A rather late entry for Illustration Friday this time, but better late than never I guess!
Been a VERY hectic week house-hunting, lots and lots of driving and traffic - partly the inspiration for the sketch perhaps. I hope it's not too cliche, what with the utopian view on one side and the inevitably ugly looking futuristic side where even buildings have to jostle for space. I think I was trying to convey the fact that even though it might look as though the grass is always greener (or whiter in this case!), things aren't always black and white - after all which side has everyone ended up living on !?
Another album that caught my eye/ear recently is by Suffolk singer/songwriter Tom McRae. Album opener 'For the restless' is definitely one of the stand-out tracks of the album. It has deep layers of strings, and haunting vocals combined with pizzicato that make for a moody ambience. "For the restless not the peaceful sleeper, this song's for you" sings Tom, which is a great personal introduction to his album (at least if you're a bit of an insomniac like myself!!)
The love song 'Humming bird' continues the mellow theme of the album (to which he dedicates to his own humming bird), and contains some lush harmonies. 'The girl who falls downstairs' is one of my favourites from the album and sees the return of some lovely strings and strong vocals.
The middle of the album unfortunately doesn't hold any of the strongest tracks, but never loses your interest. 'Silent Boulevard', one of my other favourites on the album, grabs your attention back and sees Tom get more passionate, with a great climatic chorus that you can't help but shout along with.
'Still Lost' slows it down again and soft lyrics "If i was to call would you come, oh my love when will you come to look for me, 'cos i'll still be lost" makes it a touching tune highlighting insecurities.
The final song 'Border Song', perhaps a song about a lost love "her eyes on fire, undressed to kill", is one of those beautiful tracks that makes you glad you listened right to the end of the album - not that you need an excuse anyway.
If you're looking for album to stick on, hit play and put your feet up for an hour this will fit the bill perfectly. A little darker overall than my last purchase from James Blunt, but it has rightly earned itself the position in my summer albums listening rota along with that and Jack Johnsons 'Inbetween Dreams'tags: music tom mcrae
My girlfriend is taking a tough exam on Thursday as part of her professional Marketing qualification - she's much more ambitious than me like that! I'd much rather spend my time coming up with drawings like this one, which I did especially for you hun! I'll be thinking of you.
Click for full size illustration
There's nothing quite as frustrating as when the digital world goes wrong - I know we've all been there when the blue-screen is staring back at you...
Naturally this weeks illustration was done entirely digitally, without a sketch, using my brand new Wacom (which I lurrve!). Managed to find a A5 version for approximately the same price as the smaller A6, but without all the software bundled - but they ended up shipping the Studio XL version with software included :D ... sssshhh
tags: digital cartoon crash
