The Kinks prints from my last post sold really well (sold out in fact) and I've been beavering away on some new print designs to release by the end of summer. This one is actually for Planet Pulp's August submission (the theme is fictional travel posters). I've researched my old, childhood favourite Dan Dare and created a Space Cruise Poster based on an old Frank Hampson strip from the 50s called Terra Nova. I've not printed it yet – I'll let you know when it's available though
So it's August and it's time to step on the gas and get some new work up and out of the new studio. This is a new 50x70cm (19.5x27.5 inches) print I've produced at my local printworks, printed on Fabriano cream 220gsm. This typographic study using Avant Garde and Trade Gothic is inspired by an old design/slogan used in USA promotion for the Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society LP. I've been a big Kinks fan all my life (I even moved to Muswell Hill on the strength of Ray Davies coming from there). I'm releasing 15 of these prints at £30 each in the next few weeks (just waiting for a delivery of postal tubes). Each one is hand pulled by myself, and as such, no one print is visually perfect, but that's what I love about screenprinting – all the little shifts and imperfections make each print a true original.
I had a pretty busy weekend at the Sea Bangor maritime festival in my role as a Wacom Evangelist. Two solid days of showing the general public all the Wacom tricks I know whilst simultaneously creating an original illustration to commemorate the event. Good fun but hard work, I'm still reeling from it and it's now Tuesday!
I'm going to work further on this piece – there was a lot of glare in the marquee over the weekend, so I couldn't really get a great view of what I was actually drawing. But given all the chatting to interested parties and mini tutorials, I don't think this was too bad for a few days work…
It took a little while but they're finally here. My illustrations of Madmen's Betty Draper and Gundam's Princess have finally broken free into the world of print by way of Belfast's Northside Graphics. I've invested a few quid in this print release, using a fine textured paper (Nettuno Bianco Artico 140gsm).
Both these illustrations have been doing the rounds recently – "Princess" is now the most viewed image on the glorious Planet Pulp website, whilst "Betty" has been featured on the Madmen Recap podcast
Both these Prints are now available to purchase at the Hand Drawn Creative Store for $30. Remember, there are only 20 copies of each print available.
This is a brief I completed in January for KIA Motors through my client RLA Group. KIA are sponsoring Comic Relief this year and I was approached to provide some 'colouring-in' illustrations featuring their current range. Quick turnaround, great fun, happy Client. Here are the results…
Just a New Year's reminder that the good old Hand Drawn Creative Store still has a couple of super limited edition screenprints up for sale. My Ulysses 31design went up for sale in early December, with a limited run of 20 available (as of today, I've got 8 left for sale). So, if you still have some pocket money left over from Christmas why not follow this link and take a closer look.
This is a doodle I've worked upof Madmen's über-housewife, Betty Draper in a memorable scene from the show. Okay, so I'm not the first Illustrator to have been inspired by this TV show, but what the hell! This will be a limited edition digital print out very soon too.
I'm a big Kinks fan, always have been. When I lived in London some years back, there was only one place I could've ended up living… Muswell Hill, home of Ray & Dave Davies. This is a piece I've been working on over the last week or so using one of my favourite Kinks lyrics. It's a good, positive statement, isn't it? Expect a short run of screenprints in the New Year, feel free to contact me if you want to pre-order one.
Okay, I actually completed this a few months back, but the shows only began broadcasting today. In the summer I was approached by the creators of cbeebies phenomenon Sesame Tree to create a library of book jacket designs to appear in the show – the premise being, that Potto pulls a book from the library each episode. This was a great job to work on – so if you have kids, make sure you tune into cbeebies! Here's a sample of what to expect…
The Sesame Tree Gang, featuring Potto (centre) & new character, Archie the Squirrel
Sesame Tree is a co-production with the world-famous Sesame Workshop in New York and the second series will be broadcast on BBC's cbeebies channel from 22 November.