So i've been a busy boy of recent, and i've been very fortunate these past few weeks to have got some of my best briefs of the year in through my inbox. Great briefs usually lead to the making of strong images in my case, and I think i've probably made my two best published illustrations of the year thus far in the past week.
Above is one of those illustrations, the AD at Nuts magazine just casually emailed me to see whether i'd ever drawn E.T as a hobo-like busker looking up in a rather sad way to a cancelled E.T 2 poster, first of all my answer was 'No I haven't drawn that before" secondly given my well-acknowledged love of films and particularly 80's films, it was a case of please let me draw this!
The illustration was to accompany a feature about blockbusters that never got made (E.T 2: Nocturnal Fears being the reference here) At the time I got this brief I was already tied up with various other illustration jobs, including my other "best brief of the year" illo for another mag (more about that next month!) and I was concerned that I wouldn't have time to take this job.
As it turned out I was given a few more days than I usually get from Nuts, which has a tight weekly schedule, and I was able to work on this and four more jobs over the Bank Holiday period.
I left the sign bare, for the designers to fit the headline "22 Blockbusters that never were!" I've just seen this in print, and the illustration came out great... it's also a really good feature for any movie fan to read.
Big thanks to Barney, Nitish & Simon at the mag.... it's these kinds of jobs I live for!
Here's another one for Nuts, a full page illustration to run alongside an interview on British boxer Amir Khan.
This image is a homage to the Rocky 3 movie poster, again great for a film nut, and a Rocky fan like myself... i'm a big fan of the Rocky series, with Rocky 4 being one of my all-time fave films... in fact I think you can live your life by the teachings of that film!
I was asked to digitally paint this image, I dip my toe into the field of digital painting every now and then for the magazine, some images work better than others, this one came out great in print, because it allowed me to just concentrate on painting the flesh correctly. I enjoyed myself with this one!
Above is an illustration on the stands in the current issue of Top Gear magazine for an article about appropriate headwear while driving.
This is my second image for the title, I did a "blink and you'll miss it" spot illo in the previous magazine, it was such a thrill and honor to be asked to contribute to the mag, as i'm a fan of the show and had admired the mag from afar for it's use of illustration down the years.
The new Art Editor at the title Elliot is someone who i'd already had the pleasure of working with when he was at Empire mag, so it was lovely to get the opportunity to work with him again... he's one of those who knows his job inside out, also he knows how to commission illustrators; as he gives a good brief, enough time to let you draw it, and leaves you to get on with the job at hand. Can't ask for more than that! Really enjoy working with him... one day I'm hoping for a super detailed double page feature for the title....
This one is also very nice on the printed page!
That's it for now, more big jobs to come, and if I ever get around to finishing them, some epic personal works to put up here soon... you'll need to see them to believe 'em!
