so it was my birthday during the bank holiday weekend – knowing it fell on a bank holiday, i assumed the weather would be a bit rubbish and raining, so imagine my surprise when in fact i got a day like this!
blue skies and sunshine was a pretty perfect start to the day!
I received lots of lovely cards…
..though i think my favourite was the ryan gosling card that the mister made for me! he is so creepy .
(the gosling, not the mister.)
i got some books by my favouritest people and artists…
sian hughes, scott campbell and oliver jeffers <3
i love their style. they are so good they make me want to hang up my pens and never draw anything ever again!
but alas i cannot quit my day job, as the mister bought me a stylus to use with the ipad and it would be rude not to use it! i have been having suuuch fun using the bamboo paper app:
..here’s one i did earlier, of tom cwoooze with bunting, wearing a sombrero. obviously.
oh hey, speaking of tom cwoooze:
*squeeee*!
you cannot beat a good bit of 80′s cinema cheese! :D
i love tom cwooze, he is a funny little fella - i believe him to be completely insane and i admire the way he has gotten away with it for so long :)
oh hey, speaking of insane, how insanely awesome is this!
my very own zombie bunny from my sister fionat!
in grey and black linen..my favourite fabrics and colours! i love him! more *squeee*ing did occur.
also a beautiful new black linen pensquil case, for keeping things like my new teeny tiny paint brushes in.
and/or murder weapons bradawl for doing DIY jobs.
DIY tools for my birthday! just what i always wanted! no, seriously. it really is just what i wanted!
i also got this ba-yooo-diful calico apron made by my mom – isn’t she clever?
the front pocket features a row of…little black hearts! :D
love it! not that i was going to do much cooking in it of course, as it was my birthday. so, cooking was the misters job.
he enjoys that sorta thing though so it’s all good – especially if it is real MAN COOKING.
see! see how he burns things with fire!
(including, at one mildly alarming stage, the actual patio and a small section of the lawn. but the less said about that little incident, the better, right??)
what an amazing day. awesome weather, gifts, dinner, and a fire show – i am just the luckiest girl!
and i’m sure the grass will grow back eventually.
no, not a euphemism.
so i think i mentioned before about the little sketchbook i keep next to my bed. this is because for some reason, midnight is when i’m feeling most creative. and 1am. and 2am.
i used to lie in bed trying to get to sleep, battling against my brain who always has other ideas - it always seems to be all perky and wide awake from about 11pm onwards: “no, no, don’t go to sleep – why don’t you think about THIS THIS AND THIS! and THIS!”
and i’m all like “no, shush brian! it’s time for sleep!” and my brain is all: “hey! no! what are you doing? you don’t want to sleep - why not think about THIS and THIS and THIS INSTEAD! also, pandas! panda hats! ooh, pandas in panda hats! also, here’s the same line of a song you hate, playing over and over and over again.”
my brain loves to torture me.
but, occasionally it conjures up an idea that i like – random ideas for illustrations just spring into my mind in the most random of ways at the most random of times.
i used to think i would remember these ideas come morning, but i had forgotten that my brain is also a sieve made of soft cheese, and retains nothing.
hence my bright idea to keep a sketchbook on my bedside table!
i started doodling the things floating around in my brain – no more waking up in the mornings struggling to remember rambling thoughts from the night before!
ingenious.
not all of my illustrations start out this way – i have a(nother) sketchbook which is technically my “for proper” one. it lives on my desk and i generally scribble ideas down into that, or use it to work out some rough ideas during the working day. this little sketchbook is just for those random middle-of-the-night type thoughts and ideas, and it has come in super handy.
i like flicking back through it to compare the originals to the finished pieces, and i hope you have enjoyed seeing them too!
