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