A weird little project i started a while ago. All pictures are based on, more or less, drawings from my childhood. Hence the childish style and story. I'm not going insane, so you know, yet...
Been a busy couple of weeks, school holidays are always a bit tricky to find time. I have been working on some illustrations for a software product that my husband and I are building so I can't share those at this stage but I was back at the gallery today sketching with my new drawing group, I spent most of my time with a bunch of Mesoamerican statues. I am starting to not get so freaked out by people watching me draw :)
Bun in Space, I forgot to add the stars. I see so many completely finished drawings and paintings on this site. I am not sure if it's for doodles and sketches or for finished pieces. It's confusing.
An article/rant/annotation to an illustration. A #Hackney bar and its flies.
This picture is not as sad and blue as it might at first seem, I promise.
It is early in the week and the pub becomes the territory of the most outspoken drinkers. Raised somewhere between Churchill and Harold MacMillan, a night such as this is time for them to spin out a yarn of nostalgic fantasy. Encouraged by the lack of a crowd and with space to fill, statements start to fly.
In the opening rounds the barman athletically hits back with factual blocks and reality-check haymakers; statistics and personal experiences are given. Two histories cross examined, one where 1982 means Thatcher and the Falklands, the other renders Reagan and the AIDS crisis. Stoicism and national pride vs mental health and realism.
In the latter rounds the barman is fatigued, swaying on the backbar, glasses begin to stack up as form begins to drop. The older men seem stronger than ever.
The barflies come in close now, they scrutinise his generations work ethic and make wild political comments on poverty, immigrants and the minimum wage.
The barman is close to sheer bloody despair, he maintains his defence and focuses on breathing while maintaining his professional stance.
But at the end of the night the barman knows HE will ring that bell, they will politely leave and they will return again in a week and maybe, just maybe there will be a change, common ground or maybe at least polite silence.
But what these interactions have given despite the salt in the eye is community and an exchange between generations, culture and class of those participating. No home is ever straight forward, no relative without their good and bad traits and in a world where we often slide into echo chambers online or in our physical environments, the pub is still a place where society is family, face to face, pint to pint. Or maybe it's just a room with alcohol on tap?
The Super Bloom is still going in SoCal! On the trail are poppies, daisies, alyssum, pansies and now the mustard grass is in bloom. My process was an iPhone photo, then a drawing with color and then collage in Photoshop.
The Super Bloom is still going in SoCal! On the trail are poppies, daisies, alyssum and now the mustard grass is in bloom. My process was an iPhone photo, then a drawing with color and then collage in Photoshop.
The Super Bloom is still going in SoCal! On the trail are poppies, daisies, alyssum and now the mustard grass is in bloom. My process was an iPhone photo, then a drawing with color and then collage in Photoshop.
The Super Bloom is still going in SoCal! On the trail are poppies, daisies, alyssum and now the mustard grass is in bloom. My process was an iPhone photo, then a drawing with color and then collage in Photoshop.
The Super Bloom is still going in SoCal! On the trail are poppies, daisies, alyssum and now the mustard grass is in bloom. My process was an iPhone photo, then a drawing with color and then collage in Photoshop.
Ye know how it is, a brand new sketchbook and a blank white page, at first it's exciting "what am I going to put in here" but that pristine blank white page keeps staring up at you and you start to think "crap! what am I going to put in here?" So I just doodled and put some thoughts down and doodled around that until the whole page was filled with one big doodle... it broke the silence and started the magic...yeah I said it, super cheesy!
I was assigned in art class to draw/paint/whatever something to do with reset... at first I, just like everyone else, pictured a reset button. After some thinking though, I remembered how each time my family moved from state to state, it was like I had a reset button, a fresh new start. Also, haha fun fact, the random sharpie lines were a result from listening to fast pace rock.
Another doodle I did starting with 3 blank boxes, and then I just go with it, trying not to think too much. This little kitty makes me smile. So do the flowers!
Started with an idea this morning but not really a plan so I'm not 100% where this one is going but I have certainly had fun getting it to this point, looking forward to getting stuck into it again tomorrow.
In an attempt to be much more consistent with my drawing practice (and to tackle my insecurities about showing people my drawings) I am hoping that posting some of my sketches online will help keep me accountable. So day 1 sketch, I managed to find a very cheap used college set of Rotring Rapidograph pens online, when they arrived today I was delighted to see that they had NEVER been used! After a bit of a happy dance I got a couple of the pens assembled and started to figure out how they work. This is a quick sketch on tracing paper not that I was tracing anything I just need to invest in better paper with less tooth to be able to use these pens without having ink flow issues.
Inktense blocks. This is one of a whole series of portraits I've done of people's selfies with a galaxy background. My goal with the series is to show just how beautiful and powerful and Universal selfies are. Selfies are a valuable tool in self-love and self-acceptance. We take photos of all the things we love, but so often leave ourselves out. We all struggle to accept our own skins, and often give up, but as Carl Sagan said, "We are made of starstuff," and we are all worth photographing.
This is part of my daily Sketchgrind day 11. That's how I felt when I quit my job working in a highly competitive office job in the financial sector and started to work full time as an artist. One oft he best decisions I have ever made, I flourish and develop every day, living life on inspiration. I also made a mini animation https://youtu.be/9aMjPPK5yCc .
If you want to see more check out my Patreon Page https://www.patreon.com/uliunique
This is the first and only portrait I've done of my daughter [Rae] when I decided to get back into drawing and start trying portraits 2 yrs ago. I've worked on other portraits since and my skills are improving however this is still one of my favs
