The Eighty Sixth Doodle

You may have guessed by now people: I LOVE DRAWING BODIES.

 

I mean like, live bodies, as in, well...people being all humanesque and stuff. And clothes. I love drawing clothing. And hair. And muscle tone.

 

Well, you get the blimmin' drift.

 

So I created some pretty sick (even if I do say so myself) illustrations for a new London clothing company Drop 'n' Roll, and above is the main header image encompassing drawings of their range of t-shirts for men and women.

 

If you're a small clothing company get in touch about creating some unique one off illustrations for your site. Photos are great to show off individual pieces but if you want something truly different, then hit me up.

 

(Can't believe I just said hit me up. I cannot pull that off.)

The Eighty Second Doodle - Ladies & Beasts

 The Ladies & The Beasts Series

The Lady & The Raven

I've had a few questions and comments about my newest series of paintings 'The Ladies & The Beasts', so I thought I'd write up here in my blog to answer a few of those questions! Also, it's a nice way of putting down in words why I paint what I paint.

My work is constantly inspired by strong women, 'cause lets face it - we're super badass. We have marvellous shapes and features and hair, all the things I love to paint. So when I first began painting these ladies with different types of animals and birds, even I wondered where exactly in my head they'd come from.

The women I paint are, firstly, not 'perfect' airbrushed model types. They have bumps. They have lumps. They have tummies. They often have fierce, not typically beautiful features. But that is perfect- because it's what we all are in reality. And we're awesome. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I reckon, and everyone is beautiful to somebody else out there. And that is totally awesome too.

The Lady & The Fox

So I suppose you could say that my ladies are Renaissance ladies - ever looked at those paintings from the 15th or 16th century by the likes of Botticelli or Titian? They are curvy, they have real shape, there is often an aspect of nature in the composition. I've simply added a few extra modern things- a slice of ruggedness, a streak of alternative attitude, a dose of colourdy hair (colourdy aint no word, but meh!) to make these ladies true, 21st century badass goddesses. They are Amazonians, they are natures' warrior ladies. They are feminine and lovely but they are tough.

The Lady & The Wolf

In regard to the other aspects of my paintings, I've had a few people ask me if the animals are meant to be 'clothing' or 'accessories'; the simple answer to that is no. The animals are in fact a part of the women- their positions are often intwining, protective. Of course, I like to leave people to decide for themselves what they see in my work, but for me the animal or bird represents the soul, the personality of the woman. Sometimes they act as guardians, such as in The Lady & The Owl (see below- I'd bloody love having a wise old owl looking out for me), sometimes they are more shielding as with The Lady & The Fox.

But when it comes down to it, you can see what you like. My paintings can mean whatever you'd like them to in your own little head- they can represent something, or they can just be an image of a lady with an animal. Simple as that. You can relate to the women I paint, you can see an attitude you recognise, you can like the colours.

At the end of the day, I hope people enjoy looking at my work and perhaps see a little thing that means something just to them. So, enjoy.

The Amazonian

The Native American 

The Lady & The Owl

The Lady & The Arctic Wolf

The Lady & The Swan

The Eighty First Doodle

Sometimes you just need to have a good ol' painting sesh. With some recent work I've been creating I've been taking photos all the way through of the various stages, which is actually really interesting. It's quite nice to look back at how you built up a painting; all the various layers and shading techniques that you use, perhaps without even noticing!

 

Here's the finished painting of my Native American inspired lady, done using watercolours and inks :) 

The Seventy Ninth Doodle

Ummm, I don't know if you've realised, but like, Caitlin Moran is one fuckin' badass lady. Ohhh yeah. 

When I came out of hospital (yawn) I was so bored and, lets be honest, miserable. I had bought myself her new book Moranthology and as soon as I was able (basically, when I was not totally addled from painkillers) I curled up in a ball and read it. And it was the first thing that made me smile and laugh and snort and forget about being ill. Anything that can do that is bloody wonderful in my eyes.

Her writing is so sharp, funny and chuckle-inducingly witty. LOVE. 

So I did this wee pen and ink doodle of the ineffable 'CaitMo'. All hail and tha'.

Now I must drink some tea.

The Seventy Eighth Doodle

Well well, I obviously haven't been drawing much after coming out of tut hospital *sigh*. Being in pain, dull as it is, is terribly time-consuming and irksome. And exhausting. Bother.

Yet here's a longboarder doodle I've been able to do, standing in the kitchen or lying on the sofa (how rock 'n' roll) -

Normally an illustration like this would be done within a couple of hours (including tea breaks) but this took a week. LOL. Oh dear. But it's a start! Plus I bloody love a rad, badass longboarding lass, especially with pink and purple hair! 

The Twenty Ninth Doodle

So, I went surfing in Australia. Oh my word, I swear my stomach was killing me the next day, all that fighting through the surf. Though I unfortunately did manage to fall off in the shallows and totally buggar my shoulder - typical.

So accepting that I am not meant for the extreme sports lifestyle, I am more than happy to do the art work. I can't hurt my arm this way (well, that isn't technically true, but that's another story).

So here's a sassy surfer girl, in watercolour and pen. Ahhh don't you just love the sea ey.

The Twenty-Seventh Doodle

Oh my word, I am obsessed with tattoos. I love them. I mean, probably not all of them, I do know someone called 'Crap-tatts'. Unfortunate nick name.

But I do love them. And I love hair. And I love blue. So I drew this picture.

Shortest version of that story.

The Twenty-Third Doodle

This particular illustration is from a friends photograph. I think I mainly wanted to draw it because I loved that funky hat; gosh I am shallow! I seem to have this weird thing of crossing very dreamy with very grungy in my work, I am addicted to the beautiful washy textures of watercolour. Nom nom.

The Tenth Doodle

Carcassone. Possibly my ideal, achingly beautiful and historical city. As a history geek, this is a sort of Mecca for me.

This is from a photo took while there, and I enjoyed playing around with a 'scenery' sort of illustration. I wanted the colours to be just so, to reflect that aged feel, the stone that has been there so long. Then the colours on the figure of me were deliberately bold, almost a jolt against the natural background. I am but a blip, and the city will be there long after I am gone.

Goodness, I am philosophical aren't I.