away

 

away (1), originally uploaded by Boy Obsolete.

Boy Obselete’s cup art is worth a look – he’s been hard at it, making improvements to all that nasty white ’styrene.

Oxford and Children’s Stories

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Oxford is a city rich in history, so it’s unsurprising to see something new with each visit. I was at OUP for a Write Away Reviewers’ Event, (read author Anita Loughrey’s account here) after which we were treated to a guided tour – Oxford and Children’s Stories.

The guide I was with normally takes kids around so our tour revolved around scenes from the Harry Potter movies, and spotting the fact we weren’t aged 10, she generously tailored the tour and slipped us snippets about about Oxford’s literary alumni, from Amis to Waugh. We stopped at sites which provided inspiration for some of the best known children’s literature, most famously, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe‘. In her enthusiasm, our guide accidentally led smack into the centre of a location film set,  and we were politely asked to move off the cobblestoned street… I think it’s safe to say we will have been cut from ‘Lewis’ – an Inspector Morse TV spin-off!

It was clear that our knowlegeable guide was none too appreciative of the post ‘Potter’ entrance fee charged to enter Christ Church College. Instead, we wandered into the charming courtyard of Lincoln College and visited its medieval dining hall, which as our guide accurately pointed out, has bench seating, not the high-backed chairs you’ll find in the the Great Hall at Christ Church.

Lack of true Hogwart style seating notwithstanding, I personally think the entrance fee to Christ Church College entirely worth it – I went some time ago out of my teenage acquired interest in ‘Brideshead Revisited’, as the desperately self-destructive Sebastian Flyte and his teddy bear, Aloysius resided there. Add a little ‘Alice’ history and magical scenes from Hogwart’s into the mix and it’s an interesting place, if not for the sheer grandeur of the architecture, stained glass, and grounds alone.

Check out loads of photos here on Flickr’s Christ College, Oxford search, and visit Write Away for informed reviews, book guides and more.

Cupcake – Pimp It!

Pinkit is a group of 5 Chilean visual artists who have begun their ‘Pimp It’ revolution – pimp in the transitive verb sense – with a Cupcake – Pimp It! Gallery. As I’m working on some Hansel and Gretel colour experiments right now, pimping a cupcake seemed like a fun idea… Click Here for Pinkit’s ‘Pimp It’ Wall. Visit Pinkit’s homepage today and pick up a ‘cupcake’ to embellish!

Sooty the Moth – EDM 235

EDM Challenge #235 is ‘Butterfly’, however I’ve drawn a black London Peppered Moth which fluttered inside the other day.

Jetting around on this whopping set of wings (about 85mm/3.5″) is hard work for this big-bodied beast, so it wasn’t difficult to catch and return to the wild, or at least someone else’s curtains….  Very black, this moth has evolved from having peppered markings, (designed to blend with lichen), in order to hang out in a sooty city environment. A very urban critter indeed.

Richard Long at the Tate

New online technology at the Tate - a nice interactive addition which includes close-ups, artist statements, glimpses of people in the gallery, etc.

MA Summer Show Private View

The Camberwell College of Art MA Summer Shows went off really well last week, though it’s sad to see a lot of great people leaving from Illustration and leaving a few of us part-timers kicking around the place! The work from Illustration was exciting, and as predicted, very diverse with editorial illos, children’s books, graphic novels, animation and more – something I really appreciate in this course. Group crit sessions and regular meetings meant that we all had an inkling of who was doing what, but most went an extra mile towards the end and a few suprises lay in store.

500 people came through the door in the first 15 minutes, and around 2600 through the evening. See some of my photos here and get more on ‘09 MA Illustration grads here (thanks Tom). The crowds made it a bit tricky to get photos so above are a few Illustrators except for the guy with the toast – a printmaker – who gave out an edition of ‘toast prints’ at the door.

Camberwell MA Illustration Show 2009

I’ve got the best week coming up – the last week of school (day job) before we’re out for summer, but firstly, two-thirds of my Camberwell contemporaries (those on the full-time programme) will graduate. Check out the Grad Show details here, and see who’s exhibiting from MA Illustration.

Hansel and Gretel – an illustration

This is a working colour illustration for ‘Hansel and Gretel’, based around this piece of text:

‘It was now three mornings since they had left their father’s house. They began to walk again, but they always got deeper into the forest, and if help did not come soon, they must die of hunger and weariness. When it was mid-day, they saw a beautiful snow-white bird sitting on a bough, which sang so delightfully that they stood still and listened to it. And when it had finished its song, it spread its wings and flew away before them, and they followed it until they reached a little house, on the roof of which it alighted; and when they came quite up to the little house they saw that it was built of bread and covered with cakes, but that the windows were of clear sugar.’

My strangely proportioned candy and cake roof suspension of disbelief, as does the story. In an attempt to break away from the traditional Black Forest cottage look, I’ve gone a bit oversized on the roof, which inspired by the giant roof shape of the iron age round house, peculiar to Britain.

I may need to rethink the orangey gingerbread – not the easiest tone to scan, however it’s back to the drawing board for now.

Paint a Tower Block

It’s been ages – work is full on (exams and marking) and so is the illustrating. My full-time and second yr part-time contemporaries at Camberwell are nearly at the finish line as the July grad show looms ahead.

Meanwhile, I came across these fab photos of painted tower blocks, Russian style, here on Sturman’s blog. Worth a look for the McD sign alone. Anyway, some say these look gaudy. Maybe.

Better than grey tower blocks stacked against a bleak, wintery sky?

Infinitely.

Birdbrain

Daphne du Maurier and Hitchcock are brilliant, but this Barbie adds a whole new dimension, yes? Details at Amazon. (thx Mel)