About a week ago, I doodled the above picture not in my usual sketchbook, but on a big sketch pad I was using to plan out some pictures for a book project I'm currently working on.
I'm not sure why I drew a picture of a rabbit running through a jungle/forest with a giant crystal, but sometimes I think you just have to go with what you brain tells you to do!
Usually, in my little sketchbook, and my rough images for work, I make them very tidy and tight, but working on a bigger pad made my pencil work looser and I was desperate to colour it in.
Usually, my work is a mixture of traditional artwork (mainly the linework) and digital colour and texture. However, recently I've found that I'm not able to get the feeling I want using the computer.
No matter how much computer trickery I use, the image still doesn't quite do what I want. I've also found the amount of time I am staring at a screen has become quite uncomfortable, so I'm trying to work away from the computer as much as possible to give my eyes a rest and look at something other than a flickering screen.
This image was an experiment ahead of my next two picture books to see if I could manage a large, fairly complicated scene with put having a nervous breakdown! And I LOVED it. I really liked how not having an undo function meant I had to think about more before tackling bits of the image, and I also really enjoyed how relaxed it made me just quietly colouring bits and working the image up in stages.
I don't usually show my process because to be honest with you, even after 7 years of being an illustrator, I still have very little idea of what I'm doing and most of it is trial and error, but I did think you might like to see how I put this image together.
ART GEEK BIT: It's pen, pencil crayon, watercolour, chalk pastel and gouache on medium texture, heavyish weight A3 paper.
And the final finished image...
Details...
And one final picture of it on my messy desk! (Well, actually, my dining table- hence the kitten shaped salt and pepper shakers!)
More non digital artwork here soon!
