A Scanner Blue-ly

Here's a piece I produced in non-repro pencil. This started out as a rough sketch that I had every intention of scanning and working over in full colour. I still might (such are the wonders of multiple, digital, loss-less versions), but for now I like this just as it is. Scanned and displayed in all its cyan glory.

Crankadillo in non-repro pencil

To me this look is better than biscuits - a collecion of fuzzy-woven shades with all the obvious exploration of the object's structure that you're happy to put in a sketch you imagine will probably never be seen.

Beastly Beats and Creaky Chops

Sometimes you can spend hours trying to improve on a first sketch to little or no avail. Take the ones below, for example - a collection of musical monsters I came up with as a concept for a friend's website a while back.


Try as I might, every attempt to capture the 'squidginess' of the originals got lost in a mess of layers that rendered them all far too processed for their own good.

At times like these its often smarter to ignore all those mystical photoshop skills you've acquired in the wee hours meeting deadlines. Far better to make a few clicks of the polygonal lasso (never mind paths - the pencils will hide the jagged edges!), a couple of flat fills and a dabble with the much maligned Brightness/ Contrast slider (Levels, surely!).

Here are the results. My own very simple, very squidgy power-trio* all set for a monster jam. And finished just in time to beat the dog to my side of the bed.

Monsters of Rock

You'd think by now I'd have some inkling as to when to stop. Maybe I'm trying a bit too hard to 'show my chops' in my old age. That or I'm too decrepit to get out of my chair at the end of the day.

*The other two had left by then to form top creature-delic folk duo 'Finns and Tootles' - currently touring Working Monster Clubs across the UK.

Winter Wonder Man

I've known Quinton Winter for far too many years now. Back in our student days our ragged sleeves soaked up the dregs from many a bar, only to be sucked dry as we staggered back to our flat... above a pub.

So its been a real revelation to watch his work develop over the years, from his first forays into editorial work for the NME and The Guardian to his more recent stream-of-consciousness fuelled work for Michale Hodge's 'Slice of Life' column in Time Out.

There are a few people working in this style (funnily enough, all for The Guardian) but none, I think, with quite the same vigour as Q. His work has a real 'spit and sawdust' feel to it - lots of flailing lines that get dragged about furiously until they're sheared into long, dry-brushed streaks.

I haven't seen anyone capture Spicy Victorian gadabout Russell Brand quite as well as Quinton did for GQ recently, but then I guess it takes one to know one.

Quinton's take on Russell Brand
© Copyright Quinton Winter

There's more of his work at his website.

Hello.

And welcome to the Tinder Illustration weblog. I'm a fine art graduate turned graphic designer working in the technologies sector. It is enjoyable and rewarding work, however due to work commitments I've taken a sabbatical from my own personal projects such as writing and illustrating.

This blog is really about getting back into my own creative practice. Along the way I'll be looking at some of the artists and writers I admire and have been influenced by, and looking at new opportunities open to image-makers through crowdsourcing tools or limited and open edition prints produced on-demand.

I produce work in two styles, firstly as large, colour pieces that in the past I've sold as limited edition prints (like the one below), and in a looser black and white style that's mostly produced in ink.

A limited edition piece featuring 'Dr Edward Barker'

As I make new work I'll post it up here, alongside a few older pieces I think it might be interesting to talk about.