Fantastic Bestiary - Part 2

I started this post back in March over the holiday weekend. While working on drawings for Black Star 1.8 I decided to warm up by dipping my toes back into Ash and Ana's mythical world.

What started as a warm up turned into a fun afternoon of drawing and writing and I LOVE what it turned out. The first page of the bestiary that I typeset was just to try out the fonts. So, I made some tweaks to the style and format. For example, Ash is a lefty, so his annotations are slightly skewed as, without ruled paper, he finds it difficult to keep text in line. I've gone back and updated the first page.

I think I do some of my best work when I don't give myself an 'assignment' and just draw whatever strikes my fancy. I'm a firm believer that great art is 10% inspiration 10% talent and 80% technique and discipline. Recently I've burned myself out on the discipline and haven't left enough room for inspiration and enjoyment!

Looking through my sketch book and notes I've actually written and drawn over a dozen entries for the bestiary (There are trows decorating the margins of just about every notebook I own). But, I never got around to setting them because, at the time, they weren't my focus. Seeing how well the gargoyles page turned out, my instinct is to construct a regimen of typsetting the entries and set an end date for delivery. But, the rest of me thinks... just do it when the mood strikes. There's no magic formula for success and pressuring myself to do it is only going to send me back into a spiral of frustration. There will be time for dilligence later.

If you're curious, here are some of the other fun creatures that you'll encounter in Merlin's bestiary.

Check out more from the Bestiary here!

• Eachy
• Giants giants giants
• Cat sidhe
• Chimaera
• Kelpie
• Dragons, sidhe (fairies), and trows

Hope you enjoy!
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20 years in the making - Christmas 2018

I've started working on my Holiday card for 2018 and it suddenly occurred to me that I've made a card every year for the last 20 years!

 

1998 watercolour card

My first holiday card was in 1998 and I've made one every year since (except 2005 when I'd first moved to Scotland and I was super broke).

Looking to the first card for inspiration it made me really excited. It was done in watercolour and ink and was beautiful! I was actually really good. These were the days before photoshop so the only way to colour anything was by hand and watercolours were my favourite medium.

It was painted on a giant A2 sheet of paper and had to be reduced at copy shop. It was actually too big for the machine so you can see the edges were cropped. Paying for the printing turned out to be way more expensive than I thought so I could only afford to get 20 made. But, I wanted to have something to give to family and friends who I couldn't afford to get a gift for.

I can't remember the last time I'd used my watercolours so I decided it was time to get them out and get practicing. I started with a picture of a rose from our garden this summer. And I'm pleased with how it turned out... for a warm up!

It took a while to decide what exactly I was going to do for the card though. I considered doing an updated version of the first card (geez, I wished I'd used modelling in 1998 to get proportions right!).  Or did I just want to tap into the spirit of the card and do something new in watercolour?

For the theme of my card holiday card I like to think of what my wish for the year ahead is. After lots of sketching I decided to stop agonising over sentiment and meaning and just have fun. 2018 has been a packed year with lots of ups and downs. And reflecting on that 16 year old kid who just wanted to do something nice for his family and friends during the holiday is enough for me. Also, the fact that I've been doing anything for 20 years is a huge achievement! There's no need to force it. And actually a bit of whimsy and fun is what everyone needs.

So this year I'm going SUPER CHIBI!!!

Some sketches and a new design for Wishmaker

Why? Well why not?!! I decided to got the crazy manga route while I was watching Netflix's She-Ra and The Princesses of Power. The glittering glimmering transformation reignited my long dormant love of Sailor Moon and the desire for a little bit of kawaii in my life. (Side note: I totally applaud the show for its positive portrayals - for example that Glimmer and Spinerrella aren't stick thin and are still warriors. Even little things like She-Ra wearing shorts under her skirt make it endearing. I love that it's creating something all girls can see themselves in and characters I'd be happy for all of my nieces to emulate).

Eat it, haters!

So, what will the final product of the card be? Well, you'll just have to wait and see!

Hope you enjoy!
‽

Buy 'Black Star' or 'Spirit Shear' on Amazon in the UK and US
Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook