older Than evil

The sad news of Maya Angelou’s death a week or so before the release of issue 3.11 meant that I knew Wales Arts Review would have an article about her & I wanted to create an appropriate image. Originally I felt I should produce something soft & rich which echoed her beautiful voice & tone but then thought about reflecting her political influence & impact in the Civil Rights movement. For this reason I decided on an iconic/political protest banner feel to the illustration. As it turned out, Dylan Moore was at Hay the day her death was announced & reported back on Toni Morrison’s reaction to the news. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to create a new illustration of Toni so resorted to one I used for The Raconteur some years back. This has a different look to the Maya one but needs must.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/hay-festival-2014-toni-morrison-on-maya-angelou/

Not sure what Diane Ladd would say about my illustration of her. I might have been a little brutally honest in the work. I think I’ve managed to depict some of the glamour though. You might recognise the background: a reworking of an earlier banner.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/hollywood-south-diane-ladd-in-conversation/

The Viv Albertine banner was a deliberately, simplified illustration. When it was complete I wasn’t sure if I should have used a ‘grungier/punkier’ approach. Viv told me via Twitter that she liked it so… happy man!

http://www.walesartsreview.org/clothes-clothes-clothes-music-music-music-boys-boys-boys-by-viv-albertine/

For the Hay Festival banners I used the same background as we’ve used for last two, this time adding gold Hunter wellies. If you’re unsure why, reading Gary Raymond’s article should make everything clearer.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/hay-festival-2014-washing-away-the-mud/

The illustration for the Gregynog Papers series nearly drove me up the wall. Too many bloody lines! No blurs are used at all in this work. It seems some people love this building. I do not.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/the-gregynog-papers-1-a-nation-once-again-owain-glyndwr-and-the-cymraec-dream-of-anglophone-welsh-victorian-poets/

This would be a third interview with David Pountney so I thought it was time for a new illustration. I liked the cropped/tight illustration i had done of Jon Gower & kept that in mind when embarking on this one. When I found the photo of him with his hand to his mouth I knew I had to base it on that image. I limited use of blurs & tried to keep it quite sharp.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/wales-arts-review-volume-3-issue-10/

For the Dexys banner I wanted to avoid the sometimes obsessive detail I can be guilty of & went for stripped down & simple. I actually did two other versions that are even simpler but after speaking to Craig, the author of the article, we agreed on this one.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/nowhere-is-home-a-film-about-dexys/

For Frncesca Rhydderch’s short story John Lavin sent me a detailed synopsis & carcasses came to mind at once but I was still unsure about the background. Eventually I went with what Francesca suggested:

“…all that lush summer greenery surrounding Anya as she walks through the lane towards her house - its rich beauty makes her feel intensely alive, but it is also the ‘vale’ that foreshadows her imminent death”

I loved working on the carcasses & now want to find some time to try some paintings of meat. For the background I tried something a little different. I normally create illustrations out of layered flat shapes but for a lot of the foliage I used brush tools instead to try to create more sense of light & shade. This came about from seeing some i pad sketches by the painter David Parfitt on Twitter. I think it works but his are much more effective.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/love-a-pathology/

One of those rare moments when everything just works for you. This illustration seemed to take no time to complete. I decided on a similar approach to the Green Gartside work from last issue but think this one has more impact.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/in-conversation-with-gruff-rhys/

For Nia Davies illustration I wanted to use a similar approach to the earlier Laugharne banner & leave an unfinished feel to it. It’s not often I’m really pleased with a finished work but I like the simplicity of this. I also struggle illustrating young people. Give me a wizened face that tells of a life lived any day.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/in-conversation-with-nia-davies/

For the Green Gartside banner I went for a totally different approach, aiming for a sharper, more graphic novel/screen print look. The background is a simple approximation of Croesyceiliog School, using a pallette based on Green’s shirt.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/songs-to-remember-the-return-of-scritti-politti/

The illustration for Dic Edwards’ short story started with this e mail from John Lavin, Fiction Editor:

 "It is set in a Llanon roadside petrol station caff which resembles Edward Hopper’s Gas. Dic suggests either an approximation of Hopper’s painting or a depiction of a desolate west Walian petrol station/caff.“

I searched in vain for an image of a petrol station that would work & then suddenly thought "why can’t it be inside?” A few mixes of styles, some simpler than others. Not sure the whole works but I’m happy with certain elements.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/distance/

Illustrations for Keywords &Jan Morris were created quite late. Original banner which we had permission from Tate Liverpool didn’t work as banner & was included in body text instead. The Jan Morris illustration was done in an hour or so late on the night before the issue was published as we were given permission to use the article very late.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/the-alluring-shape-and-substance-of-wales/

http://www.walesartsreview.org/raymond-williams-keywords-art-culture-and-society-in-1980s-britain/

3.7 issue was a Young Person’s special. I didn’t create a themed banner as this was placed in the hands of another illustrator & I focused instead on the Laugharne boathouse banner, using an approach similar to The Cutbacks Special. Part way through, however, I decided on an “unfinished” feel as this seemed to work.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/wales-arts-review-volume-3-issue-7/

I won’t dwell on the results of the guest illustrator’s work. Suffice to say it wasn’t used & after discussions with Gary, Editor we decided to use a sketch produced last year for #DrawingAugust. Not ideal but needs must…

http://www.walesartsreview.org/young-persons-special-in-conversation-with-catherine-fisher/

3.6 saw the second anniversary of Wales Arts Review (time flies) & a lead banner by guest artist, printer Ann Lewis (not shown here).

http://www.walesartsreview.org/wales-arts-review-volume-3-issue-6/

One of the articles was made up of contributor’s highlights of the last two years. Making the banner for ‘A Review of Reviews’ was a simple matter of making minor changes to existing illustrations.

As Craig Austin was kind enough to include my illustration work as one of his highlights I again used illustration work (not all seen in WAR) to give some understanding of my main interests.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/a-review-of-reviews/

The illustration for Joao Morais’ short story 'The Visit’ was much more fraught. Too much detail used for brickwork, colour palette not consistent enough, clumsy illustration for background & poor Joao looking a bit 'wonky’. Such is life!

http://www.walesartsreview.org/the-visit/

The theme for 3.5 came from the announcement of massive cutbacks in funding to the arts in Cardiff. I tried to include all the main companies & centres likely to be affected.

Buildings included are the New Theatre, St. David’s Hall & The Sherman.. Fitting them together involved a lot of fiddling about. The Chapter Arts Centre didn’t sit comfortably with these three so I decided to use the sign instead. HiJinx Theatre appears on posters outside the New Theatre & NoFit State Circus on the video screen outside St. David’s.

People with the money are represented on the far right. The silhouettes of audience/queues were mostly based on sketches I made outside the New Theatre as part of #DrawingAugust.

The lines/edges I used for this illustration are a lot sharper & cleaner than many earlier illustrations.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/category/issue-5-volume-3/

I first created the illustration for Carly Holmes’ “Ghost Story”. As with most illustrations for the fiction pieces now I try to avoid reading the whole story. Instead, John Lavin (Fiction Editor) sends me the story in a Word document & gives me an overview in an e mail. I also had this input from the author “A ruined cottage? A wood with faces in the trees? Something creepy and gothic would be great.”

My first plan was to show all of the cottage in the woods but it seemed that the upstairs window was very important to the story so I focused on that. I made a lot of changes to the wood background and, even now, I’m not sure that the right hand side is as strong as the left (probably too much faffing about on the left). Chances are I’ve also overworked the window. Over all I’m pretty happy with it & I know Carly is, as she’s asked if she can use it for her Facebook header.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/ghost-story/

John Lavin also interviewed Carly. I thought the original illustration was too specific to her story. As she lived in Aberarth I reworked the background from the Cynan Jones’ illustration of last year.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/magic-and-loss-in-coversation-with-carly-holmes/

Peter Hain was the lead for issue 3.4 with an interview & review of his book about his parents’ anti apartheid activism in 60s South Africa. I focused on the illustration of Hain first. I had a few problems with his right cheek which looked too flat. It’s better now but I’m still not totally happy with it.

The background for the interview seemed quite an obvious one; view of Cardiff Bay including the Senedd. Originally, it was going to be a simple silhouette only but it needed some different shades for buildings to give some depth to a deliberately flat image. Some suggestion of glass was also needed for Senedd. I avoided illustrating windows on all buildings as it would have made the design more cluttered than I wanted.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/wales-arts-review-volume-3-issue-4/

For the book review I created a simple flag (took about 30 mins)

http://www.walesartsreview.org/ad-and-wal-values-duty-sacrifice-in-apartheid-south-africa-by-peter-hain/

I like the detailed illustration of the face juxtaposed with very flat simple backgrounds

When 3.3 went live on 14th February the illustration for the Kieran Evans interview was just the film maker with a dark green background (as used on the front page). This had never been the plan but time had become the enemy. Unhappy with the result, I completed the illustration & updated the website a day later so that it better suited the discussions I’d had with the author of the piece a week earlier. The Liverpool skyline was incorporated in reference to his BAFTA nominated film ‘Kelly + Victor’ and the image of coal mining an echo of his work with Manic Street Preachers ('Rewind the Film’, 'Anthem for a Lost Cause’ in particular) as well as a knowing nod to his & The Preachers’ country of birth.

I’m much happier with this version.

http://www.walesartsreview.org/imitation-of-life-in-conversation-with-kieran-evans/