‘Fox’ card image

Rough brush and ink sketch for ‘Fox’  © Peter Gander 2013

Card mock-up for ‘Fox’  © Peter Gander 2013

The latest in our ‘Menagerie’ line of handprinted cards. ‘Fox’ will be made into a rubber stamp and each one will be handprinted onto individual cards. Original: Brush and ink.

‘Stanley’, Parson’s Russell Terrier

Inking Stanley

Dog card  © Peter Gander 2013

The latest Have a Gander card mock-up, featuring our very own Stanley, a Parson's Russell Terrier.

Tabby cat

‘Tabby Cat’  © Peter Gander 2013

You’ll soon be able to get your mitts on the latest of our ‘Have a Gander’ handprinted ‘menagerie’ range: This one’s a Tabby Cat. Original: Ink and brush.

Final art for 'Swallow'

Swallow  © Peter Gander 2013

Inking ‘Swallow’

Inking the Swallow  © Peter Gander

 A 'bird's eye view' of a work-in-progress shot inking the Swallow, one of a set of new Have a Gander 'Animals' Greeting Card images. The painted image is destined for the rubber stamp maker. Once it's turned into a stamp, we'll individually hand-print them onto blank cards. All a very painstaking process, but the result is a beautifully-handcrafted card with a very special quality worth all the effort.

Valentine’s cuppa

The Valentine’s rubber stamp image  © Peter Gander 2013

Using a proper cuppa as inspiration (ink drawing in corner)

For our Have a Gander business, I drew this design for a line of hand-printed Valentine’s cards for lovers and tea-lovers. The original drawing was done in Indian ink and scratch (dip) pen, visible in the corner. I used a dainty tea cup as reference, colour was added in Photoshop for the mock-up above. The real thing will be turned into a rubber stamp and individually hand-inked and printed onto card.

Simple fish animation

Fish animation  © Peter Gander 2013

East of London Bridge

‘East of London Bridge’  © Peter gander 2013

Looking east downriver of the Thames towards WWII battleship, The HMS Belfast (where my parents once took me when I was about 12) and Tower Bridge behind it, backlit by the low morning sun. The pointed tower of Canary Wharf, where I am currently freelancing at Ogilvy & Mather, seen in grey in the background. A simple combination of two favourite colours, Winsor & Newton Payne’s Grey and Cerulean Blue capture the essence of the morning light. A dryish brush dragged across the tooth of the mould-made paper acheives the sparkly water effect. The shelter, by Hay’s Galleria at London Bridge (south side) is just by the Clipper pier where I get my morning boat to the Wharf, a mere 10 minute ride, despite the fact that the tower looks like it’s a hundred miles away down the snaking river. Winsor & Newton watercolour and waterproof pen on 210gsm handmade Indian Khadi paper sketchbook.

Lottie the black labrador

‘Lottie’  © Peter Gander

Winsor & Newton watercolour painting on 300gsm handmade Indian Khadi paper. 

Unknown Sculpture, Canary Wharf, London

(Unknown) Sculpture, Canary Wharf, London  © Peter Gander 2012

I’ve had my eye on drawing this one for a while as I pass it daily from CanaryWharf Pier. Sadly I couldn’t find a nearby plaque with the sculptor’s name, so I can’t be terribly informative. But it’s quite a raw-looking piece, with cut angles from the sculptors’ knife visible all over, like it’s just been made from a huge block of clay. This faceted look translates well to cross-hatching with the biro in small chunks of light and shade. Drawn at West India Avenue, Canary Wharf, London. Bic biro on card and digital colour.

Canary Wharf DLR (Canada Square)

Canary Wharf DLR  © Peter Gander 2012

I went out Tuesday lunchtime to draw and paint this lovely arched DLR station entrance near Mackenzie Walk but once again rain stopped play. Not only that but I realised I was using a non-waterproof pen, (even if it was an ad agency icon, the lauded Sign Pen). Thus it wouldn’t have been any good for watercolouring anyway, even if it hadn’t rained! Thus I brought it back, albeit bespattered with a few raindrops visible here, and scanned it as a black and white (greyscale) image only. Today I finally got round to adding layers of colour digitally, using a limited and muted palette as it was a grey, overcast day. Choosing to drop in colour in a very cut-out fashion on transparent layers, it has a kind of block printing appeal. I was careful not to try and colour in everything too, so it maintained its sketchy freshness. Pentel Sign Pen and digital colour.