I really love dinosaurs, so I was tempted to draw one for this week’s Illustration Friday topic, ‘prehistoric’, but as I’m good friends with a very picky paleoartist (yes, there’s a name for people who draw dinosaurs) I knew I’d never hear the last of it, and so I decided against it.
I’ve drawn this typewriter for the contact page of a website my husband is working on – and I guess typewriters do seem prehistoric compared to new technology, so it seems fitting for this topic too.
I searched high and low for my typewriter for this project but couldn’t find it anywhere; thanks to Debbie for lending me this one to draw, which she’s kept since she was at school. The watercolour is a stock image I’ve manipulated.
List of things I like
The number 3. Hats. Model sailing boats. Antony Gormley. Second-hand bookshops and poetry, lately. The sound of dubbed footsteps in 70s movies. Silver birches (because they say ‘shhh’ like the sea). Sneezing, swimming. Finding stuff in between the pages of second-hand books. Beaded bracelets, looking through old photos and photos of dancers. Hands. My notebook. My bookshelves, although they can get quite dusty. Hot water bottles. Walking home after yoga class, feeling grounded and the tall tree shadows on the Tettenhall Road. My bike, Pegasus. The sea, beaches, rock pools. Pebbles, shells and driftwood. My vegetable patch and breaking the foil lid on a jar of coffee. Silhouettes. Buddha and the colour brown. Chip-shop-chips. Peel-off face masks. Storms & thunder, treehouses and saag paneer. Receiving handwritten letters in the post. Geese flying in formation. Gargoyles. Cats on window sills. Murals, Hanif Kureishi and Jeanette Winterson. Chinese paper lanterns, paper-chains and hot-air balloons. American police chases (particularly the ones involving helicopters). Autumn and bonfires. Dancing to REM in the kitchen. Fish Magic by Paul Klee. Words like ‘lodger’ and ‘veneer’. Pirates and cowboys. Googley eyes (you can make a friend out of anything). Owl illustrations. Dinosaurs. My black & white dog & cat mug. Mosaic tiles, stained glass windows and coloured light. Being read to. Our dining table. Tall, guitar-playing vegetarians. Kissing, more than anything. The sound of bitten nails on guitar strings and all the things that keep me sane like writing lists, Radox baths and sleep.
sneaky – marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed.
Quite a late Illustration Friday this week – Totoro figurine & the Russian dolls from my bookshelf.
This is my daughter, Gaby, unwrapping a surprise package from street artist Pahnl.
Pahnl got in touch after receiving an email from Gaby in relation to his work and being alerted to this post in which I’d written a little about his animation, ‘Nowhere Near Here‘. Within a matter of days, Gaby and I had each received packages from the artist himself; and his generosity has completely blown us away.
Gaby’s every bit creative – at 16, she’s studying Foundation Studies Art & Design at Walsall College. She’s still recovering from a serious (yet undiagnosed) illness, and so it means the world to us that she’s up and smiling again.
Gaby received ‘A Bonesend’ with a handwritten note ‘from one artist to another’.
And I received ‘Chasing Birds’ – I don’t know what I inspires me more; the cat that won’t be beaten or the use of torn cardboard as a medium.
And we each received a vinyl sticker set too which are available to buy in silver/black and fluorescent yellow/black, alongside limited edition artworks here.
Pahnl has recently finished another breathtaking video: Aerosol Amoeba – Breathing life into spray paint …144 hours of motion condensed down to four minutes. You can learn more about the artist and enjoy examples of his work by visiting his site.
1. the hat, 2. the girl in the hat.
I managed to follow a very easy pattern from this book: Hats, Gloves & Scarves by Louisa Harding. The ‘special exhibition’ is Charlotte, modeling a green, purple and red variation.
Charlotte is the eldest of my 4 beautiful, talented daughters and studies construction at Walsall College. From over 3,000 students, she was awarded Overall V6 Student of the Year, 2010.
Charlotte has always been eager to learn and has advanced through the units of her BTEC National Diploma in Construction at advanced level. Along with her college studies, Charlotte has also secured a permanent position with Jessup Developments as a Trainee Quantity Surveyor. Charlotte was chosen for the award for her outstanding hard work, commitment and vocational achievements.
As I’m currently working on my 5th (hat, not daughter), I thought both the hat and Charlotte were well deserving of a blog post.
This week’s subject for the Illustration Friday topic, ‘burning’ is in part autobiographical (my husband bears testament to that) and in part inspired by a quote from my friend Phil‘s mom when she left an iron mark on an item of his clothing; “…you won’t notice it, it’s on the back“.
The style of the illustration is inspired by an exhibition I visited at the Herbert Gallery in Coventry last week; Street Art: Contemporary prints from the V&A, which – somewhat conversely –brings street art into the gallery space. The exhibition showcases the work of some of the biggest artists in the street art community such as Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Sickboy, Pure Evil and D*Face.
While, in my opinion, many of the screen prints seemed lacking outside of their original context (after all, the medium is the message), I was particularly inspired by the examples of stencil and sticker grafitti. There were a number of stand out pieces; the most memorable of which was Pahnl‘s stop motion, long exposure, light stencil animation ‘Nowhere Near Here‘. If you can get there, the exhibition is well worth a visit for this alone (and he replied to my daughter’s email in relation to his work, which made her day).
Posted in Illustration, Illustration Friday
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Tagged Art, Burning, Grafitti, Illustration, Illustration Friday, Ironing, Ironing board, Observation drawing, Pahnl, Stencil Art, Sticker Art, Street Art
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