It’s been a while since my last post as I have been working on an exciting pitch. Nonetheless, here is a portrait of one of my good friends caught on camera sometime ago.

Last week I pretty much trashed my kitchen and studio turning it into a print room (see below). Well the fruits of my mess are now available to buy in East London.

There is a limited run of 24 signed & numbered prints, & a run 0f 23 numbered cards that can be framed after use.

TIMBER is a beautiful store and gallery based at 65 Hanbury Street, Shoreditch, London. On sale is the handcrafted, the lovingly sewn, the carefully restored, the artfully drawn and the nostalgically sourced. Everything is handmade or vintage, and you will find something completely unique. Interiors, gifts, jewellery, clothes, artworks and other things.

Timber, 65 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields, London, E1 5JP

For more info click here

If you can’t get to London and still really want to buy a print, please do contact me direct.

NICE ONE!

My crunchy themed illustration was selected as “Pick of the Week” on Illustration Friday. Thank you for all the kind comments left.

Illustration Friday is a weekly illustration challenge. A topic is posted every Friday and then participants have all week to come up with their own interpretation. Illustration Friday was created by illustrator Penelope Dullaghan. You can see her own work here http://penelopeillustration.com.

I’m sure we have all played this game in the Autumn when we were kids (and perhaps also as adults). Stamp on the leaves and the loudest crunch is the winner!

This illustration is a combination of pencil drawings and scans of ink prints for textures. The leaves are real, I scanned them after picking them up in my local park. Finished in Adobe Photoshop CS3.

This week my studio has been transformed into a print room as I turn my hand to a skill I lasted used at art school some 16 years ago.

I wanted to create an image that would be relevant as a Christmas card but also to stand up on its own as a print.

The first stage was to sketch out the image and then refine it to something that would be workable on the lino that I would be using to create a printing block.

This image was then in turn, transferred onto the lino ready for cutting.

My cat Iha was happy to oversee my progress.

Then the printing began. I rolled the mixed ink onto the lino with a rubber brayer, carefully placed the card or paper onto the lino, covered and applied pressure with a baren. Normally you would use a large printing press that acts just like a mangle, squeezing the paper against the lino but the baren is cheaper, saves space and keeps your arms in shape!

Once the first run was complete, I cut into the lino more, repeating the rest of the process for the second colour.

And there we have it, hung out to dry! The prints and cards will soon be available to buy online but in the meantime if you are interested in picking one (or some!) up, send me an email, I’d love to hear from you!

I have a very distant memory of our family having a reel to reel tape recorder when I was young. Of course us children couldn’t go near a machine of such technology. So instead, I had to watch from afar as some responsible adult spent hours unravelling the mess they had made from getting another tape reel caught up in its mechanism. I used a combination scanned sketch and adobe illustrator to complete this illustration.

I am continuing with my cross-media technique for my latest illustration. Combining photography, hand drawing, collage and photoshop to create this final image of little red riding hood grown up.

The nights have well and truly drawn in now and decorations are going up all over the place. With plans being made for the festive season, it is hard not to feel a little bit Christmasy. My recent piece of work has definitely a winter wonderland in mind. I have tried to again to look at an organic/ textured feel combining pencil sketch worked over in photoshop & illustrator.

It would be interesting to hear what you think about this softer, more nostalgic look when compared against my more graphic, and colourful style. Feel free to leave a comment, it would be great to hear from you!

Now where’s that Bing Crosby album?

As well as design, music is my passion. My latest project combines the two, designing this flyer for I night I will be playing at in November.

Al Mackenzie has been busily recording his new album “In Memory Of…” for D:ream who reformed last year.

The iconic image of Gregory Peck seemed both iconic and perfect for the ‘black sheep’ concept I was after.

Starting to feel the chill as the seasons change, so Illustration Friday’s subject this week seemed most appropriate.