ABRSM Piano

This year I've begun work with ABRSM, the UK's leading music education publisher, and creative director Kate Benjamin on a rebrand of all their core publications to be distributed worldwide. I'll be illustrating the covers for all of their instrument books over the next year or so and the first to roll out are this colourful bunch for the piano.

Enzo Ferrari Museum

Here's a portrait of Enzo Ferrari for the newly opened Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena, Italy. The museum sits in a beautifully designed, very yellow, building by Future Systems. The image has been donated for a limited edition signed print run to raise funds for the victims of the recent earthquakes in the region. Thanks to the guys at Bunker.

Tech-ollage

Here's a recent collage illustration for PC World Magazine showcasing all the latest gizmos.

Rolling Stones '69

The latest portrait for A Circus Mind of an obscure little band called The Rolling Stones in LA circa 1969. Anyone?

Drilling for Data

Here's a recent illustration for IBM Magazine about big businesses tapping into vast database resources. Like a cyberpunk Dallas.

Barcelona Redux

Here's a little montage of sights and sounds from a recent trip to the beautiful Barcelona. From our base in El Born we ventured out to the excellent Primavera Sound festival for the second year running to watch some amazing music from the likes of The Cure, Mudhoney, LFO, Matias Aguayo & Rebolledo and Brum metal legends Napalm Death and Godflesh amongst others. Spent the rest of the trip taking in the city, spectacularly so from the top of Tibidabo, recovering by the hotel pool and munching muchos tapas. Tremendous.

Withy King & I

There's plenty of work to be posted on the blog soon including these little numbers for the Bath based solicitors firm Withy King. Working with Bristol agency Robsondowry I created three 'life cycle' illustrations that encapsulated the key legal areas that the firm cover. It was great to use a reduced palette consisting of their new brand colours. 

Siafu

The blog is back in business after a little hiatus to Barcelona and a bit of a backbreaking workload of late. Here's a nice project for new label Bokhari records and their first release 'Shrunken Head' by the mysteriously titled Siafu featuring a great remix by Mark E. It was an inspiringly open brief that allowed me to play with some suitably moody tribalesque sci-fi imagery before signing all 300 copies. Ooh, my hand.

Black Sabbath

It's Friday, it's hot, it's a heavy Black Sabbath portrait for A Circus Mind ay it. Brummie gold.

New River Walk

Here's my entry for this year's Serco Prize for Illustration 2012 which had the theme of Secret London.  I chose the New River Walk in Canonbury, a picturesque waterway that runs near our flat and is a little oasis of calm from the city streets. I often see a big old heron hanging out with the ducks when walking through so made it the centrepiece of the illustration with the London Transport imagery worked into the borders. The piece didn't make it into the exhibition this year unfortunately but them's the breaks.

Hastings Jack

Bit of a delayed post but spent a barmy day in Hastings over the May bank holiday soaking up the madness of the annual Jack-In-The-Green parade. The Old Town is overrun by a huge procession of leafy folk and morris dancers wielding aloft effigies of mermaids and giants en route to the West Hill castle. It's proper bonkers with more than a whiff of the Wicker Man about it and it's huge fun. We stayed in a hotel opposite the once grand, now burnt and crumbling, pier I based an illustration on not so long ago, hopefully to be restored one day.

Wes Anderson

The director Wes Anderson for A Circus Mind in The Life Aquatic mode (without Steve Zissou).

Post View

After the success of last year's Post Nude show the folks at Horsebridge Arts Centre in Whitstable are at it again with a second exhibition of postcard artwork Post View. There was much painstaking consideration over which view to depict before I lifted my head up from the monitor to the studio window and grabbed the felt tips. Total voila!

James Brown

Here's the latest portrait for A Circus Mind, the sex machine-like James Brown.

BBC Focus

Here are some recent science and space themed illustrations for BBC Focus magazine that cover celestial X-ray binary objects and the history of British satellite technology. Cosmic.

Susan's Story

Here's a great commission I worked on  last year for Torre Lazur McCann that's just been published. It's an illustrated patient healthcare book called Susan's Story about identifying and coping with schizoaffective disorder. Each page visualises a step on the path from symptoms to diagnosis and treatment and is presented in a colourful hardback format.

The Lakes

Managed to escape the swirling smokes of 'Landan' over Easter and took my first trip to the Lake District for a spot of glamping. That's camping with mod cons, a proper roof, fire-pit and, if you're lucky, a glitter ball. We stayed at a lovely spot called Scales Plantation in our very own shepherd hut and journeyed around the gorgeous Lakes area for strolls in Keswick and Buttermere whilst dodging some serious raindrops. Managed to squeeze in a roaring fire and barbecue though so all was right with the world.

Jim Morrison

Time for another Circus Mind portrait of the legendary Jim Morrison, pictured here in the beardy Parisian last days.

Bum Note

Sometimes a job doesn't quite make it all the way to the finishing line for one reason or anther. Here's an illustration that was approved and went to a final stage before an overhaul in organisation client-side scuppered the whole campaign. Shame, as I was pleased with the work on this one. The brief was to create a colourful image about inspiration in making contemporary music. Cue the violins.

Kurt Vonnegut

Here's the latest Circus Mind portrait of the mind-bending Slaughterhouse 5 author Kurt Vonnegut. Zappy Easter to all!