Gainsbourg revisited

I've just added a "tricolore" smoke effect to the Gainsbourg portrait. I think it gives it that little bit extra. Not sure the effect is right yet but I like the concept...

Another portrait...

... this time it's the legendary Serge Gainsbourg. It's not exactly "alternative", so probably not valid as part of my summer project, but I really enjoyed doing it and it's great Illustrator practice.

I may even get an A2 print to go on my wall.

An Alternative Portrait of Bath

Finally finished shooting and editing my short film portrait. There are some bits I like...

Don't worry... it's Bill Murray!

I got distracted from my film-making yesterday by Bill Murray. Don't know how he popped into my consciousness, although the fact he is the greatest actor of all time may have played a part.

Anyway, I knocked up this retro poster with 35 (count 'em) Murray heads...

I'm going to print it A2. Should look pretty nice.

More ideas for Summer Project

If I am to do an alternative portrait of an actual person, then I have decided it will be either Serge Gainsbourg or Woody Allen. Or Peter Griffin. Okay, probably not Peter Griffin. Hey, if I type Peter Griffin a few more times, could I perhaps lure unsuspecting Family Guy fans to my blog?

Not sure I really want to do something based on a specific person, so I have a few other ideas, like:

America - keywords racism, greed, religious (funda)mentalists, space exploration, stupidity, violence (specifically gun crime/gangs).

21st Century - focus on how shit it has been so far. Where are the flying cars and the domestic robot servants? All we got was reality TV.

The Ramones - a portrait using just icons representing the shapes of their hairstyles.

Bath - I am thinking of doing a photobook of the really shitty areas in Bath. Or maybe photos of all the well-known landmarks, out-of-focus in the background, with various crap in the foreground. Or photos of all the generic shops in Bath, that could be anywhere in the UK. How about a book of just descriptions of the photos, in a suitably Georgian font?

I am still toying with the idea of a jazz-scored Godardesque film of the dark side of Bath. Perhaps I should stop thinking and start doing...

Bummer in the Summer

I've really had it now with this summer project. Only two weeks before we go back and I have NOTHING! I was going to do a short film or perhaps a book showcasing the seedier side of Bath but that is such a literal "alternative portrait".

No, I think that what I need to do is pick a subject and then gather extensive data on it. Then take that data and reinterpret it in a visual way. The end result needs to be aesthetically pleasing but somewhat abstract, so that when I explain how the strange forms relate to the data the viewer will be blown away.

Okay so I understand the concept behind a great piece, shame I am shit at actually realising it.

Could be worse I suppose. There's a "designer" in Dartmouth who has a shop selling his awful prints. He appears to have been commissioned by the local council to do some "down wid da kids" grafitti-style signage all around the lovely town, including this abomination outside a church:

Watching Blade Runner - Final Cut

It's set in 2019. That's eight years from now. Why hasn't the future happened yet? All we got were better videogames and cheaper tellys!

Oh and spotting replicants is easy as they all have shit hair.

Another idea...

An Alternative Portrait of Amphetamine

This will be an A2 print with the text intentionally bleeding off all four edges. Click for larger (readable version).

A couple of ideas (at last!)

Both of these will be A1 posters. I need to tweak them a bit still but they might look pretty cool.

An Alternative Portrait of Ian Curtis (yeah, student cliche #2 after Che Guevara)

An Alternative Portrait of Drug Use

I'll probably hate both these ideas tomorrow... anyway, will get on with my third idea tomorrow, which is an exciting video project!