birds

Crows flying over the island. In vibrant technicolour.

All things colour are killing me at the moment. This looks much more muted in real life, but on my monitor right now, it’s looking almost garish. Oh well, I’m just trying to concentrate on those birds, and whether they distract too much from the landscape – which I’m still perfectly happy with… IN REALContinue reading “Crows flying over the island. In vibrant technicolour.”

Stamp forest

This is another of my aerial view collages – click the image to see it bigger. Birds fly over a forest at twilight, taking messages to a loved one. Between the trees are little houses and lakes; on some of the lakes are boats. This one is almost entirely composed of stamps; the sea andContinue reading “Stamp forest”

Green Shield stamps paddyfields

In the last few days, I’ve put the finishing touches to a complex collage of paddy fields. It’s made of tickets and postage stamps (many contributed by kind friends) and maps (including one I used to navigate around Japan, before the advent of smartphones in my life). These elements symbolise travelling over great distances. IContinue reading “Green Shield stamps paddyfields”

Airmail bird

Here’s a little collage bird I made while I was at my illustration class last night. Next week is the last session. We’re going to the pub, so I guess my learning has come to an end. At least, the kind of learning you do in a class. One of the tutor’s maxims was thatContinue reading “Airmail bird”

Trying things out

Here is a small bird I made from some Brighton bus tickets. We’re all switching to pre-loaded cards and mobile phone tickets these days, so it’s not as easy as it used to be to get hold of paper bus tickets. It’s funny to think that maybe in a couple of years’ time, this pictureContinue reading “Trying things out”

Birds of tickets and stamps

Birdy on the left is a bit too unkempt, but I like the Green Shield stamps fella. Remember Green Shield stamps? (You really do need to click to see this one bigger). This one’s feathers are made of (scans of) old bus tickets.

More magpies

My next task is to try and make my magpie more appealing. I’m going to try giving him a few more human characteristics… let’s see how that goes, eh. Wish me luck.

Magpie

A magpie. The first of many, no doubt. Good thing too, ‘cos it’s “one for sorrow, two for joy”. I intend to work right up to the lesser-known “47 for a successful children’s picturebook”.

After the first week of the course, I went away and started thinking and drawing and thinking some more. I’ve had this one idea for a children’s picture book for ages (along with many others), and now seems like a really good time to explore it. It’s a funny thing: the course itself? It’s justContinue reading “Birds”