Book Review: The Eyeball Stealing Birdies Story by AUTHOR Veronica Grimm

First feature length book by that completely novice to the publishing world veronica grimm.

Based on the unwritten stories of little missy evil and her caverns of pain comes the eight page blockbuster about the eyeball stealing little birdie that lives in the deep recesses of those caverns.
The book is made from the best quality recycled wood bits, the printing (questionable) was executed using the reverse painting technique, (that is creating art by erasing paint).

The whole book has been shown, there is no missing pages, there is no hidden agenda or secret commands, just a plain and simple first novel, released only via this blog space.

Tiger Island. Isle of Wight. Painting Life Study

Drawing and Painting of Ranthambore National Park Enclosure, Isle of Wight Zoo.
Original pencil sketch was taken on the 20th February 2008, approx started 2pm, took around an hour to complete. Nice sunny afternoon, half term, so there were quite a few people around but once I got into the drawing I was able to talk and sketch at the same time. I was surprized how many people came over and chatted, If I was reading a book or just day dreaming I am sure no one would have approached me. funny world.

From the pencil sketch I completed a painting in the studio. Acrylic on box canvas, 28 x 38 inches.

The tigers were not in the original pencil but the poses were true to my memory. Diamond the male Indian tiger was watching the people playing golf at Browns Golf Course. Immeadiately behind the enclosure whilst Aysha the female slept .
The painting took 4 days to complete.

Marriage in Grimms World by isle of wight artist veronica grimm

Both found in the street, discarded like some overused toy, lived in my box of things to bash about. They were intertwined and I had real trouble pulling them apart.
So if they wanted to stay together shivering with fear in my box, I married them and now they truly will stay together.
Unnamed, approx 3inches tall, acrylic paint, found wire and cloth.

Tiger Painting

40 x 30 inches on box canvas from one of my sketches, a more surreal pose

Tiger Island pencil sketches 18 feb 2008

18th February 2008, first day down isle of Wight Zoo for some life sketching.

Today I did some close up's of tigers and a more in depth drawing of the entrance to lemurland.

approx one hour for lemurland, sketches of tigers between 10 and 5minutes each.

Nice clear and sunny but cold day.

2ft by 1ft paper in leather bound book.

Not my Eye Dammit T shirt Design by isle of wight artist veronica grimm

Limited to ten worldwide. Not my eye, Dammit.... designed from one of my sketches, really to see how it would look on a T shirt, one size XL. I am selling the other nine (Worn one already)
£30.00 each. E mail for payment details tony@fossilshop.co.uk

Tiger Island Live tiger painting

Completed from sketch on canvas 24inches x 12inches.
tiger in lazy pose, eyes shut enjoying the sunshine.
The good thing about painting Tigers from life is their ability to hold a pose, they are quite happy to stop and stare or as in this case take in the sun's ray's for what seems an inordinate amount of time.
I have watched a one armed Lemur at tiger Isand trying to get some food out of a hanging bucket. You can see it's brain racing with possibilities of how to get the food and after some failed attempts getting it's head finally inside the bucket whilst hanging on with its only good arm.
I took loads of sketches but each one was a blur or just a line as it moved so quickly then it was off to its home never to appear again. (well not in the half hour I continued to wait).
I really want to capture that sequence of events and next week I shall set aside some time to study one arm.
Lemurs are undoubtedly harder to sketch than tigers.

Life studies isle of wight week 3

This week I used just a size 8 bristle brush, no drawing just blocking in and building up the tones with the brush.

Time, two poses each approx 50minutes.

I used acrlyic paint on acrylic canvas and paper canvas, two diferent types of canvas to see the benefits of each. Both took the paint well and did not just suck it in.

size: The two smaller pieces are A4 for ref.

little robots day out by isle of wight artist veronica grimm

Little oil slick robots out and about causing hazardous driving conditions on main road from Sandown to our elustrious capital Newport.
How can we stop them peeing oil all over the place.
2 acrylic on canvas10 x 10 inch and6 x 6inch box canvases.

Grumbly Grimms Sudden Demise by isle of wight artist veronica grimm

CHAOS: collided when circumstances met together on a pitch black night.
A grumbly grimm distraught with life throws herself in front of a fellow grumbly rushing to work.
The second grumbly catapults off his bike nearly hitting a lampost whilt a grumbly owl twitters above.
All caught on material CCTV and posted in 3D form at the local Auditorium.
All hand stitched from recycled materials mostly found on the beach.
Size approx 12inches long x 14inches tall.

Super Dunny by Isle of wight artist veronica grimm

I have got a couple of Azteca Dunny's in my studio, they told me an intriguing story about a Super Dunny.

From Mexican descent but with huge blue eyes this Dunny once a farmer discovered the lost meteorite impact site reputed to have wiped out the dinosaurs.

An old bone he did pick up!

The bone belonged to an ancient race of super dinosaurs. The Tyranosaurs It's preposessing power was passed on to Farmer Dunny, who spent the rest of his life saving others.

On his death his mummified remains mysteriously disapeared.

Acrylic on board, driftwood.

Isle of Wight Zoo Lion life Study

Acrylic on canvas 10 x 14inches.

I did a couple of quick sketches to capture this lion in its enclosure as it came towards me.

It was quite a bright day and I wanted to capture the shadows of the cage against the wood. (No pun intended).

Life Studies Newport Isle of Wight, week2

Wednesday 6th February, week 2, 6:30-8:30,

Newport, Isle of Wight, venue : A church.

This session was more eventful than last week, we were to have two poses each lasting an hour.

However plans do not aways run smoothly?

Due to a double booking we were moved twenty five minutes into the first pose.

my A4 painting was therefore very rushed and completed in 25 minutes.

We were then moved up several floors to a much smaller room where ,very cramped we could only draw. This is where I completed the paper sketch of the hands. Time 10minutes.

We now moved to the main church hall where I did a small A4 sketch. Felt pen and water, time approx 3minutes.

Isle of Wight Zoo life Tiger Painting

I doubt that this year's life studies of the Isle of Wight Zoo will have any commercial benefits, the experimentation and investigation into the life of the animals and their keepers will be a great learning curve for me as an artist.
This sketch painting was undertaken in the studio from a rough pencil drawing, I wanted to catch the tiger in a natural pose on his decking whilst still encapsulating the fact he is still a caged animal.
24 x 16inches loose canvas pasted to board, painted in acrylics.

Grumbly Grimms Yellow ediyion by isle of wight artist veronica grimm

Grumbly Grimms (Yellow Edition) gang of ten.

recycled yellow and black felt, plastic string from the beach and stuffing from some unfortunate yukky cute teddy bear.

approx 5 inches tall.

Isle of wight zoo/ Tiger Sanctuary live studies

One of my New Year resolutions is to get out there and do more live sketching and painting.

But where, then it struck me. just half a mile from my studio is the Sandown tiger Sanctuary..

Unfortunately it does not open until the 16th feb.

What I have decided to do is spend a year /season dedicated to painting the local zoo environment and I hope to see some marked improvement in my drawing skills over that period.

My initial drawings and paintings have come from earlier sketches I made some years ago.

This is an acrylic painting on 10 x 14 inch canvas completed from a head sketch I unfortunately did not date, possibly late 90's, of a white tiger.