Llamas

Here are my llama drawings so far, including a doodle and yes, even the last picture was meant to be one:

Soapbox Press

GUYS, LOOK! I'M FAMOUS!

Ok, maybe not that big, however, this was and still is so exciting for me! I promise this is the last time I will mention it (not!). It was published online a couple of weeks ago and I can't thank Soapbox Press enough for contacting me to do this; it really does look great!

I was sent a preview of what it was going to look like the week before and I hate to admit it, but I completely forgot about the whole thing until I was notified on Instagram! A lot had happened that week with one of my day jobs and my head was all over the place.

Of course I had to share the link on my Facebook page as soon as I could and according to their statistics the post reached 560 people because of the likes/comments it recieved. My page only had 56 likes at the time, so I would definitely call that an achievement of some sort!

All of this would never happened if I had never replied to their first initial message to me! I thought it was fake because good things like this never happen to me and I even asked them is this for real haha!

I ended up sending them an email with a few images of my recent sketchbook work and a rambling piece about me. I always find writing about myself difficult, probably always will and it's typical, but I've thought of more I should have said!

To read the full feature click on the link below:

www.soapboxpress.wordpress.com/2016/05/19/jade-probitts-visualisation/

Kangaroos

Below are a few illustrations of Kangaroos that I have drawn in my sketchbook:

Zombie Giraffe

I thought I should post this drawing from my sketchbook up while I remembered! Somehow I managed to draw a zombie giraffe last week. Well, I think it was last week...

I like how it ended up though; it's much, much better than my first attempt that's for sure! Don't believe me? You can check that out here. Also, because I had space left on the page this time, I drew a few features a little larger. I used to do this in Life Drawing when I liked a body part or to have a little extra practise if I couldn't quite get it right on the paper.

Hopefully I'll get round to drawing another animal from the zoo as soon as I can (be bothered - let's be honest now).

Giraffe

Giraffe
Giraffa camelopardalis

Least Concern

Native to: Africa
Size: Height 4.3 - 5.5 metres
Diet: Herbivore
Young: 1 calf

The second drawing in my set of zoo zine idea!

When I first drew it I felt the only positive about it was that you could tell it was supposed to be a giraffe. I always hate it when I take a drawing too far, I suppose I can sometimes learn from the bad points and hope that I don't do it again (but I usually do - haha). Fails like this make me miss being at university and having my own desk in my own studio space to work at!

A few people have said they liked this drawing, in fact more than my previous one of a siberian tiger, which I prefer so much more. I know I can do better! I may have to re-draw this one because I'm not too happy with it. So, if you like giraffes then keep an eye out for another attempt!

Ah well, at least I got some drawing practice, right?

Siberian Tiger

Siberian Tiger
Panthera tigris altaica

Endangered

Native to: East Asia
Size: Head-body length 1.2 - 2.3 metres
Diet: Carnivore
Young: Around 2 - 4 cubs in a litter

The information above is from Banham Zoo's Official Guide Book. I did this drawing in my sketchbook yesterday; I created it from a photo I took during a visit to the zoo about 5 years ago.

It has just occurred to me that my zine could be some sort of unofficial guide book for the zoo; featuring drawings of animals that are in their Official one, possibly with information or possibly not. Would I need to get their permission to do that? Hmm, we'll see how it goes.

I have fallen in love with the pens I used, Derwent Graphik Line Makers from Cass Art. They are so lovely to draw with! I was unsure if I wanted to add whiskers to it in case I ruined the piece, then a smart cookie named Jenny suggested I put some tracing paper over the top and try drawing it on there first, which I will definitely give a go.

Not bad for the start of my project though! What do you think?

Back In The Studios.

Back in the studios this week - how exciting! I have my studio space now so I am ok. We met some of the new people who are joining us for second year and got told by Michael that we should probably put some work up for our new tutors to see. I've put up plenty of references, did a couple of illustrations and started another two.

The first one completely threw me off, the shape of the paper confused me. I hadn't worked on a rectangle piece of paper for months! I'm so used to my little square sketchbook. It wasn't a great start, it was great to have space and talk to people though. The next one was better and I let myself loose with the scribbles (it made me feel good). I started a new elephant piece on a larger scale before the meeting. However, afterwards I decided to leave it and go home. The next drawing was from a photo Uncle Clive sent me of a dinosaur skull, which I absolutely fell in love with. This is the biggest one of them all, which meant I struggled on proportions, but it's fine, I'm allowed to make it up haha! They'll get finished little by little probably while I work on this new project.

Ghost Fox Art.

'Ghost Fox' by rabbitportal (a.k.a Matt Saunders).

He can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

I received this in the post the other day and it definitely made my day. I recommend that everyone should go and take a little peek, at least, at his work! I bought it for the new house I shall be moving into. I'll be gone in just over a week, ready to start my second year at university. I deserve a treat, right? I may not have achieved much art-related, but I got a job and earned some glorious wonga. I'll find a nice spot for it somewhere. Oh, it makes me smile!

Sinking Feeling.

"That Sinking Feeling."

Hi there, it’s me again… I think it’s done now… This one too forever to do again, I think it’s becoming a bit of a habit… Roll on going back to the studios in a few weeks time, I can not wait! Hopefully, the flow of work will be better then. I guess the bank holiday the other week messed it all up, I enjoyed it too much. It was lovely, I had a relaxing wash, cut and blow dry, spent time with my boyfriend and his family, went out for a tasty meal (which I wore a dress too!), also, went to london and visited the London Dungeon, Madame Tussauds and M&M’s World! It was a great, long weekend and I loved not having to work. Since then I haven’t achieved much, although I got forced into tidying my room up a little bit at the weekend and I’ve got a few things ready for when I move back to uni.

Anyway, back to the illustration, so yeah, it’s an elephant skull. For some reason I didn’t manage to fit the outline fully onto the page this time. That’s where the title came from. A tad naff, I know, but that’s all I had. This one isn’t overwhelming with cross hatching like previous ones, which I am glad about, although, this time I used more single lines for the detail. It’s possibly not as scribbly as I would’ve liked it, but it is finished. I’ll get round to the next one at some point, I won’t promise anything haha!

Exciting Future.

'Excited for the Future.'

To start with, if you could sing the word 'Hallelujah', I would be very grateful. You can guess from this blog post that I have finally managed to finish this drawing that I started over a week ago (about bloomin' time, right?). I feel quite relieved it is over with and I can move onto to another one now. It is also the first thing to be crossed off my long to-do list, which is a good thing. Although, I still have plenty on there to get done.

I should probably talk a little bit about the piece now. I started it the day before my boyfriends birthday and I was looking forward to seeing him for the weekend. This is where the title came from and I was even more excited to be treating him to a meal and the cinema with my hard earned cash I'm now making. I even treated myself to some well needed shoes. It feels unbelievably good to own new things.

Unfortunately though, this image took me a while to complete. A lot longer than it really should have. I just wasn't in the mood for it. Maybe my initial feeling for it wore off. But I was still thinking of ways to further this project and if I am allowed to, then I plan to carry it on into second year of university. I should probably write them down... That would be a good idea. It will be on to the next elephant based sketchbook page soon enough.

Pattern Riding.

'Riding a Pattern'.

Yesterday, I made art with my bicycle and after a while it disappeared in the sunshine. The 'performance' involved puddles and my daily bike ride to the stables. However, the only people that witnessed this was me and my boyfriend.

I know I have called it art, but after doing this, it has led me to wonder... There is no physical evidence of what I have done, only mine and the other halfs memory. But because I have said it happened, does it still mean it did? Is this art and will I be believed? What if I was the only person there creating it?

It doesn't look like much and it's not greatest thing I have ever drawn. Let's just say it's a practise. It's to illustrate what I did. I went through the puddles that were left from the rain of the night before and went from one side to the other creating a wiggly lined pattern with the wet tyres. I'm not going to add any more to it yet, because I don't have a rubber (that I know the whereabouts of). But when I do get rid of the pencil lines, I reckon I'll add more to the background and probably colour as well. When this is done, I shall update this post...

Cross Your Fingers.

'Cross your fingers.'

It's finally over, yes! I was very unsure about this one from the very beginning. The outline did not look great at all. Normally, I get a feeling about how it's going to go at this point and I just didn't feel it was working. With this drawing I seem to have lost the way I draw, or maybe I just keep changing it. I don't think I have found my style yet and maybe I never will. At some point my mind decided it was a great idea to go mad with the cross hatching. Some might like it and some, like me, may feel it's too much - let me know what you think.

The title for this was decided at the outline break time point, I always have a little rest here, to get myself together and think what I'm going to do. I also found that because of how I felt about the piece, the t.v. seemed more distracting than normal, however, I still managed to get it done. I definitely needed all the luck I could get and crossed my fingers, with the hope that it would get better. I asked people to cross there fingers too, the more the merrier! So if you were one of them, I thank you for trying. Sorry I didn't succeed as well as I could have. But remember practise, practise, practise. One day it'll happen, I will be content with what I create (fingers crossed haha).

Pen Found.

'The Floor Found My Pen.'

I admit it, when it comes to the weekend, I am the worst person at getting anything accomplished. An example is this drawing. I started it last week and  it had taken me five days to get it finished. I had planned on working out of my sketchbook but it was too windy outside for what I wanted to do. So I was at least thinking about being 'arty', that's better than nothing, right? And I did attempt to finish my drawing. However, my boyfriend was round and he was being intentionally distracting and getting in the way. It worked. I ended up making a mistake above the skull (you can see it in the top photo). I thought it was best I do no more until he had gone home haha!

The process of this drawing has been strange... It has taken far too long, which I know is my fault. As always, life gets in the way. I can't wait to get back to uni next month (although, I doubt I'll be very productive then either). I'm not as pleased with this one, I reckon because of the amount of time I spent on it, my 'mind set' on the piece changed. The name of it is because when I was ready and sat down to begin drawing, I couldn't find my pen. In the end I found it on the floor. The outline started off well, then when I began adding details and shading it went down hill. I guess I can just learn and carry on. Once again I need to realise it's sketchbook work and doesn't need to be perfect.

Rushed Feeling

'I felt rushed.'

Basically, it does what it says on the tin. I didn't start this one as early as yesterdays and I reckon it shows. I wanted to get it finished today with a blog post and now that it's done, I feel like I rushed it. I'm not happy with it and I definitely can do better. Although, I suppose the whole point of this sketchbook is to get over this way of thinking. I guess it's going to take me a while to get used to it. It's all meant to be practise and something I can show when I return to uni. Thankfully I still have a bit of time until then.

I know for sure that tomorrow there will be things I want to add to it, but I shall try my best to refrain from doing so. Maybe I'll distract myself by filling another page with another elephant skull, that is if I have some good time to myself again. We shall see how I feel. I wasn't going to do anything arty farty today, however I have been bribed with cuddles and it worked haha! The bottom photo is what I achieved before going to work. I tend to always start with a basic outline and then fill it in. I have managed to finish it after work and ta-daaa, I am now blogging to you about it. I've been a good girl for once, but I'm still not at an artist level yet. There is still much to learn.

Lost Talent.

'I used to have talent...'

These are a series of drawings in a sketchbook that I did when I was at college. They were a part of my final major project called "Museum of Objects". We visited the Ipswich Museum a fews times, I loved that place, I could sit in there all day, just walking around, looking and drawing. I haven't been back for over a year and I think I miss it.

Look how good I used to be able to draw haha! I enjoyed drawing these, out of everything there, the most. I fell in love with the elephant skull. It's the most memorable object I have ever drawn. They remind me of the wonderful elephant skull etchings by Henry Moore, just not as great as them of course. It makes me happy to draw skulls, it used to be a big part of my work. Now a days, it takes me a while to get into something and recently I haven't finished much.

I've been trying to decide on what I could do for second year, work wise, at university and there are so many possibilities. I think about it a lot, which makes knowing what I want to do even more difficult. I found an unused square sketchbook in my desk and I was thinking I might fill it full of elephant skulliness... I'm not sure yet. It might mean I have to visit museums again, I prefer them to galleries. Maybe I'll work on all sorts of skulls and bones. Argh, I don't know. Hopefully I won't get bored of it, that tends to happen with me, if I even start it at all.

Don't Look.

'Don't look at me!'

Hello good people, it’s been a while once again and I apologise for that. However, I have had a pretty good week so far even though I haven’t been productive in an arty sense and thanks to a good friend, I have finally got the enthusiasm to do a little blogging. This drawing is from the weekend, it was the only thing I did because I wasn’t feeling well, I think I've had a cold… Trust me to get ill in the summer time!

As you can probably tell the illustration is a personal one. It is how I felt at the weekend and if I'm honest, at other times too. I looked a state and glad strangers didn't have to witness my face. Feeling how I did, I didn't want to move much or do anything and yes, if you know me personally, you'd say that was normal for me, but it wasn't good and the heat didn't help. For once I'm glad I'm not at uni, it would be unbelievably hot in the studios and even less than the nothing I have achieved recently would get done haha! I'm sure that you have wanted people not to see you at times and wished you were invisible. I get that too... Sometimes thoughts and feelings help art come about. It's good to get it down, I sometimes feel that my sketchbook is like a visual diary maybe and on occassion I'd rather keep it from the world, but it's good to get it out there.

Congrats.

"Congrats"

Interesting title, I know. I started this doodle in my sketchbook the other day and I was quite pleased with it, although I'm not sure where it came from. It could maybe be from the newly released film 'Monsters University' that I really want to see or the fact I have no life and seem to spend my time watching the various teen pregnancy programmes. Possibly a combination of the two (you can see it in the first photo below).

Yesterday I decided the page looked bare and after a while of trying to choose what would be appropriate wording, I drew 'Congrats' (good decision). I then thought it was a good idea to fill in the spaces at he sides underneath that, so then came the balloon and 'aww' (bad decision). And the last good decision was adding a little touch of bunting to the top (obviously a good decision).

What to do next? It was time to add some colour, I didn't want it to be strong colour, so I used watercolours. Seeing as I had already ruined it, I thought it couldn't get any worse and just went for it like I do with most of what I create. Although, I ruined the repeating pattern early on, which meant I could attempt to make it less obvious that I had messed up, did I manage it? (But thinking about it, I didn't need to share that with you haha).

It was done, completed, finished. Now I wasn't happy with it. I should have just left it and moved onto something else yesterday and with the colour added on the balloon/aww, I think they stick out more. If I could get rid of them then I would be content. Seriously, they need to go! (Somehow).