How I spent my summer (Part 2)

Marwell Wildlife had chosen my Oxpecker bird design, although asked if I could change the birds to Humboldt penguins and to include their local celebrity, Ralph the penguin. 



During Ralph's annual moult, he loses his feathers quicker than the other penguins, exposing his skin to the elements and for the past couple of years, Ralph has had to wear a wetsuit to protect him from the sun. Because of this Ralph has become bit of a celebrity, 'the penguin with the wetsuit', and for this reason Marwell wanted to include him in the design, a 'Where’s Wally' approach.

I got straight to work redesigning the rhino with Humboldt penguins in mind and Marwell Wildlife gave me the go ahead with my new design (above)



The studio in which all the artists and the rhinos congregated was in the Marlands shopping centre in the centre of Southampton, it was an open studio where members of the public could come in to watch the artists at work and to ask questions.

I came slightly late to the project so the studio was pretty much full of artists busily at work on their rhinos. After get acquainted with the space and the rather large blank canvas of the rhino sculpture, I set to work.

Once started, I began to realise the enormous amount of work that lay before me and I encountered a few problems......


The first problem was my intricate style of drawing on a full scale rhino; I started drawing as I usually would in my small detailed style and drawing the penguins no bigger than paper clips, thinking this would be alright. How wrong was I?! I spent hours on just a small part of the lower leg, it looked impressive, but as my girlfriend pointed out to me, this would take me forever to finish and my rhino wouldn't be ready in time for the trail. I needed to draw the penguins a lot larger, so I had to start all over again! So if it wasn't for her I would still be painting penguins today! 



Covering the whole rhino with all those penguins took its time, drawing them in the curves and contours of the rhino and making sure they all connected was a real head scratcher.

Once drawn out I could set about painting the rhino. 

To be continued in part 3

Read How I spent my summer part 1 here

Warm Weather

I have noticed the weather has been especially warm for this time of year. Might treat myself to a Micecream.

Alresford Music Festival

Been working flat out and have just finished this small commission for next years Alresford Music Festival. 
For more information on the festival go their website ENJOY!

Working progress

Got lots going on at the moment, but here is a little snippet from one of the projects I am working on, will post the final results this week

How I spent my summer (Part 1)


This summer has been really eventful and my creative productivity has gone through the roof. Going to festivals, having BBQs, watching the tennis and managing to soak up every last bit of sunshine was pretty much standard, but one of the biggest events/projects I was fortunate enough to be part of was Marwell Wildlife's Go Rhinos2013 project in Southampton.

It all started when I attended a meeting inviting local artists to find out about the project and what it entails. Go Rhinos!, I found out, was a major charity art project within Southampton where local artists submitted designs to be chosen and sponsored by local businesses to be painted on full scale fibre glass rhino sculptures to be displayed across the city. I jumped at the chance to be part of this amazing project and got to work immediately on my designs.

I submitted two designs in the end, both in my signature detailed style, one of which was inspired by the Monarch butterfly migration in Mexico and the other by the Oxpecker bird.

After the deadline in January there was a small wait to find out if any of the sponsors would choose one of my designs to be painted on a rhino.

Unfortunately in March I found out my designs had not been chosen, but all was not lost, In April I got a surprising phone call from Marwell Wildlife telling me that they had chosen one of my designs to be reproduced on a rhino, although they requested some slight changes to be made.......

To be continued in part 2.

Interview for Color Ink Book

Check out my interview I did for Color Ink Book, an insight into my imagination and creative process. 

Even more space men

I think I over did it on the spacemen, but good practice for my A1 illustration

In space nobody can eat ice cream

I should just stop playing around and really start the A1 image now, but I do like that title
'In space nobody can eat ice cream' something to work on.

More Work in progress

Practicing drawing space men in preparation for a much larger image. Will keep you posted on progress.

Work in progress


I started this image a while ago and only just getting round to finishing it off.

Cupcake Mischief

Made this for my girlfriend to use on her cake sale and got paid in cake.

SO.A.P newspaper

If you are in Southampton make sure you pick up a free copy of the SO.A.P newspaper which my Viking Village illustration is the centre fold. It would look great on your fridge.

Competition

Fancy winning two of my limited edition prints, simply enter the competition with Culture Hampshire and be in with a chance to get your hands on them, Click here to enter  Best of luck!

Twitter?

Are you on twitter? If so, you can also follow more of my antics and day to day goings on.
Follow me here 

Work in progress

A small glimpse of a rough visual I am working on all about space, stay tuned for more updates.

Interview


Check out my interview I did for Lost & Found magazine, an insight into my imagination and creative process. 

Work in progress for a poster


Here is some work in progress for a poster design. watch this space for updates


Coasters 
Post Living V Tom Joyce

COMING SOON 











Exhibition @ Southampton City Art Gallery EXTENDED until end of February.
Prints and Cards available to buy from the Art Gallery Shop,Prints also available from my shop here