21 Jun 2009 2 Comments
in Inspiration
Title: The Secret Ministry of Frost
Author: Nick Lake
Series : No, this is a stand alone book
Rating:
In Short: Light is in terrible danger. Her father, an Arctic explorer is missing, presumed dead. She is being stalked by strange creatures straight out of Inuit legend. Butler, her friend and protector, is hiding something from her. She sets off on a journey to the Arctic, to discover the truth about her father and her own past.
What I thought: More
13 Jun 2009 1 Comment
in All my drawings, Inspiration Tags: drawing
Sometimes its a bit disconcerting to see where my inspiration comes from.
For example, this drawing of mine: More
03 Jun 2009 5 Comments
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
28 May 2009 Leave a comment
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.
27 May 2009 1 Comment
in fantasy, Inspiration Tags: desktop, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings
I have a secret vice… I like making repeating patterns out of images. This time around I was inspired by my previous post, illustrations by John Howe.
I have linked each pattern to the image they were generated from. Click on a pattern to see the original image. More
16 May 2009 6 Comments
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.
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
12 May 2009 11 Comments
in All my drawings, Illustration, Inspiration Tags: drawing
A while ago, Brendon gave me a little sketchbook to get me drawing again, which he decorated in typical style:
I’ve filled it at last, and started another one. I’ve already shared some drawings from this book at my post on doodle meetings, and pictures that have lost their stories.
Here are some of the early drawings from my little book. More
08 May 2009 Leave a comment
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…
03 May 2009 1 Comment
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
29 Apr 2009 Leave a comment
in All my drawings, Inspiration Tags: Charles de Lint, cornelia funke, drawing, fantasy
A couple of posts ago, I shared a number of pictures that seem to tell stories. This time round, I’m sharing two drawings I did myself, which was inspired by a stories. The first inspiration came from Cornelia Funke’s “Inkdeath”.
In that book, there is a giant who takes on the colours of his surroundings. I find now, when I go back to read that passage, that I got several things wrong. The giant is supposed to have inhumanly round eyes, and he is also supposed to be naked. Oh well. Here is the passage: More
18 Apr 2009 13 Comments
in books, fantasy, Inspiration Tags: books, earthsea, fantasy, gandalf, hambly, le guin, lord of the rings, t h white, tolkien, wizard
What is the collective noun for a group of wizards? A “wrath” of wizards? An “argument”? I’ve been gathering together some of my favourite wizards.
First, of course will always be Gandalf. I grew up on The Lord of The Rings and of all the characters, Gandalf is the most compelling. He has become my benchmark of what a wizard should be. Here is my favourite image of him, from that famous poster by Jimmy Cauty : More
10 Apr 2009 5 Comments
in Inspiration Tags: Animation, color, Colour, entertainment, games
I’m pretty good at finding on-line time-sinks, especially those that make you feel as though you are at least doing something vaguely creative. And those are the most dangerous of all…
The Shape Shifter is a free on-line animation machine for creating frame by frame animations. The challenge is that you can use only four basic geometric shapes. More
04 Apr 2009 3 Comments
in Inspiration, Myself
I’m still taking pictures of whatever catches my eye – and lately, that seems to be “things on the ground” – manhole covers , litter and whatever else.
My favourite is this one of a leaf floating inside a little open drain cover on the street just outside where I live… More
08 Mar 2009 Leave a comment
in Design Indaba, Inspiration, Opinions & reviews Tags: Design Indaba, edelweis, maywa denki, nobumichi tosa
Nobumichi Tosa treated us to a wacky, nonsensical performance on the third day of the Design Indaba. He appeared on stage strapped into one of his absurd contraptions and proceeded to act out a ceremonial dance.
His mock formal greeting was punctuated with loud sounds produced by his strange instrument-outfit. More
Masha du Toit 
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