Deep in the Mire: an odessey in music and pictures.

At the beginning of December I was restless for another commission from a band,
and not just an ordinary band. Thankfully Arya Bobaie the Iranian lead singer of Manchester progressive rock band 'Deep in the Mire,' got in touch with me through a recomendation from Wolfgang C. Bailey of the Harrogate band 'Pseudo Nympho.'

Arya provided me with tons of images and ideas to really get stuck into and an ideal theme- that of mythical imagery from ancient Persia. We spent a long time in discussions before the first execution of the image, and once that was produced there were a few changes that needed to be made.

After several weeks, the image is almost there, all the details are in place, and all it needs is for the text to be incorporated. The mythical character is that of the Huma bird, which is the Persian version of the griffin.

The wings with eyes are typical of Greco-Persian imagery, and other details are snippets taken from the Persian mythical canon, which is vast and endlessly fascinating.

In future I will show you the finished image with text, plus the previous versions so watch this space.

Oh...and 'Deep in the Mire' are playing 'The Library' in Leeds tonight- sadly I can't make it there, but there's a strong chance that this Persian Huma bird will get projected up behin Arya and his bandmates.

Intern diary part six: the illustrated how not to make a movie

This along with another small roster of images are what I created to illustrate this short guide written by filmaker Miles Watts of Milestone films. See the link below for the text and image together:

http://www.oneandother.com/articles/how-to-make-a-short-film-the-illustrated-guide/

I spent the whole of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, warrened up in my room, at the desk, creating these images- from selecting the right reference material, creating the roughs, making the finished drawings, then editing in photoshop.

Intern diary part five: at the theatre

Last night, I wrote and illustrated a review for 'Six Lips Theatre.' Their new production of 'Close.' Look at The One and Other York site, for my written work, and the sketches in situe.

Intern diary part four: Parliament Street, York

Here are some drawings for the online magazine 'One and Other York,' from the other day, when the French, and others came to town.

Intern diary part three: Glasvegas

Here's a recent piece of work for 'One and Other,' York- a drawing of the Scottish band 'Glasvegas,' for an upcoming article.

The style of this image is in homage to the great comic book artist Carlos Ezquerra.

Intern diary part two: round at the mayor of York's place

Earlier in the week, the plan was that I would go and sketch during Adam Ant's York gig- and possibly get a more detailed drawing of him backstage. Sadly, on Thursday night, I got a message from Vicky, the editor of 'One and Other,' to say that Adam Ant had declined being sketched- even a very quick doodle.

In order to compensate for the lost Adam Ant 'sting,' I was assigned to go a sketch the Mayor of York during interview.

Friday afternoon, I met writer Ben Osborne from 'One and Other,' in front of the mayor's smart Georgion home, 'Mansion House.' Ben and I waited outside the tradesman's entrance, down the side of the mansion, nervously expecting a snooty butler. Instead we were greeted warmly by the mayor himself, who led us up in the lift, to his 'granny flat.'

It felt a little like going to visit your grandad. The mayor chatted amiably about sports he likes, how he's not really into all that art, that gallery stuff.

After a generous amount of time alloted for interview plus sketching, we were given a tour of his extensive house. The moment that will stay with me forever, is when we were shown down the grand staircase, lined with portraits of mayors from hundreds of years past, I reached the bottom step, and tripped on half a jug of orange juice, which had been left there by a servant or steward in absent mindedness. I cringed and apologised in embarrasment, but The Mayor dismissed it with a wave of a hand, and said he'd send someone round to deal with it.

Once we left the sturdy, elegant house, steeped in history, and left the friendly down to earth host, we were back into the street, with throngs of schoolkids from Middlesborough, and day trippers from Toledo and Texas, ambling the gamut of tourist-traps.

Stylist Magazine competition entry

I made this image today.

It is my entry for the Stylist Magazine competition to design their 100th issue front cover.

I have used imagery from New York one hundred years ago- from the year 1911. The style from that year was phenomenal, and the early skyscrapers from that early era were the most graceful and elegant. My piece is a tribute to that age, and as an Illustrator, I owe some gratitude to the artists, filmmakers, fashion designers and Illustrators from the 1910s.