Famous skulls

 

I love these sweet, if slightly morbid portraits of famous women by Theresa Honeywell. To be an instantly recognizable icon it seems that all you need is an unique hairdo!

Cinemagraphs

My friend Sarah has been making some really nice cinemagraphs and posting them on her blog. Kinda makes me want to have a go at creating some! Read her post on how to make them here.

Hundreds and thousands

More typographic experimentation! I was approached by a German magazine recently to come up with a piece for their upcoming edition. The brief was pretty open - come up with something based on the theme of 'my day.' I used cake decorating sprinkles to form the words, which in English translates to 'every day is a party.' I originally planned to use some cachous (those edible silver balls used for cake decorating) but they just rolled everywhere!

The sentence 'every day is a party' means that every day can be the best day if you just have a good attitude and expect good things in life.

Dieeis

The most insanely beautiful work by Thai illustrator Dieeis.

PS: Unrelated news... but it's now possible to follow my blog with Bloglovin

Riccardo Bucchioni

Oh man, I am such a sucker for illustrations of green zombie / Frankenstein girls. Maybe that's why I like the work of Riccardo Bucchioni so much.

Plasticine typography

I bought some plasticine a couple of years ago with the thought that someday I might incorporate it into a design. Well, that time finally came! I had a go at creating words using the plasticine and it was a whole heap of fun! Some of the letters were a bit difficult and wriggly to shape, but I suppose it all adds to the playful vibe of this piece.

The words get out there & do something colourful is just a reminder to myself to try and experiment with new mediums, have fun with design and not to over-think.

Pixar letter

Found this letter by Pixar animator Austin Madison here. Transcript below:

PIXAR

May 17, 2011

To Whom it May Inspire,

I, like many of you artists out there, constantly shift between two states. The first (and far more preferable of the two) is white-hot, "in the zone" seat-of-the-pants, firing on all cylinders creative mode. This is when you lay your pen down and the ideas pour out like wine from a royal chalice! This happens about 3% of the time.

The other 97% of the time I am in the frustrated, struggling, office-corner-full-of-crumpled-up-paper mode. The important thing is to slog diligently through this quagmire of discouragement and despair. Put on some audio commentary and listen to the stories of professionals who have been making films for decades going through the same slings and arrows of outrageous production problems.

In a word: PERSIST.

PERSIST on telling your story. PERSIST on reaching your audience. PERSIST on staying true to your vision. Remember what Peter Jackson said, "Pain is temporary. Film is forever." And he of all people should know.

So next time you hit writer's block, or your computer crashes and you lose an entire night's work because you didn't hit save (always hit save), just remember: you're never far from that next burst of divine creativity. Work through that 97% of murky abyssmal mediocrity to get to that 3% which everyone will remember you for!

I guarantee you, the art will be well worth the work!

Your friend and mine,

Austin Madison

"ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE!"

Paper to paint

Listen up bike fanatics! Shhh! Bikes are running a competition to design some bike graphics for a Shhh! Miss Miles Frameset. It's an international competition and there are some cool prizes. More info here.

Also, I will be running a giveaway next month on this very blog... exciting!

A quick little typographical experiment

It's been a while since I have posted any new work of mine, because lately I have been feeling a bit stuck for creative inspiration. I love creating vector illustrations, but I was thinking of the same ideas and so I decided to take a break and just experiment with some different mediums.

I've always loved making things with my hands so I have announced a holiday from computers and had a go at creating words with found objects. It's a lot of fun, and the best thing is that it focuses my attention to the process of creating something rather than thinking about the end result.

I'm feeling more creative then ever now, and I will be posting some new works soon! Isn't that a cause for celebration?

Sweeeet!

I'm not the biggest sweet tooth, but even I couldn't resist posting about these delicious works of art made by London-based The Cake Parlour. There is so much detail and creativity that goes into these cakes it's amazing. If I received one, I don't know if I would be able to slice it up to eat - they just look too good!