 I just rewatched the Shining. If you've been living on Mars and not seen it because you've just arrived I'd recommend not reading on as I am going to SPOIL IT ALL for you.
 Here is a collage of news paper and magazine cuttings from my ten year collection, which I composed, then highlighted and eventually drew over with oil pastels (created over Christmas this year and just not posted for some reason). You can barely see the collage itself now, but the contents interested me at the time and set my mind going, so that it informed the abstract image that you see before you. It sort of flows like a page of a comic from the top left to the bottom right. I have it on my wall now as you see.
I have opened a shop to make buying a copy of Longship easier. I am also selling a limited number of prints, here's one I have framed myself to give you the idea.  Because I haven't paid weebly an annual subscription I can't do swanky things like add shipping, so it isn't obligatory. I would like you to own my art so we won't worry about shipping if you're in the UK. If you are overseas a donation for shipping would be appreciated but isn't obligatory if you are stretching to buy something. Please use the social media buttons to get things out there, help keep me in pens and cat food! Thank you for all your support!
Remastered makes it sound like an old classic dredged up for a new wave of fans, well, not quite. This is in my portfolio (go compare) and someone saw it and asked to buy a print, so I went to find the high resolution version (because for the site its limited in file size as you probably know). However, some time between 2009 and 2011 when I regularly suffered mysterious but regular attacks of random computer malfunction, like the grey screen of death, spontaneous time capsule blankage, itunes hating me to death with darked out playlists, nonsense like that (lots of fun) - I lost ALL of my artwork that I had stored as well as photos and music and well, shit. It was like being robbed and amnesiac'd all at once. Whatever. I just move on but when someone wants to buy your work you say YES. So I had to make it all over again using the original drawings. Thankfully you can't actually destroy everything over the internet, and as it turns out the new version is much nicer than the old, because of all the little things I have learned in my practice since then.
These images between them reference the lines or work of Mobius, Barks, Stotoke, Otomo and Kusama. (Day or two late. Took me a while to track down the name of the Spider-nam artist, apologies). That is my eye in the rock face, a collage using acetone printing, paper and wire, I made back in 2008. The bamboo forest is in Kyoto and I love the style of 50's signage in Memphis! The automatic letters there is nice because while I choose the images I want to play with the process of building the collage of images is pretty automatic for me, I love doing it, always did. Its practicing a different aspect of image making from drafting or sketching, its more about the exploring the idiom, swapping around structures and ideas to create new ones - overall its about the composition. I also like the oxymoron(ic) effect, of contrasting images and styles. Its like holding several different thoughts in your mind at once (which is closer to the experience of living than the linear structure of pure story telling).
 This is a digital drawing of a collage I made shortly after returning from my trip to Japan. It is one of a series of drawings, ideas and scraps I put together as a record and to remind me of the designs and images and internal experiences I was going through at the time. The guy in the collage is actually Steve McQueen but I've not drawn him to life, it was more the posture and mood I was after. The hair is a little intriguing, I was going through a real phase of using body parts in my work as you can see here too. Also I was working as a financial regulator in the international department, hence the frequent use of financial terminology in my work. Finance like many things can seem rather dull and opaque from the outside, but when you get to understand the system a little it is as frail and unpredictable as any other human endeavour, also as important and fundamental for a society as the flow of blood in your body.
 I looked at the sports pages (again) and I looked at Kirby and the infinite possibilities were wrested off my mind (for this occasion). Today's doodle is 20% better than yesterday's. I should doodle everyday.
I came to work this morning and wanted to see if flatter bolder colour might suit these drawings better, I am not one for too much dark. Obviously I suppose, different colours make a completely different image, but it never ceases to amaze me. There are an infinite number of variations, I could sit here all day just playing with the palette but I should get on with some more drawings (which I can then also colour!).    This is online friend and rap artist Euge *also known as Adam WarRock when on the mic.
Euge posted a picture 'back in the booth' on Saturday and it struck me as a great photo, his mind full of ideas, energy and anticipation for the night ahead. So I just went and sketched it, messed around with some colours. He was recording tracks for his upcoming Album "High Fidelity" (see the teaser trailer here Papercutters & Dangling Headphones) - I can't wait! Euge has a skill for making music, often on the spot and he is as prolific as he is talented (so check out his website). He is also someone who inspired me to follow my dreams so this is a head nod to him. If you would like me to draw yours or a picture of someone else just let me know. I could make a similar digital image for a token contribution *like 5-10$ (or whatever you think) I am just starting out after all. Send me an email if that sounds like a plan. These are my notes from the launch pad, my current road map. This is what I am trying to synthesise into my practice with the faith that it will improve. Through hard work and observing (if not staying within) boundaries designed to channel the sometimes crazy artistic drive that I have within, I should learn and I will. I am gaining a new perspective. I remember what art meant to me back when I was purely absorbing it, making it because I had to, to learn, to escape or just to be with my favourite characters, now it is evolving for me into something else; And that is not only what I wanted, but what my art needed.   I went to the comics launch pad today. It was quite something to hear about how it is done in the business first hand and I am exhausted from all the new information I took on board. I met the Comic Book Alliance of GB who yes, knew all about Comics Alliance US and were (also) some lovely helpful people. I feel all together more at home now that I have gone into Birmingham and surprised myself by still knowing my way around... My favourite talks were by Joey Cavalieri and Klaus Janson (see above working on Ed McGuiness' penciled Hulk). They have been in the business so long that their perspective is quite esoteric and philosophical by now. It was so cool to listen to Mr Janson get all dreamy about lines, watery lines and ones that start thick taper thin, that meet and merge or lines that just end in a blob! I came away inspired and ready to get back to work.   Preparation for this exhibition has over the last week or two taken over my life. Framing and printing, pricing and hanging, deciding how much wine to buy! Man-o-man I hope people turn up.
 I was recently commissioned to do this poster design for a series of shows for five dance companies. It is the first piece of work I got literally within days of properly deciding to stop procrastinating and get on with my life just through bumping into someone who knows my art from years ago. I wanted to do art since I was three but just never got round to really committing to it because of many things all based on concepts of security or fear of starving or just simple timing. I have whilst procrastinating got two degrees and ten years of professional work under my belt after all. But now its time for me to get on with it. (This is the thinking.) I never stopped painting or drawing but I never fully developed it either! STAGE ONE: making space and time. Ironically now I got my soul aligned my day job just got a whole lot better, but still it has a time limit and I am chasing up all those offers of commissions for what seems huge amounts of money but apparently I should be asking for at least double. I can see I am going to need my assertive office head to balance the shy embarrassed artist in me when it comes to getting paid! I understand the show did really well so the functionality of the poster worked. I had literally only owned the software I used for this a few days. This was after some serious hick-ups with an open source art programme I was naive enough to download which corrupted hours of work I had done overnight! But despite the pressures it came out well. The company loved it. And I am promised repeat business. The show was excellent too, I went to see it last night. Antique Dances and Big Beef were particularly memorable. |
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