Ye Crooked Legge

sgnitniap llamS

2012-01-23T05:17:00.000-08:00

Illustrating Treasure Island

2012-01-04T04:37:00.000-08:00

With the release of Treasure Island on the iPad I'm happy to show some development work from last year. I would work up the roughs on the Cintiq before moving to colour in Photoshop. Many ideas are discarded, but that's the nature of quick thumbnails. You hope to capture the energy of the doodles in the finished artwork. There's over 40 finished illustrations, so here's a small sample of some of them. All art copyright Space Dog Books 2011.

5 Paintings

2012-01-02T03:49:00.001-08:00

Painted around the New Forest area over the festive period.

A trip

2011-12-19T03:15:00.001-08:00

I'm back in London after a month in California, spending two weeks in Los Angeles and two in San Francisco. Whilst away I thought I'd try some small paintings. Virtually all of my sketchbooks are black and white so I thought I'd take the plunge into colour. It wasn't an entirely comfortable experience but I'm glad I forced myself to do something different. I want to write about all the terrific people I met and drew too but I'm too discombobulated with jet lag right now. More soon......

...Right I'm back after a doze. Below is the first drawing I did in LA before abandoning pencil for paint. Underneath that are some of the characters I saw during my stay.

I just wanted to add that I met some incredible people and artists this time around, and I really have to thank them for making my trip so enjoyable. So in no particular order I salute Matt Jones, Nick Sung, Noah Klocek, Stephane Kardos, Space Dog Books, Ricky Nierva, Kevin Dart, Andy Grisdale, Don Shank, Alex Woo, Dave Needham and Boris Hiestand

If push came to shove and I had to pick a highlight of the journey it was meeting Sanjay Patel. Sanjay's artwork adorns San Francisco due to his outstanding show at the Asian Art Museum. I found it so inspiring to see vector art getting the recognition it deserves. There's no button on the computer that says "make great art". Sanjay's work is pound for pound the best I've seen. Chatting to him was a wonderful experience. There's wisdom, magic and a great spirituality to the man.

California

2011-11-10T06:16:00.001-08:00

I'm very pleased to be heading out to California next week. I'll be at CTN in L.A before taking a few weeks rest. The trip culminates in the release of Treasure Island up in San Francisco with the wonderful folks from Space Dog Books. See you soon!

Night & Day: States of Mind

2011-10-25T02:53:00.001-07:00

I'm very pleased to have helped out with issue 3 of Night and Day, a long forgotten journal first created in 1937 and edited by none other than Graham Greene. Tom Avery and Parisa Ebrahimi have resurrected the magazine and created a new electronic format. My task was to create an illustration around the theme States of Mind.

I chose a phrenological map of the human brain. My mind island is divided into individual States which in turn act as feelings. What is your current state of mind? As for me, I've crash landed in one and perpetually exist in another, yet seek a path back to one I visited before.

Well done to Tom and Parisa- you can download the issue free HERE

October

2011-10-21T03:40:00.000-07:00

Autumn

2011-10-05T04:29:00.001-07:00

27 degrees....

2011-09-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

...on the river today!

September Sketches

2011-09-25T08:15:00.001-07:00

I've been out and about with the sketchbook, down on the South coast of England as well as West London.

Game Over

2011-09-15T04:19:00.000-07:00

My Mac G5 has gone to the great server in the sky. One google, one gurgle and he was gone. Apple are really struggling at the moment so I'm more than happy to give them money for a new Mac. I hope to be back soon. In the meantime I'm using mediaeval instruments like pencil, paper and paint. Only I can malfunction now.

Roehampton Estate

2011-08-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I entered Roehampton estate armed with only a sketchbook, ruler and pencil. The buildings probably seem ugly to many, but I'm attracted to their scale and angularity. In particular I like the physical space the "legs" of the larger structures create. Whilst sketching the second drawing down a voice shouted out from one of the balconies.
"What you doing, drawing?"
"Yes," I replied, although I couldn't see the person anywhere.
"Well I'll put some music on for you."
And with that I was treated to a wonderful mixture of electronic dubstep and liquid drum and bass. The music seemed to have the same mass and volume as the buildings. I visualised these monuments as giant speakers pumping abstract concrete shapes into the atmosphere.

I never did see the person, but I thank them for inspiring me!

See, people aren't all bad are they?

Fire & Ice

2011-07-27T05:29:00.001-07:00

A double page illustration for Nobrow.

June people

2011-07-08T02:40:00.001-07:00

All Saints Church

2011-07-04T06:06:00.000-07:00

I often ride past this small church in Putney, so I thought I'd have a stab at painting it from memory.

TI again.

2011-06-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

The illustrations for Treasure Island are finished and with the programmers. There were roughly 40 illustrations in total although not all may be used. Good luck to the Space Dog team moving forward, can't wait to see it finished! Below is my attempt at a painted cover, just for development. This started out as the rough before the final painting but ended up as the only version. Perhaps the face could be cropped at the nose giving more emphasis to the tattoos.

Now I need a new project!

"I'm sitting down to enjoy my holiday"

2011-06-29T06:24:00.000-07:00

"SCRUBBERS"

2011-06-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

"PenRITH"

2011-06-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

Withnail.

2011-06-26T14:02:00.001-07:00

"I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame the earth seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy the air, look you, this mighty o'rehanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire; why, it appeareth nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, how like an angel in apprehension, how like a God! The beauty of the world, paragon of animals; and yet to me, what is this quintessence of dusk. Man delights not me, no, nor women neither, nor women neither."

A firm young carrot.

2011-06-25T16:18:00.001-07:00

Commision for an avid book reader.

2011-06-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Low Tide.

2011-05-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

Mr Arrow disembarks.

2011-05-11T04:59:00.000-07:00

I've almost reached the half way point illustrating Treasure Island. Some visuals like this one may not make it into the final I-Pad version, but may be interesting to post.

In my humble opinion the only thing missing from Stevenson's wonderful tale is a good old storm. Perhaps on the night that Mr Arrow mysteriously disappears.....

Wired Magazine.

2011-05-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

The May issue of Wired magazine features an article on the potential pitfalls of organising a music festival. You may end up broke, wet and in charge of the clean up operation. I tried to encapsulate the article in 1 illustration in which a simple e-mail invite grows out of control!

Boats, beers & bangers!

2011-04-11T05:13:00.000-07:00

Vegans beware! This post contains violent scenes of beef. A wonderfully warm weekend in London led me to sketch along The Thames before joining Oscar and Patricia for a spectacular BBQ! Blimey.

Old Beams Inn

2011-04-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

I spent this weekend down in The New Forest. I wanted to sketch The Old Beams Inn in Harbridge and reference it for "The Admiral Benbow" in Treasure Island. The wonderful thing about walking and drawing is the unexpected things you discover on the way. For instance, the little red plough may end up as an interesting detail in the final illustration.

Treasure Island

2011-03-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

In January I visited Space Dog Books in San Francisco to sign up to illustrate Treasure Island. It will be available for the I-Pad later in the year. There's a mighty list of previous illustrators who've tackled the subject matter, it's a case of not being daunted and trying something new with the material! Robert Louis Stevenson's prose is fabulous and I've thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel again.

I've nearly roughed out all 34 illustrations, now I need to find a style/look. I hope to post development work both here and on the Space Dog site.

Exhibition!

2011-02-27T06:03:00.000-08:00

Gigantic thanks to everyone who turned up on the opening night. The Nobrow team worked extremely hard in the days before - it was really enjoyable collaborating on the wall painting. Thank you to Ed Roberts, Oscar and the "Ballad of..." team for contributing to these photos! The exhibition runs until April 21st- details & sketchbook work here.

Apotropaic Reflection

2011-02-11T09:41:00.000-08:00

Some final pieces for my show. I tried to take advantage of my initial laziness concerning this painted skull. Because I'd previously only painted half and flipped it in Photoshop, I attempted to build a box and insert a mirror at 90 degrees to reflect the image. As with every first attempt I learnt a lot, but the final piece has given me food for thought concerning future work and hopeful improvement. Maybe I'll move into the coffin industry.

Crocodile

2011-02-05T13:26:00.001-08:00

Midnight Doodle

2011-01-31T16:07:00.000-08:00

Four Hats

2011-01-24T12:07:00.000-08:00

I'm really pleased to be showing work next month with the outstanding publishers Nobrow.

"On the penultimate Thursday of February we will be launching our next exhibition "Four Hats", an exhibition of work by artist and designer Matthew Cruickshank. The show will feature prominent works from his varied stylistic repertoire, hence the name. Sketches, Paintings, Sculpture and Digital Work come together in bold and vivid colours to present a unique talent that you'll kick yourself for not having seen yet, and if you have, then expect new and surprising feats of illustrative dexterity from this many-hatted fellow" - Nobrow

21 Days Later.

2011-01-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

2011 began by flying to San Francisco to sign up to illustrate an interactive E-Book. I'll post about this at length soon, but suffice to say it's quite exciting! I've been here in the city for the last 3 weeks, integrating myself into the friendly insanity of the unfathomable natives.

Highlights include various drawing expeditions with Matt Jones, flying down to Venice Beach to meet Evan Spiradellis from JibJab, shaking Pete Docter's hand and Ralph Eggleston's shoulder, discussing triangles and circles with Don Shank, lunch with Noah Klocek, coffee with Andy Grisdale and drinks with Elvis Christ's denizens of the deep!

I'll add to this post in time but for now perhaps drawings speak louder than words. A huge thanks to Space Dog Books for inviting me over & my wonderful host Matt Jones. It's my last night in the city so I must leave now to prepare my assortment of Spandex outfits......

2010

2010-12-04T10:40:00.000-08:00

On December the 1st I opened the bedroom blinds and thought I'd woken up in Russia. Thick snow in London is rare, especially in early Dec. I spent the morning sketching onto the Cintiq, and then rendered up the final image. I don't normally work directly on the computer but it was far easier to look out of the window and study it directly. That's my little shed in the middle, looking bleak and cold. There's a few details I really like, the deserted birds nest now revealed in winter and the wandering bird prints on the roof.

This will be my last post in 2010 so I hope this image serves as a Xmas card of sorts (hope it's not too depressing!) Thanks to everyone who visited Ye Blogge this year. The start of 2011 begins in furious fashion so I hope to post sometime soon!

Happy New Year!

War

2010-11-30T13:49:00.000-08:00

10 days in Los Angeles.

2010-11-29T04:05:00.000-08:00

L.A proved to be an excellent trip. The jet lag was uncompromising at times but the experience was well worth it. We arrived on the Wednesday and headed to Dresdens for a few beers. Thursday morning I was up early to sketch Todd & Liz's cat, and to avoid the pillow talk from Boris.

We headed up to the Getty and spent a great day amongst the permanent collections, the Cacti and the view!

The next day was the CTN-X. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting other artists face to face. There was some formidable talent on display. I have huge thanks to pay to all the interesting people I met both in the halls and in the bar, and shall do so in due course. Matt Jones snuck down to the event in a large DVD box, and it was fantastic to hold a hairy welshman in my arms again. Highlights for me included meeting Ronnie Del Carmen, Noah Klocek, Scott Watanabe and a memorable night on the tiles with Alberto Mielgo and Co. Both Noah and Alberto gave excellent presentations on their work the following day. I even attended a gesture class in the hallway to draw a cowboy.

There was no time to rest after the event as we headed over to Manhatten Beach on the Sunday for a viscious volley ball contest with Tim Watts and his family. Fuelled by 6 large pancakes each battle commenced for at least 15 minutes.

I spent 2 memorable days with Wilbert Plijnaar relaxing in the sanctuary of his incredible garden. I was daunted to learn that he wanted me to add something artistic to his garden. With only 1 day to hand I began to paint a witch doctor onto one of the posts of his outdoor hut, hoping to return one day to continue it.

Wednesday was a chance to see old friends and faces from Disney. Thursday was Thanksgiving and all my plans went belly up. I traveled solo over to Santa Monica just in time to see the sun drop into the North Pacific. Walking down to Venice I found "The Other Room", a bar I visited many moons ago. I sat at the bar and drew on the matchboxes from the bowl. One thing led to another and I ended up at a giant house party until the small hours, ending my last night In L.A with a bang. Small things do matter!

And so it was all over. I'm hugely indebted to Todd & Liz, Wilbert Plijnaar, Sally Umstead, Jim Fielding, Stephane Kardos, Jeff Shelly, Tim Watts and whoever the hell I met at the aforementioned house party for your outstanding generosity!

The last day I went from the 69 degree heat of L.A to the minus 3 degree warmth of the Hammersmith bus terminal!

My solo November "Sketchcrawl"

2010-11-13T03:35:00.000-08:00

I spent a breezy afternoon in the town of Barnes. The devastation was hard to take. One bike had fallen over and one man had a plastic bag attached to his foot. Next time I'm inviting Oscar Grillo for moral support.

Ibsley

2010-11-08T11:32:00.000-08:00

I visited The New Forest this weekend to see friends and family. I had one morning free to take a country walk around the area I grew up. These are the results.

Thames view

2010-11-02T04:43:00.000-07:00

Cards/Prints

2010-10-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking of ideas for a card or print to leave behind at the CTN-X next month. I'll post some ideas here and see if there's a popular one. If not sod it. I'll be selling prints illegally in the car park along with Boris's body.

To create extra excitement and tension, the poll to vote on your favourite closes in 30 seconds......

Skeleton

2010-10-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

Geisha Girl & Pinocchio

2010-10-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

Last few sculpts for a while, it's way too cold in the shed. A sure sign of insanity is sitting on your own painting wood to make it look like.........wood. I'm 99% sure I'll be awoken in the middle of the night by a falling proboscis!

Cliff top

2010-10-07T01:42:00.000-07:00

Balloon Flight

2010-10-05T02:33:00.001-07:00

Factory

2010-10-04T04:48:00.001-07:00

New sculpts, warts and all.

2010-10-01T09:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a Witch. And also the ghost of Monty, who hit the plonk too hard and is sadly no longer with us. I keep photographing them all together because they're like alcoholics, they need each other.

Temple by a lake.

2010-09-28T14:52:00.001-07:00

Elephant

2010-09-25T13:55:00.001-07:00

Man paints elephant:

Elephant paints elephant:

Philip and the Stove

2010-09-10T02:49:00.001-07:00

The books arrived this morning-43 pages of colour! I shall be taking these to the CTN Animation Expo in November.

Death Ray

2010-09-08T06:58:00.000-07:00

Concrete Jungle (1)

2010-09-06T03:05:00.001-07:00

Expel

2010-08-29T03:07:00.001-07:00

Peter Parr tribute book

2010-08-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

My animation tutor retired recently and ex-students have been invited to submit work for a tribute book. This is my submission. Be sure to check Peter's blog via the links to the left- a wonderful man and artist!

Ahab

2010-07-27T06:27:00.001-07:00

()

2010-07-24T03:54:00.000-07:00

Queequeg

2010-07-22T12:20:00.001-07:00

Jesus Christ

2010-07-19T07:02:00.001-07:00

Tokyo Underground

2010-07-16T05:32:00.000-07:00

"Open Kimono"

2010-07-09T01:40:00.001-07:00

Illustrations for a phrase I'd not heard previously.

Jamie Oliver Illustrations

2010-07-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

Illustrations for an article in Jamie Oliver's magazine.

Wooden letters

2010-07-02T02:20:00.000-07:00

Made from off cuts of wood. I only had enough for 8 letters. For some strange reason they're very nice to hold and touch.

Just another day.

2010-06-24T03:35:00.000-07:00

The first image may have been a false start! This is an old image/story I started a while back. My aim is to add to it little by little from left to right in an erratic and non timely manner.

Elektricity

2010-05-21T07:50:00.001-07:00

The moving graphics are a lot smoother on the original quicktime, but this is my film on Vimeo. It seems to run smoother if you let it load completely before playing. Play it loud on your headphones!!

This was my first stab at After Effects- a huge thank you to Marc Iserman at Red Central for helping me post it.

Elektricity from Matt Cruickshank on Vimeo.

More Oldies.

2010-05-12T04:42:00.000-07:00

Preparing presentations recently I've stumbled across old work which I've either shared before and removed or not shown before. Here's an eclectic mixture of images, concepts, life drawings and themes. I'll add to this post over the next few days.....

Oldies

2010-05-05T04:04:00.000-07:00

Going through an old folder last week with super talented Gur-b, I came across some old paintings and spaff which I hereby post!

First up is the London helipad over in Battersea, it's fascinating to watch the super rich pop in and out willy nilly in their private helicopters. Next up some random paintings and lastly a No Country For Old Men sketch. Voila!

Fighting Horses 1998

2010-04-26T02:22:00.000-07:00

I just found my student film on Vimeo! I had this idea of a painting coming to life and chose James Wards "Fighting Horses". He painted it in 1808, and it looks like I animated it in 1808. Oh well it was a fun time, I remember thinking I knew it all when in fact I knew nothing.

Fighting Horses (1998) from ATRiuM Animation Archives on Vimeo.

Berlin

2010-04-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

"Elektricity" at Pictoplasma 2010

2010-03-12T06:54:00.000-08:00

I'm very happy to announce that my first animated film "Elektricity" has been accepted into Pictoplasma's festival of contemporary character design and art. The festival takes place in Berlin on the weekend of the 9-10th April. Details of screenings, presentations and lectures will be finalised within the next few weeks on their website (link on left).

The film was made at home in between "real" projects. All in all it took about 4 months to make. My objective was to have fun, learn some animation and hopefully open up a door to collaborate with creative people in the future.

2010-01-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

I'm Finished

2010-01-21T12:48:00.001-08:00

Aloha

2010-01-19T06:41:00.000-08:00

2 nights ago I saw a documentary on Barack Obama and learnt he was born in Hawaii.
I've wanted to do a caricature of him for a while now and it's tenuous that I chose that fact about him, but there you go.

Title Header

2010-01-06T02:48:00.000-08:00

This is supposed to be my header but I can't get the little guy into the header area. sigh.

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner.....

2010-01-06T02:05:00.000-08:00

Issue 21 of The Hospital Club's quarterly magazine ran the theme of "London".
One of my illustrations features on pages 16&17. The club's link is on the left.

6 small paintings.

2009-12-28T08:12:00.000-08:00

Painted each morning while the family get ready to go out!

Happy 2010

2009-12-18T03:19:00.001-08:00

How terrible do I feel about using the same image I painted from last year?!
I think I can squeeze a few more years out of this one.

Freelance Job-2

2009-12-10T02:33:00.000-08:00

I was asked to redesign a new bag for The Disney Store for it's transition from plastic to recycled. I found the original bag garish and loud and wanted to do something subtle and tasteful with the bag. Here's my sketch and my finished rendering in Illustrator. I haven't seen the final bag that's being used, but I bet it doesn't look like this! Secondly I did a range of birthday cards for Hallmark Cards-they gave me freedom to draw and design some concepts for a Winnie Range.

Caga Tio.

2009-11-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

This is my illustration for an exhibition in Barcelona. A Xmas Catalan myth tells of a log that upon being beaten by children with sticks "expels" sweets through it's backside. I've probably got this completely wrong. Thanks to Oscar Grillo and Ed Carosia for letting me take part.

Freelance Job~1.

2009-11-19T11:03:00.000-08:00

One of my first freelance projects was to up-date the Vintage Monopoly series for Hasbro. Maybe I could have pushed this further (I remember quite a tight deadline) but I enjoyed working with a character I found appealing in a design sense. These are 2 designs for the Front Of Pack that I drew, then rendered in Illustrator. Images are copyright of Hasbro.

Syringe

2009-11-11T14:23:00.000-08:00

I've thrown myself whole heartedly into this music promo/video/nonsensical thing to the point that I've completely neglected the blog. Here's some old stuff-another wood painting entitled "syringe" and another wooden sculpt.

Tattoo & Fringe dweller

2009-09-21T02:22:00.000-07:00

I'd like to put together an animated music video which I hope to finish soon, so in the meantime it's back to pictures. These are two pieces finished a while ago. "Tattoo" is painted on discarded wood, and the companion sculpture entitled "fringe dweller" is also made of wood.

Avatar

2009-08-25T07:03:00.001-07:00

Gouache/Photoshop

Old Wood

2009-08-13T02:27:00.000-07:00

Shift

2009-08-01T04:56:00.000-07:00

Moon Landing

2009-07-25T02:49:00.000-07:00

40 years ago this month it happened-or did it?! Some would suggest it didn't.

Dreaming Dog.

2009-07-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

New Old Mickey Project

2009-07-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

An old project that didn't lift off. I was playing around with Mickey as a collectible toy. In essence he's a robot/machine in each of the situations-a submarine,a buddha, a lantern-or even a Geisha Robot Minnie. I'm not sure any of them work or feel like a Mickey franchise, but sometimes I believe Disney merchandise can simply be appealing graphic interpretations, and nothing more.

Day of the dead

2009-05-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

Marvin the Martian

2009-05-18T00:45:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed this poster brief a lot-taking Marvin and doing anything I wanted with him.

3 Paintings

2009-05-12T06:01:00.000-07:00

Johnny Cash

2009-05-06T02:04:00.000-07:00

BBC2 screened a superb documentary on Johnny Cash Sunday night. I was aware of most of his movements, but didn't know he crawled into a cave with a bag full of amphetamines at one point! Coincidentally I've just finished a poster concerning the Cash. Each year there's a festival in Mississippi celebrating the fact that Johnny was once arrested for the heinous crime of picking flowers.

Howard Pearce 1919-2009

2009-04-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

My Grandfather approached life with humility, humour and inquisitiveness. The only survivor of his Wellington Bomber, he was shot down over Bremen in World War 2, marched to Poland and made a Prisoner Of War in Stalug Luft 3- the setting for "The Great Escape". Dressed as a German decorator, with impeccable forged passport and attire, he was discovered in the Tunnel "Harry" on that fateful night in March,1944. His name was amongst the 150 names placed into a hat. 50 were chosen and brutally shot dead on Hitler's orders. Returning home after the War he married Phyllis Pearce-their marriage lasting 63 years.

With a voracious appetite for History and Literature, My Grandfather was an endless source of fascination for me as I grew up. I compared him to the comic book heroes I read about in "Victor" and "Hotspur" as a little boy. Because my Dad had left home when I was 2 and my brother 4-Granddad became our father, and there was no finer as far as we were concerned. His bravery and memory will live long in our hearts.

Meeting

2009-02-18T01:56:00.000-08:00

Leaving Disney

2009-01-23T11:19:00.000-08:00

After nearly 6 years I'm leaving Disney to pursue other avenues. It's been an absolute pleasure to draw and design with these characters. I approached each project with the aim of always trying something new and interesting, whilst retaining the sentiment and sincerity of the characters. Below are examples of my professional and personal work. Please be aware that Disney owns the copyright to their properties, and will burn your church and eat your children if you use them without authorization. I'm less heavy handed. If you're interested in contacting me about work you can e-mail me at mscruickshank@btinternet.com. I'll add my new details into the "contact me" section of this ye blogge once I figure out how to do that!

Personal Work