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Compass of Desire Festival 2009

This year's Compass festival theme is desire. The festival will cover the many facets of desire in a broad range of media and gets bigger and more exciting each year. The illustration above will be the front (right-hand side) and back (left-hand side) cover for the programme. I needed to make sure that the illustrations were culturally accessible because the festival looks at each theme from the perspective of other countries. The front cover conveys the positive connotations of desire whilst the back cover delves into the darker, negative side. 

Below is the original illustration for the programme which wasn't suitable because it focuses too strongly on Adam and Eve therefore implying a christian theme when the festival incorporates a vast variety of religions and cultures. I do however quite like it and thought it would be a shame for the cover to never see the light of day, so here it is for your viewing pleasure.

It will also be the first year that the new Compass logo will be used. I posted it on this blog a little while back but here it is again if you missed it.

The Bento Bestiary now on sale at Nobrow!

The Bento Bestiary is now available to buy from Nobrow as well as a new print taken from the first issue of the Nobrow 'Gods and Monsters' journal. This is my very first book and I was lucky enough to collaborate with my very good friend and writer extraordinaire, Scott James Donaldson (Scott is one of the writers for the 'Untimely' blog with fellow wordsmiths, Sam Butler and Philip Contos). Scott and Myself wanted to take the ancient Japanese Yokai and re-interpret them in a whole new light but still stay true to their origins. The result is this very sexy hand-printed book which was screen-printed in 3 colours by the very talented chaps at Nobrow and is limited to just 100 copies.

The 'Gods and Monsters' prints are actually the original images for two Yokai called Nue and Neko-mata. These prints were actually the catalyst for The Bento Bestiary and are for sale individually or as a set from Nobrow. Go on treat yourself!

Green Lantern 63 Covered

My redraw of the cover for Green Lantern 63 can now be seen (next to the original by Neal Adams) over on Covered blog. 

Bento Bestiary Pre-Order at Nobrow!

Head over to Nobrow because The Bento Bestiary is now available for pre-order and will be sold exclusively from their website. Get in there first and guarantee yourself a copy of this very limited edition, hand printed book. Huzzah!

Bento Bestiary In Progress

Hot off the press, or should I say 'wet' off the press! The Bento Bestiary is nearing completion as Sam, Al and Owen from Nobrow pour sweat, blood and tears into this hand printed limited edition book. Only 100 of these sumptuous darlings will be made featuring all the Yokai that Scott and Myself could catch or poke small twigs at.

Character Designs

Today, I drew....

...a fish...

..and some grain.

I've had a lovely day drawing lots of icons and symbols for Wonky's 'Climate Changed' project. These are two of my favourites.

Another Bento Beastie!

Meet Inugami, the dog god, featured in the soon to be released Bento Bestiary. Head over to Nobrow's new website and read more about my first limited edition, hand printed book.

New Compass Logo

This is the new logo for Compass International, who are now approaching their fourth year with the festival of Desire. 

Nobrow Magazine Presents 'Gods and Monsters'

The first Nobrow Journal is launched today and it's a steal at a mere £9 so order yours at Nobrow.net, you won't regret it. The cover is illustrated by the super awesome Stuart Kolakovic. Below is my contribution to the issue illustrating two Yokai, Nue and Neko-mata, dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller. Both of whom are featured and re-designed in the Bento Bestiary, that is due out very, very soon.

Nobrow-JaguarShoes Press Release

To celebrate the release of our first publication ‘Gods and Monsters’ we will be exhibiting the work from the edition in large scale format at Bar and exhibition space; DreamBagsJaguarShoes.

Private View: Thursday 14th May, 2009
Exhibition: 15th May – 28th June 2009
DreamBagsJaguarShoes,
32 Kingsland Road, E2.

Nobrow Issue 1: Gods & Monsters. Printed in two spot colours in a limited edition of 3000 numbered copies it gives a high quality platform to artists and illustrators both new and established. The diverse contributors were hand picked for their unique styles and all were invited to generate work based on the theme. Some are up and coming, others are plucked from unexpected places, all are talented.

Contributors are: Dave Taylor, Alex Spiro, Sam Arthur, Jordan Crane,Emiliano Ponzi, A. Richard Allen, Jens Harder, Reuben Rude,Benjamin Guedel, Eda Akaltun, Matthieu Bessudo, Caspar Williamson,Toby Leigh, Alex Bland, Ben Newman, Nick White, Stuart Kolakovic,Sarah King, Leah Hayes, Paul Blow, Bjorn Rune Lie, Brett Ryder , Carl Johanson and Blexbolex.

It will be available for the super special intro price of £9.00 in the following shops from the 15th May: Magma (Clerkenwell & Manchester branches), ICA, Gosh Comics, Beyond The Valley, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Koenig Books, Camden Arts Centre, Arnolfini Gallery, Here Gallery, Soma and many, many more.

Russian Doll For Pocko

This cheeky fella is currently winging his way to the Metropolis exhibition in Milan which starts on the 21st of May at the Pocko Gallery. Each Pocko artist has been asked to design a Russian Doll for the show so I'm really looking forward to seeing them all lined up together.

In other news, check out Sharesomecandy.com which I have been contributing to along with a whole host of talented folk from across the globe. Hit the link below to treat those peepers.
Thanks for reading!

Cinemascope Exhibition Now On!

These two prints are a limited edition of 12 and went on sale on the 8th May at the Cinemascope exhibition in Brighton. The show will run until the 31st May at the Boxbird Gallery. 

New T-Shirt From Roxbury!

Smash your piggy bank and raid your Mum's purse because Roxbury Industries have launched their new T-shirt designed by me. Click here to purchase this bad boy, you know you want to.

The Good Old Days

I was transferring some old work and general clutter from my computer to my external hard drive when I found this old video from 2006. I then remembered that I had posted it on YouTube a long time ago. These videos are from Safetyword's album launch at the The Cube Cinema in Bristol on the 2nd December, 2006. I designed a series of simple moving images for each song on the album and on the night I had to watch the show through a tiny glass window in the projection booth at the back. This was because I had to press the 'next chapter' button on the DVD remote at the end of every song and I think I accidentally press 'stop' in the middle of one of the songs and the background disappears. Whoops!

I dug around on my computer and found the poster for the night too. This was my first gig poster design. Hope you enjoy!

NIDO Magazine Launches Today

This is one of two illustrations featured in the brand new NIDO magazine based in Germany. 

More Bento News

Head over to Nobrow for some more details.

The Bronnt and Crease Album Launch Poster

A joint album launch for Bronnt Industries Kapital and Iron Crease promises to be a truly great night and with The Dagger Brothers in support, they'll be turning the 'PARTY' all the way up to 11. BOOM!

Uncertain Future

Here are two more concept images from the 'Climate Changed' project for Wonky.

Climate Issues

I'm looking forward to taking a day off in May so that I can pluck all of my new gray hairs out of my head. The last couple of months have been non-stop so I just wanted to show you kind folks some images from a project I've been working on with Wonky, an animation studio based in Bristol. Hopefully, once pitched, this project will develop into a fantastic animated documentary or interactive game under the title 'Climate Changed'.

The first image represents an idea of our current climate with glaciers dwarfing cities but pollution still being a factor in our everyday lives.
This image represents the year 2050 if we continue expanding our cities and destroying our environment. Water levels will rise because the glaciers are melting at an alarming rate and the sun will become more dangerous as the ozone layer is broken down due to the intense pollution.
The third and final image demonstrates that we need to find a way to even out what we take and what we give back environmentally so that we can reach a compromise with nature. The space cars below are hover cars that work by using reusable energies. I know they look stupidly futuristic but back in the 60's and 70's the interpretation of the year 2000 was freaking bonkers, just look at Buck Rogers. I suppose I'm still bitter that the 'Back to the Future II' hover boards were never made. Damn you Michael J Fox and damn you too 1980's.
I'll post some more of this project soon if anyone is interested. Thanks for reading!

Bento Bestiary Presents Amirkiri

Here is one of my favourite Bento Beasties, the cheeky Amirkiri. The Bento Bestiary will be a limited edition book hand-printed by the fine gentlemen at Nobrow Limited. It's designed and illustrated by myself and written by the incredible Scott James Donaldson. I'm really excited about this book and hopefully more details will follow soon. 

"THE NEGATIVE BATMAN"

If you haven't checked out the Covered blog then you should spend more time indoors looking on the internet. (It's a well known fact that computer screens give better 'tans' than the sun, just ask any doctor.) The premise for Covered is to round up cartoonists, illustrators and anyone else who likes to draw and get them to re-interpret comic book covers. It's such a simple and fantastically brilliant idea. It is updated once a day Monday to Friday and has me hooked.

I have had the original of this issue sat on a shelf for over a year and this blog finally gave me the excuse to re-draw it. You can see my version next to the original here.

Sneak Preview and excerpt from The Bento Bestiary

NINGYO
Words by Scott James Donaldson

Pleasingly hairier but no less alluring than the Western Mermaid, the Ningyo is a very special creature. Not only is this breed of Yokai blessed with golden scales upon their carp-like bodies, but they are also fortunate enough to have a cheeky little monkey’s face up top. More than likely, it is this dynamite combination that makes them such excellent flute players.
Found in seas off the coast of Japan, it is incredibly rude to catch and eat a Ningyo without it’s consent. If you do, you will probably die. Or there will at least be a very nasty storm. Somewhere.
If the Ningyo does invite you to sup upon it’s fragrant, tasty flesh, please be aware of the following:
• You will never grow old.
• You will never die.
• Everyone you ever loved will age and fall before your eyes and you will weep for all eternity in maddening solitude.
• You’ll look great.
Choose and Perish.

Bento Bestiary Sneak Preview

Coming soon!

Boxbird Presents the CinemaScope Exhibition

AArrgghh! I only meant to post one of these prints but I think they look better put together. These two prints will be available from the 8th May at the Boxbird gallery in Brighton during the Fringe festival. The show is called 'CinemaScope' and features a host of fantastic Boxbird artists and invited talent. Click here to see the ace line-up. Each artist will produce two A2 prints based on any film of their choice. I chose 'Shogun Assassin' and the 'Fistful of Dollars Trilogy'. 

Kindred Tree

This is an in-house design for Geronimo Communications and Mustoes AD agency as they merge to become 'Kindred'. I had about 24 hours to produce this picture and I was really pleased with the final pencil drawing so I thought I'd include it in this blog post for your viewing pleasure.

Swami T-Shirt Now on Sale!

Head over to Fresh Cotton to purchase my new Swami T-shirt. Huzzah!

Rubix Cubes

Finished this poster for the Socialism club night at the Thekla last week. I've never managed to complete a rubix cube in my entire life. If you have then let me know how it feels to be a puzzle master. Puzzle puzzle.

Beasts Book 2

Jumping Jupiter! My copy of Beasts Book 2 arrived yesterday and I've finally put it down long enough to photograph it. A huge thank you to Jacob Covey for asking me to take part in the project. The book looks sublime and contains over 90 artist's interpretations of Beasts. It really is awesome. Here is the cover and my illustration printed in the book.

Stikini in San Francisco for 100 Beasts

Just finished this new print of my beast from Beasts Book Two printed by Fantagraphics. Giant Robot in San Francisco are hosting an incredible show of prints and original art work from both books one and two of Beasts that starts on the 17th January. Images from the book and new permutations will make up the 100 beasts on display. Check out the Beasts blog for more updates. My original beast that features in the book can be seen below.

'Russian' Prints For Sale at Rotopol

These two prints of mine are now available from Rotopol Press in Germany. They are UltraChrome prints on Hahnemühle cotton rag paper and are both a limited edition of 30. Start counting those pennies or nagging your parents so that you can get one in time for Christmas. Click on this link to get shopping.

RNDM SLKTR HOLIDAY SPECIAL

My good friend Steve asked me to design a poster/flier for this night of audio delight. It'll be the live debut of his new band IRON CREASE and is an action packed evening of bands and DJ's for a 'credit crunching' £2. Steve used to play in one of my favourite bands, Safetyword, but they disbanded in May. If you are interested in hearing Safetyword then check out their website and you can download a selection of their songs for free. I highly recommend that you do.

Interview at Boxbird and Metropolis Collaboration

Recently I was lucky enough to collaborate with super ace photographer Jan Von Holleben on a project for our agents at Pocko. I'm a big fan of Jan's work and was super pleased to get paired up with him and scribble over one of his photos. We had to create an image based on the theme of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Above is finished piece and if that isn't exciting enough then go and check out Boxbird for more verbal mumblings from myself. Yes, thats right another interview. So if the first one didn't bore you into a coma then there's more. Drone.

Interview at The Lepanto League

I was interviewed a couple of weeks ago by the awesome, Bobby Jewel. He put a lot of thought into these questions and you can now read my verbally dribbled response in full on Bobby's blog. Just click here to go and read it for yourself. Easy Blud.

Pocko Design

Just finished this little picture for my agent, Pocko. All of us have been asked to contribute a design for the bottom of their emails. 

Lust, Greed and Gluttony for Migrate Magazine

'RUSSIANS' AT ROTOPOL PRESS (PRINT 2)

Here is the second print for the 'Russians' show by Rotopol Press. This print is based on the Russian poster design for the film 'Symphony of a Big City' . It was designed by the Stenberg Brothers who used constructivism and elements of Dada to create bold, striking, graphic imagery for many films released in Russia in the early 20th century.

So anyway, I drew a man with a half a camera for a face and a ladies head on an aeroplane. Hopefully the title in Russian says 'Camera eyes' and not 'hot cock'.

'RUSSIANS' AT ROTOPOL PRESS (PRINT 1)

This is my first print for the 'Russians' show that will be curated by the brilliant Rotopol Press in Germany. I'm working on the second one at the moment but I was too excited to wait and post them together. This print is called 'High ten for Doctor Crane' and I used a web translator to translate that title into Russian so I apologise to any Russians for butchering their language.

'Doctor Crane' is based on a old soviet poster design by Semion Semionov for a film called 'Turksib'.

Roxbury T-Shirt Design

I just finished this T-shirt design at the weekend for Roxbury Clothing. Things have been pretty pretty busy as I've just moved into a new flat and have been working on numerous projects and briefs. One of the projects is called 'eyes, eyes afar' and is going to be a bucketful of awesome. Alright!

Psychic Vampires

Here is my double page illustration for Bizarre magazine about psychic vampires and will appear in their halloween issue that comes out later in the month. A psychic vampire is the term given to people who feed of your life force or energy. Most people are unaware of psychic draining but some people love being drained of energy. Weirdos. 

Another Screen Print

I finished this print a little late for it to go into the 'Solo-o-lio-lio' show in Falmouth but I'll keep you posted on it's availability. The print is called 'Howdy-do-di' and is a four colour screen print. It is only a small edition of 12 so contact me if you would like to know more via my website.

Holy Screen Print!

Yep, yep, yep! Here it is. The 'Holy Totems' screen print in it's photographed glory. These prints won't be available in my shop until various web content is changed on my site. However, they will be available at various shows this autumn starting with 'Solo-o-lio-lio' at the Here and Now gallery in Falmouth. Solo-o-lio-lio opens this Monday and will feature heaps of affordable prints by me.

Libra

Starting this Saturday (27th September), my Libra star sign illustration will appear in the Telegraph magazine for the next four weeks. These are the four different colour designs that will be featured over the next month.

Pixel Thread Blog Header

I was asked a while back by Sam Menter to design a blog header for his site, 'Pixel Thread'. I've worked with Sam on numerous projects over the past year and I think this one was my favourite. Sam works as web designer and Pixel Thread is his outlet for sharing his knowledge and opinions of all things digital. Above is the final header and below is the full robot body.

Little Old Owl takes his wheels for a spin.

Ka-Pow! Blammo! Wham! Bang! Zap!

I'm terrible at drawing pictures of people that actually look like the person I've drawn. So to help you all work out who this picture is of I have adorned him with various nostalgia from the show he was made famous by. Holy molars! It's Adam West. This is my submission for Dangerous Ink magazine as they are interviewing the man himself for their next issue.

Secousse Illustration for Plan B

Illustration for the October issue of Plan B. The image will be used for a playlist selected by the Secousse club. If you would like to find out more about Secousse then head over to www.myspace.com/secousseclub.

'Gagged' in Bath

This past week I have been in an exhibition called 'Gagged!' with Andy Council and Neil Kelly at the Walcot Street Chapel in Bath. 'Gagged' was put together by my good friends Dunstan Baker and Kath Cockshaw better known as the Fine Art Print Company. Dunstan has been printing and proofing my Gilcee prints for about two years now so it's always a pleasure to be involved in his and Kath's shows.

HOOT-HOOT

The Third screenprint design. Hopefully these should be available from the beginning of October. I'll keep you posted. Ta-ra!

Howdy-do-di!

The second new print that will be available this autumn is called 'Howdy-do-di' and features a bird on a unicycle. 

Holy Totems!

A friend rang me today and asked what I was doing. I told him I was drawing a totem pole playing a gameboy. He sighed at me. So I told him about a bird on a unicycle.

This is the first of a bunch of new screen prints that will be available this autumn.

Printing at SNAP

I had a fantastic time screenprinting at SNAP studios today. Tom Frost and I spent the day under the watchful eye and handy hands of Lucie Sheridan. It was such a great change from being cooped up at home by myself. We even managed to break for a pub lunch. Purrfeck!

Heres my bulbous body printing my reds.

Lucie's first layer of her robot card.

A row of my red layers.

Tom and his finished print.

Heres a close up.

A row of 'celebrity squares'.

The finished 'celebrity squares' print.

If you wish to see more of Lucie's work then check out www.luciesheridan.co.uk and www.snapstudio.org.uk/artists/index.php. To see Tom's work go to www.gumboillustration.co.uk. Thanks for reading!

SNAP, CRACKLE, PRINT

Here is a preview of a screen print that I'll be printing next week with the help of Lucie Sheridan at the Snap gallery and studios in Bristol. My print will be one of 24 prints by 24 different artists to celebrate Snap's first birthday. All the prints will be editions of 40. I'll post up some more details as soon as I have them.

I'm thinking of developing a print with this celebrity squares idea. Basically the idea is........... loads more squares!

Eat Your Heart Out!

This is the first time I have painted in almost two years so this could have looked much worse. The painting is for an exhibition called "Joyful Bewilderment" that will be held at Truman Brewery in London sometime in September and is curated by Marcus Oakley, Si Peplow and Holly Wales. I've been waiting to photograph this when the sun is out but the sun is on holiday so I had to make do with the bad lighting from my lamps. 

Shitakiri Susume (The Sparrow Whose Tongue Was Cut Out)

This image is my interpretation of a nishiki-e print by Utagawa Yoshimori from 1864 and is based on an old Japanese fairy tale. It depicts the story of a old man and his mean old wife. The old man befriends a wounded little sparrow and nurses the bird back to health. One day the old man goes out and his jealous wife gets angry and cuts the sparrow's tongue out. The bird flies back to his parents and when the old man returns and finds out what his wife has done he travels to find the bird and beg forgiveness for his wife's cruelty. Once the old man finds the sparrow he apologises and they make him dinner. Then the sparrow offers the old man two trunks, one large and one small. "I'm very old, so I am not strong. I will take the small trunk". The old man takes the small trunk and when he returns home and opens it, it is full of treasure. The old lady curses her husband for not picking the biggest trunk and goes in search of the sparrow. When she finds the sparrow they make her dinner. "I must be going now. Bring me my treasure" said the old lady. She chooses the big trunk and says "I'm also old, but I'm strong". She returns home with the trunk and her spite is justly punished because demons and ghosts pour out of the trunk when she opens it. Each one more terrifying than the last, forcing the old lady to repent her ways and be kind.

The samurai sparrows are the treasure. This print will be exhibited sometime in the autumn.

Lovebirds

Here is a little illustration for my good friends Lucy Fife and Scott Donaldson for their wedding in September. I can't wait for the big day. 

TBWA's Join the Carbon Fighters Campaign

I recently finished a sticker design for the advertising agency TBWA.  They were putting together an in house design project about cutting their carbon usage and setting an example for other businesses to cut down on their usage. I was one of ten illustrators involved and I had to design the sticker about 'cutting travel costs'. TBWA already had the idea of a 'C' representing carbon to commit 'hara kiri' (honorable suicide), I just had to add some jazz-ma-tazz. This was a fun project.

Musical Snacks

'Musical snacks' is a new print that will be available soon. Its an updated version of an old print called 'Out to lunch'. The bat character is called 'Nazokoe' which is Japanese for 'mystery bat'.

Solo-o-lio-lio Show Coming Soon to Falmouth!

Come autumn I'll be heading down to Falmouth in Cornwall to hang a solo exhibition of prints at the 'Here and Now' gallery. I haven't been to Falmouth since I was teenager so I'm dead excited to go a spend a weekend putting up the show and staying in a bed and breakfast. I've been working on this poster in my freetime between jobs. The idea came from the french version of a poster for the film 'The Mysterians' (1957) or 'Les de Mysterians', if you fancy trying to find it on google. I found a thumbnail image of the poster in a book and instantly wanted to sit down and get drawing. Enjoy!

WOMAD 2008

WOMAD have used one of my illustrations for this year's Charlton Park festival poster. A big thank you to Marc Bessant who did a great job with the design and for staying true to my original image. He even managed to use my lettering for the WOMAD title. What a guy!

Lessons in Online Social Media

This is an illustration for Contagious magazine about how media is used in politics to contact potential voters. The examples I took from the article are 'viral videos', 'cold calling', 'blanket TV ads' and 'blogging and kudos'. Contagious magazine comes out quarterly and I think this illustration should feature in issue 15.

Culture is....

Fallon and the BBC Culture Show asked writers, TV presenters, celebrities, illustrators and photographers to talk, write or draw their interpretation of what culture means to them. I still have no idea if they are using my entry but I thought I'd share here encase it never sees the light of day.

Tricky!

Illustration for the double review of two albums, TRICKY - Knowle West Boy and MARK STEWART - Edit. This will be featured in the July issue of Plan B. Check out the 80's blue electro- punk yeti!

Compass of Mystery Festival 2008

It's my third year in a row illustrating the Compass Film International programme guide.  The festival gets bigger and better every year. Previous year's themes have been Horror and Resistance. This year's theme is Mystery. Below is the front cover of the guide and the front and and back covers folded out to create a wrap around effect.

Happy Wheels Exhibition

Curated by Yaralt, the 'Happy Wheels' exhibition celebrates street culture and the power of two wheels. The exhibition started at the Arts center in Canteleu (France) on the 5th to the 26th April, 2008. It is now continuing at the Yaralt gallery in Rouen (France) from the 7th May to 15th June, 2008. Artists involved in the show include Jeremyville, Marcus Oakley, Shoboshobo, Adrian Johnson, Mr Crocodile, Fabrice Houdry, and many, many more.

Here is my contribution to the show. It's called 'BMX in the City'.