Category: Socket Head - Cavanagh Art

Fishing boats

30/6/2020

This last month has had a bit of experimentation in it. Using the Blender software I experimented with creating a 3D fishing boat image.

I got this far, and realised that I wasn't happy with the hull:

So I changed that, and a few other features:

And then added rigging posts and colour. It still isn't completely finished.

Then I had a rest from 3D work, and went back to 2D and used computer software to produce this image of a fishing boat docked at the wharf at night.

And yes. Socket Head has been around too....

....but we don't know what he's up to yet... only that he is frustrated about something and on his way to try and fix it.

Bishop Stumbers has been lurking about on the sketch pad, and around cathedral crypts. We might see him next time.

maybe the long pause is coming to an end

29/5/2020

There is a chance that weekday routine will return on Monday, or soon after, depending on how soon new weekday Mass schedules are decided upon. Hopefully, when that happens, a measure of normality and especially creative normality will return.

In the mean time, two of the Inktober Socket Head pictures got coloured:

Day 25, Tasty

Day 23, Ancient

And a 'looking to the future' meme/comic

And some sketches that might be preparation for a 3D version of this red tugboat:

And the front view

Here's to hoping that fruitful new beginnings are around the corner for all of us as this long pause begins to lift away.

the long pause continues

30/4/2020

You know how Kermit the Frog used to say, 'It's not easy being green.'
Well at the moment, it's not easy being creative either.
It has been neatly summed up by @evancabnet on Twitter thus:
"WRITERS. I have a secret to share with you. Every single day, I speak with a different playwright (or screenwriter, or novelist) who confesses they haven’t been able to concentrate and they aren’t getting anything done."
As at today it has had 31.7K likes and 4,9K Retweets since Apr 17.
Comments attached to that Tweet proved that artists, illustrators and graphic designers were all feeling it too.
Many of those comments put my own feelings in to words.

What I have been slowly working on is colouring some of the black & white images from Socket Head's Inktober 2019 adventures.

Overgrown Day 14

Treasures Day 21

Dark Day 26

Coat Day 27

Maybe, just maybe, if I get them all coloured I might make a small non-standard story book out of them. But there are 16 more to do......

a long pause

31/3/2020

The night of 18 Mar 2020 was when the coronavirus lockdown became real for us and daily Mass was suspended. Having less external stimulii is making finding inspiration to draw a challenge. I have signed up to the new forum run by the Illustration Department (a.k.a. Giuseppe Castellano), but it is too early yet to see how that will go. https://forum.illustrationdept.com/login

I have been slowly continuing to work on skills with Blender, and completed stage 3 of the coffee cup tutorial.

For my mother I worked on an image of the part of the Transfiguration story where Jesus touches His overcome disciples and says, 'Do not be afraid'

You may be able to tell that at times I have felt a little stir crazy. Maybe that is why Socket Head showed up. He had to be locked up for his own good, lest he trip over furniture, cause fires in the kitchen and break things during exercise routines.

And it was time that the daily battle between man (my dad) and marsupial (the possum that considers our place a primary residence) was depicted. Said marsupial's favourite place to get comfortable is where the telephone and internet cables are. It wouldn't be a problem, nor a battle, otherwise, and it has raged on for almost 2 years. Because these critters are both native and territorial, we can't do much about it, except construct chicken wire around the disputed real estate. Neither side is backing down.

Maybe this time next month we will be in a new normality without lockdown conditions. Please God, may that be so.

ending the year

31/12/2019

2019 is about to end. 2020 is about to begin. Hopefully by the end of January the building project to transform a verandah into a studio, and the spending project to get sufficient computer grunt to make it function, will be complete.

The 2020 Calendar featuring Socket Head came up well.
This is the image for December that seemed to be most resonant with Socket Heads's lifestyle and character.

Then a relative who has recently taken caretakership of an extremely placid cat started changing its nickname from Kitty Kat to Hideous Kittyous - and that was too delicious a nickname not to inspire an image.

Would you believe Bishop Stumbers made a return appearance, pondering his New Year resolutions for 2020? He should have added in 'Keep Out Of Trouble' as well, not that he is likely to be able to keep that one.

In the first 10 days of January I will be seeking God about what He wants for me, and what He wants me to do in 2020. I would appreciate your prayers very much because at the moment I don't know where the way forward is, only the many dead ends where it isn't.

adding colour

30/11/2019

November has been a month busy with colouring some of the Inktober 2019 images in preparation for printing my 2020 Calendar. There is still a few more hours of work to do on it, but I hope to get it to the printers early next week.

So here are 2 other Intober images, the black & white version followed by the colour version.

The theme for Day 5 was Build

And how can you build without ACME?

The theme for Day 6 was Husky

That is a plaintive, husky cry for help!
But did you expect such a building project to end any other way?

Now, back to work, to get the 2020 Calendar finished.
If you want your own, get in contact before I go to the printers because we only do a single print run.

inktober 2019

29/10/2019

Inktober for 2019 is almost over, apart from the drawing I am working on now, there are only 2 more black & white Socket Head drawings to go.

It has been a worthwhile personal discipline, but whether it has had any additional value remains to be seen. I doubt I will attempt it again.

Here are a selection of 5 drawings from the series:

From Day 15, theme 'Legend'

From Day 16, theme Wild

From Day 17, theme Ornament

From Day 22, theme Ghost

From Day 24, theme Dizzy

The rest of them you can see on my Instagram (@cavanaghcreative), Twitter (@VJCavanagh) and Facebook accounts.

as promised...

31/5/2019

All heroes (and heroines) have unsung support people who keep them going between adventures. So hats off, hands on hearts, and thanks to the brave chiropractors and podiatrists in our lives.

You will be happy to hear that I have been doing some non-Socket Head artwork recently. But that's for sharing next time.

socket head's latest adventures

30/4/2019

Sometimes you just can't keep a good character down.
Socket Head has been out and about......

First stop is playing board games with Sailor Jim:

Then someone, possibly you, left him at home, alone and unsupervised....

Then there was that time when Socket Head wanted to return a gift of inferior workmanship:

And that time when he went shopping:

He has also been to see the chiropractor and the podiatrist,
but those adventures can be shared next time.

Socket head has been having adventures

27/2/2019

You met Socket Head for the first time in the last blog-post.

He has been having a few adventures since then, that I hope you will enjoy.

First he got rescued by Sailor Jim from a shark.

Then he had to take his miserable self somewhere to get patched up.

And now he has been iced (or fridged) by the mysterious Madame Ice.

While there are ideas for what he is likely to get up to sitting (waiting) in the sketch book, I am not sure which one will take on a life of its own next.