Nikola Tesla sketch

Listened to a fascinating podcast about Nikola Tesla this weekend... and it's nice to put a face to a name.

William Shakespeare

Now I'm not sure why we mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death... I would have thought marking the anniversary of his birth was more uplifting... but there you go. What with everything bard I couldn't help but doodle this, just to see what I ended up with. Interestingly, while doing a quick google image search I happened upon some research that suggested Shakespeare may very well have had a bone tumour in his skull which could explain some of the unusual proportions seen in the most famous engraving of the chap on the title page of his first folio. I might have over emphasized this in my sketch, just a little... I also had a bit of fun with the 17th century practice of letter f's (actually "long s's" I learned) instead of s's (only seen with letter s's within words apparently...). Don't know if "toast" was really an appropriate word to use about his "demise" but I needed some s's.

Black Books shop front print

Anyone who knows me will tell you how much of a fan I am of the TV comedy Black Books written by the comedy genius that is Dylan Moran. I've illustrated my take on the fictional, sinister beverage "Life Cry" that appeared in the show but another subject I wanted to tackle was the dilapidated shop front that appeared in the show's titles.

A few weeks back I had some time to kill in London so I thought I'd go on a comedy pilgrimage of sorts and check out the exterior shooting location they actually used for the show (a real bookshop in Bloomsbury called Collinge & Clark). It's an odd experience, kind of like stepping into the TV itself, to find yourself standing in front of a fictional location you're very familiar with. Once I'd stood in front of Bernard's shop I wanted to draw it even more.

For a while now I've been reading up on the work of the British painter & illustrator Eric Ravilious. One of his sets of prints form the illustrations for a book called High Street, and one print I'm particularly fond of is the quirky and beautiful submarine engineers. Now I'm wholly not sure why but I thought that this high street shop seemed a good match for the Black Books bookshop and I wanted to approach my illustration with a nod to how Ravilious had treated his submarine engineers. As it would turn out I couldn't help but stray farther and farther from his style as I went on but it was good to have Ravilious and his colour separations in mind as I went along.

I hadn't intended too but I also incorporated several hand lettered lines of dialogue from the show (all text is copyright the estimable Dylan Moran) that referenced the shop itself. It seemed appropriate.

Long story (and too many links) short here's what I ended up with. Now go watch Black Books!

trying to know my onions a little better...

I noticed an onion in my kitchen was getting a little long in the tooth but it appealed as a sketch subject, one thing led to another. Don't know why I decided to play with halftone too, but I enjoyed the whole thing.

a trio of colourful chaps...

I'd mean meaning to do a third irreverent installment to go along with my "Joseph's technicolour dream goat" and "Joseph's technicolour milk float" illustrations from a while back. A few variations sprung to mind (which I still might do when I have a quiet day) but "Joseph's technicolour speed boat" won out. I think it's the retro children's book vibe that's entertaining me as much as the silly word play. Might I have been more religiously inclined if R.E lessons at school had jokey illustrations as an accompaniment... probably not. Would have been more entertaining though.

and I think my spaceship knows which way to go...

Sad day. It's strange to think that Bowie isn't around anymore...

Happy holidays or, to be secularly contrary... a very merry Newtonmas to all, and to all a goodnight!

         Twas the night before Newtonmas and all through the lab

         not a creature was stirring, not even the lab crab (...crustacean experiments?).

         The white coats were hung by the black board with care

         in hopes that old Isaac soon would be there.

         And then from outside peering in through the dark

         The bewigged face of jolly Isaark (...?!).

         He swung in through the window with haste and alacrity

         His motion directed by the force of gravity.

OK, OK... I won't do anymore. I'll just end by saying happy Newtonmas to all and to all a good-night!

By way of explanation, and not to repeat myself needlessly, here are my previous Newtonmas card blog posts

Newtonmas 2011
Newtonmas 2012
Newtonmas 2014


See you in the new year with a great deal more illustration work going to be posted in 2016. (That's a pre new year resolution!)

optimistic optometrist...

Just a visual thought that occurred to me a while back... kinda in the same vein as my previous optimistic thinking.

"Optometrist" - Someone for whom the glass eye is always half full.

egg box elephant...

So, ever since my rhino egg box from several whiles back I've been meaning to try for an elephant in a similar vain. Like with the rhino, I didn't have a strong plan of attack, just to use only one egg box for the whole thing, make use of the existing moulded forms where I could and see what happened. I'm particularly surprised and happy with the heavily lidded eyes (which weren't added as separate pieces but are part of the trunk sections). Now, I'm sure there's a egg box hippo to be had as well...

Primate Family Portraits. The White bald headed uakari [wah-kahr-ee].

Just a quick primate illustration to keep the primates family portraits thing slowly rolling on.