I'm battered, bruised, blistered, scratched and shattered.

And all I've done is spend the last hour trying to trim back the shrubs in my garden. It doesn't look any different and yet I know that I've worked really hard. It would have helped if I could find the secateurs I bought last year, or possibly if I borrowed a chainsaw, but as it is I've been doing this with scissors. I don't know how people I know manage days worth of this sort of thing without just collapsing.

*considers just drawing the garden she wants*

I'm always worried that if I trim something it will take offence and just die on me ...

Beginnings

I used to love art at school, but was always better at the abstract. I used to make weird sculptures out of bits of total junk and feel very proud of them, but was never good at drawing things to order. Sat in my 'O' level art exam, while drawing a twisted piece of wood, my art teacher came over. He said "If you were Picasso that would make you a million, but as it is you're going to fail."

It took me another 20 years to draw anything again. I feel a little bitter about that, but very grateful to the wonderful man who encouraged me to try again.

This was one of the first after that, inspired by all the musicians who were hanging about ...

It will become increasingly obvious that I have this obsession with rats ...

So while I work out the deep and meaningful things I want to say about my deep and meaningful Bryce artwork I'll continue posting some old sketches, like this one of Count Ratula which was originally drawn for a friend who wanted a vampire rat. I know that the pipe organ is wrong because the holes are meant to be at the bottom, but hey, it's done in pen, so tough. I guess its purpose should be to teach me that just because something's not perfect doesn't mean that it has no value. Or that some things just aren't fixable and that you have to deal with that. Or something.



Anyway, I'm busy trying to work out how (now) to draw a cow ...

The Plan ...

Where was I? Ah yes, The Plan. The Plan is to mostly write about how I produce my artwork, the creative process, what inspires me and motivates me. Maybe posting some of my pictures in various stages before completion.

I do 2 main types of artwork, either pen & ink cartoon type drawings as the one below or 3D landscape renders with Bryce.

Erm ...

I'm rather stumped what to put now; having spent ages making sure that the colours and layout are right, I sit down and think "what next?". Rather like life really ... I set out all organised and get utterly distracted by loads of little things, forgetting the big picture and ultimately find myself wondering what on earth happened to The Plan.