November

November looks better in black & white. There was a mild countrywide snowstorm here in the UK last year, causing traffic jams and all-around general chaos. I shouldn't laugh, but damn, the whole thing was hilarious - it only snowed a couple of inches.

That being said, I had a rather frightening dream this morning about a massive snowstorm. I was inside a gigantic house I'd never been in before, with enormous windows. When I looked outside I could see two people, a father and daughter, trapped in the storm and waist-deep in snow. I wanted to go and help them but didn't know how. Suddenly, I was also waist-deep in snow, although I was still inside the house and I don't recall ever opening the door to let any snow in. I don't remember much after that.

October

Wow. I'm not even sure what to say about this one - good OR bad. It's just kind of...there. Needs some actual COLOUR to make it pop...

Saturday Life Drawing 21-11-09

And now let us pause for some life drawing.


Man, I sure had fun drawing that gladiator outfit. The hands are a bit off though...and the photo makes it look pretty distorted...I ought to replace this with a scan later.

September

Right...only seven more to go...and less than a month to do 'em...PLUS all the calendar date pages...AND a front cover of some sort. Oh, well. It seems to be progressing fairly well now, so I'm not that worried any more...

August

Not a big fan of the sky colours on this one, but I suppose it doesn't matter since I'm thinking about converting them all to monochrome when I'm done (each month will have its own colour).

Paul (aka Hardsparrow) and I went to see the Fall in Poole last night and it was AMAAAAZING. Better than the Southampton gig last year. The merch table also sells old copies of the Pseud Mag fanzine (for which I drew the front covers up to and including issue #10) and the official blue lyrics book, also containing some of my artwork. How cool is that? Not as cool as the fact that I've gotten to see The Fall twice and that it's just one of many great experiences I've had here...I don't realise how lucky I am.

Will I miss Bournemouth when I move back home? No, I think it's the people I've met that I'll miss most of all. And an odd trait of mine is that I never seem to live in the present. I'm always either constantly nostalgic for the past, or worrying about what might happen to me in the future. Why do I seem unable to enjoy the NOW? Last night seems to be the only time I ever truly have.

July

Cloud people!

Man, I gave myself way too much work to do this year...

Things to do in London

So I made a jaunt up to London this weekend with some extremely kind and accomodating friends from back home...both of whom enjoy films and art galleries as much as I do. :) We visited the National Portrait Gallery (which was excellent but gave me a splitting headache from trying to read all the small print on the plaques!!) and The Museum Of Everything, a gallery of outsider art. We also tried to go to Riflemaker, but unfortunately it was closed even though their website seemed to indicate they were open on Sundays. Damn. (Here's the exhibition I saw there two years ago, which might give you an idea why I was keen to return there!!) I saw a lot of other things though, so many that it's all kind of a blur...

The tube system finally makes sense to me...and it only took, what, THREE trips to London to figure it out? Yeesh!!

Here's a couple of marginally entertaining snapshots...no sketches, sadly!

This is the Spar convenience store in Haymarket...and what's that on the window?! YES, you can get Tim Horton's coffee in London! Unfortunately it comes out of a dispenser, and as such, it's pretty terrible. But whatever.

Chillin' with Shakespeare in Leceister Square with my Timmie's coffee.

Oh, like YOU wouldn't have taken a picture of this. :p On a shop window just outside of the Sunday Market in Brick Lane (I think??)
It's CALVIN!!! And he's not peeing on a Ford logo!! Outside of Gosh Comics on Gt. Russell St. I just about cried when I saw this. I loved Calvin & Hobbes. I loved it so much that I can actually recite numerous strips verbatim, all these years later. The void it left on the comics page when it ended has yet to be filled, and I doubt it ever will be.

(Oh, I'm still working on the calendar, I promise you that...expect a flood of updates concerning that soon!)

June

But...it looks the same as the other one! Nooooooo!!!! D: D: D: (Except this time I drew the filthy, filthy sloughs)

Now in two amazing colours!

Ta-daaa~~~

Only eleven more to go! :X

(Edit: Now with a less gray sky)

Midnight Millionaires Club

A submission for a zine called "The Midnight Millionaires Club" that someone on my course is putting together. I tried putting fake screentone on this in Photoshop but I don't really like it all that much...it probably would've been okay if I'd stuck to just one shade of gray. :p (Edit: New improved version! still a bit "meh" though)

You've probably heard of the pop/novelty group The Barenaked Ladies - I'm told "One Week" was their only hit in the UK. In Canada, their first big hit was "If I Had a Million Dollars," a love song where a guy sings about all the wonderful things he'd buy for his lady love if he had a million dollars. Anyway, it contains the line "I'd buy you a monkey...haven't you always wanted a monkey?"

The banter about Kraft Dinner in the middle is the most popular bit, but my favourite line was always "I'd buy you a green dress - but not a real green dress, that's cruel."

Of course, I'm taking this out of context - it comes after an earlier reference to a fur coat - as in - not a real fur coat, that's cruel. XD

Speaking of cruel, that monkey looks very pissed off and very stiff...maybe it's stuffed :(

Archeopteryx

I declare that if there is not yet a musical group called "Archeopteryx" or "The Archeopteryxes," there should be.

Seed Catalogue Calendar page 1 - May

AAAAAND page 1. If this is a calendar, why am I starting with May? Because that's when winter finally ends in Saskatchewan...The Land Of Living Skies. No, really - that's our tourist tagline. See?
This is apt, of course, since the vast bald prairie stretches on and on and on and...that's why this drawing is so huge.

I am gonna colour this later, but maybe I shouldn't mention that - it might not happen, then... :0