It’s a bit rough, plus the photo is poor quality (excuses!), but I’m just playing. Painted in a background first, then worked on it with a combination of pencil, charcoal and pencil crayon. This isn’t quality enough to be a finished spread but I can again use it as a guide to something more final and polished.

A productive and thought-provoking day. More to come.

nay.

Today I am sketching from my dioramas. This is a new way of working for me that I discovered recently. I have started to recycle my work.. First I photocopied a lot of images from newpapers and stuff I had lying about in my room, as well as some photos I had taken and sketches and that. Then I cut them all up and played about with compositions and collage. This then morphed into dioramas which are like 3D collages - I made all the photocopies little card stands, played with more compositions and scenes and took photos of them. Tidied them up on photoshop, then drew from the compositions I’d made as a guide to a final spread.. You can see two steps of the process in the photos above. The sketch is roughly A4 size. I’ve enlarged it to about 4 times the original size and am intending to work back into it…possibly with acrylic. I am excited about the concept of continually rebuilding and working into an image…I think this could be good for me and my crappy attention span…

…watch this space!

nay.

Marvellous.

In other news, I am completely sick of my job. To be more specific, the customers. They’re a bunch of see you next tuesdays, I swear. Today I beared the brunt of three absolute assholes, to be frank. I won’t bore with the details but each one of them made me want to cry a little. I wish they knew how upsetting it is, I only work there to earn my precious pennies for alcohol and train tickets, and there they are ranting at me that there was only one bloody chicken on the shelf when there should be at least two if it’s buy one get one free…….what does he want me to do, conjure the chicken out of mid air??? If it aint there, we aint got none! Punk.

Sayonara x

I shall go and see them again and again until the day I die or the day I go bankrupt!!

Found this beautiful video of Thom and Jonny covering Portishead’s The Rip. The link is being annoying so just scroll down the main blog entrys to Mon 09 June

http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/

X

In Other News today!

1. Book Of The Moment is The Lies Of Locke Lamora. This is a debut, I repeat debut novel of the fantasy/con artist/dastardly evil plot genre by a guy called Scott Lynch, and it was (excuse my french) fucking awesome! I’m so eloquent aren’t I? It’s gripping exciting funny mysterious violent scary and above all else completely hooked me from the first page in! I suggest you look it up, it won’t disappoint. Again if you are morally encompased and do not approve of foul language then don’t bother. You’ll be missing out on a cracking story though!

2. I’m starting to wonder why all the books I’m buying recently have an excess of swearing in them. Hide them on the top shelf!

3. I watched Time Bandits last night and fell in love with all the little dwarf people!! Unhealthy obsession perhaps.

4. Lots of boring blah about uni going OK but a bit stressful and I can’t be bothered to go into it.  

5. We have a shiny new house to move in to for our last university year. The main pro I can see about it is there’s a dodgy looking greasy spoon cafe just around the corner which I can imagine purchasing bacon cobs and tea in unmatching mugs from! Simple pleasures in life. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

6. Pump Festival! I am officially going! Well, I have saved up enough money for my ticket so that’ll do for now heh… I’m looking forward to wearing a ridiculous assortement of clothes that I’d usually get beaten up for wearing in normal circumstances. The oppression of society eh! Can’t even wear a pair of brightly coloured patchwork trousers without being assaulted! Or being called a paedophile clown or something! Lol sorry.

Right then, I’d better skidaddle, as my Dad would say. Work to do! People to see! Distasteful jokes to crack! 

Sayonara

Mwahaha… If this sounds like your cup of tea please support the cause and buy a copy. It’s wicked storytelling. Only, if you don’t go for large amounts of profanity and violence then this may not be the book for you!! Personally I thought it was brilliant mate. A piece of sheer joy.

I am feeling unnaturally optimistic that I will be able to finish all my university work on time for my deadlines next week. To put it mildly, I have an awful lot to do. I’m trying to stay calm. I like doing my illustration at the moment but I seem to have other annoying things conflicting in which I am having trouble ignoring. Nothing is fitting together, things are constantly obstructing each other and not lying how they should. So many things! I wish everyone would just fuck off. I wish my course wasn’t so great one second and ultimately shocking the next. So shocking it’s ridiculous. Yes I know lets have all the deadlines in the world within 2 days of each other.

Bolllllocks to it!

Cough.

Anyhow, today I am meant to be getting on with the HUGE amount of work my university has laid onto me for the festive period, how thoughtful of them. Unfortunately I feel like shit and can’t concentrate on anything. Maybe I’ll just sit in a darkened room and rock gently back and forth for a while. Sounds like a plan..

One more thing. I was thinking about the Golden Compass. In fact cinema in general. I think it’s sad that our world has become so obsessed with political correctness, keeping everybody happy, oh and God forbid if you actually take a risk and tell it how it is. Expect death threats, letter bombs, maybe you’ll even be kicked out the country. I’m not entirely against big blockbusters, but I absolutely can’t stand it how films are being ‘dumbed down’, skirting around issues and generally being REALLY SHIT. Too much money put into effects, not enough put into the script, director. Even the name of Golden Compass pisses me off. Oh my God, we’ve got to call this film after an object because people will relate easier to something material. If it’s too cryptic, people might not know what it’s about. This means less money. Oh shit! Let’s call it after that compass thingy in the book. Yeah. And it’s really shiny. Probably gold. People like shiny things don’t they? Also, we’re going to disregard the fundamental theme of the book and turn it into a pants no brainer kids film because we’re not good enough film makers to tackle the theme with taste and respect. Hell, we blew the budget on that massive CGI bear. Oh and lets get Daniel Craig in it. Yeah! He was Bond. That’ll get the crowds in. He’s only in it for about 10 minutes, but lets make his head the biggest on the poster. Next, lets search the phone book for a child actress with a suitably quirky Hollywood name. Dakota Richards? Like that Dakota Fanning girl everyone loves. But wait…we need something more! What’s your favourite colour little girl? Blue, you say? Man, this film’s gonna be AWESOME!

End of uber-cynical raving.

Photography is my new favourite thing to do. I’ve been pottering around in the darkroom for 8 weeks and it’s been jolly good fun. I like the smell.. I also got to make a pinhole camera out of a beer can, which apart from being an extreme novelty item produced some pretty good results. The one disadvantage of this camera is I look like an alchy, walking around Birmingham clutching a beer can. But I guess that’s a pretty frequent sight lol…..

RADIOHEAD have brought out a new album for your listening pleasure. You can even download it for free. When you go to buy the download, the price box is empty and there is a red question mark next to it, once clicked upon reads “It’s up to you.” This presents with a problem. Should you give a donation for their effort? Or is the temptation of free music too strong?

Needless to say, I couldn’t bear paying nothing for it. I mean, I know they’re offering, but I just can’t do it! Radiohead are too great! However I am a poor student, so I gave them a fiver for their effort. Apparently over two thirds of people who downloaded it paid nothing. Scallys. www.radiohead.com

Also. I heard TWO Radiohead tracks on Radio 1 last night. TWO! I doubt they play more than two a year. That’s it for 2007.

Sayonara

One last thing!! UFC 80……….Oh yes you’d better believe it because on January 19th 2008 I am so going to be in Newcastle in some massive arena surrounded by a male/female ratio of like 2000:1, watching some motherfucking fighting. Hell yes!

S.O.S!