Sketchbook Pages

Pages from my old sketchbook, when I was working out stuff for the Knitting Bee. Reading my notes makes me cringe sometimes. I don't know why.

Swing

Swing
ink & acrylic on card
from "Jaggy Nettles" at Amble, 2008
(sold)


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A Town

I did this drawing for an artist networking day at The Changing Room gallery in Stirling. It was used in a collage with Ruefive on the cover of a little zine that was given out. You can see the original somewhere on his blog.

Conkers

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


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Celebrate / Ibiza Tattoo

A quick last minute doodle for Illustration Friday. The topic was 'Celebrate' and I have drawn a wee celebration past.

Running from Camera

Don't be blue! Here's a thing I like, perhaps you will like it too. There was a Top 100 Blogs article in the newspaper over the weekend, mainly news, politics, media and such. In amongst the novelty categories however, a site called Running from Camera caught my attention. It's a little photo blog by a man from Holland. What he says is this:

The rules are simple: I put the self-timer on 2 seconds, push the button and try to get as far from the camera as I can.

Good eh? Go and have a look: runningfromcamera.blogspot.com

Old Stencils

While rummaging through an old shoebox of photos, I discovered a few snaps from my short-lived stenciling phase. These date from around about 2001 as a result of seeing some Banksy stuff for the first time (that's Banging Your Head era Banksy, rather than coffee-table Banksy if I'm after cool points).

I really like how the 'Bombora' skateboard turned out in particular. I know it's a bit rubbish to be buying blank decks as the skate industry needs all the help it can get, but I used to love painting up my own shred sled. Makes me want to have another bash. The portrait is of my friend Walker and was just an attempt at creating a multi-layered stencil from a photograph. I quite like how it looks on the wood.

OK, so they're not anything special, but boy I'm glad I didn't jump fully into the whole 'McDonalds sucks, war sucks, CCTV is everywhere' gig that was so prevalent at the time. Actually that stuff is still raging pretty hard on the street art scene. Not that there's anything wrong with the message, but jeez, enough with the tanks and flowers already. Maybe cut out the terrible puns while you're at it.

Flower Flick

Flower Flick
ink & acrylic on card
from "Jaggy Nettles" at Amble, 2008
(sold)


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somebodyelse, Stirling

somebodyelse: Graham Fagen

I've been involved in the hanging and preparation of the new show, somebodyelse by Graham Fagen, at the Changing Room in Stirling. The show is a collection of Fagen's photographic portraits, combining images of real and imagined figures and studies the characterisation of historical figures in an exploration of Scotland's contemporary and historic culture.

Show runs: 14th February - 11th April 2009
Private view: Friday 13th February, 2009. 6-8pm. All welcome.

The show is the first to use the Changing Room's new hanging system, so go have a peek at that as well as the work. The boy Rue Five and myself will be on the wheels of steel at the opening bash. Say hello.

2 Tree Barks

Tree Barks
ink on paper
from One Creative Scotland, 2009

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Flawed

A really quick drawing for Illustration Friday. The topic this week is 'Flawed'.

Deathclock

Deathclock

ink on paper
from One Creative Scotland, 2009
(sold)

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One Creative Scotland

Amy and Ali at Recoat have kindly asked me to exhibit in their section at One Creative Scotland. I handed in a couple of pieces last week. Let's have a read of the blurb:

"One Creative Scotland is a bi-annual event which celebrates the new music and visual arts of Scotland, bringing together the musical, visual, theatrical and filming achievements of an array of creative artists and their many talents."

Sounds alright eh? Also working with Recoat for the show are: SYRKUS, REKOR, ELPH, Kirsty Whiten, ESTUM, SuzyQ, Ruefive, Russell Dempster & Eleanor Meredith. So we're in safe hands there. As well as the visual art exhibition, I understand that there is going to be bands, DJs and Jazz sessions. The whole shebang is hosted by BBC Radio Scotland DJ, Jim Gellatly.

The event opens at 7pm on Saturday 31st January at the Tollhouse Studios, 10 Possil Road in Glasgow. Tickets are £3. Say hello.

Davidgalletly.com, Motherhubbard!

A while back, I mentioned that some rotten company had snatched up my davidgalletly.com address when I had accidentally let it expire. Silly me. I quickly got hold of davidgalletly.co.uk to make sure I wasn't completely sunk and thought that was that.

But the other day, much to my delight, my good friend Fergi accidentally tried to visit my old .com address and noticed it was no longer held by overcharging chancers. Brilliant! It's all registered again and should now point to this site. Even though it's only set up as a forwarding thing, it means that I have two big boxes of postcards that are no longer redundant and my mellow is a little less harshed. Thanks Fergi.

Knuckley

Knuckley
ink & acrylic on card


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Hellos, Shout-Outs, Thank-Yous

Here is a lame shout-out list of folk I'd like to say hello to for various reasons, mainly for being good people in 2008. I hope this is not too self indulgent. Sick bags at the ready:

Alex. Hello x

Friendly folk: Fergi, Morgi, Steve, Darren & Laura & Ethan, Stuart, John, Jules, Elsa, Kieren (thanks for the go-karting), Kirsty, Melissa, Paddy & Marianne, Bosko, Beth, Andrew, James, Kim, Mark, Tommy, Hammy. Gregor, Elph, Chris, Carrie, Emma & Joe, Gemma, Diarmid. Philly folk: Concetta, Becky and Lyndsy. Jeff and the Philladelphia Cartoonist Society (thanks for the burgers). Donald. Hello!

Family folk: Mum & Dad. All of the Galletlys, Donnachies and Tierneys. Ian, Fiona & Rory Horne. Janet MacDondald. Robert & Audrey McCrone. Hello!

Work folk: Chris & Cal from Be A Familiar. Andy at Broken Friend. Kirsteen MacDonald at The Changing Room. Amy & Ali at Recoat. Shea'la Finch at Tiny Showcase. Russell & Julie at Analogue. Nigel Peake. Natalie & everyone at DJCAD. Gavin at Here. Meighan at My Love For You.. Pascal & Thanasis at the Johanssen Gallery. Hello!

Special mention folk: Jen Collins aka hellojenuine for the badges and for a ton of nice comments on the blog last year. Hello!

I bet I've put my foot in it and forgotten someone really important. Ah well. Less sentimental posting will resume tomorrow. Goodbye!

Lecturer Smecturer

Alternative title for this post; 'Hannibal Lecture'.

Here's something that I never got round to mentioning: A couple of months ago, I was invited to speak and take a class at Duncan of Jordanstone, College of Art & Design in Dundee. Having never done anything of the sort before, I was a little hesitant at first. I had visions of taking a nervous breakdown in front of a room of laughing students. Luckily I got myself a backbone and tried it out.

After a bit of a shakey start*, I gave a presentation about my work to a big bunch of the illustration students and then set a day brief to one of the classes. I also had some time to go around and speak to as many people as I could about what they were working on. Everyone I met was super nice and seemed to really respond to what I had to say, which made me a happy man.

There is a lot of brilliant work being done in that place. Getting a chance to see everyone's sketchbooks and studios was really awesome and inspiring. People are funny when you speak to them, that's a good thing. I wish I'd taken some photos because it was a blast. I should maybe pay a visit sometime soon. Hello to everyone I met in Dundee, I hope everything is going well. Thanks to Natalie for the opportunity too.

* 'a bit of a shakey start' is putting it lightly. I thought I was going to faint at least 5 times during the day.

Hello You. Happy New Year

Hello there! It's me, David. I'm back. I'm writing with a full belly and heavy eyelids on New Year's Day. I've had a lovely time. Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you had fun, I hope you got your new bike and I hope you had a big smile on your face.

It's been quiet round here recently. I had decided that I'd take a wee break from things over December and have a fresh start in the new year, so there has been very little in the way of online activity from myself. Some time away was needed to build up on the old enthusiasm and inspiration. It was a busy month regardless, so I doubt I'd have posted much anyway. Amongst other things I've been a gallery assistant, I've been away on holiday, I've been unwell (several times) and I have jumped about all over the shop for various festive exercises (festercises). Any spare time I had was put to proper use playing computer games.

Now I'm ready to go though, it's time to tackle a massive to-do list and build up some momentum. A black cat crossed our path this afternoon when we were out walking. Here in Scotland that's a good sign. A nice start to a year.

Be A Familiar / The Green Apple Sea

Be A Familiar: High Sky
The Green Apple Sea: Satellite Wings

A sneak peek at the artwork for a new B.A.F. / T.G.A.S. double single release 'High Sky' & 'Satellite Wings'. As was the same with the previous Be A Familiar single I designed, I'm unsure of the exact release dates at the moment but I'll let you know more when I find out myself.

Be A Familiar are a 7 piece outfit based in Glasgow, complete with trumpets & cellos and The Green Apple Sea are a nice bunch of lads from Germany. I was unfamiliar with their stuff until this job, but they've got a great wee sound going on.

You can listen to the songs on their respective MySpace pages, but you should of course buy them by the bucketload when they're released. The single(s) should hopefully be available on CD, vinyl and through iTunes soon.

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None The Less at Analogue

None The Less: A Tiny Showcase Showcase

I'll be heading along to Analogue in Edinburgh this Thursday to catch the Tiny Showcase show, None The Less. I hear it's a wee retrospective of some of their past prints, which sounds ace. I've done some work with Tiny Showcase in the past and I know Shea'la Finch, one of the co-founders, is over, so it'll be a good chance to catch up. She is crazy funny. Analogue shows are always awesome for getting everyone together.

Show runs: 5th December - 10th January
Opening bash: Thursday 4th December, 7-9ish

I'll hopefully see you there. Say hello. There will no doubt be pictures on the Analogue Flickr page (I have a growing reputation for taking the official "Russell, Julie & Artist" photos and making a complete hash of it).