Today I headed to the shops on my bike and forgot my lock. I left it where I could see it, but it was stressful, constantly glancing at it, hoping it was safe. It wasn't safe, I should know I have had my share of bikes stolen over the years. I decided to make a lock your bike tshirt design. Making this will help me remember my lock, I stared at the screen all morning, thinking about bike security. 

I decided to make two designs from this artwork. The first one, Lock yer steed, is more playful and fun. The second one is much more formal and could be worn in place of a suit in any formal situation, perfect for business meetings and weddings. 

"For me music is often a gateway to learning. My first two cassette purchases were "Somewhere in time" by Iron maiden, which I quite liked and the epically disappointing Van Halen "1984". I know that 1984 was popular, but I worked hard for my money and that album was not for me. So Iron maiden got quite a workout on my stereo. Somewhere in time grew on me.  Next I got "power slave". Which I consider to be the greatest album by Iron maiden. While somewhere in time had me learning about Alexander the Great, Power slave had the epic "The rime of the ancient mariner". That was years ago, but it stills rings in my head to this day.   

​The rime of the Ancient Mariner is a poem the Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I have drawn a couple of artworks inspired by it. 

The first I drew a few years ago. In the poem the Mariner, who kills the albatross, has the bird hung from his neck. For this design I drew it the other way around. I don't' know why, it was too long ago.

Today I had another go at this. I did not was to draw the albatross dead or dying so I drew it before the drama begins. The albatross flies above the sailing ship. 

Maybe I will make another of these with a mid poem illustration one day. 

P.S. sorry if I offended any Van Halen fans. This was in the days when we purchased albums without hearing them. It just wasn't my cup of tea. 

I had an idea to create a pattern with tinned fish (canned fish). As I went, I made all the elements into individual designs. It was a great process for me as I got faster and faster with my art work. The first design was the sardines, it took me ages. By the time I got to the last one, the salt and pepper shakers, I had a good flow going on. I based the colours on retro advertising photos.

Yeah, I know, sardine in tins don't have heads but I just thought it looked better this way. 

Next up I drew a tuna can. I started using some cool half tone brushes that I purchased from true grit texture supply. I love these brushes, however I always vectorize them in inkscape to get the results I want for my art. 

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The last tin was mackerel. Buy the time I drew this I was in the zone. It was really fun to draw this one.

Now time for some seasoning. A retro illustration of a salt shaker and a pepper shaker.

An final the retro tinned fish pattern is ready. 

I can't believe that it has been 6 years since I made a blog post. I have been drawing all that time, but I think it is about time I go back into posting some art here.

Last month I took part in inktober. It was brilliant for getting me drawing a variety of things, but I slumped when it was over. I needed a new challenge to push myself forward. To that end I designed to draw eight octopuses in all different styles. I didn't stick to those rules, most of the octopuses I created are cartoons in similar styles to each other. I found a formula that worked and tried to get better and faster and drawing that way. I have now done ten octopuses, and don't seem to be slowing down... 

How often do you say y'all? Chances care if you are form the southern states or have southern heritage you say it at least once in a white. These t-shirts are a fun way to show your southern pride. These designs are based on comic book style starbursts. On top of each star is the shape of a state and the world y'all.  The stares include Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Georgia.

I have started making a few political shirts, now the presidential debates are underway. I make shirts for both sides, after all I am an artist, voters can think for themselves.
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I sat down today to draw a moped for my retro collection. When I was done it was clear the design needed more. So a squished and squeezed this giraffe onto it. The cartoon style giraffe has a cheeky face and it's tongue is trailing behind it. A fun design for fans of retro mopeds, and motor scooters. This design is one other products in my redbubble store. Just click on an image to see them all.

Don't even read my blog, just buy this tablet...

About a year ago I purchased my first tablet, a wacom, and I love it.

I spent a lot of time reading blogs, gathering information on tablets. This is what I wish someone told me... BUY A WACOM INTUOS PRO PEN MEDIUM!

It really is that simple.

I use it with a 17 inch laptop. The tablet has buttons down the side. i am sure they are very useful but I rarely use them as I have a coffee in my spare hand 24 / 7.

I am left handed, flipping the tablet for left handed use is easy.

My tablet came with bundled software.  This included Sketch book pro. There is a smaller wacom that come with clip studio paint / manga studio. Manga studio is arguably better, but it is not expensive and you can but it later on. Sketch book pro is brilliant for drawing, it has powerful tools including a fabulous steady stroke tool. That comes in very handy on your first few artworks as it is a steep learning curve. The smaller wacom manga tablet does not have a rubber on the end of your pen, it really does matter, having a rubber on the pen is worth it's weight in gold. Another tick for the intuos pro.

My first pictures were not great, but they weren't bad either. People paid money for them, so they passed the quality test.

The tablet is not cheap, but it can pay for itself, if selling art is your thing. Mine has well and truly earned its keep.

It is wireless, but I never use that function.

I do have one problem with it. The driver often does not start up. It is easy to work around this by saving your settings to your desktop, or the wacom cloud and restoring from there. I am so used to doing it this way that  don't bother with the drivers at all.

I live in New Zealand so I did not buy my tablet from amazon. I paid a lot more that the amazon price. Looking back Amazon would have been a great option. Sure I would have been pinged with import duties but it still would have been cheaper. The tablet has been very reliable and the only signs of use are very light scratches on the drawing surface, you can hardly see them.

I am still on my first pen nib, it looks new still. There are multiple different nibs in the pen stand. I have has no need to try them yet.

Buy new or buy used? I say but new, you get a warranty, back up support (wacom reply to emails) and great bundled software.

I have a blog post coming that compares manga studio 5 with sketch book pro. If you can't wait for that you can see them both here.

Manga Studio 5 and clip studio paint are exactly the same, the only difference is the Clip studio is a digital download.

I have been on a viking inspired art frenzy recently. I am really enjoying the process of choosing an art theme and sticking with it. I like to make 6 designs per theme. So I have one to go with vikings.

I created these designs using Clip Studio Paint / Manga Studio 5