Jack Heavenor Mugs

If I were a Girl

It was inevitable - after crusading through references for the King penguin, the Emperor was bound to happen with a few slight adjustments.

This year I've done a bit of a U-Turn with the art program I'm usually using, however it did have a very handy feature of being able to import over brushes from Photoshop which I've been familiar with. Thus here's a wee late night mess around!

I was thinking we were just about to get into summer season here in Scotland but then suddenly, 5th of May strikes with hailstones, rain and sun! But at least flamingos do tend to evoke thoughts of those sunnier climates with hopeful helpings of Pina coladas.

There was one thing in particular that interested me with the movie Happy Feet - the music was great and it was amazing seeing something so fully animated for its time; but I was so fascinated about the development of the furry wee baby penguin to the sleek adult that they become.

Festive design fitting for everyone who loves dogs. It can also be given as a Birthday or Christmas gift to your best friend, relative, boyfriend or girlfriend who also loves greyhounds. Design is also fitting in time for National Dog Day (August 26th) and National Mutt Day (December 2nd)

Just the sheer size contrast seemed to be enough of a reason to try this - I'll definitely revisit this another time just because of the sheer difference in finding reference material for a hamster but it was fun to attempt this.

Inspired by the walk home through town in Glasgow - passing through the arches from the Royal Exchange Square and onto Buchannan Street on a rainy evening was the main motivation for this piece.

A tin can reaper eagerly awaits his next target.

Between the years of 2016 to 2018 I spent several months working China, this piece originally came up at the start of 2018 during the Spring festival celebrations for the year of the Dog. Fast forward to 2021 and getting back into art - I only felt it was appropriate to do a full paint-over. Coming from a background in which I'm fortunate enough to have a Chinese / Scottish mixed heritage, this is definitely a topic I'll keep returning to.

It was hard deciding the next instrument / animal combo for this; primarily since the duck family seemed to roll off quickly from each piece however the show must go on! For those who knew me during wind band in primary school - the cat obsession still lives on; at least I'm not meowing as a cat-chphrase.

An encounter between two rivalling tribes of different ideals and ways of life.

Wrapped up in all his layers, a stranger embarks into the waddle of penguins in search for communication.

As requested! Based on the Flight of the Concords song - Seagull.

Another for the tropical bird collection!

I got a suggestion to try drawing a Finch - little did I know that the varieties of feather / colour pattern was so immense.

Creative design fitting for everyone who loves ballet. It can also be given as a Birthday or Christmas gift to your best friend, relative, boyfriend or girlfriend who also loves dancers. Design is also fitting in time for National Dress Day (March 6) and National Dance Day (September 18)

A pairing for the other piece - feels good to work on similar themes as opposed to chasing random ideas / topics around.

Cute design fitting for everyone who loves birds. It can also be given as a Birthday or Christmas gift to your best friend, relative, boyfriend or girlfriend who also loves toucans. Design is also fitting in time for National Bird Day (January 5) and National Pet Bird Day (September 17)

Throwback to the original "Someone's Waiting" Rose piece I did back in 2012; a card which is completely up to interpretation on the play on words. Whether in a romantic, hopeful, religious or even bereavement context - this was one of the first pieces which communicated better than I can put into words.

There's a debate in social dancing settings about whether to clap on the on beat or off beat - let's throw it out the window and just clap on the Sloth beat instead.

Okay, who's idea was it to name a penguin macaroni - having to type in macaron only to miss out the (i) was painful enough on pinterest but seriously last but certainly not least - the wee mad scientist looking fellow of the penguin conducting trio. Rockhopper / Macaroni Penguin!

It's nice looking back on years of similar themes / subjects and being able to apply different approaches - even though the sample brushes are similar, it's nice to compare and contrast with something done more recently.

Inspiration surely hits you in the strangest of places - I've enjoyed taking photos of animals, more so when you're able to get fairly close to them with the added advantage of a phone's magnifier. So after getting some snaps of a Robin perched on a tree, here's the outcome of that muse!

Infused with flame, the bandit travels the wasteland.

It was inevitable - tabby the cat had enough of its owner spending so much time in the house since March 2020 and decided enough is enough, the peace and quiet had to return - so tabby took it upon itself to steal the noise horn which seemed to be an impromptu purchase from gear4music last year. No hard felines.

Penguin on bicycle. Why? Not sure. How? Not sure. What? My thoughts are there too - as long as the penguin gets to their destination, that's all that matters.

Wracked my brain trying to figure out this Crane - but glad to finally get it finished after way too long.

Festive design fitting for everyone who loves birds. It can also be given as a Birthday or Christmas gift to your best friend, relative, boyfriend or girlfriend who also loves toucans. Design is also fitting in time for National Bird Day (January 5) and National Pet Bird Day (September 17)

The Heron takes the stage to command and conduct this fleet of musicians both big & small.

A lone figure travels a barren landscape with only his briefcase, suit, glasses and what bits of thought he can still muster.

Couldn't resist doing the alternative species of the macaw, I can't help but be amazed at the how nature goes through colour changes from blue to green naturally in the wild, especially for these colourful birds. Colourful design fitting for musicians who play the flute. It can also be given as a Birthday or Christmas gift to your best friend, relative, boyfriend or girlfriend who also loves birds. Design is also fitting in time for National Pet Bird Day on September the 17th / World Animal Day on October the 8th.

Growing up I was stunned to see blue feathers in parks / gardens - at that time the only bird I felt they belonged to were peacocks but I hardly could imagine one prancing around the local parks. It wasn't until much later on (later than it should've been) that reality hit and those blue feathers belonged to these crafty birds.

Festive design fitting for everyone who loves dogs. It can also be given as a Birthday or Christmas gift to your best friend, relative, boyfriend or girlfriend who also loves greyhounds. Design is also fitting in time for National Dog Day (August 26th) and National Mutt Day (December 2nd)

A mad inventor revels in the results of his experiments in the wasteland.

The Arctic trio - all with a presumed very different style of conducting! This was super fun to work on, purely because the "Conductor baton" kept on getting mistaken as a toothpick through the progress pictures! Although I suppose with all the fish stockpiled, these guys would need something to help sort of their beaky hygiene.