Lacey Baker Kickflip Illustration

Lacey Baker just put out a great part on Thrasher. I was so hyped on her kickflips I put pen to paper or, um, Apple Pencil to iPad. I didn't quite get her likeness right but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out for a quick little drawing.

I swing back and forth on drawing skateboarding stuff. On one hand it's really fun, plus I know enough of the nerdery to get the details right. On the other, I'm totally aware that there's the risk of becoming an uncool fan-art machine and ostracising myself from the entire industry (that I've never worked in but might like to one day).

Anyway, watch Lacey's part. She's great.

BTW if you follow skateboarding, Chris Roberts' The Nine Club is probably the best skate podcast at the moment. For such a creative, picky bunch, you think there'd be more skater-run audio out there that wasn't totally unlistenable. Good on C-Rob for raising the standard. Good guests too.

Trump's Face

It's the 9th of November 2016 and Donald Trump is set to be president of the USA. That's stupid.

I started trying to scribble his face while reading Twitter this morning. I figure it's worth figuring out my Trump in case I ever need to draw him for work. My first attempts (above) aren't great but they really hammered home one thing - Trump's face is gross as shit.

He's harder to pin down than I thought, mostly because his hair is such a scene-stealer that I never paid much attention to his other features. He's got these lizardy little rat eyes and plump wee lips. His collar pulls on his fat neck and makes his whole face look like a deflating balloon. His chin, his ears and his nose are disgusting.

If you're drawing Trump, make him look repellant. He is repellant. He's clammy plasticine. Reducing him to a cartoon haircut is too nice.

All the 3s

In 2001, I bought a bunch of CDs on Fence, one of which was King Creosote's 12 O’Clock on the Dot. I was 18 and had just started my degree.

I can vividly remember listening to the album on the little stereo in our studio after my classmates had gone home. I was working in my sketchbook and it was raining outside.

For whatever reason, All the 3s caught my ear. It's a short, funny song about ageing, specifically about turning 33. I've uploaded an extract here:

33 seemed forever away. 2001 to 2016. 15 years. No matter how you square it, 15 years is a big chunk of life. My 20s hadn't started yet - in 15 years they'd be done and dusted. At 18, I'd barely had a drink. I'd barely had a girlfriend. 15 years was definitely forever away.

The idea stuck in my head and I've thought about All the 3s on every birthday since.

Yesterday I turned 33.

Left: me at 18 (I think). Right: me today, at 33.

What's happened in 15 years? Things: I graduated. I went to the pub. My 20s. I got married. I bought a flat. All these things feel like they happened yesterday. 15 years is no time at all.

I still feel exactly the same. I still own 12 O’Clock on the Dot. I still work in my sketchbook. It's raining outside.

I've got all my hair and I've got all my teeth (going by Facebook, that puts me ahead of some of my schoolmates). I'm carrying about 10lbs more than I should be. Here's a time-lapse of me trying to sort that out:

I imagine I'll continue to think about All the 3s every July. My 33rd birthday'll be further behind me each year and, instead of being some beacon of age, it'll be a memory of my youth (albeit one that I'll swear just happened).

15 years only feels like forever when you look this-a-way. When you look that-a-way, it's yesterday.

Boris Shat It

There's lots of big news going on in the UK. Yesterday's was big enough to compel me to put pen to paper (or Apple Pencil™ to iPad™).

Shitey Boris here spread fairly widely, probably because it's so stupid. He even got politicised TO THE MAX by the amazing Jez Burrows.

Big thanks to anyone who shared him and hello to any new pals.

Skateboarder, Glasgow

I've started drawing people I see around Glasgow. Partly for fun, partly for practice, partly as documentation for something or other. I'll try to share some here from time to time.

This guy was at Kelvingrove skatepark in Glasgow. I was feeling his camo trousers. I'm frustrated that I can't remember what brand of shoes, jumper and skateboard he was rocking.

Someone out there probably knows him. If you do, please keep it to yourself because that's pure embarrassing and I'd like to go to the skatepark without feeling more uncomfortable than I already do (I'm old and not very good). Cheers.

Captain Haddock En Route

Despite evidence to the contrary, I don't generally go for collectables. I've never bought an action figure as an adult and the few bits of Lego dotted around my studio are my favourite sets from when I was a kid rather than pricey AFOL bait.

Saying that, I did pick up this beauty of a Captain Haddock statue from Tojo in Glasgow. I had spotted him when I was Christmas shopping and couldn't justify spending money on myself at the time. Luckily there were still a couple in stock today and my Santa-cash burned a hole right through my pocket.

Oddly enough, I don't know much about Tintin. I remember that I found the TV series kinda boring as a kid and I know that the comics got a little un-PC from time to time. I also saw the Spielberg version which was fine. Creepy, but fine. Beyond that, not much.

Hergé's character design, though, is beautiful. Haddock in particular is timelessly cool-looking (that pullover!) and this little statue of his iconic, pissed-off stride is about as perfect a translation to three-dimensions as you can get. As an object, it's a lovely thing and it looks better in person than my photo makes out.

I guess buying a Tintin figure without having read Tintin is daft so I'm gonna give the comics a shot. Any tips on where to start (or what to avoid) would be great.

You can buy Captain Haddock for £21 from Tojo in Glasgow (in Merchant City if you live nearby) or from the official Tintin shop. The Tintin in a kilt statue is pretty cool too.

John Siracusa Paper Doll

This is the nerdiest thing I've ever done.

As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of Reconcilable Differences, a podcast on Relay.fm hosted by Merlin Mann and John Siracusa.

During a conversation about clothes on episode 14, Merlin suggested to the audience that they maybe make a paper doll of John so that he could get a makeover without actually getting a makeover. John didn't seem too thrilled with the idea but it sounded like fun so, y'know, sorry John*.

These days, most of my illustrations exist as thoroughly layered Photoshop files - keeping things flexible can be useful when a client asks you to move things around. I figured that a paper doll would be a natural fit for this way of working and, with the exception of a few fiddly bits, it proved pretty straightforward.

So I battered out an unflattering drawing of J-Sir (again, sorry!) and spent an hour or two on the lightbox fitting him with some clothes and things. Scan it all into Photoshop, add a bit of colour and that's a pretty productive Saturday night right there. I know how to party when I need to.

I had planned to add more outrageous items of clothing to the collection but, honestly, I was already plenty embarrassed that I was playing dress up with a man from a podcast. Putting him in a Darth Vader suit wasn't going to make either of us look any cooler. Most of the clothes are things described in the episode, I guess the makeover will have to wait.

You can download a PSD version of the paper doll over here (there's a fully knolled-out illustration on that page too). Turn different layers on and off to create different outfits. Feel free to add to it and share it around.

If people like it, I'll probably revisit the Siracusa doll sometime in the future. Drawing more clothes doesn't take long and it might be cool to try out some different ideas. If you have any requests or feedback, let me know on Twitter or in the comments below and I'll see what I can do.

* A note to JS - if you see this and really don't like this stupid thing that I've made, I'll take it down right away. I know it's weird.

Reconcilable Differences Podcast

Reconcilable Differences is a new Relay.fm podcast hosted by John Siracusa and Merlin Mann. It launched yesterday. I was so excited that I drew a picture.

John Siracusa, who I've drawn before, is a longtime favourite podcaster of mine. I first heard him on Hypercritical and have followed him through Neutral to ATP. He's a picky guy (by picky, I mean two whole episodes on video game controllers and a 3 hour conversation about Goodfellas picky) who talks a lot of sense.

Merlin Mann's Back to Work was incredibly helpful to me when I had a job I really hated. I don't think I'd have had the confidence to go full-time as an illustrator without listening to episodes like Failing with Style on my miserable morning cycle to the office. His other podcasts, You Look Nice Today and Roderick on the Line are also great.

John and Merlin have occasionally talked about things like Totoro and Toy Story over on the incomparable, um, The Incomparable podcast, but having them together on the regs is gonna be a treat. Cheers to the folks at Relay for making it happen (co-founders Myke and Stephen seem like the nicest dudes in the world. I'm stoked for them).

Reconcilable Differences is pencilled in for 10 episodes over the summer and episode 1, We All Ruined It Together is a brilliant start. I'm already hoping that they'll keep going longer. Give it a listen.

ps. There's a big version of the artwork over here.

Fence's Flamin' Hott Loggz Poster

Again I am delighted to have been allowed to help out the Fence Collective with another poster design. This time it's for a Guy Fawkes shindig up at their Anstruther HQ. Johnny 'Pictish Trail' Lynch asked if I could come up with something suitably silly to illustrate his 'Gunpowder, Treason and… Plop' Bonfire Night theme.

My time was quite tight but, thankfully, the brief kinda suited something being a little rough around the edges. Taking a cue from my What I Wore Today drawings, I cranked out this pair of beardy fellows and a titular hott-logg and things just came together. This is actually my first ever fully hand-drawn poster design, which took me a little by surprise. The colouring was added digitally but apart from that, it's all pens and paper. Getting text to sit well with my drawings is something I've always struggled with.

As with all Fence events, I wholeheartedly recommend you get your arse along to the Hott Loggz party if at all possible. Fence Records consistently put out some of Scotland's finest music and their live gigs are a joy to witness. Recently I've caught a little sneak-listen to some upcoming releases and, honestly, if you follow what they do, you're in for a treat. Here are the details:

Fence's Flamin' Hott Loggz
An all-day (2pm - 1am) event of music & excitement
Saturday, 5th November
Anstruther, Fife, Scotland
Featuring a yet-to-be-announced line-up of Fence Collective members + friends.

Tickets are available here.

I'm gonna try my best to head up for the show. Despite the promise of a bonfire, a Scottish seaside in November will be damn cold, so wrap up warm.

Stoppit & Tidyup Character Design

Stoppit and Tidyup is a cartoon I remember fondly from my childhood. Created by Charles Mills and Terry Brain, the guys behind one of my all time favourites - Trapdoor, S&T was a short-lived series that followed the lives of the weird and wonderful inhabitants of Do As You're Told. It ran in 1988 for 13 episodes on the BBC.

I didn't love Stoppit and Tidyup the way I loved Trapdoor or Portland Bill or Mysterious Cities of Gold, but it definitely had something that kept it with me. The introduction used to fire up my imagination - the weird music, the Terry Wogan narration and, most of all, the seemingly endless (to a 5 year old) parade of fascinating characters just made me want to grab a pencil and paper and draw some monsters.

The characters, that was it. I couldn't get over how cool they looked. At that age, I knew a little about how animation worked and understood that they were drawings that someone had sat down and thought up. How could someone draw something so good? They were perfect to a little kid like me. Clean Your Teeth's teeth were so white. Hurry Up was so fast. As for I Said No, well, he was just the biggest thing in the whole wide world. I loved him the most - the way he completely filled the screen and looked so utterly pissed off all the time. You can check out all the characters in the intro to this episode:

As an adult, rediscovering the show through a YouTube nostalgia trip (best thing about an Apple TV btw - can't beat watching Raggy Dolls on the big telly), I've got a new appreciation of the brilliantly inventive character design in Stoppit & Tidyup. So many great monster ideas. The stressed-out Take Care is great - forever flapping his tiny wings to stay in the air, the aforementioned Clean Your Teeth too - all swaggering by like he's the man.

The best, though (and by best I mean creepiest), is Go And Play, who I've posted above. My new favourite. A silent man-child of a thing dressed in tiny white shorts (pants?) and carrying a toy-train. He skips everywhere, his too-adult looking legs move him around slow motion, his dead eyes and blank expression make it seem like, for a guy called Go And Play, he doesn't much care about having fun or, well, anything at all. He's all spaced out and weird. I love him.

I tidied up a screen grab of Go And Play to illustrate this post. If doing so is against a copyright rule of some kind, I'll happily take it down. The idea and original drawings belong to the creators and I only use it out of love and respect for a great bit of character design. It makes me want to draw monsters again.

The List Student Guide

If you're a student, and in particular, a student in Scotland, keep your eyes out for the new Student Guide magazine by The List. They should be around in all sorts of campuses (campi?), unions and other student-friendly places. I was asked to provide a few drawings for the issue, including that fella above.

I've not actually seen a copy myself but I've heard reports that it's out there now. Inside is all sorts of useful information about student life and stuff to do in Scotland (wear a kilt, play bagpipes, smoke heroin etc). I think it's free but don't quote me on that. Check before you stuff it in your bag and end up in the jail.

I now have an updated page showing both character illustrations.

Oh no, I played some computer games!

I've been playing a couple of my favourite games again recently and thought I'd give them mad props. They're not totally rare or anything but as far as computer games go they're pretty much the tastiest dishes by the best chefs and served by the politest waiters. If you've not done nothing but shooting or racing for a while then get your grubby mits on these.

Shadow of the Colossus was out last year maybe. It's a sad, stripped down, silent affairthat'll blow you away. It's the gaming equivalent of the elephant at the zoo being put to sleep because it's too old and it's for the best.

I'm not gonna start a gaming blog here so I wont go into mad detail but damn, just buy the thing. The character design is some of the best I've ever seen and it's got more atmosphere and depth in its slight story than any corny RPG epic.

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ICO, made by the same folk a few years back is a related game and maybe my favourite ever. Again, it's all vague and atmospheric and seems to come from a very different place from every other game cutting about.

You play a boy who escapes from being left as a sacrifice in a massive castle and all you've got to do is find a way out. Along the way you meet a girl and pretty much just move from puzzle to puzzle trying to keep her safe. It's ruddy-bloody brilliant.

Both games are out on PS2 and ICO is even a re-release that you can get for like £20. Get the nice box for Shadow of the Colossus with the postcards and such. You can get the first edition of ICO on ebay maybe but it's cost you a pretty penny.