A couple of weekends ago I met up with my mate Richard who I haven’t seen in years and found out he runs his own production company in Wales. Just like us he started of with nothing but a little grit and determination and as a result his documentarys have won various awards.
I thought it would be cool to share with you guys what he and his mates have been up too and hopefully spread the word a little bit more:
If you interested in seeing more or want to get in contact with them then please check out their website at www.onparproductions.co.uk.
A few artists at Frith Street Tattoo, including Valerie and Stewart, will be doing tattoos in honour of mothers all around the world, so if you fancy an original ‘Mum’ tattoo get yourself down there asap.
Also they’re auctioning off the original flash sheets produced for that day and the earnings will go to a charity of their choice.
For Valerie’s auction please see here, it’s already £200!
For Stewart’s see here.
Mother’s Day is on the 3rd April by the way!
I stumbled across Solongo Mellecker while perusing the internet and found her work quite refreshing and different to what I’d normally be into. Her influences are drawn from traditional Mongolian and Tibetan painting styles and mixed with Western influences make her work quite unique.
You can buy some of her prints for only $40 here!
So Johnny’s opening a store in London.
Lawrence and I will be at the opening, if your going come say hi!
Part two of my trip to New York, such an awesome place that I plan on living there in a few years, anyway enjoy…
When starting King Noir I had a very clear vision of how I wanted things to look, my brother asked me if I would ever work with another designer and I said “yes although they would have to be very good.” If I do work with anyone they would have to have a different style but one that compliments the look and feel of King Noir. I stumbled across an artist called Craig Robson a few months back and was blown away. With a style that reflects elements of 70s skate graphics similar to Jim Philips but with concepts and composition that is both imaginative and simply clever. Craig Produces artwork inspired by tattoo culture in a style that’s his own. I asked him if he would answer some questions as I’m sure fans of King Noir would be interested in finding out about the world of Craig Robson and his insane work. So here’s a little interview/insight with Craig, enjoy.
NAME, PLACE OF BIRTH AND PROFESSION?
Craig Robson, born in Beverley, East Yorkshire, freelance illustrator/design
WHAT’S AN AVERAGE DAY CONSIST OF FOR CRAIG ROBSON?
An average day for me may seem pretty dull for some people, I wake up and check my emails, get a good breakfast and get down to some serious drawing. I tend to watch a lot of documentaries whilst I work or listen to records whilst I draw.
I am a pretty enthusiastic chef so I always try to make room in the day to cook something nice, I find it helps me relax a lot!
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?
I, like many others would say my style is “tattoo influenced” which is not something i am ashamed of despite not being a tattoo artist by trade. I would say, however, that that describes my subject matter more than my “style”, id say my style is influenced by a history of traditional mark making combined with a little bit of OCD.
YOU WORK WITH A LOT OF BANDS, WHO WOULD BE YOUR DREAM CLIENTS?
At present I would kill a hospital full of orphans to get the chance to work with Converge. That being said i am finding myself getting increasingly enthusiastic about smaller bands that contact me with great ideas and great budgets, i think id rather spend my life doing awesome shit for unknown bands than mediocre stuff for huge bands. Id love to work for KISS though ;)
WHAT INTERESTS DO YOU HAVE OTHER THAN DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION??
Like previously mentioned im a pretty keen cook so im always down to try and whip up something ive never tried before. I also love to read, im on a book a month this year and did the same last year and i find that always clears my mind and enhances my creative thinking.
Its pretty difficult to name things that I enjoy other than illustration because i find that no matter what I do it tends to feed back into my work directly, for example i am trying to get out on my bike more, it helps me relax and de-stress and in turn makes my work more effective and makes me more productive.
WHAT TOOLS/PENS/PENCILS DO YOU USE WHEN CREATING A DESIGN?
I always start my work with thumbnail sketches that in all honestly look like shit. they make no sense to anyone but me and its safe to say that the client im working for NEVER gets to see these. i then tend to move on to a bigger, often true to size sketch in pencil. i use HB pencils for this, ive never been a really detailed pencil sketcher and ive always found packs of different weight pencil pointless, if it can make a mark thats fine for me at this stage. I tend to work on tracing paper that is above 90gsm as i like to include a certain layered element to my work that is easier to do when you can physically layer the drawing. after taking a final sketch off the top of all the layers i move onto inking using a range of materials. I have amongst them Fabercastle PITT artists pens, i like these because they come in a range of sizes and offer a true black which helps a bunch with scanning, the same goes for my pentel brush pen. and of course the final tools in the process are my scanner and my I-mac to get the whole thing ready for whatever print process its heading for.
WHO/WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?
Its difficult to nail down who or what inspires me the most, the more I work the more i find that everything inspires me and that the best thing to do is to consume as much of different media as possible. In terms of motivation I find being torn apart more motivational than praise, wanting to get better is the biggest motivation i can have.
WHAT BANDS/MUSIC ARE YOU IN TO AT THE MOMENT?
My music taste is all over the damn shop. currently ive been listening to a bunch of english hardcore (old and new), stuff like Genghis Tron and ratatat, beach house, BASTIONS, old alkaline trio, LETLIVE, kvelertak, converge, supermachiner, the national, from a second story window, the banner, bat for lashes, this that and the other, whatever fits the moment i guess. if i had to watch it live i would go for something loud, fast and pissed off like Trash Talk. but sometimes it makes me spill my cup of tea.
FAVOURITE CITY AND WHY?
My favourite City at the moment is Liverpool, mainly because I now live there. New York was the fucking BOMB when I was there and Berlin was awesome and I cant wait to go back. But right now, home is the best place to be.
ANY BIG PLANS FOR 2011?
2011 so far boasts much of the same as the past two years, lots of new work coming out and i am planning to add more work to my personal store including shirts, more posters, patches and other goodies that I think up just before sleep takes over on a night.
Hopefully more exciting projects and more opportunitys to say I draw for a living.
Stumbled across this pick of Ryan “Legs” Leger drummer of Every Time I die rockin our White Crown Cap, which is pretty awesome!!
www.everytimeidie.net
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