Art Crank
______I’ve got a spot in the Art Crank – London – exhibition in September, so I’m left with a decision as to which bike based picture to use as the print? I’m aware that London has a big fixie culture so should I go for that, maybe a guaranteed crowd pleaser. I’ve got plenty of nice mtb based ones that I love but maybe it’s not such a conducive atmosphere for that in the big smoke? What a quandary, I shall mull it over and ask the masses in the world of facebook and see what they think. Regardless I’m dead chuffed to have got a spot and it looks like they put on a fine soiree. Will be interesting to see what everybody else has in the pipeline to, the previous years have certainly proved a rich source of inspiration.
Help me decide on facebook here.
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______Bikes are the world’s most fun and accessible way to get around. Posters are the world’s most fun and accessible art form. ARTCRANK brings them together.
ARTCRANK is a showcase of bicycle-inspired original poster artwork that people can enjoy looking at and afford to take home. ARTCRANK began in Minneapolis in 2007, and has expanded to Denver, St. Louis, Portland, San Francisco and Des Moines. In September 2010, we’ll hold our first international show in London.
Every ARTCRANK show features posters created by local artists from the host city. Admission is always free, and posters are priced to let everybody take home at least one.
Vive le tour
______This years Tour de France was superb, seat of the pants racing from beginning to end. I honestly can’t remember a Tour since the late nineties which has been so gripping and action packed. With very in the way of filler in the form of flat sprint stages every jersey has turned out to be an epic competition. I can only hope the Vuelta a España will turn out to be such a belter.
In cycling related art business I am hoping that I will get this VIVE graphic on to a proper cycling jersey before to long. I am working with a company who get artists to create edgy, driven designs that fly in the face of the usual go faster designs cyclists are lumped with. So fingers crossed it will come off…..
Uisken
______Mull has no shortage of nice looking rocks so in breaks in the weather while the chumps were away clambering up the cliffs I managed to indulge my fixation with the rock. Here’s some cliffs from the Ross of Mull which I think were a mix of schist and granite, basalt maybe? Don’t really know, I’m no geogololist but I do love the rock. The bit of coast we were at in Uisken was a wild place. With wild goats wandering about on the cliffs and through thick bracken, the rocks were exposed and open to horizontal, rapid erosion the coast still strikes me as a bit of alien environment. The rocks are sharp, pitted and victims of their surrounding creating interesting and complex forms.
Himself - Herself
______Horrific bad weather and my right arm in cast. Not the best recipe for an outdoors holiday in Mull with the Scotstoun Gentlemen’s Club. So I took the opportunity to get some drawing done. Whilst in An Tobar the arts centre in Tobermory after a pretty uncomfortable but enjoyable mountainbike round Loch Frisa, Misha found a great photo of an old Mull couple sitting out side their croft looking stoic, it was clear from looking at their faces that they endured a hard life. The image stuck in my head and this pair are the result of that initial inspiration. I’ve tried to emphasise my impression of these folk and portray a sense of the characters behind the hardship.
A strange fixation with ROX!
______I have developed a strange fixation with rocks and boulders lately. Well to be fair i’ve always loved rocks. I used to spend hours on end when I were a nipper examining and chucking stones into the Spey, my Mum was always be-fuggled by how much I loved it, she had trouble dragging me home. In fact my sister had a pet rock called Murdo and my kids love the things to, so maybe it’s a family thing? It’s only recently that I’ve been photographing them and drawing them. Here’s one that looks like a pretty substantial mountain that I found on a nice day out at dumbarton castle, which certainly has lots of pretty rocks. Ok, so i admit to being a bit of a weirdo but rocks are important, we live on a massive one called Earth, get into it! rocks are the new / ancient coolness. Official…
Cycling art – a growing coolness?
______I’ve been working on getting some cycling based illustration projects underway. A self-initiated projects to coin an industry buzz-word. So here’s the latest couple going down a more graphical, modernist approach to my previous hand drawn efforts. I have had a bit of interest in these, so there will be prints available come the Autumn, so keep tuned. Might even learn how to screen print some of these, it’s been something I’ve always wanted to learn.
Singletrack magazine
______I’ve been doing some mountain biking based drawings / designs lately, mainly because I am obsessed by the sport and I’ve had some great inspiration through it lately. Sinlgetrack magazine have put some of the prints I sent them on the fresh goods section of their site, which is usually reserved for new mtb products. So i’m pretty chuffed.
______Hopefully I’ll get some of these printed or commisioned soon. In the meantime I’m planning some collaborations with photographers to get a series of giclee prints done by the end of the season. If all goes to plan these will be for sale come the autumn.
______As always their are plenty of posts on high-8 covering my mtb exploits.
______Ch..Ch..Ch..Ch..Check it out.
______http://www.singletrackworld.com/2010/04/fresh-goods-51/
Un-abashed, genuine creativity
______My daughter who’s 3 has been getting quite good at painting and drawing. Her pre-conceptions of form, colour and technique are so unbridled she has an ability to simply create. The results are quite a revelation, the lack of schooling or influence means she can simply put marks on paper and enjoy it. If I try to direct her in anyway she tends to turn the picture into a great big mess with paint all over the place, swirling her hands around in it and generally making a stooshie. However when left on her own she constantly surprises me with exquisitely abstract and expressive pictures that some might argue parallel some of the most prolific modern artists. What I draw from this is that it is not always wise to plan or approach projects in a certain way, especially if you want something genuine and unique.
______As a graphic designer I am constantly given references to a certain visual style or a specific designer, this is all well and good but if projects are to take flight, become iconic and timeless I think a more free and naive approach is invaluable. As an adult it’s very difficult to achieve this state of mind, with the trappings of the modern world and constant inspiration at our fingertips the ability to create completely free of influence is very difficult. There is a lot to be said for sitting down with a piece of paper dipping your hands in it and swishing around on a piece of paper making a total burach. It almost always looks rubbish (and brown) but it is great fun. Try it (although having kids obviously make it seem more acceptable). I bet when you sit down to a long day in front of illustrator or photoshop you will find your creativity will be less formulaic and more rewarding and productive as a result.