collage: books and cybernetics

Two quick things I knocked together. Sometimes you just run across something that makes you want to cut it out and keep it: one was a picture of piles and piles of new books and another was a few lines of text that were just too weird to forget.

Both collages in a Moleskine Large Squared Notebook.

Stamp of Observant Owl, from Ink Wit

Apparently a performance artist I won't name has had a cybernetic ear affixed to his arm. The text reads: 'The ear cannot currently hear; however, the artist now plans to use his own stem cells to grow an external ear lobe before implanting a Wi-Fi enabled microphone which will be permanently activated so that people all over the world will be able to listen live.'

But to what, I wonder?

commonplace book

A commonplace book is basically a running record of things you pick up every day that educate or inspire you. Often it's like a scrapbook, or a card file, or just a collection of interesting quotes. Blogger Ryan Holiday has a pretty interesting post on his methods.

I have very messy notebooks where I record lists of books I like, quotes, errands and basically everything, but I wanted to collect some quotes to practice my lettering with. My commonplace book is an A6 Nocturnelle from Paperblanks. It's not very 'commonplace' looking, but I fell in love with this journal ages ago because it looks like a door in a Gothic novel. Paperblanks also has great paper for pen and ink. My calligraphy dip nibs just skate across this paper!

Copperplate Hunt 101 nib with Rohrer & Klinger Salix ink.

This is my first quote, dashed off in dip pen and framed with washi tape. Of course the aim of a commonplace book is to quote correctly - it's Kobori Enshu, not Ensho.

Same nib, with Noodler's Bulletproof Black.

Yogananda is a great guide for life. Concept designer Chris Oatley of the Oatley Academy is a great guide for work.

Copperplate nib and Mitchell 'script' nib, Bulletproof Black.

Listening to podcasts is a great source of inspiration for me. This quote comes from actress and comedian Aisha Tyler interviewing John Cho on her awesome podcast Girl on Guy.

Copperplate nib and Speedball B-5 lettering nib,
Noodler's Bad Blue Heron and Luxury Blue ink.

Jen Dziura's column Get Bullish gives 'aggressive lady-advice' for the go-getter gentlewoman.

Copperplate nib, Diamine Sherwood Green ink, and acrylic stamps.

Karen Healey is a YA author with a collection of pretty great quotes about writing...and some choice words of her own.

Copperplate nib with Bulletproof Black.

This post about Elizabeth Bathory was pretty terrifying, but it did make one important point. The online magazine The Gloss has a column called Shelved Dolls, a fascinating series on women in history, where I get a lot of inspiration and amusement.

Some other commonplace books I like:
The Journal Diaries - Ellina's Commonplace Notebook
Tolstoy's Calendar of Wisdom

brush pen sketches

Kuretake no.8 in Fabriano notebook.

Incidentally, if you haven't read the Rihannsu series by Diane Duane or The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua, do it. They are amazing.

I have a book!

Click here for the book launch page!

What My Grandmother Told Me is in Spanish and English, and published by Tahanan Books. At the moment it's only available in the Philippines. I'll be informed when it becomes available in local bookstores and online, and I'll pass on the dates!

Page previews:

Some illustrations that didn't make it into the book:

Hannibal sketches: draw the rude

Some things I have been doing: packing, getting hooked on the Hannibal fandom (I was already sold on the show), and spending more time with my mom before going back home to London.

I am not a horror or a gore fan, but I love murder mysteries. Silence of the Lambs is one of my top five all-time favourite films. Still, the TV show is even more stressful than I expected!

One coping mechanism I have is eating food that will ensure the Gentleman Cannibal will want to murder me but won't dare eat me, for fear of dying of cholesterol, sodium, or sugar. The other is speed-sketching.

Drawn with Pentel waterbrush and Sailor Profit Brush Pen (expect a post on this soon!), with Noodler's Bad Blue Heron ink in various dilutions.

And one more quick sketch:

Not a real scene from the merboy story, just a piece of fluff: Fionn teaching Hyacinth to read out of one of those 'fairy tales from around the world' books that I had as a kid. Pentel waterbrush, etc.; plus Koh-I-Noor Hardmuth brown lead with Cotman watercolours for the background.

calligraphy: song for the dúnedan

I always see the second line of this poem floating around Pinterest, and more than one friend of mine has used a variation of it as inspirational quotes. It is actually one of my favourite poems, and has a lovely story behind it (...it's called The Lord of the Rings). So I wrote the full version down.

Parker Vector with medium italic nib, filled with a mix of
Waterman Green and Brown ink, in Botanicals notebook.

My other group of friends, of course, not only knows the story, but many of them also know that this is a poem that Bilbo Baggins wrote for Aragorn. It also seems to echo the promise of the first King who Bilbo knew, Thorin Oakenshield. But Thorin (spoilers for The Hobbit, if you haven't read the book!) was never able to achieve his own destiny. I like to think that Bilbo was thinking about his old friend when he wrote that poem, which adds a shade of tragedy that makes it more meaningful for me.

Additional nerdery: How much do I love that Tolkien created his own rune from his initials? 

Desert Seeker

Originally did this for my aunt, who loves the Dune books and especially the Bene Gesserit. Refined and updated it for my mom, who introduced me to both.

Reeves acrylic paints and acrylic medium with Winsor & Newton brushes on Marie canvas board.

dinotopia

I was getting tired of drawing ridiculously well-dressed men and women and pretty objects. What is the perfect antidote? Dinosaurs!

James Gurney's Dinotopia is the most wonderful book you can ever buy for your kid or yourself. My copy is 20 years old and I still get a kick and some drawings out of it. Worth every penny.

hands

Quoted from Cetaganda, by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Massive Inspiration Post: Illustration & Animation

Am facing some major life changes soon, so I'm moving my inspirations card catalogue online. (Yes, I have a physical card catalogue, with index cards and labelled tags and categories with sub-categories and...moving on.)

These are some portfolio sites, art blogs and other random web things I've picked up on my forays for inspiration.

ILLUSTRATION & ANIMATION - Websites

Gabriella Rose - watercolour illustration, fairytale style

drawgabbydraw.tumblr.com | gabsportfolio.tumblr.com

How she does it

Michael Spooner - Disney concept artist

Rebecca Guay - watercolour fantasy illustration, workshops

Masterclass

Ian Sidaway - watercolour travel illustration

Carol Gillott - Paris Breakfasts

One of my absolute favourite illustration blogs; looking through it is the definition of living vicariously.

The Perfect Scent

What I Ate In London

Achraf Amiri - fashion illustration, black comedy, grotesqueries

Terri Windling - yes, that Terri Windling. Fantasy Editor, writer and artist.

Site | Endicott Studio | The Journal of Mythic Arts

Traffic Creative Management, NYC - illustration agency

Favourite artists: Anja Kroencke | Daniel Egneus | Maren Esdar | Colonel Moutarde | Rikke Jorgensen

Their animation channel

Urban Sketchers - a collective of artists in various cities around the world.

Favourites: Guillame Bonamy | Will Freeborn | Gerard Michel

Inkbramble - fashion illustration & culture blog

Cartoon Brew - major animation blog; trunkline resource of the industry.

Zelda Devon - Fantasy/SF illustration

What I've Learned So Far

Some Stuff ('You learn to draw by drawing', and other wisdoms)

Tor Artist Rec Feature: A Is for Artist

Today's Inspiration - vintage illustration and illustrators

Female Illustrators of the Mid-20th Century - what it says on the tin. Art and bios of some brilliant unsung talents from the 'Golden Age' of advertising.

Illustration Art - my favourite resource for classic illustrators.

Katherine Tyrell - Travel sketching, techniques and materials.

Travels with a Sketchbook

Pastels and Pencils

Making a Mark: How to Sketch

The Blackwing Diaries - animation blog: concepts, design, and other artists

Main | Sketch blog

Art of the State - London art blog

Ulla Norup Milbrath - 3D illustration, masks, textiles and mixed media

Roz Stendahl - journaling, art and craft tutorials

Site | Blog | Teaching

Lauren Mcintosh - mixed media, vintage-style collage

Site | Cite

Teesha Moore - altered books, collage, stamp art and other mixed media

Blog | Journal pages | Techniques

Wendy Hale Davis - bookbinding, calligraphy, art journals

Ana_Lee on Livejournal is one of the best sources of inspiration for fashion illustration anywhere. Legendary photo shoots, famous photographers, vintage from all eras, and amazing illustrators, all showcased simply but gloriously.

James Gurney - Read the blog of the master who created Dinotopia and learn a ton about illustration from the ground up.

Art Analysis - Contemporary and classic illustrations dissected for study.

PHEW. Well, that should do for now. Hope you find some inspiration here too!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

Made a painting for Mom's birthday! Illustrated The Peregrine, one of our favourite books.

And here's the 'self-published' book cover version, hahaha. There's a reason designer and illustrator are two different jobs, I'm afraid.

Also I was so tempted to draw arrows pointing at The Peregrine and J.A. Baker. It's a weakness.

an addict's withdrawal

Oh God, I want more booooooooooooks!!!

Very recently read Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan. Dear Lord, I want this book. In hardcover. In fact, can someone make a whole book of all of Keith Thompson's art for this series? I would buy that too. And I want to read Philip Reeve's Larklight and Starcross again. I haven't even read Mothstorm.

NaNoWriMo is making me want to read instead of write. I am about 3K words behind, although I made a good start. Anyone out there doing it this year?

In slightly related news and to make this post less boring, SIR Terry Pratchett's newly-granted coat of arms from the Royal College of Arms. (You have to scroll down a bit on that page.)

The motto is "noli timere messorem" - "Don't Fear the Reaper". I love the UK, don't you?

book poem

My uncle sent me a lovely little book of book quotes! I should really scan it as it's printed on old-fashioned letter paper and has lots of tiny engraved illustrations, but really I wanted to quickly post this bit I saw on the very first page:

By Charing Cross in London Town
there runs a road of high renown,
where antique books are ranged on shelves
as dark and dusty as themselves.
And many booklovers have spent
their substance there with great content,
and vexed their wives and filled their homes
with faded prints and massive tomes.
--Norman Davey