The Brits

It was all about The Brit Awards last week and I was commissioned by Warner Brothers to create this illustration celebrating their nominees this year. Muse, Michael Bublé, The Black Keys and Stooshe were given the Union Jack treatment with the Damien Hirst designed award taking centre stage.

Tarty Tango

I was thinking about the late, great character actor Brion James the other day, of Blade Runner ('Let me tell you about my mother') and Southern Comfort fame, so chose to draw him in one of his lesser, wobbly accented roles. He plays a comically aggressive 'limey' called Requin in the bromantic action-fest Tango & Cash with one of the lamest cocker-ney drawls put to film. Here he addresses a cross-dressing Sly Stallone as 'Tarty Tango' before being sent back to 'f*cking Maggie and f*cking England'... or something.

HR And The City

Here's a cover and spot illustrations for HR Magazine for an article on how HR can build the City up into a responsible employer once more. Always good to work on an illustration featuring the ever-changing London skyline.

Monkeying For Film

The folks at the fledgling La Guarimba International Film Festival asked me to contribute a poster design for their first outing in the small town of Amantea, Italy later in the year. The brief handed out to artists was to create a monkey-centric poster, the creature of choice for the festival. So I put the brush pen to paper and conjured up an ape before settling on the final chimp drawing along with some hand-rendered type. I then hung around and treated myself to a banana and some nuts. Enjoyable all round.

Tech Two

Here are a couple of recent technology related editorial commissions. Firstly a piece on erasing yourself from the internet for PC Pro Magazine and a more fantastical take on technology and connectivity at trade shows for Exhibitor Magazine.

Portfolio Interview

I'm getting grilled about my illustration career in a Portfolio Interview entitled Make Impact With Colour in this month's Advanced Photoshop on the shelf now.

Winter Escapades

Here's a little photography from recent Winter breaks. First up are a couple of lovely sunsets from Porthmeor beach taken during a cosy Christmas week in St. Ives, Cornwall. Followed by some shots from a great week of snowboarding in Morzine, France, staying at one of the fantastic Riders Refuge chalets. Cobwebs well and truly blown away.

Disaster Zone

Here's a recent commission for Nature Magazine looking at a few of the lovely ways we could be wiped out by natural catastrophes including super volcanoes, tidal waves, solar flares and fungus! Lock your doors.

The Bear Facts

Here's a meaty editorial commission to kick off 2013. It's three double page spread illustrations for a Backpacker Magazine feature on the The Truth About Bears. It covers the mystery Grizzlies of the North Cascades,  Black Bears in Southern Texas and what to do when one lunges at you - stand your ground and pepper spray it to pieces apparently.

Merry Chrimbo

Have a good one folks and see you in '13!

ABRSM In Theory

Here's the latest work for ABRSM and their Music Theory Past Papers 2012 books. Nice to be able to work in monochrome for a change and give the old retinas a rest from colour strain.

Rio Three Ways

Here are some test illustrations I worked up for some Brazilian themed packaging that didn't quite make it to market. There are three colourful interpretations of Rio De Janeiro, the thrill of Carnival, the buzz of the big city and the calm of the beaches.

Nashville Tech

Here's another technology flavoured illustration for the cover of Nashville Post magazine. It's sizzling hot on that Tennessee tech scene...owww!

When The Boat Show Comes In

Here's a cover for the BoatShow International guide to the world's largest yacht gathering in Fort Lauderdale. This is the sixth year I've worked with Richard Taranto on the cover and probably my favourite so far.

NewWebPick

Here's an interview and showcase of work for the latest issue of online magazine NewWebPick. Click the images to enlarge.

Harkonnen

A film portrait of blistered, obese tyrant Baron Harkonnen (Kenneth McMillan) from David Lynch's Dune sending off a character in typically crude fashion with a bit of spittle. Lovely man.

Jesus Christ Superstar

I recently did some illustration work for the UK arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. The updated show is transplanted to a modern setting inspired by the Occupy movement and the brief was to create urban imagery in the mode of Banksy/Fairey. The work was featured on a large centrepiece video screen and edited into the show by director Fish Nor Fowl for Treatment Studio.

Time Out

October was mostly spent away from the studio this year so here's a little photo compilation of my escapades. The first week saw a trip to a peaceful Treyarnon Bay beach house in Cornwall for a spot of cycling, walking and amateur hour surfing to wash away the cobwebs. For the second week my wife and I jetted off to the ridiculously picturesque Amalfi Coast region in Italy. The dramatic cliff-hugging town of Positano was our first port of call and the weather was good enough for dips in the sea and a ferry trip to lovely Capri Island for a lemon slushyfest. We finished our trip in the more cosmopolitan Sorrento with it's spectacular views over Naples bay and Vesuvius, a breathtaking area despite the hellish Naples traffic that can only be described as mentalistic. For the third weekend we brought it down to earth in style at the excellent Supersonic Festival in Birmingham's Custard Factory where I saw some great music I'd not been introduced to before. Highlights for me were Devilman (pictured), JK Flesh, Bohren & Der Club Of Gore, Gnod, Ufomammut and Zoltan (pictured).

Tech Rush

Here's a multi-post featuring some recent technology themed illustrations. These include a piece for an article entitled 'Keeping Pace' for Currents Magazine on the rapidly changing world of social networking. Two illustrations for PC World Magazine on protecting your passwords and a feature on the latest in digital camera geekdom. Finally an illustration for Nursing Management on the reliability of using apps in nursing. Phew, I'm tech'd out.

Step Back

Here's a combined cover illustration and video for new hip hop release Step Back by Sam Krats featuring Nabo Rawk on Killamari Records. The illustration is a bit of a Bristol/Boston mashup reflecting the backgrounds of Krats and Rawk respectively. The video was edited together from a couple of raw performance recordings of Nabo outside Dunkin' Donuts and designed to accompany the look and feel of the illustration. You can watch it here.