Started another drawing for “Crooks and Straights” – this one is of the doll my main character, Gia, makes.
A close-up of her face:
Gia’s Doll
13 Feb 2014 Leave a comment
in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress, All my drawings Tags: contemporary fantasy
The beginning of a new drawing
12 Feb 2014 Leave a comment
in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress, All my drawings
The first rough drawing for my book “Crooks and Straights”
This is a door knocker that hangs on my main character’s door. It’s based on a hamsa hand, a two-thumbed hand with an eye on its palm, which is a very common good luck sign in many parts of our world.
In my story this door knocker acts as a ward against magic. I think it’s going to get very much simplified 🙂
Nico emerges
19 Aug 2013 Leave a comment
in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress, All my drawings
Another character sketch. This is Nico, younger brother of my main character.
Human plus dog equals rat, it seems
18 Aug 2013 1 Comment
in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress, All my drawings Tags: Illustration, urban fantasy
I had another go at drawing Brakman, a character from the book I’m writing at the moment. To make sense of his name, you need to know that “brak” is a derogatory term for a mixed-breed dog. I tried to draw a more doggy aspect of him first, and mix in some more human features – like the nose and eyes. Came out looking remarkably like a rat 🙂
Brakman also looks a lot more competent and confident as a rat-dog than as a man.
This one did not come out quite as I planned
28 Jul 2013 2 Comments
in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress, All my drawings
A new character sketch for the book I’m writing at the moment. This is Brakman. He did not really come out as I imagined him. He should have a sharper face. But he looks sad and nervous, which is how he should be.
Creature drawings for my new book
01 Jun 2013 2 Comments
in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress, All my drawings Tags: fantasy
I’m outlining my new book – something quite different this time, not part of The Sisters series (The Story Trap, The Broken Path). I’m doing the world-building, figuring out how the story world works. I find it helps a lot to draw potential characters or possible creatures.
This one is a kind of fairy that lives in a communal hive very much like wasps do:
This is a household creature, the kind that will do little jobs for a saucer of milk, but will do mischief too, if you ignore or insult them. A sort of brownie or nisse:
This one is something like a garden hobgoblin. She’s a lot more patient than the brownie:
And I’m not sure what this is. A sort of scavenging feral creature? A sort of ratling?
Birdface
05 Mar 2013 1 Comment
In between work-for-pay, I’ve been doodling. This drawing was prompted by thinking about the difference between being highly strung, and hyper aware:
Introducing Porcupine
23 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress, All my drawings Tags: Illustration, The Broken Path
More work in progress illustrations for The Broken Path:
This time, a character called “Porcupine”. She’s standing in front of the fountain in Company Gardens, late at night.
The first few lines:
Then the rest is painted in using only black and white:
The drawing is nearly done:
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Broken Path cover: Work in Progress
17 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress, All my drawings Tags: cover design, The Broken Path
I finally got going on the design for the cover of “The Broken Path”. It’s a challenge, as it needs to work on its own, and look similar enough to the cover of “The Story Trap” so show that it’s a sequel.
Rough sketch:
Interesting things happen en route, I like the fresh look of this hand by itself, and the black version is also interesting:
I’m playing with doing an open version of the hand as well:
And this is what it looks like at the moment. Very unfinished still:
A night visit to the museum
15 Feb 2013 1 Comment
in 1 My books, 2 Work in progress, All my drawings Tags: Illustration, The Broken Path
Another work-in-progress for my book. This time, depicting a scene where a witch visits the Museum of Natural History after hours. This is not a finished drawing. Not happy with it yet, but it’s getting there 🙂
A story about a little girl and her dog
09 Feb 2013 4 Comments
in 1 My books, All my drawings Tags: Illustration, The Broken Path
Work in progress: the first of the “plates”, or full page illustrations of significant moments in my book. Here Rebecca tells her sister Pippa a bed time story, like the ones she used to tell when Pippa was a little girl.
I do these drawings by hand on paper first, then scan them in and paint the rest in Photoshop. I like working in black and then erasing the excess away to create a sort of lino-cut feel.
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Chapter Crabs
08 Feb 2013 1 Comment
in 1 My books, All my drawings Tags: Illustration, The Broken Path
Working on the little drawings that will go at the end of each chapter. Something like this, maybe:
Here is another one:
Story Drawings for The Broken Path
07 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in 1 My books, All my drawings Tags: fantasy, Illustration, The Broken Path
Yesterday I started (at last) the illustrations for my book The Broken Path. Just rough pencil sketches so far. This is a scene where Rebecca tells a story to her sister Pippa:
And a whole lot of crabs:
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Drawing on my phone
20 Jul 2012 Leave a comment
in All my drawings Tags: drawing
A whole new medium for me to discover: drawing on my phone. Actually, drawing directly with a
finger on a touch screen is really tricky.
Glowing Girl with Branching Thoughts
21 Mar 2012 2 Comments
in All my drawings Tags: Charles de Lint
This is the first drawing in a long time that was for no particular project. Started off not knowing what would happen and just went along till it seemed finished. Today was a public holiday, so no teaching for me. I indulged and spent some hours doodling on Photoshop while listening to “Widdershins” by Charles de Lint.
Masha du Toit 
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