burnt

burnt man, burnt sausage. in the observer yesterday.

drung.

new one for the observer, i like this one. out sunday.

goodbye G2

last monday's charlie brooker illustration was my final piece for the G2. it's been a really good two and a half years, so a very big thanks to richard turley for his brilliant art direction, and of course to charlie brooker, whose text inspired all the work. a selection of my favourite illustrations from the brooker pieces will appear on my updated site soon, watch this space for news on that.

meanwhile, my work will continue to appear weekly in the observer for david mitchell's column - here is this week's illustration, out on sunday.

t-post

noose design now available at t-post, check out their site and subscribe, lots of good stuff going on there.

update

just a note to say i'm still here, i've been getting quite a lot of emails requesting updates and new stuff - i am working on updating my website, and am holding back on any major updates here until that's done. it's obviously taking me forever, and this is due mainly to other work commitments, which have to take priority. watch this space meanwhile, a proper update is not far off now. you can also check the blog over at http://www.bigactive.com, which gets weekly updates.

on a slightly different note - a quick message to all illustration students. i've been getting an overwhelming amount of emails from students referencing my work for various projects and essays, and rather than copy/pasting the same reply to everyone, here is a little bit of advice:

if you study graphics or illustration, my most serious piece of advice to you would be to stop looking at my stuff for inspiration as soon as possible. if you want to be genuinely inspired or influenced by what i do, then look outside the tiny and insignificant bubble that is contemporary illustration. watch films, read books, look at other forms of art and design, learn about what's going on around you - anything that takes you outside illustration. despite of what your tutors may tell you, as an illustration student, referencing and studying other contemporary illustrators' work is not only going to damage your own work, but it will only help to homogenise and water down illustration as a whole. there is a big problem with illustration students at the moment - they are spending too much time referencing and copying other illustrators' work, and this will end their career before it has a chance to start. i'm only stating the obvious here, but as a student, you should do everything to make sure your work looks nothing like anybody else's out there, otherwise it will never be noticed, and you might as well get a job in mcdonalds.
i and most other working illustrators i know generally go and see a lot of degree shows, and anyone referencing other contemporary illustrators tends to be seen as ignorant and a bit second rate and crap - nobody wants to see the same old, but we all love seeing things we've never seen before, it's what moves this industry forward. as a new graduate, it's your job to move things forward, and by referencing other illustrators, you are doing the opposite.

so if you're using me as your contextual reference (or whatever), then do the following:
- stop looking at my work for inspiration, it is based on my own background and cultural references, and therefore no use to anyone but me
- look instead at your own cultural and personal background for inspiration, it's what i do
- look at 20th century graphic design and see how much of it you really understand. (i wish i had studied that stuff more at college)
- look at every piece of work you've done over the last year - how much of this work do you feel represents you as a truly unique individual, and how much of it is 100% different from what everyone else is doing? unless the answer is 'all of it', it's time to re-think everything. (i'm not saying i'm exempt from this rule, i have to remind myself to do this a lot).

your tutors have a responsibility to educate you properly, and if they're making you reference nothing but contemporary illustration, they are failing massively. it's your degree, you should demand more.

that concludes my rant, feel free to prove me wrong by showing me amazing new work. there's a lot of new talent out there, it would be good to see some of it put to use.

site update coming real soon.

prints

productofgod.net have a few artists' proofs for sale in very limited numbers. There are 3 small series including the piece below (A2 size), and two other smaller pieces (both A4). They are raw experimental pieces and curiosities as opposed to clean and repetitive print editions, so each print is unique and therefore only available in very limited numbers. they're selling fairly quickly so grab one before they're all gone.

unused

leftovers, sketchbook pages, drawings i haven't used yet and other things i found on my desk.

bristol

small show coming up at soma gallery in bristol, opens on the 24th of october.

back

it's been a while, i've moved house and had no internet for the last 3 weeks, which was no fun. here's a shot of something in last sunday's observer, pretty much every editorial piece i've worked over the last month has been about the world falling apart, but this one is by far my favourite.

another horse, another muffhead

funny how these things go round in circles sometimes.. crying horse in the observer this sunday, pubehead in the guardian on monday. the other two are both editorials from last week, both slightly different from their published versions. the original drawing of the jazz player is now sold.

show

solo show coming up at soma in bristol in october, details very soon.

olympic unicorn wrestler

in the guardian on monday.

muff heads

just finished these for a magazine, not sure if i got it in on time tho. too much work and no fun for the past 2 weeks, everything i've worked on has been very last minute and hectic. next week should hopefully be a lot calmer. more details on these when i know what's happening with them.

pig

pig head to go with the chef just below, rough version, not sure what i'm gonna do with this yet.

also

this one's for arena, prefer the prototype to the final so here it is.

nazi bungie jump

this one is out in the guardian on monday.

2 more

couple of new things, one is up at madeinbunch, the other is for plastique magazine.

subtext

group show coming up in san diego in august, few pieces from me and lots of other cool stuff, more info at the subtext store.

bbc

first time i'm posting a video up here, an advert for radio 4, something i worked on a little while ago with whynot associates, showing now on the bbc.

california

a few photos from the last 2 weeks..

palm springs, a very strange place. i'm sat here right now. it's 50 degrees.


san francisco looking good


random rooftop


"nob hill"


thps4, anyone?


monterey beaches are amazing


more monterey


deer wonder the streets in monterey, they're everywhere.


insane person and friend, santa cruz


route 1, on fire.


los angeles rooftop action


driving through the desert


few more to come soon..

off...

i'm off to san francisco tomorrow, so no charlie brooker illustration from me for a couple of weeks. i'll try to get some photos uploaded while i'm there, should be good. the lab101 show opens tonight, if you're near there, get over there, i'll be in LA from the 20th so i'll go along to see how it's going around that time.
meanwhile, here's one for the observer, out tomorrow.



this one was in last monday's G2.



..and one of these is going in the guardian this monday, although it's unlikely the pepsi logo will make it past the lawyers.

bug sex

in the G2 tomorrow.

pain

hardcore.

LA show

4 of about 10 small-scale originals which will be on show at the lab 101 gallery in los angeles, show opens june 14, more info at http://www.thelab101.com/.

new york times

a small one for the new york times, this one is out tomorrow.

lab 101

for anyone on the west coast, i'm taking part in a show at the lab 101 gallery in los angeles in june. the show opens on the 14th, and will feature around 10 new pieces from me. i will be in san francisco from the 15th, and will make my way down to LA about a week after that, which means i'll miss the opening but at least i'll be around to see the show. all the new stuff is being framed right now but i'll post a few previews when i get them back sometime next week.

indy

2 unfinished versions for an indiana jones editorial, difficult subject matter. i like them like this but it's nearly 6am, i might be starting to lose any sense of judgement.

the other one

from the same issue, review section. something a bit different, i'm into it. a bigger version will be up on my site, which will finally see an update sometime over the next few weeks.

UN

one of 2 images for the observer this week, out tomorrow.

class b

quick one i did last night, coming out in the observer tomorrow.