Happy Bloggin' Christmas, Everyone!!!

After waking it up from hibernation, I thought I'd perk up my snoozing blog with a fab festive post!!
To everyone who has looked at, read, commented on, followed, or wept in sheer wonderment in front of my humble blog, I extend the warmest wishes and wish every single one of you a very Happy Christmas and all the best for the year ahead. And to everone else, I wish the same.
Due to a lengthy project at work which involved putting in very very long days, and then coming back to work after five weeks and having to get a handle on everything I'd missed etc, and what with it being a particularly busy time of year..... I sadly must admit I've neglected my blog and my drawing. I have a few aborted attempts at drawings tucked away in my CPU, but this is the first thing I've actually spent any time on or finished in a goodly while. It feels good.

Once again, Merry Christmas one and all, and a Happy New Year. Let's keep our pens and pencils (and keyboards!) busy throughout 2011.

Big love,
Ben
x

Illustration Friday: Spooky

Its proving tricky to find the time for this week's illo, so I've dashed off a quickie.
Klaus Kinski's performance as Dracula in Herzog's re-imagining of Nosferatu is extraordinary and masterful. The toughest bit was finding a shot to draw in a film which is crammed so full of beautiful, melancholy, and dramatic scenes and cinematography. I chose the view of him watching Lucy from the window of his building because there's just something delicious and macabre about that unearthly face and those desperate, talon-like fingers seemingly suspended in space.

Illustration Friday: Transportation

It was going to be a robot wearing a pair of jet planes like skates, zooming through the stratosphere.
It was going to be a robot on a penny farthing.
It was going to be a bunch of robots on pogo sticks.
Whatever happened, it was going to involve robots.
This is what happened.
Its not very good.

Illustration Friday: Beneath

"When beholding the tranquil beauty and brilliancy of the ocean's skin, one forgets the tiger heart that pants beneath it"
From 'Moby-Dick'
Herman Melville

Illustration Friday: Old-fashioned

With apologies to Grant Wood.

Illustration Friday: Acrobat

A nice splodgy illo for this theme. I was going to do a bat on a tightrope, but stumbled across an awesome photograph on Google and felt the need recreate it in part. Though this drawing has a very different feel to it.
Check out the photograph here: http://www.danielforsbakk.com/index.php?showimage=99
its well worth a gander.

Illustration Friday: Proverb

After a bit of a break during which I frantically tried to meet a deadline whilst forgetting to sleep or eat, I return to IF with a welcoming and delicious theme for me to sink my brainteeth into.
The proverb in question is 'A Cat may look at a King' which sprang immediately to mind, as it always paints such intriguing pictures in my headhole. I originally intended to have a wee timid King perched fearfully on his throne, from underneath which an enormous, monstrous moggy glared at him.
I love the way the pen (or electronic pen-substitute) can develop a mind of its own as you draw, and all of a sudden you are a million miles away from your original idea.
And this was the result. A little rough n' ready, as the more I worked on it the more I was ruining it so I decided to quit whilst I was ahead. The title of the piece is:
'A Cat must look at a King (every once in a while)'