Folk Tales: Rapunzel

I never got this story.

After using Rapunzel's hair to climb up how does prince resuce her. The situation is still the same - unless the prince has brough a big pair of scissors there is no way for Rapunzel to climb down her own hair.

EDIT: Having done some research (Googled the name Rapunzel) - it would appear the Prince came up with the clever plan of sneaking up the tower everynight with a bit of silk which Rapunzel was to spin into a ladder. Why he didn't just bring a ladder is a bit of a mystery but there you are.

Cowboy Spacegun

This is the gun for Cowboy spaceman, from a series of paintings of robots and futuristic items.

Brassband

Little brassband inspired by the fantastic drawings on the previously mentioned http://colonelwindpipe.blogspot.com/. Well worth a look through.

To see the individual characters at higher res then click here.

Double

A nice coincidence word today, given that I'm in the middle of making a second edition (double) of my George and the Dragon russian dolls. The brass band set is now complete and the varnish is drying and images of them will be uploaded over the weekend.

Got Milk?

I like milk - its usually my drink of choice with meals and I prefer it to yoghurt on my breakfast cereal.

One thing that really annoys me about milk though is the campaign of billboard posters with various B list celebrities drinking milk and ending up with milk moustaches. The campaign has been going on for long time and is just accepted as normal but when you actually stop and think about it, its a really strange concept. How come none of these people learned to drink properly and why don't they wipe their faces.

I'm not sure why the milk board think that seeing someone with milk on their face will encourage us to buy their product but I think someone should point out its kinda disgusting. At best, getting milk on your face is an unfortunete and unwanted side affect of drinking milk. Its not its most desireable quality by a long way.

Imagine they used the same concept with other products, using their unwanted side effects as the hook for an advert. For example an advert for Campbell's tomato soup with a grinning child with big orange stains all over his face, or a bottle of red wine with a pretty woman smiling and showing off her wine blackened teeth or think what you could do with Heinz baked beans!!

I wonder how much the milk board pays for these people to be in their adverts? And I wonder what the stars say to their agents when they find out they've been booked for the gig - there are not many people who can manage to have milk on their face and still look good. I mean is anyone looking at these guys and going "hey, they've got milk on their face, I need to get me some of that."

In preperation of this post I did a google search for some of the UK adverts, only to discover that the milk moustache is not just a UK advertising strategy. Here the campaign is known by its slogan "the right stuff" but in the US by the slogan "Got milk". In both the concept is the same, a celebrity face covered in milk, the difference between the two is the calabre of the people advertising the milk - here while we currently have Gordon Ramsey and Pixie Lott, the americans have got Batman, Glen Close and Andre Agassi's mum. Check the link and see if you think anyone doesn't look like a plonker.

Other countries are tackling it in different ways, some more successful than others - Brazil, Canada, South Africa and Angola.

Weirdest advert I saw is this one from Singapore. When I first saw the image I thought we'd found an even odder way to advertise milk than the milkface concept but having done a bit of research its actually a photo company called milk and not drink that is being advertised. (Still pretty weird though.)

Anyway, the whole milkface thing has just annoyed me today as I saw another of the billboards as I was walking along the road. I haven't even really got a suggestion for an alternative, its just annoyed me. Not sure what I'd prefer, I quite enjoy the bonkers adverts with the cow, cyclist and pirate by Cravendale and their simple poster series, they are a heck of a weird set but quite good fun.

From my quick google search online it seems there is quite a depth of adverts from around the world to draw upon. Would make an interesting little article/ docu for someone.

Scottish Greetings Cards

My Scottish Post prints are now availible in handy gift card size for sending lots of nice greetings to friends and family or, if you prefer, you can keep them for yourself and use the envelopes for storing small items like paper clips, rubber bands or plastic moustaches.

Folksy / Etsy

Russian Dolls - Brassband

The talk of a brassband the other day inspired me to attempt a russian doll set. Here are the sketch ideas. I'll take photos of the finished articles tonight and put on a post tomorrow.

Colonel Windpipe's Musical Brigade.

Really like the new project by Uberkraaft and Lesley Barnes to create a musical band called Colonel Windpipe's Musical Brigade. They are asking illustrators around the world to submit their own characters for a special joint charity print. Have a look at some of the cool band members who have signed up so far.

3D is rubbish

Can't quite decide what to do with this idea. I think it makes a pretty cool card or print but then would I want it on my wall?

Test images for Eat Haggis

 These are test images for new website http://www.eathaggis.com/

Ice to see you

The many hours I spent on the roof over the coldest winter for years paid off as my ice letters have been selected to appear in a book about 3D lettering.

I might post some info about the process behind making these ice letters as it was extremely laborious and required me to solve the problem of what to do when the thaw arrived and I was only as far as H.

"Almost two years in the making FL@33 are now happy to present The 3D Type Book – a handbook, source of inspiration and the most comprehensive showcase ever published that focuses 100 per cent on three-dimensional experimental letterforms, sculptural shape-shifting letters, tactile experiences and surprising and inventive ways to interpret the alphabet, ranging from beautiful and humorous to poetic, witty and conceptual.

On 240 pages The 3D Type Book features over 1300 pictures illustrating over 300 projects by over 160 selected contributors from around the world. Like no other publication before does The 3D Type Book also feature pioneering milestone work from the last century going back as far as the 1940s. The overall focus however is on recent and brand new typographic projects and experiments – imaginative, playful work with sculptural and three-dimensional letterforms.

The 3D Type Book showcases cutting-edge work by emerging talents and established studios and individuals alike – including Sagmeister Inc, Vaughan Oliver, Milton Glaser, Alvin Lustig, Louis Danziger, Roger Excoffon, Paul Elliman, Marian Bantjes, Geoff Kaplan Clotilde Olyff, Antoine+Manuel, Frost*Design, Italo Lupi, Mervyn Kurlansky, Marion Bataille, Non-Format, Oded Ezer, Post Typography, Rowland Scherman, Rinzen and Underware's Type Workshop, J. Kyle Daeve, Ji Lee, Pleaseletmedesign and Strange Attractors Design, to name but a few.

The icing on the cake is an insightful foreword for The 3D Type Book that was written by innovative 3D type

specialist Andrew Byrom – who is also featured in this book with some of his inspirational projects.

Conceived, compiled, written and designed by FL@33, Agathe Jacquillat and Tomi Vollauschek, www.flat33.com"

See previous post for more image of the letters.

Enchanted Wood - Character Sketches

Some initial character sketches [click image above] as I try to work out a tone for my illustrations of The Enchanted Wood.

The Enchanted Wood - Book Plate

Not worked out the style I'll go for yet - quite fancy a very simple retro flat colour palette.

As per the real Picture Book Report I'll start off with a book plate. Above is a very quick first attempt - will try out a few other techniques tonight.

I also, somewhere in the cupboards at home, have a set of clay figures I made of some of the main characters when I was a wee boy. I'll dig them out and if not to embarresssing will upload here too.

Picture Book Report

I'm a big fan of this great project set up by Meg Hunt.

"Picture Book Report is an extended love-song to books. Fifteen illustrators will reach out to their favorite books and create wonderful pieces of art in response to the text that has moved them, shaped them, or excited them. From sci-fi to children’s books to fantasy to serious novels, we’ll cover them all. For three weeks out of every month there will be a new illustration every day from one of us along with our thoughts, process, anything we can come up with. Together we will try to excite readers both new and old and capture some of that magic of storytelling."

Its a great concept and has inspired me to have stab at a similar attempt myself.  I sat down in front of our large bookcases at the weekend, scanning the book spines and had a good think about what story would be fun to illustrate. It was a difficult job, there are so many great tales I'd love to draw. In the end I went for "The Enchanted Wood" by Enid Blyton. Not only because it was one of my favourite books when I was a child but also because it lends itself very well to a good mix of different images. Not quite sure of the style I'll go for or if they will be hand drawn or digital but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

As per the official Picture Book Report I'll try to stick to a monthly routine, though I've noticed that unfortunetly due to other commitments a few people have fallen behind and a couple of people have had to drop out early.

Good work to Meg for keeping it all running and for coming up with such a great idea in the first place.

Check out the site for all the great images. Below are a few of my favourites so far.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - P Murphy

The Hobbit - Sam Bosma

The Never Ending Story - Chuck Groenink