I’ve been seriously neglecting my blog, with so much posting to catch up on…
To round out my previous couple of posts, a few weeks back I finally got my 2nd 100 Figures Project done and dusted, scanned and online. All drawings are for sale ranging between $10-20, with a flat rate of $5 postage within Australia or $10 internationally – OR FREE for purchases of 3 or more (and extra random things thrown in).
NOTE that I did a terrible job scanning, due to the size of the paper and trying to get them scanned as quickly as possible.
I have finalised all the details now for May 7th-10th! See below info:
Hey Friends! I’m throwing myself into a 2nd round of the “100 Figures Project”!
WHAT IT IS: Over 4 days, I draw 100 characters. At the end of the project I scan them all to post online and all originals (normally) go up for sale. This time I’m putting a twist into the concept, and opening up the project to commissions. You can get yourself a custom one off hand drawn character as part of the 100, by giving me some keywords/sentences/direction as to what you would like drawn! I will draw ANYTHING YOU LIKE, as long as you’re cool for me to put my own spin on it in the chaos of the project.
Last time a lot of people bought them as gifts – so maybe you’d like a weirded up drawing of Michael Buble or Susan Boyle to give your Mum for Mother’s day? Or something other than the usual alcohol or chocs for your mates birthday coming up? A pair of hairy boobs to hang on your wall, perhaps?
Anyone who buys 3 or more, I’ll throw in whatever surprise goodies I can scrounge up that will fit in a mailing tube.
See the result of my first 100 Figures Project here, but note I’m upping the ante this time and pushing myself to DRAW BETTER.
The 100 Figures Project is based on the project outlined here.
DETAILS: 150gsm watercolour paper, 27.5cm x 37.5cm (11” x 15”)
FINE PRINT: I retain copyright of the artwork produced, so they can’t be used for commercial purposes.
CONTACT: Any questions or comments please drop me a line at: brendan@brendan-ninness.com
This time I’m putting a twist into the concept, and opening up the project to commissions. That is, for $20 you can get yourself a custom one off hand drawn picture as part of the 100, giving me some keywords/sentence/direction as to what you would like drawn! I will draw ANYTHING YOU LIKE, so long as you don’t mind me running with it and putting my own spin on it in the chaos of the project.
I’m upping the quality of the pieces this time, with nice watercolour paper for all 100 pieces. The size is slightly smaller (halfway between A4 and A3), but means I’ve got the nicer / sturdier paper to work with.
WHAT IT IS: Over 4 days, I draw 100 characters by hand. At the end of the project I scan them all and all originals go up for sale. Those who have commissioned pieces get the originals mailed to them!
Postage for pieces is $5 anywhere in the world OR if you commission or buy 2 or more, postage is FREE. If anyone buys a bunch I’ll throw in whatever I can scrounge up.
Just over a week ago I was approached by Brad from Revert Entertainment, management for local epic virtuoso post-everything proggers Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving, to do a gig poster for their first show of 2010. I was really super super busy this week but I really dig what the band does and on the agreement of having creative freedom how could I turn it down .
NOTE: You can download TTOL’s releases for free here and here.
The band had an image of an astronaut fighting an octopus in space, and gave me free reign to reinterpret that, and so this is what I’ve ended up with!:
And here’s the process:
This is an alternate colouring (pink instead of red) – I really liked it colour-wise as well as the idea of all the bodily fluids being smooshed into a pinkish goop, rather than just blood.. client didn’t like the pink so brought back in the red:
Potentially long moaning post put short: I’ve decided to try my absolute best to get totally focused on and dedicated to illustration in the next 6 months. That is, actively pursuing one thing as opposed to trying to be a jack of all trades and master of none.
While working today (graphic designing), I listened to this 3 minute TED video by Richard St John at least 10-15 times over. Such an inspiring jam packed 3 minutes. Essential viewing if you feel you need a kick up the butt!
Heartless Robot are a rad little record label from here in Perth. They’ve released a bunch of the more experimental and interesting projects from around here. When Scott from HRP approached me about designing a new logo for them, I was totally stoked (especially recalling the Bassta Pex / Gutter Guitar split 12″ limited to 100 copies, which each had original artwork by different participating artists. 100 x 1 off vinyls. For whatever reason I didn’t have time to try get involved, but yeah, such a cool idea.
From the beginning of the project I wanted to document the process as much as possible for the purpose of sharing it here.. and so here goes. As comprehensive a process recap as I could scramble together, minus a few stages in between.
The original Heartless Robot logo:
Final redesigned logo:
I like to gather a buttload of visual research most of the time. I tried to gather as mixed a selection of robot references as I could, and then culled that selection down to designs I liked. Below are 2 of the collaged pages (had weeded down to about 5 pages of robot refs). I had also originally been excited at the prospect of possibly taking some inspiration / paying homage to Boris Artsybashef. Unfortunately wasn’t really appropriate though. Style-wise, I wanted to try and avoid robot cliches as much as I could, and wanted to draw influence from some of the darker disney characters and great cartoon villains, Camille Rose Garcias dark and sweet character designs, and of course Japanese influence – aside from my own influence, Heartless Robot have a bit of a relationship with Japan (bands touring, releases, frequent visitors, etc.), so was more than appropriate.
Below, the first few rather embarrassing sketches, but can’t skimp on the bits I don’t want to show. Not having much success with my initial doodles, I moved onto experimenting with block shapes and how they affect the character. The bodies mostly inspired by Ashley Wood, the master of bad arse bots. The feedback from Scott along the way being that they were after more of a “City Destroyer” as opposed to “C3PO”. The face design was probably my favourite part of the whole process. The dial-eyes my favourite detail.
Final Logo above, and the type I created for the logo below.
Some fun in between jobs.. same as “Spacer”, an idea I’d had in my head for ages, finally put to paper in my 100 Figures Project and since had wanted to paint it up.
Inspired by some brilliant-for-the-wrong-reasons editing on an episode of “Extreme Makeover”, or some such show.
SUMMER is still on for just under a week @ Little Creatures Freo – wraps up Feb 1st.
Thanks to all who made in down to the launch in December, pre Xmas and all . Below are the pieces Otilee and I collaborated on, followed by some shots from the night. Was a great lineup of artists and their pieces, met a bunch of awesome people, drank some top beer.
Apologies to Jessica Singh, as it doesn’t appear I have a photo of her pieces, but go check out her work here http://www.jessicasingh.com Jessica also has her solo show on the opposite wall, which I presume runs until Feb 1 as well. Rad feminine indie styled illustrations.
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