Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Midweek

Still working the brush and ink. Can't tell you how much I'm enjoying doing these. Best part? No undo.



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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Tuesday

Happy Tuesday.



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Monday, June 11, 2007

More Inks

Starting off the week....



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Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Inks

So many things going on....one of them being my time being spent less on the computer and more on real stuff. I'm on a brush an ink rush right now.....



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Monday, May 28, 2007

Agent Jade

Catching up on my spy movies lately. Wish there were more girl spies? This is Agent Jade. She will kick your ass.



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Sunday, May 20, 2007

Ollie Johnston

This weekend I went to the home of one of my heros. A friend of mine from work (thanks Ken) mentioned that in a pennysaver mag, you know the one, one of the junk mails that comes in with the post, had advertised an estate sale by an "Ollie J". From the address he figured out that it was indeed the estate sale of the famed Disney Directing Animator and co-author of "The Illusion of Life", the bible of animation. What an event to find out about. Ollie Johnston has moved up north now with family.

Incredible. I was amazed to walk up the drive to his house and see those small railroad tracks I had heard about, circling through the gardens. I could only imagine the visitors he had throughout the years from the animation circles. I am very happy to have gotten the chance to visit his home.

Inside there was all sorts of artwork (a little original work and of course expensive) and story boards (photo copies, hand coloured) in all shapes of boxes, ready to be browsed through. Also Ollie's library of books and records and various nick-nacks scattered throughout in various rooms.

So what did I pick up? Well, here are some the following bits and pieces....
(all images are copyright of their respective owners and are published here for review only.)

A pic of both Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas. I'm sure this has been well seen as it was a publicity pic from Disney.......



Now this next image on sixteen field animation paper is fantastic. It has pinholes in it from being placed on a corkboard and all the wrinkles you'd expect from a used piece of flipped animation paper. I wonder where he had this pinned up. If anyone knows who these people are I would greatly appreciate it. I'll email a few guys I think may know and see if I can get some answers on this. Could that be Marc Davis second from the right? I think that that is Ollie on the left....I'll update later if I get an answer about this.......

*****UPDATE******
Thank you very much DAVID. Wow, that was quick. I knew I'd seen it before and couldn't place my finger on it. The drawing is by Vic Partch, and the people are from left to right.....Ollie Johnston, Ken O'Brien, Vip Partch, and as "The Illusion of Life" says, on page 143, this is "Vip's version of Ollie Johnston's animation unit. When told he had to get an inbetweener to move the work faster, Vip caricatured the only type of personality he felt he could control." Excellent. Thanks so much Dave. Everyone go visit to say thanks. Thanks also to AMID from Cartoon Brew for compiling other accounts of visits to Ollie's house.



Now, I also picked up this book which I never knew existed. It's called "The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin", written by Idries Shah and illustrated by Richard Williams. This predates "The Thief and the Cobbler" and you can definitely see a style which he continued into the film. I was so happy to find this book. Knowing that this was Ollie's, you can bet that this book has found a good home. Here are the front and back slipcased covers.






Here are a couple of illustrations from the inside of the book. Absolutely stunning drawings. I'll be treasuring this unexpected find.






Image of Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston copyright Disney
Images of "The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin" copyright Mulla Nasrudin Enterprises Ltd. 1966

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Monday, May 14, 2007

Olive

Busy as hell right now, but here's one to keep things going....


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Sunday, May 06, 2007

Peig

"Peig" was a book that was beaten into us when we were school kids. It was part of the school program from which there was no escape. Harsh rural Ireland from the old days. Poverty, piety, grim tales of life on the west of the country. An elderly woman, Peig Sayers, bent over with age, covered with a black shawl, recounting stories in her life, dictated because of illiteracy to the Irish Folklore Commission. They gathered stories so they wouldn't be lost. Harsh life on the Blasket Islands, off the west coast of my country. This book was the staple for anyone growing up around my age.
Can't say it was fun. And this was the book they were trying to teach the Irish language from and inspire a new generation.
How things have changed. Now everytime I go back, thankfully, I see the language growing again.



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Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Coming Soon........

My new book is ready to be released. I'm just going to tease you with this right now as I get things in place so I can make it available to you all. Stay tuned.... it's going to be very soon.......



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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

More Moles

And the sketches continue....



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Sunday, April 15, 2007

First Class

And this girl swished her way past. Must have been in first class.



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Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Terminal

Waiting at the terminal....



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Sunday, April 08, 2007

Moley, Moley, Moley

More from the Moleskine.
Dropped the levels and output a bit to get a different feel from the original.



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Thursday, April 05, 2007

Start the Revolution

So, why do I miss my pals up at PDI..... 'cos of stuff like THIS. You couldn't ask to work with a friendlier bunch. Awesome. So start the revolution....especially if you're in a big 'ol building, facing another big 'ol building. Nice window drawings Kevan. Thanks Scott for making sure I didn't miss this.

Now onto the next Moleskinnery....



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Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Moleskine Traveler

So I'm just back from a few days in Ireland. Thanks to blogger drafts you wouldn't even know I was gone. Haha.
I finally got a small Moleskine sketch book for myself. It was more out of necessity than anything else. A quick preflight trip to the artstore and hey presto, new sketch book.
I never bothered with them before 'cos most of my sketches are done on cheapo copy paper. And then there's that thing about drawing on something which may restrain you for fear of sketching something crap. Well I saw it, and it fit in my pocket, so what the hell. As long as I promised myself just to think of it as copy paper and not have a burden of "oooooohhhh, it's a Moleskine. I'd better be careful." Anyway, the next few posts will have images and thoughts from the new sketchbook and my trusty brush pen.

This girl was waiting to board the plane.





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Sunday, April 01, 2007

Legs

Can't say much more than that.



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Friday, March 30, 2007

Purple Ink

Yup, actual pen on paper. You really can't beat the feeling.



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Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Bridesmaid

Oh oh, don't look better than the bride.



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Monday, March 26, 2007

Getting Ready

I wonder what for....


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Friday, March 23, 2007

Spring

Spring time again, Hooray.



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Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Bargain Hunting

Goldie has gone off shopping again. Loads of fun exploring new directions with the drawings (yet again)....


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Monday, March 19, 2007

Browser

Starting off the week with a quick browse around.
Hey!!!! Welcome all who dropped by from Imagekind. I just saw the blog. Hooray. Please scroll down to the previous post to see the prints. Hope you enjoy them. I'll see you as I drop around your galleries if you leave your image.



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Sunday, March 11, 2007

PRINTS NOW AVAILABLE

Usually when posts slow down here, it means that I'm up to something else that takes time to sort out. I never offered prints up until now because I had never found anywhere that produces fantastic prints for a reasonable amount. I just couldn't do it. Quality first is the only way to go. After a lot of testing and trying different online services, you can now purchase my prints by clicking the following link.....

Print & frame my art at Imagekind...

Imagekind offer a range of sizes, paper types and custom framing too if you want it. The service is quick, and the prints are carefully handled. I was really, really happy with the basic Enhanced Matte paper (this funnily enough, happens to be the cheapest price). The Ultra Smooth Fine Art paper is a heavier stock and more expensive. Both of these are good paper stock for my work. Here's an idea of what the prints look like. These are some of the tests I did. I couldn't be happier with them.















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Thursday, March 08, 2007

Barstool

Cocktails? Why not.



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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Dreamer

You may find one or two in L.A.




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Sunday, February 25, 2007

Starlet

Ah yes,'tis the season.
Still busy. Here are five lines for you.



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Monday, February 19, 2007

Strands

Busy, busy, busy.



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Monday, February 12, 2007

Bloody Mary

Time for a hangover cure.



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Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Goldie

Something to ease the mid week blues....



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Monday, February 05, 2007

Monday Again

And a happy Monday to ya.

UPDATE!!!!
Wow, what's a better way to start a week than to find out that you've been mentioned on your favourite website....DRAWN!
Welcome all. If your looking for the gallery of girls John mentioned, you can find it HERE. Enjoy looking around. Hope you all like it.



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Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Melrose Mary

My pal Aidan of Skunk Fu fame, switched over his old website and started a his own blog Here instead. Eye candy awaits. Can't wait to see what he'll be sharing throughout the year.

And now for the pic today. Seen down on Melrose, I called her Melrose Mary.



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Monday, January 29, 2007

Thoughts

So I thought this would be the time I'd start putting more background/story elements to my images. The rest of week may have the regular work, just 'cos. But here's the first one of these to set things off. Let's see by the end of the year what kind of work I'll be up to. Any of the regulars will have seen my work evolve from those watercolours I started this blog with to these digital images. Loads of fun. Let's see where it goes....



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Sunday, January 28, 2007

Young Mum

Here we go, pic for the day.



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Sunday, January 21, 2007

Back At It

Hooray, I've just completed all my prep work for my book due out this summer. What? What was that? A book you say? No wonder it's been quiet since the new year.

For the last few months, as well as getting the website up and running, I've been quietly working away at getting my images print ready and print friendly for a book. I'll let you know more about it later. Lots of things planned for the coming year.

Okay, enough already. What about some new drawings?

This girl needs a hair cut.


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Sunday, January 07, 2007

SALES

Another one to get the ball rolling. I'll get back to digital soon enough.
She was seen at the sales....



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Wednesday, January 03, 2007

HEY, IT'S THE NEW YEAR

Hey all,
thanks so much for visiting the new website. Glad you like it. I appreciate all the comments and emails.
So now to the new year. I wonder what will be in store? Lots of inspiring artwork from all of you guys and gals. I'm looking forward to it. So is this girl. First sketch to start things off.....




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