technicolour dream goat...

Another month goes by... means another creature over on the group blog a little bit bunny that I share. This month it's goat and, like with my last blog post, I'm still in a colourful rainbow hued mood. Very unlike me (and the last very secular post) I've actually gone a little religious with the theme. Here's a sneak peek as always with the full illustration to be seen over on ALBB. To comment on something that you cannot fully see here... what with the silly season nearly upon us and time in short supply, I've gone for a short and sweet speedy illustration. That said I'm really very happy with the simple line work and overall retro, somehow 1970's children's book / animation feel. It reminds me a little of the black and white line work characters on the superb animated Paddington Bear tv series from my childhood. I still love the way they set a full colour 3D Paddington Bear puppet in a limited colour 2D / not quite 3D world. I think there's one or two more illustrations I really like to do in the same vein as this goat... watch out.

A very merry Newtonmas (or Isaac's prismatic birthday tree)

That time of the year if fast upon us once again dear folks so here's my secular way of marking the festivities. The short explanation for the image is that December 25th (might) also be said to be Isaac Newton's birthday... the longer explanation, and my similarly inspired card from last year can be found here. For a funnier 'Big Bang' explanation Sheldon explains it more fully than I can ;-)

To slightly elaborate on this years card... Newton ascertained by shining light through glass prisms that white light, far from being colourless, contains all the other colours (just think Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon album cover artwork...). Did you also know that, to experiment on how our eyes function and perceive colour Newton took a bodkin needle, shoved it 'betwixt the eye and the bone' and prodded his own eye ball! I decided that probably wouldn't have been the best thing to show on my card, memorable though it would be.

Physics (and anatomy) lesson over, my very best wishes of the season to everyone and to all a very sparkling new year!

Mr Toad on his way to the wedding...

A friend of mine is getting married next year and wanted a drawing of Mr Toad in his car for the wedding invite. It just so happened I'd already drawn something appropriate (and here) so I just did some recolouring to match their established wedding theme and suggested more hearty shapes in the trees and here he is...

a bit of a troll...

I just snuck my November Troll onto A Little Bit Bunny blog before the deadline (seeing as I suggested troll for the creature of the month I thought I ought to...). Sneek peek here, just his bonce... Bit of an off the cuff, no preplanning troll was this guy. I'd bought the DVD of Troll Hunter all ready to watch the film again for inspiration but just not gotten round to. You must see it. A superb tongue in cheek horror film, refreshingly in a non hollywood, hauntingly beautiful Norwegian setting, that makes use of scandinavian troll myth in it's plot. I still want to do some troll illustrations which reference 'proper trolls' with their glorious names like Ringlefinch, Tosserlad and Mountain King. Till now a fiercely hungry chap under a bridge will do though (a scenario not unlike one in the film...) Watch it!

might I ask for your vote... it's all in a very good charitable cause...

Well the voting has started on the Pedlar's Product of the Month Mug Design Competition I posted about a couple of weeks back and now I stand, cap in hand, asking if you wouldn't mind popping on over to Facebook (if you're one of those individuals in Mark Zuckerberg's pocket, or perhaps know those who are... ;-) to put your tick next to my 'moon and sun' mug design. Just click hear to go there...

I don't ask just for myself you understand, it all goes to a very good cause. The winner of the competition gets to nominate a charity of their choice who will then receive £1 from every winning mug sold. If I win I've chosen Henshaw's Society for Blind People. To quickly explain, my brother is blind and has been a Henshaw's student and service user for a fair few years now. They really are an excellent, life changing organisation, thoroughly deserving of support!

When you have a spare moment (and if you like the design that is...) I'd really appreciate it if you'd take the time out to vote and perhaps spread the word too... Voting ends December 10th so don't delay. Begging post ends folks.

Ta very, very much!

Staithes seaside screen print in progress...

This links back to a post a couple of months back now about a print design I've been working on (off and on while time allows...). I've posted my research sketches and where I got up to on the design so I can move onward and upward from it. I think part of the reason I wasn't happy to date is I've forced myself to try out the screen print design as a single colour only and I've been feeling frustrated that I cannot do some of the colour mixing tricks I love screen printing for. The design acquired a sort of woodblock print feel to it that I did like, although it's a slight departure from my usual approach. Looking on stuff with fresh eyes a few weeks on really helps. I'm not sure quite how I'll proceed but I still think there is an illustration in there. If picturesque is your bag I suggest checking my previous post (link above) for a photo or google Staithes to see just how overloaded with 'picturesqueness' the place is!

Skyfall caricature... I think...

I saw the rip roaringly excellent Skyfall a few days back and ever since I thought I'd have a crack at a Daniel Craig as James Bond caricature. I've always found caricature a real challenge to step up to, that struggle to distill down to those fleeting key shapes and lines which magically sum up a personality. When you see it done at it's best, like the true master Al Hirschfeld for example, it's a glorious art form, although it's maddening when you try it yourself. I think I'd like to have another go at him, simplify the forms and lines much further, not quite so overworked in the facial features, more geometric perhaps, but I should call it a night... I think there's at least something there but the more I look at it the less he looks anything like Daniel Craig at all! It's like when you keep saying a word, the more you repeat it the less it makes any sense... then it gradually begins to sound absurd! A fun quick exercise though. And I highly recommend the film!

gorilla doodles...

I've had these lying round the desk for days... hate them to go to waste. Still stuck on the primates... they're just so much fun!

rude orangutan...

I've orange things on my mind at the moment it seems... The rude chap is a quick doodle loosely based on a photo from the grand Monkey Portraits by Jill Greenberg. Then I couldn't resist having a little play pushing things further...

do I look like a mug to you...?!

I've been working on an illustration for a "Product of the Month" design competition run by Pedlars homeware shop. They stock some very nice limited run prints and, from time to time, get some terrific and surprising original products for sale... when they're gone they're gone kinda thing... For the first month of the competition it's design a 2 colour mug. Just a bit of fun, plus sales from the winning mug go to the winners chosen charity, so something for everyone.

I've opted to submit the orange and brown colour way (the white comes from the mug itself) but, in an ideal world, I think it'd be nice to have a pair, one in warm and one in cool colours. I'll be sure and post when voting starts on the competition...

I'll also get some more artwork from this design which will hopefully lend itself to a screen print sometime soon (I know... I keep on saying I'll be printing... ... just want to amass a few designs before I start mixing costly short shelf life photo emulsions and messing up the pace...). The moon character is also a bit of a character design experiment for a something else I'm working on when time allows. It's not quite there yet but I live in hope... Cheers!