09 Jun 2009
by mashadutoit
in books, fantasy
Tags: Charles de Lint, fantasy
Title: The Little Country
Author: Charles de Lint
Series : No, this is a stand alone book
Rating:
In Short: A fantasy rooted in folk and fairy tales. Janey Little, a Cornish folk musician, finds an unknown manuscript by a famous fantasy author. She starts reading it, and so doing sets in motion an uncanny chain of events that puts herself and everyone she loves in danger.
In Full: The Little Country is my third book by Charles de Lint. Although its not my favourite (that still has to be Moonheart) I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found themes of redemption and forgiveness, about the core of innocent hurt in the heart of even the most evil person. More
03 Jun 2009
by mashadutoit
in Inspiration, Myself
In Afrikaans, when the rain falls while the sun is shining, one says: “Jakkals trou met wolf se vrou” Which means – roughly – “Jackal is marrying Wolf’s Wife”. Its winter and I find myself looking upward:
In summer I was taking pictures of objects found on the ground, now that the weather is colder, I’m looking at branches against the sky, and the early morning light in the city as I walk to work: More
02 Jun 2009
by mashadutoit
in All my drawings
Tags: drawing
Drawing under the influence of fleas. That is, flea bites, and the scent of flea-repellent. I got a little bit slack about cleaning studio and had a little flea explosion.
Still on a role with masks, and bird-headed people. I was reminded of this theme by several posts by John Coulthart over at feuilleton. More
31 May 2009
by mashadutoit
in Colour
Tags: desktop, pattern
I’ve still got the pattern bug bad – this time, I’ve been creating repeating patterns from my own drawings.
These are all generated from a drawing of a rather sad looking young man in elaborate uniform: More
28 May 2009
by mashadutoit
in All my drawings, Illustration
Tags: drawing
Today winter really begins to bite. I can feel that cold in the air that means that snow has fallen on the mountains somewhere. Its the perfect weather to sit in front of the heater and draw.
Here is another page from my sketchbook. I’ve been experimenting with coloured pencil and ink: More
28 May 2009
by mashadutoit
in Inspiration
Tags: photoshop
In my last post, “Patterns from Stories” I shared some kaleidoscope tiled patterns generated from my favourite illustrations. Here is a step-by-step on how to make them in Photoshop.
- First – find a nice image and open it in Photoshop. More
21 May 2009
by mashadutoit
in All my drawings
Tags: drawing
I never know what is going to happen when I start drawing. In fact, its a state I cultivate. I try to get my mind to make those unexpected leaps it makes when I am dreaming.
The drawings often come out looking as though they mean something, when in fact, they probably don’t. Just like many dreams. More
19 May 2009
by mashadutoit
in books, fantasy, Illustration
Tags: john howe, laura ingalls wilder, tad williams, The Hobbit, the wind in the willows
When I was a child, one of my favourite day dreams was building my own home. It was usually underground, inside a tree or under water, and often featured wall-sized fish tanks. I’ve gathered together a number of fictional homes and rooms that inspired my day-dreams then and now.
First off – the familiar classics, starting with Bilbo Baggins’s own Bag End: More
16 May 2009
by mashadutoit
in Inspiration
Tags: chernobyl, prypiat
There is something that draws me to images of abandoned places. The rich colours of rust, mildew and peeling paint. Each stray object tells a small story, an intimate glimpse into the past. It is a story of futility – and yet there is something strangely comforting in the return of nature.
from artificialowl.net
But in sometimes the story behind the pictures overrides my aesthetic pleasure in the details of colour and texture. Like the images of Prypiat – the city that stands empty near the Chernobyl reactor. More
08 May 2009
by mashadutoit
in Inspiration, Myself
Autumn is here all of a sudden. From one day to the next, summer ended.
The weather is cold, its dark when I go to work, and I have a new cosy workspace where I can draw. I developed a passing interest in security signs, baked some bread, voted, and visited the monkeys at World Of Birds…
More
03 May 2009
by mashadutoit
in Inspiration
Tags: Edward Curtis, native american, photography
After reading Charles de Lint’s “Moonheart”, I was reminded of my old interest in Native American history and culture. So I started searching for images as inspiration for my own drawing. And this is how I stumbled across the work of Edward S Curtis:
Apparently, Edward Curtis is something of a controversial figure. He spent about 30 years, from 1900 to 1930, documenting many aspects of traditional Native American life more than 45 000 photographs. He also recorded music and stories. So why is he controversial? Well, its actually quite interesting. More
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