What Does A Minotaur Look Like?

Well, probably not like this but, until one turns up...who's to say I'm wrong? When in doubt, let your pen do the thinking.

Doodling...

Doodling is the life blood of an artist. I am sure even the most hardened professional, now and in days gone by, when the Muse had buggered off, sought to call it back by letting the pencil or pen wander and weave on the page. A necessary loosening up of the hand and eye and the tap to the creative juices that must be stimulated to flow....Ah, I tremble..I'd better desist my ramblings...

It's Exotic..

I was in India when I drew this, not that I ever encountered such an exotic creature there... The stuff of daydreams and Arabian Nights type fantasies...sigh...

Can You Work On Spec???

...Yes, I did these, and many other sketches for this project on spec...meaning, I didn't get paid for them. Hours of my time and the focusing of my years of experience and what did I get? Not even so much as a magic bean. An ordinary baked bean would have been something, but I got sweet Fanny Adams.
Should I ever have such a thing as a haircut, I might try this little ruse with the barber...Can you cut my hair please? I'll pay you if I use your haircut.
My fault really, you'd think I'd know better by now...silly sausage.

In Days Of Old.

I found this during a turf out of old bits of paper....I thought I had better scan it before it fell to pieces! I had forgotten about the story I drew this for...ooh, I'm all excited about it again. I'll have to do a bit of re-drawing though...

More Red Riding Hood Sketches.

Ahhh, he looks rather cuddly really, doesn't he?

...A Dainty Dish...

There is so much wrong with this sketch book scribble if you really look at it, the man's head on the plate is too small, the girl's legs are so short...I could go on...anyway, I like the feeling in it, so, here it is. See if I care.

Ha, Haaaarrrrr...Me Hearties!

Pirates, contemplating getting up to beastlieness...No doubt.

Cat Woman.

Red Riding Hood.

I have an ongoing fascination for the Red Riding Hood story. This is one of many sketches on the subject...loads more to follow, be sure.

Hippo Thomas.

Here are some poses of cute little jungle animals... I gave them all punny names, Hippo Thomas, Elephant Gerald, Rhino Neil...well, it amused me. The Gorilla is Gorilla Cheese, I was having a hard time that day.
There is a TV show in this concept. I have some more designs and sketches, which I'll post later.
Toodleoo.

Caswal Rynn.

Girls Sans Garb.

These are old...but fun to draw, as I recall.

The Leper, Mad Morris And The Bear

The Sinister Circus.

A rough location sketch for the Puss In Boots feature idea.

Roger Wilko.

This is part of a board for a pilot, a pet project of mine...I did this ages ago; a time lost in the mists of antiquity.

Roger Wilko, Continued.

Idle Sketches.

A Little Job..

Evil Clown.

Grimbaldi, a character I created for Puss In Boots.

From The Sketchbook

Puss In Boots.

I did these in 1997, I wanted to make a straight to DVD feature of Puss In Boots. Never happened. I'd still love to do it though, I wrote a treatment and I thought it had legs, still do. Of course there is the Dreamworks' Puss spin off from the Shrek movies now, so my efforts might be seen as redundant...even so, one can but hope....

Cat.

Forest Girl.

Cheetah and Chimp.

Some designs for another of my own little projects.

The Fey And Pretty Dorothy.

Shape Shifter.

Sketched on layout paper...the next page can be seen through it...sorry!

Some Girls.

Indian Girl.

Girls in Heaven.

Bits And Pieces.

Sherlock.

Another sitting in front of the telly sketch. I wasn't watching Holmes at the time, if I had it might have turned out looking more like Jeremy Brett or Basil Rathbone.

Cupids.

In days of yore all us slacker arty types in the West would have earned our livings drawing and painting fat babies with wings. I thought I'd give it a go and see what it's like...fun, actually, as it turns out.

Icons.

I was watching a television programme about religious icons. These very intense images inspired me to sketch my own. I had a wonderful brush pen then, that I had bought in Korea but I believe it was made in Japan...can't find anything like it here in Blighty unfortunately.

Matilda Arbuthnot.

Girl In A Dress

I sketched this lass in pen and then markered her in colour... I scanned her in black and white though...I did a whole pile of scanning like this. oh dear, maybe I'll re-scan in colour one day...when I have the energy.

whilst Watching Television...

Never sit down in front of the TV without a sketch pad and pen..unless, of course, you have a nice single malt to hand; (even then I can see no reason for not combining the pleasures).

These were sketched with a normal pen, which can be bought, or stolen from all leading newsagents and stationers. Then I had a big, Staedtler elefant pencil and shaded it all in. More fun than what is usually on the television.

The Legend Of The Grimuggly.

These were early sketches I did for a book I am writing..never intended to illustrate it, but one thing tends to seep into another...Obsession, I suppose...anyway, the tone of the book is vastly different now.

Blue Beard.

These were done with the story of Blue Beard in mind...very, very, loosely.

Fairy Folk.

First of a few sketches I did for a proposed series.

Black Cat.

These are some sketches for a sinister story I want to do for children. It is good to give them a scare now and then...Character building!

Big Bad Wolf

These were fun, I'd love to animate these...I have a rough board for a sequence. I'll post it later.

Barry and Bob

These are sketchbook doodles of two very dear friends of mine, ( well, three actually...the face at the bottom is an attempt at another chum, Sheldon Arnst...but I hadn't got him down to my satisfaction at the time).
Barry, on the left, could be as grumpy as I have shown, but his enthusiasms were huge too. He ran a bar in Itaewon in Seoul, which his son, Shawn, now runs. Barry is sadly missed, since he is now running a bar on some cloud up in the sparkling firmament.
Bob, on the right, is a jolly force of nature and, like me is an animation supervisor, director, etc. These are some of the people that have enriched my life.

First Blog..

Welcome to my blog!