Will Pickvance and Friends Flyer Design.

I was recently asked by Edinburgh based musician Will Pickvance to design a flyer for his upcoming Fringe show.  He asked me, having seen my work illustrating him for the Screen Bandita's 'Eruption of Kilauea' event.

"International pianist and entertaininer Will Pickvance raises a merry Hell bang in the middle of St. John’s cavernous crypt for an enchanting two hours of candle-lit carnival.

Stride piano outbursts one minute, heart-breaking laments the next, Will invites concert violinists, todays’ troubadours, the talented, the skilled and the thirsty to entertain you with Festival Vaudeville and Helium Karaoke.

With different acts each night, selected from the cream of this year’s Festival, you never know who you’ll be sharing a table with.  Come and see the Albert Hall squeezed into your local pub."

The visual idea came quickly, based on Will's descriptions of his mad, chaotic, carnivalesque shows, and the revelation that Will often wears a grotesque pig mask for parts of his act.  I developed the idea from an initial sketch (seen below) and then drafted it out properly, before inking it (partly with a new brush pen I'm experimenting with).

However, this first version wasn't quite doing it for Will, or for me.  After some tinkering, we came up with the image below.  The crowd is now full of interesting characters, instead of gray silhouettes, and the addition of a major female presence balances out the image better, and adds more visual variety.

Also, spot the little cameo!

Will's show should be quite an event, and I'm excited to be going to see it, having already illustrated it blind.  Check out the poster for details, or visit www.mostentertaining.com.

Latitude Report

This weekend I was at Latitude festival with Tom Humberstone, Philippa Rice, Anne Holiday and Matthew Sheret.  It was a We Are Words + Pictures event, and we were there to give passers by a wee chance to do some comic drawing, as well as providing access to WAW+P's extensive library of small-press wonders, all from our event tent situated amongst dozens of other arts events that the festival was playing host to.

The event went down really well I think.  It was great seeing the huge amount of work that came out of it, from children and adults alike.  People seemed really engaged with the whole idea, and one or two children told me they had been inspired to pick up drawing again, having had previously lost interest or confidence.  We were able to give the young folk some advice and encouragement to keep drawing, and guidance to parents on how to foster their kids' interest in comics.  We all worked very well as a team, and it was wonderful getting to hang out with other comic artists and chat about what the future holds for all of us.  All in all, a great success!

At the same time, I got to do some drawing of my own, borrowing Tom's pens to do some brush pen experimentation, and Philippa's glue to do some My Cardboard Life fan art!  And then there were the bands of course, a personal favourite being Saturday night's Belle and Sebastian show.

Filmish #2 and Parasites Write Ups.

In case you missed it, Matthew Sheret wrote a little about both Filmish #2 and Parasites! on his blog.

We've also had some attention for Parasites! at the Nobel-Lindau conference which Jamie recently attended.  People apparently love the parasite/comic hybrid we created!  Read Jamie's blog post here.

Appearances 2010

I'll be making my first two appearances as a comics artist this year.

Latitude Festival - Thursday 15th to Sunday 18th July.

I've been invited to help out with We Are Words + Pictures' comic drawing workshops and drop-in and draw events at the festival.  We'll be there from Friday to Sunday so if you're there, come on by.

Come and join some of the UK's finest small press illustrators and help create a unique comic to celebrate Latitude 2010. Drop in to polish up on your drawing skills, relax and take inspiration from our library of 'zines and comics or help fill pages with colourful characters, tall tales and fantasy lands while we spin a yarn in the Suffolk sun.

We Are Words + Pictures are a group of illustrators and writers creating comics throughout the UK. Since 2008 they have worked with the ICA's Comica Festival, Brick Lane Market and comedians Josie Long and Robin Ince.

Thought Bubble: Leeds Sequential Art Festival - Saturday 20th November.

I've also booked a table for my first ever convention, the one day Leeds Comic Con.  I'm going to have to work hard to have more stuff to put on my table, which is a good thing I think.  If anyone fancies sharing a table, just get in touch and we'll see what we can do...