Drawing Book

The degree show is going up, students are upset, it's freezing outside and I'm colouring in birds drawn by 10 year olds. These are apparently both vultures, and whilst I have coloured one accordingly, the more chicken-looking one is slightly more open for debate as to its species.

I am meant to be designing a poster for the 2nd year's Drawing Book exhibition, but this was way more fun.

Back to work......

Domestic Bliss

I have been working with the fourth years on a poster to advertise their drawing talents.

Their brief was to draw five household objects from their homes as linear or monochromatic forms. I then took the drawings and created this screenprinted poster.

I went for a kind of seventies Penguin book cover feel, and it's looking quite splendid on the studio wall!

Drawing Book project

I have been working in 5 schools in Edinburgh for the past 3 weeks, alongside eca 2nd year illustration students and author Vivian French. We are working on a project called Drawing Book which consists of the writing and illustrating of one book per school, with the children contributing ideas and pictures. It has been really good fun (and hard work), and the images that we have come away with are hilarious. The students are also writing books, and all the work is to be exhibited in the Scottish Storytelling Centre from June 5th.

Sunset Song

I have no image for this on my work computer I'm afraid, but I have discovered this link to a project I have been working on with publishing students from Napier University. I have produced a book jacket design alongside 6 images for an ebook version of the story. You can see the kind of thing we have come up with on the banner to the blog below.

http://napiersunsetsong.com/about-us/

Quick update

I have been told by my students to update my blog because I am useless at doing it lately.

So here is what I have been doing..........

I recently(ish) went to the book launch for "The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner" at Napier Uni's amazing Craighouse campus. Everyone did a brilliant job organising the event and the book looks great. While I was there I saw a preview of the soon to be published "Thirty Nine Steps" which I also did the cover for. Looking forward to another book launch for that!

I am now working on the next book which is "Sunset Song" by Lewis Grassic Gibbon. I have a lot to do and not much time, as usual.

So what with all this, trips to follow Kasabian all over the place, and my job at eca I am not being very good at updating my blog, or my website.

I will try harder though!

Brother Fox

Back again!

I have not posted anything in ages but I have good excuses. I am working full-time at Edinburgh College of Art in the Illustration department and the Printmaking workshop. I absolutely love it, but I don't get as much time at the moment to do my own work. I am still taking commissions though!

I recently got a commission for a CD cover from a band in Sheffield. Brother Fox is made up of letterpress and screenprinted images and is now the face of 'Little Robots' new EP.

Storytelling Pick & Mix

Hooray! Storytelling Pick & Mix is finally up!

It was the hottest day of the year and we worked for 6 solid hours to get there but it is ready at last.

There are boxes of characters, objects and animals and 4 large backgrounds. The idea is to make up your own stories with our artwork, and then write and draw them, and send to us! 

We will put the best ones on our website.

The exhibition runs from now until September at The Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street, Edinburgh (In John Knox House). 10am - 6pm.

Pick & Mix

I have been busy the past couple of months getting ready for a joint exhibition with illustrator Vicki Gausden.

It is an interactive exhibition of characters, animals, settings and objects all ready for you to make up your own stories, and is running in the Edinburgh Festival at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on the High Street (John Knox House).

This blue whale could be one of your characters.

New Napier University Collaboration

After the very successful edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles being published last year, I have been asked to team up with this year's publishing students for a new publication of James Hogg's "The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner".

The book is a dark and disturbing tale and these are 2 of the illustrations along with the cover.

I got some great feedback from last year's book:

"It looks modern and will definitely attract young people".

"The cover is very striking..."

"They thought it looked edgier than a 'classic' usually looks. They really liked the illustrations too".

"I think the illustrations are brilliant".

Postcard commission

I have just finished a fairly challenging commission involving the depiction of disability in the arts. There are 6 images and they are all on my website.