The Adventures Of Charlotte Khan..... book cover

It took an awful lot longer than I originally thought it would as I woefully miscalculated just how long 'doing the Hong Kong skyline' would take, but here is the approved cover for Julie's (Mulholland) new book. Actually the text hasn't been approved but I only put that on to show the general idea of the finished article. The book is called 'The adventures of Charlotte Khan.... Charlotte goes to Hong Kong' and will be the first of many episodes, knowing Julie's 'hot nib' prolificacy! I had word from her saying just how much she enjoyed the cover idea and it was exactly want she wanted. This bodes very well for future collaborations which I am hoping for, as Julie is one of those people with boundless energy and enthusiasm for life, and sunny temperament to boot. A lovely lady indeed. I do hope her book gets the break it deserves- and no, not just because I have a vested interest!

New website alert!

My husband is a very talented man. He has just completed a full blown, bells and whistles garnished professional photography website for me to house my ever growing collection of local scenes. I know I am biased, but I think it is a fantastic effort and it all looks professional, modern and easily navigable. A job well done indeed. This new site will run alongside my main art site which also has a more worldwide photography section, but as mentioned before the new website will house photos taken of places in the West Country, my inspirational stomping ground. Hence the name 'West Country Photographs'- a ' it does exactly what it says on the tin' style name! If anyone is interested in having a look here is the link

www.westcountryphotographs.com

As ever, all thoughts and comments will be gratefully received, and if any of you out there want your own website why not get in contact with Mike through here- he is very friendly as well as clever!

p.s. Thank you Peps for proof reading it all for us!

The Adventures Of Charlotte Khan.....

Not so long back in Blogland I posted a couple of cartoon-style illustrations for a new children's book by Julie Mulholland- the lady I had previously worked on book cover ideas for (The Iraqi, and Guns and Roses.) Well, to cut a long story short (can I hear a collective sigh of relief?) she has approved of the designs and sent them off to her publisher. I can show the rest off now without fear of hexing it all. I had an inordinate amount of fun doing these as illustrating a children's book is quite a way removed from my ordinary works; not only was it a liberating media to attempt, but whilst I was immersed in the drawings I kept reliving parts of my childhood long since forgotten... embarrassing moments at school, fun days out and copious amounts of daydreaming the weird and wonderful, all came flooding back. Further more I have been asked to do the book cover too, so it looks like I am gainfully employed in this game for a bit longer!

Another dog portrait...

This space is fast becoming a doggy blog! As promised here is the second of the two ladies I was commissioned to paint. I am so pleased with this one and how it turned out. Black is such a hard colour to get any life into but I've managed it well, I think. She wasn't a natural in front of the camera and kept putting her ears back whenever I moved the lens towards her, looking more like a sea lion than a dog. Luckily I have a good zoom, so managed to capture her unawares while she played. Now all I have to do is frame them up and hand them over- although I wouldn't mind keeping this one for posterity!

Dog portrait.....

Hot of the press a commission I have been working on of a beautiful young golden retriever. She is the palest one I have seen to date, with just a smattering of straw around her neck, ears and eyes. She has a friend too who will hopefully be gracing the blog in a day or two when I have finished her. She is the other end of the scale being a glossy, black labrador... I will certainly be tested on my contrast skills! It's been nice escaping away into my drawing of late- we have the roofers in at the moment doing what they do best, so this is proving a welcome distraction!