided to use her as my artistic litmus test.  If you don't remember click her name and go catch up.  So, I still haven't contacted her, and in all honesty I probably won't until I can do an illustration with some resemblance.  Based on todays effort that might be a while yet.  Before I put the image up I should say that this is entirely eyeballed from the original image, and this time I gave myself an hour to lay it out, but not to finish it (Which took more like four).  If this was for anything important (Where it had to be a really good likeness for example) I would cheat, since I'm not good enough to do it any other way yet.  By cheat I mean use a grid to nail the layout, or even trace if it was important enough.  If I did either though I'd be very honest about doing so in this blog - that's kinda the point; to be honest about the work right?  I'll have a muse on "cheating" some other time, but for now let's see the results when I don't:

A Head of the Game

You love those corny post titles don't you?  Here's hoping I'm a head and face master before I run out of idioms involving those words.  Anyway, it's been a while since I posted an practice sheets, which is mostly because I haven't done as much as I should.  I have been drawing heads for the past few weeks though, and for the most part the (relatively) good outweigh the terrible.  These have mostly been slower pieces - I think I can get faster once I know how things hold together and I can nail the proportions more often than not, so right now I'm taking my time (5 to 20 minutes), and making a vague effort to get things more or less right.  OK, let's look at the good stuff first.

Playing at Cards

This is likely going to be a long post, with lots of images. I fully expect this one to chew up all my monthly allowance on uploaded images (because I'm a skinflint and don't pay for space - yet). Remember you can click the images to get a better view, though they still won't be as large as they were drawn. OK, enough waffle, let's get started - I created a card for my Brother's 31st birthday. I created it ages ago, I just couldn't post it until it was in his sweaty little hands.