May 2009 Archives

Cartooning the Big Brother House

Way back in the good old days of 2005 I had an idea of cartooning the 'Housemates' from the Big Brother House. It seemed silly at the time, but it seemed to catch on as I was getting a LOT of hits and even FAN MAIL from all over the world even from housemates themselves when they managed to escape/get evicted.

The following year I decided I would actually put some time and effort into the idea and created 'bbtoons' with it's own dedicated website and see what would happen.... LOTS as it turned out.

This time a lot has changed and I am putting even more work, design and well.... hard work into it all from the ground up as this could very well be the very last project or commission I work on as it's not just me now as I have the whole 2.4 children family thing and have bills to pay and have to put the kids first. So as you can image I am putting EVERYTHING I have into this venture.

Anyhoo.... I will post more another time as I did a HUGE entry a short while ago but the system this blog runs through didn't autosave my draft and I have an hours worth of text and graphics in here... so disheartened as I had done all the text and was just putting in a final image I will call it a night with this entry and type it all up again when I don't feel like setting fire to the computer server.

It was a REALLY good and well written entry too, if I say so myself! sigh :(

A young boy was the centre of attention at a carnival style theme day held to celebrate his remission from cancer.

Seven-year-old Alfie Ward, whose birthday was on Monday May 25, found he no longer had neuroblastoma, a tumorous cancer which affects the nerves, on April 28, so on Thursday May 21 Spelthorne Infant and Nursery School, in Chertsey Road, Ashford, held an event for him.

A brother and sister from Ashford will be walking 18 miles through London on Monday May 25 to raise money for charity.

Sarah and Andrew Lambourne, aged 16 and 18 respectively, will be walking from Waterloo to Hammersmith for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of their grandmother Florence, who died in 2005 of bowel cancer.

The pair, of Salcombe Road, Ashford, are hoping to raise £200 for the charity.

To sponsor them, visit www.justgiving.com/sarahlambourne

Police launched a two-day initiative to cut back on anti-social driving on Monday 19 May and Tuesday 19 May.

The idea was to cut back on dangerous driving in Ashford and Stanwell, which saw police officers from Spelthorne check random vehicles to cut down on cold callers and rogue traders.

Tributes have been given for a community midwife who gave her time helping people less fortunate than themselves.

On Monday May 11 a thanksgiving service was held at the Salvation Army Centre in Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, to remember Wendy Howells, who passed away on April 23 of a pulmonary embolism.

Well after a few days work which was mainly an hour or so in the afternoons and a few hours at night I have my first part of the design for my Agent in the bag now and I am starting on cleaning up the 2nd version later on this evening after the little ones have gone to bed.

I am quite happy with the way this one has gone.... or rather the 2nd version that will be in my next post as it is very close to what I had in my mind at the start.

Click the little image at the side of this text to see a larger version. This version is tagged for copyrights but does have a few mini pics that I took on the way of the design process. Alas you wont be able to see the little details as they are too small in this version. You have to do these things high resolution really as there is no telling on how big they will be printed and having to go back into the graphic a year after you have done it to clean it all up would be a real pain.

The 'cute' version of this graphic character will be in my next post. If anyone wants this cupid for their desktop on their pc then just comment and let me know you email and screen size and I will send you one:) Nobody ever comments on this so I am not expecting to have to do anything:) Kinda like offering a 'round of drinks' just as last orders is over at the bar:) You learn these tricks when your unemployed and/or freelance to save pennys.

OFF THE PAGE

I popped onto the main Staines News website and found that I have been taken from the front page of the website now:( Probably been moved for some interesting articles featuring a river or local crime 'it's hard to tell', so my plight to find work as an illustrator must have dropped in ratings recently... either that or a river or lake is doing really well?

I'm not going to grumble as I was amazed to find myself on the MAIN page of the website in the first place and even more amazed to see that Steve Bax 'The web editor' placed me at the TOP of the page for a short while also.

I shall continue to post though as a lot of these things I write about I also type up in various other internet communities and various blog sites... I currently do these.

Deviant Art: Artists Gallery and Community
Livejournal: Personal Blog
Facebook: Friends, contacts and photos
Twitter: Little moments in my life
Staines News: Graphics and Finding Work News.. occasional editorial Illustrations

and from time to time I also have a life outside the computer... which reminds me I need to reboot myself and get some sleep mode.

The powers that be may put me back up there one day.... failing that I will harass a couple of lakes to make myself feel better. I would engage in a heated debate with a river but they are BIG and scare me.

CREATING THE HEAD

Well, after a mad cap time at the fair, I got home and as soon as I had my fill of Pasta, tuna and a heap of other salad related things mixed up with Mayo' I got back to work with the Character Design I was working on.

The eyes seem to be the best place to start as they can convey the emotion a lot better and half the time you don't even have to change the mouth, which is handy and saves me squiggling about too much with things for a while.

I have created about 7 heads so far with alternate eyes and tomorrow after another mad cap trip 'This time to the Car-Boot Sale' I will be starting on the body and the ever annoying limbs. Limbs generally are a bit of a pain, none more so than BABY LIMBS. Don't get me wrong I have no worry that I wont be able to do them it's just that it involves me zoomed into the picture at a silly level twisting, tweaking and generally fannying around with slight curves so you get the depth without actually having to state it 'shade works GREAT for this but can also be a pain'. I will get it done of that I am sure... It's just a matter of mathematics.

T+C+TV+C2=X

T=Time, C=Coffee, TV=TV and X is the expletive when after all that I did the thumb on the wrong side of a chubby hand.

NEW CARD DESIGN IN PROGESS

My agent has advised all of his minions to work on some Card Design, to which end I have already done a 'Welcome to your New Home' and an Alternative Christmas one 'Santa vs Snowman'.

I am now working on a Valentines based one, obviously with a little twist;)

I am naming this one quite simply ' CRIME SCENE CUPID '

It's till in the development stage and things tend to change quite quickly at this level still, but I thought I would share my progress on how it's coming along with this little blog of mine.

Staines have a new fireman in the form of a local lad who lives in Laleham.

Dave Page, 27, joined the crew at Staines fire station, in Town Lane, Stanwell, on March 27.