scott balmer illustration

Cagoule Magazine

2012-01-05T12:48:00.001Z

Time seems to be whizzing by so here is a bit of a belated Happy New Year Message an a long overdue post for this blog just to say that things are fine.

Anyway, the two images above were done for the first ever issue of Cagoule Magazine who are responsible for its sister publication Anorak Magazine.

Cagoule magazine is more of an Anorak magazine aimed at adults but has the same level of design flair and content but for an older audience.

What i had to illustrate here was an article on a very brief history of the bra, but what made this a great and fun piece to work on was being unleashed to have as much creative freedom (within reason of course) to produce anything i felt was a perfect fit to the article.

I always try to keep some small parts in the unknown as it adds a certain thrill working out the problem in real time. I guess i'm addicted to having to think up things in a matter of seconds.

Cagoule should be available at your friendly neighbourhood creative book store or can be bought over at PresentJoy's online shop http://shop.presentjoys.com/product/cagoule

Designer Cocktails for Computer Arts

2011-10-25T13:14:00.001+01:00

If you have a flick through of the latest Computer Arts magazine, then you may of seen the images I had made for CA.

These were done for the manual section of CA magazine for the Drinks by Design article about if certain designers were cocktails, what would they be.

Stoner Bat

2011-09-27T12:36:00.000+01:00

made this for Matthew the Horse and Jon Boam's Spirit of the Animal project blog.

spiritoftheanimal.tumblr.com/

illostribute: Mary Blair

2011-09-21T19:38:00.000+01:00

Here's my tribute illustration for latest illostribute post based on the works of Mary Blair and her fantastic conceptual work she had done for Walt Disney.

This one in particular is from Blair's concept paintings of Peter Pan with Hook and Smee Lurking around in the dark.

As usual, there are some amazing tribute illustrations to behold from other contributors to illostribute.

Check it out:

illostribute.com/2011/09/mary-blair/

Cat clock

2011-09-21T19:35:00.002+01:00

I've been wanting to make an illustration based around the iconic Kit cat clocks for some time now.

And here he is with some brush marks for added fur effect.

Privacy

2011-09-11T12:54:00.000+01:00

just felt like creating a personal illustration based on a more editorial-esque manner.

this is loosely based around the notion of internet privacy, with more and more people sharing things on social networks private or otherwise. This image depicts a tablet as a window with the viewer pinching open the blinds in an anonymous fashion kind of like a nosey neighbour watching whats going on.

Its a bit cheeky but also a lot of fun, i think i might venture with some more experimentation with photos within my work.

Brand Spanking New Website

2011-08-24T16:32:00.006+01:00

This has been something which was long overdue, but now i present to you the new and improved website full of new work and a slimmer design.

Plus it should be easy as pie to update :)

http://scottbalmer.co.uk

And not only has the website been updated, i have also added an new online store to buy prints and other things of my work. Right now there are only a few things available but this will grow over time.

go here if you want to go directly to the store:

http://scottbalmer.bigcartel.com

illostribute - a tribute to Ernesto Garcia Cabral

2011-08-10T18:08:00.003+01:00

here's my contribution to the latest illostribute tribute post. Based on the illustrative works of Ernesto Garcia Cabral.

Personally, all the tribute illustrations are fantastic and i would urge folk to go and see for themselves.

here's my contribution to the latest illostribute tribute post. Based on the illustrative works of Ernesto Garcia Cabral.

Personally, all the tribute illustrations are fantastic and i would urge folk to go and see for themselves.

illostribute.com/2011/08/ernesto-garcia-cabral/

Spilt Milk

2011-07-05T14:36:00.002+01:00

think its safe to show this now

This was done a few months ago for some book for Nokia (don't know if its in the wild yet) where they were going to hang the pieces up and then take pics of them to put in said book or something like that.

The Hirsute Ranger

2011-06-17T12:03:00.003+01:00

a little something you can get screen printed live at Loop this weekend.

I think it will be available in a different colour, I just designed it black and basically told the guys to go nuts on the colour front but i trust 'em.

mass in motion

2011-05-26T19:44:00.003+01:00

this started like as an idea for a client that wasn't picked but i thought i'd take it further.

there's a few more from that commission which i am gong to take further.

but anyway, this piece has been make into a print and is going to be auctioned in Edinburgh for a good cause.

more can be found out on the Aartvark blog on when the auction is, should be a fun night.

aartvarkauction.blogspot.com/

pumps proto 88

2011-05-26T19:39:00.005+01:00

here's something fun which was done for Art & Sole.

The TOY posse had to create their favourite pair of Sneakers. I went with the reebok pump as i wanted something that had a bit of a novelty to it. After some more searching, i based this piece on the proto pumps which featured a dial instead which looked more interesting to me anyway.

then i got carried away and made a swamp thing monster wearing them.

more can be seen on the art & sole blog

http://artandsoleblog.com/blog/view/a-few-of-my-favourite-sneakers-toy

it also got a good write up on CR

creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/may/toys-top-ten-sneakers

the taming of the namazu

2011-04-24T16:38:00.001+01:00

illostribute: a tribute to David Klein

2011-04-24T16:35:00.003+01:00

Here's my contribute to the latest illostribute tribute.

This time its the fantastic works of David Klein.

I was really drawn in to the wealth of expressive and varied travel posters that Klein had produced in his lifetime. I was debating on whether to recreate the rome one which focused more on buildings or the greece one which all the mythos captured so colourfully.

well i ended up doing the image above. had a really good time trying to capture the essence of Klein's piece.

illostribute.com/2011/04/david-klein/

Some work from Hylozoism exhibition

2011-04-24T16:29:00.003+01:00

The Hylozoism show is coming to an end (ends this week on the 27th so there's still time to see the works of both Jake Blanchard and myself) so here are a few pieces which appeared in the show.

inkygoodness character totem

2011-04-11T15:57:00.002+01:00

done this piece above to make up for not being able to paint on the actual totems that inkgoodness were sending off to the Pictoplasma exhibition currently being held in Berlin.

anyway, had fun playing about with this one though.

Hylozoism Exhibition opens this thursday

2011-03-21T14:31:00.003Z

I've teamed up with Jake Blanchard for this joint exhibition Hylozoism. A journey of ancient majestic tribes, beasts and even the odd artefact or two.

As stated the opening night is this thursday so if your in the London area your more than welcome to join us on this expedition of a cosmic kind. but fret not the exhibition is going to be running for five weeks and all work is up for sale.

here's a facebook page for more info

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=201886083163980

intergalactic protect-zoids

2011-03-11T14:56:00.002Z

This was done for society6's SuperHeroes San Fran exhibition and is available to buy not only as a print but also as a laptop/iphone/ipad skin for here:

http://www.society6.com/studio/scottbalmer/Superheroes_SF

illostribute: a tribute to Al Hirschfeld

2011-02-19T13:47:00.005Z

illotribute has now put up the 5th tribute post, this time based around the masterful pens strokes of Al Hirschfeld.

I have to admit this one was a bit awkward in the sense of working out how to combine the simplicity of the shapes with confident strokes. Should i go like Hirschfeld and do this completely in line form? Maybe a mixture of strokes and shapes? what about some colour or adding some texture? in the end it was mostly all of the above to create my tribute illustration way up there. Based on Hirschfeld's drawing of Clark Gable, i had so fun with this one since its been a while since i've done any form of caricature based drawing, though i think my version i need to make the head a bit fatter in places.

As always, there are some fantastic illustrations done by Steffi Schuetze, Sol Linero, Freddy Boo and also some new contributors have entered the fray including Jon Boam and Jonathan Edwards.

http://illostribute.com/

uneasy rider

2011-02-10T14:35:00.003Z

what s it about this time of year that i draw severed things.

owl laser cut for NB studio

2011-01-19T13:37:00.003Z

This laser-cut was done for NB studio's This Year 2011 promo.

A set of limited edition laser-cuts, based loosely around what will happen this year, in this case, the cuts in 2011 will us sharper.

these limited edition cuts were laser-cut on 10" x 8" 350gsm Colorplan.

i initially came up with the concept while playing around with a pair of fold up scissors, after i started doing roughs of birds with the scissors acting as their facial features, even experimented with different types of scissors and how they could relate to a species of bird.

In the end, the fold away scissors offered the most flexibility in how they could be manipulated into various different forms which lead me to create the owl after working around the scissors.

here's the original vector of this owl before being burnt onto paper

Push Cycles print & printing party

2010-12-10T14:26:00.006Z

Push cycles who have just celebrated their first year, decided to mark the occasion by creating the PUSH Art Club in which the first run of five prints from five different illustrators/artists are on sale right now. Each print is a limited edition of 30 and cost £30.

But you'll have to wait until the second or third run until you can get your hands on this:

But what about the Printing Party I hear you say... well tomorrow (that is Saturday) Push Cycles will be holding a special event where you can print from a selection of four 1 colour designs onto tees by your very own hand (i think) so you could be walking away with this 1 colour wonder on a tee:

Be the envy of everyone and be there at Push Cycles

based at 35c Newington Green N169PR London for a chance to walk away with this guy on your chest.

illostribute: A tribute to Earl Oliver Hurst

2010-12-10T14:04:00.004Z

illostribute has just put up its 4th tribute post, this time paying tribute to Earl Oliver Hurst and his stunning body of work.

Above is my tribute piece to Hurst which, while looking for the potential candidate to base the tribute on. This one caught my eye with the subject matter being placed further away rather than the up close and personal subjects that feature in most of hurst's work.

This post has some really great tributes created by the likes of Ben Newman, Curt Melo, Cesar Barcelo, Gabriel Corbera and of course, illostribute's founder Toby Than Neighbors.

BusinessWeek Christmas Characters

2010-12-02T13:08:00.002Z

Looks like its safe to post about this commission now that i've seen it on their website. These festive characters were created for BusinessWeek US magazine to be in a feature about business books which you can basically wing it and get away scot free without reading a single page.

The brief was to design 8-9 characters at the christmas office party interacting with each other but also made independently so that the layout guy can play about with where to position them in the feature. There were also some props such as holly and mistletoe to be designed as well, which was to be used to decorate the page.

These guys didn't take long to create which was a good thing considering that i was only given a few days from rough to finals, but it was all in good fun.

here's a few more images focusing on individual characters.

More of this project can be seen on my flickr account.

Computer Arts 2011 Calendar

2010-11-24T12:45:00.002Z

Another bit of news and another calendar featuring one of my illustrations.

This time, its for Computer Arts 2011 Calendar which comes with the December issue and is out now.

Play Calendar

2010-11-24T12:28:00.003Z

It feels that this was done an eon ago, it was around about june that I was contacted to see if I would be interested in doing an illustration for the Play! calendar which was being produced by the folks at Eiga Design in Germany.

After the piece above was done, all i knew as that the calendar would be released later in the year. Time passed and i Had forgotten about this until that email pinged in my inbox showing links to the finished product.

the calendar/book is a really nice piece of work lovingly put together and is well worth a look.

I've only got 2 links on where to order this. (one from amazon.de and another outlet) if you are interested:

www.nbvd.de/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=25

www.amazon.de/Play-Design-Kids-Henning-Otto/dp/3939028215/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1287647068&sr=8-2

Joe 90

2010-11-07T16:13:00.003Z

inspired by the opening credits of Gerry Anderson's classic Joe 90.

This is my take on the fancy machinery that gives joe his amazing intellect to diffuse bombs and such.

man, i wish they still did shows like this, would be great to work on.

the intro to the show can be found on youtube here.

creative storm

2010-11-07T16:12:00.002Z

feels like we're being watched

2010-10-31T18:06:00.001Z

its kind of halloweeny, i guess

the making of the happy journey collective piece

2010-10-31T13:18:00.009Z

As promised, here's roughly a stage by stage making of the piece for the happy journey collective. I'm doing this just to give an insight into some of the processes I go through while creating my work.

first off is the idea generating stage.

I basically draw something like little thumbnails (either contained or open) where I'm not really interested on the quality of the drawing but on the initial idea as a whole. Also how compositionally sound the structure of the piece would be.

Early on, before even putting pencil to paper I usually have a few ideas that I think would work with the brief given. Sometimes I just grab any piece of paper and draw all over it so that I have a record of what I was thinking when it popped into my head at the time, just like above which was drawn on the back of a print out which was close to hand. The reason that I do this is that its quicker to generate as much ideas as possible without being hung up on things such as style and detail, its just the idea at its purest form and its also a quick way of seeing if it would be worth going down that direction for the final.

Usually after doing these thumbnails roughs, I select the ones which have potential and then develop them further into more structured roughs that would sent be off to clients. Because this was more of a personal project and I knew what I was after, I just moved on to drawing the parts for the final.

So here I started just drawing the character above since I knew on what I wanted the style of the piece to represent. I decided to create the packaging and other objects on the fly while I worked on doing the line work in illustrator with the use of my wacom tablet.

after working on the line work and creating the set pieces such as the packaging, the piece looked like this.

I was going to put in some type with things like 'karate chop action' and 'eagle-eye sight' but decided against that as I wanted the backing card to recede into the background rather than fighting with what was meant to be in the foreground.

Its just a matter of selecting the right colours to compliment the piece. I always have an idea of what colours I want to use, I usually go by the rule on 'what does the colour think should come next' it just basically means that I start off with one colour and then judging by how another colour sits with the initial one in a complimentary sort of way and then build up from there. I also add a limit to the amount of colour used as this adds to the complimentary aspects. the colour selection was used to recede part of the image like the backing card as well as to pull the figure and the plastic coffin shell into the foreground.

resulting into the final piece.

This might not be as in depth but it shows the basic stages that i go through in the creation of my work. I was thinking i might do one of those stage by stage videos where the image builds up at some point in the future, but we'll see.

Happy Journey Collective

2010-10-27T18:15:00.002+01:00

i created this for the Happy journey collective, its a bit geeky in places such as the D&D type dice which i admit i've never played any form of D&D, i just like the look of the different types of dice.

But i do admit that i wouldn't mind a power glove and i've always wanted to include one into one of my illustrations.

The power glove only plays a small part in this one though so i'm planning on doing another piece where it would be one of the main features, we'll see.

as another note i am planning on doing a 'making of' post of this piece which i'll put up at the weekend, just to give a bit of insight into the process of making this one.

for those who do not know about the happy journey collective, its a collective project in which artists/designers from around the world design their own ideal coffins as the ultimate sendoff. it's a fun project where the only limit is your imagination.

more can be found at http://www.happyjourneycollective.com/

illostribute: Norman Saunders tribute

2010-10-27T18:08:00.003+01:00

here's my tribute illustration for illostribute based on the works of pulp fiction cover artist Norman Saunders.

This post and more can be seen over at illostribute.com

the ministry of elborate hair-dos

2010-10-09T14:22:00.003+01:00

Another piece finished recently. this one is also available as a print on society6:

http://www.society6.com/studio/scottbalmer/the_ministry_of_elborate_hair_dos

pencil breath

2010-10-09T14:17:00.002+01:00

here's a weird creation that i've done recently, a nice and unusual character design of a walking mouth with a pencil for a tongue. I was thinking about adding ears into the mix but decided not to since its already a very simple and clean design.

intruder alert!!

2010-10-05T14:36:00.004+01:00

haven't made one of these in this style for a while, its a shame that the colours seem a bit less saturated rather than what they should be. I've also added some close-ups below to help give an idea of the details in this piece.

the big daddy

2010-09-16T13:39:00.000+01:00

haven't added much to this blog in over a week so to make up for it, here are a few pieces that i have done recently.

the piece above is available t buy as a print at society6:

http://www.society6.com/studio/scottbalmer/the_big_daddy

creative process

2010-09-16T13:35:00.000+01:00

a simple design of a hand coming out of a sharpener.

the major's marvellous majestic automobile

2010-09-16T13:34:00.002+01:00

and finally (for now) my last post of a cosmic car which was influenced by the old school tin toys of the past.

from the far reaches of outer-space

2010-08-28T14:01:00.002+01:00

here's something new for all to see, with everything set in a space type setting this time. the name isn't really as psychedelic as the artwork but sometimes naming work can be the hardest part.

i've added close-up images to show the details that might be lost by reducing for the screen such as the cubic pattern in the background and the linage of some of the features of the piece.

poop in the woods now available in the society6 shop

2010-08-18T16:03:00.003+01:00

the poop in the woods print has made it into the society6 shop and is available to buy in three different sizes and also in stretched canvas form.

below is the direct link to the print:

http://www.society6.com/shop/product/56828/prints?cl=3

love

2010-08-14T14:23:00.003+01:00

Here's a piece that was recently finished for Love creative. The brief was to play about with the love logo/type that was given so i went all technocolor on this one. Creating this playful image as the end result.

Personally, i always like briefs where the only limit is your imagination. Really, really good fun.

Colonel Buzzard and his Marvellous Dream Machine

2010-07-26T16:43:00.002+01:00

A new piece which was finished today. Exploring the marvels of modern victorian engineering.

Some folk might of noticed today that the header for the blog has changed to the one above, I thought it was about time I put up something new to freshen the place up a bit.

And once google allows custom backgrounds in their new-fangled template editor then I'll maybe see about a nice background image to compliment the blog.

Fizzer and his Magical Mridangam

2010-07-15T11:23:00.005+01:00

another one created for Colonel Windpipe and his magical brigade.

http://colonelwindpipe.blogspot.com/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/colonelwindpipe/

i've also put up the pencil drawings and more up on my flickr photostream for all to see.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scott_balmer/

Dr. Beaks and his Mystic Sitar

2010-07-12T13:23:00.002+01:00

here's the first one created for Colonel Windpipe and his Musical Brigade. which can be found here. http://colonelwindpipe.blogspot.com/

there is also a flickr group as well. http://www.flickr.com/groups/colonelwindpipe/

set up by uberkraaft and Lesley Barnes, colonel Windpipe invites creatives to help build up the members of his magical merry band in the form of a collaborative print/project.

8 pillow designs now available to buy at envelop

2010-07-12T13:11:00.004+01:00

envelop is a place where designers can put their work on a range of textiles from aprons to oven gloves and for my first addition to the envelop store, i have designed 8 pillow covers that are available right now. here's a direct link to my section in the store.

edit: i've fixed the link to my section of the envelop store, sorry for any inconvenience this may of caused.

here are some close-ups of the designs featured on the pillows:

automobiles in a jam

2010-06-29T13:39:00.005+01:00

Hi all,

After creating the planes piece (alas, our planes were no match for their mighty dust) I have decided to make this into a series of work titled 'planes, trains & automobiles' so here is the new automobiles one that i finished working on yesterday.

only got to work on the trains one now and possibly a combination of a three with maybe one with some ships thrown in for good measure.

but, there's one more thing...

and that is you can now buy this print from society6, here's my store page http://scottbalmer.society6.com/store . This one is only available for just now but there will be more illustrations added over the next few weeks.

but thats not it, you can also get this image as an ipod/iphone skin or even a laptop skin.

And once I have altered some pieces, there will be more merchandise in different forms to come!

Once its all been set up i'll let you know.

the mis-adventures of ernie space-face

2010-06-05T13:12:00.002+01:00

This one was sitting waiting to be finished for about a week in a very early form of just the large space like cranium and an orange triangle representing the body. I think the gap for finishing this guy off was due to me changing what situation I wanted him to be in.

In the beginning, I wanted him to be holding his head as if he was a bit angsty because he has space for a face. He's still a bit in this one but its changed to more of a school classroom type of setting. He's more in the teenage age bracket in the phase of spots, broken voices and the rest that goes with it.

I was going to add a caption such as 'in the test of despair' or something like that where he's trying to get out of sitting a test by pretending to be ill. But then I'd have to make it into some form of a graphic novel (which is something i might do.) but we'll see.

creativity bubble

2010-05-29T12:03:00.003+01:00

just playing about with paints, shapes and stuff to come up with the image above.

The First Batch of icons

2010-05-21T18:17:00.005+01:00

For the first batch, I have made some shapes with paint to create these simple but eye-ctching icons which are now available to download from today.

Both screens show the 12 icons for all versions of mac osx (snow leopard pictured above) and also different flavours of windows (windows 7 pictured below.)

For those who need help applying the icons (or any other icons for that matter) I have included a read me file with both versions which contain a step by step guide and pictures to help you on your way.

Download: mac windows

they'll be more icons to come with maybe an icon/wallpaper combo as well.

Good/Bad weather

2010-05-17T21:51:00.004+01:00

I Thought I'd better post something just to say that i'm still alive and that image making is still my game, for now anyway.

As with most of my work, this piece started off as going to be something completely different. Initially this was going to be a multi-coloured lightening bolt being held by a hand with some clouds at the base. but as always I just go nuts with my instincts and create things on the fly (which is something i do a lot, i guess i'm hooked on instant 'on the fly' decision making!) and came up with this above and below, an image that flips with the rain cloud and the sun acting as flowers in these chaps lapels. And thats not all, take a closer look and see the texture within that flash and all the other elements.

I need new postcards and this was the sole reason that this image came to be. Postcards to tell the illustration universe that i still exist so it looks like i'll be ordering them this week. along with other goodies/bribes for those art directors (if you want some of this gear once its in mineral form just email me and i'll send them over.)

Other things that i'm planning to make are desktop icons for both windows and mac and once i've figured it out, a screensaver (yes way make a wallpaper when you can make something that moves and at the same time make it ten times more harder for yourself!).

Introducing the Mr. Wicker-Man news widget

2010-05-05T14:39:00.005+01:00

Just a small piece of news which is as of today, an rss news widget is now available to download. So if you are using mac osx (starting from tiger and above) and want to catch news about me and my work then this widget is here to help.

Here is a direct link to download the widget.

Another small piece of news is for folks using iphones,ipod touches and ipads i guess. I've now created an icon that is used if a link is added to the home screen. it is a handy feature if you visit any site often though I think once iphone os 4 is out these links could be organised into folders which is great for the folks on the go who want direct links to their favorite sites and have them organised in this way without going through each and every section of the home screen.

here's a small pic of the icon on it's own.

that's it for now. Once I've experimented a bit more there might be some more goodies coming this way.

introducing Mr. Wicker-Man

2010-05-03T15:48:00.006+01:00

Its been something I've been thinking about doing for a while but I've decided to retire my previous logo for something else, so as of today I have started using the new design above.

Other things to sort out next is a complete revamp of the website which will happen soon once i've decided what is the best way to present the site to the masses.

Stay tuned for more info on this and other things that are in the pipeline.

Alas, our planes were no match for their mighty dust

2010-04-25T13:28:00.003+01:00

I created this one earlier this week which was first seen on my flickr account, so that nobody misses out on seeing some of my work, i'm trickling it down the road of blogging and so on. Eventually appearing on a revamp of my own website at some point.

Anyway, this piece was made in response to the news late last week and early this week of all flights from the UK and other parts of Europe being cancelled over the volcanic ash descending from an erupted icelandic volcano named Eyjafjallajokull (bit of a mouthful, well to me anyway). The ban has now been lifted since then but has caused a large backlog of flights to and from the UK.

I created this piece with a mixture of paint, cut-paper while the up-side-down planes were all drawn with a posca pen.

Between the Time when the Oceans Drank Atlantis

2010-04-16T11:45:00.001+01:00

When I was starting to create this one the debate was whether to make the character in the he-man universe or in Conan's. I think there's a lot of He-man based pieces floating and I'm sure I heard of an exhibition based on interpretations of the He-man universe so i thought I'd give the love to Conan instead. I admit that i'm not one for fantasy, its just that i wanted to create something in that setting for a change.

It Belongs in a Museum

2010-04-09T13:56:00.004+01:00

Another one, this time in super wide-screen and also brought to you in glorious Technocolor.

As A kid I loved the Indiana Jones movies and still do (except the recent one which should of had a better storyline and created around about the time of the original trilogy.) This is not only referencing the indy films but also the old adventure reels which influenced the trilogy as well as the trademark outfit which was combined long before indy adorned that fedora.

I've made the image resolution a bit bigger to help show off some of the textures/details in this piece so everyone can see what went into this piece.

The Adventures of Link

2010-04-01T14:36:00.002+01:00

Here's something that has taken a couple of days to finish to the piece that you see before you. It's made up of a lot of textures, paint marks, you name it, it's in there. I have to say my favourite parts are the bats with their mono-eyes and blue ears.

I'm kind of Fantasising here but I think these bats would make a great vinyl toy with wings which can be put into any pose, so that you could rap the wings around the body and so on. For the packaging I would have them hanging upside down for the fun of it (and to confuse the folks stacking them, ha ha).

Does anyone know or can give any advice on trying to get a vinyl toy made or anything about getting involved in the designer toy industry?

Glug London presents - Toys R'US (& Noma Bar)

2010-03-24T20:43:00.004Z

This Glug event is for tonight so if you want to go down and see some and buy TOY goodies (tee's and glow in the dark prints) head down there.

Noma Bar will be doing a talk about his work as well as Grant Orchard talking on his work and with BAFTA award winning Studio AKA.

Some Drawings

2010-03-04T14:56:00.004Z

here are a few drawings I have produced recently, a mixture of pencil and posca pen images mostly created for the show at Berlin.

if you want to see more drawings like this, they have been added to my site or you could have a wee peek on my flickr account as well.

Next location is Berlin

2010-01-18T14:01:00.004Z

I've been meaning to put this up earlier but was side tracked a bit on a few commissions for magazines.

If anyone has been looking up my twitter profile, I hinted at creating some new work for an up and coming event. Well since there's a nice poster to go with said event i might as well give that away, but they'll be no sly peeking at the new work until the exhibition is at full swing where they will be uploaded to the likes of flickr, some other sites and a taster on this blog.

limited edition print now available to buy at the working proof

2009-12-23T14:06:00.004Z

This screen print is now available to buy at the working proof. It is a three colour screen print on 285 gsm fabriano so its on nice thick quality paper and is limited to an edition of 50.

you might be able to see the trees from the images above which are quite subtile but they are there if you look close enough.

not only that 15% of sales goes to the 'kids in need foundation' so its also helping a good cause as well.

the print costs $45 and only available from the working proof.

be good

2009-12-23T14:00:00.002Z

heres a little doodle just for christmas. why E.T? well he's usually on at some point either around christmas or easter.

So for everyone out there, have a great christmas and a happy new year.

the power of the atom

2009-12-06T16:02:00.001Z

here's something thats been sitting around for a while, has a nice retro theme with painted beakers, tubes and some negative spacing to create the white coat.

Unbreakable now available to buy at howies

2009-11-16T19:35:00.003Z

The good folks at howies have now put this addition into their catalogue, my 'unbreakable' design now available to buy from howies stores and also through their online store here.

Now before anyone rushes off to buy one there is one catch, and that is its for kids only. So if you want your little 'uns to be the best decked out kids on the street or if you can squeeze into a smaller size knock yourself out. Maybe if this is popular, just maybe howies might print an adult version, who knows.

for anyone still reading this, this image was drawn with 100% posca pen in the blue verity then made white by means of alchemy.

the wizard's hat

2009-10-22T14:39:00.003+01:00

This was done for the wizard's hat a few months back, I think that this issue was going to be the last of the wizard's hat so this was in the last issue provided it was released.

Basically, because this was a collaboration between the wizard's hat and TOY, the theme was to create imagery in the vein of activity book illustrations. Ranging from mazes to simply colouring in, so as long as it had an interactive element to the illustration, it would be featured in the issue.

With this in mind I produced the image above in the realms of a join the dots activity. It wasn't that difficult to do either, its just a case of seeing the process of creating such an image. Initially, I was going to create a join the dot two-step animation image. there was only one place where I had seen this done and that was an old simpsons sticker album dated around 1991. the album had a mixture of activities included in the back and also a pair of modified 3d glasses used to make the simpsons drawings move in two steps. it was like a mono viewer where you would slide the red filter and then the green filter to cancel out the red/green ink on the page to give the illusion of movement, and it was at the back that this album had a join the dot version of bart using a hairdryer to be done an was something that has suck in my mind as being the only version that I have seen using this type of join the dots.

Ultimately, this fell through due to the wizard's hat requirement was greyscale rather than colour, though I am planning on doing something like this in the future just to see how it turns out.

I've made the image above a bit bigger so I think if anyone wants to try it out can but if not below is what it looks like with the dots joined.

creatures weird and wonderful

2009-10-06T13:45:00.004+01:00

Hi all, this one was done for the 'UNICEF Happiness this way' which can be found here.

I'm thinking these would look great as a wooden toy sort of like the pull along ones on wheels. its something I'd like to see about looking into at some point and this includes making vinyl toys. Hopefully at some point in the future.

Going back to this one I think if I was going to make a toy out of the above it would be wooden to add to the retro-ness of the image. Would be great to create something where the end result is an actual object and that includes the packaging.

The question is were to start though.

A brief history of inter-galactic twister

2009-09-16T15:19:00.004+01:00

Here's one that was created entirely from within illustrator with the aid of my new and better graphics tablet. Years ago during my student days I bought an A6 graphics tablet and although it was ok once you got used to it the size felt like drawing inside the area of a postage stamp. My new tablet may only be a slight step up to A5 but it has made a vast difference as a comfortable area to work within. This doesn't mean that I'm going to go all Bob Dylan and switch to being entirely digital, its just another tool to create images with.

Anyway, the image above was based on the initial idea of creating astronauts/cosmonauts poking out of various black holes. But right at the beginning I changed this to reflect a funkier version of twister, which to me suited this piece more while also adding a bit of colour and making the overall feel of the piece more fun.

have you seen this person

2009-08-25T14:43:00.003+01:00

Here's a bit of fun. I started out drawing each strand of hair then accompanied the drawing with cut out shapes to make this mock missing poster with hand painted type thrown in for good measure. the mouth part was cut out of some old scraps of a screenprint which ended up making this buck tooth look.

the league of inter-dimensional gentlemen

2009-08-20T21:32:00.002+01:00

hello one and all, any one who popped over to this blog later on yesterday might of witnessed the new blog header adorning this site now. I felt its time to put the last one to rest since it was created during the minor refresh when my actual site still had its grey background. in the new one I decided to downplay the 'scott balmer illustration' part to something that can be seen but doesn't overpower the piece, I was also considering leaving the text out altogether but felt it was better to have some reference on who's blog it is.

Anyway, since finishing off the piece for the Wizard's Hat issue i've been playing with using linear forms with a mixture of geometric shapes to make interesting comps and thus 'the league of inter-dimensional gentlemen' was born. I seem to like giving things long names maybe for my next piece i'll devise a name that will be the longest subject title in blogger but we'll see.

As for the wizard's hat and a few other commissions, i'll post something (including roughs) about these once they have been featured in their intended publications before revealing anything about them.

all toasters, toast toast apparently

2009-08-08T13:03:00.003+01:00

Hey all, been busy working on commissions along other projects and still am but thought it might be better to put something new up on the blog for all to see.

The image above was going to be used as a new set of promotional postcards focusing mostly on different forms of hand generated type for something a bit different. If you're wondering why using text such as 'all toasters, toast toast' then you obviously haven't witnessed the abomination that is Hotel Mario on the philips cdi. the game, much like the cdi zelda games are so bad that they're good. Both feature fully animated scenes but the dialogue in all three games are just plain stupid. Don't believe me, search for zelda cdi and hotel mario in youtube to see what i mean.

Anyway, this gem of a quote stuck in my mind as it was fantastically a stupid scene (from Hotel Mario) with a stupid quote but also brilliant in itself. This image uses a photograph of an actual piece of toast (got weird looks for taken a picture of toast but hey you get away with doing weird things in this business.) with hand painted type and some simple shapes to finish it off.

The one below is also done in a similar way but with a potato instead. This time the quote is from one of the zelda cdi games in which the king seems interested more in dinner than saving some far off land.

There are other gems (ganon seems quite daft with his grrrrrrrreatest pronunciations, he also says die a lot) I might make a few more based on these quotes.

more from Zine A

2009-07-09T14:21:00.006+01:00

Above is my copy of zine A from Jake Blanchard through the outfit named Tor Press. I thought that since I have received my copy that I would show my contribution to the zine. I always think its better to wait until the publication is out before putting anything up since the exclusiveness should really fall on the the client, event or group rather than putting it up before its even out in the wild.

below shows my contribution to Zine A (the image on the right) along beside Jake's nice african tribal piece.

This image was created by using nothing by triangles, it may look a bit different from what I usually do but I don't see it that way as I work with shapes, all of my pieces are about how one shape relates to another while also considering the negative space around said shapes. I like to think of it as putting together a jigsaw puzzle where parts have to feel right and relate to one another within the space.

here is a closer look at the image I contributed to the zine.

One more thing, there exists another image similar to the one above which will be appearing as a screen print and should be available through the Tor Press website in the not too distant future. So until that time, I'll show it to the world when its been green lighted but I will say that it is another animal in the form of a water based one.

Another thing is that I'm also planning on making a series of these animal type images and possibly something in the form of prints but we'll see.

Zine A by Tor Press

2009-06-26T15:23:00.003+01:00

Zine A is the first in a series of zines by Tor Press, each zine will focus on one individual letter of the alphabet where artists/ illustrators/ designers create imagery around the letter stated for the zine.

Zine A features imagery created by the 23 selected artists/ illustrators/ designers (including myself) around the theme of the letter A.

Contributers include:

Stuart Kolakovic
Jake Blanchard
Bjorn Rune Lie
Ornamental Conifer
Matthew Green
Sophie Kern
Lizzy Stewart
Tom Fewings
Edward Mcgowan
Seiko Kato
Rachel Lattimore
Partly Civil
Wizards Hat
James Lunn
Richard Clarke
Nicholas Saunders
Scott Balmer
Gemma Correll
Eleanor Grosch
Holly Wales
David Callow
Bob London
Marcus Oakley

Zine A is now available to buy from the Tor Press online shop.

For anyone that wants to visit the Tor Press website can find it here.

FFF brand spanking new site

2009-06-01T13:59:00.007+01:00

Hi there, FromFiftyFive has just removed the covers from its newly designed website today. For those who don't know FFF is a design / creative / inspiration blog which showcases a mixture of creative content from around the world. FFF is not just another design blog though as it also allows through its interactive elements storage and exchange of ideas while also getting creatives together encouraging collaboration and then some.

Through the TOY label, Me and the other members of TOY were asked to design the image header at the top of the site, the idea was that FFF would invite folk to design the header which would then change now and then. And TOY was selected as the first to design the header. My design is up first and will then be followed by the other members of TOY.

All the headers are linked to the creator's site so in this case this will take you to the portfolio on the TOY website.

Couple of illustrations done for The Guardian

2009-05-21T15:30:00.008+01:00

Hi all, above is an illustration that was done for the Guardian which was featured on Monday's G2 supplement. the article was fro the Digested Read Column which was featuring the Book 'Voodoo Histories' by David Aaronovitch.

In short the book in question's subject matter was that of conspiracy theories. Because the column itself is more quips on the book in general, there was a lot of different and interesting subject matter written for me to work my magic on.

The General idea was to make the image in the same vain as a james bond/spy type of thing with different references to parts of the article such as aliens, secret cults and mystic orders, the all seeing eye, WMD's deaths and mob connections all thrown into one image.

I really enjoyed working on this one, its always good on getting something interesting to illustrate and with a bit of the bizarre thrown in for good measures.

here a Second illustration done for the Guardian featured in last Friday's G2, as part of the Anti-natal Column. this time is was an article based on subtexts form within children's books.

for this one it was a combination of theories based on the children's stories mentioned mixed with a more suitable children's book type of illustration, innocent in part and dark in others.

Again, this was another one that I enjoyed creating, this one s already up on my newly designed site and will be adding the other one soon.

Out with the old...

2009-05-14T15:47:00.005+01:00

And in with the new website filled with new work and with new visuals around the whole site.

About last week I was thinking about putting up a screen grab of a part of the new design to show that it was near the finishing stage as a sort of preview but thought it would be best to post about the new site when its live.

One thing to note is that i have decided not to have a splash screen this time round, so if anyone linked to the main page to avoid the slash screen will need to change it so that they can see the new site.

And finally, the Story Motel Exhibition Starts Tonight at the Owl & Lion Gallery which will showcase artist's books and zines from around the world.

Story Motel Exhibition

2009-05-03T13:24:00.009+01:00

Hi all,

The Story Motel exhibition is a collection of artist's books and zines created by participating Artists/illustrators from around the world. These self published works range from the low level zine to different forms of artist's books. In sort its a celebration of the book form as a means of artistic discovery.

for my contribution to the show, I have produced a screen printed zine going by the name of 'Untamed World'. This book is mono in colour to stay true to form of the zine, each book is also unique to one another because of the screen printed nature due to the way the ink has settled on the paper. Another thing is that there are only 36 of these zines up for grabs.

so where and when is this exhibition? its at the Owl & Lion Gallery in Edinburgh opening on the 14th of May and running until the 12th of June. heres a link to the Owl & Lion site.

And heres the address below:

OWL & LION

15 Grassmarket

Edinburgh

Scotland

EH1 2HS

Above is an albino version of the character on the front cover that have I just made, later on I will be uploading parts of the book in all its glory in the not too distant future.

marvin's magical squeeze box

2009-04-21T21:14:00.002+01:00

Hi all, still got a lot of things to do and still got to get the finger out and do some minor updates to the site such as adding new work. I've also created a flickr account though haven't added anything yet so once there are images up there i'll make a post and also create a link in the side menu.

the maps haven't been printed yet due to printing problems but they should be out soon so no post on the images just yet. I'm guessing that early may will be when they are released into the wild for all to see.

i'll keep you posted on things going on and to get this blog back to having regular posts.

I'm not dead yet...

2009-04-06T19:08:00.003+01:00

...just been super busy with things.

I was going to put up some roughs and images that were created to be used for two travel maps for London though because I honour the fact that the client should at least be the first to unleash these images to the world, i can't put anything up until the printers have got their fingers out of their asses and printed the maps ready for them to go into the wild.

above is another commission, this time for the new NYT blog called 'The Choice' where i was tasked with designing the logo. The blog, along with the writer appeared on 'The Today show' in a short interview where there was a few screen shots of the blog and of the logo. which was nice.

for anyone interested. here is the link to the interview.

as for other things, still a lot to do and so little time.

A sailors life is a life for me

2009-02-21T14:20:00.004Z

Heres a new image which was mostly inspired by the character design of Popeye or mostly his bulging fore arms. The character design of Popeye is an interesting one, he is probably the only character that I have seen where they have used large fore arms against the pole like biceps.

On another note, I am planning on updating the work on my website soon. I prefer doing hearty updates so this will include a lot of new work both self promotional and Commissioned pieces. I don't know when the ETA will be but more likely to be in a few months time.

Target Practice

2009-02-06T13:51:00.002Z

I initially started this image with the intensions of creating a very muscular indian behind possibly a small indian chief (might still make another image based on that concept) but after cutting out the shape of the head, it seemed to better suit that of a child and so i developed it further with the 'william tell' esque idea of the apple on top.

As for the background, the idea of the tepees, trees, etc in the background was already set but at first i was going to keep most of the back ground white. further down the line though, after adding the stream it seemed better to add a nice neutral colour to help bring out the nice vibrant colours in the character in the foreground.

Do Bears Poop in the Woods

2009-01-25T13:18:00.002Z

Here's a bit of fun using only two colours.

This is Toy

2009-01-25T13:03:00.002Z

This is Toy is a collective of illustrators for commissioned projects. working in the range of collaborative projects involving motion, print and screen.

The website has now gone live and showcases fantastic work from the likes of Jean Jullien, Jon Boam, Chris Martin, Chris Grey, Nicolas Tual and many more including myself. I am honored to be part of an amazing group of talented illustrators.

The Toy site can be found here.

dandy lions

2009-01-05T15:40:00.004Z

hi all, here's a new image that i have just finished recently. for an added kick, the background shapes are made up of the remaining bits of paper that where used to create the dandy lions with.

Christmas bobbles for the YCN

2009-01-03T13:52:00.009Z

Hi all, here are images of the bobbles that I painted on for the YCN Christmas Tree. I was emailed asking if I would be interested in sending them a decoration in exchange for a gift under the tree, the decorations were done just for fun but also could be seen as a bit of promotion at the same time.

First off, I spent a day to decipher what form was the decorations going to be, are they going to be made out of paper, maybe papier mache, what about using something like wood and finally what about using old decorations to make new ones.

After looking around I came across some old bobbles which I decided to go down this path of making the bobbles for the tree, I also thought it would be nice to make more than one to make it a series rather than just sending one to the YCN.

I have to say paining on them is one thing but drawing was a bit awkward in some places as the bobbles weren't perfect spheres but more like that of a disco ball in that both are made up made up of little hexagons. they have come out quite well though and hopefully the YCN are happy with them.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful christmas and a happy new year.

and now for something a bit different

2008-12-12T13:10:00.006Z

just playing around with some of my work, these lions were made out of card and patterns made with a pencil with a bit of paint for the cheeks applied with my finger. it has a quite retro look to it all.

i've made a few more below

These images would work well in a pre-school children's book, its something that i might look into in the future though i would rather make a pre-school children's book first as they seem to be more simple and stylized compared to older age children's books, such as the books that Eric Carle makes. simple, stylized and full of wonderful colours and textures.

Paper Toy Making Book

2008-12-12T12:38:00.001Z

i've been looking in to the realms of paper toy making for numerous reasons, one being possibly incorporating elements into some of my work. While looking for some books on this subject, I came across this book above on ebay.

being pulled in by the nice modern cover i thought i would keep an eye on it and see what it would go for. surprisingly, i was the only bidder and won it for £6.50 including postage. this book is a first edition and was published in 1937, it is in really good condition for its age.

The only thing that i saw of the book was the cover picture shown on the auction page. so it was amazing to find when i opened the book this image below.

i don't think the scans show it but these images are still amazingly vibrant for their age. All together there are 4 pages known as plates full with these vivid colours, i wasn't expecting to see anything like this featured in the book so it was a real boon having these included in the book. the rest are below:

below is an exert page of one design which i thought shows the basic structure of how the instructions are given. i've actually made a few just to try it out so though the presentation of the instruction first look a bit daunting, they are actually well composed and straightforward.

Anyway, i will be looking out for more books to do with paper toy making as well as any other book that seems interesting to me, I might put up some things that i have found in the past and make a feature out of it.

The Original teddy boy

2008-10-23T19:04:00.004+01:00

one new illustration that i have just finished today.

Promotional envelope print

2008-10-21T15:51:00.010+01:00

hi all, above is a lino printed envelope which i am using to hold all of my promotional stuff that is being sent out to folk.

This was hand printed (no presses used at all) using only the back end of a spoon to transfer the ink to the envelope. It's one of the beauties of any form of block printing in that you can do more or less all processes at home.

I left a space at the top to leave room for the stamp and the ink stamps that it will get through the postal service as the actual ink used in this lino print is oil based, any sort of stamp marks would be easily wiped off regardless of the amount of striping back of the ink on the print.

with the striping back of the ink has made the 'please do not bend' (which was already on the original envelope) pink. another advantage of striping back ink is that it gives the print a texture and also reduces drying times (though this is still more or less a day or so to dry).

For anyone interested here is the lino below:

i used to use lino like paper in my student days, you can see that this lino still has some pencil marks from some of the rough designs that were later shaped through the cutting. I'm thinking about doing some more prints though i'll need better facilities before i can show what i can really do in this medium.

New images for Halloween and more at moo.com

2008-10-16T15:55:00.005+01:00

now available from moo.com are my new halloween images, there are six all together which can be used from cards to stickers. Moo.com also has pre-made packs of cards/postcards/stickers and so on which contain a mixture of designs or you can make your own selection.

these were done as a bit of fun to break up designing the christmas designs which are also available now and can be used for many different products offered from moo. Here are a few christmas designs below:

There are twelve christmas designs in total and can be found here.

Mail Me Art book is now available to pre-order

2008-10-14T19:26:00.006+01:00

Early this year, I sent an image designed on an envelope to the folks at mail me art.

Mail me art was about designing/ decorating/doodling on to any form of packaging material and then posting it to the folks in charge of mail me art, then they would select the subs that would be featured in a compilation book of the same name and shortly after, an exhibition of the artworks. I was really interested in this when i heard about it. initially, it was not what was going on the envelope but what types materials would survive going through the postal service.

I guess that is why I decided to cut out a design in lino and also mix it up with a graphics pen for my submission. I think that they got well over 600 submissions which had to be dwindled down into a selection for the book, I got word that my sub was going to be featured in the book but hadn't anything since, until now.

The book (pictured above) is available for pre-orders at amazon. (here. this is the uk amazon store, i think it might be on the us one as well) the book will be released in march 2009 and the exhibition will be at the Red Gate Gallery in London from the 3rd of April to the 9th of April where all pieces of artwork are going to be up for sale.

The book includes posted submissions from Jon Burgerman, Catalina Estrada, Dan May, Jeff Miracola, Michael Slack, Kristian Olson, and many more.

New Logo design

2008-10-08T19:06:00.005+01:00

I can't believe that another month has past since my last post, wow, though i have been busy making images for the science council among other things.

above is my new logo that i've just finished for myself. This is now sort of becoming a tradition with me in which i create a new logo for myself though i think this time this ones a keeper.

in designing this logo, i wanted to show the soft playfulness of my work while also having a clean friendly design which gives the impression of being approachable, this is the reason why he's tilting his hat as a sort of acknowledgment or friendly gesture.

the lettering was done by using a fairly thick paint brush and not really thinking about making the letters fancy looking, its quite simple, naive in some respects but it adds to the simple friendly design that i was after.

i have been planning to change the main image on this blog to something different which could be soon depending on time (maybe this weekend not sure)

Malta, YCN Live and the Biker Poster

2008-09-11T12:32:00.002+01:00

As part of YCN Live, (I think it was around the end of this worldwide event.) I was asked if i wanted to be involved in having my work along with other illustrators/designers displayed around Malta via bus shelters.

when i first got the email there was one image which i had in mind as since it was going to be on a bus shelter, involving at least an element of travel would give over the message. So the biker was chosen for that reason alone with its slogan of 'ride to live & live to ride' being something that travelers would see getting on and off the bus seemed too good an opportunity to miss.

I'd like to thank the folks at the YCN for sending me these photos to mark the occasion, they seem to have come out well and look fantastic in situ.

Again Thank to all at YCN, this was much appreciated.

The Enigma Machine

2008-08-25T18:03:00.003+01:00

Hi all, here is a new image that i have just finished which was inspired by the old 'Game & Watch' lcd games made by nintendo in the 80's.

I actually had a couple of the game & watch games in the past and have always the simple and very basic method of movement from these types of games, i guess that is the main reason way the the characters always had more animated stances to help give the illusion of movement.

Because of the 1 frame movement in these types of games nintendo actually came up with some clever parts of more complicated elements such as arms being used to move levers or other objects.

I think that whatever type of work that you do, try adding a limiting factor to it, it could be anything such as working with only a few colours to making images without any lines, above all experiment and find a creative way to overcome the set limit, that is the only way to push the boundaries further.

the amazing hilda

2008-08-07T13:23:00.004+01:00

another one, i might actually use this as part of my promotional work. just keeping it simple with the two colours based on more of an impulse idea.

ride to live & live to ride

2008-07-26T19:15:00.005+01:00

A new image that i made today, I've had this idea in my head for a while now, so since i have some time for my own personal work now was the time to create this piece.

more to come hopefully soon.

New Business Cards

2008-07-24T14:40:00.005+01:00

Going on a promotional slant here with the introduction of my new business cards which will be part of the promotional material that I will be sending to potential clients. there are other things that are part of this samples pack which i am going to put up here once they're out of the door but for now, I thought it would be great to show these cards for now.

I bought these cards from the new service that moo.com are now offering, so now instead of just going for the mini cards, there is now the option of full blown business cards. Like the mini cards, you can have as many designs as you want on your cards (which is something that i like about moo.com) so no more of just staying with one design on the set of business cards.

I like these kind of services that allow this as it gives you a bit more freedom than just aiming for one design to represent you.

Above all make it fun and playful.

Islington Green Travel map

2008-06-25T13:15:00.011+01:00

I've been quite busy of late, but have made up with the rare two posts on one day. I was planning to show the stages of going from the rough to the final like what other illustrator blogs do so i decided that the images done for the Islington green travel map would be a good start.

first off, i am only going to show two images from the set rather than document all, of course the new images will be added to my website at a later date.

just to begin on the brief, i was asked to produce four images that would be featured on the Islington green travel map involving alternative methods of travel rather than relying on the car. this brief had a very tight deadline which in turn only gave me roughly a day to produce four images of a certain complexity as these maps were going to be distributed during bike week.

here is rough number 1, which is based on the theme of cycing

now my roughs are just that rough, i don't spend that much time drawing them as its more of a means of generating ideas and also showing the overall composition and how the objects interact with one another. this is the one that was selected off of the few that was sent.

once approved, then its time to get creating, tidying up areas, generating and refining, to the final image below.

rough 2 is done in the same way though this one is a theme on walking.

this one is more complex than the cycling one. to start with i had to convey walking in an urban environment without referencing any urban landscapes. this wasn't part of the brief but i wanted all the pieces to focus on the main parts of the illustration and not on the surroundings. I also think that giving characters whether its a more graphic or realistic design that they all have their own individual personalities, this not only enhances but makes it all more dynamic and generally more appealing.

the final of this one.

and finally, here are images of the actual map. first off the front and back.

and also the inside where the illustrations exist.

this map should be available now around London and is going to be in circulation for a year. so pick one up.

YCN Sweden Exhibition

2008-06-25T12:56:00.003+01:00

A while ago, I was asked by the YCN to design a promotional image that would be sent to prominent names around Sweden, this in turn also included some selected works to be exhibited at the PUB in Stockholm at their restaurant called Publik.

I was also going to get a copy of the promotional image which was going to be screen printed but had not heard anything until now, the good folks at the YCN have said that it is on its way and have kindly given me some images of the exhibition which is below.

The exhibition is still going on so if you live in Sweden and are around Stockholm then you could see some of my work in the flesh.

I was a teenage wookie

2008-05-27T12:47:00.002+01:00

long time no see, i have completely missed april on this blog though i have been busy doing images for the YCN and also getting things prepared for sending in the promotional sense.

I would like thank the folk who have contacted me saying that they like my work, i am very grateful for their positive responses to my work. Again thank you for your support.

There are more things in the pipeline with plans to add some new images to the website and sorting out the sample packs which i will be sending out soon.

New Images to buy at moo.com

2008-04-23T19:07:00.003+01:00

The images above (and a few more new images) are now available to buy at moo.com. So now you can put these new images on cards, postcards, notes and even stickers through the designers section at moo.com.

I will be adding more to moo at some point so keep an eye out for more new designs in the future.

Here is the link to my designers page :

http://www.moo.com/designers/scott_balmer

or click on the link above in the website section.

Caustic Skull Munch

2008-04-04T13:38:00.005+01:00

Another one for the series, right from the beginning I knew that I was thinking about creating a cyclops for this design. I also had thought about the blurb mentioning what it was made of as well.

Initially, in the roughs of the cyclops I had him with two horns at either end which looked quite angular and also had one that was not a complete horn as such. though i changed that after thinking back to the old sinbad the sailor movies in which one of them as i remembered featured a cyclops with one horn. I can't remember the marvel behind the special effects, though i do recall that his team were considered the best at that time, so in a homage to the sinbad cyclops, i gave him one horn which i think sits better in this overall design than it would if it was two horns.