Monday, November 25, 2013

‘The old ones are the best’ hand-chalked greetings card

Working freehand

‘The old ones are the best’ greetings card  © Peter Gander
It’s good to chalk. ‘The old ones are the best’ is our first in a new line of www.haveagander.biz hand-chalked cards. There is a dearth of ‘chalk-like’ effects that you can computer-generate. They are all poor imitations. You don’t get the subtle things happening naturally that make it authentic, like dusty ‘ghosting’ on the blackboard, or the beautifully imperfect line. Unsurprisingly only the real thing looks properly convincing, so this is real chalk - Stephen’s brand, from nearby Folkestone in Kent, UK, in fact, on a real blackboard.” Chalk & blackboard.

Friday, November 15, 2013

‘Jolly girl’ cycling card

Sketching out the new card

Inking the banners
The final print with traditional watercolour and digital colour.  © Peter Gander 2013
To sit alongside our www.haveagander.biz ‘Spiffing gent on a penny farthing’ greetings card, we needed a female counterpart. Hand-drawn in pen and ink, I used digital colour on the illustration and a traditional watercolour wash for the background.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Gurnard (AKA ‘Sea Robin, etc’)


Tub gurnard  © Peter Gander 2013

I bought a small shoal of these sustainable fish (well, half a dozen) at Whitstable fish market a few weeks back, for a fish curry. British chefs are said to remark ‘Ugly fish, tasty dish’. And true enough, my gurnard were very tasty. But I think they are rather lovely-looking too. Compared to the usual cod or pollack, gurnard look like the kind of exotic fish you’d find in Mauritius, not Margate, but apparently they are quite common around local Kent shores. The one shown is a tub gurnard, probably the most colourful, with its electric-blue edging to its huge pectoral fins (the others are ‘red’ and ‘grey’ gurnard). They are also known ‘Croaker’ as they emit a croaking noise when caught. Other names include ‘soldier’, elleck’ and ‘rotchet’, depending on where you live. They are also far more interesting because not only do they have armoured heads, but they also possess ‘legs’ (thus also called ‘feeler fish’) behind their front fins for walking with. And, as if all of the above isn’t impressive enough, they can poison you too with their gill plates and it’ll hurt for a few days. Respect to the gorgeous gurnard. Winsor & Newton watercolour on ‘The Langton’ Grain Fin 300gsm paper. Original: 20cm x 15cm. Buy the original here for £50 (UKSterling): http://folksy.com/items/4885302-Gurnard-fish-painting

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Red Sands Radio Christmas Card pen & ink

Red Sands Radio Christmas image 2013  © Peter Gander 2013
Latest inky work for Bob Le Roi, radio presenter at local radio station Red Sands. The original is hand-drawn with scratch (dip) pen and ink, with watercolour. Santa is seen descending into one of the ‘Maunsell Forts’, a set of WWII anti-aircraft battlements still seen off the coast here in the Thames estuary in north Kent and once where Red Sands Radio transmitted from in the 60s.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Fishing lure 131015

Imitation and life, as it were  © Peter Gander 2013

Despite being an avid fisherman, I must admit to never having mastered the lure, admiring from afar their beauty as objects but that’s as far as it goes (so far). This one sports a chunky diving vane on its lower lip and a ruddy throat which I understand throws the intended quarry into a lusty attack, thinking that the faux fish is injured. Unusually for me, I used masking fluid for the hard-edged spine highlight as it does give a strong effect (usually I bring wax to the art table for similar effect). The white/cream paper, though full of texture (Hahnemuele Andalucia 500gsm board) lacked a certain something, so I cut out a fish-body-sized mask of paper and lay it on top of the coloured fish. Then sprayed it freely with blobs of watercolour paint tapped over the back of the hand for that more characterful bespattered look.
Lure 131015  © Peter Gander 2013

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Fiona’s Converse

Fiona’s Converse  © Peter Gander 2013
I’ve always wanted to draw these iconic shoes from my youth and my wife Fiona wears them, so I got her to part with them for an hour. The drawing was done sans sketch/pencil 1st, so it remains nice and loose with a spontaneous feel. Ink and dip pen with watercolour (mostly Payne’s Grey) on Hahnemuhle Andalucia 500gsm paper.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Seaside figures for Putterfingers

Happy couple  © Peter Gander 2013

Boy on donkey  © Peter Gander 2013

Picnic couple  © Peter Gander 2013

Weightlifter  © Peter Gander 2013

Punch & Judy © Peter Gander 2013

Lifeguard & lady  © Peter Gander 2013

Couple in sea  © Peter Gander 2013

Skinny man with crab  © Peter Gander 2013

Commissions for www.putterfingers.co.uk a Suffolk-based mini-golf company. Set of 9. Original: Ink and watercolour on 300gsm The Langton Grain Fin paper.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Washingborough Hall commission




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The pavilion in the morning sunshine

Straight into drawing out the Pavilion in permanent pen, so no room for any mistakes!


The fountain, known as ‘The lady in the park’

The lady and ‘Washy Hall’ as it’s affectionately known
‘Washy Hall’  © Peter Gander 2013

Pavilion  © Peter Gander 2013

‘Lady in the park’  © Peter Gander 2013

The dovecote  © Peter Gander 2013

Composite image of the day’s output  © Peter Gander 2013
I posted a painting of a French chateau I painted during a holiday recently and it was seen on Facebook by an owner of Washingborough Hall in Lincolnshire, UK. She asked me if I took commissions and last week I drove 200 miles north, and during a beautifully warm September day, I produced this set of paintings for her. Watercolour and permanent pen on Winsor & Newton 300gsm Grain Fin paper.

Monday, September 09, 2013

Inked ‘Cockerel’

The final illustration  © Peter Gander 2013



A new www.haveagander.biz addition to the ‘Menagerie’ series of hand-painted animals which we make into rubber stamps and hand-print onto greetings cards.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Conference pear

‘Conference pear’  © Peter Gander 2013
Before I ate this Conference pear I was taken by its textured skin and so took to painting it first! My piece of broken wax candle served to impart the texture via washes of watercolour over subsequent wax resist marks. Extra linear marks and white highlight were added with blue, sepia and white Conté sticks. Watercolour on The Langton 300gsm (rough) paper.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

‘Alias Smith & Jones’ hand-lettered image for Photo Mosaic

Typical Photo Mosaic  © Fiona Howarth
‘Hand-lettering Western style’  © Peter Gander
The top pic is one of my wife Fiona’s ‘Photo Mosaics’. A tessellated square of many squares, they are given as gift to loved ones to celebrate birthdays and suchlike and are comprised of the tiniest detail to the big things in life. They are part photo, part scanned original art. Fiona does the photographic squares and I paint mini originals for the remaining ‘favourite TV programmes, brand of jeans/custard’, etc. Some come along that are really nice to do, such as the ‘Alias Smith & Jones’ panel, above. The original lettering was rendered in pencil and watercolour on paper as it the paint can have a lovely inconsistency when used in a ‘scrubbing’ fashion. This was later superimposed onto a scan of driftwood that I had, with transparency allowing the background through slightly. 

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

‘Thank You’ swallow gift tag art

Swallow Thank You’ tag  © Peter Gander 2013
Today I adapted the artwork of our ‘Swallow’ card www.notonthehighstreet.com/haveagander/product/hand-printed-swallow-card to customise it for a ‘Thank You’ gift tag & card. Original: The swallow image and new banner were hand-drawn in black ink with a brush and scratch (dip) pen.


Drawing the new banner with scratch pen  © Peter Gander 2013

© Peter Gander 2013

Friday, April 05, 2013

New pig on the block

Pencil sketch ('scamp') stage for Ham Client  © Peter Gander
This pretty porcine pencil drawing was sketched recently for a client who supplies no less than the Royal Family with the most handsome of hams and grandest of gammons. Those familiar with our piggy portfolio will recognise that the inspiration here was our pink ‘Pig Cuts’ tea towel. The final design will adorn aprons, tea towels and signage and, like every product with a Royal Warrant, one will be shown to Her Majesty for a Royal seal of approval, literally!

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Hand-painted Easter eggs

‘Freckly Ed’  © Peter Gander 2013

A trio of hen eggs  © Peter Gander 2013

The banner on the reverse of the middle egg  © Peter Gander 2013

The ‘Clarence Court’ crown emblem

The egg sits on a steadying ring made of BluTac

Resting my hand on a higher-than-the-egg surface for a steady and comfortable position

The BluTac ring is slightly stick as well as malleable, so holds the egg firmly
What could be more fitting than a handcrafted egg as a gift for Easter? The pastel-blue egg on the outer edges are ‘Clarence Court’ Old Cotswold Legbar eggs. The centre one has been painted with black ink, left to dry then painted again in white gouache, with letters added in the white banner with black ink.

Illustration for upcoming 'Lake District Map'

Hand-drawn in brush pen with digital colour.  © Peter Gander