Me and Brain – The Making of: My Kit

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I started drawing Me and Brain on any old bit of paper, any sketchbook, with whatever was to hand.  Although it suited my need to get things on paper as inspiration struck, keeping a record and a sense of continuity throughout the comics became more difficult.  Having scribbled on different papers with different pens, it helped me decide which tools would be the best when I decided to draw Me and Brain comics with more consistency.

sketchbookSketchbook: It’s an A4 book decorated with stickers – sometimes I wonder if it’s the most important ingredient of the Me and Brain process…  The paper is pretty middle-weight, about the 120gsm mark, smooth, and not too absorbent as I found that some papers would make the ink bleed, ruining any crisp lines I had intended.

Pen: I discovered I’m relatively uninitiated when it comes to pens.  I usually prefer to work with dip pen and ink – however that would not work for the flow of ideas.  Me and Brain focus on stream of consciousness content rather than technical ability.  The fineliner pen allowed me to put down lines immediately without having to sketch first.  It also has the immediate, slightly more finished look which I felt that pencil didn’t.  drawing-tools

Pencil:  I do however use pencil for Brain.  Using different tools means that I can give Brain some texture without obscuring the face.  The pencil is a mechanical pencil with soft 0.7 lead which has lived in my pencil case since the beginning of time.

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Me and Brain – Unicorn Stickers

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A little late to share this one, but this has been the impetus behind the flurry of Me and Brain comics…me-and-brain_sketchbooks-and-unicorn-stickersme-and-brain_sketchbooks-and-unicorn-stickers-2

Me and Brain – Our First Conversation

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It pains me to think that I used to love blogging, and it’s been 6 months since my last isolated post.  I neglected to feed my ‘inner artist’ for a while, choosing study and workaholism instead.  I felt like I forgot how to be an artist, bereft of the joy it brought to my life.

You may or may not have heard of Julia Cameron, or the book she wrote called The Artist’s Way, but in it she talks of your creativity as an energy like a child.  It is your duty to nurture this ‘artist child’ so that creativity can flow.  I found it interesting to think of creativity as a separate entity that existed within me.  It gave my now neglected ‘inner artist’ a different sense of self.

In the thick of my study-and-workaholism time, I set some time aside to ‘go be arty’.  Having previously chosen to spend all my art time as study time, this ‘go be arty’ scheduling was an oasis of fun in a desert of seriousness.  I readied my pencil.  Draw something.  Anything.

The blank page stared back at me.  The oasis was dry.

Frustrated, I angrily berated myself for not being inspired. I had put aside precious time and my inner artist was not performing as I was instructing it to.

And that was when my inner artist spoke back.

As I grew to understand that my creativity could be a separate entity, it gained its own voice.  This is how my inner artist manifested itself – as Brain.

Brain showed me that my inner artist is not a performing monkey.  Brain argued back when I was busy telling it off for not being inspired.  Brain would make me realise when I was being totally unreasonable.  Brain is often the uncensored me.

As I had this conversation with Brain, I drew and wrote it down.  At first I tried to make it neat, so that drawn Laura looked more like real Laura but the speed in which I needed to get the drawing on paper wouldn’t allow for neatness.  So I drew myself as a stick person; Brain was a sort of speech bubble with squiggles.

I have since had several conversations with Brain, always helping me stay true on my path of creativity.

Below is my first conversation with Brain:

me-and-brain_1sm

Revolver Rum – Colombia V Cornwall

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RevolverRum-Header-ImageAs I’ve probably mentioned before, I do enjoy a good spiced rum.  So I was pretty chuffed when one of the creators of Revolver Rum contacted me to ask if I could bring their new rum to life, via the gift of illustration.  The idea was to bring out the inspiration and ingredients that went into crafting the rum, having had influences from Colombia and Cornwall (where the creators come from).

I took elements from both locations; you’ll see parts of the landscape and landmarks of Bogota, Colombia, along the left side of the picture, balanced with Cornish locations on the right – you may spot Restormel Castle and St Michael’s Mount.  IMG_0092

Despite the left and right sides of the picture having a Colombia V Cornwall divide, I wanted to make the image flow as well.  The ingredients were an important aspect of the image, which I spaced out according to how the flavours hit the palate when you drink it.  I also included the copper still used to concoct the rum in the first place.  I’ve got to say – there’s something really appealing to me about the shape of the copper still they used.  It’s all round and wiggly – I love it!

I used a limited colour palette, taken from the colours Revolver Rum was already using.  At first I tried to have the colours balance out more evenly but as the painting took a life of its own, there was a real sense of day and night, giving both a sense of separation as well as a natural flow of one running into the other.

It was a challenge fitting in so many elements but it I’m really pleased with how it came together – I hope you enjoy it too.  If you’re a fan of rum yourself, you can try or buy, just check their stockists on the Revolver Rum website.

Watercolour painting of Revolver Rum, with inspiration from Columbia, Cornwall and ingredients; including the Bogota landscape, vanilla, cocktail umbrella, spider, chocolate, rum barrel, crow wing, copper still, st michael's mount, Restormel castle

Commission for Revolver Rum, to create a painting inspired by the elements that went into creating the rum.

 

Life Drawing Hen Parties

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ally katte back big hairI’ve always enjoyed life drawing, there’s something about the human body that I find compelling; all of the lines, curves, tones that flow and shape themselves into a figure, have an elemental beauty.

That being said, perhaps my favourite thing about life drawing is how it can be used for fun and exploration, experimentation and play, and all those other exciting drawing-related words.  It’s for this reason I was chuffed to become the life drawing teacher for Betty’s Birds hen parties last year.  Quite often as an adult we don’t get much chance to ‘play’, which is a real shame; so I created a life drawing workshop that is all about drawing exercises and games!  Would you believe it – the fun all adds up to help in improving drawing skills too…

Want to have a go yourself?  Fancy a party with a difference? It’s definitely worth checking out Betty’s Birds!