Bill and Ted Comic Book

Historical Personages

When a good reason to do a little sketching doesn’t present itself, I create my own. And this time it’s to resurrect an old and valuable habit. Acting as both an excuse to watch my favourite films and excellent drawing practice, these quick sketches of movie scenes was a technique I used to warm up…
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Video Time Trip #01: Ghostbusters (UK VHS Rental Tape, 1985)

Video Time Trip #01: Ghostbusters

Do you remember the days of rushing home from the local video store clutching that tape you're been waiting weeks for? The simple pleasure of Friday nights circled around the TV as you settle into this weeks rental choice? Welcome to the first episode of Video Time Trip, a series that explores the vintage movie…
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Apple Arcade Is Open Devastudios Wingsart

Apple Arcade Is Open

If you visit apple.com you’ll find a recent collaboration with the lovely people at Devastudios that introduces the new updates to Apple Arcade! My job was to provide the perfect “is open” lettering across several different languages, incorporating my trademark retro flourish whist remaining unmistakably Apple. Thrilled to have worked on this! Produced at Devastudios
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Sky TV: A Town Called Malice

Sky TV: A Town Called Malice

Sky TVs 80s inspired show employs the font Last Dance by Wingsart Studio to portray it’s sun-soaked excess across social media marketing and trailers. A Town Called Malice: This intoxicating cocktail of crime thriller and family saga in the early ’80s follows the Lords - a family of South London gangsters who’ve fallen to the bottom…
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Phantom City Creative: Return of the Living Dead

Phantom City Creative: Return of the Living Dead

The Toronto based independent design studio Phantom City Creative found the perfect match for their movie poster art in the hand-drawn lettering of Street Punks. A suitably distressed font that compliments the illustrated poster design. Phantom City Creative is the award winning duo of Justin Erickson and Page Reynolds; renowned for their beautifully illustrated poster…
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She-Hulk Attorney at Law Logo

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law – Series Title Font

Adding a hand-drawn touch to it’s title design, the Marvel Studios series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law features my Endless Sunrise font used in contrast with Neue Helvetica Bold and Bold Condensed. This refreshingly fun looking series stars Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk, a lawyer who specialises in superhuman-oriented legal cases. It also see’s…
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The Art Deco Poster

The Art Deco Poster

Posters by their very nature are ephemeral: crookedly plastered on a roadside billboard, tacked to the back of a tabac, they lasted a few weeks until advertisers issued another imaginative argument for soap or an ocean voyage. While few contemporary observers understood the richness of their design or appreciated the ingenuity of their unsung creators,…
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Art Nouveau Poster

The Art Nouveau Poster

The Art Nouveau Poster is the most comprehensive survey to date of this vivid and much loved subject featuring over 400 illustrations. In July 1881, bill-posting became legal in Paris. The result was an explosion of creativity over three glorious decades recognised as the golden age of poster advertising, stirring together elements of new printing…
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Innocence & Seduction: Art of Dan DeCarlo Book Review

Innocence & Seduction: Art of Dan DeCarlo

This book presents a fitting tribute to the life and art of one of the world's all-time best cartoonists in a wide-ranging career retrospective. Lavishly designed with over 300 illustrations, the volume includes rare World War II-era cartoons, original Humorama pinups, seldom-seen newspaper strips, examples of his justly famous commercial comics work, and of course,…
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James Jean: Rebus Book Review

James Jean: Rebus

This 256pp monograph is the definitive look at accalimed artist James Jean's career thus far. Lovingly designed by Jean himself, this monumental book showcases new work as well as important creative milestones- from the eerie dreamscapes of his oil paintings to the elaborate installations and animations he created for Prada in 2008, to his gorgeous…
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The Art of Sean Phillips book review

The Art of Sean Phillips

The Art of Sean Phillips is a lavish, career-spanning retrospective of the acclaimed artist behind Criminal, Sleeper, Incognito, and Fatale. Sean has personally selected the very best, most interesting examples of his art for inclusion, from comic strips assembled with childhood friends in his bedroom, through his work for British girls' comics and 2000AD, to…
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The Art of Alice and Martin Provensen book review

The Art of Alice and Martin Provensen

The Art of Alice and Martin Provensen is the first-ever monograph on this beloved midcentury husband-and-wife illustration team. This award-winning pair created more than 40 beloved children's books over the span of seven decades, many of which appeared on the New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year lists. From early favorites for Golden…
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Tech Noir: The Art of James Cameron Review

Tech Noir: The Art of James Cameron

Explore the creative evolution of James Cameron through this exclusive journey into his personal art archives, showcasing a range of rare and never-before-seen works from the acclaimed director's private collection. James Cameron has blazed a trail through the cinematic landscape with a series of groundbreaking films that have each become deeply embedded in the popular…
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Add an Electric Neon Look to your fonts with these free presets.

Add a Little Spark to Your Type!

Harness the power of science with these free presets! These graphic presets for Adobe After Effects, Illustrator and Photoshop are designed for use with my Shock Block font. A hand-drawn, retro typeface inspired by 80s movies, cartoons and horror comics. Using these simple presets you can easily replicate the electric look from my visuals using…
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René Gruau: Master of Fashion Illustration Hardcover

René Gruau: Master of Fashion Illustration

The quintessential fashion illustrator and creative inspiration for generations to come. Press Release: Before photography became the primary medium for marketing fashion, there was Rene Gruau with his pens, brushes, watercolors, and inks. Beginning in 1940 when he helped create the Miss Dior campaign, and for more than two decades, Gruau was at the forefront…
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Look of the Book: Jackets, Covers, and Art at the Edges of Literature

The Look of the Book

Jackets, Covers and Art at the Edges of Literature. Press Release: Why do some book covers instantly grab your attention, while others never get a second glance? Fusing word and image, as well as design thinking and literary criticism, this captivating investigation goes behind the scenes of the cover design process to answer this question…
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Create Infinite Textures in Adobe Illustrator

Free Infinite Grunge Textures for Adobe Illustrator

Use these simple pattern textures in Adobe Illustrator to create a editable grunge effects. Using a simple pattern swatch in Illustrator you can create an infinite texture for your type, backgrounds and design elements. Try these three examples to get you started, provided here free to celebrate the release of our Stencil Font, ReRun. Useful…
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Army of Darkness Movie Poster Art

Army of Darkness

Comic book inspired poster art for Sam Raimi's third Evil Dead movie, Army of Darkness. Starting as a self-initiated project as a fan of the movie, this poster illustration caught the attention of the Ash vs Evil writing team and (I'm reliably informed) hangs on their office wall. The version shown here is a recent…
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The Comic Book Movie Sketchbook by Christopher King

The Comic Book Movie Sketchbook

Witness classic movie scenes recreated in comic book form! Not as dramatic as it might sound, these quick, sketchbook drawings are my regular way of warming up before illustration projects. A simple way of loosening up the hands and brushes before the serious work begins. Batman Returns - Catwoman Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho Rocky 4 The…
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The Art of Malika Favre - Book

The Art of Malika Favre

The art of Malika Favre combines masterfully simple vector shapes with bold colours and geometry to create stunning commercial illustration. Press Release: Malika Favre is one of the world's most celebrated illustrators, known for her stunningly simple work, often utilising a handful of perfectly refined vector shapes to convey her subject matter. Whether working as…
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The Good The Bad and The Ugly Movie Poster

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

An illustrated poster design for a Picture House cinema screening of this classic spaghetti western. I illustrated this poster design to accompany a special screening of Sergio Leone's classic western at London's Ritzy Picture House cinema. Working from DVD captures I sketched out a number of compositions, picking one which was later hand inked with…
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Mid-Century Ads – Advertising from the Mad Men Era Taschen

Advertising from the Mad Men Era

"Advertising has gone from something that reflects popular culture to becoming a part of popular culture, from something that's influenced by popular entertainment to being popular entertainment." - Jimmy Siegel. If, like the rest of the television viewing public you've been seduced by the sexy and sophisticated world presented in the excellent HBO series Mad…
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andrew-loomis-famous artists book

Successful Drawing by Andrew Loomis

Born in New York in 1892, Andrew Loomis was a prolific illustrator working at his peak during the period of 1920 to the late 1940's. His popular work consisted of elegant illustrations - typically of fashionable young women in serene settings - for commercial advertising, books and mass-market magazines. He was also a highly respected…
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Mirages: the Art of Laurent Durieux

Mirages – The Art of Laurent Durieux

Mirages - The Art of Laurent Durieux Press Release: Laurent Durieux is a famous Belgian illustrator who is well known by pop culture fans and collectors for his cult movie poster reinterpretations. Every one of his American exhibitions was sold out on opening night and attended by thousands of enthusiastic fans. This book will be…
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House Industries Lettering Manual by Ken Barber

House Industries Lettering Manual by Ken Barber

House Industries Lettering Manual by Ken Barber Press Release: Learn the history and techniques of hand lettering from a renowned design studio. This practical and visual guide features exercises, case studies and typographic models for letter styles such as serif, sans serif, brush and script. Known throughout the world for its eclectic typeface collections and…
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Austin Briggs - The Consummate Illustrator_01

Austin Briggs: The Consummate Illustrator

Austin Briggs: The Consummate Illustrator by David Apatoff and Manuel Auad Press Release: Auad publishing is proud to announce the latest in our long line of Famous American Magazine Illustrator books: Austin Briggs: The Consummate Illustrator. Matching the others in the series, this handsome book is a 9"x12" hardcover with dust jacket and features 160…
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The Art of Tiki by Sven Kirsten and Otto von Stroheim

The Art of Tiki by Sven Kirsten

The Art of Tiki by Sven Kirsten and Otto von Stroheim Press Release: The Art of Tiki is a passionate study of the Tiki idol as an art form. For the first time, contemporary Tiki art is united and presented equally with what inspired it, original mid-century Polynesian pop. Author Sven Kirsten combines his first-hand…
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Michael Mann's Heat

Michael Mann’s Heat

A motion poster concept for Michael Mann's crime epic Heat; created using a 2D poster. Using the elements from an original poster design created in Photoshop, I created an animated sequence exploring the idea of motion posters as a potential replacement for traditional printed images; to be displayed in theatre waiting areas, ticket booths and…
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Vintage Graphic Design by Louise Filli and Steven Heller

Vintage Graphic Design

Vintage Graphic Design: Type, Typography, Monograms & Decorative Design from the Late 19th & Early 20th Centuries Press Release: Any type user and enthusiast will doubtless derive joy from the letters and ornaments in Vintage Graphic Design, gathered from the rare and forgotten sources that authors Steven Heller and Louise Fili have collected over the…
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Wrappers Delight by Jonny Trunk

Wrappers Delight by Jonny Trunk

Cigarettes for Kids! Jarvis Cocker introduces this nostalgic trip to sweetshops of old where you can find The A-Team Bubble Gum, The Beatles Sweet Cigarettes (cigarettes for kids!) and Space Raiders competing for your 10p pocket money. An obsessive collection discovered by Jonny Trunk and lovingly presented here with over 500 examples, this is a…
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Key Largo Film Noir Movie Poster

Key Largo

One of my favourites of the film noir genre gets the illustrated film poster treatment. Besides from being a true classic of the 1940s film noir genre, Key Largo is also one of those great single setting films; trapping a stellar cast of volatile characters within the heart of a tropical storm, with tensions ready…
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Stranger Things Production Design

Stranger Things

I designed some seriously colourful graphics for season 3 of Stranger Things. Taking advantage of the pre-existing pattern designs from our 1980s Fashion Patterns pack, the production designers on Stranger Things transformed their sets into the perfect 80s shopping mall. Featured in several episodes of the show and the Starcourt Mall fan experience. 80s Fashions…
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Catherine the Great Title Sequence Concept

Catherine The Great

Opening title sequence and series logo concept for the HBO's Catherine The Great. Teaming up with the London based Momoco Ltd, we developed a series of concepts for the HBO/Sky Atlantic produced Catherine The Great. My brief was explore a design aesthetic taking inspiration from classic crime epics such as the Godfather. Title Explorations Opening…
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Gimcrack-Sci-Fi-Short-Film

Gimcrack

A low-key poster design for an experimental sci-fi short. A series of poster designs and film title explorations for an experimental sci-fi short by Rona Bradley. Theatrical Quad Poster Alternate Quad Alternate One Sheet Title Explorations
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Stanley Kubrick Film Titles

Kubrick

Opening title sequence for a festival of films by the legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. Designed to support a Channel 4 series of films by Stanley Kubrick, this sequence also represented by first serious work using Adobe After Effects. Designed before I had any real understanding of 3D software I overcame my own technical limitations with…
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Blood Type - Film Title Design by Christopher King

Blood Type

Movie title and theatrical poster design for the Korean short film Blood Type. A film produced on conjunction with The National Film and Television School for which I supplied a series of poster and main title designs; used for film festivals, theatrical exhibition and online marketing. Lead Poster Design Title Explorations Alternate Poster Design: 01…
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Meet The Clan TV Pilot

Meet The Clan

Title sequence, logo and stings for a TV pilot centred around video game clans. For this student project at the National Film and Television School, I designed and animated a series of title stings, lower thirds and other on-screen game elements for a reality show following a group of online gamers pitted against real-world challenges.…
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Chang-dong Lee Burning Movie Poster

Burning

Theatrical poster design for Chang-dong Lee's psychological thriller, Burning. A project in conjunction with students at the National Film and Television School, I developed a series of theatrical poster designs specifically targeted towards a 20-40 age group. Presented here are the two final designs each focusing on different aspects of the film; one a sophisticated…
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The Bind NFTS BBC Films

The Bind

Theatrical poster designs for the NFTS and BBC Films production, The Bind. These are poster designs created while studying at the National Film and Television Schools through their BBC Bridges to Industry scheme. I developed several title treatments and poster layouts using pre-selected stills, ultimately leading to these posters used for film festivals and brochures.…
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Boardwalk Empire Featured

Boardwalk Empire

An Art Deco navigation and menu design for the Blu Ray release of Boardwalk Empire. Using elements from my Art Deco Graphics Collection, the designers behind HBO's excellent Boardwalk Empire produced a stylised menu and navigation system for the series Blu Ray release. This included pop-up information on the cast, chapters, historical facts and location…
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12 Angry Men Illustrated Poster

12 Angry Men

An illustrated poster concept and comic book for the classic jury room drama 12 Angry Men. If you're searching for film to lift your spirits I highly recommended the classic legal drama, 12 Angry Men. An exceptionally well written examination of what happens when one lone member of a jury questions the evidence in a…
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Malena Monica Bellucci Film Poster

Malena

Illustrated poster explorations for Malena, starring Monica Bellucci. Using this project as an excuse to test the Clip Paint Studio software on the Microsoft Surface Pro, I sketched these drawings based on the film Malena; a period story that suited a European sketched ink style (at least, that's what I was aiming for). Poster Concept…
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The Pop Culture Art of Jason Edmiston

Jason Edmiston is an artist who understands the fun of Friday night horror films and the pop culture art that surrounds it. Whether he's painting a portrait of the Bride of Frankenstein, posters for the films of John Carpenter, packaging for He-Man figures or prints of Khaleesi's Dragon Babies, his work wears the badge of fandom…
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Custom Lettering of the 1920s and 30s

Press Release: Custom Lettering of the 20s and 30s is a celebration of the stunning and stylistically varied headline lettering that existed before the advent of phototypesetting or the computer. This unique publication collects over 4500 examples of custom lettering from the heyday of Art Deco and the experimental modernity of the Futurists - from…
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The ABC of Custom Lettering by Ivan Castro

Ivan Castro offers the perfect guide for teaching yourself how to create those cool hand-drawn scripts. In The ABC of Custom Lettering, Ivan Castro has provided students with the definitive textbook on drawing their own letters. Doing for graphic writing what Andrew Loomis did for illustration with his renowned series, this is the perfect for…
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Death and the Eternal Forever by Ron English

The twisted tale of Ron English and the futile attempt to cheat death. Mix Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald with classical surrealists such as Dali, Magritte and Picasso and you’re close the candy-coloured vision of hell as depicted in Death and the Eternal Forever by Ron English. A study of the belief that all art is the futile…
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The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Stunning concept drawings, character designs and unused ideas reveal the epic production design of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Now that The Force Awakens has been out for a few weeks I feel safe in my judgement, away from all the hype and hyperbole, to declare that it’s actually pretty good. It's by no means…
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Fashion Illustration Sketchbook

Fashion Sketchbook

Perfecting the fashion illustration style in preparation for a new graphics collection. These are a series of development drawings leading up to my Fashion Illustration Collection plus a few drawings referencing the work of the designer Alexandra King. These were drawn in an attempt to tailor my own style to suit a more fashion retail…
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Hang 12 Surf Art

Hang 12

An environmentally conscious spin on the classic Hang Ten surf motif. Hand-drawn in brush and inks with colours finished in Photoshop, this is an ecologically focused piece of surf art, designed to appear on posters, hoodies and t-shirts. Final Colour Sketchbook Artwork Pencils Lettering Pencils Artwork Inks Artwork Inks Lettering Inks
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Graphic de la Rue: The Signs of Paris

Inspirational Lettering from the World’s Most Romantic City. From the Art Nouveau entrance of the Paris Metro to the evocative neon lettering of the Moulin Rouge, Louise Fili’s new book Graphic de la Rue: The Signs of Paris does for the city of romance what her previous book Grafica della Strada did for Italian style. Captured…
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The Hidden Art of Disney’s Golden Age: The 1930s

Concept Sketches from Four Pioneers of Disney's Golden Age In researching the Disney Animation Studio Library, author Dider Ghez uncovers previously unseen concept drawings and sketches from four pioneering artists of the 1930s; Albert Hunter, Ferdinand Horvarth, Gustav Tenggren, and Bianca Majolica. Including concept artwork from The Old Mill and many other early Disney shorts, They Drew as…
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The Hollywood Goddess - Screen Icons

The Hollywood Goddess

A series of portrait illustrations celebrating Hollywood's classic screen icons. These digital illustrations were inspired by a period of watching the classic film noir, drama and crime classics that made them eternal screen icons. Audrey Hepburn Ava Gardner Marilyn Monroe Greta Garbo Marlene Dietrich Bette Davis Joan Crawford Elizabeth Taylor Lauren Bacall Lana Turner Lucille…
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Legend Ridley Scott Poster

Legend

An illustrated poster concept for Ridley Scott's fantasy classic Legend. Hand drawn with ink and brush, this poster concept for Ridley Scott's 80s fantasy film Legend, leads with the character of the Darkness played by Tim Curry. Close Up Lili and Unicorn Icon Good vs Evil Tim Curry (Aka Darkness) Sketchbook Early Concept Sketch Early…
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Harrison Ford Blade Runner

Blade Runner

Warm-up Sketches for a possible Blade Runner Poster Project. In preparation for a future Blade Runner based project I sketched some experimental drawings using a variety of digital brushes. The examples below so the different results when using pencil vs pastel textured brushes in Adobe Photoshop. Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard - Pastel Brush (Digital)…
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Maly Siri’s Pin-Up Art

Maly Siri take's you on a tour of the good and bad girls of classic Hollywood.  Maly Sari is a French pin-up artist who’s work i’ve been following for while, ever since I was introduced to to her stunning portraits of the vintage screen icons Hedy Lamarr, Bette Davis and Greta Garbo. We both clearly…
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The Art of Disney’s Inside Out

A picture-book behind-the-scenes look at Disney's latest feature, Inside Out. In a commercially brave move away from the fairy tale world of Frozen, Disney and Pixar have explored the unusually abstract concept of the human mind for their latest film Inside Out - the story of a 12-year-old girl named Riley and the emotions that live inside…
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Screaming Foot - Inspired by Jim Phillips Santa Cruz Artwork

Screaming Foot

Inspired by the classic surf art of Jim Phillips and Santa Cruz. Everybody knows that classic Screaming Hand image worn by surfers and skaters around on Santa Cruz merch around the world. Fewer people know that this was created by the great surf illustrator Jim Phillips, an artist whose work is impossible not to feel…
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Out of Line: The Art of Jules Feiffer

Playboy cartoonist, political satirist, screenwriter and children's book author - this is the amazing art of Jules Feiffer. While his art style might not have been immediately attractive to me, i’m glad to have read Out of Line: The Art of Jules Feiffer, because it's introduced me to an artist and writer that I found extremely…
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The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

With a brilliant cast of characters boasting furry pants and spring-action waists, The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe reveals fond memories with every page. With a finger running over a double-page spread which displays packaging illustrations for those great, now vintage He-Man action figures, I could have been heard counting to myself, “Had that one, had that one…oh yeah, my brother had…
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Masterworks from the Golden Age of Illustration

A stunning collection of work that celebrates America's golden age of illustration. Daniel Zimmer, editor and publisher of Illustration Magazine, takes advantage of a vast image archive for The Golden Age: Masterworks from the Golden Age of Illustration. A celebration of the period between 1880 and 1920 where illustration dominated American entertainment, and it's artists enjoyed fame, wealth and demand. Featuring full-page…
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Sophia Loren Arabesque

Sophia Loren

Testing Clip Studio Paint with a quick sketch of Sophia Loren. Photoshop is the dominant software for my digital drawing work, but I've heard good things about Clip Studio Paint with it's realistic brushes and built in textures. Running the software on a Microsoft Surface Pro and drawing on the touch screen with its default…
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Mad Max fury road furiosa

Imperator Furiosa

Charlize Theron steals the Mad Max franchise with her bad-ass new character. Those expecting a new Mad Max movie with Fury Road may be surprised by the introduction of Charlize Theron's character, Imperator Furiosa, who wholly out-guns a mainly silent Tom Hardy. A stunning new character that kicks ass from start to finish. A potential action…
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Vincent Price - Icons of Horror

Vincent Price

Celebrating the original icons of horror with a documentary piece on the legendary Vincent Price. Illustrated as part of a collection looking back on some of the original icons of horror cinema, this Vincent Price portrait was later used in a documentary that appeared on the special edition Blu Ray release of House of Wax.…
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The Naked Gun Illustrated Film Poster Christopher King

The Naked Gun

Frank Drebin returns in this illustrated poster for the new Alternative Movie Posters Book. Combining hand-inked outlines and Photoshop colours, this poster design for the excellent The Naked Gun was featured in Alternative Movie Posters, one of the first books to cover the growing underground movie poster scene. Final Poster Sketchbook Pencil Rough Original Inks
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Tiki Pop

How Tiki Became An American Dream Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Quai Branly museum in Paris, Sven A. Kirsten's Tiki Pop traces the history of America's most colorful cultural trend - a manufactured Polynesian paradise of hula girls, rum cocktails and the leisurely sounds of steel guitar. So seductive was its influence on the American…
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Herman Schultheis and the The lost Notebook

Herman Schultheis and the The lost Notebook Reading through The Lost Notebook: Herman Schultheis and the Secrets of Walt Disney's Movie Magic, John Canemaker paints a picture of a rather curious man. A self-aggrandizing and maybe even delusional character, Schultheis was undoubtably enthusiastic and keen to get involved with the burgeoning film industry of the 1930s. Through countless…
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All-American Ads of the 40s

With All-American Ads of the 40s, TASCHEN Books continues their tradition of packaging together essential examples of vintage advertising ephemera, this time focusing on a period both gripped by World War II and the subsequent wave of consumerism.

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Kiddie Cocktails and the Art of Derek Yaniger

A fun collection of soda pop recipes featuring the cool retro art of Derek Yaniger. If you're the type of person that likes nothing more of an evening than to fix yourself a drink at your novelty cruise ship-shaped bar, kick back and drift away to the tropical sounds of Arthur Lyman (in hi-fi stereo no less) then…
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Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy

From the surprisingly violent opening sequence of A New Hope, to the early concept designs of now familiar characters, there's an uncanny feeling attached to viewing these storyboards. It's the original Star Wars trilogy that we all know and love, but with countless subtle differences that effectively describe an ongoing filmmaking process. What appears to be…
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TASCHEN 365: A Year In Pictures

To peruse my bookshelf is to witness the dominance of one particular publisher, TASCHEN. Their continued brilliance in presenting both high and low culture ephemera via beautiful coffee table books makes them my go-to source for that ever-essential creative inspiration.

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Magic 1400s – 1950s

Of the many pleasures in running a design studio and writing these book reviews are the wonderful treats that often come through our doors. The best of these offer visual delights and fuel for our imaginations. A highlight of 2014 so far comes in the shape of Magic 1400s - 1950s from TASCHEN - an eye-popping…
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True Crime Detective Magazines

Artists Who Made Crime Pay The general public's appetite for low-brow sleaze has long been a safe bet for publishers, and while tales of crime and grizzly murders might now feel more at home in a sophisticated prime-time TV series, it was once the mass market crime magazines that ruled the darker recesses of our…
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History of Pin-Up Magazines

Although essentially a re-formatting of previously released books, those unfamiliar with Dian Hanson's History of Pin-Up Magazines are well served by this new edition that collects all three volumes and presents them with a flair we now come to expect from publishers TASCHEN. My initial interest in this series were the countless examples of classic…
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Bride of Frankenstein elsa lanchester

Bride of Frankenstein

Portrait illustration of Elsa Lanchester in Universal Pictures classic horror, The Bride of Frankenstein. Paying tribute to one of the greatest horror icons in cinema, this digital illustration portrays Elsa Lanchester in her final Bride of Frankenstein form. Digital Illustration Digital Sketch
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The Art of Disney – Frozen

As a life-long animation fan, I fear that the Disney studio is currently stuck in some kind of creative lull. With each new feature I find myself less and less engaged, and have come to the conclusion that it's all the fault of the homogenizing effect of CGI. While films like Brave and Wreck It…
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The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen

Countless editions of Hans Christian Andersen's popular fairy tales can be found in various forms, but few provide the lavish presentation offered by TASCHEN's latest collection, that continues the format set by last year's The Fairy Tales of Brothers Grimm. With 23 timeless stories contained within it's hardback cover including, The Little Mermaid, The Emperor's New…
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Star Wars Art: Concept

The award-winning director Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Captain America) introduces Star Wars Art: Concept with an affectionate look back at his early career working as a storyboard artist on the original trilogy. An experimental time where Star Wars wasn't yet the cultural phenomenon we all now know and a fitting introduction to this new book…
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Sirens: The Pin-Up Art of David Wright

The work of David Wright was unknown to me before it's introduction in the article by Peter Richardson in issue 2 of Illustrators Magazine. His pin-up paintings and comic book illustrations were immediately impressive, equalling that of more prominent artists such as Gil Elvgren and Harry Ekman, and left me firstly surprised that I hadn't seen…
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The Frazetta Sketchbook – Volume One

Towering above all others in the land of the comic book gods stands Frank Frazetta, a powerhouse of science-fiction and fantasy art, sadly no longer with us, but whose work remains as popular and sought-after as ever. The Frazetta Sketchbook is a welcome addition to the collections of available work, offering a previously unseen look at the…
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Mitch O’Connell – The World’s Best Artist

Sure, it's not the most modest move naming the book about yourself The World's Best Artist, but those looking for the class on subtlety in Mitch O'Connell's school of self-promotion won't find it. It's this tounge-in-cheek and unpretentious approach, backed up by stellar illustration work that makes me a fan, and the promise of that title and the book's…
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The Terminator - Red Eyes

Terminator and Predator

What self-respecting, thirty-something sci-fi fan doesn't doddle Terminators and Predators. Along with the likes of RoboCop and Aliens, there are a core group of films that represent my teenage years and have left with them a love of film and cool, deadly creatures. Here's a mixture of digital and inked drawings based on the iconic…
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Jazz New York in the Roaring Twenties

Re-released this month from TASCHEN is Robert Nippoldt and Hans-Jürgen Schaal's hardback collection of biographies, facts and anecdotes from the earlest days of the Jazz revolution, Jazz: New York in the Roaring Twenties. Told through a series of portraits by Nippoldt (drawn in a similar style to R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz and Country and William Stout's…
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100 Years of Fashion Illustration

There are several books written on the subject of fashion illustration with many unfortunately proving to be little more than filler or catalogues of aspiring artists, but there are two in particular that stand out for me as recommended titles. The first being David Downton's Masters of Fashion Illustration and the second, Cally Blackman's 100 Years of…
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Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm

First released in hardback last year, Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm was so popular that it quickly became hard to find a copy without spending upwards of £100. Thankfully, publishers Flesk now offer a more accessible paperback edition subtitled, The Big Pocket Edition. Although not much smaller in physical size…
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Legends of the Blues by William Stout

In 2006 the ever popular comic book artist Robert Crumb introduced us via a book of portraits, profiles and accompanying music to his Heroes of Blues, Jazz and Country. Following the same format, it's now William Stout's turn to present his Legends of the Blues. Again, another legendary comic book artist, Bill Stout is also…
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Fun with a Pencil – By Andrew Loomis

This week sees the release of the next in Titan Books series of Andrew Loomis reprints, Fun with a Pencil. Actually dating as the first of the Loomis instructional art books (going all the way back to 1939) it inevitably shares some of its content with his later releases, but where Figure Drawing for all…
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The Golden Age of DC Comics

With the anticipated release of the new Superman movie, DC's status as a leader in the comic book industry remains as strong as ever, with its success only really comparable to that of Marvel. It's testament to the power and longevity of their characters that the very same Man of Steel started it all with…
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Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition

With Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer Artist's Edition, IDW introduced it's range of high-end books for the comic collector, featuring reproductions of raw artwork from some of the worlds most renowned comic book artists. So acclaimed (and limited) was this first edition of Stevens' beloved creation that it sold-out within days, leaving die-hard fans (like myself)…
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Swissted

Swissted is the brain-child of Graphic Designer Mike Joyce, combining a love of punk rock, indie and grunge gig posters with his own Swiss inspired modernist aesthetic. Featuring great bands such as Alice in Chains, Jane's Addiction, Beastie Boys and The Cramps, the result is an unlikely pairing of seemingly un-related pop-cultures, collected in a new release…
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The Dynamite Art of Alex Ross

Alex Ross counts among the greatest and most prolific comic book artists working today and has consistently held my affections thanks to his Gouache and Watercolour style that harks back to the Golden Age of American Illustration. Clear influences coming from artists such as Norman Rockwell and Andrew Loomis, who have passed on a working…
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Presidential Campaign Posters

In the same poster-book format as Gig Posters Vol 1 and 2, Quirk Books delivers this July, 100 Presidential Campaign Posters, a large paperback with ready-to-frame, pull-out pages offering a history of American politics shown through the visual propaganda, showboating and one-upmanship that either won or lost its candidates a place in the White House.…
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Mail-Order Mysteries

I'm just about young enough to have missed the dubious mail-order opportunities presented in the back pages of comic books of old. Age, geography and plain old common sense has protected me from the ultimate disappointment resulting from the ads bold claims. "Have amazing X-ray vision instantly! Learn the world's deadliest fighting secrets! Own genuine…
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The Art of Daniel Clowes

Released this month by Abrams ComicArts in conjunction with The Oakland Museum exhibition of the same name is The Art of Daniel Clowes; Modern Cartoonist. A career retrospective on the artist, writer and creator of some of the worlds best-loved comic books including The Death Ray and Ghost World. The latter of which, under the…
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Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design

Few other designers permeate the creative world quite like Saul Bass (1920-1996). Ask any Designer/Illustrator to name their influences (especially those among the new wave of minimalist movie posters) and you'll almost certainly hear his name. So it comes as a surprise that this is the first biography and career retrospective of this most prolific…
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Garbage Pail Kids

1965 saw the release of Ugly Stickers. A series of grotesque creature creations from Topps, illustrated by the great American Artists Basil Wolverton, Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. Each popular for their work in venues such as Mad Magazine, Marvel Comics, Pulp Paperbacks and the Mars Attacks! series of trading cards. Later came Slob Stickers…
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Sexy Frankenstein Pin-Up

Electric Frankenstein

A music festival poster based around my own dream line-up. This pin-up illustration was hand-drawn in ink and brush and coloured in Adobe Illustrator after a careful vectorisation process. My idea for this was to replicate the gig poster art of the 1990s including a dream line-up of my own favourite grunge bands. Frankenstein Pin-Up…
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