Illustration Friday 'Bottled' and 'journey'

Having been bottled up in the office all day, Jake felt free as a bird behind the wheel of his cabriolet!

Having fun with collage!
Because I was so late posting this it has run into the next week's topic which luckily enough is 'journey'.

A dangerous entanglement

The topic for Illustration Friday this week is 'Entangled'
Well Mr. Snaffles is beginning to regret becoming entangled with this little cutie pie.
He just hopes she doesn't turn out to be a bunny boiler!!

Swine flu

Just being silly!
Illustration Friday's topic this week is 'Contagious'

Penguin Parade

Illustration Friday's topic this week is 'Parade'

Inspired by 'March of the Penguins'
If you're a penguin person this movie is a real treat, and if you're not a penguin fan you will be after watching it:)

Vaguely Matisse style figure drawing

I'm submitting these two drawings for Illustration Friday
This weeks topic is 'Poise'
The top one was sketched by looking only at the model, not at the page and done quite quickly.I love this exercise, the results are always interesting and funny.
And then I photoshopped the original in a vague sort of Matisse style
I did the second drawing from a photo of a fashion model in a magazine, I just liked her poise.

Illustration Friday 'Subtract'

Joshua's hair was really starting to get him down.



It was time to take action.



Wow, looking good, feeling great!
Take one messy matted fur-ball, subtract the excess hair, and voila you're left with one superdupper dapper dog!

Christmas Party Pals

"Is the hat really necessary" grumbled Toby, "yes,"replied Josh "it's a Christmas party for kids, they'll love you in it"
"Well, I feel ridiculous, like one of the seven dwarfs"
"Alright, Grumpy, lets go and have some fun, or is it Dopey?"
"Please, at least let me be Doc"

The boys are working out nicely, now I just have to develop a background style, that's the hard part for me.
Please, if anybody has background tips or ideas, I'd love to know about them.

Opinionated Pals

Toby was of the opinion that Joshua badly needed a haircut."I mean really, my dear chap" said Toby "you're looking rather scruffy, I can hardly tell if you're in there, I feel like I'm talking to a giant hair ball"
"Oh give it a rest Toby" Joshua replied "You know I hate going to the barbers, we're not all Dapper Dans like you, you know, and besides the grunge look is making a come back,so chill out dude."

Illustration Friday's topic this week is 'Opinion'.
These are two characters that I'm working on at the moment.
Joshua is the reincarnation of my Old English Sheepdog that I grew up with and loved dearly.He was a rogue and a slob and a real people person.
Toby is new to me, but he's definitely a another kettle of fish altogether! I wanted to create a contrast in the characters and have always loved Basset hounds, so he seems like a good choice.
Toby is very opinionated and Josh is very easy going, so they should rub along together nicely!

Pretending to be wise!

Illustration Friday's topic last week was 'Wise' and this week it's 'Pretend'
So I'm submitting two in one!
These lemurs are pretending to be the three wise monkeys!
See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.

" Wisdom is a variable possession. Every man is wise when pursued by a mad dog, fewer when pursued by a mad woman; only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion."

-Robertson Davies

Popper

He's a nice guy even if he is a bit vacant!
You know, the light's on but nobody's home:)
Well he's a popper, what do you expect!!?

Illustration Fridays topic this week is 'Vacant'
Acrylic on canvas 8" x 8"

Island

Illustration Friday's topic this week is 'Island'
This is an old acrylic on board that I revamped in photoshop.
Below is an edgier version.
I think the top one has a sort of dreamy oasis feeling whereas the second one is like the aftermath of over population and pollution!

Rooks on the brain

Crows are my passion at the moment.
Rooks in particular, they're so charismatic.
The juveniles strut around in gangs, squabbling and squawking and throwing shapes, just like teenagers!
I've been taking lots of photographs and now I've finally started to sketch from them.
I did these two with my Inktense watersoluble pencils and then finished them off in photoshop by posterizing them.
I think it gives the sketches a more dynamic look.

Have a look at the cutest odd couple, it's like something Walt Disney would have made a movie out of:)

PJ Lynch's slant on Vermeer's 'girl with the pearl earing'

'Boy with the blue base ball cap'




I came across this Irish Illustrator, P J Lynch, today at scamp

I'm in awe of his work and I can't wait to have my own copy of the book 'The Bee Man of Orn' which he has illustrated.
It looks so rich and intriguing, I just know I'll be sucked right in.
His youtube video is very interesting and he has a few others well worth watching too.
They take you right through his creative process, amazing stuff.

Ernie and his rubber ducky

8" x 8" Acrylic on canvas

Illustration Friday's topic this week is 'Memories'
Well I have very fond memories of watching Sesame Street and Ernie was definitely a favourite, actually he still is:)

The Owl and the Pussycat

Illustration Friday's topic this week is 'Sail'

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!'

First verse of the poem by Edward Lear
I had to look it up as I could only remember as far as '...a five pound note'
So I didn't realise there were stars involved!
Oh well they have actually sailed right through the night into the dawn and Mr.Owl has put his guitar away and they've eaten all the honey:)

Dandelion clocks

Illustration Fridays topic this week is 'Poof'

One dandelion clock, one big puff and poof it's gone with the wind to create lots more dandelions.
Great, just what the garden needs!
But still I can't resist.
Poof, there goes anther one!

Froggy Portrait

Illustration Friday's topic this week is 'Foggy'
So as you can see I'm taking artistic licence here by adding an 'r'!
The Froggy came out of the Foggy dawn and rolled away ribbuting to himself.

Acrylic on canvas 8"x8"

My penguin portrait

This little guy has been part of the family since my partner gave him to me thirteen years ago.
I'm very fond of him, he has a darling little hyperactive waddle when he's wound up, sometimes he gets so excited that he falls over his own feet!
And he delights in giving the cat Ms.Tippytoes a fright every now and then.
Well I decided to celebrate his longevity by painting his portrait.
This is just the first sketch, I intend immortalise him on canvas but first I need to do a few character studies:)

Dragon breath

Poor ol' Puff had a fierce case of bad breath, 'twould blow you away so it would!

This is my submission for Illustration Friday's topic, 'Fierce' .
I prefer the black and white version , but I went to so much trouble doing the colour one that I decided to post it as well, even though I don't think it really works.
Although I do like his nose in colour:)

Hoarding stuff

Illustration Friday's topic this week is "Hoard'

Well I'm a self confessed hoarder.
I cannot walk on the beach without picking up pebbles, feathers, shells or whatever else might catch my eye.
I cannot walk past a charity shop without having a good old rummage.
I cannot throw out a shirt without saving the buttons.
I have boxes big and small full of bits and bobs that I just know will be crucial to some artwork someday somewhere!
The fact that it has never happened yet doesn't stop the hoarding.
So for this weeks Illustration Friday I gathered some treasures together in a sort of display case format.
I haven't worked out the logistics of keeping it all together to be able to hang it on the wall yet.
But I must say I thoroughly enjoyed playing with my precious hoard, it was like meeting old friends!
Below are a few close-up photos.