Moving on...

I think I've found something else that better suits my needs for a (collaborative) blogging experience.
For now, this will be my last post here.
If you have any bookmarks saved that link to here, please can you redirect it to my Tumblr blog.

Thanks for looking and following. Hopefully see you on the other channel. TTFN

Empire of the Binary Sun

Empire of the Binary Sun

My first version Star Wars mash-up of ‘Empire of the Sun’.
I’ll be doing further work on this one to turn it into a printable t-shirt (I hope).

Joke of the day

Via a friend on Facebook:

I said to my mate, "I just watched that film about the Nazis.

"He said, "Oh what, the one with Adolf in?"

I said, "No mate, you're thinking of 'Flipper', this was just about the Nazis.

Somewhere, Over the Programs ♪♫

'Race the Rainbow' by Eozen

Sci-fi, and colour theory. What a wonderful mix.

Self-certified toyhead, graphic designer, dabbling photog, erstwhile entrepreneur, devourer of all media, Eozen's designs range from geeky to nerdy to not-so-geeky or nerdy.

You can see more of Eozen's designs on RedBubble and The Secret Life of Plastic on Tumblr.

['Race the Rainbow' © Eozen]

Phew... what a weekend!

Saturday morning kicked off with a message from a friend about some activity on my 'Doctor Pooh' design that I had posted up to Shirtoid [Web, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook].
Shirtoid had decided my design was good enough not only to put up on their webpage, but to also blog on Tumblr... and that's where it all started. I have received so many messages and compliments about the design, it's really taken me by surprise.
So, I would like to say a massive ...

Prepare for Equestrian PWN'age

Clever design by Cassandrart who spent a fair amount of the day looking at customised ponies and had to do something about it.

I think it's time well spent. Certainly paid off.

This pun has been around since forever and I took advantage of it :B

'My Little Pwny' by Cassandrart

Design is at Qwertee waiting for your votes

['My Little Pwny' © Cassandrart]

'R2D-WHO & CYB3R-PO' by Captain RibMan

I've seen a few of Captain RibMan's designs dotted around, and must say that I have coveted most of them, but this one is just...well, spectacular.

Currently available on RedBubble, but has been submitted to 'somewhere' for pickup.

R2D-WHO & CYB3R-PO

I'm completely blown away by this one, and will be avidly awaiting its arrival in screen-printed format.
Well done Captain Ribman Sir!

['R2D-WHO & CYB3R-PO' © Captain RibMan]

The Daily Mail has a Sense of Humour?

I don't normally read the Daily Mail (link was sent to me by a colleague - honest!), but apparently so, judging by this article. So, next time you're out on the weekly shop, keep your eye out. Apparently, it's all down to Facebook users.

I can't bay-leaf it: Supermarket spice game peppering shelves with rude words

Quote of the Year (so far) 2011

My quote of the year so far is from Professor Brian Cox on Twitter:

So, in short, anyone who thinks the #supermoon will actually do anything to Earth tonight is ..... A NOBBER :-)

Thanks Prof. That made me giggle.

"What are we going to do tonight Brain?"

Personally, I wish my brain could come up with a better title for this post. But it can't; and that's because it's currently engaged in loving this design by Zort70 on Qwertee.

I can't tell you much else about this designer, but if they keep producing designs like this one, I'll keep voting for them.

'World Domination Tour' by Zort70

You can vote for this design on Qwertee.

['World Domination Tour' © Zort70]

Another Journey by Train

So, I think it's about time I started putting some of my own 'real' artwork up now.
I've been having great fun with this blog, and hope you are enjoying what I have posted so far.

Here is the painting that triggered all of this (I suppose Facebook is to blame really, but that's another story - for later).

This is a commission that I produced for Sarah Walters; portraits of her and her husband.
The two larger panels are a little over 1 meter square, the other is about 40cm x 1 meter.
I'm happy to say that after a 17-year break, and a little time to knock off some of the rust, that I am very please about how this turned out.

So, without further delay, I present...

'Another Journey by Train'

Designer: ScottiRobinson

The Multi-talented ("Designer, Skateboarder, Scribbler, Inker. Not all at once though.") ScottiRobinson caught my eye on Qwertee this morning with the following Robo-Cop inspired design...

'Ed Who?' by ScottiRobinson

... but I think you should REALLY have a look through the rest of his portfolio of t-shirt designs.

You can vote for this design on Qwertee

['Ed Who?' image © ScottiRobinson]

Starbuck's

No, I've gone gone mad and started adding apostrophes where they're not required. This is the title of my new t-shirt design.

Starbuck (original BSG) is a Viper starfighter pilot, gambler, womanizer and smoker of "fumerellos" or cigars. He'd probably have loved his own casino.

-------------------------------------------

Starbuck (new BSG) is a Viper starfighter pilot, gambler, maneater and smoker of "fumerellos" or cigars. She'd probably have loved her own casino.

STARBUCK'S

Qwertee: Vote
RedBubble: View
DeviantArt: On a mug

Book: Separately together for now, then and forever...

'Separately together for now, then and forever...' is a collection of  three-dimensional slides produced over the past couple of years by Matty Stuart; "an extension of work that began many moons ago".

It is a medium that continues to demand Matty's attention.

Some of the images contain recognisable elements, but are mostly abstract; bright, haunting, organic, sticky, viscous, whirling shapes; reminiscent of satellite photography, weird and wonderful microscopic life or silicon structures, 60s and 70s psychedelic lava-lamps and oil projections. Completely fascinating.

This is a limited edition first draft of a larger book that he aims to have completed in the early part of 2011.
The book is available at Blurb, from £15.95 (softcover version). An on-line full preview of the book is also available on the site.

['Separately together for now, then and forever...' image © Matty Stuart]

'Audrey Hepburn' by Chris Cox

Popular poster images of classic actors and actresses are two-a-penny these days, with the ease of which they can be downloaded and reproduced from the Internet, so it takes something quite special in this regard to stand out from the crowd.

This painting is one of those. Chris Cox has rendered a classic Audrey Hepburn pose with an airbrush, giving it a beautiful soft-focus effect.

Audrey Hepburn (Acrylic/Airbrush portrait 30×20cm) by Chris Cox

Chris is a self taught artist that has always loved painting and drawing and has been doing so all his life.
He likes to try anything in art and loves learning new techniques and trying new mediums. Chris mainly specialises in portraits of people and animals.
Commissions to draw portraits from photographic references are requested many times now and he enjoys the pleasure that it gives to people when they see their portrait of a beloved pet, children or of themselves.

To see more of Chris' work, please visit his website or his portfolio on RedBubble

Prints of Chris' work can be purchased from RedBubble

['Audrey Hepburn' image © Chris Cox]

Thank-you Vincent...

Vincent Van Gogh produced approximately 900 paintings in three years; was highly emotional and lacked self-confidence.

He obviously listened to his own advice:

If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.

- Vincent Van Gogh

Truly inspirational.

Wanna see my etchings?

Morning.

If you haven't already noticed, I have added a 'Gallery' tab to this blog.
There's not a huge amount in there at the moment, but feel free to have a look. Please let me know what you think in the comments. All feedback (good or bad) is greatly appreciated.

I'll be writing more about these paintings soon, and hopefully, posting up some new articles of work in progress. Watch this (web)space.

Hike 'n' Chully to the rescue!

Bleee (Billy Allison) describes himself as "a 'slightly' skint animator living and working in Wakefield, Yorkshire UK (for now)". He has many great designs on his Qwertee page, but I love this one.

'Hike and Chully' by Blee (Billy Allinson)

Here's Hike and Chully... they'll do anything for money... no wait, that's the other guys, these guys will do anything for laughs (and bottle them up)!
Surfing the web as you do, I saw an image of Han 'n' Chewie in almost the same pose as Mike 'n' Sully... I just had to draw it and here it is!

I'd love to see this one printed, so click here to vote (registration required).

['Hike and Chully' image © Blee/Billy Allison]

Useful Blogspot Links

This post will be updated as-and-when I find new resources that help bloggers (using blogger/blogspot) to fix and tweak their blog.
Of course, I'd welcome any input - links and resources that you've used that you feel would also be useful to others.

---

I had some posts that were pretty long and preventing the homepage from downloading quickly. I'd seen other blogs with a 'More...' link and wanted to do that myself. A little searching and a couple of 'OK, but not quite' updates later, came accross this 'officially supported' version.
Link: Read More is Official Now and "Static Pages" Are In The Pipeline !!! - bloggerstop.net

"Don't rush me. I think you'll find it's worth waiting for."

"So's Christmas but you won't find me stuffing your turkey!"

This may not be a new design, but it caught my eye this morning and made me giggle.
A clever, reversed, take on the 'KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON' designs that are extremely prevalent at the moment (guilty).

Sid James and Carry On. Shirley Bindun?

Prolific [nay, obsessed - his words, not mine] t-shirt artist robotrobotROBOT has this one for sale on RedBubble for the bargain price of £15.12.

See more of robotrobotROBOT: RedBubble | Twitter

['Sid James and Carry On' image © Paul Harckham/ROBOTrobotrobot]

Look what arrived in the post today...

Deus Ex (Mystery) Machina

Yes, OK it's one of my own designs, but I had to test the RedBubble service and quality - didn't I? I get another t-shirt out of it too! BONUS! ;)

Anyway, RedBubble review coming soon.

ALSO... If you want a cheaper version of this t-shirt, head over to Qwertee(, register) and VOTE.

Blogger Buzz: What’s New With Blogger

Even as a new blogger, I'm looking forward to these updates.

Blogger Buzz: What’s New With Blogger: "Posted by Chang Kim, Product Manager.

Review: Qwertee.com

Qwertee.com is another 'one-day t-shirt' site, but this time, based in Ireland. However, unlike its peers, Qwertee.com provide 'one-day t-shirts' that are chosen by peers and fans, based on a simple voting systems of one account, one vote.

Of course, like any other voting system, the voting system is open to abuse in the form of people setting up multiple accounts, but in my opinion, it's a better and fairer system; one that doesn't just let the designers post their submissions and then leave them to stew, with no feedback whatsoever.

Steampunk Alice

This is a design by Karen Hallion (KHallion) that I saw on Qwertee and thought I should share with you all.

Steampunk Alice

Karen's Bio

Karen grew up in Nahant, Massachusetts, She began pursuing art as a student at Swampscott High School, and after graduating in 1991, she spent two years studying liberal arts at the University of Vermont, before attending Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. She graduated from Ringling in 1997 with a B.F.A. in Illustration.

Karen worked as an elementary school art teacher in Swampscott from 2003-2009. She also taught art at the Hathaway School in Swampscott, and continues to give private art lessons, and is enrolled in a Masters in Art Education program at Salem State College.

Karen's work has always centred around a general theme of fantasy, with a specific focus on mermaids. She is heavily influenced by the Art Nouveau movement, and Alphonse Mucha, as well as Audrey Kawasaki and Stephanie Pui-Man. Her work has been shown at the Off the Wall gallery in Newburyport, as well as the Gulu Gulu Café in Salem.

Qwertee: Vote
For updates on shows and new work, see her Facebook Fan Page. Karen also sells her work via Etsy.

['Steampunk Alice' image and Bio © Karen Hallion]

CUBA

Another 'just for fun' idea that had been ratting around the confines of the old-grey matter for a while.

CUBA

Qwertee: Vote
RedBubble: View

DON'T PANIC

Yes, OK, it's another one of those 'KEEP CALM' style t-shirts. This one is based on the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

DON'T PANIC

Qwertee: Vote
RedBubble: View

Doctor Pooh

One for the A.A. Milne loving Whovians out there... cClassic children's literature meets family oriented sci-fi.

I personally love this one.

Doctor Pooh

Qwertee: Vote
RedBubble: View

Wargames

WAR! Huh, yeah…

What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing!

Say it again, y’all… ♪♫

This one is just a bit of fun. Can't really say how it came about, just one of those ideas that transferred well to pixels.

Wargames

Qwertee: Vote
RedBubble: View

Deus Ex (Mystery) Machina

This idea had been in my head for a long time, so I finally transferred it from thought alone, to pixels.

Latin for "god out of the machine", deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new character, ability, or object. How could Scooby and the Gang get along without it?

Deus Ex (Mystery) Machina

Qwertee: Vote
RedBubble: View

Roll up ♪♫ Roll up for the (Murder) Mystery Tour ♪♫

This concept wasn't 100% my idea and came about while my boss was describing an event he was involved in planning for a friend.

It was actually a colleague that married up the anniversary of John Lennon's murder with my boss's Murder Mystery night event, and uttered "Murder Mystery Tour" in my direction.

Murder Mystery Tour

Qwertee: Vote
RedBubble: View

There is another version of this t-shirt, which has all the stars from the Magical Mystery Tour cover included (all drawn by hand).

RedBubble: View

Peppa Stig

This is the concept that kicked all of this off for me.

This idea came about while my youngest daughter was happily watching her Peppa Pig DVD, and my son wanted to watch some Top Gear; I said that it was such a shame that Peppa couldn’t drive the ‘reasonably priced car’ around the track… hence Peppa Stig was born.

Peppa Stig

Qwertee: Vote
RedBubble: View

The Return of the Rambler

As I said, in my first post, the main reason for me creating this 'blog' is to display my t-shirt designs.

The next posts are showing the designs I've completed, and have felt happy enough with to submit to places like Qwertee and TeeFury.

While TeeFury seems to be a 'submit only' process, Qwertee is a site that allows the Internet users to choose what they [Qwertee] print next. This means VOTES. The thing with votes though, as I'm sure you're aware from the political world , is that they are open to abuse. This will be one of the reasons that Qwertee requires registration to be able to vote on your favourite designs. So... can I humbly ask, if you're not already registered, please do. This is the only way for the designs to receive the attention of Qwertee. It's a nice and simple process, and takes less time than it does to read my ramblings [here's a link to the Qwertee registration page to make this even simpler ;)].

Right. On with the show...

Plethora, popart, choons, tshirts and Flumph

Thought I'd start this journey with a few of my favourite things... Only few mind, and very loosely grouped.

I can imagine people sitting, reading this, looking at the title and thinking, "WTF is Flumph?". Well, I'll leave that to you to comment on [ooh, get me, seeking audience participation! My old Marketing Manager would be proud].

Actually, when I say "I can imagine people sitting, reading this...", I can't. I can't see why anyone else would be interested in this, but hey, I'm hitting the whole 'social' thing square on and shoving myself out there for people to point at.

Anyway, my favourite things...

'Plethora'. A word. A noun. /'pleTHərə/. I just love the sound of this word. It conjures up lovely shapes in my head. No idea why, just does. It feels so rounded and smooth. It's nothing to do with excess either, and I'm not overly into bodily fluids, especially blood (not that I'm squeamish); I just love the sound of the word.

Popart. Yes, just saying 'popart' doesn't really give much away, so I'll elaborate.
Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Hamilton, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Jackson Pollock - all well known - and in my humble opinion, deservedly so. I like what Popart evokes. The fact that even the most mundane of items can be transformed into (a work of) art; simple movement and the flow of paint from a brush that is handed to gravity to place, rather than forcibly applying it to a canvas; DOTS and BLOCKS of colour... Benday dots to be precise... To some, overly simplistic... to me, a return to the comic book days of my childhood, and the later structured lessons on colour theory. I learned a lot from those simple dots.

'Choons'. I love music. Unfortunately, I'm not creative enough to make music of my own, but listening to it is something I do almost every day - at home, at work, falling to sleep (after setting the iPod to turn off after 1 hour). Genres? Well, I like all sorts, but mainly indie, rock, alternative.
Love lots of classical, especially in the car, where the radio is pre-set to Classic.fm.
I can say though that I cannot abide R&B. Let's get this straight - I don't mean R'n'B (of the 40s onward), I mean the current dirge of talentless, auto-tuned, karaoke artists that are presently flooding the airwaves.
Artist wise... I couldn't possibly list them all, so a Last.fm link would be easier. A few of my top bands/artists though are (in no particular order): Morrissey, The Smiths, The Wonder Stuff.
Yes, my formative years were spent in the 90s, during the indie explosion, the 'Madchester' era.
Manchester... So much to answer for? You're damn right :D

T-shirts. I have lots. I want lots more. So, I started creating designs for them.
This fact is probably the main reason for me creating this 'blog'. I wanted a centralised place to show and link to my designs.
There are bound to be some crap designs, but hopefully they'll be kept to a minimum.

There's not really much more I can say about t-shirts, apart from, I hope you like my designs.

So, that's my 'favourite things', so, what else can you expect from this? Honestly, I don't know.
I'll post up artwork, works in progress, doodles (that I deem worthy). Links to other people's artwork that I like. There are more than likely going to be more ramblings (if you've read this far, congratulations; I can't quite believe I've written this much myself). And, that's about all I can think of right now.

So, I'll round off this (quite mammoth) first post and just say, thank you for your time so far. I hope to be entertaining, but won't promise anything, and y'all come back now.

TTFN.. Rob

[P.S. Let me know your thoughts on 'Flumph'. The first correct answer wins a t-shirt bearing one of my designs (your choice).]