Here is the final part:
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Ladies of the Lakes, the end
Category: Sketch diary
Ladies of the Lakes, part 7
In which we are on the last leg of our trip home, and continue to hit problems.
… and that was the end of our trip, but there’s an epilogue, so please do come back one more time tomorrow.
Ladies of the Lakes, part 4
Ladies of the Lakes, part 2
Ladies of the Lakes, part 1
As long-time readers will know, I often record holidays in the form of a sketch diary.
Now, my trip up to the town of Kendal in the Lake District last October wasn’t exactly a holiday; I was there for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, selling comics. Nonetheless, so much happened in the 4 days away from home that I felt I wanted to record it.
And while my sketch diaries normally comprise just as much text as they do images, it seemed appropriate to do this one entirely in the form of a comic. That partly explains why it has taken almost six months to finish it: the other reason, of course, was that a few weeks in, admin for Draw The Line started taking up all my spare time and I had to put it aside.
Never mind – it’s done now: all 34 pages of it. I’m going to serialise it in 8 parts and I hope you enjoy it.
My #HourlyComicDay 2017 in full
I’ve been absolutely up to my neck in the Draw The Line project (comic artists drawing positive political actions that anyone can take), but when Hourly Comic Day rolled around, I couldn’t bear the thought of not taking part.
I’ve participated for the past three years, and the concept chimes very well with my tendency towards diary-based comics. This year though, I’d be in Leeds with work, for an all-day meeting that would neither allow for the luxury of regular drawings and uploads, nor provide very interesting or varied content. So I cheated slightly, and completed my hourlies on the Saturday beforehand.
As with every year, it was slightly stressful and time-consuming, and I ended up feeling a bit unhappy about sharing rough work. But also as with every year, I believe that the narrative supersedes the quality of the drawing in the end.
Anyway, awkward preamble over, here’s my Hourly Comic Day. Click any of the images to see them at a larger size.
If I have time, I hope to do my usual round-up post of other people’s too, but it might not be as quick off the mark as it usually is.
Totnes & Lyme Regis holiday diary, part 6: in which we break everything and go home
This is the very final episode in our Totnes and Lyme Regis holiday. If this is the first page you’ve seen, you probably want to start at part 1, actually.
Ha! I only wrote that page (above) out a few days ago, and several new things have happened in politics. It’s as if someone has pressed the fast forward button by mistake.
This map (below) was available free, all over the town, for tourists to pick up — and it was drawn by Hugh, our B&B proprietor. Taking a proper look at it, it’s clear that there is still plenty to do in Lyme Regis, so we will have to return.
We were sad to come home, but drawing it all has, as always, helped me relive the holiday. Hope you’ve enjoyed it too!
Totnes and Lyme Regis holiday sketch diary, part 5: Beatrix Potter’s windswept hair
This is part 5 of our holiday in Totnes and Lyme Regis. If you haven’t seen prior episodes, you’ll want to begin from the beginning, so start here.
We’re nearly at the end of the holiday now: just one more installment after this.
As before, click on any image and then click again to see it at a larger scale.
Totnes and Lyme Regis holiday sketch diary, part 4: cows, worms, moles & other animals
The image at the top of this post is a happy accident which happened on Photoshop, as I was trying to clean up the picture of the bookshop that appears in the third page below. I like it better than the actual painting, so here it is as a header.
Part 1 is here, part 2 is here and part 3 is here. If you’d like to see the pages at a larger scale, click on the image and then click again.
Totnes and Lyme Regis holiday sketch diary, part 3: my baby steampunk gets a taste of celebrity
Totnes and Lyme Regis holiday sketch diary, part 2: otters, steam trains and Ballardian dystopias
This is the second part of a holiday sketch diary in which we stayed in Totnes and Lyme Regis. Probably best not to start on day 2: you can read part 1 here.
As ever, click on the images below, and then click again if you would like to see them at a larger size.
More in part 3.
Totnes and Lyme Regis holiday sketch diary, part 1: one man and his gluestick
So, here it is! Every time we go on holiday I swear I’m not going to bother with a sketch diary — and every time, I end up spending more time and attention on it. I suppose I have to admit that there’s no escape now. This is what I do.
So here’s part 1 of 6, chronicling our recent family trip.
We started in a part of Devon we know well, Totnes, before a few days in Lyme Regis, which was new to us. As usual, the whole holiday was by public transport — well, it had to be since none of us can drive. :)
Click on each image, and then click again, if you’d like to see the page at a larger size.
Apologies about the next page; I know the wording is badly placed for reading – but it turned out to be difficult to fit it in any other way, so in the end I left it as it is. I hope you can still get the gist.
More in part 2.
The mystery of the unobtainable sketchbooks
I’ve finished my latest sketch diary, depicting our eight-day holiday in Devon and Somerset earlier this year.
I’ll be sharing it on here soon, as soon as I’ve scanned it, and fixed a couple of pages where the wording isn’t laid out in a very readable way. Such are the perils of drawing on the fly.
Here’s my daughter flicking through the finished article. If you click on the picture you’ll be able to see a short video of the whole thing on Instagram.
Perhaps you can tell from the video how thick the pages of this sketchbook are. If it had sound, you’d definitely be able to tell, by the particular timbre of the ‘swoosh’ noise they make.
For the last couple of years, I’ve been using these mystery 44-page sketchbooks which turned up in TK Maxx, and its sister store Homesense, for £3.99 each. The only indication of the brand is this inscription at the back:
I’ve never seen another type of sketchbook with such thick pages, and I love them. I tend to draw in pencil first, then rub it out when I’ve inked over the lines, then I add watercolour. While that would cause problems with many sketchbooks – scuffing of the surface, or wrinkling of the page – it’s no issue at all on this paper: in fact these heavy pages would take acrylic just as easily. Colours don’t even come close to bleeding through, so you could also use any type of felt tip, even a permanent marker.
So far so good: but there’s a problem, which I’ve mentioned before, and which, several months later, seems all the more certain. They’re not available any more. If you’re familiar with TK Maxx and Homesense, you’ll know that they’re basically overstock outlets: they buy up surplus goods from the manufacturers and sell them on at lower prices. They even have signs up all over the shop to remind you to pounce on that bargain because you can’t rely on it being available next time.
The Valentina sketchbooks were around for a couple of years though, so I became complacent, just picking up a couple every now and then. If I’d known they were going to become unobtainable, I’d have bought ten or twenty!
Now, I do fancy myself as a tenacious Googler, so I wondered whether, with a little work, I’d be able to find this stockist and buy directly. Here’s what I found:
- The same blog post that I’ve mentioned here before, asking if anyone knows where to find more. The follow-up comments are full of people who have found that post and shared the same desires and bewilderment:
Okay I’m an art student from Manchester and these are the only books I like using! me and two other of my friends have about 14 between us, after traveling to around 7 different TK MAXX we brought everyone we could find. you need to grab them while there in, its something that you just got to buy when its there! there an amazing price, I have everyone I know trying to find me a stockist to buy them from, no luck so far!
- This Italian stationers appears near the top of results for “florence vip for valentina” but, despite offering many beautiful items, it does not stock the sketchbooks I want.
- A company profile showing that Florence VIP shipped 1,572 kg of ‘journals’ from the port of Livorno in Italy to Georgia Ports Authority in the USA, as recently as 28 June 2016! This also provides an address for the company in Florence. If I was willing to pay for a subscription, I could view where else they shipped to… But in general this is good news, surely, as it shows they are still operational.
- Street view for that address does not look very much like there’s a stationer’s there, nor does it look like a particularly likely place for a notebook manufacturer. However, it would be a great excuse for a holiday to Florence, and while I was there, I could make another sketch diary… if I found something to draw it in. Heh.
For the meantime, please yell if you see these in a TK Maxx or Homesense near you. I travel quite a bit for work, and my colleagues live all over the country, so I might be able to nab them one way or another!
Right, off to my scanner.
This one is for agents, travel magazines, brands and tourist boards
I’ve received my own copies of the Gudrun Sjödén sketch diary, and they’re lovely. I hope customers have enjoyed them too.
I really enjoy creating this type of work, so I’m going to actively seek more of it. In fact, over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be approaching agents, brands and tourist boards with this message:
I can create a sketch diary for you.
What’s more, as an introductory offer, if you are the first tourist board to approach me, I will do it in return for my travel expenses and accommodation.
Get in touch and we can discuss the fine details. Meanwhile, here are some examples of my previous work (click to see them bigger):
Barcelona sketch diary: see the whole diary here.
Madrid sketch diary: See the whole diary here
Stockholm sketch diary: See the whole diary here
Bristol and Frome sketch diary: See the whole diary here
Santiago sketch diary: See the whole diary here
Bath sketch diary: See the whole diary here
Not exactly what you’re looking for? Don’t worry, I can adapt to your needs — let’s talk.
Things you should know about me
- I’m a vegetarian, I don’t drive, and I tend towards the eco side of things. So I’m probably not a good fit for an off-the-beaten-track villa, a Mongolian raw meat restaurant, or that “Jeremy Clarkson meets climate change deniers” event you had planned (although, now you mention it, that does sound like the basis for rather a good comic strip…).
- On the other hand, if you want to promote your craft retreats, veggie festivals, train rides across Europe, walkable city, or cycling tours, I am all over that.
- But I will consider anything, so don’t be afraid to ask!
- You’ll get the ‘real me’: that’s what makes my sketch diaries unique, and what (according to their comments) readers find most compelling. I record the ups and downs of any trip, but of course, I’ll never do so to the detriment of your brand. Unless I find out you are actually sacrificing baby chinchillas on altars made in a sweatshop. Then I’ll sever our agreement and sell my sketch diary to the press instead.
- I have a husband and an 11 year old kid. If they’re also included in the trip, you’ll get some child-focused content too. And maybe some hilarious marital spats.
- My main interests are drawing (well duh), design, visiting museums and galleries, shopping (especially at second hand shops and markets), running, cycling, and seeking out the things that make places a bit different from home.
- Brands I really like include: Marimekko, Seasalt, Braintree, Fitbit, Asics, Nike, Lush, Bravissimo, Doc Martens, Birkenstocks and, obviously, Gudrun Sjödén.
- I’m pretty good at drawing fashion, people, shopping and buildings. I haven’t drawn, but would certainly like to tackle: factories, industry, ships, manufacturing processes.
- I’m based in Brighton, UK, but am prepared to travel almost anywhere by public transport. Brighton is close to Gatwick Airport for international travel, and most parts of the U.K. can be easily reached by train.
- I’m especially interested in Scandi countries, the Scottish Isles, Iceland and Japan. But I am up for visiting pretty much anywhere.
- Typically, I work on my return, from photographs I take during my trip. While a 2 or 4-pager can be turned around in a couple of weeks, longer sketch diaries may be completed up to 6 weeks after my return (depending on its length and complexity, and my other commitments).
- Images will be delivered as high resolution jpegs for you to use as you wish – printing and distribution, or adding to your website will be your responsibility.
- I would also love to work on longer projects. Artists like Wendy Macnaughton, Julia Rothman and my all-time favourite Miroslav Sasek give me hope that there’s a market for this kind of book.
Pick up my Stockholm sketch diary in any Gudrun Sjoden store, for International Women’s Day
Happy International Women’s Day!
I’m truly delighted that my Stockholm sketch diary (detailing the trip I took to be an unlikely fashion model for Gudrun Sjödén) has been printed out and will be available to Gudrun shoppers around the world today.
Gudrun Sjödén stores always celebrate International Women’s Day (after all, their founder is a remarkable woman), and this year they are giving out “bulging goodie bags” as part of the celebrations. My diary will be making one of the bulges!
In the UK, the bags are a little extra gift for anyone spending more than £40. If you can’t make it, fear not – if you order via the website today, the same offer applies. Or of course, you can read the whole diary online here.
I have to say that I am really grateful for Gudrun’s support: I’m not a commercial artist nor one who approached them via standard channels. I so appreciate their willingness to share my work to their customers in this way.
And just to prove the whole thing wasn’t just a wonderful dream, here’s the evidence: the group of lovely ladies I met that day are all on the Gudrun homepage, in their catalogue, and in the recent marketing emails, and there’s me on the right:
Visit the homepage and you’ll even see this as a moving image. Hoorah!
A round-up of my favourite #HourlyComicDay strips, 2016
I hope you enjoyed my Hourly Comic Day comics this year (in case you didn’t see them, they’re here).
And if that whetted your appetite for this peculiar artform, here are some of my favourites from other people.
It was much easier to find the good ones this year than in previous years – it feels like more people are taking part, or maybe it’s just that I’ve had another year of making connections with comics people on social media, and I know where to find them… in any case, enjoy!
(Be aware, though, if you are a sensitive snowflake: some of them contain strong language and/or scenes of a racy nature)
Sarah Winifred Searle
Swinsea offers you lovely pencil crayon, fluffy cats and honest feelings.
Kristen Haas Curtis
Kristen (“American cartoonist in Switzerland”) tweeted me to say that we’d both felt parental guilt at exactly the same point of the day. :)
Robin William Scott
Robin William Scott is a new name to me but I really like his style. As far as I’m aware, these are only visible on Twitter at the moment.
Tillie Walden
Broken Frontier has gathered together Tillie’s comics, which I’m in awe of, because she actually managed to get something of a story arc in there, as well as having such an effortless-looking style.
Danny Noble
Danny also managed to do something a little bit above and beyond with hers. Pfft, all these smart people.
Lucy Bellwood
Lucy‘s been doing hourly comic day since 2011, so no surprise that she’s also managed to raise the bar with a nice underlying analogy.
Vera Bee
Vera is another new name to me, with a nice line in self-deprecating humour.
Joe Decie
Joe‘s skilled drawings are always a favourite.
Dan Berry
And of course Dan is a perennial.
Jeremy Dennis
Here’s Jeremy taking a loose line to the extreme — also features drawing while walking, which is impressive.
Moar Moar MOAR
And if that little lot wasn’t enough for you, surprise! Here’s Zainab Akhtar’s selection which includes several that I haven’t mentioned above.
What? You want even more MORE?
OK then, here’s my round-up from last year, and from 2014.
Or go and fish out your own favourites, via the hashtag on various social media:
My complete Hourly Comic Day 2016
So – was it more difficult completing Hourly Comic Day on a working day?
You bet it was. There’s not very much of visual interest to draw, and it means you have to do a full day’s work and then put in several hours drawing into the night.
I saw a few canny people shifted theirs to Sunday, and I’m beginning to see what a good idea that is. If you were really clever, you could even draw your frames on the Sunday and then schedule them to go out once an hour on Twitter the next day… or is that just too duplicitous?
I was really looking forward to Hourly Comic Day but actually… I’d forgotten that it can be quite stressful, what with aching shoulders as you hunch over your pages, the insecurity of seeing everyone else’s work pouring out (and of course it’s *all excellent*), and the hardest thing for me, which is trying to keep up a decent standard of drawing in real time. It’s a real test of just how well you can extemporise, and that, for me, is a real challenge.
But enough moaning. Ignore my insecurities. I hope you enjoyed these cartoons. :)
Can I be a mother and a successful artist? Hmm, let’s see
This piece of graffiti is a fairly new addition to an underpass on one of my running routes. I enjoy graffiti and street art well enough, but my goodness, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a piece of it that spoke so directly to my own concerns. I’d like to meet whoever scrawled this and have a good long chat with her.
I’m not sure whether the big ‘NO’ underneath it is in answer, or whether it’s part of a previous piece of graffiti. Either way, it adds some hollow humour that I also enjoy.
Anyway, with all of that in mind, here’s my review of how I did on the ‘artist’ side for 2015 (the parenting side is always a work in progress, and another matter).
Comics
Lots of my work comes directly from motherhood and this year that was reflected in two cartoons: one about the school run, and one about my own mum.
In 2014, I drew Underdog, which relates a true experience of sewing with my daughter, and this year it was placed second in a prize, which is very gratifying.
I once again had a shot at the Cape/Comica/Observer graphic short story contest, but feel more and more resigned to the fact that I’ll never make a dent in that one.
I made a four-page comic about what happens when you take synchronised swimming to an extreme.
Feb 3rd brings the annual challenge of Hourly Comics Day. I’m looking forward to this year’s, although as it’s a working day, I’m a bit concerned as to how I’ll manage it…
Clothes
The 30-pictures-in-30-days Clovember project was also a motherhood project: I drew everything my daughter wore (far more interesting than my own outfits).
This year I was lucky enough to work on a couple of projects with the Swedish fashion label Gudrun Sjoden, purveyors of beautiful, sustainable clothes. In March, I painted customers in their shop, and then of course in August I had an amazing two days pretending to be a model. This has to be the wildest and most incredible reward that drawing has brought me yet.
The sketch diary I made around that trip has had an amazing amount of comments, likes and shares: it’s wonderful to have had it enjoyed by so many. And that’s not the last of it: I’ll be working with Gudrun Sjoden again this year, and I’ll share more details when that happens.
Travel
We had family holidays in Frome and Barcelona, and I drew a sketch diary for each (16 pages and 26 pages respectively). The Stockholm diary added another 12 pages.
I also recorded a trip to Madrid for work (26 pages). I was particularly pleased to find a way to combine my very interesting day job, and my drawing.
I love having my sketch diaries, and I do enjoy the process of making them, but as my drawing ability improves, so do my ambitions, until I am in the silly situation of having to spend a couple of hours a day on them for weeks after our return.
This time could be used for other types of drawing, so this year I will have to think carefully about whether to continue.
As it happens, my favourite type of sketchbook appears to be really thin on the ground at the moment: I haven’t been able to find any in TK Maxx and Homesense, where I usually pick up two or three at a time.
I have two unused ones in a drawer at home and after that it’s entirely possible I won’t be able to find any more, which is a real shame as I’ve never seen any other sketch book that’s quite as well-suited to sketch diaries. Maybe it’s a sign that it really is time to give up.
Other stuff
As I only just posted, I drew my daughter’s stocking and all its contents (twice in one year, as it turned out, as I only completed 2014’s stocking on January 3rd 2015).
I also made my daughter’s party invitation – more happy combining of parenthood and drawing.
People and events
This blog was given an incredible boost by WordPress when they featured it in a round-up post at the beginning of the year, and then in a couple of subsequent features. That recognition has brought almost 5,000 subscribers to my blog. That’s great, and makes me think of ‘success’ and ‘exposure’ in entirely new ways.
But sometimes you also have to meet people in the real world, right? Even if parenthood has put you in the habit of staying in of an evening.
I went to a few excellent drawing-related events this year: an talk put on by the Lewes Children’s Book Group, and the inspiring Graphic Brighton conference.
Then there was the Brighton Illustration Fair which had a strong comics slant. This year, I’m going to try and be on the other side of a table.
Finally, I rediscovered Cartoon County, a group specifically for cartoonists, and right on my doorstep – I really should make more effort to go.
—
So, can you be a successful artist and a mother? To answer that question quite seriously, I’d say that yes, you can.
I’m not pretending that I’m a successful artist myself – that must depend on your definition of ‘successful’, but I’d bet that most people’s definitions would include making a living from it. I am an artist who’s becoming more content with her work, and enjoying a burgeoning readership though, so that must be a good thing.
If I had to guess, I’d say that the anonymous graffiti artist is probably in the early stages of motherhood (or maybe even pregnant, and thinking ahead?). If that’s so, then my answer would be to hang on in there. The first few years of motherhood do not allow for very much else, but that’s not a permanent state. And motherhood will inspire your art in new ways.
A week in Barcelona, final part: rainbows, closed doors and iconic pavements
Here’s the final pages of my Barcelona sketch diary.
You can see part 1 here.
And part 4 is here.
As always, click and click again to see each page at a larger size. Now read on…
A week in Barcelona, part 4: giant heads, small press comics, and food colouring
This is part 4.
Click each image and then click them again to see them at a larger size.
That blue sketchbook ends up being the one I did my Clovember drawings in.
Tomorrow: the final installment.
