Halloween

I have been busy these past few days creating an illustration for the DEAD GOOD exhibition in Leeds on Halloween. Or is it 'Hallowe'en'? Probably not important.
Anyway, I tried to think of creepy ideas, but ended up doing one about ghosts; more specifically the ghost of a little boy's Grandad who has come to tuck him in after a night of learning magic and eating candy. So basically, after thinking I might do something a little weird, I ended up doing something rather twee.

The exhibition will be hosting artworks from the likes of Jack Teagle, Matt Saunders, Luke Pearson, Owen Davey, Gemma Correll and many more. It's at the Test Space in Leeds, on, erm, Halloween.

Blog and Buy Sale

Amongst all the cool people I met at the Wrap launch on thursday were James and Jo from Blog&BuySale, a great new website devoted to promoting and showcasing the best new talents in art & design.

Above: Illustrator friends Steve Wiltshire, Becca Pike, me and Jo from Blog&BuySale

They provide 20 stalls for artists and designers to promote themselves online for the small sum of £10 per month and have a fantastic blog which is well worth checking out too.

That's a Wrap

On thursday night I travelled down to London to attend the launch of Issue 3 of Wrap magazine at the Dezeen Space in Shoreditch. I was greeted by Polly, Chris and Harry, the team who've spent many long days and nights lovingly putting together the issue and readying new products including Wrap packs (illustrated wrapping packs including a greeting card/envelope, a sheet of standard sized wrapping paper and 4 vinyl stickers) and Tape Shapes (cute shape based alternatives to sticky tape).

Above: The magazine showing off Lesley Barnes' "Kings of the Forest" and Ruth Munro's "Frozen Berries".

In the middle of the magazine was my own spread and interview. My piece was entitled 'Where Snow Comes From' and is an enchanting tale of two yetis, who are sitting up late at night trying to catch fish for dinner, whilst decorating the scene below with some lovely snow. The image can be seen below:

There are contributions from a range of exciting illustrators and designers from the UK and beyond, including Ben Javens, Tom Clohosy-Cole, Jack Hughes, Iker Spozio and a delightful cover by Josephin Ritschel. If that isn't enough, there are features on ceramicist Stephen Bird, design boutique Smug and much more.

If you'd like to buy it, you can do so here. And after you've bought it and you have seen all the amazing artwork and read the wonderful insights into the work of some great artists, you can take it apart and use it to wrap your presents. You can't say fairer than that!

The Outsiders Book Cover

I've recently fancied doing some book covers for my portfolio and the other day I noticed this contest on The Fox is Black. So I figured I may as well have a go. The image above is my response to the book 'The Outsiders' by S.E.Hinton, a novel which was written when she was an amazing 15 years old.
I wish I could write one now and I'm 23. Anyway, enjoy the work, and pick up the book. Or watch the film.

Images 35 Exhibition

On thursday night, I attended the Images 35 private view at the Bankside Gallery in London. If you are not satisfied with taking my word for it, here is a picture of me happy as can be with my free beer and my framed illustration.

I was very happy to be exhibiting alongside such a talented crop of people, which included Zara Picken (seen above my work), David Hughes, Phil Wrigglesworth, Christiane Engel, Ben Steers and many more.

Below are some of my favourites from the exhibition.

Nevada Map and Images 35

This week, the AOI's annual illustration exhibition, Images 35 opens at the Bankside Gallery in London. I was lucky enough to be selected to exhibit my Tree Hugging illustration and have been invited to the opening night on thursday for a good look around, some beer and to watch all the talented illustrators get their awards.
After I return home to sunny Yorkshire, I'll post a few photos of the event and of course links to a few of my favourite pieces from the exhibition.

Left: My entry for Images 35, right: a recent piece of personal work

I have also recently finished a map of Nevada for my portfolio. I love America and Nevada is one of the places I'd like to visit most, and having researched house prices over there, I found quite a few 3 bedroom houses with 2 bathrooms, a sizable kitchen and a swimming pool for about £90,000. Why can't prices be like that over here?!

Finally, the deadline for Images 36 is friday, so I better get choosing which illustration to enter!

Hope to see many of you down there at the Private View!

Wesbite update and new work...

Recently, I have completed a few more pieces of personal work. The first, on the left, is a piece about procrastination; all the things you do instead of doing work. Having a cup o' tea, playing on the PS3, looking at facebook, messing with your phone etc.

To it's right, is the second most recent piece I have done. It's entitled 'planets' and is an illustration of the 9 (yes thats right, 9) planets I learned about when I was a child. Pluto was still officially a planet when I was a space obsessed child and indeed indigo was still a colour, but that's another story. I have entered it here in the Space Exhibition competition, run alongside the Cardiff Design Festival.

Both, alongside a few others have been uploaded to my website, which I recently tweaked here and there. Check it out here...

The Totems Are Coming Home

Recently, I was contacted by Lisa from inkygoodness and asked if I could contribute an image to an exhibition of their Character Totem project. Having recently been to Berlin, the exhibition- featuring totems designed by very talented illustrators and designers including McBess, Matt Saunders and Toy Factory to name but a few- is now coming back to the UK for a short stint at the Zellig Gallery in Birmingham. The exhibition will be opening to the public on Thursday 21st July.

Along with life size totems such as the one designed by Toy Factory (above), there will be live drawing from Matt Saunders, Kris Jones and Crim Collective, the exclusive launch of AMMO #7, live music, stalls and most importantly of all, BEER!

I was asked to create a piece of art based on the totem theme. Above is a preview of the print, an adaptation of a piece I did earlier in the year for the Publisher's Club 'Totummy' zine. I wanted the image to be taller and more colourful, so I devised a colourful grid-like structure.

More images will be uploaded nearer the time of the exhibition as well as photographs from the opening night. But for now, here are the event details. Hope to see you there!