The Blue Side

Called LilWorld: Dawn of Art, this project explores the origins of human creativity and art and presents it in a new comic style I’m hoping to develop and continue in the future.

This is the first thing I did when I got Procreate. I think I was going for a sort of “stars in her eyes” mood. I like testing new apps by doing things like colouring irises because they’re super hard and you can experiment with lots of brushes in the process.

Glow Wild is a wonderful outdoor event run by Wakehurst Place each winter. You have a lantern and walk the grounds marvelling at the glowing creatures shining out of the darkness at you. I first went in, I think, 2018 and was absolutely mesmerised. In 2022 it was even better and I could have spent hours watching the stunning sights. I took a lot of wobbly video without really looking away from the reality in front of me. It’s nothing more than a reminder of the experience but it enabled me to recreate the gorgeous deer I fell quite in love with. The almost stained-glass appearance digital art allows for makes it look so much like the original I feel it evokes the memory far better than the dodgy video! I think I used this for a birthday card, but can’t be sure now. Might have been a tag for a present.

I wasn’t happy with the results at the time, but five years after drawing this I can see it’s not as bad as the me of then thought. I present it proudly!

I’d forgotten all about it until I began looking through my art apps! I made it in the first week or so of getting Procreate and it was part of my learning of the potential of the app. I have no idea why I drew a watch but obviously there was a reason at the time or I wouldn’t have finished it! As I write about it I’m starting to remember making it, but the why eludes me…

It’s an experiment, and my first time painting digitally and freehand (I’m far more accustomed to painstaking sketching and planning) like this. For a first attempt I’m pretty pleased!

This happened to me more than by me. I was watching an archaeology documentary where a Roman mosaic was uncovered. I’ve always been fascinated by mosaics but haven’t tried making one since I was a kid with a packet of geometric stickers! My iPad was right there and I just wanted to draw some squares. I had no direction in mind, simply went where I went and this happened. I found myself looking at a tulip with the sky and bright sunlight behind it. It’s not the kind of art I’d usually make and yet I find myself liking it a good deal. It’s bright and cheerful and quite abstract. A real departure for me, but that seems to be happening a lot lately! I hope you enjoy!

I’m in the wrong place to get to see the solar eclipse today but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it anyway! I love astronomical wonders and this is my representation of the Diamond Ring phase.

I’ve walked over these sleepers many times without stopping to admire the way the pebbles gather in the texture of the wood. I guess the light must have been just right to make it jump out at me the day I took the photo that inspired this piece. Having said that I’ll go through all my old photos one day and find years of pictures just like this!

In honour of her appearance in episode 9 of the final season of The Bad Batch, I decided to draw Ventress. I loved seeing her again and thought her bounty hunter outfit was very cool. Great fun to draw.

This is one of those rare moments where what I saw in my head matches what I actually created. Please forgive me for not depicting the pebbles and making it look like sand – I didn’t want the piece too cluttered.

Soon the primrose dragon will fly.

Who doesn’t love a houseplant you can’t kill?!