Self-care cockatoos

Christmas Cards

I am now on Instagram as polyrillustration! I'm a bit more active on there as well as Facebook, if you haven't already gimme a cheeky follow.

For the second year in a row I'm not doing workplace Christmas cards - our department number is now in the 80s and as I'm still part of the Sports & Social squad I'm chatty with a lot of folks across the business. If I did cards for everybody it would be a very expensive (and time consuming) activity for something that's usually disposed of in January, so instead I'll be making a donation to Mind.

However I do make an exception for some family and friends especially those who I won't see in person this year - and instead of buying, I use up some of my crafting material and enjoy a quiet evening with some tea and paintbrushes.

Pampered Peepers

I've been wanting to do some bird illustrations for a while now - I'm a big fan of Gotcha the Cockatoo (Instagram) and Mr Max (YouTube), as well as seeing various bird ('birb') memes floating around Facebook. Drawing birds is a different subject topic for me as well, so it was a good challenge.

After the cockatiel and the pigeon were finished, I printed them out onto photo paper as free gifts for a Lolita fashion meet I organised, and the feedback I got was so nice that I thought I'd do a little postcard run of each design via Vistaprint - and here they are. I've also now opened an Etsy account, which was a very nerve-wracking thing to do but even if I sell a few of these prints, I'm happy!

This is Tatler, the Umbrella Cockatoo - a thoroughly spoiled scream-chicken who lives with his parronts and enjoys dismantling Ocado boxes - and yes, he's dismantled that parasol too.

Winsome by name, winsome by nature! Winnie to her friends, this is a sweet little cockatiel who lives with her refined human roommate Klara, and oversees all the get-togethers Klara has with her equally-posh friends. You can have a tea party safely at Winsome's house; she's taste-tested all the scones and the tea is guaranteed to be quality.

Sir Henry is a distinguished gentleman budgie who lives a peaceful retirement in Burlington Hall with Lord Burlington and his family. A show-off in his younger days, Sir Henry would just rather snooze in his cage these days after a plentiful meal of fresh veggies - and perhaps some scrambled egg on Sunday if he's lucky.

Maevis is a fancy pigeon through and through, used to strutting her stuff at competitions around the country. When she's at home though, she'll go through the odds-and-ends box to fashion accessories for herself, when the lady of the house isn't looking (or too busy with her housemate, Tatler the cockatoo). She is also a big fan of yoga and will start every day without fail with a good stretch.

These are ready to buy at Polyrillustration at Etsy!

Illustration Friday: Shoe

 

A homage to my sweatiest hobby was on the cards for last week's Illustration Friday ('shoe'). As of today, it's 43 miles and counting.

I'm not built to be a runner to be honest, but that's not why I do it - there's something refreshing about the simplicity of it, just putting one foot in front of the other. Sometimes I'm accompanied by work colleagues, other times not - either way, I always feel better for it afterwards (well, except the one time where I scraped the skin off my hand and knee, funnily enough, due to not wearing the proper shoes for a run - that was a write-off, took ages to heal too).

Illustration Friday: Delicious

 

I wasn't sure what to do for this prompt, but as it's very foody and it's been a while since I've drawn myself, I naturally have combined the two. The Wonderful Smaz and I don't do a lot of takeout - once a month, if that - but when we do it's that pizza place. His is a Hawaiian, but mine's a vegetarian, thanks.

Illustration Friday: Fable

This is one of my favourite morals from Aesop, and boy howdy was this true to its word - I started on Sunday and (as it's been a busy week) finished it late last night.

Illustration Friday: Hot

 

Okay, so this deviated a bit. On Illustration Friday there was a lot of depiction of fire, heat, hot colours, the sun in response to the prompt of 'Hot' - and I chose heat, but not in the destructive sense. Heat is my go-to for comfort - whether I'm ill, aching, just plain uneasy or even just because - so I illustrated some of my favourite warm things. Tea fixes just about most everything, I have no less than five hot-water bottles in the house (not counting the one I've got at work) and although I mostly shower as it's quicker in the morning I am very much a 'bath person'.

I will admit though, I own very few heart-patterned things.

Pretty Embroidery

 

Happy Easter Sunday, everyone!

A month or so ago,  I came across a wonderful speed-painting (cookie-decorating) video by a lady who goes by the online alias of Mezesmanna (her Instagram is here) - she paints with royal icing onto gingerbread 'canvasses', and her traditional Hungarian-inspired ones are simply incredible! These days, a lot of my creative output is needlework-based, so I was inspired to do some studies of Hungarian embroidery using watercolour paint on card. I still had a bunch of flowers in a vase on the dining room table from my birthday, so I did some studies from those, too. I'd love to get out some graph paper and turn some of the paintings into cross-stitch patterns.

The embroidery uses lovely bright colours, but they look really sweet toned-down, too. The shapes used are so simple but fit together so well, the overall pattern is detailed and intricate - I could sit and Google-search these embroideries all day!

Mezesmanna's Instagram is here, and her YouTube channel is here - you can also follow her on Facebook. A really interesting site on Hungarian embroidery is Folk Art Hungary - take a look!

Christmas, Part 2: Sports and Social Edition

At my regular day job, I'm part of the Sports and Social committee - charity events, Easter Egg Hunts, and a yearly quiz are just a few of the things that are organised by us.

This year, as part of a re-branding, we prepared Christmas packages consisting of a hot chocolate stick, a little stocking, an Advent Calendar (I ate mine in four days), and exclusive Christmas cards ...

Snow days ...

... are hot-chocolate-and-good-ghost-story days.

(Drawn in August, too.)

Illustration Friday: Mask

Eeeeyeah, not too sure about the flowers. I liked the mask itself, though.

Illustration Friday: Voyage

Very, very proud of this one - I used a little bit of watercolour (the background is a nice blue wash, and the girl got a bit of watercolour on her lineart, too) but most of this is digital.

I think Polyrillustration's layout is in serious need of a re-vamp. Not quite sure what to do yet though.

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

I hate to say it, but I don't draw anywhere near as much as I should nowadays. A full-time job takes up most of my attention, and in the evenings I'm often too drained for artistic inspiration, so I sit with a crochet hook instead. However, when I get into a rut like this, I go back to self-portraits.

Fun fact - I really have made a hat that size. It's humungous but really warm.

And now I've learned how to make socks (and how to use Bluetooth on my new handset).

A 'family portrait' of the Taxman's family, from CMTV. I sent a copy of this to my friend, inserted into a Christmas card written by Taxy himself.

(I've also done the lineart for a design for next year's Christmas card - with any luck it'll actually be finished by Christmas 2014.)

Treading a line between good and bad taste

... or "Polyrhythm learns a valuable lesson".

For my degree show, I took inspiration from McGill and Taylor - the two artists who were responsible for many of the traditional, Carry On-esque cheeky postcards that graced (or maybe disgraced?) our British beaches, alongside the political cartoonists I try and keep up to date with. Personally, I really like them, and if I saw them around today I'd most likely buy them. It's sort of a guilty pleasure. I am a sucker for exaggerated cartoon expressions, crap puns, and silly drawings depicting chubby ladies and kids having fun on holiday with no room for embarrassment. While a few of the gags (often at the expense of women) do make me cringe, on the whole I see the genre as innocent. Dated, but harmless.

When my project started, I brought some ideas to the table. It was pointed out to me (by a visiting illustrator who hadn't seen my work before) that although I'd had the visual style down great, two of my early ideas could very easily be interpreted as making light of sexual harassment and abuse of trust in the current political climate. It really shook me as firstly I'd had no idea they could even be seen that way, I'd not thought about what was going on in the news when drawing them. The way I'd seen it before, it was just a silly doctor-doctor joke, and a pun on the pronunciation of "quiche", but the new light was very obvious, and jarring.

I'm aware I was a complete idiot in not thinking, especially as communication is everything, but I'd been too lost in the style of decades ago to really think about how it could have been taken as a joke in this day and age. My fellow illustrators in the group, who had me with them when viewing my work, didn't see the drawings in that way and many of them even laughed - but most of them know me as a person and therefore knew my general sense of humour. People visiting the degree show would be approaching my work 'cold', just like the illustrator did that day - they wouldn't have me explaining everywhere what I meant by this and that.

Cartoonists toe the line between good and bad taste (fairly sure that's a Martin Rowson quote - either way, it's one I agree with). One of the first paragraphs on Bamforth Postcards' website is even "Always tottering on the brink of good taste – yet often falling over it – they are the visual equivalent of the pub joke". Where that line between good and bad taste lies differs for every person, and it's always going to divide opinion. The main problem was that my previous ideas had fallen firmly in my own "bad taste" camp post-critique. I'm very glad for that critique, as not only did it make me think, it paved a path to much better ideas.

I scrapped what I'd done (well, kept a record of it purely for RVJ purposes) and started afresh. I'd had the general style of the cartooning down fine, but I needed to give the meaning much more thought. It didn't always have to be humorous, if done right I could explore more serious subjects. I feel I managed to do this - for example, the images below.

This is on street harassment and the depersonalisation of victims - at the same time, bringing the "lecherous man" character in the older postcards to the forefront in a lot less humorous and more realistic fashion:

... an editorial piece on MPs having their allowances increased to "help cover extra costs":

(I hasten to add the horsemeat issue was not flogged to death at the time of illustration)

... and the fat cats always seeming to win.

Of course, I did sillier, less political stuff as well, such as our ridiculous weather, the obsession over the royal baby, and lazy-ass students like me (editorial piece on a study, in which it was discovered students actually do need all that dozing off). I had another critique with the same lady a few weeks later, and I'm glad to say that these images were much better received.

These are only a few images that'll be displayed at my degree show - alongside these for final-project marking will be some of the Lolita fashion illustration that I've done for Austen and the Abbey. I'm nervous - very nervous - but no matter what the grade is, I feel I've gained a lot from this project and certainly learned a few things along the way.

Austen & The Abbey

Roll up, roll up! I've been given a brilliant opportunity this summer, not long after my degree show finishes - and that is to exhibit at Austen and the Abbey (A&tA), a Japanese fashion event in Leamington Spa. Similar in style to the Tea Party Club event last year, A&tA will be host to a ton of brilliant craftsfolk and fashion designers, as well as many sophisticated guests dressed in their finest. And, now, also me. I've also been asked to help out on the promotional side of things, as well as volunteering at the Bring & Buy, which has been a lot of hard work but a lot of fun.

I have also agreed to donate one of the pieces in the exhibition (specifically drawn for A&tA) as a raffle prize! Not sure which one yet ... I might have to let the lord and lady of the house pick that one.

Click image to enlarge:

And, finally, as I've been wielding my trusty pair of knitting needles, some of these cute little critters will be making their way to the Bring & Buy table, and hopefully be taken to new homes.

More Christmas Cards, and a Winner!

A winner has been selected randomly for the Polyrillustration 4th Birthday Moleskine-shaped Giveaway - congratulations to Heather B! Lucky lucky. I like free things.

~

Secondly, I've been asked to design a couple of Loli-themed Christmas cards for someone. As I really enjoyed designing my "regular" Christmas cards, I was very happy to take on the job:

My personal favourite has to be the second. The watercolour was very well behaved and I love the gag.  Loli or not I'm sure everyone can identify with Santa Baby on some level.

I've got some great third-year stuff to show so stay tuned!

Glitz and Glam

You know, half the time when I post here, I apologise for being quiet. This time, as I sit up on my bed (with a twinge in between my shoulder-blades) I'm not going to do that. Firstly, I've been working flat-out at my part-time (more like full-time during summer) job. Not only is my student loan this year a little less, but there's a chance that I may not have a job during my final year of university. The company that I'm working at will be bought out at the end of this month, so I have been working there while I still can. I'm looking on the bright side as I've had two and a half great years here and I'm sending my CV out to employers, but I'm also sad, as I really do like my workplace.

Secondly, alongside working at my job I've had a very busy and creative summer. I have a lot to tell!

This Saturday is the Tea Party Club's 5th Anniversary event down in Charing Cross, London (it's not the political sort of Tea Party, it's the frilly dress sort). As detailed in a couple of posts below, I'm going along, and have been helping out by doing a little artwork. I've now done a bit more, but this is something completely different and something I'm very excited to reveal.

If you've known me for ... uh, five years, you might remember my first A-level canvas piece, and you'll know my huge love for Gustav Klimt's work. For the pieces below, I've gone back to this way of working, of playing around with mixed media and just having some real fun with it.

Without further ado:

"Frivolity" - mixed media, 10 inches x 10 inches

"Opulence" - mixed media, 10 inches x 10 inches

"Intricacy"- mixed media, 10 inches x 10 inches

"Intricacy" was the first to be painted, and the one that I submitted for the Gothic and Lolita Bible (GLB) Illustration competition, in association with the Tea Party Club's event. On the day of the event, three winners will be picked and published in the Gothic and Lolita Bible! I leaped at the chance to enter, and given the style of the Tea Party Club and the GLB, I didn't think that my usual cartooning would suit it. I chose instead to paint something, and something crazy at that. What else to suit the fussiness and frilliness of Loli than a piece inspired by Klimt, whose paintings are the epitome of affluence?

I found that I'd enjoyed doing the piece so much, that I wanted to do at least two others. At the same time, there was a call for artists to bring some of their work to the event for an exhibition nearby. I took it as a sign that yes, I should do more, and "Frivolity" and "Opulence" were created, both of them more crazy and busy than the last! I will be bringing all three pieces, framed and ready to be shown, to the event. I'm really quite nervous, but excited.

Some of the media used are: watercolours, needle and thread (normal cotton sewing threads and metallic decorative thread), shards of mirror, Daler-Rowney Pearlescent inks, Sakura glaze pens, normal fineliner pens, and beads. I used masking fluid in-between layers of paint, and worried at many stages that the paper would buckle. It held up perfectly, though, and had no issue with being framed.

(Intricacy is upside-down, I've just noticed. Ahem.)

And, because I feel I should give them a shout-out: PictureLizard is who I bought the frames from. They may be only clip-frames, but they are custom made, and got to me well-packaged within a matter of days of ordering - which is excellent, given it was relatively short-notice. They're well-made and arrived with their own clips and instructions on how to frame the piece correctly. They also apparently have a print service as well, which I'd like to try out at some point.

Bring on Saturday!

Also, if you haven't already: Like my Facebook page! Once the page hits 100 likes, I'm going to host a giveaway - not for a silly cartoon, but for something useful, that you can make use of for your own creative endeavours. Your mum probably taught you that it's nice to share, so be nice and share this blog with everyone (and keep that box of chocolates all to yourself)!

On Frills and Elegance ... and Humour

My own Lolita meet badge is finished! The print was tricky and I had to omit some of the details on it (there's such a thing as "too much detail", I've found) but I'm very pleased with how it's turned out. I'm tempted to make one for every outfit I put together, at this rate.

I doodled a slightly-rushed mini-comic a couple of weeks ago, called Horatio the Angry Wig - it was pretty popular with the Lolis on my Facebook page. It was based on respecting personal space - just because you are dressed differently, it does not give people the right to start pulling at you. A Horatio wig is the answer to all your problems - it will bellow expletives at anyone who comes up and gives it a tug, going "IS THIS YOUR REAL HAIR?!".

This is a continuation, based somewhat off the myth of vagina dentata. This one, however, is a little more useful when you're all frilled out. Goes great when you're trying to be creepy-cute, although it'll make you a helluva lot more creepy.

Personally I am frilly, but not this dainty, elegant creature. Far from it. I am one of the least ladylike people I know. I eat my food with gusto (one of life's pleasures), I'm clumsy, I'm sarcastic, I pull funny faces, I have this obnoxiously dirty laugh, I have my bad days and good days, I let the odd four-letter word slip, I have a twisted sense of humour that sometimes only makes sense to myself (I hope you would have surmised that by now), I have short hair that's all over the place when I wake up ... and my style reflects this. It's a representative of me. Many Lolis I know in person also have similar qualities and more. We're all different people who bring different things to meets. We're only doll-like in appearance - underneath the  fanciness is a normal human being. Frilly dresses don't change us as people. We sometimes drink too much, eat too much, spend too much, rant too much, joke too much, fangirl too much, sleep too much or stay up too late but we have a damned good time - and I ruddy love them all for it. And what way to best represent that than to do funny Loli drawings, to try and offer something a bit different ... and hopefully, as funny to fellow frillies as it is to me?

FEATURE: Morten Morland

This month has been extremely busy, and it's been quite taxing on me. I really need to kick myself back into shape (mainly physically - Easter is like Christmas in that it is a "time to indulge" in all manner of Naughty Food™, and has given me a bit of a podgy tummy, but there's some mental kicking as well). Literally kicking myself doesn't do much good, I've found, but I digress.

When feeling a little low or lacking in inspiration (which unfortunately has happened recently), nothing cheers me up further than looking at funny illustrations. Not only does it make me laugh, I also hope to do something like it when I graduate so it also gives me a lift and some encouragement. One of the illustrators I'm highly influenced by is Times cartoonist (and very nice guy) Morten Morland.

I really love the use of lines and typography. The colour here is relatively simple, but it's the lines that really carry the piece off. As someone who also really likes to emphasise on lines, this jumps out at me straight away.

I just laugh every time I look at this one.

I also really like the emphasis Morten puts on facial expression, yet none of the caricatures lose their identities. I especially love the ecstatic Obama jumping for joy and Cameron throwing himself into his musical performance above - it's really worth checking out Morten's animated sketches (if you'll mind the pun). The great thing about cartoons is that you can make them do anything and really have fun with the settings and colours and humour, and the cartoonists I enjoy studying really revel in this. Makes it all the more fun and motivating to study! Morten was also very kind and helpful with answering a few of the questions I had on working in the industry, which makes me even more determined to succeed. Many thanks!

If you'd like to see some more of Morten's work, here are a couple of links:

Portfolio Website - MorlandCartoon

YouTube channel - MortyDraw

Wordpress

Twitter

All images in this post are © Morten Morland, 2012.