My youtube friend MsSavannah18 asked me to do this for her. She’s a dancer and a drawer too. It might look difficult, but if you follow the lines, like a dancer does, it all makes sense. Have fun!
I gained a Youtube accolade today. I’m 97th most watched UK Guru on Youtube. I think that deserves an apple juice!
Watch out! Thos little poisoned arrows of lurrve are on the way! Learn how to draw cupid in this video.
You can see this and my other videos in schools and libraries by going to my own video website, www.shoo-tube.com. You can embed the videos in your own blog, or school or library or personal website. Instructions here.
Click the comments button to let me know what you think!
Well! It seems Mark Harper’s website is down again, although he said he would put relevant imformation on there for us, when he met us, his constituents, at the Main Place, in Coleford last night.
We have been waiting for our MP to come and tell us why he wishes to sell off Forestry and put the future of the Forest of Dean in peril. We’ve been waiting about three months! He’s refused to visit the Forest or speak to his constituents in that time, other than to call us liars and left-wing rabble-rousers! This is the man who we trusted to have the best interests of the Forest of Dean at the forefront of his duties as an MP. As the Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform, he seems to have a conflict of interest and as such, appears to be taking his career far more seriously than his constituents.
He called a public consultation meeting last night, at 24 hours notice! Anyone with a little public relations awareness would immediately recognise the tactic – hold a meeting in a small venue and keep two thirds of the audience outside, in the dark and rain. Kettle the rest inside, in a hot, steamy, airless room (there was air conditioning available) make sure the PA doesn’t work, so no one can hear you, intimidate them with a huge police presence and then accuse your audience of being unreasonable. Brilliant! The man is a genius at organisation.
I gather this morning, Mark Harper claimed the crowd was violent. If it was, I didn’t see it. He had to make a run for it at the end, followed by a baying crowd. He may well have been scared, but he ad every right to be. He brought it all on himself.
The crowd outside taped their poles together so they could make their placards visible in the first story windows.
Councillor Thornton shocked the audience with his crass introduction – actually suggesting we get hearing aids if we wanted to hear what Mark Harper had to say. After being asked several times who he was – he finally introduced himself about half an hour in to the proceedings.
Almost in audibly, MR Harper laid out his wares and said that he had always said the Forest is not for sale. That he had always spoken the truth. So he did. He forgot to mention that the Forest will be up for lease. The thin end of the wedge. His style is dry to point of sending you to sleep. He repeated himself again and again as if a mantra can become reality with enough repetition.
All the way through the “consultation” he never once let us know what was wrong with the Forestry Commission or the status quo. In fact, in the Consultation document. Maintaining the status quo is not an option to support. My main concern is just how Mr Harper define the Forest of Dean. I’m pretty sure his definition will not be same as his constituents. I shall look forward to perusing the map.
After last night, I think Mark Harper needs to be looking for a new Constituency. But then, I assume a safe seat has been lined up already, as a prize for the job he is doing.
Meanwhile, the Forest of Dean seems to be without representation in Parliament.
Today was the Gloucestershire Libraries’ Day of Celebration and loads of authors were out and about celebrating the wonderful work our libraries and librarians do. This is a terrible picture of my friend John Dougherty, who had his audience in Cinderford Library in thrall when I got there, reading poems, telling stories and singing songs in his easy, inspiring style.
John was the “Flying Author” for the day, zooming around, visiting nine libraries across the county. Well done, John. It was great to see you again.
I spent the morning at Mitcheldean Library, telling stories and doing drawings with the children before John got there too. I followed him in Cinderford, telling stories and drawing again. We had great fun and hopefully spread the message that Libraries are great places that should be kept as the focal centres of culture and knowledge.
It was great also to see the illustrator Kate Sheppard, who had come along with her family to join in the fun and support Cinderford Library which, thankfully, has been reprieved, although it has been downgraded to an “Express” library, with fewer opening hours.
Well done everyone for organising such a great day.
It’s a shame that Gloucester County Council are so ashamed of their libraries, that they decreed a blanket ban on the media showing what a wonderful job their staff do and how much their constituents love their libraries – politics eh? There never seems to be any logic to it.
Now you can draw a valentine’s heart, why not make it a bit more fancy. Follow this video for a couple of exciting (and romantic!) ideas. swoon!
You can see this and my other videos in schools and libraries by going to my own video website, www.shoo-tube.com. You can embed the videos in your own blog, or school or library or personal website. Instructions here.
Click the comments button to let me know what you think!
It may seem obvious how to draw a heart to some, but if you are having problems with the shape, try watching this video for some valentine tips!
You can see this and my other videos in schools and libraries by going to my own video website, www.shoo-tube.com. You can embed the videos in your own blog, or school or library or personal website. Instructions here.
Click the comments button to let me know what you think!
Hooray! 1000 subscribers on my YouTube Drawing School Site!
My drawing school seems to be going from strength to strength. I reached my 1000th subscriber last night – a Graphic Design student at Full Sail University in Florida. Most of my drawing school views come from Youtube. My own video site www.shoo-tube.com has all the same videos available, but these are mostly watched by schools, so I like to multiply each of those views by 20, although in reality it probably is about x10. www.shoo-tube.com was a lot of hard work setting up and now needs a bit of attention.
The whole drawing school program is a huge amount of work. Sometimes I do wonder why I do it. Then I get days like yesterday – milestones that keep me going. Also, I’m making lots of new friends around the world. It truly is amazing the reach of youtube and the internet.
Thanks to all my subscribers. Keep watching and keep drawing. Many more videos on their way. (It’s Valentine’s day soon – that’s a hint!)
Tonight I’m attending the Monmouth Comprehensive School Careers and Higher Education Fair and I’m thinking what to say to the students that ask me for advice about becoming an author.
It’s actually quite hard to give advice, as there is no career structure for authors and the internet is changing all our futures rapidly.
Being an author is the ultimate one person business. Everything is conjured out of your thought processes. Think of JK Rowling, sitting in her fabled cafe, writing Harry Potter in exercise books. Most people watching her at that time would have thought she was a bit of a loser with ideas above her station, scribbling away all day. “Why doesn’t she get a proper job?” They probably muttered under their breath. And now? Not only is she a multi-millionaire, she has made many other people millionaires too, and provided a living for thousands of others – all from a single, simple idea that grew in her head.
Authors are the ultimate manufacturers, creating something from absolutely nothing.
I think writers are a slightly different breed. Writers love to write and are very good at distilling ideas and concepts into words. The words don’t have to be clear or understandable to everyone, in fact some writers like to be cryptic, but they love playing with words and would carry on writing even if you stopped paying them.
And then there are story tellers. They just love to tell stories and can find a story to tell in any subject they investigate. At heart, they are teachers. Stories are how humans learn, so stories usually have some insight or piece of knowledge to impart.
If you can work out what you are, it might help you decide what to do next.
If you are a writer, then maybe a writing course would be good for you. There is always a worry that you might be over-influenced by your teachers and adopt their style, but if their style is in fashion or you have great teachers, you will be okay. You will learn all the tricks of the trade (literally, as you will have the arcane workings of the publishing world taught to you as well as the skills of writing.) All I would say is that if you have ideas of being famous, then what you want is an original voice. It is possible that your fellow students will all graduate from the same place as you, with the same voice as you. If you can write clearly and well, that is skill you can take with you into advertising, marketing TV film and the Internet. These industries are hungry for content.
If you are a storyteller, then it is ingrained in your DNA. I should follow your interests. Study science, history, geography, art – whatever it is that gets you going, after all, you will need something to tell stories about. The only worry here is that academia has come to hate story writing. Nowadays, written academic work requires the most bland delivery, so that marks can easily be given to facts.
Always remember that the real world needs to understand your subject and the real world will always welcome those who can explain the complicated in exciting and colourful ways and is prepared to pay them well. So keep writing for yourself and keep learning about the art of writing and storytelling in your own time while you become an expert in your chosen field.
And then there are the authors. Hmm…
You cannot write something great without any life experience, so that is what you need. My advice is usually to go and work on a sheep farm in Australia, or an oil rig in Outer Mongolia. That way you will get paid while you gather life experience. There are no courses for authors. There is no career path. Authors are single-minded thinking machines. The ultimate one person businesses.
But single-minded does not mean bull-headed. If you want to be rich and famous, you need to experience what the multitude do, but on a higher plane, and reflect it back to them. Yes, work on your writing technique, but better work on your people skills. Many of the best-selling books come down to the editor and the marketing team. Being an author is a lonely business. No one can experience life for you nor can they have the ideas for you. That is your particular gift. But you will need a team to help you turn your idea into that best-selling book and if you can work well with that team, your book will have a better chance in the long run.
The perfect combination is an author who is a storyteller and a writer – someone with drive, determination and enthusiasm. No one is going to stand over you and make you write. The first draft is entirely up to you. I feel that anyone with that combination will have such a strength of thought and character that they will succeed whatever they choose to do.
BUT – always think about those people skills. Being an author, working on your own a lot, can make you depressed and insular. Make sure you get out and talk to real people and experience the world that your readers live in every day, after all, that’s where you will find the ideas that you will turn into nuggets of gold.
I received copies on the Korean edition of Ricky Rocket today. They have coloured up my black and white illustrations. I think they look absolutely FAB!
