Lots Of Drawing

In my last confession, I claimed to have done lots of drawing. And indeed, I have.

Primarily, my attack into the world of illustration revolved purely around actually finding the strength to pick up a pencil, and put it to paper, given the fact that I hadn't drawn a single thing in almost 3 months.

Being motivated to do anything other than loaf around or play with Rhett has proved much harder than I thought - maybe testament to just how totally knackered I am from all those years of having my large nose affixed to the grindstone of commercial design, producing 'landfill' as a good friend calls my packaging design work. It's a fair comment.

This week however, I've finally found my mojo, and I've gone through paper and graphite like it's going out of fashion.

I seem to be creating illustrations that I actually quite like - and that's a first for me in all honesty. Whilst I've produced individual pieces in the past that I'm proud of, I've always struggled to stay focused with a consistent style - crucial if I'm to seriously offer my services commercially.

Time has always been the main issue, something I now have (in theory) too much of, and this week, I've dedicated much of my time to producing hand drawn illustrations in one consistent style - not as easy as it sounds, especially when I'm so used to creating imagery on a computer - perfect Xerox copies each and every time you press Apple P.

That said, I am still intending to colour them up digitally, as its both quick, effective, and commercial. And besides, I hate colouring in.

The wall over our makeshift desk has become littered with my latest scribblings, some of which I'm fairly happy to show the world - a rarity for me.

My plan over the next week or so is to start producing some 'dummy' illustrations for real headlines found in a couple of magazines I've bought, to get into the swing of answering a real brief.

Once I've got that down, I'll start trying to get some actual commissions, to start paying for the hugely expensive diesel they sell here in the middle of nowhere.