Via Ferrata
August 21st 2008
This illustration was for a Denver based magazine called5280. It ran with a story about a variety of climbing that seems to be just getting a foothold there, Via Ferrata. Apparently it's a climbing method that's ideally suited to beginners because of the steel rungs that are placed into the rock. The term translates as "Iron Road" and originates from either Italy or Austria in 1843 depending on who you ask, and was used extensively in the Dolomites during the First World War. The art direction was provided by Alese Pickering Beckett, who was great.
Dot
May 22nd 2008
I was asked by Peter Lytwyniuk from Maximum 60 to portray a character calledDot, the brief was quite specific as the character has been represented by other illustrators at various points in her life. In the illustration I completed, Dot is in her early twenties. the composition had previously been decided upon so it was my job to simply put meat on the bones, which I did, and enjoyed. I've included a slightly higher resolution version of the image, just keep clicking. I've also posted these two sketches I was playing around with this evening. Ink, brush, pen and a slight bit of digital colour, more about this later.
Treasury & Risk
April 17th 2008
The future of finance today. I finished up on this one yesterday, Derek Kaiser, the art director knew exactly what he wanted see, and was very pleased with the translation. After I finished the rough sketch I knew I'd like to carry those rough lines and movement through to the final as much as possible. As a result the digital colour and toning has been kept to an absolute minimum, and I believe thefinal illustrationis better for it.
Space Cadet
April 14th 2008
During the launch for the Belfast Film Festival I was approached by Debbie McGrory from4 Talent NIand asked if I would be interested in doing a short interview about my work for the 4 Talent website. Of course, I agreed. The notion behind the 4 Talent venture, as I understand it, is to help people who are starting into careers in TV, film, new media and so on. I have to be honest, it's odd reading about yourself, I've been scanning the screen at various intervals this morning wondering, "is that me," or "did I say that?" I don't think I'm much of an example of 'how it should be done.' Perhaps it will help someone? Anyway, Debbie has just let me know that the interview has been put online,why not go and have a twitter? The interview was conducted by Cathy Lang, and the photo was taken byKiri Barker. The odd thing is, despite the title of the interview, I've yet to do anything remotely science fiction related, perhaps I should? In other news the 'Fantasy' Exhibition is going well, better than I had expected and here's another illustration. This one has been printed in the TIAB annual Box Lunch, it's titled 'Laundry & Lollies.' The illustration is also closely linked with a piece of animation that I have in the works, but more on that later. I've also included a desktop sized version of the image for your personal use and abuse.
Another Fantasy
April 1st 2008
This may seem like something of a double post because I have already mentioned the exhibition of the 21 drawingsI've done for the Fantasy edition of the Vacuum, and in some ways it is, but it's worth mentioning again. You can now download the catalogue for the show here. It's a PDF file, so you might have to install Adobe Reader.The exhibition is opening on the evening of Wednesday the 9th of April at 7pm, and it's taking place at the Black Box on Hill Street in Belfast. The drawings are currently being framed by Sheila at the Picture Gallery on Queen Street in Belfast. 11 of the drawings are being made available as limited edition silk screen prints, and I have the Belfast Print Workshop to thank for this, in particular Struan for his advice. There will be suitable refreshments and conversation is optional, I hope to see you there.
Belfast Film Festival
March 5th 2008
For a few weeks in January of this year I was working on the illustration and design for the 2008 Belfast Film Festival. The launch of the programme took place yesterday in Belfast, and I ended up being a bit late for the event. This is because I’ve had to move home recently and there’s been all sorts of people with wrenches, drills and guttering coming, going and generally making a nuisance of themselves. As a result I missed seeing the Star Wars Storm Troopers on guard at the entrance, and actually being thanked for the work I’ve done. I did hear one speech given by someone who’s name I can’t remember describing the cover as being a puzzle and how you should spend a bit of time looking for all the references. That wasn’t exactly my intent, but I can see what he means. I’ve provided examplesof most of the work completed for this including the programme cover design and illustration, 48 sheets, posters, passes, t-shirts and various other paraphernalia. The art direction was provided by Michele Devlin and Anne-Marie Murphy, and I have to say thanks to Richard McCullagh for his assistance in checking the margins.
Fantasy
February 26th 2008
From the 9th to the 19th of April I'll be exhibiting the twenty one ink drawings that I completed for the most recent edition of the The Vacuum. This will be taking place at the Black Box, on Hill Street in Belfast. Full details can be found at the venues website. In addition to the originals, I will also be making editions of the drawings available. If you haven’t already got a copy of the paper, I recently posted previews of the images here, or you can get in touch with the publisherhere. There has been considerable interest in a number of the drawings so far and if you’d like to register yours, just get in touch with me using thecontact thing.
Fox
February 24th 2008
Around the beginning of October last year, Colin Boyd and myself completed a very short piece of animation. Since that point the film has been settling in storage without any assured forum, largely because we didn’t like the idea of immediately uploading it to any of the available video content providers, and suitable conditions didn’t exist here in Belfast. By happy accident and a fortunate turn of events Stephen Hackett invited us to submit it for screening at the 2008 Belfast Film Festival as part of the Jameson Short Film Competition. The festival is taking place between the 10th and 19th of April, so if you happen to be in Belfast around that time, why not come along and watch a number of films of limited duration.
Please, No Picnicking
February 1st 2008
It may appear to some that I’ve abandoned this web site given the date of the previous update, but that’s not the case. There’s been no disaster or calamity, I’ve just had many projects in the intervening time and as a result have had little time for web updates. I have actually redesigned the site twice since then, not including the redesign you’re looking at now. But I didn’t think they worked very well so they were never uploaded. If you have a click on the Drawing tab above, you’ll notice I’ve added some new projects, too many to mention individually in this post, so I’ll not link to them from here. Although I would like to point out this one. I recently completed these twenty one ink illustrations for The Vacuum, the edition was titled Fantasy, you may have seen the posters around Belfast? If not you may still be able to get hold of a copy, you can get in touch with them here. I’ll be making the original drawings available for purchase in April, as well as a few other originals and surprises, but more on that later, but not too much later.
An Arrangement Of Triangles
May 21st 2007
This months MacUser has a short interview with me in their '20/20' section. I've provided some stills from the animation I'm currently working on, along with recent illustrations and panels from the Beermoth strip currently in the Vacuum. Many thanks to Chris Phin for this.
Red Apples
March 26th 2007
Between doing 'proper jobs' at the moment I've been working on a comic strip called 'Red Apples.' I haven't had an opportunity to post it here yet because of 'proper jobs' and time. I'm onto episode three with it, and if you'd like to get an email with a link to the strip each time I finish one, then you could get in touch here. In regard to the 'proper jobs,' I'm working on a couple of long term projects at the moment, the most significant of which is a bit of animation for Red Label Records, but more on that later. This is the reason for lack of updates here recently, but be assured, there's a lot on the way.
A Little Trouble With Our Pipes
December 6th 2006
Earlier this year I was asked by Andy atThe Crescent Arts Centerin Belfast if I would contribute a painting for an auction to assist in raising funds for a forthcoming refurbishment program. "Sure, no problem," was the reply. I've been chipping away at this image between jobs since then, and I just about got it finished on Monday night. It's being collected tomorrow, the auction is on the 14th at the Crescent Arts Centre and there are advanced viewings on the 11th, 12th and 13th. You can download the invitehere,and if you're in the area why not come along? The painting itself is 50cm by 50cm, oil on canvas. The theme of the show is of course 'Refurbishment,' here's aclueto why I painted what I did. Coincidentally, I've also changed residence since this painting began. That was fun. I've decided to title the painting 'And A Minute Ago I Thought The Care Bears Were In Here.' I've posted a photograph of the painting hereand I've also included a quicktime video of the progression. The images for the video were taken with my camera-phone, so the quality isn't too good. This has been another learning experience for me, it's been a while since I've painted with oils, I'm looking forward to the next one.
Slowpoke Rodriguez
November 30th 2006
I just found out that the piece of work I made recently withCiaran Maher has been given a jury commendation by thesegood people.I also just finished anillustrationfor theThe Wall Street Journal.The art Direction was provided by the very cool Heather Stephens. The story that this ran with was about how the Vodafone Network and Yahoo are teaming up create personally targeted advertisements on your mobile telephonic apparatus. Good for them. This is the speediest turnaround on an illustration I've done so far, and although it was tough, I'm not entirely disappointed with the result. And at the request of few people who believe it's a good idea, I've included some of the rough doodles that lead to the final. Again, just click the 'EMBIGGEN' button.
Beermoth
November 21st 2006
I've been working for part of this year on a small comic strip for a paper calledThe Vacuum. The Strip has been titled 'Beermoth' and has been written by Foss. The first episode has just gone out, and with great haste I put together this smallflyerfor the occasion. I'm still not sure if I'm happy with the result of the flyer? Anyway, if you would like to get hold of this episode and subsequent ones, you can get in touch with those friendly Vacuum folkhere.
Long Paws
November 12th 2006
Mr Hutchy sent me an e-mail recently questioning the hiatus in regard to my web updates. The answer is simple; I've been a bit busy. Since July 11th? Really? Yes, really. So by way of trying to catch up with myself, here's a small portion of the images I've put together over the past few months. First up is anillustrationforRealtor Magazinerelating to a story about lending fraud. The art direction was provided by Julie Fournier. For the more inquisitive, if you click on the 'EMBIGGEN' button you'll find some rough work and variations relating to the final images. Next is anillustrationforNuvo Magazine. This ran with a story titled 'Curse Of The Monkey God Squared.' The art direction was provided by Sandra Zarkovic. Next,Factotumare a Belfast based arts organisation, they recently put a show on in theProject Galleryin Dublin titledChoir. I was asked to contribute aposter. Finally, a smallillustrationforCanadian Living.The art direction was provided by Miguel Cea. Oh, just one more thing. I was involved in putting some animation together for a bit of work that was shown in the Void Gallery in Derry back in June. This was put together with an occasional accomplice, Ciaran Maher. You can see the work as it currently exists atCiarans web site, and if you want a bit of insight into some of the forethought, have a lookhere.
Keepin' It Real
July 11th 2006
I have been meaning to do a few 'real' paintings for a while now. Well, about two years or more to be accurate. However, with working on other projects and the usual push and pull of the everday, the date for starting these has continually got set back. As a way of warming up to actually making these, I've been doing various excercises and studies in oil for a similar period of time. Just to familairise myself with the medium again. I finished one of these studies on Sunday. It's another silly image of a frog. I got the photograph from a stock site. I just wanted to see how accurate I could match the colour. This was painted over two days, about a week apart. I have included a bunch of photographs taken with a camera-phone showing the process. The Frog.
The Tail
July 8th 2006
Editor in chief of Wired, Chris Anderson has recenlty penned a book titled 'The Long Tail.' Thisillustrationfor The Wall Street Journal is running with an article about the book regarding the anecdotal evidence presented, and the inevitable pitfalls in analyzing the re-ordering of popular culture due to technological progress. The art direction was provided by Heather Stephens. At the request of some well meaning individuals I have also included a 'supersize' version of this illustration. Well, it's just a bit bigger than usual. Just push the 'EMBIGGEN' button.
Wind Power
June 21st 2006
I was asked recently to contribute a few sketches for use in a poster for St Lawerence College. Some of the elements in these sketches were used, some were not. I thought I might as well include all of the sketcheshere. The Art Direction was provided by Donna Darby of Utopia Communications.
A Box For Your Lunch
March 6th 2006
Every so oftenThree In A Box put out a themed booklet with work from a number of their illustrators. This year the given topic was "Childhood." I did a number of roughs and variations for this image, most of which I will post. Eventually. But the strange mess I ended up withis here. This is a combination of a few ideas from various scribbles and a bath filled with oil, ink and water. And a couple of days worth of head scratching. It's not an easy thing to condense and put onto paper. I don't think I'll ever get it right. But blowing purple ink around on a page is fair compensation.Enjoy.
Business 2.0
February 20th 2006
Thisillustrationfor Business 2.0 Magazineran along with a piece titled "Off Sites From Hell." It's a story about trust building exercises that went wrong . The art direction was provided by Arianna Squeo and Eric Siry.
Red Label Records
January 4th 2006
"Eric Needs To Know" is releasing an album shortly under Red Label Records. "Eric" has very kindly invited myself to make some pictures for any given track on the album for inclusion on the sleeve. The twist to this particular story is that the images, and the story they are derived from, are to act as a forerunner to an animated musical video for the same track. You can see the firstillustrationhere.
The Wall Street Journal
December 28th 2005
I've just completed thisillustrationfor The Wall Street Journal. The piece was about how the government in China are trying to get the citizens of Beijing to stand in line at bus stops. One of the many efforts to organise the city in advance of the 2008 Olympics. The art direction was provided by Pete Hausler.
Three In A Box
November 15th 2005
As of today I'm a fully fledged member of a fine illustration agency that goes by the name of Three In A Box. These good people will, from this point forward, be handling the commercial illustration work that I do. So If you would like to commission some work you can get in touch with them here.
Scientific Pictures.
October 4th 2005
A quick sketch and a bit of colour. Thisillustrationwas originally intened for a web forum, but I thought I might as well post it here to.
It's Good, But It's Not Tea.
September 16th 2005
A wee while ago I wrote a sketch with two characters the night before the deadline for a short film scheme. It initially got accepted, but after going through the scientifically proven "Four Weddings" process, got dropped. So, with my knuckles dragging I walked away from the shelf this project was on, untill a few weeks ago. Since then I have taken one of the characters, built him and the set the way I had originally intended, and come up with a short bit of dialogue for him to run through. I have posted the original and revised character designs and illustrations, and the three-dee stuff I'm working on now. You can see this messhere.
A Kart By Any Other Colour
August 23th 2005
When I was six, my parents got me a red go-kart, much like the one in thisillustration.During that summer I would drive it around the place where we lived, a lot. On one occasion I left the kart out on our driveway, and ran into the house for a reason I can't remember. And yes, you've guessed it, when I returned my kart was gone. I told a friend about what had happened that evening. I was annoyed to say the least. He told me that earlier in the day he had seen his next-door-neighbour, an older boy, wheel a red kart into his garage and try to paint it a different colour. My kart was in a makeshift spray shop! So as you do when you're six, I told my parents. The older boy tried to convince all involved that the kart was his. That he had made it, and look, it was even the colour he chose! As it turned out after a bit of confrontation, finger pointing and tutting, the red and slightly blackened kart turned up back in the driveway the following morning. And although it was a bit banged up, it still went as fast as it did a few days earlier. More updates and doodleshere. And you can now download my animation demoreelhere. All enquiries through the usualchannels.
One Big Gap
July 28th 2005
I have been busy. Hopefully that will explain the significant amount of time that has passed since the last update. I recently put together a book of the illustrations that I have been working on for the past few months. Titled "One Gun Kid." You can see some of these in the "drawing" section. If you would like to get hold of a copy, please get in touch. The book has been printed using a digital process on 300gsm card for the pages, and 350gsm card for the covers. Each of the books are then finished by myself.
Teething Problems
April 22nd 2005
Well, this is not so much of an update as a general fix. I found that the site was not working to well in some browsers, namely Safari on the Mac. So, I eliminated the pop-outs and did a bit of a redesign.
A Retrospective Update
March 29th 2005
I've added some images of older three-dee work (2003/04). Most of this stuff did exist on my old site, which goes off-line on the 4th of April. I thought I may as well have at least some reference to the work here. For posterity. I think.
A Start
March 25th 2005
Initially I thought it wouldn't take much time to put this simple portfolio site together. I was wrong. But now it's up and started. Thankfully.