Thursday 26 September 2013

'A Confederacy of Dunces' t-shirt

The literature and art inspired clothing company Miles to Go have just released my 'A Confederacy of Dunces' t-shirt.  The book remains one of my favourites and one I've reread several times.

For the design I wanted Ignatius to be the focus but I also wanted to represent New Orleans somehow.  I tried to illustrate him standing in front of some NO landmarks but it didn't work so I sourced an old NO map from the era ACOD is set in and proceeded to brainstorm some ideas.  It didn't take too long to see that the boundary line of NO was such that I could potentially have a portrait of Ignatius that inhabited the city centre. 

I finished the illustration then tried to add an obvious map element to it with a street map label featuring the Miles to Go logo but we (Greg MTG) decided that maybe it needed a quote instead.  Initially I went with "Leaving New Orleans also frightened me considerably. Outside of the city limits the heart of darkness, the true wasteland begins" which was almost too good with regards to the design but not really that in keeping with the tone of ACOD.

The book has so many brilliant quotes to pick from but eventually we settled on the Jonathan Swift quote that introduces the book;  "When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him".

Click here to buy one. 






Wednesday 25 September 2013

'Stag Plantae' t-shirt

I would really like to see 'Stag Plantae' on a t-shirt so I've submitted it to Threadless. If you would too click on this link and give it a 5 and leave a nice comment please! If you don't that's fine too.

Tuesday 24 September 2013

The Giant Bear of Spruce Lake Farm

Earlier this year I was approached about illustrating and designing some wedding invites featuring my giant spirit bears.  I was slightly hesitant initially thinking it could look a bit cheesy with the wrong fonts and too much wedding guff but ended up really enjoying the process not least because Roz and Mike were such a joy to work with.  Below are some photos of the final invites and related correspondence I designed for the day. 

Many congratulations to Roz and Mike!









Friday 20 September 2013

Hewett Street Block Party with Puck Collective

Puck Collective will be tattooing salty sea dogs and filthy land lubbers alike at the Hewett Street Block Party tomorrow.  Temporary tattoos are pirate themed and alongside Puck Collective there will be a food court, live music, t-shirt printing and much more besides. Click here for more info.

Here are my temporary tattoos for the event.




Thursday 19 September 2013

'Stag Plantae' screen-print

My new screen-print 'Stag Plantae' is a limited edition three colour print I made for the Puck Collective exhibition 'Puck in the Box' at Boxpark in Shoreditch this summer. It's based on an illustration I drew back in 2011 which was a remake of Nichole Lillian Ryan's beautiful piece 'Flora and Fauna'.

The print is limited to an edition of 20 hand numbered and signed screen-prints, printed on 42cm x 42cm heavyweight paper. Each print varies ever-so-slightly as they were hand-pulled and registered by me but that's part of the charm of screen-prints.  Click here to buy one.  


Friday 13 September 2013

BRIT Kids Illustration and Printmaking Saturday course

As mentioned a while back on this blog I have a Saturday class with BRIT Kids starting in a week or so.  The course has been slightly tweaked to include Illustration as well as Printmaking;

"This course is aimed at giving the students a contemporary and traditional experience in Illustration and Print. You will work with print process such as screen-printing and mixed media print processes. Alongside this you will work with industry Creative Suite packages such as Illustrator and Photoshop. Each term will see students introduced to different processes, resulting in a collection of works on paper. Students will be working in our specialist studios. To gain the full range of techniques, you are advised to attend at least three terms of workshops. This course is for 12-15year olds."

More details and how to apply can be found here

Here's a feature that ran in the local newspaper.  Click on it to read more.

Friday 6 September 2013

'Artcrank' print

Here's my limited edition screen-print for the Artcrank London exhibition that took place a couple of weeks ago but I've just been informed all of the prints will be on display and for sale at the cycling shop/cafe Look Mum No Hands on Old Street for the next two weeks.  The screen-print is a one colour print in a metallic grey and is a run of thirty.

My idea was to illustrate lots of elements of my day-to-day cycling life in London in a comic panel format; I initially set out to do forty or so illustrations but the design became too busy so I picked the best of the set for the final artwork.



Thursday 5 September 2013

'Oh the Horror' t-shirt

My 'Oh the Horror' design has been tweaked slightly and made into a t-shirt available now via Threadless - click here to buy one.  Threadless are having a sale at the moment so you can get one for $15, so that's my mum's Christmas present sorted anyway.




Wednesday 4 September 2013

Off the Barrow collaboration 'New Begginings'

Purveyors of fine creative goods Off the Barrow approached me about an on-going limited edition print series and I was more than happy to get involved.  From their website;

"We’re delighted to announce a brand new feature on Off the Barrow today!  It’s been in the works for the last few months and we’re excited to bring you the official launch of ‘Limited Edition’!

The project is simple. We’ve teamed up with talented illustrator Mat Pringle, who will be producing a piece of work for us every month. The briefs for these monthly creations will come from businesses who will partner with the feature, from us here at OTB HQ and from you lovely folk, the fans of OTB!

Mat’s illustration will go on sale as giclĂ©e prints (framed & unframed) from the 1st of each month and will be available to purchase for that month only! After it’s time is up, the work will never again be sold, anywhere! When it is then confined to the ‘Limited Edition’ archive, the next month’s illustration will replace it and the cycle will continue!

So, this is truly ‘Limited Edition’ artwork up for grabs. It won’t ever be put into production again and the size of the print-run will be determined by how many of you decide to snap one up!

Here’s the best part: All profits from the feature go directly to Mat for his hard work in creating a new illustration every month; and he has generously decided to donate 20% of that sum to registered charity, The MS Society; so not only would you receive a beautiful art print, you’d also be supporting a talented illustrator and a registered charity, win win win!

Each print measures 6 x 8″ and is produced on high quality 260gsm zeta linen textured stock, with the option of receiving your print framed or as a loose sheaf. All prints are hand-stamped with an OTB mark of authenticity."

Click here to purchase one.

I decided to take the 'New Beginnings' concept in an adventurous direction illustrating some key equipment and provisions for a bit of creative wandering.  Illustrated in dipping pen and ink with some additional ink washes it did actually make me want to go on a woodland adventure.  I settled on seeing 'Kings of Summer' at the cinema instead.