if you like this blog site why not review it

I'm still quite amazed at the traffic being reported by my site counter... its a little humbling... but I'd rather just settle back and do something original and not worry about the ins and outs of techncal stuff like "hits" and weather they really are hits... or technically misses... or spider... or bots... or whatevers

i'd prefere human assesment... so i've recently registered this blog with the singapore blog directory under their art and photo blogs listings... but it is based on user review... so if you have a spare moment why not become a reviewer (and please give an honest opinion)

a different aspect

Super Goddess in profile (& 4B pencil)


i like this portrait in profile... and should do more of these... still i must not take any credit for the pose it is really an consequence of where laura has her screen relative to her camera, rather than any artistic endeavours on my behalf... and i hope she was preoccupied about the going on the the chat room not wooried about my sketching...

I don't have snazzy headphones like laura's so I probably missed something... well to be honest i don't have any headphones so I'm sure I am missing a lot

look no net...

my experiment with yahoo connection via SMS turned out to be one
way... mainly because I couldn't figure out how to reply... more
instruction to read I guess... but read from where?

Special thanks for all the well wishers, my friend how was involved in
a nasty accident before easter, is still in hospital but on the road
to recovery... with a seriously large helping of choccies and other
easter treats...

unfortunately for me its back to the grind stone... infact two super
urgent ones... :( more long distance flights

PS: this is an email blog submission so I hipe it gets through

pretty as a picture... more of lotta

lotta in pencil with a painted pout


lotta is another of my favourites and I sketched these a while ago... i could resist adding red lips to my pencil skech of her pout.. i do like her as a redhead, trust you do also...


red har, red gloves & feather boa (in watercolour)


you can click on any images in this blog to see them larger

political correct or not

I notice my old counter is still chunging along... and I wondered why... so while waiting in yet another airport lounge and chatting with a nice young lady, that knows things about the web... i've learned how to traced back some fo those that link to this humble blog...

shock horror... i'm mentioned in the Political Correctness Watch... Not that í'm worried political correctness just styfles originality and freedom of expression...

not big mystry why i'm there... the PC watch is a memeber of the australian bloggers alliance and if you hurry you'll see i'm the featured blog of the week... (was joking you don't have to hurry I've been featured blog of the week since last october) but i do still feel humble

Another Bell Sitting.....

bell in "rough work" 4B pencil


bell is a favourite model and a lot of fun to sketch.... the composition in the watercolour below is good and powerful, it was a very special sitting for her very special friend... but it wasn't always like that... the original washes dried very pale and i was dissapointed... so I added the stronger darker blue in the background to let the flesh tones become highlights... I also used my newly aquired set of derwent artist pencils (the portrait set) to liven up the flesh tone shadows... i think this is now a striking work

watercolor washes with coloured pencil over-working


do you like the result..? please leave your comments.. I welcome lots of feedback

Guess Who? is a red head now

A more colourful lotta


this was actually an abandoned sketch... I was concentrating on getting the hand right... and the persepctive is wrong.. but I love lotta's expression... that very characteristic "love of life" that she usually has... all just in pink and lilac shadows... and her smile...

watch out for another lotta series in here... very soon

dark, darker, darkest

I've been using my old trusty 4B graphite pencils a lot lately... especially for quick sketches... they can create very stong darks even when rubbed in... I loved truely's delicate & pretty face framed in her hair and top so I just went for it... hatching in shadow... getting it very dark compared with her facial features... i didn't have much time to do the sketch, so the line work in the darks is still rough but i don't think that matters...'

by the way... i'd love to see more feedback in the form of comments again... tell me what you like (or don't like)

ruby red is truey very pretty


LATE NEWS... one of my friends down in australia has a bad accident today... so once again I'm packing my bag and boarding a plane... i'm starting to have difficulty keeping up with myself actually

what percent of sketches do I publish?

someone asked me the other day what percentage of sketches I publish... I didn't know... but i thought to myself "most"... well I was wrong... I've just counted over 300 sketches (not all I've done just the ones I still have).. when i put aside the ones I know I've posted there where around 100... not a very good success rate...

but i do have some excuses... I throw away bad sketches... I've misplaced quiet a few... I don't publish anything without permisssion and not every one likes my work... also i've lost track of a few models, (I have to admit I'm not well organised in that regard)... a few are more private... some are just not worthy of publishing...

so the answer is around 30% and you can safely asume they are the best ones

warmth in watercolour

This sketch of bowtie is quiet old, it got caught up in my unscanned backlog.... but i love the warmth of the colours... notice there is hardly any skin tone in this one.. i had become pre occupied with the light, the shadows and her she but glowing personaility... so i let the colours of the shadows & highlights take over... watercolour is quiet an amazing medium
a watercolour with purple shadows & yellow highlights

good medicine

a good friend has been very sick... so my sletch book and pencils have been packed away.... the truth is I do miss a daily sketch or two... it is somehow good for the soul... b i'd rather make sure they get better

to cut a long story short we went down the coast to the inverlock jazz festival and it was good medicine (for both of us)... a reallt good long weekend in the best australian way.... we did nothing but relax, eat, drink &... relax some more, I guess you know how it goes.

so I can see i'll be ready to enjoy my break just as it finishes

a delicate starr

I've been reduced to more conventional pencil sketching while I've been darting back and forth... normally i'm pretty gungho with soft pencils and go for really rich dark blacks, early in the sketch... i've been experimenting with a lighter touch and lots of smudging...

(low key) soft pencil (4B)

i think this one is particularly magical, with just the facial detail darkish and the rest largely unfinished.

back on track....

well all the distractions are attended to... and the scanning of my massive backlog of sketches has begun... wow there are a lot... so watch your emails ladies

there are however a few sketchs i cant remember the model, sogirls if you are expecting a sketch drop me an email or a message (Yahoo or MSn)... and maybe remind me of your ID and your email addy... otherwise watch out for the next cinderella posts

yet another email blog test

Not sure why I'm even trying this again.... but miracles happen sometimes

well the spamming incident seems to be over...

I've got quiet a scanning backlog... sorry for those waiting... I will get onto it as soon as I can... my friend is out of hospital... and I think TLC is required.... so don't panic I haven't stopped sketching or anything drastic like that

WARNING

Please don't click on any web links posted in here... well for the time being... untill i can figure out why spam is being posted here...

Nort

makan angin

makan angin means literally "eat wind" and its a common way for an indonesians to say I'm not going to tell you what I'm doing, I'm just going for a stroll (to eat the wind)... no further correspondance will be entered into...

other times, people might go looking for the wind... cari angin

so whilst I've been away sorry, I'm back now but I'm not telling where or when... so you'll have to taste the wind... but I am sorry my last few email posts did not make it into this blog... bloody technology again..!! I might try and rescue a couple and repost them later.

... glad to see this post worked :)

please don't despair

unfortunately i'm going to be busy out in the real world.... away from
the net... for a few more days... i appologise to those waiting for
scans of sketches... but i will email them when next I get a chance to
do the scanning etc... no promises but some time soon

that... sorry I haven't posted.. post

Something i have noted looking around the blogs... is the ones that interest me most always have one blog... its always the same... "soory I haven't posted a lot lately.. I've been busy"

well here is one in here now... I can rest easy... hopefully doing thing other than blog makes the blog content a little more interesting in the end.

getting carried away with colour

a warm up sketch of eric's wife

biatch posses in full colour

I haven't got around to sketching quiet a few of the regular'sfrom big bellied adies chat room and erics missus was one that I should have sketched sooner... I liked the shading in my chinesse ink sketch... but then I got distracted by techincal stuff like being booted and I ended up with a very colourful underpainting... but I just love the colour