Moonface

A long time ago I set out to create some illustrations for the Enid Blyton book the Enchanted Forest. I wanted to make them starkly different to the way the books have previously been illustrated and was drawn to geometric shapes as a simple, childlike way to create the images. A year and a half later I've managed to draw the first image.

Here's a link to the book plate I designed.

And here's a link to more information about the Enchanted Wood and about Moonface.

Rate of Expansion

We are currently putting together a show for The Glasgow International at the Arches on the small subject matter of Time. It is a rabbit hole of a puzzling subject that once you start down you end up with a sore head and saying wow quite a lot.

For example the above diagram shows the time that has passed so far in the universe as a blue circle with the theorised potential universe's future time shown in red. The period that life in any form has existed on our planet is so small as to be invisible at this scale.

The Slient P

I couldn't sleep last night and as I lay there I started thinking about Pterodactyls. Specifically I was thinking about their silent P and what was the point of it. This got me thinking about other pointless P's which are being wasted all other the place like my number one hate Psalm, which really is a mess of a word.

The man who would probably know the purpose of all these abandoned letters is Stephen Fry but problematically he is probably biased as he is the proud owner of one himself.

Anyone know why we have these guys?

IF: Capable

Bonjour Madam

I like this little character. He seems a very respectable sort of a fellow.

The Owl and the Pussycat Salon

My Cousin and his wife are currently opening a hair salon in Brooklyn called The Owl and the Pussycat Salon. Its a pretty cool name and they are going for a really laid back trendy West Coast (US not UK) feel. I've been helping out with some ideas for the graphics etc and above is the first sketch for their logo. I'll post some more images and update the weblink once they are fully up and running.

EDIT: Monday 19/03/12 was their "soft" opening, so if you are in the Brooklyn area and in need of a timely trim then you know where to go.

Here's some info from estimed Brooklyn website the Brownstoner.

Know the Difference - Georges

On the train back from Birmingham the other week I started doodling up my ideas for new "Know the Difference" prints like my Moomins Mormons image. The first one I thought of that I sometimes get muddled up is George Formby (1930 banjo playing musical hall star) and George Foreman (Boxer and face of the lean mean grilling machine).

In the two hour train journey I managed to draw up sketches of about 15 pairs. They shall be appearing soon.

In Vogue

The Ship's Crew Russian Dolls feature in a little piece in Vogue magazine this month called Maison Chic. Our copy arrived in the post this morning and we've just had fun flicking through the hundreds of photos of intense looking pretty people. As you can see from the photo below the Ship's Crew have tried their best to put on a cool trendy expression and I think they've almost pulled it off. There is talk of them maybe modelling for Gucci's summer selection, hope it doesn't go to their heads. 

Scottish Trade Fair @ The SECC

 

Here are some photos of my stall at the Scottish Trade Fair at the SECC. Considering we only signed up 24hours before the opening I think we pulled it together really well. Big thanks to Ann and my folks for their ever willing time and skills to get it all set up and also thanks to Joshua who agreed to man the stall when I was stuck in the office.

We met quite a lot of interesting folks and it was good to see a trade fair in action. Will be heading down to the big Spring Fair at the NEC in Birmingham this coming weekend. If anyone has any suggestions for things to see then let me know.