jigsaw intermission: grasshopper

I've finished the jigsaw! I bloody have! But I haven't written any WORDS about it yet as I'm collecting my thoughts. So hang on in there, it's coming...

But the pressure you feel having not posted in days! It's like a weight around the neck. (That last bit to be read with a kind of Frankie Howerd indignation. Oooh, yes. Noooo. Missus etc). So, to remedy that, here is an upload of a recent sketchbook page featuring the late Norman Grasshopper, until a couple of days ago, a living, breathing guest at our humble abode in BN3.

He took up residence on the hall ceiling much to the Junior Marvel's amusement and stayed there for days. Then, tragedy struck, and I found him one morning, dessicated and immobile, relieved of life's onorous duties by the unfeeling hand of time. I felt it my responsibility, nay my DUTY (Frankie Howerd again) to record him as I found him for posterity's sake, so that future generations of grasshopper enthusiasts can say, this was his finest hour. (Except for all those hours when he was alive and hopping about and doing IT with lady grasshoppers). Think Napoleon's death mask, think Lenin's stately corpse, THINK! Think about what you're tryin' t'do t'me, but don't think ill of such Micawberish drivel on my part and allow me to gush forth on this desperately sad occasion.

Ladies and gentlemen, doff your caps and pause for a moment to reflect on the passing of such a legend. Truly, we shall not see his like again.

Click on the image if you want to see a big picture of a dead cricket.

finished piece pt.3

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours, in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

finished piece pt.2

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours, in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

finished piece pt.1

I've just finished drawing the final piece (it turned out there were 504 pieces in total unless I've gone wrong somewhere) and have now coloured nos. 1 to 380.

In terms of the digital jigsaw, I've abandoned the roof composite I made previously and have decided to start from scratch. I'm being quite clinical about constructing the finished image and am putting together the puzzle in sections of 3 x 4 pieces which will hopefully make the whole thing a little less disjointed.

I've actually made much more progress than that shown in the image above but I've been recording different stages of the build and intend to show the evolution of the piece over the coming days.

Click on the image for a bigger view.

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours, in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

roof composite

Having drawn a few more pieces, I realised I could join the three sections of the roof together (see above). I've now drawn a total of 450 pieces and have coloured the first 345, so I should be able to construct a large part of the jigsaw at this point.

My brain is guacamole.

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours, in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

more roof pieces

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours, in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

roof

Another section of the roof which will go just to the right of the first section I posted...

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours, in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

jigsaw project

Some time ago, I had the notion to buy a jigsaw puzzle, draw each individual piece, then scan the original artwork in and assemble the puzzle digitally.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a local charity shop and bought a 500 piece jigsaw for 99p. The picture on the box is a typical jigsaw photograph of some perfect corner of England, in this case a cottage somewhere in North Yorkshire. (I’ll scan it in a later date so you can see for yourself.)

Anyway, I’ve made a start on the project and have been taking pieces out of the box at random and then drawing each one individually, numbering each piece as I go. I fill a sketchbook page – I can get a total of 35 pieces on each page – and then I watercolour all the pieces on that page in one sitting, then scan them into the computer. At the time of writing I’ve drawn 275 pieces and have coloured the first 170.

I should of course, draw all the pieces before I start assembling the puzzle, but looking over the drawings I’ve made so far, it’s clear that certain pieces go together and I couldn’t resist making a start on the digitised version. So here is the first composite piece depicting the tiled roof of the cottage. It’s turning out pretty much as I expected and I love all the inconsistencies of size, colour and shape in the assembled image.

I think it will look great when it’s finished but it requires a great deal of time and patience and feeling as I do at the moment, a nervous breakdown can’t be far away...

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours, in A4 Stillman and Birn Alpha Series sketchbook.

bath toys

Parker Jotter with Quink Ink and TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours, in A4 Daler Rowney 150gsm sketchbook.

trinkets

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours, in A4 Daler Rowney 150gsm sketchbook.

fountain pens

With the recent acquisition of a couple of new fountain pens, I made a few notes in my sketchbook to see how they compared with some other pens of mine. Yesterday, I finally got around to drawing the pens themselves...

Images: TWSBI Diamond 580 with Platinum Carbon ink and watercolours. Words: Various fountain pens and inks. Both: A4 Daler Rowney 150gsm sketchbook.