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.
Treasure Island
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.
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!
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
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.
Four Hats
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
"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 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......
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
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!
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!
10 days in Los Angeles.
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!
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"
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
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.
Cards/Prints
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......
To create extra excitement and tension, the poll to vote on your favourite closes in 30 seconds......
Geisha Girl & Pinocchio
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!
New sculpts, warts and all.
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.
Philip and the Stove
The books arrived this morning-43 pages of colour! I shall be taking these to the CTN Animation Expo in November.
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