2015 Sketchbook – Drawing In Public – Drawing Public Writing

art, drawing, Drawing in Public, Drawing in Public, Illustration, location drawing, London Underground, metamorphosis, reportage, sketchbook, Sketchnotes, Underground Portraits

well – it’s been a short while but i’ve made enough sketches that i thought i’d set them out them by theme for a change…

The largest collection is of Travel Portraits, mostly from the London Underground and Overground. So I’ll start with just a few of those. Trying a new – non-gallery format – let me know if you like it better !

Overground - Watch Your Children - BlancheEllis.wordpress.com

I think this is my favourite TFL sketch so far.

It captures hundreds of identical moments I see watching people every day – the commuter all bundled up for winter and tucked into a sensationalist free paper whose headline blares absurdly from the crinkled front page.

The two guys from this page look like they’re from totally different centuries.

Imagined journey –

Lady on the late train back to Brockley from London Bridge, fellow on a train from Hove to London.

Underground Portrait - New Look - BlancheEllis.wordpress.com

Newspaper headlines, brands and names of supermarkets on shopping bags are written all over public space, part of the markings of our world.

Sometimes they seem to make a visual point, I can’t always work out what it is, and don’t want to pin it down, but I like to include these things where they strike me as interesting or often, as amusing or absurd in some way.

A friend also sent me this excellent cartoon about drawing in public – it’s from New York.

Some other posts coming up will be on exhibitions I’ve been to (Shiele/Turner)…

drawings of live music….

and a new series that has been emerging in this sketchbook…

‘mistakable bodies’

Published! Drawings from Van Harskamp exhibition at Kunstraum Gallery, September ’14

art, drawing, Exhibition, Illustration, location drawing, press, Quotes, reportage

In September I had the chance to work an a very interesting project created by Nicoline Van Harskamp. A reading of Pygmalion. It was live-translated back from over 14 different languages back into English and recorded. My drawings capture the reading in progress.

My drawings were then published along with the script in a limited edition book by Onomatopee.

Some of my reportage drawings from Nicoline Van Harskamp’s exhibition are showcased by the publishers Onomatopee. A fuller set of my drawings from the days events have been published by Onomatopee in the book which resulted from the reading Nicoline set up at Kunstraum Gallery in Hoxton, London.

I really enjoy reportage drawing and capturing the mood of the participants and how the marks of the drawings echoed the varied marks of the many written languages in the open books.

There was a great humour in some of the phrases as they were re-translated, the process also showed up some fascinating cultural assumptions and differences.

I hope to have the chance to work with this project further as I find the links between text and images and the cultural crossover and divergence fascinating.

Sketchbook Update

art, drawing, Illustration, location drawing, London Underground, portrait, sketchbook, Underground Portraits

Train Window

I’m only half way through this sketchbook but i’ve got lots of images to share from it already. A lot of them are portraits, including those done on the London Underground/Overground – so if you’re a Londoner there’s a tiny chance you’ll find your own picture. If you’re part of my friends and family there’s a much greater chance. I’ve decided to make a portraits page on this site as I do so many.

I’d also like to make a small note about the lovely sketchbooks which I have been working in lately. They’re from a little french company called Alibabette, personal and friendly with charming designs (i’m quite fussy with designs on my sketchbooks – I generally prefer them plain) and I really recommend them. The covers are paper, so they do get grubby but I don’t mind that in the least as beat-up old looking things only increase in beauty to me. The paper is creamy and thick enough to take watercolour, though the colour of the pages dulls the paints a little. They have lots of sketchbooks but ‘Artbooks’ are 200 pages and, in my opinion, make a great journal.

click to enlarge drawings

Tom – UpThinking

Sketchbook – Music – Istanbul

art, drawing, Festival, Illustration, sketchbook

Jam at Arsen Lupen – Istanbul

Well it’s been a little while since making a post. Largely because I’ve been busy making music which has resulted in lots of drawings of musicians and talented friends who I’ve seen or shared stages with throughout the summer…… I have just finished a sketchbook between August and October and thought I would share some images.

I also had a wonderful trip to Istanbul in October, a city I would like to re-visit for longer, and have a collection of sketches from there – about half of which come from a fun and whiskey fulled night spent in a lovely little hideaway bar which we found 4 floors up, in a two man lift, from the back of an old hotel, down a side street – and where we found a beautiful jam. Always music.

Some of the music I have been making can be found via the links below…. naturally I have been unable to sketch myself in the act so recordings and videos will have to suffice !

Solo: soundcloud or Facebook or Youtube

Various Guises on Soundcloud or Facebook

Samantha Crain – End of the Road Festival

Overground sketch and track list for recording session.

View from Topkapi Palace over lunch – Istanbul

Artist in Residence

architecture, art, drawing, Exhibition, Illustration, location drawing, location painting, Painting

I am happy to say I have asked to be an artist in residence at the Caravanserai project in Canning Town following the 21Artists exhibition in late November for which I created and showed artwork based around the local area. The piece itself can be seen in progress below and further images and details on the project found here.

http://caravanserai.org.uk/artists-in-residence/

I look forward to working on future projects with Caravanserai.

Natural Selection

art, botanical, Camden Market, Design, drawing, Illustration, Market Stall, natural observation, Painting

Oysters in Bloom (detail) ’13

In this ink, watercolour and gouache series I celebrate the beautiful things we find underfoot.

Helicopter Leaves in Violet ’13

Especially those that have carried life, in wood, or bone, or shell, or sap: objects that I find endlessly fascinating. There’s also a focus on the colours of this time of year, which are my favourite. See the full gallery here.

Autumn of Albion – ’13

I am on Camden Market in the East Yard every Sunday until Christmas with prints of my work. (And possibly more often too!) If you want to find me there or find out when I’m next going email blancheellis@gmail.com

Return to the market Sundays from November

art, Camden Market, Design, drawing, Illustration, Market Stall, Painting

Hello All,

I’m back on the market!! I’ll be down there every Sunday (and some Fridays) until Christmas – and probably more days – look here, or call/email me to find out when i’ll next be down:

– blancheellis@gmail.com –

I will be selling prints like last year – with a whole years worth of new material including the ‘Musicians, Writers & Philosophers’ project and a peak into a new series I’m beginning – ‘Whimsy’ yes, whimsy – until I find a better name for my playful little figures.

I will also be selling framed work and prints in frames that I have handmade for each individual work. – small selection of prints below!

‘Dots and Dashes – Dance’ – ’13

‘Kicking Up the Leaves’ – ’13

Devendra Banhart – Old Folk Song 2013

Mississippi John Hurt – I’m Satisfied – 2013

Love Knot ’13

Autumn Spring IV ’13

Autumn Spring – ’13 – Full Series

Joni In Green

Karen Dalton

Camden View from Bridge 2.

Camden View from Bridge 1.

Curl ’13

Bertrand Russell and Eccentricity “Do not fear to be eccentric… every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.”

look forward to seeing some friendly faces down the market!

Autumn Spring Series

art, botanical, Design, drawing, Illustration, location painting, metamorphosis, natural observation, Painting

I have always loved conkers, they look and feel like the most delicious things in the world, they all fall in such a short time and tarnish to a dull sheen so quickly.

This year I’ve tried to catch them in their most glorious moments as they burst from their shells and start to become like wizened little old faces which populate my room until the next ‘fall’.

Autumn Spring I ’13

Autumn Spring II ’13

Autumn Spring III ’13

Autumn Spring IV ’13

Autumn Spring V ’13

Again this series echoes my fascination with metamorphosis. I chose the title Autumn Spring because there is something of the freshness of spring in the brief flowering of this autumn fruit, joining the two opposing seasons reminds me how the years roll round, and round… and round.

Autumn Spring – ’13 – Full Series

Love Knot

art, Design, drawing, Illustration, Painting

This is a short series of two. A couplet, if you will.

Love Knot ’13

If Our Life Were a Leaf-Boat ’13

for prints email bb_blanche@hotmail.com

Neil Gaiman – ‘Make Good Art’ Speech – Sketchnotes

art, Design, drawing, Illustration, Quotes, Sketchnotes

Having been drawing ideas and taking visual notes for a long time I have begun to create full ‘sketchnotes’ of talks/lectures and interesting ideas, as well as my short story illustrations. This also links back to my Musicians, Writers and Philosophers project, creating work based on those who inspire me.

Below is a sketchnote from Neil Gaiman’s wonderful speech ‘Make Good Art’ (worth a watch if you have any ideas about starting out in a freelance art world) to a graduating class.

Click on images to view larger, in gallery.

Neil Gaiman Speech – ‘Make Good Art’ – Sketchnotes 1

Neil Gaiman Speech – ‘Make Good Art’ – Sketchnotes 2

Neil Gaiman Speech – ‘Make Good Art’ – Sketchnotes 3

Neil Gaiman Speech – ‘Make Good Art’ – Sketchnotes 4

Neil Gaiman Speech – ‘Make Good Art’ – Sketchnotes 5

Blanche Ellis

Multidisciplinary Artist

Illustration