Buildings

Getting better I think.

Pan's Labyrinth

Went to see Pan's Labyrinth the other night. I've not seen tons of new films this year but it's right up my street and easily the best.

Apart from just being a bloomin' good film, it's got some of the best character and set design I've ever seen. A tiny detail I particularly liked was the faun's teeth - they put so much character into an already stunning costume/puppet. Also, the whole 'Pale Man' section is just bang on horrible fairytale imagery with piles of kid's shoes and stuff.

I illustrated a Grimm Brothers Fairy Tale at college. When I look back, I made a pretty bad job of it but it was great fun. It's something I'd like to try again.

Doodles

A few doodles to start me off on something. I need to look at a couple of books. There will be more of this stuff soon, but better. I suddenly have so much to draw for so many things and can't seem to find any time.

Garfield

We all know Garfield is the worst thing ever. I hate it too. I used to have quite a few of the books when I was wee that I'd read quite often. I'd never enjoy them so god knows why I bothered.

This comic was doodled really quickly on the little squares of paper I've got on my desk for keeping notes. I used my monitor as a lightbox. It's not the best thing I've ever done but I though I should post something. More coming soon (Mr Crutchfield, that means stuff for you).

Invention

Another one for Illustration Friday. The topic was "invention". Posting it on the following Thursday night is maybe a bit dumb but hey-ho.

Interesting Ideas

I've working on a new website for my drawings and stuff which is why I've not posted anything in a couple of days. It's getting there and should be uploaded sometime this week.

A quick bit of linkage to one of my favourite sites of all time: InterestingIdeas.com.

It's a site about outsider/vernacular art, roadside curiosities and wonky non-artist made art. It's not particularly pretty or anything and I don't check it very often but I just dang love it. I found it a few years back just by typing "interesting ideas" into my address bar. I rate it so much that I'll probably pimp it in a bit more detail another time. Have a rummage around and you'll find something good.

Also, folks who know will probably notice it's where I got my favourite forum avatar from.

A comic about a tree

Well a comic of sorts - it's not exactly George & Lynne. While I was doodling that one tree I thought this up then I decided I might as well draw it.

A tree!

I'm drawing stuff for someone for something. Might as well post my testers and doodles and stuff. There'll be more probably.

Shoes!

An old ink/watercolour picture today. I drew this after ordering a pair of blue slip-on Vans that were too small.

I never did get the pair that fitted. I really want yellow ones now.

A familiar face

I had did a pretty rubbishy drawing but coloured it in all nice in Photoshop.

Small Boy & Monkey

I've been reading Small Boy & Monkey for ages now and I think it deserves some props.

Small Boy & Monkey is one of only about three webcomics I like, what with webcomics being terrible and all. The comic gradually changes from neat little stories at the beginning to fairly complex affairs in the more recent stuff. The layouts and ideas are all really nice. I don't know much about the dude who writes it, but his name is Anthony Frattaroli and he posts on a forum I read. CLICK HERE for Small Boy & Monkey!

Rouge, Edinburgh

Back in the springtime, my friend Rue Five got me in touch with the folks at Flesh in Edinburgh. They were putting on a group show called "Rouge" and were nice enough to ask me if I'd like to do some stuff for it. I did these (click for bigger):

This is called "Crows & Rabbit". It's watercolour and ink on cardboard. There were a couple more like this called "Sloths" (at top of page) and "Wolf & Owl":

I handed in some of my red & black drawings. Unfortuantely there was not enough time to scan them before the opening but a few are visible in these photos:

There was also a fairly large untitled picture of a kinda house thing.

The show went really well and I sold most of my work. Also exhibiting were: Rue Five, Elph, Concetta Barbera, Gopherhead, One Neck, Krisis, Lady K, Alexa Cameron... (I will complete this list and put in some links later, promise). We all had a good drink and a dance on the opening night.

Also, I did a few more red & black pictures after the Rouge show opened in June 06. This time I got the dang things scanned. CLICK HERE to see a them all. If you're too lazy for that, this is what one looks like:

I'll post about the second Flesh exhibition "Complete Control" soon.

Work examples

I've decided to write a few things about previous bits and pieces I've done, so there are examples of my work up and about before I finish my website. I'll also link to these posts in the sidebar so they're easier to find amongst my usual daily stuff. I'll start with the stuff I did for "Rouge" at Flesh in Edinburgh (the above post).

The most Radio 4 comic in the world

I've been reading Tamara Drewe by Posy Simmonds in the Review section of the Guardian every Saturday since it started. It's a gentle wee comic that's got a countryside drama / book club kinda feel.

The story is set around a writers retreat on an old farm and follows the intertwining stories of the temptress Tamara Drewe and the surrounding local characters. It's a great example of a comic made for a non comic-reading audience. A fair chunk is available HERE. It's got a whole Archers vibe is right up my street. The online version is a bit of a catch up but hopefully the full story will surface somewhere soon.

Illustration Friday: "Thanksgiving"

I know it's not Friday today silly! This is for a website called Illustration Friday which gives out a topic every week and you draw a corresponding picture. This week's topic was "Thanksgiving" and since we don't celebrate it here in Scotland I kinda made a wee scene instead. This one is a bit of a rush job because I'm pretty busy right now but I kinda like it. I'll try to do this every week.