30 Year of 'Empire...' Desktop

No explanation required.. 30 years ago etc...

I was nine which is as good a reason as any to avoid dwelling on the subject other than it's my favourite Star Wars film, and Boba Fett is an enduring character design as is the majority of production design across the original trilogy.

So, a desktop is attached for your viewing pleasure - there are many that I could have done and many others that you'll find right now but this is something that I hadn't seen anything like and that's why it's here.

Thank you.

More Robots...

It's getting close to 'DARE' time of year again..

Here's this years poster and last years tees...

Not sure what i'm doing with the tee's this year... so keep it here and maybe you'll find out :)

SuperFly On The Wall

'SuperFly on the Wall' - a mini-documentary video project that aims to document events and activities that will be of interest to the SuperFly community.

Sign up on the website for updates on SuperFly events and web content.

superfly.org.uk/contact/

The first of these mini-docs is about the Big Top Jamboree event that took place on Monday 17 May - organised by Lauren Gentry, Nikki McWilliams and Jen Collins, all of whom came together as a result of being part of the Central Station SuperFly event. Go here to see the video.

If you have any ideas for events to be covered or any creative activities that would be of interest to a creative audience then please get in touch via www.superfly.org.uk

I am Ironman...

Well, not quite...

but, as i'm reasonably excited to see the new IronMan film, I had the idea of doing a version of my gilaBot robot in an IronMan colour way... and here we are!
I've also created a desktop version for you to stare at for the next few weeks.. let me know what you think :)

And if you've any suggestions for other colour ways then let me know.

Pizza Box Editions - New gilaTees

Come one, come all..!

Take a look in the back of my car.. and 'feast' on this box of delights ;)

Pizza box editions are not available via mail order - personal collections only.. nah wot I mean ; \

Includes a random, signed, 21cm x 21cm laser art print..

Main course is a slice of Bonehead, Twilite bones (illustrated) or gilaBot tee..

Additional toppings available at no extra cost..

and a side order of a A6, digital 'X-ray' postcard print.

I'll also have some surprise goodies available: badge sets, giclee art prints and zine.

Get your 'extremely limited' Pizza Box Edition shirt, and other bit's n bobs tonight, at 'Jumpers and Jamborees', Dundee, 7.30pm - the brain child of Lauren Gentry, Nikki McWilliams and Jen Collins.. Go to their respective blogs for more info.

So, come along and bring a friend.., or at least send your friend..

See you later :)

Return...

So, the Dundee Schools Music Theatre shows are approaching..!
I won't give away too much other than to say that the Dundee Rep will be home to their production of Return to the Forbidden Planet..!
I've never seen the show but the film that it's based on is one of my all-time favourites.
I can remember watching it on BBC 2 as part of a series that they did which included, The Time Machine, War of the Worlds and possibly The Boy With Green Hair.. all undeniable classics... the ones I didn't care for too much were The Day The Earth Stood Still and The Blob.. which were a little too pedestrian for my 9yr old self.. ;)
Anyway, here's my 'teaser' illustration for the Rep advertising.. The final poster will have more detail and colour.
I'm happy that it gets the 50's feel across but what I set out to do was along the lines of the Incredibles 'cut-out' style that was adopted for the credits sequence (see below..) I didn't crack it in time so had to go for something closer to my comfort zones..
Maybe i'll get it sorted in the programme!

What do you think..?

Never Get Out Of The Boat..

Marketing Agitator and fellow 'Blogger' Eaon Pritchard has generously drawn attention, via his blog, to my little 'art project' SuperFly.

I'll not cover the same ground twice.. just go and visit his page and then follow his blog.. it's always a an eclectic and interesting mix of creative marketing insight and 'punk'! ;)

Never GetOut Of The Boat

SuperFly! - 2010

Well, no one was more surprised/delighted than me whan this happened again..!

SuperFly is back and this time, not 'just' an Exhibition with a twist.
SuperFly has been given a mission - to spread the word of the impending visit from Central Station to Dundee and the guided tour of all things creative in this fair city!
So, congratulations to Central Station for getting us locals to do what we could have (but didn't) do ourselves ;)

So, 5 local artists are adorning 15 Super-sized street posters for two weeks leading up to the the event on February 6th.
For more info visit http://bit.ly/DundeeListing, or the 'formidable' FormFiftyFive (http://www.formfiftyfive.com/2010/01/central-station-dundee-pop-up-tour/)

But, before you do - take a look at the posters and check out www.superfly.org.uk everyday this week for a profile on each of the artists!

Desktop the halls...

I'm on a roll, i'm on a roll...
3 posts in two days! :)

Here's a desktop to give you holiday browsing a festive edge...
One size fits all, hopefully, but if it looks particularly bad on your machine let me know what size you'd like and i'll sort one out :)

Let it snow...

In an attempt to blog something 'current' here's the Christmas greeting that I did for our office...
If you don't know us it's maybe not too interesting, though you could just appreciate the tree.
:)
Have a happy holiday!

New tease at print...

This is a mock-up of my latest tshirt. I'm having some test printed just now and a batch will be printed in the new year in a couple of colourways..
Let me know if you are interested :)

NEoN Rocks

Dundee Digital Arts Festival arrived, finally, last weekend... predictably, in Dundee. It's called NEoN, or North East of North and it was a consummate 'cracker'!
For more info on that visit http://www.northeastofnorth.com
So, NEoN Rocks is a Spotify playlist:

NEoN Rocks - original digital arts festival soundtrack

1 Neon Knights Black Sabbath

Great song - Neon in the title!

2 Lucky Star Madonna

The Pixar man shone!

3 You’re The Voice John Farnham

@FlackBoy suggestion - You are.., etc

4 Realtime Frequency Dre-Stortion

APB - coming soon...

5 Whatever Happened To Pong? Frank Black

Yeah, whatever did...

6 Weekend Wars MGMT

A big chunk of what NEoN is al about

7 Theme From Narc The Pixies

Classic tune from, apparently, classic game

8 Superfly Curtis Mayfield

A fringe benefit..?

9 When She Loved Me Sarah McLachlan

A Pixar classic, and so is this song

10 What! No Pearls Earle Bostic

Hmm.., the new buzzword at Adobe

11 I’ve Been Waiting For You David Bowie

NEoN has been a long time coming

12 Superfly Guy S’Express

How could I resist..?

13 Invaders Must Die Prodigy

For that classic VGL logo

14 You Only Love Me For My Lunchbox Asylum Street Spankers

The lunchboxes were great!

15 Neon Rocks Calvin Harris

Well, does it not..!?

16 100% Dundee The Roots

@newvibes idea... and NEoN’s defo Dundee

17 Sweet Emotion Aerosmith For that masterful VGL performance

It's not scientific, but it references NEoN and there are a couple of suggestions that arrived via twitter. So, this is the fictional artwork for the fictional album - the main purpose being that it reveals my train of though with regards to the selections.

So, hope you enjoy at least some of the playlist and feel free to download the pictures :)

Ha-Ha-Hallo'een..!

May I direct you to a post from about this time last year.. The competition still stand altho the prize will not be the same as I've run out of those particular badges... will organise an alternative prize... so get carving!

Remember I need photographic proof - I still need to find last years but at some point I'll create a gallery - we're nearly into double figures. I find they look particularly creepy if you keep them for a week or two after Hallo'een...

http://gilagraphics.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

Odopod

Just interested to see if this works..?

Great sketch website where you sketch online and then embed you images into other webpages or emails, etc...

http://sketch.odopod.com/

Try it out..!

Rubbish..!

There is nothing worse than people who keep telling you how busy they are.
So, the reason for the neglect of this page is pure lazyness :S
I have been working on a little project called SuperFly which is doing quite well and launched 'proper' this week - you can read and see more at www.superfly.org.uk - unless you are in Dundee, in which case just take to the streets between now and then end of October :)
So, anyway, while I was out taking pics for the SuperFly site what should pull up across my path but this - which links back to a post a few months ago... hadn't seen it before and quickly seized the opportunity to photograph it. Another example of how vectoring hand drawn artwork can be to it's advantage... nice big 'clean' graphic.
Anyway, re. the blog - Normal service will resume shortly! ;)

Classic Character Design... #002

Need to do a few more updates here but been a bit busy with www.superfly.org.uk :)
Half the problem is that apart from my own work which I need to get on here I said I would do more of these character design spotlights and I have so many that I would like to do I keep putting it off because I can't make a decision...
Anyway, today I saw one online - ready made - so I thought I would link to it and move on. It's particularly relevant with Disney acquiring Marvel this week. If you do a quick google of Disney/Marvel mash-ups you'll find any number of creative collisions of these two worlds which have now taken a step closer to each other. I'm curious as to what would happen to the Marvel universe in the hands of, say, the Pixar team..? but also wondering what will happen to the Marvel Superhero Island at Islands of Adventure at Universal in Florida. Difficult to rebrand I would think but will the Magic Kingdom be able to resist building it's own Marvel Themed park and business from Universal..?
Anyway, I was on Muttpop this morning as the have a new Lucha Libre vinyl character out in a 'Hulk' styled colourway. I'm still working on how I am going to purchase one for myself, it's a gem.
But I also noticed that they have a mini Spiderman retrospective and examples of the many artists who have added there own spin to the character design.
I won't bore you on this occasion with tales of my Spidey fandom... suffice to say that he's been a favourite for as long as I can remember thru the cartoon show, the (dodgy) TV show and now the new movies which surely stand apart amongst a very few 'decent' comic book movie translations. But there is NO disputing the 'classic' status of the Spiderman design so take a look for yourself via the link below and stay tuned for more 'me' styled info :)

Cheers all,

J

On the SuperFly!

Well, it's been a long time coming but finally SuperFly is a reality! To find out more about SuperFly, visit www.superfly.org.uk
In a nutshell it's an art exhibition that will take place outside by using flyposters as canvas!
The first batch of 'call for entries' posters has gone up, so if you're in Dundee keep an eye out for them and spread the word. The closing date for entries will be very soon but dates are to be confirmed and will be announced about a week from now.

www.superfly.org.uk
Email superguy@superfly.org.uk
twitter onthesuperfly

Penzance Pirates and Vampire Plants..!

> Two new posters for the Dundee Schools Music Theatre (DSMT)...
>
Always a good job to get involved in and particularly so this year as
we hope to have a pop-out insert in the Little Shop programme... but
more of that in a month or two.
So, these are going to be out on the streets of Dundee in a few
weeks... i've included 'little Audrey II' as I particularly like how
she turned out... under pressure to get the posters done that was the
last bit of illustration I did and without any sketching, just done
straight in the machine... exactly what they tell you not to do...
wrong side of the brain and all that... however...
Just to prove that I do use the creative part of my brain when doing
this sort of stuff i've added my 'monster Audrey II' sketch which i've
yet to 'flesh out' in Illustrator... i've only got as far as a
silhouette so i'm a bit intimidated by that at the moment but that
will form the centre spread illustration in the programme.
As always, because DSMT do two shows only a few weeks apart it's good
to contrast the styles of artwork in the advertising and so from the
start I knew what I wanted to do with 'Pirates...' but again, was a
bit intimidated by my ideas because as always i'm up against the clock.
So, I cheated a bit in that I got the ship from 'iStock', but I
tinkered with it and reshaped bits and added it to my pirate with a
few free squiggles which I found and adapted...
Looking forward to doing the programme and playing around with
different background colours ad keeping the illustrations
predominantly black... we'll see.
Incidentaly, I cheated a bit with the Little Shop logo type... I used
Comic life which comes free with the Mac. It allows you to do stuff
with text that would take an age in illustrator... maybe there is a
plug-in that would do the same job in AI and that would make the fills
and gradients easier to do once I imported them (can't do those in
Comic Life) but it was a time saver all the same :)

Top Character Design #001

What is it with character design these days..?

I suppose for a generation of designers it's a throw back to what got them drawing in the first place place and has now become an art form in it's own right, away from the cartoons and comics.

So heres part one in my occasional series 'Great Character Designs'...

I'll try to stay away from the obvious... everyone loves a Imperial Storm Trooper... but some of the obvious may turn up just because they are so classic... like Storm Troopers!

So, my first, and the inspiration for the series: (drum roll)

Darth Maul
The Phantom Menace is 10 years old this year. The fact that that makes me feel very old put to one side, it's the first movie that I remember as being an 'internet fueled' hype machine. After about 3 days of waiting on a 26k dial-up modem I had my own copy of the smallest trailer i had ever seen! But I felt liberated! :D
So, for my generation, who by definition, were far too old to be complaining about stuff anyway, the movie was a disappointment. There WERE some good vehicle designs but great character design was thin on the ground particularly with so much of the good stuff from the original trilogy standing out like Jabba, R2 and C3P0 etc. I'm a big fan of the new droids in SW:TPM, the destroyer ones that folded up into wheels in particular, but the stand out character, and one of only two reasons to go back to the film at all (the other being the pod race) is Darth Maul.
Darth Maul was just too cool for school.
If only he'd disposed of Qui-gon sooner.
Maul could have realised the error of his ways, Obi Wan could have seen the banal humdrum of the Jedi order for what it was and they could have met half way to become the Batman and Robin of the outer rim, a true rebel force keeping the scum in order and bringing balance to the SW universe. That would have been worth a watch.
As it was he got chopped in two and spawned the most pointless action figure ever (one that breaks in two BEFORE the kids get hold of it!).

But from his horns to his 'force kicking' boots he was a destined to be a design classic and one of the best baddies to come out of ANY universe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9UEV-b2Ws4
He even has a BMW... http://jalopnik.com/5259283/mwdesign-darth-maul-bmw-m3-the-dark-side-of-tuning
Peter Seranofiwics dubbed the voice but the stunts were all Ray Park, who suffered a worse fate than Darth Maul - a life of comic conventions!
So, ladies and gentlemen, your thoughts and memories please, on the tattooed tyrany of Darth Maul.

Zoom-in...

In my book Zoom-in is a great idea... in fact it's the sort of thing I would probably do without any promting but the fact that lots of people are contributing to this idea makes it even better!

You get supplied with a disposable camera by the good folks at Bio-Diversity and then you take a photo of you favourite spot every month for a year. They then get put together on a dvd with lots of other peoples favourite spots and a few get to do voice overs explaining the story behind the images.

The only downside is that it's open to folk in Tayside and i'm in Fife!

I'll just have to do my own ;)

Anyway, I was given the job of doing there promo stuff (attached)

See what you think.

J

:)