T-Shirt development

Ladies and gentlemen, for those of you that dont know I am currently working on a series of t-shirts set for release in April next year for up and coming clothes company APN.
Below are a few images of progress so far, the first rough draughts if you will.

hope you like.

doodle head

Self portrait

Tandem chicks, mooning babies and cool kids

Last weekend APN apparel took me to a rather incogrious Canary Wharf for the latest Future Cinema event to do some wall drawing. Twas a banging melange of vampires, motorcycles and fly boys complete with a sandy beach and palm trees. The mural itself was a play on APN's infamous 'baby M' charicter- the embodiment of the brands mischevious spirit married with the slogan 'cool kids cant die'- loosely related to the 80's hit lost boys, "Now you know what we are, now you know what you are. You'll never grow old, Michael, and you'll never die. But you must feed"
-David .

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

            

Goodbye wooden Brother

I had to throw my old desk out recently- and i decided that the scrawling upon it had earned a place on't tinternet, blenjoy.

OVO Show mural

The beginning off this month kicked of with the fabulous OVO Camberwell BA illustration show at the red gallery, Rivington street.

During the private viewing of the show myself and fellow shipmate Colm Clafferty did a very tasteful live wall drawing depicting a couple of upstanding citizens placed around the ovo (meaning egg, basically) logo made from sausage and egg.

Diplomatic Car-nage

I have an image ingrained in my soul, one I will never forget. It is the pixelated video footage of the diplomatic car that injured and killed an alleged 20 pro democracy protesters during the Egyptian civil war. This event is generally not so well known- somewhat of a grey area in that day’s news and many have not seen it- if one was to search this footage I warn the material should not be viewed by anyone

There is however no right or wrong to this story just one big mess. One could argue tirelessly about who should be held to account for this bloody occurrence, many people (understandably) blame the people inside the vehicle, some say diplomats- others say car thieves, for their actions but who among us us would make the right decision when faced by an angry mob? That’s if the driver was even provoked, the footage is too vague to decipher

Personally I just wish that these things wouldn't happen and it wouldn't have in the grand scheme of things if it wasn't for one Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak and his refusal to give his people what they want- he is the real driver against pro democracy demonstrations.  To the Egyptians my heart goes out.

Incidents like this are the harsh reminder of the way everything crumbles when communication has broken down and neither side will budge.

I didn't want the image for this piece to be witty, funny or conceptual I just wanted to portray it the way it is. In which case some might say there is no point in rendering such an image to this I respond-

Pictures have a way of immortalizing events and although I wish I hadn't seen this atrocity I never want to forget it because it makes one realise the worth of a democratic society, worth fighting for, even dying for.

Syrian Media Ban

As the winds of change sweep fiercely through the middle east and global carnage grabs the attention of the world press another, less talked about death toll rises.

Sarposa prison Break right from under their noses?

The Sarposa prison is a high security prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan, used to hold Taliban militants and other criminals including drug traffickers. last month 470 of its inmates (the majority of the prisoners held there) escaped through a 320 metre long tunnel that was dug by Mujahardeen from the outside in. Some sources claim that prison gaurds were in on the plot, enabling the captives to escape unchallenged.

The image for this article portrays the first of the escapees emerging from the tunnel under the desert night sky combined with the face of a corrupt guard protruding his tongue.

Academics turned Anarchists

Academics turned anarchists’ is a visual summary of my experience with the 2010 student protests. The image portrays a figure of education holding a quill pen and a veiled hooligan holding a Molotov cocktail. Both figures are set around a pair of scissors cutting through a scroll- the center and pivot of the debate- educational cuts.

Poppy Burnings

On the 11Th November 2010 in Central London; Muslim extremists staged a protest during the Armistice Day silence. My take on this is that frustrated and misguided extremists mistook the meaning of Armistice Day for a celebration of war rather than a remembrance of brave efforts. The protesters, in a bid to express disregard for the war in Afghanistan, tried to disrupt the Remembrance Day tradition by burning poppies and chanting death to British soldiers. The message that I found most important to take from this is the kind of misinterpretation of intent that such an event causes- it is one thing to not want war in Afghanistan, but quite another to burn a symbol that stands against the atrocities of war on such a significant day. Acts such as these also promote racial tension and encourage social dispute which often ends in violent altercation- not your typical anti war leaning. So the element of this story I focused my final image toward is the motto of Remembrance Day- Lest We Forget.

The image depicts the face of a world war 2 soldier engulfed in flames of a burning poppy.

SAS Blunder

The Special Air Service (SAS) is the British Army's most renowned special forces unit. From the moment several black-clad figures appeared on the balconies of the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980, the Special Air Service became 'celebrities' both at home and oversees. Their motto, 'Who Dares Wins', has become part of British popular culture.

Since then this elite unit has been employed by various politicians as a sort of publicity stunt, be it Maggie during the embassy siege or Blair during the rescue of a British convoy from the hands of Sierra Leon's notorious West Side Boys, the SAS have carried out the government's zero tolerance rule on terror with great success, that is until now.

On March 7Th 2011 a British SAS mission to Libya resulted in humiliation after the troops were first captured by rebels, then a diplomat's plea for their release was broadcast on state television.

The objectives of this small crew are unclear but their capture raises an important question: is the SAS being wrongfully deployed by the government in their attempt to gain the same political notoriety as Thatcher?

The SAS being a commendable and highly trained regiment I doubt sincerely their capture was the result of slipping standards but more likely the outcome of slap dash planning based on top brass orders from foolish politicians. Or could it be as ex SAS soldier Robin Horsfall says that if the SAS were captured that's because they wanted to be.

The image for this article depicts the logo of the SAS regiment turned upside down to depict the face of an embarrassed special forces officer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=valmonlvdxo

OVO Illustration Exhibition

http://ovoshow.co.uk/

A grave situation

Amidst the bloodshed comes- even more bloodshed this time caused by a natural disaster, you would have to have been living in a hole if you didn’t know that I am of course referring to the Japanese catastrophe. In short a cataclysmic domino disaster that can only be described as horrifying. But it took an earthquake that caused a tsunami that killed a predicted 40,000 and raged inland to a defunct nuclear power plant that will wreak more nuclear havoc than Chernobyl to expose the shocking reality of nuclear safety.

To make the worst of a bad situation, according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Fukushima should have been decommissioned in 1990 as it failed to meet safety regulations but nothing was done by TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) to address this problem, until now of course, the expression too little too late springs to mind.

To illustrate this incident initially I tried (like many other illustrators) to use imagery that put a more positive spin on the situation but found it impossible. Instead I found the most appropriate angle to approach this devastation was encompassed in the way that mass graves had been dug to bury the dead. The Japanese, having a mostly Buddhist population, prefer to cremate the deceased but this is unfeasible considering the circumstances so the military have resorted to digging mass graves for the victims of this severe tragedy.   

Talk to the Miliband, the government ain't listening

Last month saw a large cross section of the British public take to the streets of London to demonstrate against the governments ruthless cut's. An estimated 250,000+ were counted for at the TUC alternative march for jobs, growth and justice, in its midst were doctors, firemen, trade unions, community groups, teachers and pupils- all there to make clear their concern about the severity of the latest government cuts.

The government’s reaction to this statement from the majority was to ignore it and claim all is necessary to get rid of the deficit In fact the only consolation came from wide eyed, pity accumulator Ed Miliband.

In his speech to the thousands of already likely voters, Mili-hand compared their plight to the struggle of the suffragettes and the civil rights movement in America. Demonstrators may take some piece of mind for their efforts knowing that even though the government is making no amendments labour still backs the alternative.

Libyan Conflict

This image is the first of my world streets series, with so many horrific global incidents occurring at the moment I felt this was the best way to interpret them into imagery.

This piece is an attempt to portray the the situation in Libya in all of its aspects- Gaddafi's hired goons attacking the public,  the rebel uprising, the protests that started the chaos, the attacks on the public by the military, the UN-constitutional intervention, the toppling of a new breed: the celeb-dictator and in the foreground the reporters who have the had a five star experience of some of Libya's finest hotels.

APN

Work for the APN brief.
APN are a skate culture clothing company who have given us (camberwell 3rd year) a live brief for thier cool KUTGW range in which t-shirts are earned not brought- like respect, by bieng a public nuisance. below are a some examples of my submission.

Lately Ive been trying to document the process of my drawings through stop frame animation, below is my second sttempt at this.

Paperwatch

I got one of these rather cool paper watches for Christmas from suck UK. They come completely plain then you doodle on them, gotta say though- due to the durable waxy surface there's only certain pens you can use other wise it bleeds- sorry folks but no one gave me any warning and I would have liked to know. Bic pens, ball pens= thumbs up.