Something a little different...

I was just contemplating album covers and how they used to be a showcase for new ideas and art forms. These days so many of them look and feel the same. Anyway, I thought I'd have a go and see if I could come up with something for the Green Day album 'Warning'. It may look a little odd but each image is referencing a track on the CD. The inflatable child is from the Macy's Day Parade- in case you were wondering!

Illustration Friday- 'Simple'

How hard could it be to get a parcel from A to B? I won a lovely pair of shoes on eBay before Christmas, paid and waited patiently for them to arrive. I even took into account the dreaded 'Christmas Post'. Today I finally gave up on ever seeing them. My bank won't get me my money back, Paypal say there is nothing they can do and eBay say nothing at all. Royal Mail offered me a refund if I had a postal receipt. Thing is, I didn't send the parcel so I don't have the receipt do I?

And then I read this. Apparently one post office worker had been stealing items for over ten years. I can't even begin to explain how angry that makes me. I don't think it should be acceptable for things to go missing in the post in this day and age. It should be very simple.

Illustration Friday- 'Chair'

As ever it was the first thing that popped into my head. I'm very impulsive when it comes to my image-making. I work on the theory that my first thought is often the strongest idea.

Thinking of Father's Day...

Just an idea I was kicking around with as I tried to think of images for Father's Day. My Dad used to do this with Scalectrix. He'd buy us the track and the cars and spend ages setting it up just so he could play with it. He did the same with the lego except he'd let us play- he'd just keep the best pieces as he was making a spaceship or moonbuggy. Nowadays he doesn't have us as an excuse so he buys Dinky toys because they are 'collectable'. Awww, bless.

Check this out!

Its my first bookjacket to go to print and its on Amazon! Excuse me whilst I go do my victory dance quietly in the corner of the room...

Illustration Friday Number Two!

I'm such an eager beaver that I've completed two illustrations for this week's topic. I remember being told once that if anyone ever intimidates you- just imagine them sitting on the toilet. Works every time!

Illustration Friday- 'Glamour'

Or in my case- never. I'd just settle for looking half decent :-).

Happy New Year for those of you who were out celebrating yesterday!

It is also my astrological sign (no bad jokes please- I've heard it all before). Dogs are apparently Honest, Dependable, Diligent, Perceptive, Selfless, Caring, Moody, Fun-loving and Adventurous. Check out this link to see what sign you are...

Just an idea I had that made me laugh....

Sadly my attempt at Charlie Sheen looks more than a little like John Cusack, whilst Martin Sheen bears a certain resemblance to Christopher Walken. Ah well. I may have borrowed the idea of not showing God's face from the Simpsons. Credit where credit is due!

I think he may have been wearing protective equipment...

You wouldn't bee-lieve (sorry) how long it took me to draw and then colour in each individual bee. I figured it would be worth it for the final overall effect.

Andy 'The Viking' Fordham

This guy is a champion darts player and I saw a picture of him and was inspired. He just begged to be drawn.

Illustration Friday- Cats

This one was a joy to draw. The images are quite small though so I hope they are clear enough to view onscreen. I love cats. I love it when they are licking themselves and stop but forget to put their tongues back in. I love their absolute sense of dignity that makes them all the more hilarious when something humiliating happens to them...

I made the top 100!

My image has made it through to the top 100 in the 100 Shirts Competition. This means it will be made into a t-shirt and appear in the exhibition in Liverpool. Check out the 100 Shirts website to view the other entries and cast some votes!

Actually quite a sad tale...

It seems that Ai Ai took up the habit upon the death of her first mate. Her keepers realised she would have to quit when her health began to detiorate and so created a four week plan to wean her off the fags...

I'm having fun with these news stories

And there are so many bizarre tales to choose from! I particularly like my penguin in this piece and I've tried putting the text across the image for once.

Just don't answer it...

For my Dad who is suffering from something nasty

Hey Dad! Here is the illustration as you asked but I decided against sticking the stamp on the poor rodents head as it's been through enough trauma already! I hear that one of the two lads has been banned from keeping pets for ten years after this little drunken 'prank'.

A Penguin's Right to Choose...

According to the article they flew in some lady penguins from Sweden and were planning on an enforced seperation between the happily paired-up males. Gay rights protestors pointed out that this was unfair and the zoo decided to simply release the females in with the males in the hope that the coming breeding season will bring about other urges. The penguins are of a rare breed but I think the old adage of "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink" is very apt here.

Cow Convict

And if you don't believe it read this.

Slay your own dragons!

I was doodling last night and I rather liked the results so I did some scanning this morning and a bit of colouring in. I guess it's actually turned into a small statement about women's rights...

Another one of those arcane laws...

Strange how a lot of them come from the USA. I have to say it's not a bad law though, unless you are the guy with the soup that is. Everybody knows soup is easier to eat straight from the bowl. Let's just do away with spoons and forget those nasty Victorian manners that make life that little bit more complicated.

Buy my Badges!

I've submitted some designs to a great new site called Prickie who create badges designed by artists. It's well worth taking a look as there is some really good work on there...

P.S. I've got a link on the right that takes you directly to my page in the store or you can just click here if you are feeling lazy!

E is For Edinburgh

This week's Illustration Friday submission. Edinburgh is my current home and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The particular bit that I have drawn is Victoria Street, a winding colourful street that curves up from the Grassmarket. It is, of course, named after me!

In all seriousness, if you ever get the chance to visit Edinburgh jump to it like a shot. I came up to see someone else and ended up moving here. The architecture is amazing, the vibe is fantastic and- despite being a capital city- it has a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. I'll stop now before I start sounding like I'm being paid by the Scottish Tourist Board!

Last week's Illustration Friday submission...

And I know it is a week late but I'm back on my beloved PC once again so I thought I would scan the sketches I did and make something from them. The theme was 'Flavour' and I did some research into tastebuds. A newborn baby has the most active tastebuds and these gradually lose their sensitivity as you get older. This explains why kids hate certain kinds of food and it also is a clear case for not forcing them to eat things they say they hate. Strong flavours become less of a problem as you get older and this explains how people's tastes change.

Full marks for creativity...

According to a local newspaper he thought the cotton would soak up the alcohol. Only thing is, it would still be in his stomach wouldn't it? When up before the judge he caused havoc in the courtroom as observers struggled to maintain their composure.

Illustration Friday- Sea

I'm guessing most of them suffer from it when actually at sea, not just on a day-to-day basis! Apparently after seven days at sea most people get over it and "find their sea legs". I get sick even at the idea of a boat and when I lived in Germany and we took the ferry back and forth I would always have to stand outside. I've stood on a ferry deck in all kinds of weather with fellow sufferers throwing up all around me. I've yet to actually join them but I certainly feel like I'm going to for most of the trip.

Birds in the City

I've not posted anything recently as I'm visiting my parents and their computer struggles to run Photoshop. I'm also a little confused by their scanner's determination to use 'lpi' as a measurement of resolution rather than 'dpi'!?

The image above is for the 100Shirts Competition and was hurriedly drawn and laboriously scanned by me today. To make matters worse I also have the plague and am permanently doped up on a mixture of hot toddies and Lemsip. Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

I've just been sorting through my CD collection...

And I found a Beatles album that I think belongs to my Dad. I don't really listen to half of my CD's because I have Radio 2 on during the day, I prefer shouting at the callers on the Jeremy Vine show! Anyway, I did a quick sketch of the famous four and dropped in some colour in Photoshop.

Mum if you're looking at this don't panic!

I was sitting at my desk pondering this week's Illustration Friday topic of 'Surprise' and trying to find an approach that wouldn't involve a present or someone wearing a party hat. I started thinking about nice surprises and not-so-nice surprises until I came to this image. I guess pregnancy could potentially be the biggest surprise somebody might ever face...

Illustration Friday- 'Blue'

My submission for this week's Illustration Friday topic (www.illustrationfriday.com). The Blue Whale is the largest creature known to have ever existed in the history of the earth. An adult Blue Whale can be bigger than the largest dinosaur! Apparently a small child could crawl down the aorta of a Blue Whale's heart- not that anybody would want to...

One of life's little questions...

This image actually created a bit of a headache for me because I wanted the zebra to be slightly more cartoon-like. I was one of those little girls who drew horses everywhere, my notebooks from school have unicorns and beasties all over the back covers and my homework diary looks more like a sketchbook. Looking back it has always been obvious what I would become! Anyway, due to my horse obsession I have a strong sense of the proportion of all horse-like animals and find it difficult to draw them inaccurately.

By the way, I happen to know the answer to this question. New scientific research has confirmed that zebras are in fact white with black stripes. So there you go.

I wish I could...

We got up at 5am this morning to take our friends to Glasgow Prestwick and hit every traffic jam going! I'm exhausted but I thought I'd do a bit of drawing whilst I'm sat at my desk clutching my heater. It's nasty weather today and my poor car got covered in mud on the motorway. I wish I lived in Australia today...

The Escalator

I've just realised that this piece is perfect for this week's Illustration Friday topic- Small. When you're small everything else is big and your imagination is even bigger! I liked the idea of a little boy watching an escalator and not being able to see the top so it would seem like the people just disappear...

I'm exhibiting my work in the Image Nation Exhibition at the Collins Gallery in January. It's an exhibition specifically for Illustrators working in Scotland (check out http://www.collinsgallery.strath.ac.uk/ for more details).

Cats...

I love cats. Dogs may be 'Man's Best Friend' but a cat would probably consider itself our equal- if not our superior. I'd like to do some more work in the comic strip format and I'm going to think up some better stories. This was just a doodle I coloured in but I liked the empty spaces and the way that the frames pace the story...

Childhood memories....

It's strange the things that we find entertaining when we're young. My brother and I were very close as there is only two and a half years between us. Nowadays he is the size of a doorframe and I've become the small one. I don't see him as much as I'd like to but I'm looking forward to bugging him over the Christmas period.

Prehistoric Art

Last year my parents took Adam and I to the South of France and we saw the cave paintings at Pech Merle. I have never felt so moved by a piece of artwork. There were drawings of animals in vivid reds, browns and black with the most incredible energy. The most incredible piece was where someone had painted around their own hand leaving an imprint on the wall. I held up my hand to the print and felt a bizarre connection to someone who lived 25,000 years ago. The most amazing thing was that the artists crawled through a tiny passage and drew these images in the dark with only a small flame to guide their way.

Parking is a nightmare...

Partly because of the school but mostly because of commuters ditching their cars on our street (its free parking) and taking the bus into the city. I wish they wouldn't do this because a lot of families live round here and I feel sorry for all the parents struggling with buggies and small kids who have to park miles away from their house. I have a car but I rarely use it because I worry about getting a space when I return. I also don't need to because Edinburgh is a fairly small city and most distances are walkable. We use it once a week to do the shopping (and take friends too) and this Christmas we are driving it home. Think of me on December 10th because I will be on a 7.5 hour drive with two chinchillas and a guy who hates Christmas tunes (I love them and its my car....).

Sitting at my desk...

Today I was watching people out of the window as I live on the third floor and my desk is in a huge bay window. The view is quite distracting sometimes as I can see Arthur's Seat off to the right and it always looks so impressive. Today it was hungover by fog and it seemed bigger than it usually does- dominating the skyline. The schoolkids really annoy me. The school is at the end of my road and they are really loud, but not in a children-innocently-playing kind of way. More like screaming out swearwords just to irritate people and throwing litter all over the street even though there are loads of bins. The last time I ever dropped litter was when I was eight years old. I remember eating a sweet and dropping the paper, but then I started to think "who will pick it up?". My responsibility suddenly hit me and I scooped it up and put it in my pocket. Since then I have never EVER left litter anywhere.

This week's Illustration Friday topic...Free

It was the first thing that came into my head and it made me smile so I went with it!

Memories of french lessons at school...

For some reason this stuck in my head yesterday. Could be because I had a headache! I seem to have a fascination with striped jumpers as many of my characters end up wearing one.

Thoughts on Men.....

Is this sexist? I don't know, can the truth be held as a sexist comment?!....

I just went shopping...

And I bought loads of paper samples to draw all over as the college shop has run out of my favourite paper! Seriously- it's a tragedy. It takes me years to find paper I like and they just stop stocking it and nobody (including me) knows what it was. I used my last sheet of it to do the drawing of the horse.

It's good to talk...

Amazing when you think about it. Can you imagine not having a landline- never mind a mobile!

Illustration Friday- Strength

When I was little, and to some extent still today, I was fascinated by horses. The relationship between man and horse is a long-standing one and most of the benefits seem to be on our part. The sheer size and weight of some the larger breeds is incredible, I can remember coming face to knee with a shire at a show when I was little. Its legs just seemed to go on and on and all I could see of its face was a drooping bottom lip.

I drew this image to submit to http://www.illustrationfriday.com.

A Narwhal

Only the male narwhal has the horn, made from one of the teeth from its upper jaw. The narwhal is believed to have some connection with the mythical unicorn and very little is known about them.

I've always thought that they are pretty strange looking animals, with no dorsal fin and that bizarre 'horn'.

And here's Shakespeare....

Okay, some new work...

I've been drawing this evening seeing as its too cold to go outside (and too dark). This is an image I drew for my Dad's birthday card. Hopefully he will get the card before he sees this!

It's his birthday on Friday so Happy Birthday Papa!

First piece created using Illustrator CS2!

Well, everyone kept talking about it and I figured it was about time I added another string to my bow. It was actually quite user friendly and the finished image looks alot neater than my Photoshopped work. Question is, does it lose something on the way?

Tree Frogs

I found this fact online but the initial quote was 2,000 people. That seemed a little high so I did some of my own research (hooray for google) and found that the actual figure is 10. Quite a difference! It's raining today and the cold has finally arrived so I've been sat at my desk with a little heater going full blast on my frozen hands.

Squirrel starts fire....

I was reading about a squirrel that started a grass fire when it was electrocuted on a power line and plummetted to earth, landing on parched ground. Sympathy to the squirrel and his family but I have to admit I laughed.

The Late Pope's powder blue Ford Escort. Apparently it had "no hubcaps, no air conditioning, no radio, but several nicks and dents".