Iive illustration @SolenteXchange

Here's a quick time-lapse of the visual wall I did for the Solent eXchange that took place on the 13th of September. It was about 5 hours worth of live illustration taken with a digital SLR on a mode which allowed time-lapse. Notes were taken from the conference by my colleagues and I illustrated major points and issues of the conference. It was exhausting but incredibly enjoyable. Manage to pocket some business cards off some potential future clients at the same time.

ps I apologize in advance for the jumping pose that has unfortunately made its way on the ending bit and the preface of the video.

Solent eXchange - Visual Wall from Solent TV on Vimeo.

Elvis sketch

This is a sketch of The King I did a while back for a friend at uni. I usually don't do too much drawing from photographs and try and make it look real. Embarassingly I'm actually quite fond of it! Paha!

SUPA HOTT mural at the SoCo

Today was the last day on the mural. Finished off the T in HOTT added a moon and a sun to create some depth and signed if off the corner like a boss. As for the size of the piece - the little frame on the far left of the photo is the door. A big thank you to Matt Salvage of SoCo Music Project for giving me this opportunity and also for taking this picture for me!

So here it is everyone! SUPA HOTT!!! -- enjoy

SUPA HOTT mural at the SoCo (work-in-progress)

So here's what I've been working on the past few days. SoCo have invited me in to do a wall piece for them. Its still a work in progress - as you can see the SUPA HOTT bit isn't all completely done yet. This is my second day on it. The picture quality is a bit on the crappy side and once I get it done I'll take pictures with a digital SLR so the true colours come out. Looking at it now, that last T is looking a bit awkward on its own there...

Be Cool

I just got playing around on my Photoshop today. One of my first pieces to be done entirely digitally. I've been seeing a lot of banner-like design and I thought I'd have a little go at trying to incorporate some clean cut fonts into it. Drawing with a tablet is haaaard.

Dreams and Descriptions

Recently I have been working with fashion student Natasha Clarke on her final major project. The project is based on dreams and the I was asked to illustrate various parts of it. One of the briefs that I had to meet was to create an image for each entry of the dream description. The headings were (from the top) Broken Nest, Alter Ego, Time Travel, Going Underground, Insects and Transformation. The text was supplied and had to be on it. Most of the materials I had used is scrap paper lying around in my studio and from unsellable books from a nearby charity shop. Really enjoyed making these images but now my room looks like the war zone.

the Queen of Clubs

...here's another card print. This time of the Queen of Clubs. Really digging the red!

Card Prints

Yesterday I got down to the print rooms. It was only Charles in there so I thought I'd get some use of the left over card in the paper scrap and make card prints. I did the J of hearts first and then moved on to do the K. I'm really liking the process at the moment and might just have to keep busting a couple more out.
(also, the J of hearts is actually based on my beautiful gf Jenn Evans)

New prints for 'déjà vu'

Here are a few pieces from my sequential narrative déjà vu. The story is about a forest that gets cut down to make way for a new factory and town. The factory blurts out smoke. It eventually gets closed down and the people leave. Nature takes back over and the trees grow around the derelict ghost town. I've chosen to use newsprint paper to print these images on - I am really fond of the quality and feel of it. I have put a lot of work in the compositional side to make sure they feel balanced on the pages.

Paris sketches

Recently I went away to Paris with my illustration course - a mix of first, second and third years. Here are a few images from my sketch book. I carried around with me the Moleskine (r) sketchbook that nan got me this Christmas, a 4B pencil (always sharpened) and a small collection of Crayola colouring pencils that the missus got me. Paris was beautiful, I can now understand why so many artists want to move and live there for the rest of their lives.

the little fidgety barn owl

(...continued from the last life drawing session) These are some of the sketches I did of the little barn owl. He was a fidgety little thing about 20cm in height. I loved the different forms that he would make with his body - an ace model. At one point he did seem to get a bit tired and dozed off for a wee bit (barn owls are nocturnal).

Birds of Prey

Today for life drawing class we got to draw several birds of prey. These birds were perched in the middle of the room where a model usually sits and we got to draw them for 3 hours. The sketch above is of a Great Horned Owl. I managed to get really close to it. It was a really gentle creature, about 40cm in height. It was a good way to de-stress. There was also a gyr falcon, a little barn owl, a kestrel, a Bengal eagle owl, a red-tailed hawk and a Harris hawk - all in one room!!

Last minute panics

This was the original idea for the Lloyd's TSB brief. I was going to submit it under the 'we stretch ourselves' brief. But after having a bit of a discussion with one of the tutors, it made me realize that the last image raises more questions than it should. A common one was - what does the triangular shape mean? To be honest I chose it because it was rather quirky looking and I was then interested in its never-ending path. Might have to do another piece that sticks a little bit better to the brief. Oh woe is me who has a wandering mind.

entry for Fecal Face

This is a piece I entered a while back for a Fecal Face's Free Fridayz. Every week a new title pops up and people will submit artwork for it. I did this one for the title, Out of Order (posted just before Christmas). It got a few votes but it was just nice to see my work up on another website.

Lloyds TSB competition piece update

Deadline is closing in and so panic has settled in rather nicely in my guts. I've changed the colour pallette to something more harmonious. Final piece?

a little something from the note book

Had a busy week where I played around with a 2500 word essay and seeing how last minute I could leave it. Fortunately the missus gave me a kick up the arse and got me moving two days before the deadline. AND LOOK WHO CAME UP ON TOP! It just made me realize that I am terrible with getting the thoughts out of my head, processing them into words and placing it on a Word document. Here are some lecture notes from quite a while ago and some not too a-while-ago.

Exhibition @ Soul Cellar, Southampton

I've got a few pieces up at the Soul Cellar thanks to Johnny Toaster's Paul and Tom Solomon. Got 4 pieces mounted on the wall and there are smaller prints* behind the bar for £15.00. It'll up for the next 2 months so have a gander if your around that way. Amongst mine are works by Billy Mathers, Ollie Stone, Jasper Dunk and Oliver Dashwood.
(*see below)

Climbing wall piece

This is a piece I did earlier for the climbing club at St Mary's. The box was 150cm in height and a bit over 100cm in width. It was dropped off at around 10.00 am yesterday morning and completed by 7.00 pm that evening.
The inspiration for the piece came from the famous section in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling - The Creation of Adam. It was more of the composition that interested me. I inscribed touch the sky into the arm of the man in the sky because of the heights of some rocks that some people climb to. I really like how its turned out. Almost a shame its going to have bits drilled into it.
....oh I've still got my Lloyds TSB art competition to be getting on with. To whoever is out there reading this,
Wish me luck please!