BOOGIE WONDERLAND?

i drew a silly dancing lady tonight whilst working on some actual work. it's made me want to make a little series about how different drinks affect your behaviour (particularly on the dance floor - i love drawing people gettin' down and shaking their tail feather, if you hadn't already noticed).

i know that i certainly enjoying a punching my fist in the air when i've had a rum cocktail or two (see fig. a)

now might be a good time to mention i gave my portfolio an overhaul a few weeks ago: tinysketchbook.com

DRINK LIKE A FISH

isn't the illustration process a strange thing? you start with an idea in your head about how you want something to look. so...sketch. erase. sketch. erase. sketch. lightbox. ink. scan. play around for an hour. decide on a colour scheme. play around a bit longer. then realise that there is no way that it will ever work like you want it to. my goal this evening was to design a two-colour screen print for a run of t-shirts for v bar, in colchester, but because my idea wasn't working the way i wanted it to, i made this instead.

a blue-skined, slightly zombie-esque (shudder) martini-drinking pin-up inspired young lady.

back to the drawing board, as they say.

WALT & WINNIE'S WONDROUS WORDS!

i only found this out two days ago by accident, but a children's educational book i illustrated over a year ago has been published!

it's called Walt & Winnie's Wondrous Words and it's written by Charlie Chaleco. it's described as "a new approach to learning vocabulary - a sure way of building up a huge memory bank of wondrous words". it was a huge project to work on (the book is 100 pages long), a totally new experience and learning curve.

you can buy it from amazon HERE.

UNCONTAINED - HIGH SPIRITS PT. II

and so the colourful army of paper-shaped positivity took over the little store in box park and if the only thing we achieved today was making someone passing by glance in and smile to themselves, then that was all we wanted.

what a jolly fun day :) thanks again to shellsuitzombie for the opportunity and to 55dsl for hosting us and for being generally top chaps, and anyone who popped by to make a bird.

(i forgot my camera memory card. these photos were taken on an old blackberry phone, ha.) EDIT: shellsuit have just published a lovely write-up of the day, including some far superior photos. read it here.

UNCONTAINED - HIGH SPIRITS

"In June and July, ShellsuitZombie is taking over the 55DSL store in BOXPARK, Shoreditch, and getting thirty creative individuals, groups and companies to take a day each.

The lucky few will not only get a blank box in which to create or show off whatever they want to but also get a feature in the next issue of ShellsuitZombie magazine which goes out at the end of May.

We will have everything from illustrators and creative directors to live bands and festivals, all in one place. This won’t just be another exhibition - workshops, parties, creative get-togethers and crowd participation are not only encouraged but expected."

i was super chuffed to be asked by shellsuitzombie to take part in UNCONTAINED this month. i worked with them last year at the D&AD and have gone to various events they've hosted - they're basically the coolest and nicest people in the creative industry, and can throw a damn good party to boot.

my favourite designer/thinker heather and i are going to be spending our day (wednesday 6th june) folding, creasing and stringing up a flock of tiny colourful birds containing messages of positivity and happiness. it sounds over-the-top hippy, i know, but our intention is to create a bright and happy, constantly evolving environment that anyone can walk into and contribute towards.

find out a little bit more about what we will be doing here.

we would love everyone to get involved so even if you can't pop along on the day to write/draw/make, we'll be using the hashtag #highspirits on the run up to and including the day itself for you to submit your happy thoughts. we'll make them fly for you!