Cat Comics

I have started making comics again, and spend all my time writing and drawing them. Most of them involve cats, to some degree, just because I like cats and they make me smile.

I created the two you see here for Free Comic Book Day this year and last year. People always ask me why I don't create more comics with these two cat characters, so I have written a whole saga involving them, as well as some quirky shorts.

Expect to see more like these!

John's Journal: day two

So today I was working in the Encounters shop again. Though we had a good amount of visitors through the doors, and some enthusiastic members of the public, the best part of the day, was finding some great books on a second hand stall.

I may sell the book on dancing, though it is characterful. There are always vintage fairs in Leeds, and since I have a fairly good quality collection of vintage clothes items and ephemera, this dancing book is a welcome addition, and will look fantastic on my stall.

The French kid's book will be added to my collection of French language books, especially since I have a small number of picture books in the aforesaid lingo. I am always looking to improve my ability in speaking French, so it is great that I am going to Paris this June. I am also applying to teach English as a foreign language, so if I ever end up teaching English in France, this French kid's book will be much welcomed and needed.

Yes, the shop was not amazing today- there were alot of customers, but not many interesting conversations or moments. However, lots of kids were really into planting sunflower and nasturtium seeds, so I really enjoyed that project.

I'm hoping for a better day next Monday. And as always, Tuesday is screenprinting workshop day-so without fail, that is exiting.

Georgette and the Dragon

Today I was at my usual screenprinting class in Leeds and once I had finished there, I arrived home and finished these two images you see today.

They are my own take on the George and the Dragon story.Both of them started out as sketches or doodles from about a year or two ago. For several weeks I have been adapting them, and tweaking them as an aside to my main creative projects.

I always wish to have some artworks that commemorate St. George's day-England's national day. For some reason I never seem to complete the appropriate images in time, though St. George's day does tend to pass me by anyhow.

It is always rewarding to create work, that is inspired by mythology and folk tales. This is not something I often do, though I do read a great deal of myths,legends, wundermarchen and suchlike. My dissertation was on fairytales and folktales so it only follows suit that I should sometimes be creating work that is affected by this.

Dragon tales are known the world over, and exist as good, bad, magical, symbolic, greedy, benign, and mischievous. Creationists even believe they are based on actual common knowledge in ancient times of the existence of dinosaurs alongside more commonplace creatures such as oxen, cats, and wolves. It would be nice to think that people actually encountered dinosaurs or dragons and that even a few are still out there.

Enjoy my addition to the dragon pantheon. Another dragon tale for the history books: 'Georgette and the Dragon.'

Fashion and Surrealism

These are three quick portraits that I did this evening.

They are from a fantastic picture book called 'Fashion and Surrealism,' by Richard Martin, in which he explores the close ties between haute couture, and the surrealist artists.

It is a great book to work from, when I want to give my work some historical, cultural and contextual depth, even if the images in themselves seem to be fairly shallow or trite. This makes actually creating the work more meaningful and enjoyable, when it feels like it is connected to art history.

But I always lend this book out from the library, and renew it countless times- it's so enjoyable to look at and read.