Wicket the Ewok & Pumpkins

 Number 5 of these little Star Wars characters - they really are fun to do.  Only eight more to go...

Spent the morning hollowing out a couple of pumpkins and carving mine - not doing anything fancy this year, but I do like Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas.

Mr.B went for something a tad grosser...

Also made a nice big batch of pumpkin soup, now simmering away on the stove - smells delicious!

That Was Halloween...

So that's Halloween over for another year.  We carved pumpkins...

...decorated the front garden with spiders, a ghost and dismembered body parts and waited for the onslaught.  I got through two large tins of sweets and practically ate my dinner on the hoof while answering the door, then we had to shut up shop for the night.  Every trick or treater was polite and the costumes were good - next up, Christmas!

Mmm Tasty...

Halloween must be on it's way - gingerbread bats, cats & rats.  Black icing c/o Morrisons supermarket, thank you very much!

Happy Halloween!

It's been a very busy week, but I was determined to find the time to carve a decent pumpkin!  Zombie theme again this year - I just love the way it looks like a real mess until you put the candle in and switch the lights out.

Have fun today - don't eat too many sweeties!

I'm barrelling through this portrait - it's great to have the time this week, plus I am really enjoying it.  I forgot just how much I love drawing, especially dogs.  I've also discovered a new product (new to me anyway) Derwent Blending pens, which are like felt tips but when you apply them to pencil drawing, the liquid softens and mixes the marks, fantastic for a picture like this one where scrubbing away with a blending pencil is tiring work.

Yesterday we went to the first screening of the Nudinits film at Canterbury Anifest.  Took us a while to get there from Hampshire as the good old M25 was terminally congested which added an hour to our journey.  It was worth it though, and I think the film went down well. You'll be able to judge for yourselves tomorrow when it will be available to see in it's entirety - I just cannot wait!

Pencils & Pumpkins

This week I am working on a portrait of a beautiful spaniel called Beau using Derwent Drawing Pencils and it is a real pleasure.  She's a lovely looking dog, the reference photos are fantastic and I have the time to draw, so it is all going well to date.  In fact, when a drawing goes this well, I start to worry that it is not good enough because it is not causing enough problems!  I have had one minor setback in that despite knowing for a couple of weeks now that I have to draw a black dog, I didn't think to check my pencils and discovered that I only have one very short black pencil left - oops!  Organisation has never been my strong point.  However, three new pencils are on their way and I think I can eke out what I have until they arrive.

It being half term, I am trying to cram as much into the time I have at home as I can.  Monday was cleaning & drawing, yesterday was baking (and drawing!)  With Halloween fast approaching, it's time to make pumpkin pie, spooky cupcakes, and hollow out the pumpkin ready for carving.  I even made soup with the insides of the pumpkin.  Since we went to Salem for Halloween a few times, my daughter has really taken to celebrating the day, so rather than the apathetic efforts of years gone by, I feel obliged to try and make it a bit more fun for her.  Today is the day to carve the pumpkin - I'm trying to find a design that is spectacular to look at but involving as little work as possible...

While we are talking about Halloween and the time of year, would someone like to inform my strawberry plants?  These were found in the garden yesterday and very tasty they were too!

Happy Halloween!

We've all been doing some Halloween crafting this year, making up for the fact we are not visiting Salem!  My daughter has embraced Halloween since spending it three times in the USA, so I am trying to make it a bit special here at home.  We have decorations, pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, she and I are both wearing Halloween themed clothes & jewellery today, there is a cake waiting to be decorated and I have just finished carving this pumpkin.  I'm really pleased with this, it's my first attempt at anything other than the traditional toothy grin - it's based on The Walking Dead.

My partner's pumpkin is a lot simpler but no less effective - bleagh!

And Stacie came home the other day having made this little guy and his webs.  He is so cute I think we may keep him after Halloween is finished.

Stacie also has a Halloween mixed cd, but the least said about that the better - that's being retired after tonight....if I hear that version of Thriller performed by session musicians one more time I am going to throw it out the window!

Halloween Shenanigans.....

 I've been sorting through some more of the holiday snaps - these are some of the sights we saw in Salem on Halloween...

 ...we all need some 'dabachery' don't we

 This guy probably thought I was stalking him - I have quite a few photos of him in various locations in an attempt to get a proper view.  Luckily this was my final try.

 This stall took facepainting to a whole new level - I would like to have had a bit of gore too but the queue was too long.

 See what I mean?

Not everything was scary...

....ahhhhh!