So this is my latest foray – I’m in the Edinburgh Fringe this year! Well, not really. I’ll just have some work on some flyers. Hopefully Scandal Theatre will have some more little projects for me to work on, but in the meantime, have a look at their site graphics. I created the image for their new show – it’s being performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August. More news as it comes. I’m looking forward to seeing the show! 
Feeling pumped? I am!
I have reached my 300th daily drawing! I’ve kept this up for almost fourteen months now and over the last few months, it’s been a lot of fun using themes to direct the illustrations. There was the ‘Winter Punderland’, the ’28 drawings later exhibition’, the ‘Tree Puns’, the ‘when I grew up I wanted to be…’ series of twenty and now this. The Olympic series.
I’m drawing one every weekday for 13 weeks! That’s 65 days and 201 separate illustrations adding up to nearly 3 DAYS of solid drawing time. I’m mad, yes, I know. For this, my 300th drawing, I have completed the gymnastic parallel bars and to celebrate – here are all fourteen events I’ve achieved so far. ENJOY! They will all go together in the end, this is just a wee taster. Anyway, if you like them, why not follow me on twitter and / or Facebook where you’ll see the new drawing pop up each day.
Another commission – this one is a bizarre birthday card for a girl who loves to stuff animals in her spare time. Yep. She fills dead things with other things. I don’t know her myself, but if I did, I’d be asking lots of questions. Essentially I was told she mainly concentrates her taxidermy skills on mice; there are little white rodents dotted around her flat in various silly poses. So, my job was to characterise her love of dead animals and cotton wool. I did what I could. If you’ve got a mad friend or a wedding or a show or a need to have a drawing – hey! Get in touch!
Odd one this…
A friend asked me to create a badge for the ‘Residual Scooter Collective’, based on the smaller image you can see on the right. It was an old t shirt he handed me, hoping I could produce a near copy. Not only that, he wanted me to flip the image, bring the hornet’s arm back and have him clutching a zimmer frame. A tall order. As far as I know, the design will end up on stickers and t-shirts. It’s not the sort of thing I usually do (producing digital vectors of geriatric insects), but it’s good to know I can effectively reproduce designs that are so different to my own style.
It’s wedding season again here at Illustration, etc.! Here’s a recent commission I did for a wedding card. I was given a couple of photos of the lovely couple (Mike and Jen) and given a few pointers about how they should look. They got married at a place called ‘Dynamic Earth’ – Jen is apparently a geologist, hence the geodes and things at her feet! I find doing these commissions a nice departure from what I do on a daily basis. I also like the thought of the couple keeping my drawing long after the flowers have withered and the dress has been packed away. Through the medium of card and ink, I’m wishing the couple many a happy year of marriage!
Last week I was working on a Hidden City project for community arts organisation, conFAB. The project involved twelve inmates of a local prison writing poetry as a response to a particular area of Glasgow. Sounds intriguing? Well, the anthology I was asked to produce wasn’t a usual project either; it has been designed as a huge double sided A2 map poster of the text and space. I did the layout, design and illustrated particular features of John street, tucked behind the City Chambers; you can see the other elements I drew as one week’s worth of Daily Drawings (252-256).
This particular section includes my take on the outlandish Glasgow city coat of arms. It involves fish, rings, bishops, helmets, trees and bells. It’s mad. As for the anthology map itself, I’ve seen the final printed copy so have a look!
February was an exciting month for illustration in Glasgow (and further afield) as The Old Hairdressers geared up to play host to The 28 Drawings Later Challenge. It entailed drawing something new every day for the entire month of February and then posting each one, day by day onto the Challenge’s Facebook page. As you can just about see from the sheets of paper on the left, I managed to complete the challenge (inexplicably with 30 drawings instead of the standard 28) and was then eligible to take part in the grand launch of the accompanying exhibition that you can see on the right.
I drew with my laptop for one drawing, but then on my laptop with pens, on three mugs and an egg. I also drew some figures with a craft knife for Valentines day and then also returned to good old fashioned paper and pencil for reams of other drawings. The exhibition was a fantastic success. If you’d like to see the drawings, then have a look on the recently renamed Illustration, etc. Facebook page for February (formerly Analogue Girl Illustration).
Although Valentines Day seems already long forgotten, you can still enjoy these cards whenever the fancy takes you. These are the newest editions to my online shop; hand cut ‘Hug’ cards. They come in two varieties – boy and girl and they’re just as nice to send to your Valentine as they are to your mum! The designs are half cut out, then folded to reveal a little person reaching out to give your loved one a massive bear hug. NICE.
I intend to try out a few more half baked tricks with cutting some other new designs, plus I might see how these cards fare under a laser cutter – we’ll just have to do some experiments. Basically, get them while they’re hot! Valentines is over, but I bet you can think of a worthy recipient…
After designing a logo for Joy Dunlop, my musical chum, I had a recent call from her also musical brother. He’s a pianist and was looking for a personal website logo to reflect his musical leanings. We tried several approaches – some more successful than others, and the font was a tricksy sticking point! In the end, this simple, clean design won out. I used the braces from the start of a musical stave or staff (which I’ve slotted in below the logo) as a subtle, elegant reference to music in order to envelop Andrew’s name.
This logo isn’t due to go on his website until the summer, but He’s letting me give you a preview. More news when it goes live! 
The first ‘Mil the Shih Tzu’ book by Grace Hui is now officially in stock! I received a small initial shipment and I’m ready to sell. Know any kidlets that might appreciate an introductory reading book about a little dog living with a family in Singapore? Well then, what are you waiting for! They are available in real live book format in my etsy shop right now or you can buy them for the kindle on Amazon. Hopefully there will be many more adventures for little Mil and his chums – let’s just wait and see. In the meantime, there’s this book to be going on with!