NEW PRINTS!

Amongst all the jobs and workshop planning, I have been trying to get some new prints done. I sell my work through two galleries, Funky Scottish and The Outbye Gallery, as well as during East Neuk Open Studios and it is about time I made some lovely new work to hang on their walls!
So, I am expanding the ongoing series of large, animal themed prints which I call "Not Cute", which so far comprises of Baboon & Owl, Like a Rabbit in Headlights, Forest Deer, Urban Fox, Hibernacula Woods and Bird Puddles (I may have missed a couple out...). New Not Cute prints will include lions, otters, horses, fish, more birds and possibly a dog. The lion print is looking seriously good, I have to admit :-) I'll post it when it is completed.

BUT...I do love my fashion-y, girly-wirly illustrations and so am adding to that series too (which I  call "Hair Girls" for some bizarre reason). The above image ,called Frisco, is one of 3 new prints in that series.
Image area is 28x28cm and with a nice crisp mount will measure 50x50cm, perfect for ready made frames from Ikea etc. Of course, if you prefer a bigger version and want it custom framed, then we can talk about that too!

The Theatre/Theater, dahling!

New York City? Iconic skyline? Wooden water towers?  Flyers swirling in the Midtown breeze? Girl in cute little ankle boots picking one up? Yes, all elements in a new illustration I was commissioned to do by John Smart at Collaborate  for the lovely Green Room Musical Theatre Company.
As you can see from the website, I also did the artwork for a previous production called "The Last Five Years", as well as draw portraits of all the company members. 

THIS production is called "Ordinary Days" by Adam Gwon and here's what it's all about:
"Adam Gwon's Ordinary Days is a refreshingly honest and funny musical about making real connections in the city that never sleeps (but probably should at some point). It tells the story of four young New Yorkers whose lives intersect as they search for fulfillment, happiness and love.
This is an original musical for anyone who's ever struggled to appreciate the simple things in a complex place.  With equal doses of humor and poignancy, it celebrates how 8.3 million individual stories combine in unexpected ways to make New York City such a unique and extraordinary home."

Style-wise, I am trying a few things out at the moment and a projects like this is a great opportunity to experiment a bit, as the designer and the client are both open to my doing that and positively encourage it - love that! I love my ink but am really obsessed with texture and surface pattern at the moment, as well as a kind of printed/collaged aesthetic (does that make sense?) The girl is drawn with ink but the building and flyers are "drawn" with the lasso tool in Photoshop, selected from files of hand-made pattern and texture that I create and keep a database of. Sometimes I find a fabric or bit of old monoprint lurking in my plans chest (yes, the Tardis one!)  and just scan it in and keep on tap. Using the Wacom pen to draw with the lasso tool feels very natural to me, and I don't consider it to be any different from drawing with a dip pen. My line still comes through - though you lot can be the judge of that!

 The Ordinary Days tour continues at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, Thursday 21 June 2012, 7.30pm - contact Michael at Green Room about tickets!