Day 21: Pot

No not cannabis...old pottery.

Archaeology largely revolves around pottery...it is used to date features, in some cases to identify the purpose or nature of a deposit, feature or room. As a result I do a fair ammount of illustrations of it in various forms. Today I am only digitising drawings done in the 1970s for my Italian friends Phd...I have tried to train him to do them but I don't think that he is really interested...as he has now asked me to do them for him...hey ho I tried...I'm not really sure what I have let myself in for really...the number of pots that he needs drawing is undisclosed...am I a mug?...probably!

Pottery illustration, and archaeological finds illustration in general within the UK, has developed a very well defined idea of style and convention...which is nice it means from my perspective that I know exactly what it is a client is requiring from me...which makes a nice change! 
The left hand side shows a section through the body of the pot, the right hand side the outside of the pot. This will require some shading before it is finished but at the moment I am just digitising the main lines and features.

Day 12: Italian Exchange

As I posted yesterday...I get asked to help with a lot of other peoples illustrations and I don't get much in return...one friend however is attempting to teach me Italian in return for help with Phd illustrations! I am quite up for it...I like learning...but languages really aren't my thing at all...the main issue is that it requires remembering an awful lot of information...mostly words and names...I find the names part difficult in english let alone in Italian.
Still I think I am making progress...slow but steady progress.
After the lesson we had dinner...fried asparagus and salmon with a cream and mustard sauce on penne...lovely! I'll do a recipe sheet at some point...another thing for the to-do list!

Day 11: Can you just...

One of the things I have come to expect and accept being an illustrator is that I am going to be asked to do various random favours...anyway this evenings efforts are in aid of a friend of mines masters...it took a couple of hours...and that is before I've done any ammendments! Doesn't leave me after work much time for myself but hey ho...friends are worth it.
This one is at least grateful...amazing how little thanks I get for my time sometimes. This is normally due to a lack of understanding of what they are asking to be done...or even more irritatingly...of how to explain what they want to be done! (This is worse because I have a stab at it...and then hear "Oh sorry that wasn't what I had in mind at all") It these ones that say "Can you just..." it's never as simple as that...never! You think Da Vinci had to put up with "Can you just..."?

Becoming an illustrator has really taken over my life...I didn't train to be an illustrator...I just got pushed into it...for which I will be forever grateful. It was so much not an artist at secondary school that wasn't allowed to take GCSE art...I didn't like writing the justification that went along with the picture....I just liked to draw...be creative...make things!

Day 6: Amarylis

My house mate was given some Amarylis by their girlfriend...they are such a beautiful shape that I couldn't help but draw them.

I don't just draw plants...but I do find them very varied, interesting and forgiving subjects when short of time...laziness on my part I guess...I'll try to find something solid and hard-lined for the next post!

Day 3: Face

This isn't strictly speaking a picture that I did today but I really like it and wanted to talk about it. It was the first picture that I did using pen and ink. It was also the first freehand picture that I had done since secondary school...8 years or so. I'm not sure what it was that made me decide to draw it but that moment has changed my life ever since...though the picture has no eyes...it really opened mine for me.

Day 2: Beech Leaf

I went for the first run of the year this morning...another new years resolution that I am going to try and stick to! On the way back I picked up this beech leaf...it is in colour almost uniformly mid-brown but when a light is used to put some of it into shadow it's shape is lovely.

Using points to describe shape and shadow is a technique that is often used to draw archaeological finds for publications. As a style of illustration it is very flexible in how it is used.