Prairie Life

So in my 'Happy New Year' post, one of my resolutions was to learn/use colour. I suppose this would fall into that bracket. I did a quick block colour thing of the American prairie lands...not a clue where that came from or why. Oh the woes of ones subconsciousness. Maybe, in a past life, I had a little house there...

Then I decided to screw with it in photoshop and ended up with these:

"Little Barn on the Prairie"

"Little Barn on the Prairie...at night"

"Little Barn on the Prairie...under threat of invasion"



"Little Barn on the Prairie...by Saul Bass"

 As a side note...Adobe Kuler is the shit...it is the single most amazing thing I have ever seen for making colourings. That is what I learned.

Apple Store Shenanigans

So my optical not-so-superdrive on my macbook started playing up and not reading DVD's; then not accepting them when you popped them in the drive; then refusing to release them when eject was pressed...general tom foolery which is fun once but then just down right annoying.

Actually it wasn't fun the first time come to think of it.

Anyway, it ended up with me making a visit to the local Apple store to get a diagnosis. The following is a true story.

For those interested, Aardman uber designer Gav Strange can be found here. And yes...I do know Gav.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! Hopefully 2011 will be better than 2010...not that 2010 was bad...I'd hold it up there as a fairly good year (although the summer was not as good as 2009), but it's be nice for each year to get better as life goes on.

Anyways, after I finally got out of Heathrow and made my way home for Christmas the break got better. I needed one. Got a decent haul for Christmas. New headphones; a nice set of silver chopsticks; books etc. and an SRS - Special Red Sketchbook. Actually, it was an early present but I didn't use it until after Christmas. I decided to fill it (or at least the beginning of it) with sketches of Hong Kong. So let's go on a little tour shall we? -

(Dai Pai Dong - Shek O Beach)

Our journey begins at a little Dai Pai Dong in Shek O which is the the very far side of Hong Kong Island...all the roads just end when you get to a little village with a beach and some great food stops. Oh...and also some of the most exclusive estates in the country.

(Bank of China)

From there we go to Central. This is the frontside of the Island. This district (and Wan Chai) form the skyline for your stereotypical HK postcard. Central is where most of the banks are housed including the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (or HSBC as it's colloquially known) and the iconic Bank of China building. However there is more to Central than banks...

 

(The tea rooms - China Tee Club) 

...such as the tea rooms at the China Tee Club. Located above the Shanghai Tang on Pedder Street this place has served the residents with tea for decades and has the feel of the 1920's when you walk in. And when I say 'resident', the club is locals only, so unless you have a friend who lives in HK who can guest you in, don't bank on getting in...by the way, I'm a local.

(Wan Chai skyline)

After a quick cuppa it's down to the Central Ferry Pier to head back to the peninsula side...

(The Old NAAFI)

...which is a lot greener than everyone expects Hong Kong to be. *Random Fact*; Hong Kong is 80% country park...bet you didn't know that! I live out in the area known as Shek Kong. Pre-1997 this is where the Royal Air Force and the Gurkha regiment were based. After the handover the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army took over the running of the base and air field. They took the NAAFI (Navy, Army, Air Force Institute) and put a red star on it. It no longer sells 'The Beano'.

(RAF Shek Kong)

Once you pass the old NAAFI you have to find a road hidden behind a bus stop, which will take you along a catchment and over a bridge. From the bridge you can look down into the valley where the air strip is.

 

(Lui Kung Tin) 

If you carry on over the bridge and head into the jungle, after about a quarter mile you'll end up in Lui Kung Tin, the small village where I live!

(The Neigbours)

These are the gates to my neighbours house. Yes, even in winter Hong Kong is lush and green...in fact Christmas day was 20 degrees Centigrade. Just about warm enough...

(Poolside)

...for a swim! This is the pool in my back garden.

(Garden Plants)

And also some potted plants...which aren't so lush and green. Someone must've forgotten to water them.

So there you go...a whistle stop tour across the whole of Hong Kong.

My New Years Resolutions are - to blog more regularly; to do more drawings of locations/situations; to learn/use colour!

 Onward to 2011!

Monutmental...

...catastrophe. That's about the only way you can describe what happened at Heathrow due to the snow that fell in London on Saturday. Half a foot in half an hour I believe.

 The Heathrow departure lounge boards...pleasant reading for some. Not so much for most.

 

I'm actually blogging this in the departure lounge (edits in the arrivals hall) as I was one of the lucky ones who made it out of the UK given the horrendous weather conditions and complete dysfunction of Heathrow airport, which resembles more of a refugee camp. We were held outside in makeshift marquees (the outside temp maxed at 0 degrees centigrade) and only allowed into the airport once our ticket was confirmed and the flight scheduled. Not everyone was so lucky. A lot of people are still stranded there and will be over the holiday period. The lady above is one of the unlucky mass. One of the people who was corralling us announced that our flight was a go, but only for confirmed, so if you were waiting on a wait list (a lot of people who had flights canceled were) then you'd have to wait until the 24th. The 24th of December. She got this news and just went and sat down, put her head on her bag and shut her eyes. She'd obviously done the math. A bit of education for those of you who only travel short haul around the US or Europe. Long haul towards the East loses you hours. When I leave here on the 21st I'll get to HKG on the 22nd about 5pm. 12 hours in the air is 20 hours on the ground (not literally time travel...but, y'know). She was aiming to get to NZ so tack on a couple of hours transit in HK and an extra 10.5 hours flight time plus the extra 4 timezones east. That brings a total flight time to  about 24-25 hours (inc. transit) and 12 timezones east and that would put her in Auckland at about 9am...26th of December.

Merry Christmas.

Trenches...

...must've been a nightmare.

Anyway, I thought I'd post the two different styles up so people can see the difference. One is the clean vector style and the second is ink on paper with a sepia wash and then a bit of Photoshop manipulation...but not much. If you read the post about 'Tommy' on Tales of the Spiffing (Story extraordinnaire JP Vine has also posted his up...I've seen it and it's amazing!) then you'll know that the two styles represent the 'Real' and the 'Memories'...I hope it's something that works when its read. Anyway, here is a point in the story where the real becomes the memory...something happening at that moment becomes something that happened in the past.

Tommy

...and here is what'll be appearing next to my name in "Tales of the Spiffing"...Oh the British Tommy.

Tales...

...of the SPIFFING!

(cover by LUIS COOK)

I kind of hinted at it a while back that some of us here at work had got together to make a book...well it's almost here. Above is the cover by Luis, who is some kind of character phenomenon. I think you'll agree...AMAZING!

Anyways, head over to the blog we've set up for it to see who's involved...it's 19 epic talents and then me lowering the bar...20 of us in total!

So...who wants one?

And the Winner is...

'Shaun the Sheep' nominated for an Emmy award and a BAFTA!!

The world funnest show to work on! Fingers crossed, eh?



Flick Flip Flick

I got exhibited...whoop!

A few months ago the organisers asked if any of the artists at Aardman would like to have a go at making a flip book so that they could start a campaign to get flipbooks and animation into local schools. Led by our illustrious leader (Mr. Lord) each of us came up with a short 30 frame animation, which was then made up into a book which you can thumb through and it comes to life! They also printed out the frames and exhibited them at the University West England (UWE) as the first part of the project launch about a week ago. The second part of the exhibit takes place in a one years time when the work of the school children will be exhibited. It'll be great to see what they come up with!! From what I hear it's all going quite well and the show is off to Denmark where the Danish hope to do the sam thing in their schools.It was a fun project to work on and I got to break out 'Old Blue Sanford' and do some animating again...it's been a while.

Anyway you can see all the artists flipbooks online here.

School and flip books....kind of goes together, right?...I mean what else are you supposed to do in the corner of your maths book?

Gesture Drawing...

...at work.

A few weeks ago (five to be precise) the great Rej Bourdages and I took it upon ourselves to bring the ancient art of 'Nudie' drawing to the populace of our work place. We came down off the mount and bestowed pencils and paper among those who were willing to give up one lunch time each week searching for the elusive goal of a greater understanding of life...

...drawing.

And lo, they answered. With force, they cried, "Thank you for this pencil and also for this paper. I shall go forth and draw like never before. From this day on I shall..."

and then they didn't turn up the next week. But it's okay because it's a drop in, drop out scheme. The rules are fairly simple. Poses are 60-90 seconds with two or three 5 minuters thrown in at the end for good measure.

Week 1 - (Parker Fountain/FC Polychromos)

Week 2 - (Pitt Pen, Brush nib/FC Polychromos)

Week 3 - (Parker Fountain/FC Polychromos)

Week 4 - (Parker Fountain/FC Polychromos)

Week 5 - (Parker Fountain/Charcoal)

I don't use charcoal that often...reason being that after I use it, I resemble someone whose 'been down pit' all day. The 5 minuter above is actually all three 5 minute poses and you can see shadows of the other under the final image. After each pose, I just erased it with the side of my hand and started the next pose. Easier than turning the page. No reason to be precious with it. It was probably crap...or it could've been a masterpiece. We'll never know! (...and be 'we', I mean you lot, because I know they were all rubbish).

Bankside mob hit

He had it coming...

Life Drawing 01 & 08.07.10

(4 Mins)

(3 mins)

(5 mins)

(7 mins)

(5 mins)

(1-10mins)

We had our last figure session of term last Thursday...but it's okay because we start lunch time sessions here at work tomorrow!

Life Drawing 24.06.10

Warm Up (2-5 mins)

Life Drawing 10.06.10

Back to figure drawing after a two week break...one week because half term = no session, one week because I was working late.

(4 mins)

(7 mins)

(10 mins)

(10 mins)

(warm up 2-5mins)

Cat's out the bag!

Well JP has put it on his blog so I guess the word is out...we're making a comic anthology. And by we I mean a few guys from work. You can have a few idea sketches from developing ideas...I'm down to two, but which one gets printed is for you to find out!

 

Also, I was introduced to 'Rat race" (the 1967 version) this evening. We had a pie and board game night at the pub. I wanted the society wedding to move up to the higher class but sadly ended up with a ming vase, mink fur and some other high society status symbol...plus $50,000. Oh well.