Free Book

Hi all,
Just a quick one so that you don't miss out. One of my books, "The Reluctant Pom will be free to download from amazon for the next three days. That is the 22nd until the 24th of November. To get a free copy just click on the books tab at the top of the page then click on the book cover.

In 1967 my father decided that life would be better for his wife and my five siblings if we moved to the other side of the world. I didn't want to go because I was moody 16 years old and desperately wanted to stay in England. However, I had little choice in matter and finished up being a reluctant pom in Melbourne. If you want to find out how I got on, please download the free book and have a good laugh.

On the art side, I'm still working on the illustration that I should be posting soon and I have just braved the cold in the workshop and turned a new style of pen from a wood called wild mango.

I will add this image to the other pens that can bee seen by clicking on the pen's tab.

A Doodle

Hi all,
I'm slowly getting back into doing a bit of art after spending the summer in the workshop playing with my lathe. I've been doing a bit of doodling to try and loosen up my style. Trying to do realistic drawings is all very well and I've done a few of those, but now it is the time to cut loose.

But why, you may ask? The thing is, my wife has written a book that needs illustrating. It is called The Whoots and is all about some tiny creatures, funnily enough called Whoots, that live in a large garden.

Anyway, the book was written for a bit of fun to see if she could make up a plot and deliver a good story. I'm pleased to say that she managed a very clever plot very well and came up with a great little story. Sometimes things work out better if they are done just for the sheer fun of it. The book was never about making any money, so when it came to the illustrations there was no way she was going to pay anybody proper to do the job. So now you know how I finished up with the task.

Having never illustrated a book before I didn't quite know where to start, so I read through the book and imagined which bits could do with an illustration to help the reader along. I now have a list of pictures that I need to draw. That was the easy bit, however, I have a feeling it will get harder once I get into trying to draw the actual Whoots.

To give you a taster here is the first sketch I have done. It is supposed to depict the place where the Whoots live, which is in an hestimonium bush at the bottom of the garden.

If you look closely you will see glimpses of wooden houses dotted through the bush because this is where the Whoots live, in tiny houses perched on branches within the bush. There is lift to the top where the chief Whoot and his family live in Plant Pot Hall.

This is just my first sketch done in pencil and then pen and ink on ordinary drawing paper. The next stage will be to transfer the image to some Bristol board so that I can do some watercolour painting on it.

In my next post I hope to show you my first finished illustration.

Hare

Hi all,
And the good news is, I've started drawing again and here is my first effort. Actually, I began this drawing of a hare about seven months ago, but spring came in earnest and the garden needed sorting etc. Then I went and bought a lathe and what spare time I had in the summer went on woodturning.
We've all got our excuses for not working on our art, but I thing the colder weather and the darker evenings will help, especially now that television programs have become so dire.

I haven't given up on the wood turning, but being in the house drawing is much preferred now that the colder weather is here. I've done a bit of woodturning in the workshop with the electric fire on, but it doesn't seem the same when you know how much the electricity is costing. We are on a pay as you go meter, inherited from the previous home owners. I's great in the summer but when winter arrives I seem to be in the newsagents every other day topping up.

Anyway, here is the drawing of the hare, it is nothing exciting but it will do for a starter.

You can see in the picture that everything is realistic except for the hare, which is patterned. This is something I've decided to do more of, I'm going to forget trying to make my drawings realistic and just let my imagination flow. This will take some doing because abstract art has never been a favourite of mine. So if you want to see how I get on with a wacky drawing please watch this space.

By the way, with regards to my books, I keep getting asked the same questions, what's happened to Fred Tench and will there be another book in the Fishing Detectives Series? To be honest, I have no plans for another book at the moment although the outlines of a plot to enter my head from time to time. I guess I will have to see how it goes during the next 6 months, if I can't resist the urge I might do one more.

More Pens

Hi all,
I have been busy turning a few more pens and have added them to the "Pens" page if you would like to see them. The last one is made from a wood called mopane and it is a beauty. Here it is for a taster, but please take a look at my other pens.

So, the clocks have just gone back and the dark evenings are with us again. Not only has it got darker, but my workshop is now almost as cold as a polar bear's fridge,and because I' getting a bit nesh in my old age, I won't be out there so much.

I have already started to work on a drawing and will let you see it in my next post. Another strange think also happened a few days ago. I thought that now I'm getting older that perhaps I should take up electronic drawing on a tablet. It had it's attractions, I wouldn't have to buy any more artists materials and I could do it whilst  reclining in my armchair.

Anyway, I like my kindle and thought that if I upgraded to a 10inch model it would be just the thing for a bit of electronic art. This notion was soon knocked on the head when I realised that some of the most artistic apps and the artistic stylus were strangers to the kindle.

So I would have to forgo my Kindle upgrade and buy an ipad and an apple pencil if I wanted to make professional electronic art. I have watched a few youtube videos and it is amazing what can be done on an ipad. I was happy, it seemed like a great idea to spend a few extra bob and get an ipad and an apple pencil.

However, my dreams didn't last long after I did a bit more research. From what I can gather, the apple pencil will only work with the ipad pro and that version of the ipad costs some serious money. I'm an old skinflint and don't do serious money and after realising how much paint and paper I could get for the price of going electronic I have knocked the idea on the head.