Kim Wilde

Kim Wilde, Digital, 2011

Quick portrait of Kim Wilde, created with Manga Studio and Sketchbook pro.

Digital Sketchbook stuff....

A couple of recent digital drawings/sketches, nothing that interesting but just letting people know I'm still around...

New NoHo Noir..

Home Late, digital, 2011.

The latest NoHo Noir story is now up on the NoHo blog, introducing some new characters living in a motel.

"One Day At A Time"

Please read, comment, etc. We appreciate the support!

NoHo Noir: Christopher Robin

Chris Robin, digital, Manga Studio, 2011.

This is Christopher Robin, one of the new characters in NoHo Noir. You can meet Christopher in the first of the new NoHo stories, "Bums' Rush", live now on the new NoHo blog - please check it out, comment, follow us and spread the word.

It's back....

NoHo Noir, that is. We have a new home, new stories, new characters. And we promise it will be darker and dirtier than before.

The reason for the move? Basically we were told that if we wanted to continue on Patch, we would have to provide our services for free.  Katherine wrote about it here. It's well worth a read if you freelance or wonder why artist's and writers struggle to make a living.

We started NoHo Noir (NoHo = North Hollywood) just over a year ago. Katherine got the gig and invited me to illustrate the stories. Over the past year we've developed both a working relationship and a friendship.

We are carrying on because we both enjoy doing it. No, we won't get paid, but the work will be totally ours, we have no restrictions. We're hoping to bundle the stories and illustrations from Volume 1 into e-books, and to continue with Volume 2, adding extras. The website will feature not just the stories but character portraits and bio's, as well as interesting bits of  Noir-related news. We really hope you will come along for the ride with us.

The first of story of Volume 2 runs this weekend. Come and follow us here :

                                                             
                                            NoHo Noir

Facial

Me, Digital, 2011.

This is a new self-portrait I've done. It's obviously quite stylised and I've smoothed out some wrinkles and tucked in some saggy bits, but it's recognisably me. I drew it in Manga Studio, then finished it in ArtRage. 

I did it for a specific reason...but more on that tomorrow.

More Figure Studies

Some more two minute figure sketches using the ArtyPoses site, drawn in Sketchbook Pro.

Figure Studies

Someone posted a link on Google+ today to a very useful site. It's called ArtsyPoses and it is basically a resource for studying drawing, providing images of both people and animals, tips and techniques and a very useful tool that allows you to practice your drawing by choosing random photos and giving yourself a set time to sketch each pose. Figure drawing was always my favourite subject. When I was at school and later at college, it was my main focus. It sort of fell aside on my degree course, becoming more reliant on photos. I've decided to spend half an hour each day practicing using this site. Here are a few of today's drawings. They are pretty bad - it'll take a while to shake off the rust. These are all two-minute drawings drawn digitally in Sketchbook Pro.



If anyone wants to add me on Google+ you can find me here.

Digital Painting and Sketchbook Project

Sorry it's been a bit quiet on here recently. I'm going through...well, let's call it "changes".

I'm currently concentrating on experimenting and getting to grips with using various digital art programmes. I painted this using ArtRage 3.5. It's the first digital oil painting I've done. I did a traditional watercolour version of the same image a couple of years ago. I'm starting to really enjoy creating digitally.

I also signed up for The Sketchbook Project 2012. In a nutshell, you pay a fee and you get sent a sketchbook. You choose a theme (a selection are provided for you to choose from), fill the book and send it back. The sketchbooks then become part of an exhibition that will tour the States next year. You can read more about it here. My sketchbook arrived today and my theme is "Time Traveller". I'll post updates as I fill the book.

Regular visitors might also be wondering what's happened to NoHo Noir. Sadly we had to leave our home at Patch. At the moment it's future is uncertain but we hope to publish an e-book of the first volumes stories and illustrations at some point. It's a shame as it's a project I've really enjoyed doing. Ah well, onwards and upwards...