What I love apart from the tea parties, the dandiness and the campy absurdity of it all, is Alexia’s awesome parasol/s. I haven’t read the novels in a long time, though am currently starting Blameless, so I couldn’t remember what it looked like—or on that note, what her dresses were like—so I simply fashioned my own.

This took quite a long time (I didn’t keep track) but boy I had fun in Photoshop.  I took a much more Impressionistic approach than previous artwork. I went rather ker-razy with it all, which kind of fits, I suppose.

I modelled Alexia after Édouard Manet’s Woman with a Parasol (1881) and attempted—keyword attempted—to implement the very characteristic Italian face.

Can’t tell you how delighted I was to see SUSPENSE as the key topic. That got my noir love going all sorts of places. Hee!

I referenced an awesome Detective Stories cover from my copy of True Crime: Detective Stories (1924–1969). Tried to be more Impressionistic here, but also just wanted to emphasise that vivid red frame. View in full scale to see the details!

Yeah, powerful stuff.

And because I am such a masochist for Victorian misery, I very much enjoyed drawing up the anguished Jane here.

Tried a different technique in Photoshop here – was trying to loosen up my brushwork. What do you think? Please view in full size!

I bought the blu-ray of the movie recently. I need to get round to watching it, no interruptions (hard to manage). I also need to review Dario Marianelli’s score. So much to do!

That said, I’ve been listening to the soundtrack tonight, which has heavy Romani elements laced into it; then again, so did the first score. I’d already had an idea to draw a dancer, but the nomadic freedom of the Romani people was certainly more alluring in the forefront of my mind, so I just went along with it.

This time I drew out the sketch much more quickly—finished the whole lot in an hour and a half. I like leaving the linework rough but still defined, so there’s still a hint of frenetic energy. I know, I drew it on my moleskine so there’s the unappealing fold in the middle, but I think it’s fine the way it is. The ...]]> I saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows last night, and I enjoyed it immensely—it was campy, fun and tense. And of course, a visual stunner. I loved the side characters, Mycroft (Stephen Fry FTW), Irene, and Simza, while Jared Harris was delicious as Moriarty. The unresolved tension between Watson and Holmes seems to have intensified even further. I always have loved them together—the quintessential bromance, if you will, but the chemistry between Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr is electrifyingly sizzling.

That said, I’ve been listening to the soundtrack tonight, which has heavy Romani elements laced into it; then again, so did the first score. I’d already had an idea to draw a dancer, but the nomadic freedom of the Romani people was certainly more alluring in the forefront of my mind, so I just went along with it.

This time I drew out the sketch much more quickly—finished the whole lot in an hour and a half. I like leaving the linework rough but still defined, so there’s still a hint of frenetic energy. I know, I drew it on my moleskine so there’s the unappealing fold in the middle, but I think it’s fine the way it is. The legs ought to be longer, but I didn’t want her feet to fall off the page, hah!

I am perpetually in a DC Comics frame of mind it seems. When I first saw the prompt word, this just somehow meandered into my mind. I can never get enough of Bruce in a half-dressed state in the comics or indeed any medium, and this is how I see him preparing to slip into his Batman persona—as some kind of fiendish and terrifying demon.

It’s been a while since I drew the male figure (makes me want to take up life drawing class again, heh), so I had to refer to those nifty diagrams of the human form in my drawing manuals. I also have little idea on how to draw scar tissue… Heh. Think I was more interested in using different brushes than making accurate textures.

I spent about 2.5 hours working on this, which I consider very slow. And this despite working very roughly. Originally I had a sketch of Batman holding up traffic lights, one red light and one green light (go figure, Kryptonite!) which would then “ground” Superman. But in the end, I wasn’t too motivated to finish the idea, so I did something simpler with Supergirl instead! :)

First time I’ve ever drawn Kara. I had to model myself to get the reference—I rather like the Wonder Woman-inspired pose.  Also, I pretend the New 52 costume doesn’t exist. Do you like my lame Photoshopped light rays?

Again this was done entirely on Corel Painter 12, but with some colour adjustment in Photoshop. I’m practicing with the oil brushes; I really want to do more blending and glazing techniques. You can see I’ve just begun to experiment there.

You may also have noticed I’ve tweaked a few things with the current layout.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I considered his expression for a time that afternoon, lamenting that I may never have the creative innovation and genius to make such an impact on humanity. I am not strong enough to maintain and subjugate such influence and power. Something as intangible and ineffable as genius is innate, built-in, perhaps even pre-ordained, if we’re of the superstitious persuasion.

My tribute to Steve Jobs: stay hungry, stay foolish. And ...]]> In an inadvertently ominous fashion, the day before Steve Jobs died, I stumbled on Todd Sampson’s Twitter feed, which had a link to Jobs’ unveiling his iconic “1984″ advertisement for the Macintosh computer. In it he was eloquent and passionate about his work. The pride written on his face during the applause was stunning. I thought, now here is a guy who probably deserves to look so smug. But that was me thinking in retrospect. This wasn’t even Jobs at his peak of success, but rather at a prelude of even greater things to come. If he only knew just decades later that his face would be synonymous with the world’s leading innovators in design and technology, indeed all facets of everyday living and popular culture.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I considered his expression for a time that afternoon, lamenting that I may never have the creative innovation and genius to make such an impact on humanity. I am not strong enough to maintain and subjugate such influence and power. Something as intangible and ineffable as genius is innate, built-in, perhaps even pre-ordained, if we’re of the superstitious persuasion.

My tribute to Steve Jobs: stay hungry, stay foolish. And keep those doctors away.

But the world doesn’t need to be filled with “geniuses” for it to drive positive change (though there’s got to be some irony in those blue-shirted folk in Apple stores). We all of us can only make the best of what we already have. Jobs championed the value of aesthetics, design and engineering in products, imbuing them with humanist values. Putting aside Apple’s increasingly dubious corporate culture, Jobs helped democratise¹ information and entertainment, placing them into the palms of our hands in an irresistible fashion. In essence, he handed us better tools to allow our own ingenuity to thrive. As a designer myself this especially has potency. What the future holds next is, well, basically in our hands.

So, thank you Mr Jobs for what you have contributed to our lives, though most of us never met you, we at least know a part of your ethos in your products. I don’t presume to know you, but you have left your mark on all of us, whether we liked it or not. I can only hope that I will have a slice of your resilience and intelligence to be a better creator and thinker in my own practice.