Who Ya Gonna Call?

Hello there my dears, I failed spectacuarly last week by somehow managing NOT to post a blog at all. For this I apologize, it wasn't a great week and every time I though 'ooh I should probably go do a blog' I found that I had absolutely nothing to talk about.

So naturally I just didn't push it. I mean I could have made stuff up and told you a fantastical tale plucked straight from the dizzying depths of my overactive imagination. But I didn't.

Anyway, i'm here now and guess what?! I DREW something again! Big news, I know.

If you're a regular reader of my inane ramblings then by now it probably goes without saying that I am a massive geek and a total fangirl (I declare this with pride, I feel no shame for my lifelong obsessions with books/movies/tv shows etc) so when I popped Netflix on in the background and sat down with my pencils and paper thinking 'hhm I think i'll draw a new Candy Doll type girl today' the result ended up turning into something completely different but nonetheless still kind of girly and eventually kind of awesome.

Despite having seen it at least 100 times (probably) and owning more than one copy of it on DVD, for some reason I once again opted to watch 'Ghostbusters' on Netflix.

So this is what I ended up drawing...

Now you're probably sitting there thinking... why? And that is a very good question which I will try to answer for you now.

Firstly, because GHOSTBUSTERS and secondly because, GHOSTBUSTERS.

Come on give me a break it's my favourite movie and this is the first time i've attempted to draw myself a proper Ghostbuster (I drew the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man once, and of course my Adventure Time crossover HERE) and since I can never seem to pick a fave from the Movie and I was never sure of all the characters in the cartoon, I invented my own fearsome redheaded (busty) buster ready to kick some supernatural ass!

She's a Rookie buster, still in training, learning how to catch ghosts without burning faces off or destroying buildings. Although she might have got a bit more than she bargained for with Slimer, I think he's taken a bit of a shine to her!

The blog upload kind of massacres the colour quality but it really pops, I tried to post it on my Tumblr blog but to no avail as apparently the wifi router at home hates me today with a vile burning passion because it took me about 2 flipping hours to upload everything for this post. I'll be quiet now.

So as well as the movie (obviously) I was also inspired by some of the brilliantly amazing GB Pinup girl shoots I saw over on Ghostbusters News so I thought it could be fun to have a go at one myself. So she had to be sexy (of course) but still dressed in the proper Ghostbusters gear ready to wrangle some ghosties! 

I had to wriggle a few things around (the patch on her arm is on the wrong side I think, but it's an illustration not a 100% accurate representation, so please calm down Ghostbusters fans, i'm sorry!) but she was still tonnes of fun to draw. 

here are a few of the shots that inspired the illustration, each one is linked to the corresponding post over on Ghostbusters News with full info about the photographers and models and so on.

And that's just a few examples from some of the shoots on the site, aren't they brilliant! I have a feeling that my next cosplay project might have to be a Ghostbusters costume, as authentic as possible, or maybe I can drag in my current cosplay alter ego and form some sort of Mary Poppins Ghostbusters hybrid?! we shall see...

So yeah that's it, a new drawing, at last. It's been a while since I drew a girl not covered with tattoos or multicoloured rainbow mermaid hair. Not that there's anything wrong with any of those things (obviously!) but it was fun to draw and colour something a little less pastel princess and more ghostbustin' goddess! 

Anyway that's all I wanted to share with y'all today since I have nothing else to tell you about.

I read some more books and marathon-watched a few shows online, which was about as exciting as it sounds.

So on that delightful note i'll sign off, see you all next time, hopefully!

Cheerio folks

I ain't afraid of no Ghosts!

Hello dearhearts, can it be, am I really back again so soon with another blog? 

Oh you betcha!

I'll get right to the point. Regular readers might recall me having mentioned one or two (or perhaps several) times in the past how I happen to be quite a fan of a certain film called Ghostbusters...

Actually, I'm a flipping MASSIVE Ghostbusters fan! I've seen the movie so many times I can practically quote the ruddy thing (yes i love GB2 as well, but GB1 is my fave), add to that my heap of Ghostbusters t-shirts + uniquely customised Converse (see those here) and various other bustin' related merch, well yeah, I guess you could call me a bit of a fangirl (well that's an understatement).

Anyway, those of you with a love of all things geeky might be aware that this year is the 30^th anniversary since Ghostbusters was first released at cinemas, and that part of the celebrations this year include the release of a very special limited edition Lego playset

now I know what you're thinking, 'Jade you weren't even born when Ghostbusters came out, why should you care about some daft Lego?' and i'm going to stop you there because although it's true that in 1984 I was a good seven years away from even existing, that is entirely beside the point.

Growing up in the early nineties most of the music, films and TV shows I watched were all from the 80's, so it's no surprise that my favourite movie is from that decade (my second favourite film is the Blues Brothers, which came out in 1980). 

And if you're now thinking 'yes but Jade you are twenty-three years old, you are a grown-up, why would you waste your money on a toy?!' and i'll stop you there again because I will literally never grow up.

And furthermore... I got the Lego. So there.

It arrived yesterday morning from Denmark and although all I wanted to do was tear the box open and crack on with the build, I had to spend the day packing up books and things (i'm moving home soonish, hopefully) and then in the evening I had a cinema trip (to see Maleficent, which was brilliant!) so alas, I haven't had chance to carefully assemble (aka play with) the Lego kit until today.

First of all, the box is actually brilliant! I'm keeping it. Forever. Inside the box everything was bagged up alongside the instruction book, which is also brilliant! There's a whole bunch of quotes from the movie scattered throughout the assembly guide, it was great to glance down to see which parts were next only to spot a funny quote sitting in the corner. I would have taken some photos of it but I was too busy BUILDING!

In the general flurry of excitement that was opening the bags of bricks I didn't really find the time to keep snapping progress shots, but here's one of the carnage before the build. Literally the FIRST thing I did as soon as I opened the box was build the characters. Before I even thought of assembling the car, I built the guys, so that they could watch Ecto-1 appear next! 

And appear it did. In truly magnificent style! What a beauty...

When I found out that the set was being brought out in time for the anniversary I was determined to get myself one regardless, but I was so so SO pleased to see just how much attention to detail the kit has. The car is brilliant inside and out (it even has space for the proton packs in the boot/trunk) and it was SO MUCH FUN to build!

The guys though right? Lets talk about them! BRILLIANT attention to detail on the fellas, they each have their initials on the front of their uniforms and their names on the back (hidden beneath the proton packs) the uniforms on the front are all ever so slightly different as well, with little quirks for each figure in keeping with their movie counterpart.

 
They also all have two expressions, happy and scared, so I suppose a pre Ghostbustin' face and one for when they're trying to wrangle a ghostie down in to the darn ghost trap!

I'm not gonna lie, this is probably one of THE best things i've ever bought in my life! In a way i'm kind of glad i'm an adult (I couldn't even type that with a straight face) because I wouldn't have been able to afford something as awesome as this when I was a kid, and i'm pretty sure no-one, not even Santa, would have got me this as a present.

Once the kit was assembled and finished, it was kind of a sad moment because I didn't have anything else to build. But I DID have a lot of fun  posing and playing with everything.
I might have put three of the guys inside the car and trundled it all over my desk for a while, while singing along (loudly) to the Ghostbusters theme tune. But nobody witnessed it so it might not have actually happened.
(spoiler: it did).

After that I also might have plucked my little Lego Loki off the shelf and introduced him to the Ghostbusters. He didn't seem to pleased about new Lego folk invading the neighbourhood (of my desk) but they've managed to beat a God before so I think they'll be okay.

All I could think when I took this shot was 'Ray, when someone asks you if you're a God, you say Yes!'

Anyway as if you couldn't already tell I'm really happy with the set and it's brilliant and I LOVE it and i'll be quiet now. 

For the time being Ecto-1 + the busters have taken up residence on my desk, along with all the other fun junk I keep piled up on it (for inspiration).

And on that sickeningly colourful and rather merry note i'll draw this post to a close. I have a few others lined up in my mind shed (some people have mind palaces, at the moment I can just about manage a barely cobbled together wooden hut) so look out for those over the next week or so.

And as always, until next time, that's all folks...

ps - Watch this. You're welcome!

Creative Café #29 ★

hello there dearhearts, you might be wondering where on earth i've been for the past... 2 weeks! has it really been 2 weeks?! it's probably been more...

crikey. anyway, i haven't actually been away anywhere or anything, i've been right at home stuck in a little world of my own alternating between doing work for college, clients, college, commissions, college and so on and so forth.

anyway, there is literally NOTHING going on in my life right now worth blogging about so instead, it's time for another lovely, colourful Creative Café post

follow 'the drill' and grab yourself a snack + a drink and settle down for some pretty illustration because today it's all about the very groovy Jen Oaks

Jen is an American illustrator who produces very VERY awesome designs and illustrations featuring all manner of funky characters and creations

although it must be said that i am particularly fond of her curvy pin-up girl illustrations, they are rather fabulous after all, in fact they are absolutely ruddy marvellous!

 i just adore the way she captures their expressions, you can tell that all of her curvy pin-ups are very sassy and cheeky + they're all so gorgeously feminine, it's really refreshing to see some sexy plus size pinup illustrations! brilliant...

more of those lovely ladies later. so what else does Jen do?! well, as well as being a generally glorious illustrator she also designs groovy characters and scenes for various editorial clients + takes part in super duper art shows around the USA

in her spare time when she's not being an awesome arty superhero, she also gets her work featured on sparkly blogs and sites such as a post featuring her fabby prints on Apartment Therapy or the lovely interview and feature about her Curvy Pin-ups on SF Today

she's also extra awesome and that's because she doesn't just design groovy things for magazines and the like, she also sells very jazzy cards, prints, stickers, badges and calendars!

the detail in her work is what i love the most though. the way she packs so much into a figure or a scene, the illustrations are never overcrowded they're always spot on and manage to convey the appropriate emotion or feeling through these often delicate and intricate little details

do you know what time it is now?! it's time for me to hush up and let you have a nice scroll through some more of Jen's cute work in your own sweet time. enjoy...

you see, i told you it was all gorgeous! sometimes it's not easy always being right...

time for some links now!

to see even more of Jen's quirky, colourful work you can head on over to her offcial website here - Jen Oaks Illustration

she also has a fab Etsy shop chock full of lovely printed goodies and merch featuring her designs - Jen's shop

you can also 'Like' her work on Facebook - Jen Oaks

and follow her on Twitter - @jenoaks

she's also on Tumblr - jenoaks

and has a great Flickr full of sketches and other lovely things - Jen Oaks

and there you go. all that's left for me to do now is say a big ol' THANK YOU to the very lovely Jen for saying yes and letting me run this little feature, so thanks again Jen :) x


All images featured in this post belong to Jen Oaks © do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or trace AND of her work without her express written consent. All Rights Reserved.

* * *

so like i said, nothing to report on in my world at the moment. i am truly swamped with work. i spend almost every day painting in my room and i spend the rest of the week either at college or at home editing files for commissions. busy, busy, busy.

so until next time, whenever that may be, that's all folks... xX