drawn in 1985

unalive

2012-02-14T04:41:00.000-08:00

flirty pants

2012-02-11T14:16:00.000-08:00

did this thing the yesterday (and then put a giant crease through it and chucked it away, but i still have the original drawing so i'm going to redo it straight away... god, i annoy the shit out of myself). got to redo it, i love him, everyone loves a fancy pants xo

pizza face

2012-02-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

painting this big bastard at the moment, amoungst all the rest xo

pinkerton

2012-01-28T09:46:00.000-08:00

negi goes posi, for one night only

CW

2012-01-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

look at that.. Brighton of all places.. mental

four down

2012-01-27T05:25:00.000-08:00

hey i've been busy as hell the last couple of weeks, i now have four pages of my book complete! that means, as current plans go, i only have 12 more left before i venture into darker terratory (scan them in, add colour and fiddle with the layout using the dreaded computer). even though the fourth page took two 12 hour sessions just for the background and my hand feels like it's broken from doing so, the ball is definately rolling now. xo

2012-01-27T05:21:00.000-08:00

oh hey!

log head

2012-01-01T16:19:00.000-08:00

must have spent about 12 hours sat at my new desk today. nerd that i am, i get such excitement from a work surface that tilts and a pane of glass.. the smell of the ink, and all that..

may 2012 bring me great success, health and fortune.

and you (but i don't care about you) xo

a new year...

2012-01-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

with a new year brings to me a shiny new desk! finally a decent space to start making my millions. goodbye so-called life. happy new year, fuckers xo

two heads aren't better than none

2011-11-29T17:03:00.000-08:00

i know lately this thing hasn't been updated as much as usual, i've actually been way busier than normal. i've been completely engrossed in stories. ideas for my brother's book are in full flow in my sketchbook, and it's a new and great experience for me. it's also a very long process; developing idea after idea into full scenes, layer upon layer, ages and ages. so, when i stumbled across a poem and some thumbnails i drew up 3 and a half odd years ago, i thought i'd take up another second project to stop myself from going crazy..

the story is about a two headed zombie. one day it'll be adapted into a three part blockbuster, in 5-D or some shit.

i'm taking each step with great caution; planning each line out carefully, drawing each body part and background seperately, and keeping note of measurements, what goes where etc. this is definately a learning curve, very unlike what i usually do, but that's why it's so exciting. let's hope it turns out proper.

i thought this was a perfect way for me to get some experience at illustrating a book before i start to put the ideas for my brother's story on to actual paper, as this story is only 8 0r 9 pages long and the thumbnails and characters are already drawn out, it should be whipped together fairly quickly, and from this i'll have a much clearer view of the steps i need to take for the main project. xo

blank canvas

2011-11-29T16:48:00.000-08:00

the plan for this guy is to have him sent off to D.W.Frye (genius with tattoo gun) and have him filled with flash. can't wait to it finished, Frye is the fucking FUTURE! xo

p is for proud

2011-11-18T08:51:00.001-08:00

these are the best and most humbling photos i've ever laid eyes on. they are two display boards in the art department at The Highcrest Academy, taken by me ol' mucker Hubbs following a class she did based on my illustrations. these are all masterpieces by her year 8 class, and i couldn't be more stoked. through all the years of drawing for what (sometimes feels like) nothing, these two pictures make it all worth while.

hats off to all the budding geniuses at The Highcrest Academy! amazing xo

Revere Reworked

2011-10-31T17:21:00.000-07:00

drew this cover this week for the band Revere.. should be up HERE in the next day or two. read all about it xo

Latest 7

2011-10-31T17:01:00.000-07:00

Latest 7 is the Number One free weekly magazine for Sussex. It is full colour, free and available at newsagents, estate agents and over 1,000 outlets throughout the south. and for a good few weeks now i've been illustrating for one of the columns every week- "William Tells".

This is all thanks to my bro Paul Lewis who has been illustrating for Latest Homes' "Distracting Dad" for ages now. both magazines come as one, pick one up if you're ever in the area xo

D.W.Frye

2011-10-31T16:42:00.000-07:00

got this masterpiece done this weekend by my old mate Dan Frye at www.electricbuddha.co.uk in Ramsgate. bloke's a genius. get in touch with him, get tattooed by him, check out more of his stuff here.. D.W.Frye xo

why?

2011-10-17T05:21:00.000-07:00

finally, after about a year, i have a new alphabet! Y, as in "why a log in the face?" and the answer is, i don't know. anyway, i've only one more to go and the full 26 are done! although, flicking back through the lot of them i'm rethinking a couple. some feel rushed and lazy. yep, i'm going to do it, you'll see xo

clumsy mystical creature of the skies

2011-10-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

hey, i spent the last couple of days on this thing.. i love it.. i'm chuffed.. here you go....

drum roll..................

T for tree

2011-10-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

did this last week when the family and I all had a perfect week in Midhurst living like The Waltons for a bit, surrounded by trees.. now i'm back in civilization, surrounded by cunts and i can't bothered to draw them all xo

2011-10-02T01:33:00.000-07:00

hey! here's something i've been sitting on for a few weeks, and now i'm in the middle of nowhere in a cottage, with no distractions, i've given it some life. the rest of the week'll be spent in my sketchbook- brainstorming visual ideas for the kids book, tire-swinging into the ol' watering hole, and avoiding "The Locals" and their sexual advances. if i never see you again...peace xo

oh, south london is wonderful

2011-09-18T16:47:00.000-07:00

this week i received a story, written by my brother Steve, that he wants me to illustrate for a children's book. i couldn't be more excited for this project. i even bought a sketchbook to lay out all our ideas, i never use a sketchbook usually because i'm way too impatient, but this is different. this is going to blow The Hungry Caterpillar off the mother-fucking shelves! i'm not saying anything about the story at the moment, other than it's set in South London, so this week we strolled around Greenwich taking photos of reference for me to draw from xo

..thanks for nothing

2011-09-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

what with all the excitement of the looming On Thin Ice reunion in dirty Margate, i thught i'd put this up. it's a limited cover i did for their first 7" when they went on their euro (if i remember correctly) tour, winter 2005, and it's an old favourite of mine. i need to do more collages these days.

this is the reunion show..

i can not fucking wait xo

face off 2, face offer

2011-09-08T11:21:00.001-07:00

four

five

six

seven

face off

2011-09-05T04:46:00.000-07:00

one

two

three

colour god

2011-09-01T16:56:00.000-07:00

he'll take the colour from your life
and paint it black and white

done and dusted

2011-09-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

i've been busy today and finished this as well, just added the leaves to spice it up a little bit more, little splash of colour to top it off. this is, of course, my first half and half collaboraion with Claire Hubbard and i don't reckon we could be happier with it. we've more in the pipeline too, Hubbs gave me some sea creatures to play with this weekend, so i'm going to get straight on that tonight. love team work. hope you like xo

trust the dead man

2011-09-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

here is my first, finished collaboration with WOLFWIND's Rob Jones (first of many i hope). i think we compliment each other nicely, nothing like a bit of misery and despair mixed in with a pinch of humour. there's a link to the rest of Rob's work on a recent post, check it out xo

bigger than life

2011-08-27T02:02:00.000-07:00

i wish i was dead..

2011-08-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

hey this is a collaboration with Rob Jones, it's almost done. see you in abit xo

almost dooone...

2011-08-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

just needs some leaves.. i love this, something new, something exciting and i can't wait for the next one with my pal Claire.. sea creatures i do believe! yussss! this one's for you Dave Attenborough xo

2011-08-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2011/08/12/fucked-up-postcard-competition-winners/

check this out. scroll down. first thing i've ever won in a competition xo

demons

2011-08-20T16:22:00.000-07:00

hey! this week i joined tumblr. this picture is a representation of what happens to my head when i join something new or do something new on the world wide web. the address is www.drawnin1985.tumblr.com so follow and repost and reblog away! this baby is still the mother ship though, i'm happy here xo

the birds!

2011-08-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

i also got these, birds drawn by Hubbs for this pattern we're putting together! it will be finished in the next few days. it'd make a great wrapping pattern i reckon, i'll look into it. and this'll be the first of many because having friends is fun! xo

sea things

2011-08-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

i got treats in the post today from Claire, my partner in crime. this bad boy is coloured and done, and looking awesome! www.meandtheart.tumblr.com is Claire's blog, marvel in the glory of her art! .....

peg leg Pete

2011-08-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

there's a great black wave in the middle of the sea, for he xo

2011-08-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

if there's monsters in your head (and there are, i know, we're all as fucked up as each other) set them free.

kids.

2011-08-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

we prefer illusion to despair
to imagine than to care
ignorant and blissful
in a world so crisis full
every step forward, i want to go back
step follow step, i'd rather be sat
i'd rather not listen to all that i'm told
or admit that i'm cast from the same mould
as the rest of the world, surrounded by fear
i pick illusion over despair

brain dead

2011-08-08T02:58:00.000-07:00

this is another one from this week that someone else is getting in on, Rob Jones of www.wolfwind.co.uk is going to get this in the post and finish it, then i'll add any last touches and a splash of colour. he's going to do the same with his own picture. i'm so lazy that i can't even finish a single picture, myself, any more xo

2011-08-07T16:25:00.000-07:00

i must improve my photo taking

bird watch

2011-08-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

hey, Claire and i are drawing lots of birds for our next collaboration. team work is the best! these are a few of mine so far, Claire's are insanely good and i can't wait to see them finished and all put together. there's a poem to accompany the picture. it's going to be very sweet, much like the tea towels mother used to use xo

....to me

2011-07-31T14:16:00.000-07:00

hey i'm turning 25 again for the first time tomorrow.. here's a picture of the best card ever made. www.pointlessrhino.com is where you'll find Paul Lewis's other wonderful things xo

2011-07-31T06:16:00.000-07:00

http://loosecannonsuk.tumblr.com/

please have a look at this for my good mate Marcus xo

little shits.....

2011-07-27T16:14:00.001-07:00

....scare me

2011-07-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

this is a good night for me. getting the books out and having a good old adventure into the imagination i wish there was an extra 24 hours in the day just to read, and another just to draw, maybe an extra 12 to sleep more too.
it sometimes only takes one image, or one line, to fire up a whole string of ideas. sometimes it might be "wow, that's a cool idea, but maybe if i did something along the same lines, it might go a little something like this .... etc", but most times it's "holy shit i wanna be that good, i'm going to be like that". the amount of mind blowing talent on these pages is staggering, and i never get bored of examining them all. xo

p.s. that copy of Ralph Steadman's Garibaldi Biscuits is signed by the man, himself. life rules.

B

2011-07-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

i've been neglectful with my letters lately and i'm sorry, letters xo

petticoats and poison

2011-07-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

Her Indoors is in the process of setting up a website/webstore full of girly things called Petticoats and Poison, this will be either a t-shirt design or the header for the site (or maybe both). this came out alot better than originally imagined, especially the skull bottle because i wasn't sure how i'd give a bottle my own spin: whack a face on it, done. xo

splish!

2011-07-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

here's an underwater duel scene i can't wait to see finished, i'm going to send it to Hubbs to work her magic once she gets back from her week away in Spain. can't wait!! xo

fish face

2011-07-19T04:39:00.000-07:00

cohubborations

2011-07-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

here are the two finished pieces, and they look so sick, but i can say that because it was absolutely nothing to do with me. this was the handy work of my dear friend Claire Hubbard www.meandtheart.tumblr.com, and i think they both turned out a hundred times better than if i had done the colouring, she has opened my eyes to the vast and wonderful world of colouring in, and all it's endless possibilities. they're both signed by the both of us, and i can see this being the beginning of a great partnership. team work! xo

things

2011-07-16T04:23:00.000-07:00

so, this one is the first thing i've drew since i started the life sentence. felt like such a joy to get that pen to paper once more, and now i've no wedding to plan i can thankfully put all my focus back on drawing! it's going to get coloured in and polished off, along with the devil bloke below, and on here as soon as possible. as soon as Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows pt2 finishes it's run at the cinema xo

2011-07-16T04:15:00.000-07:00

this one's a little bit saucy..

...the other happiest day of my life

2011-07-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

here's a little taste of the day i joined the Husband Club. all the brilliant photos were by our dear friend Sarah Lafford from www.assassynation.co.uk and these are just a couple of favourites of mine. get married to someone and get on the blower to her now xo

mates

oh hi!

2011-07-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

hi mates! i'm back from my honeymoon! i got married and i've been to Hogwarts, the two happiest days of my life! now i'm back i've got a long list of things i want to get done, planning a new show is top of that, and turning this into a ".com" is first to be ticked off.

and now it's all out the way i can get back to taking care of my baby, my blog. so keep your eyes peeled for new drawings, and i imagine more photos from the wedding and honeymoon. missed you xx

one more thing...

2011-06-12T12:29:00.001-07:00

hey, long time no see. sorry, i'm not being lazy (i'm getting married a week tuesday, to be honest i'm surprised i actually had time to make this today). i'm going to do a few more posts before i go away on honeymoon, but this is the last picture i'm going to do. all this arranging of things we've been doing lately is leaving me itchy for drawing! as soon as the knot is tied, i can not WAIT to just draw and draw and draw and draw. draw until my hands fall off xo

i'm in the paper!!

2011-05-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

hey! this is a feature from today's Argus (Brighton's newspaper) about the fairy tale and nursery rhyme auction. come down to the JAG gallery on Brighton seafront on June 4th from midday to see all these, and the 25 other pieces, in all their glory.
i'm in the bottom left, so stoked! bought a copy to keep forever xo

"mates and other animals"

2011-05-12T03:04:00.000-07:00

so here's the finished piece. beautiful ain't it?

i think this'll have to be the last planned piece i'll be doing before the wedding (in 6 weeks time) purely because i've got so much on my plate at the moment, but that's not to say i won't be posting on here still regularly, so keep posted.

i want to share with you everything i've put together for the big day, but it must remain a secret, so i'll have wait until after we're hitched.

nothing's nicer than doing art for mates, and this one is OF mates as well, which made it even more fun. and what with the colours and all, this is one of my favourite things i've done in ages; so what better way to sign off?

mates and such

2011-05-09T06:20:00.000-07:00

this weekend i started a new piece, which started off as these few faces....

which led to this many faces....

(still need to do a few more today)...

all for Marcus (B)Rutherford. bloody good bloke. the finished piece'll be up in the next couple of days xo

sea monster

2011-05-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

i got lots of new pens today! and to celebrate i drew this colourful fella. yipeeee!

book review #4

2011-05-02T03:27:00.000-07:00

Brazilian street artist Stephan Doitschinoff, also known as CALMA, creates such an instantly recognisable style, which is so thick with religious symbolism and spiritual content, that you'd have to have something wrong with you if you weren't completely drawn in after your first look.

Doitschinoff was raised in the church, in a Christian fundamentalist family. with his father being a minister in an Evangelical church, it's only natural that his upbringing is absorbed into his paintings and murals. even though i keep well away from religion on a whole, Calma's style (and the perfectly weathered texture of his work) have me flicking back and forth through this book for hours on end, wanting to know more.

i think the beauty of his work is that i do want to know more about what it all means, but at the same time i can stare oar-struck at the images and colours for so long with out even thinking or caring about what the meaning might be. it could mean Graham Clark is a cunt, but when the imagery is so powerful and brilliant, it really doesn't matter what the message might be. that's what good art is to me.

this book has a Q+A section with the artist, a great look into his past and his journeys, a mix of his black and white (and colourful) paintings, and an incredible selection of his murals in Sao Paulo when he revisited in 2005-08. these are insane (insanely good); the decayed facades of the buildings completely compliment the artistry, which in turn, perfectly reflects the community.

www.stephandoit.com.br

decaffeinated

2011-05-01T03:18:00.000-07:00

see what i mean; my desk is just full of random pictures of heads, stacks beyond stacks of pictures of heads...i'll get it sorted. here's a self portrait- i'm getting married in just over 7 weeks, it's no wonder i've aquired some big ol' bags under the my eyes, and my face is starting to resemble gordan ramsey's- creased as fuck. so excited though, our tickets to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter are booked, life is complete!! xo

some girl

2011-05-01T03:08:00.000-07:00

i seem to draw an endless amount of floating heads, and i do have an idea as to how i'm going to bring them all together, now i just need to find some time to do it all. this picture was brought to you by lack of sleep and Being N-Dubs USA repeats xo

DEAN BEATTIE

2011-04-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

www.deanbeattie.com

this (above) is a self portrait

my old friend Dean has updated his website, and it seriously looks amazing. he documents society and it's down fall (the jeremy kyle types, the dead eyed rats on their daily commute to the race, zombies), as well as him and his types (nerds) in their environments, with such attention to detail that i feel lazy when i look at my pictures in comparison. nah, i'm joking, i fucking rule..

seriously, his style of drawing is so recognisable and so good (which is a combination that you don't necessarily have to have to get anywhere by the looks of alot of artists these days) that i can see him blowing up any time now. and when he does, i'll be there to drop his name into every conversation.

the man loves comics, and i love him. check out the website straight away xo

artist proof doodle scandal

2011-04-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

i have a bunch of Artist Proofs from my first screenprint, Something Female, and i thought i might have a go at customising it. i had a couple of poems that i didn't want to go to waste as well so i thought i'd chuck them in. the "love's young nightmare..." one was specifically written for the girl when i first drew her, the other one is equally miserable and love worn, so i thought i'd whack them both on. the rest is doodles: i'm appreciating the importance of enjoying illustration alot more lately (after recieving PULLED, the third book compiled by nyc artist Mike Perry, in the post_book review soon to follow) and what's more fun than doodling?! nothing

one day when i'm rich and famous, will i have have just chucked away a potentially expensive Artist Proof? or did i just make it more valuable? who knows? who will ever find out? not me xo

back to the dogs

2011-04-20T04:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=cef9d1b442131071e62ea590dc5e5dbb01e834b67bf37f48a601da0f25e869f4

all done!

2011-04-16T13:54:00.001-07:00

here you go, i finished it this morning. i thought, after spending days on the detail of the grass, that i'd go the opposite way and complete it with very-child-like line drawings of bikes and other shit kids tend to leave around on their front lawns. she's isolated by the stress of having her life dictated to her by all these kids, and all this mess, and having no man to be there for her. shouldn't have been so loose then i suppose, but such is the modern world ai?
the woman and the house come out from the canvas about 2mm. now it's done i'm really liking this; i think it's got a nice mix of pretty landscape, the playful doodles, and my actual way of drawing (which i was initially unsure as to how i'd get it across onto canvas).
there was an old lady who lived in a shoe ala graham, hope you like it xo

nursery rhyme progress

2011-04-12T14:25:00.001-07:00

this is how my nursery rhyme is going, i'm doing all the grass blade by blade, which is taking it's sweet time, but it's going well. to know about the fairytale/nursery auction rhyme and all the other artists, including the lovely Clutterers go here- www.entertheclutter.com

rubbish

2011-04-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

i know if my friend Paul reads this he'll slap my wrists for screwing up this picture, but i couldn't help it and i'm sorry. i'm so impatient, if i'm not feeling it; it's a goner, and this one was not meant to be. there's always tomorrow xo

SOMETHING FIERCE

2011-04-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

holy fucking shit! check this out! doper than dope, dark, fun, awe inspiring illustrations by an Australian artist call Eugene Plotnikov. go here- www.eugeneplotnikov.com

just a little doodle like

2011-04-10T04:22:00.000-07:00

2011-04-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

this is an art attack

2011-04-07T03:38:00.000-07:00

here we have some lines.. then 26 photocopies and a splash of colour later... and POW! magic

solid

2011-04-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

this is what i've been up to the last few days for the CLUTTER charity fairy tale auction. the old lady who lived in a poo (poem). it doesn't look like any progress at all since the last picture i showed you of this project, but it is i can assure you.. for these are now solid! and are now mountable for my canvas, which i shall start painting tomorrow. yippee!

www.entertheclutter.com/fairytale-artists check it out

TEN SPEED BICYCLE//LOOSE CANNONS TOUR 2011 POSTER

2011-03-25T18:13:00.000-07:00

weirdzard

2011-03-22T04:37:00.000-07:00

my wedding is in 12 weeks today, and as the turtle head in my arse grows ever more permanent, i just have to remind myself that in 12 weeks and a few days i'll be living all my wildest dreams out in Orlando at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.. so i thought i'd draw a wizard. another result of random shape making that blossomed into an actual thing! that's the fun way to draw!
anyway, back to weddings things and sitting on the toilet, see you soon x

2011-03-18T06:06:00.000-07:00

(thought i'd chuck in a great save for good measure. god, i'm good)

2011-03-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

"AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHHH, I HATE COMPUTERS! I WANT TO GO AND LIVE IN THE WOODS!" i just spent about three hours doing a book review about brazilian street artist Stephan Doitschinoff (aka CALMA), only for my computer to fuck up, and again, and again, and again. so i've given up for today, and give you two of my favourite images by legend Tim Biskup. i'd write more, but my mood's shit, so go to www.timbiskup.com and emerse yourself in brilliantness. love you, bye x

nervous disposition

2011-03-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

nervous disposition / nervous, more, with each decision / with each thought and with each vision / with each situation drawn out in my mind / stability, i long to find / and my brain, i long to leave behind

today i drawed......

2011-03-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

this pattern...
and this pattern...

i'm not sure why or what for, but i'm going to do a few more and decide after that. felt tips are way cool!

dave bowie innit

2011-03-13T17:19:00.000-07:00

alright, sorry about the lack of posts lately, i'm not being lazy i swear, i'm just super busy with wedding stuff. i promise as soon as i'm married i'll do ten posts a day for the rest of my life.
this week was my brother's 30th and with most birthdays the family end up at the local pub/ restaurant known as Chimneys, or Chimney Stacks (the name the tradition adopted because we're so fucking whacky... sometimes spelt Chimney Stax, if we're really going for it). the Jean Genie can't get enough of them carveries.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!!

beachy head done!!

2011-03-05T10:11:00.000-08:00

yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

beachy head

2011-02-27T03:44:00.000-08:00

here's one thing i actually did this week in amoungst all the film watching and snotting. once again, you'll see the finished product soon enough. you can tell from this guy's face that i am an impatient, possibly lazy, settling mother fucker because i messed up the original pattern on his face and just filled it up with scribbles. either that or i'm a genius of improvisation (because i think it looks quite effective). who knows, who cares xo

i wish

2011-02-26T13:51:00.000-08:00

hello! i've been ill the last week so i haven't really done anything other than sitting on the sofa vegetating and feeling sorry for myself. this is a feature on REBEL8 co-owner MIKE GIANT in SWINDLE #29, and what he gets up to everyday. i thought i'd pop this up on here seeing as i regularly re-read it and dream that i can have a similar daily routine. just the thought of being able to do everything at my own speed, on my own terms, every single day is the dream. it's not an outrageous dream either which makes it well worth working towards.

www.rebel8.com www.mikegiant.com www.swindlemagazine.com

here's a few links that you should definately spend the next few hours staring at, while i go back to bed and rest my poorly body. this lazy, half-arsed post was brought to you by man flu.

..now, for all of this

2011-02-19T15:52:00.000-08:00

so i finally got the record picture done after ages, and here is some of the other shit i've got hanging around to finish. who knows how or when (i'm very busy lately preparing to be a husband. i think i mentioned). i don't have time to do all these pictures but i constantly have the itch to draw new things, i wish there were 100 hours in a day xo

i put that needle on just to make a sound......

2011-02-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

i've been wanting to finish this fucker for so long but was arguing with myself as to how i should... and now i have! i love records so this one's for them.
when i was fifteen to about eighteen (and living at home) i'd take my weekly pay every Friday and spend it all on stacks of cds. i wish i'd spent it all on records, my collection would be epic. like, High Fidelity epic.
i have my records next to my desk to act as a constant source of illumination. anyways, i'm stoked on this, hope you are too! xo

There Was An Old Lady Who Lived In A Shoe

2011-02-15T05:22:00.000-08:00

here's what i'm doing at the moment... it's for a charity auction the Clutter gang are arranging where each artist involved has to pick a nursery rhyme or fairy tale to recreate in their own way, and i picked There Was An Old Lady Who Lived In A Shoe. i thought it'd be an interesting one to draw, the image is one we all know and love.... little did i know it happens to be the shittest nursery rhyme ever.......

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread;
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

it doesn't make sense and there is no point to it, although i did have the image of a Jeremy Kyle take on the poem; a young chav beating her 20 kids, living in a giant Reebok Classic (and that's the road i would have gone down had i not already started with the pictures above). as always, i'll keep you posted with the progress. xo

ASSASSYNATION!

2011-02-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

heeeeey! Alice and i went to the Cotswolds this weekend to have our engagement shoot, it was the most fun! it was a chance to get to know, and feel comfortable around, our photographer Sarah (Sassy) Lafford. the trip definately forfilled it's purpose because we had the best time, made a solid mate in Sassy and the photos are amazing! these few are just a sneak peek, if you'd like to see the whole lot keep your eyes on www.assassynation.com because i'm sure they'll be up there soon. also check out Alice's new blog (there's a few more there) for more girly weddingy things: www.diydarlings.wordpress.com. i need to go and drink beer and watch football now, manly things, for i am a man

CLUTTER!

2011-02-13T17:28:00.000-08:00

hey! check out www.entertheclutter.com and enlist yourself in the Clutter fan club.
Clutter is a four person Brighton-based art collective consisting of Penny Macleod, Daniel Gruitt, Edward Bentley and Amy Strike, who are dedicated to promoting new and upcoming local artists (including myself).
Every Saturday at the famous ‘Upper Gardener Street Market’ situated in the heart of the North Laines, the guys and girls run a vibrant, well established stall selling their featured artists' work, and the rest of the week they are working non-stop at the JAG Open Studios on the seafront.
the Clutter team have such a generous grasp of the DIY ethic and ferocious work rate, it's inspiring to witness, and i can't wait for the summer when floods and floods of people visiting the seaside will see for themselves.

POINTLESS RHINO!

2011-02-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

i spent a lovely, rainy sunday afternoon drawing with my brother Paul Lewis today, and thought i'd let you know that his wonderful website www.pointlessrhino.com has just been bombarded with updates, including his weekly drawings for two columns in Latest 7 magazine. all of it's very awesome and reminds me very much of ye olde Cartoon Network classic style of drawing.
paul paul i love paul.
paul paul i love paul.

all done!

2011-02-07T05:18:00.000-08:00

here we go, all done at last. my homage to the greatest dive in the world. reminds me of Edward Gorey in a way; much less detailed or linear, but very much the same dark and ominous air. i just found out Gorey's middle name was St John, and here i am with regular old John... i'm getting St put in!
anyone who visited 22 Artillery Gardens back in the day, i hope you all enjoy this. and would you believe it... she still stands! (below) here we are, together again, when i went back to Canterbury last month. god bless that mess

home was where the heart was

2011-02-06T17:54:00.000-08:00

i whipped this puppy up quite quickly and i quite love it. i'm definately going to try and throw more photography into the mix from now on; i think the contrast in detail and depth between the photo and the drawing always looks rad. the top photo is the view from my front door (lovely, tall regency buildings), the bottom photo is one we took this summer in Paris of the Blackpool tower (god, i'm hilarious).
it's fucked up how you can spend weeks on one picture and only kind of like it, then spend a couple of hours on another and absolutely fall for it.
sorry for the quality of this photo, i'll do something about it when i'm not so tired. night x

WOLFWIND @ lmnop

2011-02-06T03:28:00.000-08:00

friday night i went to see my old college friend Rob Jones and his other half Phillip Hawkey, better known as the WOLFWIND collective for the private view of their installation (the window display in the image above) at LMNOP. the installation, along with the new 'zine and postcards fitted in perfectly amoungst the handmade emporium that is LMNOP; the loveliest little shop that is absolutely over flowing with all things d.i.y. and happens to be two minutes from my house! www.lmnopshop.com is the website, definately have a look, it's rammed with hand made bits and bobs, and definately left me walking home feeling very inspired.

my mate Rob (above) and Phil live here www.wolfwind.co.uk so give them a visit, but get to LMNOP first and check them out in the flesh, their installation is there all February. 17 Montpelier Place,
Brighton, BN1 3BF is where it's at.

book review #3

2011-02-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

www.streetsketchbook.com

hey! this is a book any aspiring artist should get,to look at everyday, because it is amazing. it's a personal look into the sketchbooks, the thought process or the idle doodling, of over 60 contempary artists worldwide. every single page is filled with things to look at. from the sketchbook to the finished product, whether the artist is an illustrator, a grafitti artist, painter, graphic designer...and so on.

45rpm- www.thebearded45.co.uk

Ericailcane- www.ericailcane.org

i love looking at people's sketchbooks, it tells me alot about the artist, and it's always interesting to see what ideas they take forward and which ones they never use (because it's always the ones they never use that i seem to like the most). i, myself, don't have a sketchbook, i generally go straight on to paper without pre-planning anything. i do have a book to write poems in, but that's maybe the only thing i'll ever have in mind before i start drawing. whenever i have had sketchbooks and done initial drawings and worked off them, the final outcome never looked as natural as the first sketch, never flowed quite as much as i'd like. so i don't use them anymore. i do keep everything, just not in sketchbook form.

Turfone-www.turfizm.com

Richt-news.richt-what.co.uk

Hello Monsters- www.flickr.com/photos/99655906@N00/3084815920

Dem- www.flickr.com/photos/dem666

as you can see (from these few examples) there is massive mixture of artists and styles, from very simple line drawings to some of the most intricate shit you've seen. it's important to own books like this because sometimes your head can get mixed up and paranoid about the way you draw, it happens to everyone. should i be drawing with more detail? on a broader scale? should i strip it down to the simplest form? blah blah blah blah but your head can fuck you up, that's why flicking through this book for a few minutes everyday can remind you that nothing matters if you enjoy what you're doing. fuck what you think people might like, fuck what anyone else is doing, just draw and draw and never stop. xo

moments wasted

2011-01-30T17:15:00.000-08:00

the biggest example of a moment blown in my life. april 6th 2006 The Evens, a two piece band made up of hardcore and straight edge godfather Ian Mackaye and his wife, played in the canteen of KIAD in Canterbury. Ian Mackaye in Canterbury. Ian Mackaye; the man who changed my fucking life, in Canterbury! i was in the art uni canteen, sat cross-legged dunking biscuits in coffee, two metres away from the Minor Threat and Fugazi legend, in complete disbelief. i didn't know The Evens music, still don't, i was too busy pinching myself to listen to the music. it was like dreams coming true (apart from there was no Filler or Seeing Red....the list goes on). as the set came to an end i saw some kids filtering up to Mackaye with MT records to sign and cameras for photos and i thought to myself "i bet autographs are something Ian Mackaye doesn't really dig, i bet he has certain views on autographs. yeah, those kids suck" and as more kids surrounded him with their records i started to get nervous; i knew i was going to approach him with kind words that'd leave him feeling humbled and we'd have shared this brilliant moment and it would have been a real moment in my life.
but being the useless, bumbling idiot that i am; i, of course, ruined it.

i put my arm over THE Ian Mackaye's shoulders and said "i fucking love you, mate".

then i turned bright red, and left. i wonder if Ian remembers our moment. not fucking likely.

jack taylor

2011-01-29T09:57:00.000-08:00

www.drawnbyjacktaylor.tumblr.com is my friend Jack's blog. i am suing him for the use of the word drawn in his blog title, and for the use of year date on his latest zine 1987 (which, obviously isn't 1985, but it is dangerously close), but i also urge everybody to check his work out. i am enjoying it very much, you will too xo

me in my pants

2011-01-28T03:31:00.000-08:00

hey hey hey! here's how my homage to 22 Artillery Gardens is looking thus far. not long now; just finishing the shading today, then pop in the words and frame the fucker. can't wait to see how it turns out.

book review #2

2011-01-22T12:25:00.000-08:00

hey! i picked up this little beaut when me and Demo Dan went to Hamburg in 2009. by the state of the buildings in Hamburg, which are plastered from top to bottom in the best graffiti you've ever seen, you'd think the city had been taken over by kids. it stinks of creativity. the place was so covered in street art that i went into a spray paint shop and had to ask if it was actually legal to do it. "DON'T BE STUPID!!!!" was the reply i got haha, but you couldn't blame me for asking. i mean, at one point i was openingly just drawing on the floor of the venue we were in, and no one gave a shit. it was heaven.
Anyway, while we were wondering around in awe of the insanity, we stumbled across the WOOLWILL gallery (www.woolwill.com). Dave the Chimp had an exhibition on, and thats when i first heard of him; was instantly blown away and instantly bought this book, and one of his pieces.

his images are very bold, very basic, but at the same time, very clever. all the street art i saw of his, around hamburg, brilliantly interacted with it's surroundings. look at the two images above; absolutely awesome. the top one, especially, is one of my favourites; it has the tasty combination of cuteness and cheekiness, and the lack of outline is something i definately want to start have a pop at.

he also experiments with street art in ways i've never seen; the image above is of his The Chapel of Saint Martin project; micro chapels made from cardboard boxes, with screen-printed interiors, made for homeless people and street drunks as a place for rest and contemplation.

his Street Sleepers (below) are too cool.

these Human Beins were the subject of the exhibition we saw; they spilled out of the gallery, all over Hamburg, and were on sale in the gallery too. so simple but so very brilliant. i got one, pretty fucking sweet!
buy this book, it's only little so it's not going to break the bank, and there's a shit load more stuff that i haven't even said about, like his projects with Vans and his links to skateboarding. also, check out www.davethechimp.co.uk to see more images and read interviews.

also, go to Hamburg.

so many houses

2011-01-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

i've spent the last few days cutting all these up. over and over.....

and now i'm racking my brains trying to arrange the houses.....

and tomorrow i'll carry on trying to do so, then i'll stick them, then i'll write the poem, whack that in, then i'll put the frame back together.....

then it'll sit in my flat forever, collecting dust.

done!

2011-01-19T03:15:00.000-08:00

yes! i know the second photo's a shitter but i wanted you to all appreciate how long it took my to colour in the letters. note: get a new camera xo

book report #1

2011-01-19T02:08:00.000-08:00

hey! this is a new thing i'm going to do every now and then, a little insight into what art, artists and books give me inspiration everyday. i thought i'd open with Hand Job- A Catalog of Type by Brooklyn-based designer Michael Perry, as it focuses on hand-drawn fonts which is right up my street. the book showcases 55 graphic designers, led by Perry, doing their own unique and personal spin on typography. it's a brilliant scrapbook filled with alphabets, flyers, record sleeves, random bits of paper with words on, and even the odd studio picture, which i always want to see. i want to see the artist's working space and creative process almost as much as i want to see the final product, and Hand Job definately has enough of this to get my juices flowing.

ADRIAN JOHNSON's Slap Your Friends, 2005 and Olaf, 2005.

DAMIEN CORRELL's Hugs For You, 2005.

PAUL CLARK (no relation) alphabet

each chapter begins with a letter from the alphabet below and a little blurb about each artist featured in that chapter. as you see, there's a brilliant mix of artists and a wide range of techniques that are all very do-able. no matter how mind-blowing some art can be, it can also feel very out of reach (due to costs or location or time) and this can sometimes peel away at an artist's confidence. this book is an inspiration for me personally as most of it's pen/pencil on paper, and proves that successful art doesn't have to break the bank or involve chopping a giraffe up or anything on that scale. in fact, since buying this book four years ago, i don't think i've had a creative block.

A.J.PURDY and LUKE RANSEY's typeface

go to, and spend hours at www.mikeperrystudio.com

songs about houses

2011-01-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

hey! here's what i'm up to at the moment, i'm going to finish the colour in the writing tomorrow (it's a painful process so i'm taking a break). this is pretty self-explanatory, it's about all the things that piss me off on a daily basis
and here at the bottom is another picture i'm doing this week. houses and houses and houses, which'll end up in a big, weathered looking, frame. in amoungst all the houses is one really haggard, shitty, gothic looking house; the subject of the poem i've written for the picture.
it's about a house my brother and sister-in-law used to live in when they were students, the walls were literally coming away from the floors, it was a death trap. the most glorious death trap in the whole world. see you tomorrow xo

i am the vessel, the rocks and the sea

2011-01-11T02:34:00.000-08:00

i'm drawing with every spare second i have at the moment, if only to keep up with all these young people who are full of piss and ink. did this during a 13 hour shift i did yesterday. i'm getting more tired and more sick of everything that i'm starting to look like one of my drawings. i love this one, seeing as it was improvised, i definately love it. i do have a thing for drawing beardy old men, maybe something happened to me when i was little, maybe they're reflections of my future-self, i don't know, i just don't know xo