I’m off to a wedding tomorrow and have been trying to draw some caricatures of the happy couple. There’s a real art in capturing someone’s personality and features with a simple few strokes. It is not my forte and because things haven’t been going well, I decided to take a break to draw something easier – like dogs!
I have a habit of talking… A LOT! My other half who is a woman of few words has described my chatter as white noise. Yet she has developed a skill where, when pressed, she can relay the first and last part of any conversation, thus creating the illusion that she is listening intently.
This is the last in my series of holiday cartoons. There is no diary entry for this cartoon but it comes at the end of yesterday’s entry. After a full day driving in the rain, we decided to dine in the comfort of a local pub at Lerryn, the Ship Inn. It had Wifi so we spent several hours making up for lost time by updating Facebook, Twitter and checking emails. Until this point we hadn’t really missed our electronic connection with the big, wide world but on a cold, drizzly evening, we couldn’t resist the temptation.
Excerpt from holiday diary 28th June:
“We ummed and ahhed over which walk to do. L flatly refused the 5 miler that was described in the book as ‘some of the most treacherous bog on Dartmoor in bad weather’. It wasn’t bad weather but having experienced more bog than we cared to endure in a lifetime, we opted for a more gentle walk along the river Plym through old clay quarries up to Dewerstone“.
Holiday diary excerpt 27th June:
“…We caught the Park and Ride from Coypool into Plymouth to explore the ‘Ocean City’. First impressions: grimy, durgy, unattractive. We walked to the Plymouth Hoe, down to the lido and past the crumbling features of what I think are the remains of concrete Victorian beach huts built into the cliff face (see picture below to illustrate…).
…We spent the remainder of the afternoon in the National Marine Aquarium gawping at moray eels, upside down and moon jellyfish, baby sharks wriggling in their egg cases and frog fish that look exactly like pieces of coral. I loved it”
I’ve been desperate to create good looking cartoons using Adobe Illustrator. I’ve known the basics of the programme for quite a while but up until now, I’ve been too lazy to spend the time researching how to use it to its full advantage (and I doubt I will do more than just scratch the surface).
Most of my cartoons are drawn by hand, scanned into the computer, then coloured in Photoshop using a Wacom tablet. My hand is a little unsteady at times and Illustrator is the perfect tool for creating smooth lines and a professional look. But, I’ve really struggled to find a way to easily create shadows without a lot of faffing about.
Today I spent some time sketching some old people in my sketchpad, before deciding to experiment with Illustrator (with a little help from YouTube). I came across this little gem, The Ultimate Inking and Colouring Tutorial. There are some really neat little tricks to help with shading and highlighting, it really speeds up the process and I LOVE IT! (I’m sure you seasoned artists are chuckling to yourselves…I’m slow off the mark).
So here are three practice attempts – I’ve still got a lot to learn. The first one was before the tutorial – it was painstakingly slow. The second two were after I’d watched it several times.
I really can’t think of a title for this one…
This genuinely happened to me yesterday… I was minding my own business in the ladies toilet when out of the blue (err…cubicle) a little old lady started to talk to me. Or should I say talk at me. I’ve been pondering the statement – what problem(s) was she referring to? Was she suggesting I take heed, book a flight to Switzerland and check in to Dignitas in the morning? Or, was she simply commenting on her own gastro-dilemmas? I shall never know.
Big Hair Metamorphosis 