This post is about as close as I'll ever come to being a petrolhead I'm afraid. I'm not renowned for my skills under the bonnet, but I've always had a keen eye for smart automotive design and well buffed bodywork. So here is a selection of recent illustrations I've been crafting with the discerning motorist in mind.
In keeping with my preffered niche market for illustration (weekend & womens' glossies) I've been keeping my hand in with lifestyle illustration. It's starting to become a nice little distraction in the evenings when there is little to watch on television and it's dark outside. Jules will read out selected pearls of wisdom from the Pregnancy Bible whilst I scribble away at an illustration that will hopefully be 'portfolio-worthy'. So here is this week's offering; she's probably called Jocasta or something and daddy owns half of Kensington!
I had a nice comment on the blog a few days ago from someone down the road – a fellow vintage poster devotee. I had a look at some of her vintage pictures collection on the old facebook and thought it might be an idea to show off some of the pictures that adorn my walls and give me inspiration.
I was just driving through Belfast this morning and noticed Ski McNeill's new year ski holiday campaign has stretched to a 48 sheet campaign. I provided the illustrations myself some months ago, working on a glamourous 1930's vintage travel poster concept that went down a storm with the client, who just so happens to collect original artwork from that specific era.
Hey there everyone, I'm just prepping myself for tonight's Inspire Fair at Blick Studios tonight. I'll be exhibiting the Vintage Collection as I'd mentioned a couple of days ago. In addition to kick-ass guitars, I've just picked up my late entry, which is a nice, simple portrait of Belfast Lough.
I didn't expect the prints to get back until early next week, but my printer pulled it out of the bag overnight! Result! This means 2 things:
I started doodling this last night at 21.30h whilst watching TV (something I haven't done for ages). I thought to myself "let's see how long this'll take to do from pencil sketch to finished vector."
What a treat on BBC 4 last night, Quentin Blake (arguably Britain's most famous illustrator) was interviewed by cultural heavyweight Mark Lawson. I saw him speak in London a few years ago at the Illustration Awards and he came across as a charming chap, something this interview only helped confirm.
It's great to see a senior Illustrator of such high standing still working (see his recent work with David Walliams), he also took on the role of Curator at the National Portrait Gallery and Paris' Petit Palais and continues to work at setting up House of Illustration Museum.
I love his work, so simple, messy and cheerful, it's great to see him displaying his work in Maternity & Children's Wards. His official website is a treat too.
Great interview. Very inspiring. It's on the BBC iplayer and I'm sure it'll be on youtube soon.
Here's a funny little job I worked on a while ago – at the start of May the Belfast Telegraph briefed my then employer with a brief to create a graphic for one of those 'Bags for life' thingy's that everybody goes nuts for these days (but always manages to leave at home when they actually go to the shops!)
Great fun! Like most Graphic Designers I love a challenging brief at 9am on a Monday. Slight problem though, the print deadline was 2pm the same day. But like I say, we designers love a challenge, and so it passed that at 14.00 hours the finished artwork was winging its way down the information superhighway – but, jeez!, what was the rush?!
A question I'm still asking, because 6 months later, after I'd completely forgotten about it, the bags were finally released yesterday a our local Sainsbury's, as you can see modelled here by my beautiful wife Jules. Looks pretty cool though, don't you think?
This is the first (and probably last) time I've blogged on public transport. It makes for a very shaky typing experience if you're using an iPhone!
I've been pretty busy this week working on a downloadable PDF portfolio for Hand Drawn Creative. It's taking some time but should be up some time very soon. In the meantime I'll leave you with the cover illustration of me in my home office. Well, I'll upload it whenever I get back home from this seemingly endless busride!
Here's something fun. I've worked on these five realistic guitar illustrations over the space of a year or so now, and I've printed a very limited edition run of each guitar (10 of each). If you're interested in buying a print, why not go to my flickr page for a more detailed view of each guitar. I've signed and numbered each print, and once they're gone – that's it – there won't be another print run. I haven't set up a a paypal store yet, so I can only accept cheques at this stage. By way of an apology, I'll wave any postage costs for delivery!