Aside from the usual blood, sweat and tears that all the tutors put into the final shows, this year I've contributed a 'Shop' sign for Illustration Degree Show at the amazing Stockport College . Learn more about the show here.
Hereford
Lovely start to May, I was in Hereford at the School of Art on Wednesday giving an informal presentation of working methods, influences and a sort of ‘top ten tips for illustrators thing' garnered over 25 years of freelancing. It was great to meet a range of students 1st, 2nd , 3rd year, foundation and even the odd graphic designer. There where similarities to Stockport College (where I work on a part time basis) in the ethos and smaller more intimate scale of the group sizes, the students clearly benefited from this and had great working relationships with the staff. The students also had dedicated workspaces, increasingly a rare thing. There was nice mix of analogue and digital work being produced, lovely to see lino cutting and etching going on in the studio and being incorporated into the image making process. Thanks to Neil and the students for inviting me down, I had a lovely day in a beautiful part of the country.
Saw this great locksmiths and ironmongers shop in the centre of Hereford, the cranky owner seemed to have an eye for outsider art with these amazing wooden keys and locks displayed on the outside of his shop. Beats the awful orange B&Q logo any day.
Proofs
Proofs for two spreads I was recently commissioned to illustrate by a French editorial client, Culture Services. The job was to enliven a feature on the Public Sectors use of a range of communication tools such as TV radio, and social media.
OFFSET 2013
Packing my bags ready for Offset 2013 in Dublin, 24 speakers over 3 days, intense but in a really good way. More Offset news later.
Recent Commission
Couple of new images for a French client plus a recently finished personal piece.
Cava?
Back in the studio today after a hectic but enjoyable couple of days in London. All fired up and full of inspiration to carry on with second of two images for a French client. This is what the underpainting / background is looking like so far, let me know what you think.
Will Self & the French public sector
Now in the studio listening to The Book Of Dave by Will Self and concentrating on a commission from a French client, about public sector organisations using marketing to communicate to the general public.
New Personal Work
Started working on this personal piece a few days ago.
.........and relax
Happy to be back in the studio working on an image about controlled breathing, for a Danish Men's magazine (not that sort of Danish Men's magazine! Think Borgen not Bunny Girls) Here's a snippet of the article and a peek at how the image is looking so far.
How we breathe, tells not just how we feel. Breathing can work the other way around, so we can affect how we feel, says psychologist Merete Aasborg. "Breathing is part of our autonomic nervous system and regulate themselves according to our feelings. At the same time, specific breathing rhythms evoke certain emotions, such as joy and fear. So you can use the breath actively to change one's mental state and cleanse the body of stress. "
Merete Aasborg has followed and documented the results of a study of Danish war veterans with post-traumatic stress underwent a 10 days long program with yoga exercises, various breathing techniques and meditation. In particular, a series of respiratory rhythms from old yoga tradition Sudarshan Kriya seem to have a positive effect on people with post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, violent behavior and abuse. But also people with less serious problems can benefit greatly from Sudarshan Kriya to combat stress, get better sleep, strengthen the immune system, have more energy and be more focused.
Shopping or Drawing
Should be Christmas shopping this morning but instead working on a new image.
Last commission of 2012
Just finished my last commission of 2012 for a French business magazine.This one responding to the the concept of business barometers, tools that help businesses evaluate the relationship between good management of employees and the resultant effect on customer relations and profits. It's not rocket science: Happy Staff = Happy Customers. Who would have thought!
Studio Day
In the studio today working on some new backgrounds for new images.
So good I drew it once.
Latest piece for Norwegian Fashion magazine. Men's street fashion in NYC, bit of a 70s feel. Below: final piece, details and background textures and under painting.
'Big Dog' apparently
Thrilled to have work included in 'Vs', a publication produced by a talented group of fellow scribblers Foursight. Big thanks to Chris, Dom, Jord and Matt for putting together the publication and setting up such a great launch night at Cord bar. Spot 'Big Dog Murray' in the mugshots below.
Three Times a Lady
In the studio today working on a rough for an article on mens fashion in NYC. A soundtrack of The O'Jays, Stretch, The Temptations and The Commodores providing a suitably late seventies early eighties funk/soul backdrop.
Nice surprise in the post today
Nice surprise in the post today, some proofs of a few images I've been producing for a Danish Men's Fashion magazine. Their arrival wouldn't have been note worthy 10 or 15 years ago (and maybe it still isn't !) but these days it's quite rare to receive printed copies of your work (unless you buy them or hound the designer thus making yourself very unpopular)
Best Medicine
A preview of a recent commission from Aviva for an article on laughter and health, I'll post the whole image once it's published.
Milan Street Fashion
Ok, so this month I was asked by a Danish men's fashion magazine to respond to an article on street fashion in Milan Italy. I wanted to capture that weird combination of dandification and machismo that Italian guys often manage to achieve. So took the Ferrari 'dancing horse' logo as a starting point and dressed the strutting stallion up with a little bling. Final image, detail and some early drawings below.
Inequality Catalogue
Today received a catalogue from a recent exhibition at Duke University in American that I took part in. Have a look at earlier posts on the Inequality and Dan Ariely to see details of the project and related work. Below are a few pages from the catalogue.
Napoleon
A new image in response to an article on Parisian fashion for men. Trying to avoid using the cliches of Eiffel Tower, onion sellers and croissants led me to using imagery which combines Napoleon's silhouette, a tailors dummy and a coat hanger.
Below are some images showing roughs, work in progress, and a detail of the final image.
