Penguins....when I wake, when I sleep

So, here's some clue as to how I spent my Christmas and New Year! I'm convinced at this rate my fingers will actually turn silver and i'll start bleeding pencil lead. But, no time to let up now, the competition is only 2 weeks away and there are still plenty more penguins to be drawn.

Keep an eye out here for an exclusive look at the first chapter....

Merry Christmas and Farewell 2013

Merry Christmas everyone! 

Turns out I could squeeze in a picture that wasn't penguin related for the holidays! 

I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday and is with the people they love, as everyone should be at this time of year.

Thank you for everyone who has followed and supported me this year, it makes all the work worthwhile...this picture is for you.

So, have a wonderful time and i'll see you all next year!

Concorso Silent Book Competition Sneak Peak

Well, I'm about to jump into the full scale final piece production line for Christmas so you may not hear from me during the holidays as I prepare my entry for next years competition. But as a Christmas treat I thought I'd give you a glimpse of how some of the pages are shaping up....

So far the pages are coming out better than expected and I've been able to draw them up and colour them within a couple of days, and seeing as there are 50 more pages to go this is definitely a good thing! Will still be an absolute rush to get them in before the January deadline line but things are looking encouraging as it stands.

For those of you who have missed some of my earlier posts regarding the story, here's a quick synopses:

"Emperor follows the story of a colony of penguins and the mysterious arrival of a new penguin into their group. While he appears friendly and offers them the benefits of technology and scientific progress, one child suspects that a more sinister ploy is at stake.

Dealing with themes of the environment, technology and voice, 'Emperor' is my exploration of the dangers of revolution"

Vote for my design!

Hello everyone! My entry for Threadless' Sesame Street competition has been approved, if you could give it a quick vote I'd very much appreciate it, thank you!

http://beta.threadless.com/sesamestreet/the-after-years/

Skinny and the Giant Fish

Just squeezed this picture into my timetable before starting university (for the final year!) tomorrow. One picture finished, one new term about to begin...

This image just came to me one night, and I've had it stuck in my head for a while. Really used this as a chance to go back to my beloved fine detail that I like to obsess over.

Japanese Brush Pen, Indian Ink, Charcoal, Gouache and Photoshop

August Illustration 'Once upon a Time'

So here's August's illustration. This was a private commission for a wedding gift, to be used as a cover for the newly weds photo album. This is definitely the most colourful piece of work i've done in a long time and another step down the road to learning photoshop. I think my favourite part is the branch detailing, even if drawing it took forever!

Indian Ink, Brush Pen, Fine Liner and Charcoal

Andy Stuart Mills 2013

The Stranger from America

Competition Entry for short story "The Stranger from America". It's a lovely little tale of two people meeting in a train station and, after mistakenly stepping on his hat, they wind up hopelessly in love. If successful this will go on to be published in a short story anthology as the cover title so fingers crossed!

Indian Ink, Brush Pen, Charcoal, Fine Liner and Photoshop

Sneak Peak August's Skinny

Quick look at my current work in progress. This one is actually being done as part of a commission for a wedding gift. I've also got a competition that I'm entering which is in the process of being inked up but once that's done I'll give you all a peep at how that one's coming along too!

More experimenting

 

Still busy trying to develop a style that I'm happy with, so did this illustration as a quick test. I'm liking the mixture between the charcoal and the ink, but, to me something still doesn't feel quite right. But its only by trial and error that we learn. Still, I was pleased with this considering how quickly it came together. If there is something that I need work on it is my speed so was pleased that I churned this out over night.

A Royal Photoshop

Well, I know my last post was a sneak peak at what I was working on at the moment, but a rather unexpected thing happened. Suddenly and inexplicably, I was able to use photoshop! Now, for anyone who knows me, my computer skills have always been minimal and I try to use them as little as possible. This definitely applies to my artwork. While I have tried digital colouring before, and have had some success with it, I had always told myself not to rely on it.

Then I did this illustration. My first thought was to paint it with gouache, but, I told myself to scan it in before I did any work on it just for a fail safe. And there it was, lying on my computer desktop staring at me every time I logged in. So, for a quick experiment, I thought I'd load it into photoshop and just have a play with it.

10mins I had started colouring the face, so far so good.

30mins I had started trying out different colours for the jacket.

2 days later I had bloody rendered the whole thing!

Having such an overt fear of computers, I must say I have been thoroughly pleased with myself! And just goes to show that having a fear of something shouldn't resist at least trying it. I think I may do a series of digital paintings based on this one so watch this space. Next job is to attempt a background....

End of year show Image

Well, as promised here was the personal image I did for my    end of year show. I seemed to have misplaced the cable for my camera (consequences from moving house) but i'll find that tomorrow and upload my end of year photo's then. It seems like I'm constantly moving house, and as a matter of fact, i'll be doing it again in three months time, but that's student life for you!

I was determined to get one personal image into my show as I wanted to show something new for it. I was very happy with the outcome here as it felt a little more me. The inspiration came from recently playing Shadow of the Colossus and wanting to do a picture of Wander. I like how well the charcoal and the Japanese brush combines here and it's something I plan to continue experimenting with over the summer.

This is actually going back to my earlier post today, but, heading into year three I still feel undecided as to what artistic style to pursue. There's a lot of excellent competition on my course and it really motivates you to try and create the best work possible. Healthy competition promotes creativity and jealously in equal measure!

Nocturnes

 

Illus 230 Final Three - 'Nocturnes' by John Connolly

And for the final part of this trilogy of work, we have the cover itself. Using the word nocturne itself as inspiration. This is an image that celebrates the night, and pays homage to the work of James Abbott McNeill Whistler.

The Inkpot Monkey

"The Inkpot Monkey"

The Inkpot Monkey' is inspired by the short story of the same name by John Connelly, found in the book of short stories 'Nocturnes'. To be viewed as a companion piece to 'the Furnace Room'.

The Furnace Room

Illus 230 Final One - 'The Furnace Room' by John Connelly.

Taken from the book of short stories 'Nocturnes', this is my first dabbling in digital colouring. Was rather proud of this effort, but damn, that's the second time this term I've drawn spiral staircases. One day I may allow myself to do simple compositions, but as Aragorn would say 'it is not this day!'

Sneak Peak Illustrations May 2013

So I have this theory that if I start putting up snippets of upcoming work it may garner some interest. And there's nothing as pleasing (and irritating) as teasers! Here's a quick glance at what i've been up to this month...

"Ooooh, what is this?!" I hear you all saying? Well, now that I'm fast approaching the end of my second year of university, I've been trying to steer my work towards the kind of jobs I hope to be doing as a professional. Namely book illustration, which I hope will see illustrations appearing in both adult and children's novels. These are title pages for the book of short stories 'Nocturnes' by John Connelly, an excellent read which I thoroughly recommend. As for the final products, you'll just have to wait and see. If you can't wait that long then I suggest reading the short stories 'the Inkpot Monkey' and 'the Furnace Room' for clues as to what these pictures allude to...

The Woods of Suicide

Latest piece of charcoal drawing, this time being inspired by 'The Divine Comedy' by Dante Alighieri. This will probably be the last charcoal piece I do for a little while as I've been doing them solidly for roughly 6 months now and fancy a change. I do have a soft spot for it though as it plays in nicely with my love for black and white illustration.

In other news, I recently attended the London Book Fair which was great. Met tons of people (and one exceptionally eager American women) and hopefully should have some links to persue, so all in all a worth while trip!

Love of Seven Dolls

There seems to be some neglect going on over here...

Well, what can I say, there's finally an end to this term and I'm officially exhausted. Looking forward to a much needed break. But before I rest up for at least a month, let me share what I've been up to!

Here are my final's for the short story 'Love of Seven Dolls' by Paul Gallico. All images completed using charcoal. I am extremely happy with how these images have turned out, and will be proud to have them in my portfolio. I learnt one of the most important lessons in life with this module: always, ALWAYS, save your progress when using Photoshop. I cannot express how much agony was felt when Photoshop crashed on three hours worth of digital work. (And why the hell does Photoshop NOT have any autosave?!?!)

I have also finished the group comic book project so will get the digital copy on here ASAP.

Old people

So, for this project I've been currently working on, I have been spending a lot of time drawing old people. In an odd way, it's something that I always enjoy. There's so much detail and expression that you can't help losing hours with it. These were all done using either pencil or charcoal

 

It's competition time!

So, just entered my first illustration competition! Very very nervous to be having my work judged by professionals (or anyone) but fingers crossed, we all have to start somewhere right?

I am very proud of this picture as I pretty much poured my heart and soul into it. This is a continuation of my exploration into charcoal and I think it may be a media that I will use indefinitely now. It just provides so much tonal quality and atmosphere which I adore and lends the image so much soul. But I'm beginning to sound ridiculous now so lets just say that I was very happy with the results.

The image itself is a recreation of the moment that Paris of Troy seduces Helen of Sparta and ignites the Trojan war. I wanted the image to appear as if we were looking into the scene as someone intruding and are glimpsing the passionate moment of first embrace. I wanted there to be lots of atmosphere and foreboding, as we the audience know all too well the result of this embrace...

Finishing line in sight!

It's almost Christmas, which means I'm beginning to draw an end on my first modules of year two. In retrospect, there are plenty of things that I would have done differently. Time management is still my arch nemesis and will continue to be for some time. But, as I sit here at 05:36 in the morning, a glass of wine beside me, I take some solace in the fact that despite my inability to handle my time accordingly (and at the expense of my health) I look over my produced work and feel a great deal of pride. For some time I refused to take praise from myself or others, and it is something that any creative professional has to overcome. But ultimately, if you cannot take joy in the work you create then it really isn't worth doing at all. My latest final piece which will be scanned in today is something which I feel reflects me and my work more than anything that has come before this.

But for now, I will have to bore you with my life drawing!

If I haven't said it before ill say it again here. Life drawing this year has been the best so far. Now that we are able to dictate our own media choice, I've felt that I've learned more than I did previously because I can use the techniques and theories that they are teaching and actually apply it to the way I draw. Out of the pictures above, I felt that the second image was my strongest. I was particularly pleased with how I'd managed to replicate the delicate the pose. It's often the most subtle of gestures that make or break a picture and I felt this one turned out great, especially how all of these were just 20 minitee exercises.