Merry Christmas, Goodbye 2013!

Living in a different country meant that returning home for Christmas with my family really felt as special and exciting as it was when I was little.

Ho ho ho! ... Merry Christmas folks! 

I hope you all had a wonderful time with your families and friends, eating and drinking everything in sight until you fell asleep in front of the TV... Like me. It's that time of year again and, although i'll refrain from a tiraid about how quick time is flying by, it really is staggering how swiftly his year has come and gone. 

I apologise for the lack of updates in the last couple of months. I had been doing so well until November! I had the adventure of a lifetime when myself and my partner went to California for 3 weeks for an incredible road trip that ended with us flying in a helicopter to the Grand Canyon and a stint in Vegas! It was our first trip to CTNX which was truly an amazing experience. It was invaluable to meet artists I have been friends with online for years, a couple for over a decade! I spent time laughing and learning from heroes, peers, teachers and strangers who became contacts and friends. We were fortunate enough to meet with our friends at Disney Feature Animation, Pixar and Disney Imagineering to show us around and give us a glimpse of the magic that really happens in these places. It's safe to say I absolutely fell in love with California, I have always strove to get over there but having now been there as a visitor it's really fanned the flames of a burning desire to get out there on a more permanent basis one day.

The end of the year is always time for reflection and as I sit here polishing off the last of a mountain of Christmas chocolate I can't help but marvel at what a crazy year it's been. If someone had told me at the beginning of 2013 (or even half way through!) that I would be ending the year living in a different country and working in another new country I would've laughed a lot and backed slowly away from you, careful not to break eye contact with the crazy person.

It's really thrown light onto the fact that you really don't know what's around the corner! This is an odd concept for me because, although I've always known this to be true, It's rare to be faced with something so immediately life changing. It's been difficult at times but I'm striving to embrace it and I do love a good challenge!

I didn't intend on this being a rambley end-of-year post but it's definitely turned into one! I wish everyone who has read this far and wonderful, healthy and prosperous 2014. Enjoy one more day of festive over indulgence before we all get our heads down, diet, detox (for January at least!) and draw like maniacs for another year.

Happy Halloween!

This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween. Halloween, Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! I'm working on my portfolio like a crazed, mad woman in preparation for my first trip to California, and CTNX , so here's a little quickie to loosen up and celebrate the season.

Have a spooktacular night!

Madame Mim

Here's the result of my redesign of Madame Mim for my Polynesian take on 'Sword in the Stone'. She went through a lot of changes along the way but i'm happy with how she ended up. Working with such distinctive hair was quite the design challenge, I thought about reigning in the colour to something more natural (it would've made the over all palette easier to come up with) but I liked it and pushed through and didn't take the easy way out and substitute it for a dark brown. She's a bit more evil than the original and she definitely has more of a darker side but, at the same time, I wanted to make sure she didn't lose her great eccentricity.

Exercise in Spain

I've started trying to work out and do some exercise in Spain... Most of the time it actually feels like i'm physically melting in the heat. 

A Helping Hand

I saw the loveliest old couple together today on my lunch break. They got off the bus together and, even though the man was relying on a walking stick himself, he still held hands and helped his elderly wife step down from the bus door. It made my heart melt a little.

Soak it Up

A little, late night cool down sketch before bed. Trying to strip things back a bit and develop a clean, simple technique for more quick character pieces from life.

Sonia the Birthday Belle

This is a birthday gift for one of my favourite people in the world, my friend Sonia. Her favourite film is Beauty and the Beast so I drew her in Belle's dress. She absolutely loved it :)

...Sonia was 26 yesterday by the way ;)