Alan Turing

Here's a recent commission that was a joy to work on, a cover and spot illustrations for the current issue of Nature magazine. It's for a feature on Alan Turing reappraising the undervalued and criminally mistreated godfather of artificial intelligence and computer science a 100 years on from his birth. 

Jane's Addiction

Latest drawing for A Circus Mind featuring a young Perry Farrell from Jane's Addiction and an imagined depiction of the titular drug abuser and former roommate of his that lent the band their name.

Beam Mich Hoch, Scotty!

Here's a nice job for German magazine Gaswinner, a cover and three spread illustrations for a feature on future land, sea and air transport concepts. They range from greener airfuel and wind-assisted cargo ships to nifty looking streamlined trucks. The cover required a Star Trek-ian teleporter vibe and was printed as a lenticular image so that the vehicles vanish when you tilt the magazine. Holo-tastic!

The Cure

More music inspired drawings for the Circus Mind project. The arachnid-lovin' Robert Smith of The Cure.

To Affinity And Beyond

Here's a cover illustration I completed at the tail end of last year for the health focused @Affinity Magazine in the States. The illustration is made up of visual references to the articles contained within their Glance at 2012 issue. Right now though the weekend is where it's @, have a good one.

Memories Out Now

The Memories book project in aid of Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres has been published and is on sale over at their site, with all proceeds going to Maggie's. I contributed this illustration based on the tale of cancer survivor, Wendy Nichols, a while back. It's a real pleasure to see it so lavishly reproduced in a book that's bursting with lovely work from a great roster of artists and for such a good cause. Well worth picking up a copy.

Soundgarden

The drawing project for Ryan Cox's music prose collection A Circus Mind continues apace with a visual stab at the almighty Soundgarden. Black Hole Suns, Jesus Christ Poses and Tendrils abound.

Clean Green?

New year. New cover illustration. New Scientist. Nice. How clean is green energy? Eh?

The Getaways

I'm physically and mentally back in the studio now after a generous Cornish Chrimbo break in St.Ives followed by a snowboarding trip to La Plagne in the Alps to smash the January gloom. Here's a montage of schnaps from the last few weeks. Full steam ahead for 2012.

Amen To That

Happy New Year to all and sundry. 2011 is in the can and here's one of the last illustrations I produced from that bygone era. It's for a piece in The Economist called 'Seven seconds of fire' about the ubiquitous 'Amen Break' which I had simultaneously never heard of and heard a million times before. It's an oft-used drumming sample that's been recycled ad nauseum over the years. Tuunnee!

Tears Of An Elephantine Clown

Here is this year's design for my agent Anna Goodson Management's annual coaster campaign. 'Circus' was the theme so I conjured up this clowny elephant creature to plonk the coffee on.

The Finkler?

Here are some illustrations for Hadassah Magazine in the States to support an extract from Howard Jacobson's Ribalow Prize winning novel The Finkler Question. 

Who You Gonna Call?

Here's another illustration in response to a story, this time for Whitstable's Horsebridge Arts And Community Centre's 'Ghosts' exhibition. I chose a number and landed an extract from Fritz Leiber's tale Smoke Ghost to illuminate with a spectral image. It will be haunting the gallery from tomorrow until 23rd December.

26 Stories Of Christmas

I've contributed to an online project called 26 Stories Of Christmas which unveils a unique illustrated Christmas tale every day this month up to Boxing Day. A selection of writers were paired up with an illustrator and I created an image to support Laura Kennedy's story The Magician which appeared on the 4th December. Well worth a look here, it's like advent calendar choccy for the mind and eyes.

Swimming Online

Here's some work I can blab about now that the revamped Nominet Trust website has launched. It's a couple of illustrations for one of their provocation papers looking at developments to safeguard children online called 'Physical metaphors for digital safety'. I ran (swam?) with the water as interpipe metaphor on this and enjoyed using a simple but colourful approach.

Smashing Pumpkins

Here's another illustration for the Circus Mind book of music prose, a Billy Corgan portrait for a piece on the Smashing Pumpkins. On that note have a smashing weekend y'all.

Flame On

Here are a few belated shots from a recent trip to lovely Dorset over bonfire night weekend. Stayed in the market town of Bridport and popped to Lyme Regis on the Saturday to take in fireworks at the Cobb and an inferno on the beach. Blazin'.

Scorpio

I chanced across the stone-cold classic Dirty Harry on the tellybox again recently and was reminded of the insane brilliance of Andy Robinson's performance as the Frisco nutjob Scorpio, particularly his schoolbus nursery rhyme routine. It also reminded me that a friend had requested his portrait so here it is in it's original monochrome and with a seventies subdued palette. Hope you like...well, do you punk!?

Nirvana

Here's the second portrait for the music poetry collection A Circus Mind, of a total of twenty I'll be working on over the next few months, the troubled Nirvana figurehead Kurt Cobain. I'm digging the simpler brush pen drawing style for this particular job, will see where it takes me.

Bridge Over Techy Waters

Here's another cover illustration for CIO magazine looking at the art of building bridges to partnerships in  business technology.