Wednesday 25 February 2009

A little doodle for Wednesday..

Behold a twig, I so love that spring is coming..

Tuesday 24 February 2009

Illustrated fiction: Fisherman, Part II

Ray told me he'd planned a special evening for Valentine's Day and told me to come to his place at seven. I put on a black dress and heels and took a cab, feeling excited and uncertain as we zoomed through the darkness of Central Park.

In the week since he'd shown me the pants, revealed the secret, not much had changed, except that I was seeing fish everywhere: two-dimensional guppies drawn on the walls of the subway, cheesy edible goldfish in the hands of children on the bus, starfish and sea anemones on socks and cosmetic cases and umbrellas.

He cooked me dinner, which he had done before, but this was the nicest dinner he had ever cooked me: tuna tartar, seviche, broiled calamari, fresh sole in a lemon butter sauce. The tuna came out in the shape of a heart, and on either side, he’d done our initials in ginger vinagrette.

Over dessert -- a classic chocolate souffle, airy, potent, a return to the basics he knew I loved and and relied on -- Ray explained that he’d simply wanted to devote an entire evening to the realm of things he loved, so that I could be more a part of it. I was delightfully full and lazy with wine and attention and wasn’t lying when I said I was enjoying myself.

After dinner, we settled into the couch to watch what Ray said was one of his favorite films. It was about a group of men who tended a lighthouse in northern Maine in the late 60s. They worked on a rotating basis, and apparently when one was doing his stint in the lighthouse, the others would take a fishing boat out and return a couple of days later to unload their haul and have briny intercourse with their wives. Then one of them began cuckolding another, and there were betrayals and fistfights, and then a town fight about doing away with lighthouse keepers entirely, as technology had rendered them unnecessary.

To Ray’s dismay, I dozed through some of the movie. To my dismay, I had waking dreams of orgies involving all of the characters, plus what they’d fished from the depths of the sea. When it was over, Ray poured me another cup of coffee and I stared at his backside while he did the dishes, wondering what it is that draws us together and keeps us there, what it is that makes one man love a fish, one woman love a steak.

In the middle of making love, Ray sucked his cheeks in and made a fish face at me. I laughed so hard I nearly fell off of him.

"What does that mean?" I asked him.

"I guess I’m trying to get you to admit that you think I’m insane."

"And why do you think I think that?"

He sucked in his cheeks once more and moved his lips up and down, fish bobbing for bait. "Aren’t I?"

"Aren’t we all?" I responded before closing my eyes and riding a white wave into an elysian oblivion.

Monday 23 February 2009

doodles of a first draft for tsp..

hey
I'm doing a drawing on a wall for Boston company tech superpowers and I'm just doodling the first draft, any comments? I think its going well it a great space in their new digital lounge, still more to do though I think..






















Label download at poppy talk

I love poppy talk its a great blog and they are currently offering a download of labels to print of and use its super cool the labels look great!

Wednesday 11 February 2009

Illustrated fiction post: Fisherman.

Hey it's Wednesday...
Here's the illustrated fiction post all around a piece of my new work on fishermen!
This is a cracker!























"He wants you to dress up as what?"

Like a bored child dragged out shopping by her mother, I stood idly behind Chase as she flipped through the dresses. I considered crawling into the middle of the rack and playing hide and seek with myself.

"A fisherman?" I said, more of a question than a statement.

"So what you’re telling me is Ray -- cooks-dinner, cleans-the-bathtub, wants-three-kids Ray -- gets off on fishermen?"

"I guess he’s not as boring and predictable as you’re painting him to be," I said, though I wasn’t mad at Chase. I had been a little surprised when Ray had brought out the slick yellow jumpsuit, but he was sheepishly ecstatic and turned on, which, like everything else about him, I found adorable. I would have dressed up like a school bus if he’d asked me to.

"Does he want to lick fish oil off your belly? Or do you have to reel him in?"

I smiled. "I really don’t know. All I saw were the pants." This was true. He was too afraid to go into details, which was the only thing still making me reluctant about this new development. It had taken him six months to even tell me about this, and I wondered why, when it was so obvious I was gaga for him, he was so afraid to share these things with me and if he was hiding anything else.

"So what are you going to do?"

I shrugged. "I’ll try anything once." I wasn’t sure why I was being so circumspect with Chase; I was ready for anything with Ray. I’d bought my ticket, sold the house, signed my name -- or whatever it is that they say. I was in it to win it with Ray, but it seemed more delicious if I kept that between me and him.

Chase held a dress against her body and squinted at herself in the mirror for a second. Then she looked up and caught my blank expression in the mirror. "Thar she blows."

We erupted into giggles, our faces flashing maniacally in the mirror.

Tuesday 10 February 2009

Fishermen at work drawings..

Hi,
I've been working on some new drawings..
Below a couple of the results, lots more to be added for sale on my etsy site!












































Wednesday 4 February 2009

Wednesday's Illustrated fiction post, "Postcards"











When I feel sad, I go to the junk store and leaf through the postcards. They have highly contrasted color photos of state capitals or big block letters that say "Greetings from the Grand Canyon!" with slivers of cacti and Indian jewelry within each letter. On the back, wives have written in loopy script: "The weather in St. Louis has been great. Only one day of rain and tomorrow we’re going to visit the Arch!" Or: "Hello from Idaho! Hope you’re well." They were always addressed to Mrs. Harold Mathers or Mrs. Ronald Kline or Mrs. Lawrence Bennett. Most date to the early 60s, when the stamps cost four cents. I picture tan women in big sunglasses and big hairdos writing the postcards to their friends, licking the stamps and affixing them carefully, while their husbands check under the hood or buy soft drinks. They wear lipstick and polyester and when I think of those ladies, and when I think of their vacations, seeing the U.S.A. from the passenger seats of their Chevrolets, I don’t feel so sad anymore.

Tuesday 3 February 2009

Please vote for me!!

Hi, I'm up for Loveliest Ladies' items poll on the Storque. You can check out the poll here
If I get enough votes I have a chance to be featured in the Season of Love Gift Guides and on the Etsy blog.
I'm up for my Barbican tea cup below,

And so t'was Tuesday and it's still snowing...

.. its taken me 3 hours to complete a normally 20 min round trip and my toes are frozen but enough of that, today its Tuesday and so it should be a drawing post...
Today a little something i have done recently for my cake plates line, a drawing of Micheldever Station..
Hope you like..

Monday 2 February 2009

Monday's Etsy post

This is today's Etsy post, this work is by an amazing illustrator with such a wonderful imagination! Ashley G from Portland, OR.
Ashley G says of her work, "My artwork tends to be simple, but with a sophisticated or stark color palette. I believe great emotion can be conveyed in a simple gesture or look."
and she's not wrong check out her Etsy shop here.
Really inspirational stuff!
http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.55540171.jpg

Snow! might have a job drawing this!







































I know it's just snow, but wow it's pretty! Can't help but post about it!! This was first thing this morning and it's been snowing a lot ever since!