Won't give up the day job.

I've had a bit of break from the project for the past couple of weeks. Mainly because of lots of work coming into my day job, which from tomorrow involves me having to drive from the UK to Italy (to test and collect a new moulding tool, but thats a long story!). 

Nevertheless I have not forgotten about the project and am determined to continue with it. I have until the end of January to submit the sketchbook which leaves plenty of time! So... very little in the way of new material here, but hopefully if I'm not too tired after the trip I should be able to get a few more sketches in before Christmas!

Graveyard Shift

Here's how the back page of the sketch book has turned out after a bit of sketching late one night last week. Seems a bit grim and it has little to do with the original theme, but I enjoyed drawing it!

Sketches and Broken Xboxes

It's been a bit of slow week in terms of sketching, mainly because the majority of my time has been spent trying to resolve problems with my wifi, ebay sales, and a broken xbox (essential)... Nonetheless I have fitted in a little doodling...

I've been exploring the villains theme again, this time developing a character's shape through thumbnail sketches of the silhouette. I also had an idea for a giant space squid monster character (far left sketch).

I've already come to the end of the project sketch book, which means I'm going to have to start on a new one and look at how to take the book apart and rebind it with more pages. So I'm looking for some advice on book binding if anybody can help!

Halloween Villains

This week I concentrated on the villains theme. These sketches are of nothing in particular; I really just drew what I felt like at the time! With Hitchcock's 'Psycho' on my TV in the background, I went from one thumbnail drawing to another, progressively developing each idea. I've always read that the most important part of an iconic character is the silhouette, and I tried to develop this by exaggerating their faces, bodies and clothes. 

I decided to present these sketches removed from the page backgrounds because the thin sketch book paper is causing my markers to leak through the pages. Of course these will also be seen in their original, unedited form when the sketch book becomes digitised by the Brooklyn Art Library!

Recycling Heroes

This idea stemmed from trying to communicate a positive, educational message through the use of the "heroes" theme. In this particular case I've looked at teaching children about the environment and the importance of recycling using superhero characters born from recyclable materials. I was also playing with the idea of a transformer/optimus prime character made from recycled materials, with the villain role being played by something that consists of non-recyclables/general waste, but I need to sketch this concept in a bit more detail.

I think I'm still looking for that real spark of inspiration in this project. Being used to filling chunky hard-back sketch books, I'm finding the limited number of pages in this book means more pressure to use each page sparingly. I'm definately going to have to add more pages!

Next week I'm going to focus on the "villains" side, and just really go for it and draw some very exaggerated characters. But for now, here's some sketches...

Making a start on the Sketchbook Project 2012!