Hello nobody!
I’m terrible at updating, I know. I guess it’s because I’m just too busy with making new work and with life in general.
I’ve been lucky enough to have had several designs selected for Threadless over the past few months. One for the Court of the Dead, a couple that were design to celebrate Pride (1 & 2) week, something based on the Space Shuttle and most recently a bit of a Trump protest shirt featuring The Statue of Liberty.
There’s something else happening, but I’m not sure if I can speak about it, or indeed, if it is happening at all. Thing run kind of slow round here, as you might’ve guessed!
I think I burned myself out more recently, Threadless were running a enamel pin badge challenge and I think I submitted something like 20 different designs. I think my work really suits pins, most of my work is vector and I always tend to use strokes around fills. Perfect for creating pin badge artwork. No news on those, but there were some brilliant submissions, so I’m guessing that I got passed by for some of those. It’s all good though, you can’t win them all.
This is kind of a ‘nothing’ update really, I notice a massive spike in visitors yesterday and thought I’d better put something in. It’s kind of embarrassing! Attached is a picture of a bald eagle in space. It’s unofficial name is Stars and Stripes, but given the current state of politics in the US, I thought I’d best keep that quiet! It was created for the “Ludicrous” challenge. Most of my work is pretty ludicrous, but anyway if you happen to visit this page close to when I posted, you can score the thing here.
If you’re reading this, god bless. If not then…
Second post of the year…
Hahaha. Every single blog I make seems to be some sort of apology for not updating my blog! I’m not sure who, if anybody, is reading but from time to time I get this “shit, I’ve not updated my site in months” guilt. Two, in fact.
Well, what’s been going on?
I’ve been busy recently creating designs for a Heavy Metal challenge over at Threadless. Not the music, the Heavy Metal Magazine. This was a magazine that I always saw in the comic shop as a kid, but always thought it was an adult magazine. The covers always had jaw dropping art, usually an image of a jaw droppingly beautiful women in various fantasy situations and outfits. I remember one cover illustration was used on the cover of a ZX Spectrum game called Game Over. It was pretty racy (see here) and featured some futuristic cyborg lady with a cyborg body guard behind her. Of course, her boobs weren’t cyborg like, they were very human and nipples very visible. As a young man I found this interesting and weird at the same time. As far as I can remember, she had nothing to do with the game. I think one of my friends had a poster of it as well, free from some Spectrum User type magazine!
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I digress. It was with these memories in mind that I decided that I’d like to contribute something. But where to look for inspiration? I couldn’t just use Google images and take some random lady image to draw from. I ended up appealing on the “alt-pin up” site, Suicide Girls, for girls who wouldn’t mind me drawing them. I wasn’t expecting to get a reply, I’m pretty much invisible on the site. Just a few hours later I got messages from five girls, all putting themselves forward. This was great, but unexpected. I love that site by the way, the girls are all beautiful and the site defies popular beauty conventions. By that I mean there are girls of all ages, shapes, sizes, races, nationalities. Of the three girls I ended up working with one was Spanish, another American and the third was British. I’m really proud of all of the designs that I’ve worked up and will post them here soon.
I’m currently working on a final entry based on the third girl who I got in touch with Sophoulla. It was an idea I had and then stopped, in favour of a different design. I think it might be the best one of the four I did.
I don’t expect to win the top prize, which is to get the art published on the front cover. I just wanted to create something using real people, and developing the style I found when working on the Threadless Lowbrow challenge. It’s an opportunity to create something different, and the fact that I had unexpected replies just added a little bit of pressure that I needed to see the job through.
I’ve learnt a new few techniques by doing this. So if you’re reading this thinking “what’s the point in entering challenges, I’ll never win” forget about the prize, just go on the journey. You never know where it will lead and what you will pick up on the way.
There’s lots more to write, and maybe my next update will come a little sooner than this one!
First post of the year!
Yeah, sorry, it’s been a while. Life is so busy with ups and (mainly) downs. Just wanted to check in and mention that my new Threadless shop is live and kicking, head to qbf.threadless.com to have a look!
We saved 6!
So happy to hear last week, that 6 music is to get a reprieve. Just goes to show that if enough people shout loud enough we can make a difference. It has restored a tiny bit of faith in humanity, for now anyway.
“It’s not that I’m lazy; it’s that I just don’t care.”
That’s not true, it just made me smile.
Better update for my recent activity, might get a few more hits here soon. Recently been to Glastonbury Festival, and had such a nice relaxing time it’s hard to get back into real life. I wish I could just drift around a festival watching good bands and eating nice food all day every day. I could even cope with the stinky bogs and hot stuffy tent.
Help Me!
In an attempt to get some of my designs published I have submitted a t-shirt design to Threadless Tees.
It’s based on Oddjob from the Bond Films. If it gets accepted, click here and vote for it, if it gets published I’ll buy you a pint next time I see you!
SOS (save our six)
Yesterday, as I was getting up, BBC 6 Music news reported that their were plans to shut down 6 Music, The Asian Network and some of the web pages. This is to invest hundreds of millions in to public service programming. According to the director general, these plans still need to be looked at.
In my opinion, the BBC is a bit of a strange beast. Their website is great, especially the iPlayer. The programming leaves a lot to be desired, as it continues the ratings battle with ITV regurgitating the same old shite. Another series of strictly come dancing, another hospital drama, buying another series of Heroes. What ever happened to the drama and comedy shows that you had to watch. Boys from the Black Stuff, Blackeyes, The Buddha of Suburbia, Our Friends in the North, The Fast Show, The Lakes, Catterick, Edge of Darkness, State of Play. The latter two recently becoming Hollywood blockbusters.
Then look at the music output of the past, John Peel, Annie Nightingale, Jools Holland, Bob Harris, Mark and Lard to name a few, which is an insult to the many I haven’t mentioned. The BBC, in my past, has brought new music, comedy and drama to me, inspiring and shaping peoples lives through television and music.
With the exception of Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes to ashes, the BBC has done very little of note in the past few years. The one Jewel in the Crown for me, as an adult, is 6 Music.
I started listening at work when the FM radio started playing up, the same time Mark and Lard buggered off. I used to love listening to Phil Jupitus, Gideon Coe, Vic Mcglynn and Andrew Collins. They turned me on to music old and new, in the same way John Peel did. Lift to Experience, The Deers, Local Natives, Linton Kwesi Johnson, the list goes on and on and on and on…
DJ’s changed, and with the exception of George Lamb (who I have nothing against, he just wasn’t right and it seemed his show was a vehicle for him rather than the station), carried on the ethic of John Peel, playing an eclectic mix of music. I’ve carried on listening and quite often make a note of something new I’ve discovered thanks the the station. I’ve won prizes, I’ve had shout outs, and even won the Duffer prize (badge still in post!). To lose Six Music would be losing one of the only decent things the BBC has left. I would seriously consider not paying the license fee any more. In 2007 they published a charter to “inform, educate and entertain”. As far as I’m concerned 6Music is the only BBC property which does all three, to pull the plug on the station would be foolish.
Hello world!
Hello! New to all this, but I hope that this’ll become an ok site. All I can say is that I hope to put my personal projects up here. At the moment I plan on doing stuff that’d be suitable for screen print, in limited colours. I see this as a bit of a challenge, so hope it works out!
I suppose I’m really recalling my childhood in the form of designy art type stuff, as I have been reminiscing a lot recently.