Crunchy

The Illustration Friday topic this week is 'crunchy'. Well, there's not much crunchier than a bowl of leaves and twigs. Drawn in pen and coloured in Photoshop.

Smoking Monkey

Smoking Monkey

ink on paper
from "Creature Double Feature" at BNW, 2009


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Another Twig

Another Twig

ink on paper
from "Skinny Malinky" at Che Camille, 2009
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Our Party Invitations

Last Saturday we threw a party to celebrate our engagement. Now that the date has past, I can post the invitations I made without the (very slim) risk of gatecrashers eating our sausage rolls. Time was tight, but as the first piece of graphics work I've done in a while I think they turned out pretty good. We sent them off to Moo.com for printing:

It was the first time I'd used Moo and, man, they're pretty good. I've no complaints whatsoever. The quality of the printing and materials is fly and their small batches were just what we were looking for.

As for the party, the night went brilliantly. It flew by in a flash but we both had a blast. From Alex and myself, thanks to all our friends and family for coming along and for bombarding us with amazing presents. Thanks especially to Fiona & Ian and Mary & Malcolm (our folks) for all their help.

Recession Session at Recoat

The now traditional Christmas bargain bonanza at Recoat opens this week. Recession Session features a heap of work from a dynamite list of artists at extremely reasonable prices.

The twist this year is that instead of the £40 and under pricing system of previous shows, Recession Session will be divide the gallery into price zones of £25 / £50 / £75 / £100. This should mean that there will be a much broader selection of work up for grabs, from stocking filling prints to original pieces. I've put in a few drawings at a special festive price myself.

The opening party is always packed and work tends to sell fast, so if you're really looking to buy some artwork this Christmas, I'd recommend you make it along on Friday 20th November from 7-10pm for maximum choice. The show will then run until the 23rd of December. Here are the full details:

Recession Session
Recoat's annual bargain blowout

Show runs: November 21st - December 23rd, 2009
Opening party: Friday, 20th November, 7-10pm

Recoat
323 North Woodside Road,
Glasgow
G20 6RY

A lot of the work should also be available at Recoat's online store. Big thanks to Amy and Ali for putting everything together.

Creature Double Feature

If you happen to be on the streets of Philadelphia first-Fridaying tomorrow night, please make a stop at Brave New Worlds to catch Creature Double Feature, a show curated by my friend Concetta.

A bunch of artists (myself included) have been asked to give their interpretation of the word 'creature' for the show. The results are being nailed to the wall as I type, and as far as I can imagine, look awesome. If you can make it along, I'd strongly recommend it because I've heard there are some amazing artists involved.

The show will run through November with the opening party on Friday 6th November from 6-9pm at Brave New Worlds, 45 N. 2nd Street.

Wall Clock

A work-n-progress shot from the second room of How Children Learn, my joint show at The Changing Room with RueFive. I'm slowly putting together a little walkthrough video of the whole exhibition.

Ba-Ba-Baby Steps

Here's a little attempt at a comic. It's a rough for the first four frames of the Redcap thing I talked about previously. It's not great, but it's a start.

I definitely have some kind of 'comic block' that I'd like to overcome. I'm rarely happy with my attempts and I find the whole process quite stressful. Not that I have any particular ambition to be a comic dude, but there's a few ideas in my pockets that it might be nice to get down on paper without wanting to blow my brains out.

Redcaps and Comics

Recently I've been toying with the idea of drawing some comics. I've found myself doodling little characters, trying to find something that might work. Man, it's tricky!

Getting my head around even a simple strip completely blows my mind. There are so many things to consider regarding composition, detail and consistency that it can start feeling like a chore before you've even started. How should characters and backgrounds overlap? Does it matter if a chair looks different from one frame to the next? How do you handle different 'camera' angles? - look at Shultz; he kept Peanuts side-on for 50 years, he barely even zoomed in. Visually, there are so many decisions to make, without even considering little things like stories, titles, names and dialogue.

Of course, that's getting ahead of things considering I've only doodled a few wee men on some scrap paper. The guys above are inspired by the mythical 'Red Cap', a dangerous spirit creature that haunts the Scottish borders and dyes his hat in the blood of his victims. Not quite Garfield, but fun to draw.

Gregor Louden Book Launch at Recoat

Old Gopherhead has been busy. If you can, head to Glasgow tomorrow night for the launch of his new book, Lost and Found at Recoat near Kelvinbridge. For a while now, Gregor has been posting little sneak peeks from the project on his blog and, now he's done, I'm totally hyped about seeing the finished article. Alongside shiny new copies of the book, there will be a little exhibition of selected drawings and prints as well as a raffle to win yourself a signed copy.

The show runs until November 15th but I'd really recommend stopping by the party on Friday night. Amy and Ali at Recoat always put on a good shindig and afterwards, once the launch has launched, I'm sure everyone will head round to the Lansdowne for a drink. Here are the details:

Lost and Found
A book of illustrations by Gregor Louden

Show runs: October 24th - November 15th 2009
Opening party: Friday, 23rd October 7-10pm

Recoat
323 North Woodside Road,
Glasgow
G20 6RY

Make sure to say hello to Gregor too, he's a good dude. Being one of the OG Telltale Collaborative, we've been involved in many a thing together over the past few years and I always try to catch whatever he's up to.

Pied Piper

Pied Piper
ink and acrylic on card
from "Skinny Malinky" at Che Camille, 2009


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Twig

Twig
ink on paper
from "Skinny Malinky" at Che Camille, 2009
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Pattern

A late little doodle in my sketchbook for the Illustration Friday theme 'pattern'.

I tried drawing the pattern from my shirt for this one. Instead of the more straightforward criss-crossing lines method, I treated each little box separately and drew them one at a time. As you can see, it went all wonky pretty quickly. I think I'm going to have another go at this, perhaps with a different shirt.

On a related note, I just checked wikipedia and discovered something I didn't know. Technically 'tartan' is just a name for a pattern made up of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands. Wow. I always thought it was something more specific related to the fabric. I guess this means with the current boom in checked shirts (plaid to our American friends) you can legitimately say things like 'I'm going to Topman for a tartan shirt' and be correct. You'll sound insane, but you'll be correct.

Triangle

Triangle
ink on paper
from "Skinny Malinky" at Che Camille, 2009
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Love

After 2 weeks in Philadelphia, with a little stay in New York (Philly's better), that's me home and jet-lag free. How are you?

Me? I'm feeling pretty good. On top of an unbelievable holiday, I asked Alex, my beautiful girlfriend, to marry me and she said yes! She wasn't even drunk!

Being a tough guy, I won't get all sappy on here. I'd just like to say thanks on behalf of Alex (my beautiful fiancée) and myself to everyone for their messages of congratulations, their cards and their gifts. We're planning a party sometime soon and we're having a lot of fun talking about 'What Happens Next...'.

I must also give some extra special thanks to Concetta for being an unbelievable host and friend while we were away.

We are very happy :)

On Holiday

back soon.

Rockets

Rockets
ink on paper
from "Skinny Malinky" at Che Camille, 2009
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Skinny Malinky Opens Tonight

Here's an exciting behind the scenes photo from the Skinny Malinky install last night. It's a glamorous life for sure.

Just a reminder that the show opens tonight (Sat 5th of September) at 7pm. It's a little tricky to find the entrance so aim for the Argyll Arcade in Glasgow and head down the little lane at Zara on Buchanan St. Down somewhere near Sloans is a little passage into the arcade itself. There's a lot of building work going on just now so you might feel you're going the wrong way - you're not! Once inside the arcade, head to the end and you'll find the lift and stairs, head up to the sixth floor to Che Camille.

That's maybe less helpful than saying nothing, have a go though. If you can't find it, head to the pub - it's Saturday night after all.

Skinny Malinky at Che Camille

I'm happy to announce a wee exhibition of new & old drawings at Che Camille in Glasgow. Skinny Malinky opens next Saturday and will run through September. Here are the details:

Skinny Malinky
An exhibition by David Galletly
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Show runs: 5th - 30th September 2009
Opening Party: Saturday 5th September 7-9pm
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Che Camille
Floor 6, Argyle Arcade,
Buchanan Street,
Glasgow, G2 8BD
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Tel: 07862 720215
Email: paint@checamille.com

Come along and say hello next Saturday if you can. I'll post more information about getting up into the space after hours soon. Feel free to use the above image anywhere you like.

Twig

A twig.

Urban Utopias Photos

I've been sent a few images from the Paper City: Urban Utopias show which I mentioned here. They show off the unique tearable / keepable hanging system for the prints quite well. If you look just past the glasses of the lovely man on the left you can just about pick out my long legged houses.

The show runs until the 27th of October in the Architecture Space at Royal Academy of Arts, London.

A Wooden File

Daily Drawing 4: A wooden file from Ikea

Not much to say about this one.

Self Portrait

Daily drawing 3: Self portrait (smiling)

Another daily drawing challenge. I'm working on something else so it's another quick doodle I'm afraid. This is the first picture I've drawn of myself in years.

S-S-Super-8

Daily drawing 2: Super 8 camera

A second quick doodle for my wee draw every day challenge. This Super-8 was a birthday present from my friend Fergi a few years ago. Still waiting for the perfect sunny day to use it.

Baby Steps

Daily drawing 1: Hair Man

I'm setting myself a tiny challenge. I will try to draw something new (big or small) every day this week and put it up here. Maybe not the most ambitious undertaking, but an undertaking nonetheless.

A Bowl of Corn Flakes

A Bowl of Corn Flakes
painted stones, bowl, spoon, doiley, stool
from "How Children Learn" at The Changing Room, 2009


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Draw Serge!

A few weeks ago, the good Mr Culprit pointed me in the direction of the brilliant Draw Serge, a blog for drawings of Serge Gainsbourg. Today, I finally got round to doodling a little version of the great man to submit. It feels like the first face I've drawn in a long while.

Coincidentally, Serge has been on my iPod a lot recently. I'm particularly fond of his mad stuff with Brigitte Bardot. If you don't know it, have a poke around on YouTube. It's dynamite.

Lamp Post

Lamp Post

ink & acrylic on card
from "Jaggy Nettles" at Amble, 2008


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2 Bricks of Weetabix

2 Bricks of Weetabix
ink on paper
from "How Children Learn" at The Changing Room, 2009


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Drifting

A very late entry for Illustration Friday this week. The topic is drifting. It's a little late for being clever, so a drifter drifting through a snow drift while his mind drifts will have to do.

Henry

Who doesn't love the HVR200, the old Henry Hoover? Nobody, that's who. He's such a little bit of branding magic. My girlfriend Alex suggested that Numatic, the creators of Henry, should branch out a little and try to make waves in the toaster market.

This got me wondering. Perhaps Henry could become even more omnipresent than that. With a little pack of stickers, who knows where he could end up? Well, I could make a guess... Henry pillar boxes of course!

Floorboards

Floorboards

ink on paper
from "How Children Learn" at The Changing Room, 2009
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Paper Plane

Paper Plane

ink on paper
from "How Children Learn" at The Changing Room, 2009
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Epilogue Magazine

The nice folks at Epilogue asked if they could feature my work this week and I said yes. Visit their site and have a look around, it's very nice: epiloguemagazine.com

Naughts & Crosses: Work Begins

Work has begun on part 2 of How Children Learn, the collaborative show between RueFive and myself. It's a more laid back affair than the first; we're working live in public on a large wall piece over the next few days, trying not to take too long about it. You can stop by, see us painting and ask us questions if you wish at the Changing Room gallery at the Tolbooth in Stirling. If you'd rather not look at our ugly mugs, the show will be done by Friday and runs, alongside part 1, until the 27th June.
Speaking of part 1, things went pretty well. The above photo is but a glimpse of a room full of small drawings, huge drawings, sculptures, photos and more. It's still up and if you haven't caught it yet, you have until the end of the month to catch the full finished spectacle of How Children Learn, parts 1 & 2.

I'll try to get a few more photos together, but for now, there's a nice wee review from the Metro here. Better hop on my bike and back get up to the gallery.

Adapt

The Illustration Friday topic this week is 'adapt', perhaps one of the trickiest I've seen them set. This little drawing is my submission.

A Staedtler Rubber

3 Staedtler rubber memories from school:

1. Cutting with the blade from a pencil sharpener.
2. Bending between thumb and forefinger until it slowly splits.
3. Puncturing with a pencil.

Don't Step on a Crack...

Don't step on a crack or you'll break your mother's back

This is my last minute entry for Illustration Friday. The topic this week is 'cracked'. I also like 'don't step on a crack or the wolves will get you' - thanks Alex.

Twitter

A few bird doodles that came around because I wanted a drawing to accompany a link to my Twitter feed. I didn't get very far before I began considering giving my abandoned Owls & Mice comic another try. We'll see. One idea feeds another I guess.

You can follow me on Twitter here.

50 Rice Krispies

50 Rice Krispies

ink on paper
from "How Children Learn" at The Changing Room, 2009
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I.F. Contagious

The Illustration Friday topic this week is 'contagious'. One of my favourite things about zombies is that after they're transformed, they're stuck wearing regular clothes.

Twigs

A couple of pages from my sketchbook.

Death Compass

Death Compass

ink on paper
from "How Children Learn" at The Changing Room, 2009
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