Busy! Busy! Busy!

For the past month, I've been busy painting more spray cans to order and these are the results.  Rather than take 'requests' and paint specific things on them for each person, I just painted whatever came out and sold them on a first come, first serve basis, making them more exclusive! 

I was quite experimental when applying base colours to them, building up layers of colour with spray paint on some of them and using blending techniques on others. 

It's hard to say which is my favourite, as I enjoyed Infecting them all, but I do like the ones with the metallic paint jobs. That effect is achieved by mixing whatever colours with chrome and black.

They've all gone to good homes though and that's the main thing! A mixture of friends and family make up the people who bought them, helping me spread the Infection over Blackpool, Chorley, Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow.

I'm almost ready to move onto Infecting something else though. I've got an idea to paint a couple more and house them in a special collectors box, that will also come with an exclusive Infected By Design canvas.  Watch this space for more on that! 

I've got a couple to paint for Christmas presents for my mate's kids and I've sprayed one up in just black that I want to Infect in white.  I've promised that one to my good pal Robbie Lomas and that could well be the last one! 

I think it's better to keep them quite exclusive and move onto the next object to paint! I'm sorting through all the stuff I've got lying around at home, trying to get rid of things, but have come across a few bits and pieces that would look much better with the Infected touch, like old vases or novelty shaped glass bottles. 

Watch this space for more Infected objects! 

  Also, I'm taking part in an exhibition at the end of November with 5 other local artists and I'm going to be Infecting a load of old skateboards for that. 

 Click the link below for details. 

http://www.facebook.com/events/445227088862765/?fref=ts

Papa's Got A Brand New Board.Oww!

                            What a treat this was!
  It's been a while since I last Infected a skateboard of any kind, but this longboard had a shape and surface to die for! (Once I'd sprayed it anyway!)  Love that black and yellow!

Commissioned by my pal Danny Rees, there was no particular brief, just free reign to do whatever I felt like with it.

I'll always go back to black and yellow though, it's a strong look! 

When I started it, I had the rough image of a samurai helmet in my head. I think it was the shape of the board, it was willing me down a particular path! 

True to my nature though, I was driven to abstraction and the image became another seething mass of bits and bobs! 

  I threw an homage to the OneFiveEight into the mix,as Danny was there in the beginning when OneFiveEight was just 158,a number on the door of one of the sickest party gaffs in our existence! 

It's definitely given me the taste for Infecting more boards of any description!  All donations welcome! 

Yes You Can Can

Welcome to the next phaze! 

  Not so long ago, it was old vinyl I was Infecting, but now the dish of the day is the empty spray can! Its cylindrical shape and tendency to roll a little when trying to draw on it have made it slightly challenging, forcing me to step my game up to produce the goods! 

  I find it helps if I rest my hand on another can when Infecting one, side by side to stop the rolling. 

  

They are going down well with people though. I sold these two pretty quickly over the weekend at a party with a few other local artists and I'm currently working on 8 more to order.  They'd make good Christmas presents, although you'd guess  what it was straight away if you shook it! 

  Watch this space for the next lot. 

I LOVE My Job!

Since the middle of August, I've been working on a great project with Aspired Futures.

  We received £3000 funding from Youth Community Awards, through a bid that was co written by some of the older children.  I've been given the responsibility of spending the money on art materials and holding workshops with the kids to undertake a project to brighten up Kensington House.

Since Lego is a big favourite of both the kids and myself (and nearly all the Lego men have disappeared from the boxes!), I decided we would build giant wooden Lego figures to stand around the house and bring some extra characters into the mix!

First we decided on a range of characters to be our band on the recently built music stage.

  We went with a punk guy and a punk girl (still in production!) and decided John Lennon (in Sgt. Peppers uniform!) should be our lead singer and Jimi Hendrix our lead guitarist. (Only the best for Aspired Futures!)

Then, to mix it up and make it fair to girls and boys, we decided to make a Tinkerbell, a skater chick, Wonder woman and Iron Man! 

  Iron Man was an absolute treat to paint, but the other three are still in production.

I've held 8 workshops so far, not all of which the kids have attended due to them going back to school and progress was slow at first due to the good ol' British weather, but it's been good getting them doing a project like this, sanding the wood and spray painting some of the larger areas on the figures before I add all the details in.

We wouldn't have been able to do the project without the help of a splendid chap called Ken, who is the father of one of our helpers.  He sourced the wood for us and once I'd pencilled in the outlines for each character, he took them away and cut them out with a jigsaw. (Ken also built the music stage I mentioned earlier)

It really is a fantastic place to work, if that's what you can call it!? 

  Amazing people, great kids, quality vibes all round! 

  Watch this space for the next four characters! 

  

Snareophobe Album Cover And Merchandise Project

Every now and then, I get the chance to REALLY sink my teeth into a massive project and let my imagination go crazy.  This was one of those chances.

  Snareophobe are Pete Fibre and Chris Munky: a pair of musical wizards of the dj persuasion, currently on tour in Canada and North America with the mighty Dub FX.  

  A few months ago, they asked me to undertake probably my biggest illustration project to date and design t hem a debut album cover, inside and out, including artwork for the CD itself and a new Snareophobe logo to be printed onto t shirts and stickers for their tour.

  

Armed with a list of 'elements' to incorporate into the design and the dimensions of the space I had to work with, I was told to just go with it and give it the full Infected By Design treatment! 

I mapped out a rectangle using the dimensions they gave me onto an A1 piece of paper, the idea being that the design within this rectangle would be shrunk down to size to make up the front and back covers of the CD and artwork for the inside.

  Somehow, it came to pass that this full image couldn't be split up as intended and we ended up playing around with the images, merging parts together and mirroring others to make it work.

Pete said they want to use the full image as a poster to sell on tour and there is also the possibility of getting it into 'Don't Panic' packs of fliers.

  It truly was a huge project! The original image took over a week to illustrate and then, once it was scanned in, about a week to colour! (I had to have breaks inbetween, looking at all those lines and colours was boxin' my shwede! haha!)

The logo above was the one they went with in the end (in pink), but I've included the one I came up with first which wasn't used (see below), as it was decided the 'S' was too thin and the ink coming out of the 'A' and 'R' obstructed them too much.

I was also asked to create a 'border', to be used around the information on the inside cover, but I think in the end, they didn't use this either. 

I had great fun on this project, despite serious aches in my joints during and after its completion! (Too much doodling can kill you?!)  But then, I wouldn't be Infected By Design if I didn't suffer a little for my efforts! 

  I'd like to thank Pete and Chris for such an awesome project and for being sic guys! 

  You can download and buy the new album, or pre order the limited edition CD with artwork here 

http://snareophobe.bandcamp.com/

Infect Me If You Can!

As followers of my work will know by now, I will Infect anything I can get my hands on! 

  And what better way to recycle used spray cans than to spray the can itself and doodle on it, creating a piece of art from the thing that helps create pieces of art?! 

  I've been using spray paint a lot more recently, for a big art project with Aspired Futures (watch this space for photos of that!), so I've been seeing a lot of empty cans and thought I should have a go at painting some. 

I painted four and sold them within minutes of putting them on my stall at the Alfresco Cowbell Carnival last weekend, all of them to kids! 

  This particular one was commissioned by 'Tha Gods' dj Jonny 'Jaydub' Wilde for his daughter Holly.

  Around the base of the can, I fixed one of the wrist bands Jonny gave me at the carnival.  (Thank Maccy D's Olympic glasses and wrist band promotion for that idea!)

Sprayed with Montana Gold yellow spray paint, then doodled on with black Posca, the surface isn't that easy to work on, but you can bet I'll be painting some more nonetheless! 

You can follow hip hop dj's 'Tha Gods' via Facebook here:

http://www.facebook.com/ThaGods

Dub and Dubber

I've recently been working on designs for a range of products featuring an image of VW Beetles, camper vans and trucks in various locations.  As the client hasn't decided on which ones they will use yet, I haven't posted the images up, but these two are designs I did just for fun, as I was itching to give them the Infected treatment! 

  I've been playing around a lot with Illustrator recently, looking at all the colour pallets and various patterns that are available, as you can see from the swirly body of the camper van!

I'm quite pleased with the VW truck though, despite what some may perceive as misuse of the metals pallet to colour the various parts! As I say to people all the time though, there is no right or wrong with art! Just things you like and things you don't! 

A Charitable Infection

This A2 canvas is one I created a few days ago in response to being asked to make an 'artistic donation' for the next Alfresco Family Event on 2nd September at Blackpool Cricket Club.  As well as good music, food, stalls and activities for the kids, there will be an art auction to raise money for the charities 'Woodlands School', 'Brian's House', 'Blue Butterfly' and 'Donna's Dream House'. 

After I'd finished painting it, I stopped and had a thought that the latest Infection is quite often a by product of the last one, since I end up using the same colour Posca pens to create it.  If you look at the last two posts, you'll see I used black and apple green on lisa's car and then again on the piece I did for her and Tony. The Infection really does spread quickly!  

  This is a good example of one of those pieces that portrays different things for different people, depending on how they look at it that first time.  For example, my girlfriend saw a bird when she looked the first time, but the only idea I had in mind upon starting it, was 'insectoid'! 

  Make of it what you will! 

  For information on the Alfresco Cowbell Carnival on the 2nd September and possibly give yourself a chance to buy the canvas shown above and others by local artists, follow the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/AlfrescoFamilyEvents

Little Dabs Of Paint Make It All Ok

On one of my trips down to Dabs Tattoo studio to paint Lisa's car, when the weather restricted me from doing what I went to do, I ended up painting this piece for Lisa and Tony in their house.  Done on an A2 piece of brown card I had in my folder, it was one of those times I just had to get something out of me! I'd had a little bout of anxiety trying to reach my destination by train and bus and when I finally got there and the rain stopped me from painting the car, I just needed to sit down quietly somewhere and paint the shit out of something to make me feel better! 

As with a lot of my pieces, the viewer makes their own decision on what it is they see in the image.  I look at it now and I see a werewolf.......

Mummy Bear's Infection

Ever since I was given the opportunity to Infect the fibre glass mini, I've been waiting for a chance to put my mark on a real car.  Recently, I was given that chance! 

  In exchange for being 'marked' myself, (fresh tattoo ink at the hands of Inky Bear once again) Lisa, the owner of Dabs Tattoo in Southport, asked me to Infect the bonnet and side panel of her car. 

We arranged a day for me to go down to Southport to paint and get inked all in one afternoon, but once again, I was at the mercy of British weather! It was raining when I arrived and after Karl worked his tattoo magic on my arm, it still hadn't stopped so we arranged for me to come down another day. 

Between my busy workload, finding time to go down to Southport and the constantly unpredictable weather, I ended up making a few trips down there before I was able to spray and paint the bonnet in optimum conditions! 

I made stencils for the main shapes of the designs (my own interpretations of their bear logo for the studio) and spray painted them on using white Montana spray paint. 

  I then used apple green and black Posca paint pens to add the detail in. 

Unlike the Mini (which had been pre sprayed white for me by the guys in the garage), 

   I wasn't sure how the paint would take to Lisa's metallic orange car, but the apple green  looks really vibrant! 

I will say, if you're thinking of painting your own car in this way, it isn't the best way to go about it, as sometimes with the Posca pens, especially black as I've found, the paint can dry and you get tiny white crack lines.  In some parts though, it's actually quite effective and with this project, I spray coated the design once I'd finished with Plasti-kote Krystal Clear to seal it and protect against the weather. 

It was a real treat getting to paint an actual car that people will see as it's driven about! Massive thanks to Lisa for making the project a reality and to Inky Bear for more sweet ink! 

Watch this space for more auto Infections as Lisa's husband Tony wants a panel on his van painting......! 

  

Franky Z and Captain B, Infected is the way to be!

Not long after the paint had dried on Chris' canvas, I was commissioned by another good friend of mine to create this piece based on an image of Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart.  It felt good to have another project to do so soon after the last one, keeping the momentum going and I found myself once again going back to the ol' red and black colour scheme that has served me so well in the past! 

  Harry just sent me the image (a great photo of the two musicians) and said I had free reign to create whatever I saw fit on an A1 canvas.  The only thing he insisted I should incorporate into the piece was the deer from Captain Beefheart's 'Bluejeans and Moonbeams' album cover.  The rest I decided on myself, which ended up being an homage to Frank Zappa's 'Civilization Phaze III' album cover and the Rolling Stones logo mixed with some random Infected goodness! 

  I received great feedback from this piece.  Harry tells me everyone in his family loves it and he said it's the best money he has ever spent! 

A Transitional Infection

This canvas commission  was quite a personal project, not just because the client is a close friend of mine, but due to the nature of its creation and meaning.

  I hadn't seen Chris properly for a while, so it was good to catch up and reminisce about when we were teenagers, growing up as skateboarders and remembering all the funny stories and sayings we used to band about! 

I won't go into detail describing its meanings, as they are personal to Chris, but I will say that it was created to symbolize a period of change in his life, and as a reminder of the past.  

 I took great pleasure in painting it and he is more than happy with the finished piece.  This was the first time I painted a canvas that was already black when I bought it. 

Infected Piano no.2

Back in January, I was given the opportunity to Infect another piano.  This time, for a friend of a friend of a friend! The owner had seen Chris Martin's painted piano online and with that in mind, along with a list of bands and artwork to go off, asked me to paint his upright piano. 

I worked on it in my usual way, making it up as I went along, but with band logos and artwork for inspiration.  Like with the last upright I painted, some of the curvier areas were harder to paint with my trusty Posca pens and some areas, myself and the owner agreed, were best left alone. 

I had fun with the project though, recreating some of my own favourite bands' artwork, like Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' and The Beatles' 'Yellow Submarine'.

It took me a week to complete the job and the owner and his family (who are very friendly people) love what I did with it.  Not long after I finished, they posted photos of the piano up on the internet, which now has over 780,000 hits and a few hundred comments.

Not all of which are complimentary! I'll leave you with the link to that site below so you can read some of them for yourselves.

  I've recently met up with the owner again to do some design work with him and we are looking into getting some more pianos, doing them up and painting them, then trying to sell them. Watch this space for more on that......

Go to the link below and click the 'Just had my piano painted' link. 

http://www.reddit.com/search?q=painted+piano