Very Fine Art

Top quality commands a top price for the talents of Peter Garland, who has just sold a painting for $10,000 at The Lake of The Woods Yacht Club charity auction in Canada.

Peter's painting of lakes in Northern Ontario was the star of the auction, and was produced on the advice of his Fine Art agent in Winnipeg – Mayberry Fine Art. The money from the auction is being donated to the Kenora Hospital charity in Ontario.

Michael Frith

It’s a vintage year for the talents of Michael Frith who is pleased to have his Sunday Times contract to produce portraits for the Profile page renewed.

In addition, Michael is having an open studio in September, an exhibition in The French House in London’s Soho towards the year’s end, as well as working on a multi media portrait project with a view to exhibit at The National Portrait Gallery. Not to mention the on-going promotion of his book ‘Yacht'.

FRAME X FRAME Ruby's Choice

Matthew Robson's 2D traditional animation for a youth drug awareness scheme is currently running across cinemas in New Mexico.Watch it here.

Bondi Republic

Enjoy Dennis Juan Ma's gorgeous illustration for Australia Magazine, showing the dark and light side of life on Bondi Beach. He says of the commission, "Bondi Republic is a photographic journey book for Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.  It mainly features the community, sports, tattoos, bikinis and skaters.  Although it’s a photographic book, the publisher wanted to use an illustration as the intro page." 

Mark Oliver's Scrapbook

Illustrator, digital artist & sculptor Mark Oliver tells of how his engineer Father has been his major creative inspiration. Mark Oliver's Scrapbook.

Joe McDermott hits Wales

This retro image is from a commission completed by Joe McDermott at the end of last year. Joe Says: "In fall 2010, Fflic Productions in Wales commissioned me to create a few pieces for their TV show "Hip Neu Sgip?: Yn erbyn y cloc" (Hip or Skip?: Against the Clock) that were used to make-over the cafeteria at Ysgol Y Strade, Llanelli, Wales. The students and volunteers executed the work, and did a really great job." All the  dynamic results can be seen here.

Frankenstein

Here is T. S. Spookytooth's latest commission, one from Steve Kirk at Computer Active.  The enigmatic illustrator says: "The brief was simply to illustrate an article about creating your own 3D pictures, Steve wanted an illustration of Frankenstein's Monster wearing old style 3D glasses. I happily obliged, there was a Spooky element to it after all, so how could I resist!"

Emma's Ouija Board Tea Towel for Bompas & Parr

Emma Rios spent last week designing and hand printing 100 limited edition Ouija Board tea towels for the latest Bompas & Parr show. The exhibition entitled Heavens to Murgatroyd in on now. Below is the press release:

Heavens to Murgatroyd!

Multidisciplinary mysticism

12 May – 1 July 2011.

Arts Gallery, University of the Arts London, 272 High Holborn, WC1V 7EY

Monday – Friday 11am – 6pm. Nearest tube Holborn

As England counts down to the ancient pagan celebration of the summer solstice, the Arts Gallery presents Heavens to Murgatroyd!, an exhibition that delves into shamanism cosmology, mysticism and the occult in an endeavour to investigate the unknown. Mike Ballard, Lindsey Bull, Bompas & Parr, Jess Littlewood and Joey Ryken invite you to explore an alternative interpretation of the universe through collage, painting, performance, video, sound and sculpture.

The allure of the mystical has long held sway over artists. From ancient civilisations’ depictions of mythical beasts and gods of the natural world, to talismans crafted throughout the centuries to ward off harm, and the Victorian Gothics’ fascination with all things supernatural, art has been used to explore, represent and embody alternative belief systems and their phenomena. The contemporary artists in Heavens to Murgatroyd! work across disciplines to interrogate the full spectrum of post-modern perspectives, from cynicism and intrigue, to sincere belief in a mystical experience of the world.

Spectacular culinary architects Bompas & Parr have had a life-long enthrallment with all things occult; for this exhibition they aim to revive the ultimate 19th century parlour game, the Ouija board. The duo have designed a limited edition Ouija board tea towel which will be for sale exclusively at the Arts Gallery; the tea towel will unite the domesticity of the humble tea towel with the supernatural functionality of a spirit key board, making the ability to communicate with the undead available to every home.

Mike Stones's Scrapbook

Illustrator, Designer, Lecturer & aspirational Academic Mike Stones, on brainstorming & mindmapping to help the ideas flow. Mike Stones's Scrapbook.

Anne Wilson in Digital Arts Magazine

photo by Russell Cobb

Our GOLD Serco Award Winner Anne Wilson continues to celebrate the very deserved award. Her latest piece of exposure is an interview with Digital Arts Magazine, about the award and Anne's reaction to her win. Have a read.

John Walsom Exhibits at The Fountain Gallery

Superb painter John Walsom is having an exhibition starting this month. It will run from 24 May-5 June shared with jeweller Alexandra Simpson and painter Sarah Hocombe at The Fountain Gallery, 26 Bridge Road, Hampton Court, East Molesey, KT8 9HA. Take a look if you're in the area.

Coca Cola Siege

Nathan Aardvark has used his concept skills in full force with his latest commission from Coca Cola.

He produced concept artwork for the fortress in the commercial directed by Fx & Mat at Nexus Productions. The TV ad comes with dragons, beasts and potential disaster, of course a bottle of coca cola saves the day! Watch it now.

Target Style Artist

Montana Forbes has completed work for Target Style Artist of the month.

The campaign is to promote their collaboration with the label Calypso ST. Barth, which is featured on their Facebook  and Twitter pages. Montana had a fantastic time working on the project, summed up by this dazzling result.

Aleph

Beto Campos’s latest project is a mind blowing teaser ad for the book Aleph by Paulo Coelho. 

Campos had 5 days to create 29 illustrations; with a script from Africa Agency and Manipula Studio and photos from Paulo Coelho’s Transiberian Trip. Beto says of the video “The great challenge is the loop effect, where each image includes all the others.”  Watch the video.

Chelsea Flower Show

Rosie Sanders exhibits at The Chelsea Flower Show this month.

This is a treat to see the famous botanical artist’s work in the flesh, happening on May 22^nd-27^th at stand EA/107.   Rosie will be showing her gorgeous flower paintings, artist’s prints reproductions and The Apple Book.

Lyme Regis Map

After 9 months of research and pen to paper, Keith Robinson has finally completed a huge pictorial town map of Lyme Regis.

Now hanging on Lyme Regis sea front, the map measures 4 x 6 ft and is an aerial view of the whole town. The map, recently unveiled by the town mayor, was created at full size. Keith worked in sections with traditional media and then combined layers of line work, watercolour washes and flat colour in photoshop, assembling all the sections like a jigsaw. Keith says: "I won the commission shortly after moving to the Lyme area and it's been a great way to get to know the town and its history. Now that it's done I'm finally getting some sleep without dreaming of small buildings all night!"

Def P & Beatbusters

Eric Van Den Boom of Boom Artwork has created the artwork and logo design for the new album by Dutch musicians Def P & Beatbusters.

Eric’s aim was to reflect the double meaning of the title, so he cleverly illustrated it as an ambigram, he says it’s a "typographical design which reads exactly the same when viewed upside down, while the decoration in the background shows a positive or negative image at the top depending on orientation. The colour scheme – black outside, gold inside – and two inlay illustrations continue the theme."

Hello Mr. Eason

We are delighted to bring Rohan Daniel Eason's classic style to our books.
Enriched with atmosphere, Rohan is a master of the narrative. His second children’s book "Anna and the Juniper Dog”, published by Blackmaps, is to be launched on June 9th with a show of the original works at the Horse Hospital in London. He is so excited about the children’s book genre, Rohan has written his own book which will be his first full colour story aimed at 6-10 year olds. We look forward to seeing it published later in the year.

Café Nero Posters

Just launched are four posters created by Ruth Palmer for Café Nero.

Ruth was asked to make her paintings look like a mural behind the product photo for that real in situ Mediterranean feel. Peter Blake at Together Design then had the images retouched  to give the impression of old cracked walls. The posters will be in the cafes throughout the summer.

Anne Wilson - SERCO Award Winner

photo by Russell Cobb

We give a huge round of applause to Anne Wilson, winner of the Serco Prize for Illustration.

Anne’s ‘Winding Through The City’ beat 400 entries for the competition, 50 of which are on show at the London Transport Museum until June 3rd. The brief was to show the Thames as a diverse and exciting place for Londoners and visitors. The winning image is to be reproduced as posters to be used around the transport network and also sold at the London Transport museum shop. Photo of Anne by Russell Cobb.

Ben Tallon April Flair Winner

We are immensly proud to announce Ben Tallon has won April 2011's Flair competition run by Creativematch. His conceptual, beautifully drawn piece brings Ben a second win...and another ipod!

FRAME X FRAME Ice Cream

 An amusing personal project from top animator Nick Murray Willis on why his friends like ice cream. Watch it now.

FRAME X FRAME Hidden Treasures

Keith  Robinson creates titles and maps for the recent BBC series "Hidden Treasures Of Indian Art" with Griff Rhys Jones. Watch it now.

FRAME X FRAME ABC Easy

Bill Greenhead's app for the iPad is an easy-peasy alphabet game for children, perfect for pre-schoolers to learn their ABC. Get it here

Watch it now 

Art for Africa Auction

Max Gregor is taking part in an art auction to raise money for TEMWA a charity trying to help educate children in africa. Max says: "...It's for a great cause and will feature work from some of the best street artists in the country..." The Auction takes place on 6th May. Here is some more information:

Temwa is proud to announce 'Art for Africa' Bristol 2011, our annual contemporary art auction raising funds for community development projects in Malawi. This years event will feature some of Bristol's most established artists as well as some of the most exciting new and upcoming talent. And for a sneak preview of some of the art to be auctioned click here Plus: Incredible raffle / live painting / DJs and special guest beats from Pieman, MinAmus & S30 CLICK HERE to visit the Art For Africa website THE 2011 ART FOR AFRICA CATALOGUE WILL BE AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD FROM THE WEBSITE BY FRIDAY 22ND APRIL All artwork has been generously donated by the participating artists, and 100% of the proceeds of this event will go directly to Temwa. Felix 'FLX' Braun recently went to visit Temwa's projects in Malawi, here are his thoughts... "Having recently returned from running a six-day community arts project with Temwa, in Usisya, what remains with me is the sheer depth of the work they do, and the enormously positive impact it has had on the lives of so many people in North East Malawi." Felix Braun (to read more about Felix's trip to Malawi click here) "You can see where all the money raised goes, directly to support projects in Malawi; it's amazing to be involved with." Duncan Jago "It's my favourite charity event to support; I love the work they are doing on the ground." Will Barras A huge thanks goes out to our sponsors: Sift, Route One, UK Urban Culture, Attic, 5050, Weapon of Choice, and Dirty Old Town Remember, 100% of proceeds raised will go directly to Temwa.

Friday 6th May 7pm - Late (auction 8.30pm) The Attic Bar - Bristol Entrance FREE 100% of profits to Temwa

Greg Becker in the Dulwich Festival

Greg Becker will be showing paintings of apples from his allotment and also some artwork from the plot52 blog in the 2011 Dulwich festival. The 'artist's open house' will be on show on may 7-8th and 14-15, open 11am - 6pm at 285 Upland Road, East Dulwich,  London, SE22 0DN.

A Royal Wedding Piece

Victoria Ball has recently completed this piece for Glamour Magazine. The brief was to design a cut out and keep place mat, complete with national anthem and spaces for your glass of champers and tissues. She says: "It was great to work on something related to royal wedding and to join in with the celebrations.."

Peter Kyprianou's Scrapbook

Illustrator Peter Kyprianou shares his love of the Renaissance period "possibly the most dynamic period in the creative process". Peter Kyprianou's Scrapbook.

John Holder's Scrapbook

Veteran illustrator John Holder explains his career path was due to being top of the class in Art at school. John Holder's Scrapbook.

Our Newly Designed Site

We are thrilled to have now launched our newly designed website.  We give you indulgent, boastful images from our illustrators all over the world, an insight into their workplace and working methods, illustration TV, infact all we had before but with an even clearer, impactful, image led design. Please take a look.

Asher’s Glamour

Bringing more style to Glamour magazine is Katharine Asher’s cover piece. She was asked to do an illustration as if it was a famous Glamour cover , which was then printed on small notepads and given with the emagazine to all customers. Beautiful.

Hello Joe

We welcome Joe McDermott to our team, an illustrator based in the city of Philadelphia, USA. He brings to our books a style heavily influenced by his upbringing on comic books, creating Pop Art illustrations in the vein of Roy Lichtenstein. Joe’s vintage comic book style has brought commissions from clients such as Smart Money Magazine and Chemical Heritage Foundation.