The Hand Drawn Creative Blog

Heroes…

Here's a rare interview/short film with one of my design heroes Shawn Stussy. The film is by Seth Epstein and the action takes place at S/Double Studio

Shawn Stussy at his Studio from Seth Epstein on Vimeo.

  

Indie Crush #1

Here's the first of a new series of illustrations I'm calling Indie Crush. I'm harking back to those days when playing in an indie band was the coolest job in the world and a long sleeved tee, crumpled pack of Marlboro lights, black jeans & a pair of Doc Martens were standard issue. Ah, the early 90s were a blast, weren't they? Now who remembers Miki from Lush?

And then there were Five

Just wrapping up the G-Force team portraits with Tiny here. Although it's not all over just yet. I'll be working on a Zoltar illustraion before completing a full Battle of the Planets team poster later in early spring.

Tiny & Keyop will be printed next week with any luck. I'll keep you posted.

New G FORCE prints are coming soon!

Been pretty busy, but I'm finally making some progress…

 

Off to the Shops?

I've been toying with the idea of a new online store for a long time now. My Etsy page has done me proud over the last couple of  years, but I've struggled with the lack of control I have over the page structure and overall design.

When appearing at London's Go Global Conference late last year, I was impressed by Mary Tan White's talk about her company moonfruit as an alternative to Etsy. As a result, I've spent the first week of this year designing my own fledgling online store The Hand Drawn Creative Shop (keep it simple). Now I have all my stock on offer in a clean, HDC branded environment (great!)

Until Next Year folks…

Dan Dare Print re-stocked

You may have missed this first time around, but I've printed a new batch, up for sale right now at the Hand Drawn Creative Store for a mere £20.

Vintage Automobiles Print

These illustrations have been on sale before in postcard format, but I've gathered them all here on this colourful little print to celebrate some of my favourite cars.

The Vintage Automobiles print makes a great gift for father or son and will look right at home in either the nursery or the study (My framed copy currently resides in my baby boy's nursery). Each of the cars featured the print are around the size of a Matchbox or Hot Wheels car.

Take a closer look at the Hand Drawn Creative Store

Any questions?

It was great to speak on the "I did it my way" panel at the Go Global conference last week. Contacts were made and new lessons were learned from some great speakers from Moonfruit and moo.com amongst others. Always good to be in London again too (the conference was on London's South Bank, allowing me to cross the Millenium bridge to get there.) Thanks again to Emma Jones & Simon Wicks. Thanks also to Emma Cattell for the press shots you see here.

Brave Sir Robin

I've contributed this piece Brave Sir Robin to the travelling Elemental Birds exhibition, curated by my good friends Andy & Inga Hamilton (AKA MyTarPit & Rockpoolcandy)

 

Bearing in mind the brief's call for positivity, I drew upon my own recent life experiences (starting a new career as a freelance Illustrator in the depths of a recession). It can sometimes feel like it's "you against the world" – but when you manage to pull it off against overwhelming odds, there's no feeling quite like it. I've transferred this sense of "positive defiance" into my piece "Brave Sir Robin, which was inspired by actual events.

From my Garden studio, I often see a little robin in my garden who always holds his own & stands his ground
when larger birds (especially magpies) try to scare him off. I always think "good for you little guy." Stay strong - stand firm!

The Elemental Birds project is a very special experiment to see if artists, printmakers and craftspeople can physically embody feelings of peace, harmony and goodwill in their artwork and tangibly affect the environment in which it’s shown.

Currently in the USA, the exhibition will also be stopping by Lisburn as well as New Zealand and Japan.

PYRAMID ATLANTIC, Silver Spring, MD. USA. 26th September - 3rd October 2011
http://www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org/...

USA Show:- RICHARD F. BRUSH GALLERY, Canton, NY. USA 23rd October – 9th December 2011
http://www.stlawu.edu/gallery/

NI Show:-R-SPACE GALLERY, Lisburn, Northern Ireland. UK dates tbc 2012
http://linenroomslisburn.com/

NZ Show:- Warepuke Print Studio, Bay of Islands, North Island, NZ dates tbc. Xmas 2012/early 2013
http://www.nontoxic-printmaking.co.nz/...