It struck me that this blog was looking a little, well, plain; this is the remedy. I took a
cue from the letter project i completed a few months back and made use of the repeating faces. The hardest thing was balancing the ’tile’ so that when it is repeated it maintains a consistent level of density of detail. I think it came out rather nicely and I’m sure I’ll be investigating more wallpaper patterns as time passes.

Below are links to a few different sizes in case you want to use it as your own wallpaper…

800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 1600 x 1200 & 1280 x 800 (Macbook Format)

My tees are finished and printed and on sale now at BurpBoutique (mens and womens sizes). They turned out well - now we just have to see if anyone buys them (thus allowing me to make some more)…

Next up, a few illustrations for the July issue of Top Gear magazine in the UK (the first three) and Australia (the last one)…

Lastly, another tee design for One:Day:Life (here’s the first one). I was trying to do something in the spirit of Jack Kirby, and it came together reasonably well. Sometimes the confines of only having two colours can stifle a project, but in this case it turned out reminiscent of Dan Clowes Ghost World…

And you might notice (or perhaps not if this is your first visit), this blog has changed slightly. I found a rather nice new template, which sits a little better and lets me add Widgets too. We’ll see how long this will last…

The original artwork differed slightly from the one used on the flyer as the eyes on the skull were clashing with the type, and the outlines were knocked back a little bit to stop it becoming too cluttered. I was rather happy with the design for the reverse too, and found a way to get those 3D eyes in there; if you’re about in London on June 7th, I’d wholeheartedly recommend going down. All in all then a success, and I’m rather keen to get cracking on the next one…

Something snappy I put together this week, with a loosely Day Of The Dead feel to it (which according to Wikipedia is in both November and May - i’m not sure which is right…). It should for accuracy have marigolds instead of roses, and i don’t think I’m quite done with this theme yet, so i can make ammends with the next one…

So after two or three weeks of drawing, this particular piece is done (click here for a closer look at it). I’m still not sure what to do with the finished illustration - I have a feeling it will surface as a print or possibly a tee-shirt print, although the complexity of the letters might make it look a bit smudgy unless it’s printed really big. For now, the fact that it is done and dusted is enough for me.

For completions sakes, here are the last two letters (the O in MOI was reused from the first word - again, something that might be amended if it ever goes to print in any format).

Last for today is a set of badges that I’m producing to go alongside a tee-shirt that I’m having printed - also pictured below and using an alternative color of a graphic that I showed in more detail here. Expect to see both on sale at the start of June, details to follow…

Still going on this letter based project, and getting very close to the finish now. Only two more letters to go (or maybe three if i decide to do an alternate of one that i already have). I’m itching to get this done so that i can start work on the next piece i have lined up…

Hopefully we’ll see a finished piece of work after the bank holiday weekend…

It’s only when I look at them next to each other that it dawns on me how many faces I’ve drawn so far. A few seem to stand out, but they all have their own distinct expression which I’m really happy with.

More to come…

Here’s something that was initially designed as a two color tee-shirt print for the band One:Day:Life.

The version above however is a tweaked version of the graphic with assorted dust and scratches and a third color hiding behind the turquoise. It’s a style which I’m moving away from so this might be the last comic-book piece that i do for the foreseeable future, but i’m quite happy with it. It was inked with a dip pen (as per usual now), with the type, color and detailing in Photoshop.

This is my entry for the inaugural International Skull Drawing Contest at the Rise & Fall Gallery in Melbourne. I thought this would be an opportunity to expand on my face montages that i have been working on, except this time trying to build shade and definition as well as shape.

Definitely a step forwards, and I’m curious to see where i can go with this style next…

The continuation of yesterday’s piece. I’m hoping to get one letter a day drawn up until I have all the letters I need (although I have a feeling that I might not be able to keep that up). More heads sourced from The Cobrasnake, Last Nights Party and Dirty Dirty Dancing.

I’ve yet to figure out what format the finished piece will take… in order to do it justice printed it will need to be poster size, but I’m also thinking that it might make a nice new tee shirt design.

To be continued…