The Hand Drawn Creative Blog

Rewind… The pipes, the pipes are calling…

Here's an illustrated logo from September 2015 for the the Glens of Antrim Pipers. They play the traditional Irish Uilleann pipes (Irish bagpipes to the Layman) and they are HARD to draw, believe me!

Rewind… 33&1/3 at Gallery 1988. Christmas 2014

Christmas 2014 and I was back on Melrose Avenue… well my work was anyway. I'd been approached to contribute a piece to Gallery 1988's Thirty Three and a Third show. I'm glad to say my piece sold. I was also very pleased to have my work hanging in this prestigious pop culture gallery in Los Angeles too.

 

Rewind… Summer 2015 and the Golden Greats Exhibition

So let's kick off the Hand Drawn Creative re-cap with last summer's exhibition as part of Bangor's Open House Festival. I remember the opening night's weather being atrocious – heavy rain & black clouds don't usually get people out at night. But I underestimated the draw of the Open House Festival and opening night was a huge success and Sync Space was packed out. Here are a few of the pieces that were on show on August 2015 along with a short video from local filmmaker Ross McConaghy…

'Sync Space Presents' - Neal McCullough from Ross McConaghy on Vimeo.

  

I haven't gone away you know…

Okay, I'm still here in some form or other. But I see it's been well over a year since my last post. Why, you ask? Well, my two kids who are now at school/brownies/squirrels etc. and that takes up a lot of our free time these days, plus several years of ill health have unfortunately taken their toll on how much attention I've put into Hand Drawn Creative. Fortunately things are swinging back into action and my health issues are very much back in order; but severe sleep apnoea had me falling asleep at my desk up to 20 times a day, dozing off in the middle of conversations, and even behind the wheel of the car. So I quit driving for a while until the condition was diagnosed and treated properly at the start of the 2016.

So now it's summer 2016, I'm obsessed with cycling and mountain biking again – getting the blood pumping, losing weight and wearing the (horrible) clap mask at night to help me sleep well through the night. So like I said, HDC has taken a back seat – but I have still been producing the odd little gem. I just haven't been sharing it here I suppose. I'll try to re-cap on what's been going down and sharing illustrated highlights of the last year or so, before getting back into regular updates on the blog. If you want to comment or get in touch here or through my website, I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers, Neal 

Groovy Movies…

Here's a little fun. My good buddies at Mutiny Filmhouse made this cracking short film all about a day in the life of Hand Drawn Creative. Hope you like it – feel free to share with your chums too.

Let's Learn To Draw The Hand Drawn Creative Way! from Mutiny Filmhouse on Vimeo.

 

Triangles – a new Print

An interesting new direction with this new print. It's on display in Atelier in Belfast if you'd like a closer look, or click on the image and find out more on my Etsy page…

 

Be prepared…

I was quite the active Scout in my youth; Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Venture Scouts. Camping, kayaking, hunting, mountaineering all that good stuff. My Father still works within the organisation and I help him out occasionally with a few design briefs – it's a great feeling to work alongside my Dad, doing work you know will be around for a good few years. We've worked on two new badge designs for the Northern Ireland Scout Assoiation this year. What do you think?

On yer bike etc.

Long time no see Gang – I've been beavering away at a new corporate identity for Belfast's Titanic Quarter. Their fledgling Cylcling Club needed a cool new look to help them along. I think it looks the part, how about you?

 

 

 

Asseyez-Vous…

It's almost time for the next Hand Drawn Creative art show! I've trimmed and cellophane wrapped the last print, James has hung the woodprints to perfection and I'm just about to visit the Barber for a quick tidy-up before the opening night, tonight! The show is called "Asseyez-Vous" and mid-century furniture is very much the theme. If you're in Belfast, please call by Atelier Design in the Refound Building on Wellington Street and have a nose around (it's a very cool studio space). Can't make it? (I do understand most of my customers are on the other side of the world) Don't panic – I'll have prints up for sale on the Store as of next week.

 

 

Out & About with Wacom

I was thrilled to work with an old advertising colleague again recently in Holywood. I was brought in to help on a pitch for a prospective new client (which was a storming success by the way). It was great, also to work in a team for the first time in years. The design office were quite excited in my tecnical kit bag too. I'd brought along my Wacom intuos 5 touch medium tablet (ideal for in-situ freelance jobs like this) and the designers were all keen to try it out. Everyone got a go and everyone was impressed including myself. I don't get much opportunity to use the little guy these days. I think Wacom may have a bit more business after my week at Walkers :D