Frank Kennedy's Illustration Blog

Gandalf

2011-10-10T22:17:00.000+11:00

So here is this weeks entry in the Oz Comics facebook weekly draw- off challenge.
This weeks theme, Gandalf.
I was a little pushed for time so only managed to get a pencil sketch done. so I just jazzed it up with a splash of color and a little texture to make it look a little old.

Conan

2011-10-03T16:35:00.000+11:00

So here is this weeks entry in the Oz Comics facebook weekly draw- off challenge.
This weeks theme, Conan.
I went with a more cartoony animated style for this one and inked it with felt tip pens and
colored in photoshop.

Hulk Jumps my process

2011-09-25T17:48:00.000+10:00

I just thought maybe somebody might be interested to see how I create an image from thumbnail sketches to a finished color piece.
so I hope this gives a little insight into my working process.

OK I started with a pretty solid idea of what I wanted after sometime of thinking about what I felt my image of the Hulk would look like. So you can see below that I quickly captured a very rough sketch as a guide for my larger more detailed pencil sketch.

I started sketching on an A3 size page and after almost finishing this pencil sketch I felt unhappy with a few elements, like the face and the arm on the left which should be larger as it is extended toward the viewer. So I scrapped this sketch and just light boxed the main shapes for placement and started fresh on a new page.

so here below is my second go at sketching my Hulk Jumping from a mountain range.
I was much happier with the shape and foreshortening of the hulk figure and I also think the face is an improvement. So I worked on this some more adding more details so it would be easier to ink.

when I was happy with my pencil sketch I then sticky taped a new sheet of fresh A3 paper over the pencil sketch and placed them on my light box to ink.
I light box my pencils just in case there is a mishap in the inking and I have to start all over.
I used a nylon number one brush for most of it and for some minor details around the face I used a size zero brush. The ink used was Art Spectrum pigmented ink which I usually water down just a little so it flows a little easier. as you can see below inking really solidifies the image

after the inking process then I usually just scan it into photoshop and add the color.
I will usually use quite a few layers to add the color working on building shadows and highlights on separate layers until I am happy with it. the moon line work and mountain line work were colored to make them sit behind the Hulk so he looks closer to the viewer, like he is popping out of the page.

I hope this was a little informative as to how I go about putting an image together.
I know I always like to see how other artist's sketch and create a finished image. it is always interesting to see someone else's creative process.

Hulk

2011-09-23T21:26:00.001+10:00

So here is this weeks entry in the Oz Comics facebook weekly draw- off challenge.
This weeks theme, the Hulk.
I have always liked the Kirby and McFarlane versions of the Hulk.

Pie Rats

2011-09-16T16:38:00.000+10:00

So here is another entry in the Oz Comics facebook weekly draw- off challenge.
This weeks theme, Pirates. so I put my own spin on the idea of Pirates just for a bit of fun.

Rogue VS Hulk

2011-09-09T14:47:00.000+10:00

So here is another entry in the Oz Comics facebook weekly draw- off challenge.
This weeks theme, Rogue from the Xmen.
I got a little nuts with this one and went a little over board with the comic style rendering but I was enjoying it too much to hold back.

The Fifth Element

2011-09-03T15:16:00.000+10:00

So here is another entry in the Oz Comics facebook weekly draw- off challenge.
This weeks theme, the fifth element.
I played around with a monochrome color scheme as well not sure which I prefer.

Optimus Prime

2011-08-29T12:08:00.000+10:00

So here is this weeks entry in the Oz Comics facebook weekly draw- off challenge.
This weeks theme, Optimus Prime.
I have to say it started out as a love hate relationship. Optimus Prime is a tough character to get your head around but after a lot of sketching I think I was able to capture some of his likeness. the kid is mirroring my early frustration.

Hellboy

2011-08-20T19:29:00.000+10:00

So here is this weeks entry in the Oz Comics facebook weekly draw- off challenge.
This weeks theme, Hellboy.

Zombies

2011-08-13T22:52:00.000+10:00

here is this weeks entry in the Oz Comics facebook weekly draw- off challenge.
This weeks theme, you guessed it Zombies.

Dr Who

2011-08-07T21:24:00.000+10:00

here are a couple of quick Dr Who pics for the OzComics Facebook weekly Draw off challenge.

Supa Nova 2011

2011-06-21T16:45:00.000+10:00

I had a great time and caught up with some illustrator friends at SupaNova this year.
above from the left is Marcelo Baez, Doug Holgate and yours truly on the end.
Doug is always a friendly guy and has a wicked sense of humour its always a pleasure to chat with him. I hope all the people that came by his table unloaded their wallets and bought up his great books and prints. If you missed out swing by his web site: The house of Skullduggery to purchase some of his wonderful prints.

monkey King

2011-04-19T16:08:00.000+10:00

Here is a quick digital sketch I colored while I was just playing around with the idea of a monkey king illustration.

little Blue Dragon

2011-04-18T19:24:00.000+10:00

just playing around with a Dragon character

more Thor

2011-04-09T14:02:00.000+10:00

here is another Thor cartoon. I just couldn't help myself.

I thought it was funny and hope you do too.

this was an all digital creation using a wacom and photoshop.

Quick character sketches

2011-04-06T16:51:00.000+10:00

just thought I would throw a few character sketches together and add a splash of color.

Odins Blood its Thor

2011-04-02T16:25:00.000+11:00

a little explanation about this illustration.
A good friend of mine and a great illustrator Marcelo Baez felt the need to be restrained from buying up all the books he wanted on amazon, especially the Thor Omnibus by Stan Lee and jack Kirby. So I felt the need to illustrate his problem this way.

My latest Book available from Blake Publishing

2010-07-14T06:39:00.000+10:00

Here are some images of page illustrations from my latest children's chapter book for Blake Publishing.

The book is in the Gigglers Blue 2 series and is titled Batty and it was written by Chris Bell.

all the illustration are in colour and it was a real fun book to work on, I was sorry to finish as I was having a ball.

If you want to see more of the interior pages or purchase this great story you can go to Blake Publishing.

Big Lou

2010-06-23T16:08:00.001+10:00

"don't make him angry, you wouldn't like him when he's angry"

At the Sydney Supa Nova I was lucky enough to meet and get an autograph and photo with Lou Ferrigno aka The Incredible Hulk from the late 70's TV series.

From a very young age I have followed Lou's career in bodybuilding magazines to spots in television shows and feature films and I was almost overwhelmed at meeting him in person. It was a definite fulfilment of a childhood fantasy to meet the man who would crash through walls on my TV set as the Hulk when I was a kid. and what a nice guy he was, so easy going and polite and always smiling for the fans. what a great experience it was to meet Big Lou Ferrigno I am still smiling like a little kid.

so I thought I should share my happy moment with you all.

Big Lou 58 and looking great

Robin the Boy Wonder

2010-03-24T10:46:00.001+11:00

After doing the Batman illustration I felt the need to do Robin. so here is Robin the Boy Wonder in full flight. this turned out pretty much how I had hoped and the Bat Signal was a suggestion from my very arty youngest son Talin.

Kid Jumping

2010-03-21T15:31:00.001+11:00

the "Two illustrations a Week Challenge" is still going so here is my second illustration for the week.
just a quick pencil sketch, inked with a brush pen and colored in photoshop.
come on Marcelo 11.59 pm is looming.

The Challenge was given

2010-03-16T14:00:00.000+11:00

A good friend and a great Illustrator Marcelo Baez has set a challenge for us to post at least two finished personal illustrations a week to keep us more creative and for a bit of fun.
So Marcelo here is my first one this week, the Challenge is on!
this is my take on Batman just in case you weren't sure who it was. Brush pen inks over a pencil sketch with photoshop colors.

My New book available from Blake Publishing

2010-03-01T15:50:00.007+11:00

I just wanted to share with you the latest childrens chapter book I have illustrated for Blake Publishing which is now available.

The Book is in the Red Sparklers series and is titled Zara's Solution and is written by Sue Walker.

here is a look at the cover and some interior illustrations.

copies of the book are available from Blake Publishing, Here.

Superman over Metropolis

2010-02-20T13:40:00.003+11:00

1978 an 11year old boys life was changed forever.

That was the first time I saw Christopher Reeve on the big screen and I believed a man could fly. He has stuck with me ever since.

here is my version of Superman I hope you like it.

Counting Sheep

2010-02-18T19:22:00.002+11:00

here is an illustration created for Coast kids Magazine for a poem by a primary school boy by the name of Jack kyriakou.

Red Head Warrior

2009-12-26T21:15:00.003+11:00

this was created for the Deviant Art Childrens Illustrators club monthly theme of Red Head.

this was pen and ink with digital colours

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T02:15:00.001+11:00

Magazine illustrations

2009-12-16T10:19:00.003+11:00

Here are a couple of illustrations for the Coast Kids Magazine.

one for an article on "Men in Childcare" and the other for "Mums in Business".

Peter Pan

2009-11-29T10:50:00.002+11:00

this was created for the Children's illustrators club on Deviant Art.

the monthly theme for November was Peter Pan.

I used pencil and paper to sketch then a brush pen to ink followed by digital colors.

2009-11-23T12:59:00.002+11:00

I had a Birthday on the weekend and my 12 year old son Talin made me a special birthday card.

I just had to share what a great job he did on the card and how lucky a Dad I am that he would go to so much effort.

I had a great day and received many nice cards and gifts, it was nice to be spoilt for the day.

Rats

2009-10-25T21:29:00.004+11:00

I've been busy with some other illustrations and now have some spare time for goofing around just for fun.

Dragon sketch

2009-10-22T16:45:00.003+11:00

here is an unused Dragon sketch from a few months ago it was for a book pitch I unfortunately didn't get. was a fun idea and would have been nice to do but thems the breaks. you can't get everything you want.

just playing around

2009-10-09T16:51:00.002+11:00

I was just playing around with background textures in photoshop just having a bit of goofing around time. and this is the result.

some recent childrens book samples- Meg

2009-09-15T17:08:00.005+10:00

The elusive Illustrator

2009-08-27T14:15:00.008+10:00

Proving to be as elusive as Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster. Rarely seen outside his natural habitat.
Finally, proof that the illustrator Craig Phillips does exist.

Marcelo Baez, Craig Phillips and I got together in a local Wollongong Vietnamese restaurant for lunch and a chat about comics, illustration and one of life's great mysteries the shortcut keys in photoshop.
It was good to catch up with the guys face to face again and hopefully it wont be as far between untill the next meet up.

Marcelo and Craig, very casual.

Craig and I

Spot illustrations

2009-08-24T19:41:00.004+10:00

Here are a few spot illustrations that were published in the May /June issue of Coast Kids Magazine.

Ghost boy

2009-08-23T17:22:00.002+10:00

this illustration was created for the Deviant art illustrators club site which this months challenge topic was Ghosts.

I really wanted to try and get away from the usual guy in a sheet, spooky ghost yelling boo and inject some sort of feeling or emotion into the image.

not sure if I succeeded but I did try.

Karate Kids

2009-08-18T14:39:00.003+10:00

here is an illustration for an article on martial arts for kids in the July/August issue of CoastKids Magazine.

the monster

2009-08-03T20:35:00.004+10:00

watched the old 1930 black and white Frankenstein again. It's still a classic. felt like doing a sketch and ended up coloring it.

the background texture is from a photo of some rocks I took down the local beach.

was a quick color job didn't want to spend too much time on it, it was just for fun.

more monsters

2009-07-05T21:03:00.002+10:00

just because it was fun. Fish man Says Blurrrb!

Scary ?

2009-07-03T12:59:00.004+10:00

here is a bit of fun
A quick sketch with a brush pen and felt tip markers, colored in photoshop.

todays thought

2009-07-02T22:43:00.002+10:00

"overnight success takes years of hard work"

CBCA Literary Lunch

2009-07-02T14:26:00.004+10:00

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be involved with the Childrens Book Council of Australia's Literary lunch.
The CBCA organised for school groups to come along and have a day with a wide selection of childrens Authors and Illustrators. Dave Hackett also known as Cartoon Dave was the special guest and he presented a 45 minute cartoon workshop that had the kids enthralled and doodling cartoons madly.

I was lucky enough to be a table host and had Dave Hackett as well as a group from Mt Keira public school who were a very well behaved, well manered, charming young girls who had a great time getting Cartoon Dave to sketch crazy cartoons for them.
Dave Hackett did a great job on the day and after spending some time chatting and observing I can see that he has a genuine gift in entertaining a room full of kids and making cartooning easy and fun. He is also a really nice guy and it was a pleasure to be able to meet him in person.

I would have to say a big thank you to Di Bates president of the local CBCA and organiser of this event who invited me to participate in the day It was great to be involved.

The Amazing Tim Sale

2009-06-30T20:15:00.010+10:00

This is me on the right meeting one of my favourite artist's the Amazing Tim Sale at the 2009 Sydney Supanova comic convention. What a great day it was.

Tim sale is artist of so many great comic book such as Batman long Halloween, Batman Dark Victory, Superman for all seasons, Spiderman Blue, Hulk Grey to just name a few.

Tim is also the artist for the TV show Heroes. So when you see one of the shows characters produce a painting or a sketch that's Tim Sale's artwork.

Tim was very friendly and graciously posed for photo's and signed my copy of the Tim Sale black and white hardcover book of sketches and artwork.

I was lucky to get in early Saturday morning and Tim's booth was very quiet and my two sons and I had a chance to talk and get photos with out to much hassle.

My most treasured Art book, Tim Sale Black and White,

revised and expanded Hardcover edition

this is me looking on, very much star struck to be meeting an artist whose work is so inspirational

this is the page that Tim Sale signed for me, Awesome.

Sydney SuperNova 2009

2009-06-30T19:47:00.005+10:00

I had a great time at the Sydney SuperNova and it was great to be able to meet with so many other artists and just talk shop.

this is Cefn Ridout, Marcelo Baez Creator/Artist of the Diabla comics, Colin Wilson comic artist whose latest work for dark horse will be out just about now called Star Wars Invasion and that's me Me on the end.

this is Me on the left with Tim McEwen. Tim is such a nice guy and it's always good to catch up at the conventions.

A Little bit of Zort

2009-06-25T00:16:00.002+10:00

Zort the stage show every little kids dream.
felt tip pens with digital colors.

Secret Garden

2009-06-20T21:29:00.004+10:00

Another illustration for the Deviant Art childrens Illustrators club monthly challenge titled the Hidden Garden.

this was pen and ink with digital color.

Satyr's are fun

2009-05-21T13:37:00.004+10:00

I had a good time working on this illustration for the Children's illustrators club on Deviant Art.

the theme was " On the Roof " and this is what I felt like Drawing.

I had a hard time coming to terms with what colors to use and it was a small battle to feel like I had the right tones but eventually you know when it feels right. other wise you can tweak it Ad- infinitum and just go around in circles. sometimes it is best to go with your gut and listen to your instincts.

not that I am saying this is perfect, far from it but there are some things I learned on this illustration that I will definately use on one of my next. and to me that's Art, a learning curve of self improvement and exsploration. Always trying to get a little closer to the image thats in your head.

BackYard Buddies

2009-05-17T22:28:00.003+10:00

It's been a while since I last posted and thought I should add something before the end of the month. So here are some illustrations that were used for an article in the Coast Kids Magazine on Back Yard Buddies.

just fooling around

2009-04-29T20:54:00.002+10:00

I just felt like playing around with color and different brush textures. these quick character sketches are always good for that, they are expendable no need to feel precious with them.

Painter Pete's Pocket money Perspiration

2009-04-28T22:37:00.005+10:00

It' about time I posted some new work. Been busy the last few days working on this series of illustrations as samples for the childrens book market.

Photoshop brushes

2009-04-12T17:33:00.002+10:00

I was just playing around with some new photoshop brushes from Brusheezy web site.

they are a heap of different brushes. I tried the angry painter 2 and came up with this back ground for this angry old woman cartoon.

Cracked Jack book cover Dummy

2009-04-11T13:55:00.003+10:00

this is a dummy book cover for Cracked Jack and the Nautical Nightmare Race.

take a look at the full image with title lettering here. Cracked Jack Book Cover

Happy Easter

2009-04-10T00:55:00.001+10:00

watercolor playtime

2009-04-09T18:03:00.003+10:00

I am trying out the watercolors again it has been a while. I have been wanting to experiment with them and see what I can come up with. I sketched the boy using a waterproof brush pen and then just hit it with the watercolor paint

I need to use better paper for a start this was just a rough go at it so I just used a piece of regular copy paper. I now know that heavier paper bleeds better and I would have gotten a more interesting result. but this is step one and it was fun to use a real brush and push the wet paint on the page instead of painting digital.

will try some more again soon

Bob Trimbole

2009-04-01T22:56:00.003+11:00

Here is a painted sketch of Bob Trimbole played by Roy Billing in the latest Underbelly TV mini series

youtube Art song

2009-03-29T02:33:00.003+11:00

you can only be inspired after listening to this beautiful song

sketches

2009-03-26T15:15:00.003+11:00

Here are some more practise sketches using a brush pen then digitally colored

Faces Sketches

2009-03-09T23:03:00.002+11:00

here are a few sketches of faces just playing around with shapes and colour as well as brush pen markers versus regular markers.

Some More Sketches

2009-03-07T16:03:00.003+11:00

Here are some more sketches using a Blue Biro Pen.

Biro pen sketches

2009-03-06T16:52:00.002+11:00

these are some sketches or doodles with a blue pen just for fun. It was interesting to realize that using a pen, that I was more conscious of the lines before I put them down as I couldn't rub them out. But it was fun as I just treated them as doodles and wasn't fussy as to what I drew. It is interesting to see what appears on the page when there is no real intent or preconceived objectives.

Superman quick sketch

2009-02-19T19:30:00.004+11:00

Here is a quick sketch of Superman which was inked with felt tip markers, trying to stay Loose. I will have to work on being free with the inking. this one still feels a little stiff but was fun to do. All up it took about 40 minutes to pencil and Ink.

New Blog header

2009-02-17T11:20:00.004+11:00

I have been wanting to jazz up my blog header for a while now and came up with this new illustration. It has My family as well as me. I thought I spend so much time working on the computer that I should have them here as well.
There is my two sons. The oldest is a teenager, that explains the hair. The youngest is a budding cartoonist, that's why he has a pencil behind his ear.
Next my lovely, understanding wife who knows I spend too much time illustrating but doesn't say so.
Then my best little mate, Jessie the pooch and last but not least yours truly on the end.
It was a fun illustration to put together I hope it looks OK as it will be here for a while.

Mandarine

2009-02-16T01:39:00.003+11:00

here is the wolverine sketch which became Mandarine the red haired mutant with a vitamin c healing factor. Quit laughing BUB!

Wolverine quick sketch

2009-02-15T13:34:00.005+11:00

After spending the afternoon just surfing around some artist blogs looking for some inspiration I landed on Scottie Young's blog. I just love what he is doing with the Wizard of Oz for Marvel. the pages look so fresh and full of life. His inking is so fluid and spontaneous it really is some of his best work.
In Scottie's January 14 blog he talks about the thumbnail, Pencilling, Inking process and how he keeps his pencils loose if he is the inker. It sounds so simple now.
I have always hated how my inks seem to look dead compared to my sketch book sketches.
I now know I have to loosen up and have fun with the inks.
So that's what I did.
I just did a fun sketch of Wolverine which took about 20 minutes. making sure I kept it loose and fluid and then I just inked it I didn't over think it too much, just dove in and started to draw with the markers and brush pen. and it was so much fun I can't describe how free it felt, stupid I know but I got real excited, maybe I should get out more.

But it felt new and fresh and most of all, fun. that's why we draw so much isn't it to have fun and enjoy ourselves as artist's.

anyway I have posted my initial sketch and the inks. It's not ground breaking stuff but it was fun and I hope a turning point for me. thanks to Scottie Young.

sketchbook scribbles

2009-02-06T17:44:00.002+11:00

Here is a very quick sketch that I then quickly coloured in photoshop. this is just a fun idea as I love playing around with monsters and creepy fairy tale characters.

Happy Australia Day

2009-01-26T16:10:00.006+11:00

I am Feeling very lucky and happy to be living in this great land of hope, opportunity and freedom.

what a great place to live, love and raise a family.

Stand up Australian's and be proud to be part of this great place called Australia.

Australian National Anthem "Advance Australia Fair" words and music composed by Peter Dodds McCormick

proclaimed Australia's National Anthem by the Governor - General on 19th April 1984

"Advance Australia Fair"

Australians all let us rejoice

For we are young and free

We've golden soil and wealth for toil,

Our home is girt by sea:

Our land abounds in nature's gifts

Of beauty rich and rare,

In history's page let every stage

Advance Australia fair,

In joyful strains then let us sing

Advance Australia fair.

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross,

We'll toil with hearts and hands,

To make this Commonwealth of ours

Renowned of all the lands,

For those who've come across the seas

We've boundless plains to share,

With courage let us all combine

To advance Australia fair.

In joyful strains then let us sing,

Advance Australia fair.

Toothsie in Colour

2009-01-16T12:52:00.002+11:00

well here is a colour version of Toothsie the tooth Fairy. hope you enjoy it as much as i did putting it all together.

Toothsie ToothFairy

2009-01-15T21:20:00.002+11:00

just having some fun in my sketch book and came up with a few interesting ideas for characters. This version of a Tooth Fairy was fun to draw, I might have to colour this one.

Zen TV

2009-01-11T16:10:00.004+11:00

here is my first finished artwork for 2009. I have been playing around with textures and painterly finishes in photoshop and I am having some fun. I am looking forward to exploring the use of the wet brush in photoshop.

this illustration is called Zen TV. the mystical art of studying the TV guide

New Year

2009-01-01T15:30:00.001+11:00

Christmas is looming

2008-12-19T22:49:00.002+11:00

Just getting into the christmas spirit. So Merry Christmas 2008 to all.

playing around with colour

2008-12-15T12:07:00.005+11:00

here is a character I created just for fun. I think he may end up a boys school black sheep that has few friends and is bullied by the normal sporty kids. But he will prevail somehow with his devious mind and sharp intellect, maybe.

anyway I just wanted to play around with digital water colouring this is my first attempt and I hope it gets better

little slice of Paradise

2008-12-15T11:52:00.004+11:00

I just wanted to share with every one how lucky I am. the house that we live in has a public reserve which we access through a gate in our back yard.

It has lots of grass and trees and open space. There are always lots of different types of Australian birds flying around, calling out to one another and my two sons play out there often.

there is a concrete path that leads from the road all the way up the reserve and my sons use that to walk to school.

I find it very relaxing to go out and look in awe at the magic of nature as the wind blows through the trees and the birds flutter about doing their thing.

To be surrounded by green leafy trees and lots of grass is a blessing. I just wanted to share what a nice spot I landed on when we bought this house.

character sketching

2008-11-07T21:16:00.005+11:00

I have been working on another illustration for children's book market and have been sketching some characters for a wacky spooky monster crew of a sailing yacht.

this female character who is either a goul or zombie is proving to be a little elusive on the page I an just not there yet. these were some fun sketches but not happy with her yet. she needs more work.

Old Vamp

2008-11-03T20:25:00.007+11:00

I have been busy with a few illustrations on the boil. I just have so many ideas I want to get down on paper or at least get onto the screen. It's hard to know which one's to work on first.
here is a illustration aimed at the childrens book market.
This is the kind of illustration work I would love to be doing. It's just a fun, goofy cartoon monster.
I feel the more illustrations I work on, I have a little more idea of where I want to be headed.

Bad Birds

2008-10-21T12:11:00.005+11:00

Well I thought I wanted to work on these guys a little more.

here is what I came up with.

I drew in the tree with the graphic tablet and added colour.

the words seem to just come out of their mouths or should I say beaks.

I think they have attitude or that could just be me.

that was fun, what now?

Birds?

2008-10-21T10:17:00.007+11:00

I felt like drawing some cartoon birds not sure why but it was kind of goofy fun.

here are a couple of feathered friends, maybe an odd couple.

I feel like doing some more with these two.

Character Sketches

2008-10-17T19:48:00.004+11:00

Here is a character I am working on for a Comic Book. the story is coming together, by the way his name is Arthur.

It is fun to just work out how he will look from different angles and with different expressions.

I have had a busy week and probably a busy weekend.

Trying to find the Artist, family balance. can be hard sometimes.

I have also been working through some more of the book The Artist's way by Julia Cameron and it is helping me focus on the positives which is good,right?

Sequential Fun

2008-10-11T23:47:00.004+11:00

here is a comic page I did just for fun. It certainly isn't ground breaking stuff story wise. I just needed to change pace. After spending a lot of time writing story ideas I just had to Draw something. This was fun to do and didn't take too long as I inked it with felt tip markers instead of a brush and bottle of ink.

Character sketch

2008-10-11T22:18:00.004+11:00

here is a character sketch that got me started on a story idea that I just can't stop thinking about. I think it will develop into something, here's hoping

Inner Critic Illustration

2008-10-11T22:05:00.009+11:00

Just in case you missed the link below to my

Inner Critic Illustration here is a smaller look.

Just look at him sitting there in all his smugness, high and mighty with an opinion on everything.

Not listening to him anymore.

you can see a larger version Here.

the inner critic

2008-10-10T16:26:00.011+11:00

"it's a pipe dream, you are wasting time and money for what?, you aren't good enough, your not creative enough, you will never get there, you"re kidding yourself".

You may be familiar with these quotes they come from the little negative bastard that lives in all our heads. The Inner Critic, the voice that tells you to give up or it's just to hard.

Well I am done listening to that guy.

Thanks to a great book I read and am still reading called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron It has help me greatly to re-energise my creative energy and really open my mind as to what it wants to create.

sounds a bit hokey, new age I know but I really felt this book and the simple tools it instructs you to employ has helped me so much.

One of the tools mentions cartooning an image of your inner critic give that voice a face and stare it down, reduce it power over you.

here is my Inner Critic if you are interested

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron really is a book about positive thinking and being creative while staying open minded about whats going on within you.

Maybe not for everyone but you never know unless you try, so I did and within a few days I was writing up a storm of story ideas that I was excited about. As well as drawing characters that I really felt clicked with what I wanted to do.

And in case your wondering this isn't a paid endorsement I just wanted to share my good fortune of finding this book purely by accident.

I have also been looking up tips for budding illustrators as I re-enter the fray and found a great site that had some interesting and insightful tips for Illustrators from Kevin Cornell at the bear skin rug website. His words just resonated with me and were inspiring.

Feeling good

2008-10-10T14:44:00.011+11:00

well here I am again and I am starting to feel good about where I am headed with my drawing.
I had put down my pencil out of frustration, disappointment and a huge chunk of no confidence thrown in.
but like most people I have gone full circle and I have found my self drawn back to what my heart wants to do and that is draw and tell stories. To just be creative.

I had tried to apply the logic to my life that you are an adult now and with that comes responsibilities and commitments and you can't always get what you want out of life.
Just settle and be happy for the good things in your life.
Don't get me wrong I have a good life. A well paying day job, a beautiful wife, two great sons, a house, a car, food on the table.

The logic just just wasn't working though, I just wasn't happy inside and out.

I would wake up every morning with that dull ache deep inside that something just wasn't right. It took me quite a while to figure out just what it was and what I should do.

Although it did take an epiphany at around 4.00 am one morning. After another bout of insomnia had struck and sick of tossing and turning in bed for ages I decided to get up and watch a DVD.

While watching the movie Unbreakable, Ironic I know, a comic book hero movie but Mr Glass (Samuel L Jackson) says to David Dunn (Bruce Willis) " that little bit of sadness in the mornings you spoke of, perhaps you aren't doing what you are suppose to be doing".

That one sentence just rang bells in my head and I just thought to myself,what are you supposed to be doing?
well what I came up with was I like to draw, Duh, I am pretty good at it and it makes me feel good when I do.
Even now, I still can't believe I had just locked it away for so long.

It has been a slow journey back with reading and sketching doodles, to playing around with characters and now writing stories. but it is fun and I feel happy about being able to create again.

Maybe I'm not going to change the world with what I am doing but at least I feel good about doing it.

Up and Running

2008-08-16T17:00:00.000+10:00

Well here I am back at the drawing board after being away for quite a while.

Here is a pencil sketch I decided to colour with Photoshop