Eye Of The Beholder

Scrapbooking always been good way of documenting our memories and everyday life, and is probably one of the best  known and long running ways of documenting our time that there is. Personally I was looking for something more creative than just scrapbooking. Enter the art journal. I wanted something that would work as a part sketch book, part scrapbook, something that would be fun and interesting to look back at in the future.

As much as I love my Polaroid Project its nice to be able to add more. I don't feel that other keepsakes like tickets, notes and the random little things you find, have a place in something such as my Polaroid frame. I have collected a lot of these kind of things over the years and have therefore been planning on starting an art journal for a while now. A couple of weekends ago I finally found the time to start. By start I mean the front cover is done, but I have begun planning some pages, so watch this space.

So after way too much deliberation this is what I ended up creating.

So this started out life as a 8" x 8" Spiral Bound Kraft Scrapbook from Hobbycraft (£3).

These actually come with black ribbon ties.

I decided to remove these with some scissors, and then pushed any fibers that I couldn't get to back into the slot it was originally threaded through, with a Pokey Tool (Yes it's a real thing. Get one here for £4)

Why did I take them off? Because I don't have the patients to keep untying, and retying things. I'm lazy.

I knew that I wanted text on the cover and wanted the look of old books; so I got an old book.

You can relax. I didn't just go and buy a book in order to tear it up. The Librarian at my old secondary school was told he had to get rid of some of the old books. I use to be a student librarian; since he knew I was arty he asked if I wanted to take some of the old books off his hands and use them for something other than just going in the bin.

For my art journal I went with a page from an old Dictionary/Thesaurus/Medical Dictionary. This one was already fairly yellow from age, but I wanted to add to that along the edges. To do this I used the Antique Linen Distress Ink  by Tim Holtz (you may want to shop around and see where you can get it cheapest). I glued down the book page using Mod Podge (matte finish).

For the main design elements for my cover I chose to use some stamps by Visible Image. I absolutely love their stamps. If you haven't checked their stuff out, then you need to; and be prepared to spend. A lot.

For this I used the eye from the Where Dreams Take You set (I have had this stamp a while, as in before it was a part of this set, so the eye is all I have), as well as the Reveal Your True Colours stamp from the Own It! set and an ink splat from the aptly named Ink Splats set.

To start with I stamped each image where I wanted it using the Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I did this so that it would just about show up against the natural colour of the Kraft card.

I wanted to be able to stamp the ink splat in coloured inks and have the colours stand out. The images stamped in Walnut Stain acted as a guide for me to be able to fill in the areas I wanted to colour with White Gesso first as a base for the colours.

Once the Gesso had dried I added the coloured ink splats.

These were done with the Visible Image splat stamp and just a collection of coloured inks. I used pastel pink, blue and purple inks from a variety of brands (mostly ones that I had forgotten about.)








Next I used a black Versafine Ink Pad To stamp the Eye and True Colours images. I did, however, fine that it took awhile for the ink to dry on the Gesso areas so in future I would probably opt to use a Stazon ink pad instead, just to be sure that it actually dries without any risk of smudging.

Afterwards I just added a bit of a doodle in the top left corner using a black pen. When I was sure that all the inks were dry I sealed everything down with a layer of Gloss Finish Mod Podge . 

And there you have it. I hope to be able to start working on some pages soon so watch this space for more art journal related stuff. 

Happy Scrapping!!

If you have and questions or comments I'd love to heard them! As usual, come find me on Twitter and now Instagram using the buttons at the top of the side bar. Alternatively send your messages via carrier pigeon, flying monkey or magic carpet. Unicorns are also an accepted delivery service!! 

Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey

So you may, or may not know that I recently started a project for +Dead With Tequila. I'm really excited about this one, because it really takes me back to doing one of the things that I love most, and that's cartooning. 

Now, I would never go as far as to call myself a cartoonist, not by a long shot; I'm a graphic artist. I had an amazing art teacher at school who, before she started teaching, use to work as a graphic designer. She was always so supportive, and was always eager to see what I had in mind for my next piece; she really stoked the fire, and would frequently throw new ideas at me that I may never have considered if she hadn't planted the seed. Not that I didn't get that support at home. My mum is also an artist, as was her mum. Both my younger sister and I, grew up being able to paint and draw before we could read and write. When I was little my mum would collect the +Disney comics and have us drawing the characters, and colouring them in. So cartooning was something I started really young, and it pains me to say it, but I haven't done anything like it in ages; so for me this new project is like being a little kid again, but with my own designs and ideas. 

If I'm totally honest with you...I don't like painting. The whole "It's so relaxing" thing just irritates me. I don't find it relaxing, to me, painting is some what of a chore. I do it because I have to, or because it's the most appropriate, viable medium to use for a piece at the time. it's not because I can't paint. I'd like to think that I'm fairly alright at it (if you disagree, that's fine, I love you anyway :]) I just don't find it all that fun. My preferred mediums are Pencil, Pen, ink, Chalk, Charcoal (I love the mess it gets you in!) and of course digital. Paint certainly doesn't make it onto my list. As much as I enjoy creating things on my graphics program, there's nothing like being able to get out all my pencils and fine liners and... just... drawing things. Like with this awesome project!!

This project will become a hybrid of drawing and digital. I'm creating a cartoon series of little weird characters. For this to work on a mass scale (by mass scale I mean, they won't be one offs) my plan is to draw my characters, whole, and at different angles, as well as broken down into parts.  By this I mean arms on their own, legs on the own, heads, bodies etc plus any little extra bits, like plants or bombs (hint hint). Once I've got all of these parts drawn and inked, they will get scanned and taken into my design program. This will mean that I can then build my characters however I want them, without having to redraw them each time. It will also mean that I can get them printed multiple times.

I'm hoping that once I've done a bit more on this project that I will feel as though I can share some "in progress" pics with you. Keeping it all to myself is killing me. Even Carrie (my partner in crime at Dead With Tequila) hasn't really even seen what I've done so far. She knows the very basic form of my plan, but that's about it! I've already started throwing names out there, trying to decide on what to call the collection already. 

I'll tell you this: 

It's all going to be black and white, if I add colour it will be in small places. All the characters are animals, and yes, they do all have names! It has a strong influence of the Day of the Dead festival. Bookmarks.

Make of that what you will.


So, you still, with me after all that?? :P If you are, you can leave a comment below, or find me over at Twitter (see right hand column)              

Shhhhhh...It's a secret...

For anyone wondering about what's been going on in the +Dead With Tequila Tomb of late, the answer is lots of awesome stuff. Quick summary....

• Givaway: We've finally finished putting together what's going to make up the bundle. Details should be up and ready to let you all loose on really soon  NOW!!.   Exciting stuff!! Click Here
• There's about 6 items in the bundle, I think. Give or take.

• The release date for The Wild Life Collection (raising money for WWF) has been narrowed down to June, so keep your eyes peeled for that. You can already preview most the stuff in the store if you want, there's only a few pieces that we haven't up loaded because they're unfinished.

• We've been playing around with some new ideas as well, but I can't say to much on that right now.

• There will be a 10% off flash sale across the store on World Goth Day, that's May 22nd for those that don't know. Coupon code will be revealed nearer the time.
• I did want to do a whole other collection** for this spectacular celebration of Goth awesomeness, but The Wild Life Collection to a lot longer than expected to finish, so there just hasn't been the time. Fingers crossed we might aim to do one for next year and have it as another charity collection (we've discussed the Sophie Lancaster Foundation as a charity)

• There may or may not be another longer sale in the summer. We haven't decided on this yet, so don't get your hopes up (there's still World Goth Day!) 

**I've been wanting to do some more Goth / Alternative style collections for a while now; I've been thinking and Edgar Allen Poe collection (You may say cliche, but I love his work. Random Fact: I have the same birthday as Poe). I recently got a bunch of new arty stuff to play wit that would work really well with this idea. There has also been talk of a Nordic/Viking theme collection, make of that what you will.... Any thoughts on this, or suggestions even...Let me know via comments, Twitter, carrier pigeon, magic unicorn (seriously, I expect a unicorn)

Artistic Licence

This is a post hat I've been meaning to write for a while now, I just could never find the right words to fully explain what I wanted to say. 

People keep asking me what I do, what's my job? etc. I then give them a list of things that I do, after all, I'm not a one trick pony. I tell them I do casual work as a runner in the live event/entertainment industry, not the sporting type,but backstage stuff. I'm a small business owner, an artist. Most people are like "Oh, that's cool". But sometimes, and most annoying (especially if it's a family member- yes this really happened), they come back with "So not a real job then". Of course being an artist is a real job. Just because it doesn't run 9 til 5 with a desk and a pot plant for company in a cubicle, doesn't make it any less hard work or any less of a job. I've slowly come to the conclusion that the reason that people think art isn't a real profession is because they don't know what it means to be an artist.

This is very much a topic that I feel very strongly about, and I tend to find that the only people that understand where I am coming from are creative /artistic types; I am yet to find someone of a different mindset that can truly understand. This is my attempt at trying to explain the whole "What it means to be an artist" for the simple reason that I seem to be having this conversation a lot lately and I'm tired of repeating myself. 

This feels like it could be a rather long post, and may even have the potential to become a bit of a rant. I promise that I'll try to contain my frustrations. Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below or even over on Twitter (see right hand column).

So part of what really prompted this post was the below image (Credits to the owner, I love you and want to hug you!). I came across this on my Google plus stream and at the time it covered, quite nicely might I add, some things that had been going on / had happened to me and other people that I know that do "creative" work.

To be an artist (to me) means: Be crazy. Be weird. Be a freak. Embrace the chaos. Have opinions. Speak your mind and don't be afraid of what people are going to think of you. To laugh, to live, to love. To hate. To think big and dream bigger. To live and breathe your work. To be prepared to suffer for your art. To just. Be. YOU.

Why? Because you can; and there is not a single person on this planet, that has the right to stop you. You only get one shot at life, so make it count. Live it in your own awesome crazy way. If that means creating chaos, artistic or otherwise, in order to be happy, then do it.

However, there are, for some bizarre reason that I can't fathom, people who believe that art should be free. Whether this art is a painting, drawing, sculpture, dance, book or song.

I would like to take a moment to say that I will never see eye to eye, or be friends with these people, because they are WRONG. 

What people maybe don't realise is that art takes time; and time is money. But time isn't even the important part, or at least not the part that infuriates me to no end. (I'll have you know the items in the Dead With Tequila store would be a lot more expensive if we added on the cost of the time we spent creating things.) As an artist, creative person, whatever term you wish to use, you give a little bit of yourself in your art. Whether that be your love, your pain, your heart, your blood, sweat, or tears. All of that is worth something. For someone to tell you that they're not prepared to pay for your art, is like being told that you're not worth anything. And if you're not worth anything, then what's the point? Why bother getting out of bed?...Bother doing anything.

"To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world." -Dr Seuss

We are all worth something to someone, therefore so is art. 

The standard way of setting a price for art work is a bit like this:

Set your hourly rate

Total cost of materials used e.g. Cost of paint, canvas, etc.

If it's for a commission you might charge just for taking it on. 

So hypothetically, if someone commissioned a painting you might work out the cost like this:

Number of hours spent : 30 hrs

- at £15 per hour = £450

Total cost of materials: £250

Commission fee: £50

450+250+50= £750 

Some people would leave it at that others might add on a few 

more random pound just as extra profit. 

So this hypothetical painting costs at least £750 minimum. Some people would like it for £0. 

Is anyone starting to see why I find this topic mildly infuriating???

If all this wasn't bad enough, after they tell you they're not going to pay for your work, they then, albeit occasionally, ask you to justify why you created something in the first place.

So here's the second big question: What's the point of art?

This tends to be the point where I personally do one of two things. 1) put my head in my hands while feeling exasperated and sorry that the poor fool in front of me is clearly clueless; 2) walk away accepting that I'm fighting an uphill battle that I've already lost. - It really depends on the fool.  

Simple answer......There is no point.

Art doesn't have to be justified, it just has to be. I, as the artist, don't need a reason to create something. I don't have to have an opinion of my work either; because at the end of the day what I think doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I love it or hate it, because the only opinion that really matters is your's. The viewer. I'm not here to tell you what to think, just to make the cogs start turning and prompt some kind of thought. I would rather you take something meaningful to you personally and for a connection with a piece, than me tell you what you're suppose to think and it mean nothing at all and make no sense.

Art is made in order to express and inspire. Not to dictate and command that specific feelings and ideas are felt.

So, in short;

I am an Artist. This is not just a job, but my life. Art is not free. 

My art is Me. And I am my Art.

Hearts Are Made For Breaking and For Pain....Part 1

So I finally finished it. The colour version anyway. Yes I am doing a second; a tonal pencil version I'll have you know, already started work on it, so far it's looking good. 

But here's a kind of step by step for how I did this one. Before beginning I entered the MARS bubble, meaning all four 30 Seconds To Mars albums are played in order, from start to finish, on a loop, with no interruptions.  

1) I finished the design in pencil on A3 paper. (Close ups of the top and bottom half follow)

2) I happen to know someone with an A3 Scanner. You may be wondering "Why do you need to scan it?" and that's a good question. Simple answer is: I was being cowardly. I knew I wanted to do this in colour with pen but then the Inner Squirrel piped up with "What if it all goes horribly wrong?? Then what you going to do?" So I scanned it and did this on a printed version of the original (which is becoming the tonal version) So although the pic below looks the same as the one above it's not this is a printout.

3) Next I had to outline everything. I did this with a 0.5mm Pilot V5 HI-TECPOINT pen (not that you probably care what type of pen I used, but you know, thought I should mention it)

For anyone thinking of taking on a major outlining task like this, DON'T do it all in one sitting; it's not worth the hand cramp. Trust me.

4) Next I decided to fill in the areas that were solid black, just because. I used a Black Letraset Promarker.  

Now the real fun starts! Bring on the 'pretty colours' !! 

5) When it came to star colouring in I started with the roses. Not for any particular reason it just felt like the right place to start. The red areas of the roses have two different tones of red in the to create light, shade and tone. and then I used a contrasting orange to mix it up a bit on the edges/undersides, whatever you want to call them, areas.

All colours are Letraset Promarkers. I'm not going to list all the individual colours that I used for the simple fact that I don't remember, and you probably have better thing to do with yor time than read a list of coloured pens. 

 6) Next it was the turn of the leaves. I used two or maybe three shades of green depending on the leaf. As a general rule I did darkest down the centre and edge of the leaves and lighter for the main area and lighter still on what would be the underside of the leaves.

A closer look...

7) After the leaves came the vines, mainly because I still had all the green pens in front of me. The vines were done in slightly different shades of green to the leaves. 

Fun fact: the order in which you lay the colours down has an effect the the end result colour. So although two of the three greens I used for the vines were the same as the ones I used on the leaves, because I changed the order order that I put them down the end colour was different.  

8) After the vines came the thorns, the crowns and the heart.

I used a light pink for the Thorns, and an orange and two pinks for the crown.

The heart was the hard part. Three different tones of red went into filling it in with all the right shade and tone. It was actually quite stressful trying to get that part right; I had to walk away from it for about a week or so and look at it with fresh eyes. The light areas on the heart were created in a way I don't recommend. I used a Promarker Blender pen. Whis is essentially a pen filled with Alcohol. Promarkers are alcohol based pens and therefore when you add the Blender pen over the top of previous colours it breaks the inks down to what they were fresh out the pen nib adds more alcohol to it which then evaporates taking some of the ink with it.

So there you have it....