Thursday 22 December 2011

Merry Christmas!

I'm done drawing for a few days but have a smashing Christmas one and all. It's booze, crisps and Fifa from here on in. I'll leave you with the fantastic words of fellow illustrator Matthew the Horse - I swear this one simple paragraph justified hours of time wasted on Twitter.

"Everyone. You're all great. Pants down. Hats on. Make your friend laugh with a silly dance. Have some Brie. Draw a smile."

Wednesday 21 December 2011

My favourite albums of 2011 - winner announced!

Using the first random number generator I found on google and with nobody as my witness I just picked the winner of the original artwork competition - number 22 - none other than Glasgow music obsessive/dj/good egg Anders. I'd understand if the people took to the streets and demanded a stewards enquiry given that I consider him one of my best friends what I've never actually met but I didn't cheat. Cheaters only cheat themselves remember. No I've no idea what that means either.

So I'll probably be spending the next couple of hours drawing a Mo Wax sleeve of his choosing.

In the meantime here are a few more of my favourite albums of the year. I'm almost embarrassed at how fucking predictably Pitchfork-lite it is. Almost. There was a time when I bought new records that weren't just noodle-armed bed-wetting indie rock albums...




Tuesday 20 December 2011

IF - Sink

This weeks theme for Illustration Friday is 'Sink' so here's 'The Day Texas Sank to the Bottom of the Sea' - the best print I've ever released thanks to the fantastic work of Get A Grip.

Monday 19 December 2011

'Scott Walker - Scott 4' - My favourite albums of 2011

Apologies for dragging this competition into another week but I've had a cold and couldn't get this illustration finished last week. So today is your last day to leave your favourite album in the comments section for a chance to win an illustration from me. I'll announce the winner on Wednesday.

'Scott 4' was released in 1969 so some of the more observant amongst you may see a flaw in my choice but I make the rules and as you may be aware most of the records I buy are old ones anyway. I've picked up a lot of Scott Walker albums over the years and I've always enjoyed them but it took 'Scott 4' for him to properly click for me. A kind soul sent me a battered copy just because he felt I needed to remedy the void in my record collection and it's hard to imagine how I'd got this far in life without it. I've played it virtually every day since I got it - it is without a shadow of doubt my album of 2011.

"A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened." Albert Camus

That's what it says on the back of the lp sleeve and with that in mind behold my cack-handed Scott 4! It's borderline sacrilege is what is...

I'm having a competition all this week - if you leave a comment in any of this weeks blogs telling me your favourite album of 2011 you will be automatically entered into a lucky dip. The winner of the lucky dip will receive their very own cack-handed black and white illustration of their favourite album by me. And just to clear things up if you win it can be any album from any year but your comment must be a 2011 album.

Thursday 15 December 2011

'White Denim - D' - My favourite albums of 2011

This nearly didn't make my best of 2011 simply because this cack-handed rendering is very bad indeed. It's so bad I gave up half way through. My only defence is the actual album cover is Photoshop hell although I suspect that's what they were going for. Musically the album is stonkingly good so I suppose I'll let them off. Wigged out psychedelic math rock or something. I should probably stick to drawing but on todays effort perhaps I need a new career path altogether... Watch this to witness the awesomez that is White Denim.

I'm having a competition all this week - if you leave a comment in any of this weeks blogs telling me your favourite album of 2011 you will be automatically entered into a lucky dip. The winner of the lucky dip will receive their very own cack-handed black and white illustration of their favourite album by me. And just to clear things up if you win it can be any album from any year but your comment must be a 2011 album.

And there's a very good chance it'll be much better than this as long as White Denim's 'D' isn't your favourite lp of the year.

Wednesday 14 December 2011

'Real Estate - Days' - My favourite albums of 2011

Unlike my previous two favourites Real Estate's 'Days' was not a slow burner at all which probably means I'll be sick to death of it pretty soon. Although that's hard to imagine given how joyously catchy the jangly guitar pop of lead single 'It's Real' is. And they sound a lot like The Feelies too which is no bad thing as far as I'm concerned. Prep-pop anyone?

I'm having a competition all this week - if you leave a comment in any of this weeks blogs telling me your favourite album of 2011 you will be automatically entered into a lucky dip. The winner of the lucky dip will receive their very own cack-handed black and white illustration of their favourite album by me. And just to clear things up if you win it can be any album from any year but your comment must be a 2011 album.

Tuesday 13 December 2011

'Bonnie Prince Billy - Wolfroy Goes to Town' - My favourite albums of 2011

Following on from yesterday's post here's another of my favourite album from 2011 - Bonnie Prince Billy's 'Wolfroy Goes to Town'. Another slow-burner - had I not bought it on vinyl I think I would've given up on it after a few listens as it was entirely washing over me to begin with. It took a long time to click but I'm glad I persisted - it's stunning. Just goes to show how inherently evil MP3s are. Modern life really is rubbish.

As mentioned yesterday I'm having a competition - if you leave a comment in any of this weeks blogs telling me your favourite album of 2011 you will be automatically entered into a lucky dip; the winner of which will receive their very own cack-handed black and white illustration of their favourite album by me. And just to clear things up if you win it can be any album from any year but your comment must be a 2011 album.

This illustration took longer than I wanted it to and was almost entirely pointless given the cover is an illustration anyway so there was no scope to do much with it. It almost started me down a path whereby I wanted to include albums that have covers that'd be more fun to draw but that would render this exercise even more pointless than it already is.

Monday 12 December 2011

'Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for my Halo' - My favourite albums of 2011

It's about that time of year when people start wheeling out their lists of favourite albums from the year in an attempt to appear vaguely with it and I'm no exception. Except this year I'll be illustrating all of my favourites throughout the course of this week.

In addition I'm going to have a competition. If you leave a comment in any of this weeks blogs telling me your favourite album of 2011 you will be automatically entered into a lucky dip the winner of which will receive their very own cack-handed black and white illustration of their favourite album by me.

First up is Kurt Vile's 'Smoke Ring for my Halo' lp which is probably my actual number one for the year. It was something of a slow-burner for me taking a long time to sink in but now it has I can't be without it. I also got to see Kurt Vile and the Violators in Oakland way back in July and he was the bee's cock.

Friday 9 December 2011

'The Absurd Balloon - The Fatigued Brigade Head Home'

Another day, another Absurd Balloon illustration and another trite working title. I'm really happy with the way the brigade worked out on this piece trudging through the snow - I think I'm officially addicted to ink washes...

Thursday 8 December 2011

'The Absurd Balloon - The Rooftops of Paris'

Here's the final scanned and [sort of] cleaned up version of 'The Rooftops of Paris' illustration from the Absurd Balloon narrative. It's probably my favourite so far of the series.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

'The Absurd Balloon - Unsettling The Herd'

Here's another illustration from my Absurd Balloon story - 'Unsettling the Herd'. Done in pen and ink with some additional ink washes. I'm letting the illustrations dictate the story a bit at the moment - it makes it more enjoyable to develop the narrative that way.

Tuesday 6 December 2011

'The Blue Lion'

This was for a tattoo somebody commissioned me to do. I got the fear halfway through the project so promptly wimped out. Which is especially weedy considering I wasn't actually getting the tattoo. He's quite a handsome looking lion though I think you'll agree.

Monday 5 December 2011

'The Absurd Balloon - The Whale'

Another illustration in The Absurd Balloon narrative. I'm not entirely happy with the breaking water around the whale - it's a bit tame given the size of the whale but I'd have to redo the whole illustration to fix it. And I can't be arsed. The dedication of a true artist...

Thursday 1 December 2011

'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Panda' print

'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Panda' screen-print is available now - click here for more info. It's from a super small run of 22 prints hand-pulled by yours truly and each one has a nifty little ink wash to add tone and texture to the panda's rear-end.



Wednesday 30 November 2011

'The Absurd Balloon - The Rooftops of Paris' work in progress

This is a work in progress of my latest illustration for my Absurd Balloon narrative - 'The Rooftops of Paris'. I penciled it pretty roughly than started inking - it took about three hours or so without the subsequent ink washes. I'm really happy with the way the ink washes turned out - I went at them pretty haphazardly by my standards but I think the smoke plumes look great.

I'll post up the finished piece with an additional ink wash as soon as I can be arsed to scan it - I swear that takes as long as the drawing does and is nowhere as enjoyable...









Tuesday 29 November 2011

'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Panda' print session

Here are some badly shot photos from a screen-printing session yesterday for my seasonal print 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Panda'. As some of you may be aware the illustration is rather old but I wanted to make some Christmas cards and I've always been rather fond of it's wintery bleakness so it seemed to fit the bill. However I soon realised the level of detail would be lost on an A5 screen-printed card so I decided instead to do a small run of prints instead . I'm also going to add a simple ink wash on the panda's rear-end too - it's what he would want.

The print session started terribly when I had a bit of a disaster with my acetate for lining up the paper correctly but I managed to wing it with some draft paper and eventually cue it up correctly. I got 22 good prints from 25 pulls which is good enough.

Friday 25 November 2011

Shop Sale!

I have no real concept of Black Friday but I'm going to have a sale in my shop for the rest of the day anyway. 15% off all orders for the rest of the day - just type in BLACKFRIDAY at the point of sale for your discount.

Thursday 24 November 2011

Calendar 2012

I have a few calendars for 2012 available in my shop featuring various illustrations from this year. They are for promotional purposes and friends and family really but I have a few spare this year. Click here for more info.





Wednesday 23 November 2011

'Flora and Fauna'

'Flora and Fauna' is my take on an original illustration by Nichlole Ratkiss - I did the ink piece last year but didn't quite get round to finishing it. As ever votes and comments welcome here.

Tuesday 22 November 2011

'The Absurd Balloon - Dead Man's Curve'

I've been gradually drawing more Absurd Balloon illustrations for a vague narrative in my head - I did most of this one a year ago but only just finished it. It took an age to scan and paste together too - my scanner seems to have developed focussing issues. That makes me two of us...

Monday 21 November 2011

Pictoplasma Paris

An illustration of mine is going to feature in the forthcoming Pictoplasma exhibition in Paris next month which is fantastic news. I'm not going to post the illustration up until the exhibition is under way but click on the monster below for more information.

I'm a huge fan of Pictoplasma so couldn't be more stoked - not sure I can afford to get out to Paris to see it but I may look into it. Paris, monsters and art - it doesn't get much better than that really does it?

Friday 18 November 2011

The Adam and Eve Projects

I'm rather chuffed to have been asked to contribute to the Adam and Eve Projects;

"THE ADAM AND EVE PROJECTS is a new web based broadcast bringing together the most exciting and important shapers and definers of our cultural landscape in one location. Here the most iconic and emerging creative people / the most respected institutions / and the most progressive brands worldwide, are all in a direct conversation with a global audience hungry for all arenas of cultural production.

Ranging from the informal and spontaneous to the meticulous and long term, exclusive cross disciplinary collaborative projects curated by The Adam and Eve Projects are announced weekly, with ongoing live discussion from these and other esteemed creatives.
Only the most respected and new emerging creative people worldwide, from fields as diverse as Art, Film, Music, Architecture, Fashion, Literature, Design, .... take part. These projects, created across a broad range of media including, video, photography, product, written and spoken word, and illustration are seen alongside direct correspondence from the worlds most progressive and respected brands and institutions."

Alongside some of my favourite other illustrators and artists too including Ben Javens, Matthew the Horse, Jack Teagle and David Shrigley. And Nick Cave. Obviously. Rad.



Thursday 17 November 2011

'Old Man Winter is at it Again'

This is a seasonal illustration I did based on an original piece by illustrator Edgar R McHerly - to be honest I'm not entirely convinced I've added anything to it. Edgar's work is so beautifully stylised that despite my added village details I think his is better. Either way we both benefit from positive votes and comments! Click here to help out.

I'm thinking of screen-printing a small run as Christmas cards too if I get a moment.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

'The Day Texas Sank to the Bottom of the Sea' print now available

'The Day Texas Sank to the Bottom of the Sea' print is now available to buy here. A four colour screen-print printed on beautiful heavy weight recycled paper they are limited to just thirty in all.

They look so good I'm actually having a hard time getting my head around the concept of selling them as well so I'm only going to be letting a few go. The rest I will frame and place in every available room around the house. Perhaps two in some rooms.