Sign o' The Horns, a sketchbook doodle that I shared on Instagram. I'm called davidgalletly on there, just like in real life.
Paolo Rivera's Studio
The bold Elph shared this a few days back and I've watched it a couple of times since. Part 1 and part 2 are on YouTube.
Comic books are not something I'm too clued up on, so I have to confess my ignorance - I had no idea who Paolo Rivera was before watching this video. More fool me. Dang he's an amazing artist. Seems like a good dude too.
As someone who can spend 60+ hours working on a painting, Rivera has shaped his workspace to be super efficient. His pens, pencils and erasers all stick to his drawing board with magnets, he's made a wire doodad for keeping his brushes off the table (totally stealing that one) and his one-handed brush wringer is beautiful. He also shows off a bunch of nifty tools and techniques.
Being mindful of stuff you do over-and-over when you're working, even the stupid stuff, can be useful. It took me months of awkwardly stretching for the just-out-of-reach volume dial on my radio before realising that if it was, like, right beside my computer, I wouldn't give myself a hernia every time I watch a YouTube video (and I watch a lot of YouTube videos). It didn't make me better at drawing, but it made day a little easier.
The 3-part Making of "The Twelve" Cover with Paolo Rivera series by the same folks is worth a nerd out on too. His process is fascinating. There's a surprising amount of tech going into a fairly small gouache painting, but it's all there to help him make the image he wants to make. Rivera's workflow, like his studio, has been refined by doing his job over-and-over again.
Art Instruction Inc.
Found while looking up videos of Charles Shulz drawing Charlie Brown on YouTube. I'd fail this course so bad.
Pringle 1815 Illustrations and Animation
Pringle 1815, the Japanese wing of Pringle of Scotland asked me to draw some illustrations for them! Everything has been done and dusted since January but I had to wait a wee while before sharing the work here.
Rather than repeat everything in multiple places, I've put together a page about the project with the main images, information and links.
That said, I want to draw specific attention to the above. Pringle 1815 also wanted me to create an animation to accompany the ad campaign, which is nuts. Despite not being an animator, I gave it a go and, after a lot of long nights, managed to put together something I'm pretty happy with. I've given The Dancing Lion its own page if you'd like to see it a little larger.
Music and sound by the phenomenally talented Jonnie Common.
WIRED Memes: Illustration Roughs
This spot illustration appeared in the April 2012 issue of WIRED accompanying a piece about memes by Mary K. Choi. While browsing through my old files, I found a few roughs from the project and figured the process was interesting enough to post about.
I don't draw in my sketchbook as often as I should. Over the last couple of years it has mostly worked as a scratchpad that sits on my desk while working on the computer or loose paper. WIRED briefs always had a fairly short turnaround too, so sketchbook work was particularly minimal. Here it looks like I've written a couple of lists while reading the rough draft, sketched out some cats (probably while drawing the final artwork) and called it a day.
That's not to say I don't plan and develop ideas, it's just that my thinking tends to live in text files and doodles on my phone or computer. This isn't as romantic as carrying around a collection of beautiful or fascinating things, but it works for me. I don't like people to see my ugly and embarrassing sketchbook. It's not one for Pinterest.
After I've bashed together 4 or 5 ideas in my head, I'll usually grab a pen and a pile of thin white card and start scribbling down thumbnails. I use the card because it's dead easy to scan and colour.
10 minutes per rough with little or no pencil work is plenty. If a particular idea starts to come together nicely, I'll maybe take a second or third attempt. If it doesn't do much for me (like the exploding Mentos + Cola drawing above), I'll quickly throw some colour on it anyway on the chance that it'll spark the art director's imagination*.
I try to send over a variety of different ideas. I'm not precious about any of them and stress that they can be used as starting points for different approaches. Maybe they can be tweaked, added-to or combined to get something better. Maybe they need to be thrown out entirely. That's ok.
I like how this guy turned out. I want to punch him.
Cats? Hmm.
A big pile of memes? Maybe, but it's unclear what the hell they're supposed to be, even if I added a bunch more and tidied everything up in the final artwork. How about combining this idea with the cats-in-a-trashcan above...
Now we're cooking.
I was fairly confident that this was the best idea when I sent everything over to WIRED. They agreed. My feedback was to stress that the character was swamped with memes (in this case Lolcats) and had given up hope.
In the final drawing I moved the character down inside the pile and gave him a wee 'surrender' flag. After colouring, the art director asked me to add a little 'LOL' up top to hammer the message home.
The process behind the Memes illustration is fairly typical for me. Some are easier - going straight from scribble to final artwork, some are harder - endless roughs, final artwork scrapped by an editor at the last minute. Still better than having a proper job, though.
* Beware! This is a dumb idea. I do this because I'm not smart and want to look like I've done a whole bunch of work. Clients will often pick a rough you hate and you'll have a miserable time with the final drawing.
Goodbye, Google Notifier
Yesterday, Google announced that Google Notifier will no longer be supported. While this isn't the end of the world, it still bugs me. I love that little app. I even made a custom icon for it (above) because I can't stand that the default one looks a little blurry.
I can use my phone like they suggest, but the menu bar is still a great place for an at-a-glance email counter. There are others out there but, for me, they try to do too much. I liked the simplicity of the official app. Google are taking their sweet time about supporting Safari Push Notifications too. If anyone knows of good alternatives, please let me know.
Like many others, Google is trying my patience these days. Two products I use(d) daily (Google Notifier and Google Reader) have been killed and one product that I never, ever want to use (Google+) is always being shoved in my face. Actually, everything they've done over the last few years has been a negative to me as a user. I can't think of a single positive. I understand that Google owes me nothing, that they're creeps who only want to sell my eyeballs to advertisers and that they may be worse than Big Brother (the TV show and Orwell's moustachioed Peeping Tom), but I still like GMail and would like to keep using it.
C'mon Google, you're bumming me out and I'm a creep. I'm your people. We should be like peas and carrots.
UPDATE: Gmail Notifr by James Chen looks like it might do the trick. It's simple and even supports multiple accounts. Nice.
Brandon Westgate: Emerica Made B-Sides
Brandon Westgate will go down as one of the best. B-sides (meaning raw footage, alternative angles and outtakes) from his Made part. My pick for SOTY.
A 2013 Montage: 12 Photos Per Month
Happy New Year!
This is a collection of personal photos taken in 2013 arranged chronologically in a 12 x 12 grid. The top row features photos from January, the next from February and so on. I've made one of these montages every year since 2009, making this the 6th. Clicking the #montage tag will let you scroll through the full set.
A giant version is on Flickr.
The photographs serve as reminders of events from the year both big (going on holiday) and small (eating chips). I can't include everything because of the limited space but I get a nice at-a-glance overview. Days where I didn't take any pictures never happened. As always, I'll be surprised if this is of any interest to anyone but myself.
2013, Then? It Was Good. I Liked It.
What follows is a lot of words about myself broken down into sections that you can skim-read (or not-read).
Work
2013 was definitely a year of playing safe, work-wise. Being my first January - December as a full-time freelancer, my main concern was making sure I could support myself - I could! While this is tremendously satisfying, it's also left me feeling a little drained. Work was constant, but often stressful. I've been stretched thin and need to be careful to avoid my work becoming, y'know, work.
This stretched-thinness has meant that I've not shared much of what I've done in 2013, despite liking most (but not all) of it. It can be hard to be enthusiastic after-the-fact about something that reminds you of feeling exhausted.
Fortunately, the hard work has given me wiggle-room for 2014. I intend to be more picky with what work I take on and more playful with my personal projects. I have no idea whether I'll still be self-employed come 2015, but that's what I'm aiming for. Being your own boss is pretty boss.
I'll put my best 2013 work up soon. A couple of my favourite projects are still secret, so unveiling them'll be a neat way to kick off Springtime.
People
Family
My Nana died in December. She'd had a pretty amazing life and was proper funny right to the end. Cheerio Jessie Galletly.
Alex and I didn't get divorced. We don't expect to get divorced in 2014.
My dad retired! That's nuts.
Friends
It feels like I didn't see enough of my friends in 2013. Midway through the year I had a bit of a panic that I'd forgotten how to interact with people socially and I've been a bit awkward in conversation since.
Hogmanay was a good chance to catch up with lots of people all in one place. It was worth the day of puking. Almost.
I made some new friends too. Which is rare.
Internet Friends
Philip Larkin and Swatpaz got the laughs on Vine, @amatussarra is still one of Twitter's unsung heroes and Beth is killing the jewellery game.
Places
A lot of time was spent sitting at this desk. We took fewer trips than in previous years but we ate out more. I'm the unhealthiest I've ever been, but I'll fix that.
Glasgow
Glasgow is where I spent most of my days. I still like living in Shawlands. Alex and I are going to stay here for the foreseeable future, with one change - we're going to (try to) buy our first home! This is scary and incredibly boring all at once. Thinking about buying also puts lots of stuff on hold ("Should we get a new rug? This one's horrible.", "Nah, we'll wait until we have our own place.") so our flat is feeling a bit tired.
Recoat, closed their doors in July, which was sad. They'll be back, though. I hope to work with Amy, Ali and the team lots during 2014. For now, you can buy the t-shirt I designed in collaboration with Recoat and Tshirt Store.
Food-&-drink-wise, Max’s on Queen St. remains a favourite; The Glad Cafe here in Shawlands has become our local; Tinto Tapas on Battlefield Road was a tasty discovery (go on Tuesday); and I took to cycling to Mono if I had lots of emails to get through.
Paris & London
Our big summer holiday was a return to Paris. We stayed in Marais like we did in 2012 and it was a blast.
Highlights include: Deyrolle, the insane taxidermy shop, Keith Haring at MAM, which was top of the pop(shop)s!; eating pizza by the Sienne (pure sitting on the ground like a local); Dinosaur skeletons at Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (thanks Jen and Alan for the tip); and watching Midnight in Paris with like, a million other people at sunset in Montmartre thanks to Cinéma au Clair de Lune.
On the way home via the I-imagine-it's-stress-free-if-you-don't-leave-everything-to-the-last-minute Eurostar, we also spent a couple of nights in London. This was also good. London kinda frazzles my head a bit and the weather wasn't great but, yeah, getting a (potentially final) look at Southbank, goofing around Tate Modern and generally being a tourist was fun.
Stirling
Having finally finished my run as co-host of the Nicky Tams Pub Quiz in late 2012, I found myself in Stirling (my hometown) pretty infrequently in 2013. The whole Changing Room situation made me pretty fed up with the town from the get-go and, after living in Glasgow for 3-odd years now, the town centre's feeling small and a bit pokey.
That said, Alex and I watched Andy Murray's Wimbledon victory from a pub in Stirling on a sunny summer's day, which was nice; my homeboy Pictish Trail played with Seamus and James at the Tolbooth, which was niiice; and we ate out at Wilawan for my birthday, which, um, smelled nice.
Technology
iMac
I got a new computer! Jesus, did I need it. My old machine had been on on suicide watch for 18 months. I took the plunge on a 27" screen and instantly became a spoiled brat who can never imagine using anything smaller ever again.
If you use a computer for work, get the best one you can afford (I buy computers by patiently saving up small amounts over several years). It makes your life 100 times better.
Retina iPad Mini
My old iPad was feeling a bit creaky so I decided to sell it and pick up either an iPad Air or iPad Mini. I went Mini. I think it was the right choice for me. I use it way more. I chuck it in my bag. I worry about it less. A 16GB, wifi-only, lean & mean machine rather than a big, clunky, stuffed-with-music-I-never-listen to old dog.
Canon 700D
Because I turned 30, I got an extra-special birthday present. A posh camera. I love it. I'm no photographer, but between my Flickr and my (much more frequently used) Instagram, you can see what pictures I take, if you like. The most popular photo I took was of a drawing I was working on but it wasn't the best photo I took all year.
Apps
I'm going to write a full post about what apps I've been using but, as a wee taster, I've been liking Omnifocus for task management, YNAB for being good with money, Tweetbot for Twitter, Soulver for sums, Mr. Reader for reading, Ember for organising images, nvALT + Notesy for notes and Downcast for podcasts.
Games
Neither the PS4 or Xbox One grabbed me enough to buy at launch. I'll get there one day, but not yet.
I didn't keep super up-to-date on new console games in 2013 but I'm enjoying GTA Online (my name is Galletly if you'd like to shoot me. Shouldn't be hard). My go-to game, as always, remains Skate 3.
I've been pottering with Project Zomboid on the Mac.
On the ol' telephone I've played a lot of Letterpress against my dad (I'm davidgalletly on Game Center if you want to play). I know it was released in 2012 but it's probably the best iOS game. Super Hexagon, also released in 2012, still has me hooked. Alex is addicted to Drop 7.
Of the 2013 iOS releases, it was cool to see Frozen Synapse finally reach the iPad. I also thoroughly enjoyed Ridiculous Fishing.
Disappointment of the year: Plants vs. Zombies 2 left a bad taste in my mouth.
Music
I listened to BBC 6 Music all year long, mostly in the daytime while working. The lineup is solid from Shaun Keaveny through Radcliffe and Maconie in the afternoon (I have to turn off at Steve Lamacq). I'll occasionally catch Marc Riley, Jarvis Cocker, Gilles Peterson and Tom Ravenscroft too, all of whom do good stuff. I feel like I've heard a pretty broad, if 6 Music-y, range of music this year.
What did I like? I actually liked the Haim record (I can feel you judging me from here). Daft Punk didn't annoy me like they did everyone else but the album has been on approximately twice. It seemed like there was lots of African music around (the Kenya Special compilation is a good place to start). Lost Map's own Monoganon put out the stonking FAMILY LP and friend-of-the-show Jonnie Common dropped a hell of a pair of singles in Figurehead and Salty (with JMSSCT as CARBS).
My most played song was Ode to Banksy by Jesca Hoop, mostly because I listened to it for three hours straight one night at crunch-time on a deadline. The catchiness of it scratched an itch and the repetitiveness helped me get into a rhythm, I guess. Banksy himself I can take or leave.
Old stuff I've listened to: ESG and Life Without Buildings ticked my, um, moody boxes. Watching the Pixies documentary Gouge on YouTube made me dig out some old favourites (particularly U-Mass). The FFVII Soundtrack, Consciousness by DJ Food and Enter the Wu made me feel like a teenager.
2014?
Och, I dunno.
Kid Canaveral's Christmas Baubles IV
Hello December!
Kid Canaveral's Christmas Baubles returns to Edinburgh for the fourth time, bigger and better than ever. The event at Portobello Town Hall on the 14th has already sold out. With artists like The Pictish Trail, Rozi Plain and Edwyn Collins (bloody hell!) on the bill, it's no wonder. More info over at Lost Map.
I'm chuffed to have been asked to design this year's poster (I also did the first one). It's a simple affair that came together really quickly. Kinda works upside down too.
Putting Edwyn's name on a piece of work felt pretty good.
Monoganon's FAMILY Gathering at CCA, Glasgow
Tomorrow (Sat 9th November), Lost Map's own Monoganon will play at the CCA here in Glasgow to celebrate the launch of their brilliant album F A M I L Y. I'm very much looking forward to this.
Support comes from Eugene Tombs and my good friend The Pictish Trail. You can buy tickets from the Lost Map Ticket Shop (only £6 adv!). As you'd expect, there's a Facebook event with more info.
Don't know Monoganon? Here's a wee introduction:
Say hello if you can make it along. I'm pretty deaf so, if it's noisy, please forgive any inappropriate nods or headshakes when I play guess-a-response.
The above poster was battered together by myself using a photograph by Sebastien Marciak.
Half Man, Half Woman Hallowe'en Costume
I dressed up for Hallowe'en this year. I had a fairly scraggly beard on the go and figured I could make use of it in my costume. A baseball cap, a wig and a pair of scissors are a really easy way to do the half-man, half-woman hair. Pretty happy with how it turned out.
The top photo shows the full costume. The bottom two are either side duplicated, flipped and retouched in Photoshop. Giant version here.
Don't shave your leg(s). It's itchy as hell.
Jim Henson on Making Muppets 1969
I love the way he says "tubes" at 4:59. Jim Henson made the world a better place.
Lost Map
Last week, my good friend Johnny (aka The Pictish Trail) announced that he is finishing up things with Fence Records, a label he has headed alongside King Creosote for many years, and is starting a new project with many of the artists involved. Today he launched Lost Map, a record label from Eigg.
To fans of Fence Records and the Scottish music scene, this is big news. It's big news to me too, having worked on a whole bunch of different odds & ends for Fence over the past wee while. Posters, album artwork, music videos and, um, Hott Loggz have all put food on my table (at least a couple of Mars Bars-worth).
More than that, I've been a fan. A big fan. Not as big a fan as some (there are some giant fans out there), but a good fan. An honest fan. A hairy fan. I bought my first Fence 'record' in 2000, Fence Sampler #03, from Avalanche in Edinburgh. It's still one of my favourites. That CD got me through college. From there, I bought albums, read zines, attended dozens of gigs (+5 Homegames), made friends and, eventually, got on the books. Fence has been a part of my life for 13 years and has influenced my work, my taste in music and helped me pass my driving test.
The what-the-hell-is-even-going-on events of the last few days have unsurprisingly caused much (mostly positive, I'm happy to say) a-twittering and a-beefering (?), but I don't wanna talk about that. I'm sad to see the end of this iteration of Fence, but I look forward to seeing whatever direction Kenny Creosote steers it in next. I also look forward to seeing where Lost Map goes too (hopefully to the Bahamas) because, if Johnny's involved, it'll be bloody good. You can like 'em both, y'know, that's ok.
So aye, Lost Map. I'm involved in a pretty major way. I could probably give myself a proper title but I can't handle the pressure / scrutiny, so I'll go with Chief of Winging It. I'll be working closely with Johnny on all the visual stuff - doing a fair amount of it myself and hopefully also getting some other artists involved where I can. We do have an art-direction direction, but fully intend to stay loose and playful as we go. The last thing we want is something cold and clinical so please forgive the wonkiness.
What you see on lostmap.com right now is our starting point. The above animation is hidden behind the main banner and will play when you click. It was made incredibly quickly and features a wee snippet of music from the upcoming Monoganon album, F A M I L Y, which is set to be the first full-length Lost Map release. It's brilliant, by the way. Incidentally, John B. Monoganon (MonogaJohn?) is good value on Vine.
From here on out, things'll get colourful.
Visit the site to download a free sampler, featuring music by Monoganon, Rozi Plain, The Pictish Trail, Kid Canaveral, eagleowl, Seamus Fogarty and Randolph's Leap. You can also follow @lostmaprecords on Twitter and like Lost Map on Facebook.
Stay tuned x
Flickrin'
I've started using my Flickr account for posting 'proper' photographs again (it had recently become a bit of an Instagram dump). Alex got me a spiffy new camera for my birthday and it's encouraged me to try to get better as a photographer. I'm not very good, but I enjoy it.
Have a look / add me if you'd like to follow my learning process (advice welcome!). See sillier stuff on my Instagram.
GFT: For All
Here's something bonkers. I've been working with the amazing Glasgow Film Theatre on a series of simple animations to accompany For All - a project discussing what cinema means to the community.
Between July and September, 9 writers will publish texts on the theme of 'For All' to encourage discussion and the sharing of ideas. Short extracts of each piece will be animated and shown onscreen at the GFT before films and on the Glasgow Film website where you can read the texts in full.
The first part of the project launches today. Pamwepo (at together), a poem by Tawona Sithole, beautifully sets the tone for what's to come. Visit the page, read the piece and share your thoughts.
(flip to HD for better quality)
Creating these animations (which I'm still working on btw - it's gonna be a hectic month) has been a learning process and no mistake. I may have dabbled before, but this is my first time working on anything on such a scale. Despite this, I'm determined to play around and enjoy myself. The turnaround on each clip is short so we're going for simple, effective little ideas and trying not to stress on getting everything perfect.
Music for the project is provided by two of my very favourite musicians in the world - Jonnie Common and The Pictish Trail. This makes me unbelievably proud. If you don't know their work, go check it out. Figurehead (by JC) and Michael Rocket (by Pictish) are good places to start.
So, if you find yourself in Glasgow over the next wee while, go see a film at the GFT. It's a beautiful cinema and they show brilliant films. The For All animations will play before the features and you can contribute to the project via the Glasgow Film blog, on Twitter using the #filmforall hashtag, on the Glasgow Film Facebook page and by using the post-it notes in the GFT foyer. Here's some more information about getting involved.
Emily Munro, Head of Learning at the GFT has written a response to Pamwepo on the blog. It's a good place to start.
I'll write more about the project as it progresses here and I'll toot about it on Twitter. Stay tuned.