Work in response to the idea of restricting your access to internet, email and social media, in order to become more productive, and happy! This guy is an Anti Postman he doesn't delivery email, posts, tweets or status updates and he comes round and unplugs your computer forcing you to do something real rather than virtual. Is it bad that I'm posting this on line distracting you ? Probably, so get back to work :-)
Decided to do one of these each day before I start work, just for the hell of it, unnecessary creativity.
The unhappy person resents it when you try to cheer them up, because that means they have to stop dwelling on themselves and start paying attention to the universe. Unhappiness is the ultimate form of self-indulgence. When you're unhappy, you get to pay a lot of attention to yourself. You get to take yourself so very seriously.
Our Romanian friend, Errol sent this cool hand painted, hollowed-out egg to us last week. It reminded me of the wealth and ubiquity of craft in the country when we visited last year. The intricate patterns on the eggs are a hybrid of the Slavic, Ottoman and Gypsy cultures and were actually secret languages known only to residents of the regions where they were painted. Pencil for scale, just so you know its not and Ostrich Egg!
A detail of an image recently completed for an online retailer in the US about customer feedback.
I didn't make the final cut for this years Serco TfL poster competition. The theme this year was London Stories, I based my image on the book Mother London by Michael Morrcock. How could an image based on a story about a psychic recluse, the blitz and subterranean pig herds not be a sure fire winner! Answers on a postcard.
Couple of details from a recent image submitted to the Serco /AOI competition London Stories: Across the ages, London has produced and inspired countless stories. Fictitious or real characters and events in this amazing city have always held fascination, from the anecdotal urban myth to grand tales of historic legend. The aim of the competition is to attract artwork for display that is colourful, inspiring and celebrates a vibrant, multi-layered London. I'm not at all convinced that basing a poster on Micheal Morrcock's book Mother London is the way to commercial success, but I enjoyed making it greatly.
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Thanks to Giles Nielson for wiring diagrams advice and patience, which have all helped to restore this 1950s floor lamp back to safe working order.
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Continuing the recent theme of visiting former Eastern Bloc countries (only have Albania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria to go for the full set) and seemingly following the footsteps of Alexei Sayle in his book Stalin Ate My Homework (2010) I was recently lucky enough to travel to Prague with Stockport College illustration Degree students.
Some highlights if you ever make it over there:
Terrys Posters fantastic collection of Czech film posters.
Kafka Museum an intense but informative experience, which locates and goes some way to explain his writing.
Sedlec Ossuary a small church artistically decorated by more than 40.000 human skeletons.
Veletržní Palace permanent collection of 20th and 21st century art.
Museum of Communism low budget, difficult to find but surprisingly rewarding.
Agharta Jazz Club who doesn't like a bit a jazz right? (well apart from almost everyone I know ;-) Small cellar club, saw the house band who were pretty solid.
In the studio working on a double page info-graphic on LGBT rights for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). On the playlist this fine day: Trombone Shorty, Al Wilson, Agnes Obel, John Grant and Ultravox (guilty pleasure) all washed down with lashings of tea.
A few details of the completed image I produced for Marquette University in Milwaukee.
Working with Marquette University in Milwaukee on an image for their bid to launch a 'Cube Satellite' (10 cm sq ) into space as part of a student project.
Spotted these great decorative ceramic tiles on the wall of a 1960s former GPO building in Milford Haven.
Another image for the article on the attributes of the international business leader. Even chucked a bit of watercolour and conte stick in to this one.
Latest commissioned worked for an article on the attributes of international business leaders. 'In 2013, following a period of decline in 2008 and 2009, globalization is on the up and corporations are preparing to expand their international empires. In order to do this, they need strong decisive leadership from managers that think “truly globally” and, given the cultural idiosyncrasies that must be navigated, the idea of a “truly global leader” is debatably more of a dream than a reality.' I'm tending to use a lot more hand made, 'analogue' mark making, drawing and found materials in my work of recent, which is making the process of creating the images less predictable but a lot more enjoyable.
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New image on the go for an article on international business leadership, desperately trying to avoiding drawing men in suits, but have fallen foul of binoculars, compasses and owls.
Fan on. Boards Of Canada.
Tea.
Drawing Balloons.
Over and Out.
Trying out the latest image as a greyscale, think I might prefer this to the colour version.
Image in response to an article on productivity and creativity and the role chaos and mess plays. A section from the article here:
| How easily you can make a mess is how truly productive you can be. Maximum freedom to generate and play around in creative chaos is the optimal condition for constructive thinking and work.
This is true on a project, in the kitchen, in your office, and at your writing table—anywhere and anytime you want to get real work done. I don't usually work in a neat fashion. Whether I'm writing an essay, arranging flowers, or making guacamole, I wind up strewing stuff all over the place. If you were to walk into my office while I was working or thinking about something, you'd likely see notes, books, and files strewn around somewhat randomly; a mind-map on my computer screen; doodles and words scrawled on my whiteboard. When I really get involved in something and my creative juices start flowing, it's likely to look like something exploded in the middle of it. I have a singular focus, but it doesn't seem orderly until it's done. My best work happens that way. Yours will too. |