Thumbnail Thursday - New Materials!
A chance encounter with a pair of pears led me to experiment with some long neglected charcoal
Hello Everyone!
It’s a really quick Thumbnail Thursday this week!
Time is currently playing an especially sneaky Houdini game but I’m taking the optimistic approach of something is better than nothing!
With that in mind, this week’s thumbnails have been inspired by some tiny pears. A Pair of Jon Klassen pears no less.
Whilst reading his absolutely WONDERFUL and recently published ‘The Skull’ with my little human the other night, I couldn’t help but be totally absorbed in his beautifully textured and delightfully dark world. At the back of the book is the dedication and copyright page. Set at the top is a pair of pears on a plate (they play a role in the narrative; so entirely relevant).
I just LOVED them and they sparked an idea. What about having a play with some charcoal!?
I haven’t used charcoal in the LONGEST time. Honestly, 20 years at least!
As you’ll hear in the recording, I end up having such a joyful moment with the material that I’m definitely going to be booking myself another drawing date.
I decided to have a play with a character close to my heart. My dearest Rory.
Rory backstory:
Rory is a Jackdaw we hand-reared throughout the first year of Covid. Our Corvid in Covid.
His arrival came in the midst of the first and most severe lockdown here in the UK. I look fondly back on this special bird in what was a dark time. I would never advise hand-rearing a wild bird but we were in exceptional circumstances and there was a travel ban so we couldn’t even drive him to our nearest rescue/sanctuary. Nevertheless, I rang them for support and they were amazing with their tips and gave me the confidence to attempt a rehabilitation of the little fella (He fell from our roof, all tiny and broken; scalped head and one broken leg and no tail feathers as he was still so young). 4 months later and he successfully fledged. He was independent and had his own established flock of juvenile Jackdaws he’d been hanging out with in our garden throughout his stay. He was never caged and had free run of the house the entire time. Our windows remained open too and he came and went whenever he wanted. Such a special bird!