Double Take

Double Take Dribbles, Doubles over and Dies

2009-11-25T13:55:00.004Z

Well, not dies exactly... This post is just to let you know that I shall no longer be posting to this blog. All posting will now be directly into the new blog at www.mcsherry.ie This should improve matters somewhat for me. Instead of having disparate presences on the web [such as Double Take, McSherry's Daily Studies in Oils, a website, and an Etsy site AND a Cafepress shop], they'll all be combined in my spiffy new Wordpress site.

No longer shall I worry about a large variety of hard-to-remember passwords; this should now encourage me to be more active in writing.

So to recap; go here and register for the blog. Do please keep dropping in, it's always lovely to have you over.

See you on the other side...

Kevin

Halloween Carve-up

2009-10-29T13:11:00.002Z

After days of pestering from my nine year old daughter, I finally got around to the annual task of fashioning the pumpkinhead. This year's theme was; drool. We wanted to represent the sticky moistness of yer average monster by leaving some of the 'meat' in the mouth.

As usual, a job that's supposed to be a father/daughter bonding experience started to turn into a serious carving session, with daughter standing by wondering how she could be involved...

Scary.

Look Mum: No Hands!

2009-10-23T19:09:00.005+01:00

Lidl seem to be able to tap into my thoughts. A couple of weeks ago, after spending almost €50 at Woodworkers getting some MDF cut down into squares for painting supports for my students, [they charge €1.80 per cut] I decided to invest in one of these lads. The cheapest I could find in the specialist tool shops was around €199, with a possible €40 to buy a new, finer blade for cutting MDF.

Next thing is Lidl put this one on offer at €130. This isn't the first time they've had just what I was looking for at the moment when I needed it. How do they do that? What other private thoughts are they reading? Am I that bloody predictable?

Just one thing, though: The only problem so far is the 'eccentric lever' which is supposed to lock the 'fence' [the moveable guide to which you knock up the wood to be cut]. After a couple of cuts, it loosened and now won't stay in position; I have to keep it fixed with a G clamp . At 1700 watts, the blade cuts very well and the machine seems to be solid enough. And...AND...it came with two blades, one course and one fine.

I believe next week, Lidl are doing a range of prosthetic hands.

Not Quite All Washed-up Yet...

2009-10-22T10:04:00.009+01:00

I received a communiqué [well -a comment] from somebody who asked why I'd stopped posting to this blog recently. 'Tis true -I have only posted seven times in the whole of this year.

To Anonymous.

The reasons for my lethargy were that I thought no-one was reading this stuff, for a start; so that's one reason! It's truly gratifying when I discover that someone is listening to my outpourings -especially when the comments are as cheering as yours. Thank you.

More importantly though, I've been through some challenging times, shall we say, along with many. First, a sudden and dramatic fall-off in editorial illustration work forced me to rethink how I should be directing my efforts; and really about how I should be living my life. What's true is that I had become increasingly dissatisfied with life as a jobbing illustrator and there are several strands to this: The constant but fruitless promotional efforts [I had a database of well over a thousand two hundred names that sat in my computer ever accusing me of not contacting them].

The work that I really enjoyed ; illustrating for the Irish Times Business on Friday section was cut and I was left with one last editor who had the authority and desire to buy in my illustrations. However, the editorial approach was too heavy-handed for me and I gave it up. The only 'work' I enjoyed doing was sketching and posting them up on Creative Ireland!

The reality is; the problem has been mostly me. I don't like being told what to draw or paint. Sure, most people who dislike their jobs just turn up at their workplaces and do their daily duties but the whole point of striving to be an artist is that you mustn't compromise your soul and that's what I was doing. I've been involved in too many projects where some cardboard-brained pillock has taken over and ruined a good idea. Furthermore, I'm brutal at negotiations and almost always short-change myself. The one piece of advice that I can offer to those wishing to make a profession of their art is: Don't make your hobby into your job as I did. A good artist is an amateur in the real sense of the word. If money comes in as a result of my artistic endeavours, that's great -it'll allow me more latitude for art.

The upshot of all this navel-gazing is that I started teaching painting in my studio. That's my day job. I turn up to work four times a week on two days and earn my wages. You can take a gander at my Art Classes Ireland site, if you like. In fact, teaching ticks many of the boxes for me:

Time. I work 12 hours a week -the rest of the week is mine, to do with what I please. That includes the following: Painting my own compositions; taking on an illustration project from decent and respectful clients; staring out the window of a favourite café; playing the fiddle; doing raised-leg farts; organising paintings for exhibitions; thinking; farting while jumping up in the air and clicking my heels; catching up on my neglected blog[s]; meeting colleagues in cafés -and jointly staring out of the windows.
I meet great people -my students come to me because they like my work, so they want to be here.
I now know where I'll be and what I'll be doing on two days of the week -that hasn't happened for the last fifteen years. I'm the last person who should be left to organise my own week!
Choice. At long last I feel that it's an easier prospect to reject offers of work by clients who I know won't suit me.

To finish; currently I feel about as happy as I could be. I'm painting for myself. I'm not so pressured that I snap at my family. Sure, I don't have much money but I have abundant other riches. I'm awash in a sea of love rather than swamped in the corrosive bilge-water of commerce.

Thanks for asking. How are you?

Les Petites Soeurs Gouache

2009-08-24T19:27:00.007+01:00

Me old matey Steve Simpson's story about acrylic paint drying on the brush during his Italian painting holiday prompted me to bring along a set of gouache tubes on our family camping spell in France. Good thing too -there was a real heatwave for much of the time. I didn't get much painting done but I managed to get some time to doodle in the bar whilst the bairns were in the mini-club. I tore off part of an empty cereal packet which served as a palette for the entire time I was there.

I can't really remember what I wanted to achieve with these two. I seem to recall that I wanted to give them a kind of deathly, consumptive pallor -and that they're supposed to be sketches for a future painting. I used varying mixtures of cyan, magenta, yellow and ochre for the skin tones [Why is it that gouache sets keep to printers' colours? Perhaps because gouache was the preferred medium of graphic designers?]. I aimed to keep the whites of their eyes tonally similar to the skin.

Gouache is a pleasant and forgiving medium and I must use it more. The high density of pigment allows the building up of colour and it's possible to use a wet brush to blend at any stage. I brought a good high-quality Hahnemühle 5" x 5" sketchbook with me; no amount of blending or reworking broke down the surface of the paper. Mmmmmmmm.

Spacer

2009-07-24T10:06:00.004+01:00

Ireland should do this not because it's easy; but because we've a lot of unemployed builders.

Acrylics on stretched canvas

Bearding Michael O'Doherty

2009-06-26T17:55:00.015+01:00

I've just read Marketing Magazine and saw the reference to Michael O'Doherty's Sunday Times interview. I didn't read the original article unfortunately. O'Doherty is quoted as saying that the one thing he'd change in Irish tax system is the artists' exemption. "Seriously", he's quoted a saying, "why is it that someone who writes a crap book doesn't have to pay tax, simply because they have a beard, whereas a team of well-groomed people who produce a brilliant magazine, do?".

I do suppose that the man was joking [although it does start with the word 'seriously'] or else that quote would win the Double Take accolade for being, witless, peevish and ignorant all at once. I do understand that people who pay tax regularly may feel aggrieved that a whole section of the workforce seems to be treated favourably [including myself; I'm a registered artist under the exemption scheme although I do pay tax on some work]. O'Doherty's glib comments aside, it's worth examining the system as it stands. First, the scheme for the much greater part, covers people whose income would not rise to the level where it would be taxed, anyway. [There was talk of capping the scheme: Here's a quote from Visual Artists Ireland's report on how the scheme has been adjusted: "The scheme therefore does not represent a cap of €250,000 on the artists exemption scheme but rather a cap on the percentage of total income that can be exempted from tax which applies to those who earn over €250,000. High earning artists whose total income is comprised of up to 50% of creative earnings and 50% of non creative earnings (from performing or merchandising for example) will not be effected by the new proposals no matter how much they earn. This is a significant difference to the implementation of a straight cap that was initially reported." The likes of U2 are always thrown into the ring as an example of how this system is unfair but anyone working at that level of income has the motivation and resources to move their taxable status anywhere around the world.]

Art should be different from commerce; it shouldn't follow the same rules -ie. produce at best cost -then sell for best price. Each artistic endeavour is only ready when it's ready. Inordinate amounts of time and effort and research may go into a single production which couldn't be charged for with at any reasonable hope that costs may be recouped. Paintings stay on easels for months or even years being re-worked, sculptures remain unfinished, plays undergo constant rewrites, all because it's about a process which culminates in a finished unique work. It's all about the endeavour and not about the pay-off which for the large part will never come. If the bearded artist's book is crap, there's a good chance it won't sell; however, if the bearded artist's book is brilliant, there's still a good chance it won't sell. In most cases, Beardy has to continue working in the day job -and pay tax.

Artists, live in the hope that one day, the fruits of their creativity will be appreciated enough to provide an income, or even just appreciated. The Irish tax system allows artists some hope of remaining as artists. Now imagine Michael O'Doherty of VIP, producing magazines month after month for years on his own before his magazine is recognised for its brilliance, merely because he felt inspired, thought it was important and he needed to put it out? Then, after a period of modest success, it falls out of favour with the public who have moved onto something else, with no other reason than the public is fickle. Most artists produce work for long periods of their lives without ever earning a living from it.

Further to all that, this visionary system attracts foreign talent that combines with our own, hopefully creating an environment that increases the cultural capital and therefore, the international profile of this country. We have to compete, culturally, with countries that plundered many of their treasures from defeated peoples during imperial wars. In comparison, I prefer the way we're doing it. Under this system, Irish-born artists gain by having outside influences arriving at their doorstep, rather than having to leave these shores to seek them out. The fact that there are a few extraordinary and lucky characters that have risen to stratospheric levels of income is just the price we have to pay for this generally excellent scheme. And you may even find that they pay a certain amount of tax anyway.

All this is true, provided that art means something to you, of course. If all you really appreciate is superficial splendour and the trappings of financial success, then I could see your point.

Personally, I find that since the cabal of recent governments and business have made such a hames of the economy during the credit bubble, we need authenticity and creativity more and more. It's through art that we can transcend the dreary repetition of day-to-day living and through creativity that we can control something in our lives. In other words, art is vital.

Being shown the gracious interiors of celebrities' cribs and the revelry of the well-heeled month after month was always a somewhat vapid proposition and now seems somehow matted with irony and just a little embarrassing.

Finally; what's wrong with beards anyway?

Painting Class has Begun

2009-04-03T09:30:00.003+01:00

I've branched out somewhat and commenced painting classes in my studio. My inaugural class was last Tuesday morning when I had six students along and I started them off painting a single apple. My aim is to keep compositions simple, with perhaps a single object.

I've seen many students in art classes, who may not have much experience, try to take on large compositions and become overwhelmed by the task they've set themselves. The philosophy at Art Classes Ireland is to gradually build up knowledge and confidence. The second principle is to have fun while learning -the atmosphere is relaxed and convivial. You can see the Art Classes Ireland web site here

Marketing Magazine Covered in Glory

2009-02-13T12:42:00.004Z

This is the latest cover art for Marketing Magazine. The topic is, of course, the necessity for increasing marketing activity during this slump in the economy. All Marketing covers are put together by Jamie Helly and the team at Dynamo Design who won both the packaging design award and the Grand Prix in 2008's IDEA Awards. Well done.

I enjoyed this task. It's very rewarding to work with clients that understand that illustration can add a whole new dimension of personality and, well...fun to projects.

The Nasal Cosy

2009-01-22T11:25:00.006Z

Thursday's supplementary fashion post.

If you want to get ahead; get a hat

2009-01-22T09:38:00.002Z

*Stop Press. Thanks to Peter Kirwan from Denobi Web Design, who phoned me to ask me if this was my brainchild. Such wit merits a link.*

Apologies for mentioning ancient history but an event occurred in the run-up to the unmentionable 'festive season' that is indeed worth mentioning.

The IGI Christmas party took place in Doyles pub on College Green and was organised by IGI stalwarts, Una Gildea and Pádhraig Nolan. Members were urged to contrive an imaginative hat, worthy of their august profession as arists and which would be judged by none other than writer and grizzled comedy elder, Kevin Gildea. Kevin, who appeared very surprised by the honour suddenly thrust upon him by his sister, the aforementioned Una, turned in a wonderful ad-hoc performance, which not only affirmed to all of us his wit, flair and fluency but also impressed me, with his keen judgement, since I came joint- first along with Joven Kerekes in his jive-ass afro-contraption head-set thing. Unfortunately, I don't have a decent photo of Joven's crown-topper but I do have a pic of Padhraig Nolan's Viking Splash Jewelry Stand Creation and Chris Judge's ' The Ruskies are Coming!'

If you do have a snapshot of Joven avec chapeau, could you send it to me? I'll post it up here and we can keep the spirit of Christmas alive.

Sketchbook scribbloids 2

2009-01-16T12:47:00.022Z

I escaped from my studio last afternoon in order to buy some materials -and to spend time staring into space in a café. I had my sketchbook with me and doodled away a couple of hours over a pot of tea.

I meant to take some time to generate ideas for my Cafepress prints and cards shop that I've had for a year without developing. It needs filling with new illustrated products. Anyway, nothing was springing to mind, so my attention wandered.

There was a young woman sitting adjacent to me in the company of friends and I started drawing her but she was so animated and I was trying to be surreptitious, I had to turn it into something of a caricature. Maybe I should have suddenly told her to stop moving, for God's sake!

Scamp's Thrifty Christmas

2008-12-24T12:07:00.004Z

Well actually, here's something that'll interest you. Every month, Scamp.ie, the excellent blog all about Irish illustration, have an open submission event based around a topical theme. This month's is the aptly themed 'A Thrifty Christmas'. Click on the link below and take a look at how various Irish illustrators including me, interpreted the brief into sketches...read more here.

Joyeux Noël

2008-12-24T11:29:00.002Z

It's unlikely that I'll post anything new today. The children are all off school, with the resultant increase in noise levels. There's still plenty of preparation to do for tomorrow, so it just remains to wish all my readers a happy and peaceful Christmas. Joyeux Noël, Kevin

Snake Oil Soulsman?

2008-12-18T11:42:00.019Z

I've been working for some time on a series of illustrations to be produced as prints. It's an avenue that I've been exploring as a way out of the drudgery of 'jobbing' illustration. This is how I've been feeling for more than a year, now. Working for those who either lack the imagination to extrapolate from a simple sketch or who see artists' skills as merely a way to realise their own ideas has palled. None of this is their fault, since they're paying for a start and I've colluded in this state of affairs myself [I've willingly bought the snake oil salesman's promises] but it is a strong indication that I'm really in the wrong end of the business.

Producing my own art for my own products is also fun, which is the bit that has been missing, of late. All art has to have a LARGE amount of the artist invested in it, if it is to be any good. If it doesn't, it enters the world still-born; a lifeless conjoined monster of conflicting personas, likely to be shunned. You can't, as many people seem to believe, micro-manage an artist's work and expect it to shine. This is absolutely the very worst aspect of being an illustrator. I suspect that the same applies for designers and advertising creatives, copywriters or any 'applied artist'.

So, this way if the idea fails, then it will have failed on my terms -because of my imagination, my drawing skill, my own efforts. So be it. If the idea succeeds, then I'll reap the benefit -on levels much more important than the mere accrual of money. For me, illustration has been like a bottle of balm sold by the credible-sounding man in the white suit -just buy this and all your art troubles will be over! Become an illustrator and be an artist who actually gets paid! Strangle that snake oil salesman who lives inside your head -he's full of empty bottles and unkeepable promises. Here's my advice to any young artist thinking of becoming an illustrator: Think very very carefully -do you really want to make your much-loved hobby into your job? Perhaps, before embarking on your career, read 'The E-Myth Revisited' by Michael E. Gerber, then at least you might approach it with a plan in mind.

This wasn't meant to depress -I'm excited about my art these days -but only art that is truly, or even largely, mine. I get more joy out of a small sale from my little still life studies than I ever did from a big illustration project because I know that a beautiful, personal connection has been made and that the love invested in the small painting generated love in return. As Paul McCartney wrote; In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

Original Thanking

2008-12-17T09:48:00.006Z

A few weeks ago, the Irish Times published their annual Christmas gifts supplement. They had contacted me previously about my web site, www.irishdailypaintings.com where I sell my small oils painting studies, with a suggestion to insert an article on it.

It demonstrated to me why print is still vital for advertising. There's something reassuring to buyers about a write up in a newspaper. You can pour all the searchable tags you like into a web site to drive people to your online presence but at the end of it, many people don't see material published on the web as verifiable and authentic. We all know from the movies that a newspaper office is full of caffeine-fuelled editors and journalists, with sleeves all rolled up, endlessly fighting to find the truth. So we know that all the material has been researched by the hacks and verified by a growling cigar-chomping ed, don't we? And that's a good thing. On the internet, it has been said, nobody knows you're a dog; any mutt could claim anything and they frequently do. The trouble is, we all suspect that the claims may be nothing more than piss up a lamp-post -even after evaporation, there's a bad smell and you don't want to park your bike there.

Subsequent to publication, I received many more enquiries [and sales] over two weeks than I had had in the entire year before. Print is not dead. You can't sit in a café and browse comfortably through an old copy of the internet and you can't hide anonymously behind the puff and flummery of a web site and expect people to have faith in you.

Of course, you are reading this on a blog -but I've been verified and passed as authentic by Citizen Kane. So, thank you.

Wall Street Journalist

2008-11-17T20:35:00.006Z

I took on a very quick turnaround task for the Wall Street Journal Sunday paper, just the other day. Another one in a series of illustrations done with a soft pencil on Arches Hot Pressed watercolour paper. This plus all the doodling I've been doing lately is making for a very monotone blog...but how do you like the style?

Heads go leor

2008-11-17T14:10:00.002Z

I did my usual stint in the Alliance Française, waiting for my children to finish their Saturday morning classes. It's my one chance in the week to sit down, sip a decent coffee and let my mind wander freely. Sometimes I make an effort to draw a particular composition and other times, like last Saturday, I just doodle whatever takes my fancy.

Pencilhead

2008-11-10T13:03:00.004Z

Another doodle, for want of something better to post up.

The Late 'Late Jake Thackray RIP' Post

2008-11-06T11:00:00.007Z

What can I say about this funny, intelligent and charming troubadour? Sadly, this unique man was taken from us far too young, in 2002. Enjoy the music, wit and the deadpan delivery -it's a joy to see somebody deliver pointed comedy without resorting to humiliating senior citizens or minority groups.

[The video seems to have a little interference somewhere around the 2 minute mark but it passes].

New Fashions for November

2008-11-03T12:37:00.003Z

A page from the sketchbook

Double Take Moves Laboriously into the Modern World: Subscriptions by Email Added

2008-11-01T17:12:00.003Z

Double Take has recently discovered some cool blogging processes that other bloggers have known about since the Bronze Age. You can now subscribe to this blog and get new posts sent directly to your inbox. No new posts; No emails. It's a simple process involving taking a stick with a nail through the end and whacking your computer with it for several minutes until it decides to do something for you. Or, you can write your email address in the box at the top right of the blog and hitting the 'subscribe' button...
Did I really just write the word 'cool'?

Unstable Babel Brief Tabled

2008-10-31T11:14:00.007Z

This brief from the Irish Times Innovation supplement was simply handed to me on a plate by the editor , 'This is an article about the U.N. being in a shakey condition. How about an illustration of the Tower of Babel?'. I duly scrawled out a sketch which was passed:

...and

...proceeded to the final. What I did differently this time, though, was to use oils for the entire piece. I reasoned that, since I have a half-decent digital camera, I may as well have a go. I was a little concerned that it might take longer to do but it turned out to take about half the time that I usually take. I didn't work up a more detailed sketch; there was no time. I just found it easier to apply oils and move the paint around than the more laboured approach for acrylics. I gave the stretched paper a couple of coats of acrylic wash and then drew the general composition right onto the paper. The sky, for example, was far easier to achieve; the 'biblical' dramatic sky and clouds appeared very quickly. Even the details of the rubble cascading down the walls was a simple matter of applying thicker gobs of colour.

You may notice that I departed from the sketch in that I made the tower more 'massive'. I moved the building further away and daubed in a 'city' at its base. The crevasses and tumbling brickwork are smaller in relation to the building and that gives more of a sense of drama, I think. I also negotiated the removal of the flag. I felt it detracted from the composition and would appear ridiculously large in comparison with its surroundings, Besides, I reasoned that Irish Times readers are intelligent enough to know that the illustration relates to the text next door!

I took the finished illustration out into the garden and photographed it. There was a certain amount of retouching to do, to bring up the colours and contrast, etc. but it proved a worthwhile method of production. This all may justify the expense of a nice new digital SLR camera though...

Last of the Summer Wine

2008-10-15T09:34:00.013+01:00

I recently completed an illustration project for Brandever, the specialist brand developers for the global wine industry.

Brandever wished to create a series of circa 1900's fruit wine labels that celebrate the old fashioned style of Fruit Crate Label art. With ten different wines currently in production at this winery, each line would feature a different illustration produced by nine different illustrators, other than me.

This blueberry dessert wine, called Sweet Nothings, obviously suggested a love theme and I sketched out various 'love' scenarios, including a Romeo and Juliette scene and swans, the symbol of fidelity.

You can click on the illustration below to see a reasonably sized version of the final illustration without the branding. Once you've done that, we can go and sit in my aviary and have a glass of how's yer father.

Common Sense

2008-10-13T15:29:00.004+01:00

All this bad news about the economy and the reckless stupidity of the banks brought to mind the short but succinct poem by the late Ivor Cutler, Scotland's improbable bard.

I've got no common sense,
And neither has nobody else,
I spread my brains out on the table
And push them about with a fork

All bank chief executives should be made to recite it ten times a day.

New Fashions for Arts Professionals

2008-10-09T10:18:00.007+01:00

Sophisticated young ladies appreciate the generous cut and suave sophistication of this ensemble. Ideal wear for openings, poetry readings, soirées with Tom Paulin or arts discussion programming on RTE.

A Little Early for Caterpillars, Dontcha Think?

2008-10-07T12:56:00.002+01:00

Apropos of nothing really. I was trying to clear my desk of paper and see the actual surface when I came across this. I did it during a particularly tedious networking meeting. Perhaps it'll transform itself into a beautiful illustration? I don't think so.

Monochrome Monoplane at Twelve O'Clock

2008-09-10T19:02:00.006+01:00

The Wall Street Journal commissioned me to produce an illustration for an article by departing journalist, Jeff Oppdike. This would be his last piece for his column 'Love & Money' for he would be opping sticks and moving to another state. Originally, it was meant to be a colour illustration but the flight path was changed to prevent a near miss.

Here are the two scamps that I provided after reading the proposed column:

I liked the first one with its appropriate little accounting joke about reconciliation but the art editor in his control tower preferred the drama of the airplane and the project [ahem] took off.

It was easy to find a reference for a dollar bill on t'internet. I printed out both sides, glued them together and folded the newly minted note into a dart. [It turned out that a regular dollar bill would be far too long to make the shape that I wanted, so I cut of around a third from one end and then began folding]. I then photographed it in my shadow box and used 3B pencils on Arches Hot pressed watercolour paper to complete. I altered the position of some of the note's text to make sure that its 'dollarness' was increased. It's a pleasure to work monochrome and I think it looks very effective, don't you?

We hope that you enjoyed your flight of fancy and look forward to having you on board again soon. You can read the article on the WSJ website, minus the illustration.

Corked Wine Label

2008-08-29T11:18:00.008+01:00

Recently, I was engaged in the creation of a wine label for a French winery wishing to extend their vines into the North American market. I really loved working on this project, not only because I'm an old soak; but I loved what I produced even though the job was disappointingly scotched.

The initial brief demanded that there be a Fin de Siecle or Belle Epoque feel and Van Gogh's work appeared in supplied examples. However, being an admirer of Mucha's work, I presented a more Art Nouveau direction which was accepted by the client. The initial sketches were rough but were made to show my response to the brief.

The Ribbon Lady sketch was picked out to be developed into a more detailed sketch. I wanted to have a classically beautiful Grecian look to the character and found a willing model amongst friends in the local Alliance Française one Saturday morning. I discovered that the position of the arm and hand in my first sketch [drawn from imagination] was unachievable in reality and adjusted to suit. The cascading hair is a reference of sorts to Tamara de Lempicka's signature style and I worked the hair into the wine's name. A nice touch was that I was encouraged to break the boundaries of the label and allow ribbons of hair to flow out. The excess forms would be achieved with fancy die-cutting at the printing stage.

Sadly, though, somewhere the bottle went and this wasn't to be. The job evaporated like a mirage in a dry Arizona town, leaving me thirsty for more...

The Gudgeon of McSherry's Paris Show

2008-05-11T16:48:00.009+01:00

I was invited to show in this year's Alliances en Résonance, held in the Alliance Française in the centre of Paris. Also showing will be Giles Norman, the Kinsale-based photographer. Representing other artistic disciplines will be The Walls and poet, Paul Muldoon.

I created several new pieces -you can see them if you download the catalogue of my work here

The general theme is built around my other passion, namely Irish traditional music. All the names are taken from the canon of tunes. It has always interested and delighted me that the names of tunes are an almost separate entity from the tunes themselves [save for some, for example, Roudledum, which is a verbal expression of the slip-jig rhythm]. The Gudgeon of Maurice's Car, however, must recall some incident which is lost to memory, unless someone can remind us? Do cars still have gudgeons?

The event is an invitation to Paris and the promotion of Irish Artists throughout a week of Irish Cultural Events organised by the Fondation Alliance Française and the Alliance Française Dublin. Its aim is to broaden and enhance the long-standing friendship that exists between Ireland, France and other French-speaking countries of the world. It helps to enrich the knowledge of the respective Arts.

The event take place from the 20th to 25th of May 2008. Vive l'Alliance Française!

Great Eagle Wood: Book Launch

2008-02-11T17:12:00.001Z

This month sees the launch of a new book, Great Eagle Wood, by Cork writer and academic, Derry Cotter. It is an allegorical tale about how economies work, where the various character archetypes are written as animals. It's published by the Institute of Accountants in Ireland and is a sort of Animal Farm about general economics. For a dismal scientist, Cotter explains the complexities of money in a simple and fun way.

The illustration brief identified ten points which were to be illustrated with the instruction that the body of the book would be monocolour. This was a departure for me as I don't take on much mono work. Nevertheless, I had fun with the project, creating characters and imagining scenes in the text -above is the accountant at the Bottom Line. Accountants are foxes, naturally. So are barristers. We have Beaver blue-collar workers, Duck merchants, a depressive Bear and my favourite; an overly optimistic Bull. All presided over by the Great Eagle himself.

All the interior illustrations are drawn with a soft pencil on Fontaine demi-satin watercolour paper. Mmmmm, smooooth.

It will be launched in UCC's Aula Maxima [invitation only].

Painting-a-Day

2008-01-25T10:21:00.000Z

In my on-going quest to rediscover the pleasure of just painting, I blundered upon a large and growing internet-based art movement; Daily Painting. Apparently only going since 2006 as a informal, blog-based idea, it works on several levels. It's an education to see other artists' set-ups, thoughts and working practices -often along with step-by-step demonstrations and explanations of techniques.

For the artists, it's an encouragement to practice every day. They can then sell originals by availing of several internet outlets, such as Etsy, eBay or just through the blog itself, with a link to PayPal. It's a super way for the general public to buy reasonably priced original artworks, with no gallery fees. Most of the resulting artworks are small, since they're only studies -often around 6" x 8".

My own favourite is Peter Yesis' Daily Painting Practice. He loves to share knowledge and his good-humour and modesty comes across in his writing. Like all the daily painters, his output is prodigious. Another is Carole Marine's . I find her style captivating -a great sense of colour with a beautifully spare technique that belies the amount of skill and work that goes into each piece. For the same reasons, I like the work of Qiang-Huang.

For my part, I have set up my own Daily Studies in Oils blog. I didn't realise how difficult it would be to paint with no art director or client to comment or make changes -just me and a blank canvas. It's also surprising how different the required skills are from illustration. It's going to be a long haul but I'm going to enjoy every minute. Now, before the light goes...

Snail's Pace Illustration Step...by...Step

2008-01-23T18:08:00.000Z

Back to the world of editorial illustration. Last Sunday saw the publication of this meisterwerk in the Sunday Tribune. It was commissioned to accompany a profile article on John McElligott, MD of eBay Ireland. McElligott made the point that rollout of broadband in Ireland is proceeding very slowly indeed and is an impediment to online business, nay; an embarrassment . And so say all of us.

After presenting a few ideas, all along the same lines, the 'Traveller's Caravan' idea was selected, I think because it conveyed the idea of commerce more succinctly [and isn't eBay the territory of second-hand goods' sales and virtual tinkerers?] Additionally, it gives a sense of old Ireland and its unhurried ways.

Once I got the go-ahead, I sketched the composition out on the stretched board, as usual and layed down a wash of sap green.

Part of the idea was for certain elements to break the bounds of the background. I also felt that the character should have an air of someone confounded by his circumstance, rather than horse-whipping the snails, as in the preliminary sketch*. It only remained to start working up the colour. I added a flat cap to one of the snail team to emphasise the bucolic atmos. In so doing, I inadvertently made the snail look like Jackie Healy-Rae. Cool!

Acrylics on Galeria textured paper. 12" x 10"

*Only some snails were cruelly bludgeoned during the making of this illustration

Bottle Blues

2008-01-22T15:20:00.001Z

Every day I try to take a little time out to paint a still life. It's good for the practice...and good for the soul, too. I put this little blue bottle up on the stand in my studio and spent perhaps an hour in my own little world.

Buy oils study

Evolution of Flight: Art for Irish Times 'Innovation'

2007-09-07T09:55:00.000+01:00

It took two generations to reach the rocket age from Man's first powered flight. It took me three days. Here's how, but first settle yourself in, make sure that your seat-belt is buckled and switch on your reading light. Enjoy the flight.

The editor of the Irish Times Innovation Magazine called with a request for an image that would convey how businesses can learn from past failures. As usual, I sent in a few suggestions by email, sketched quickly with just enough information to show the thrust of what I thought would work for them. At left, I've cobbled them all together, so you can see at a glance the different approaches on offer.

The editor went for the flight-related idea, which was by far the strongest. It also provided particularly fertile ground for humour. We needed to know that our character had tried flights before and come off worst against gravity, so I put a plaster cast on his leading leg and named the apparatus 'Phoenix III'. I also wanted to suggest that this was taking place in Dublin city. It's an inaccurate portrayal but you must remember that the editorial process is almost always pressed for time. I had a look at a few references for the GPO on the electric internet and away I went. The bus had to be an approximation as I wasn't prepared to wait for one to come by.

This is the drawing, directly made onto the stretched paper. I started, as ever, laying down colour straight over the line

[I always start by laying down a wash of burnt umber and or sap green. Whatever you use, it's best to work on a ground that isn't the bright white of the paper].

I made sure that I didn't lose the line by brushing over the pencil with black at the same time darkening any of the deeply shadowed areas.

I then began blocking in the principle areas of colour. I took the character to a reasonably finished stage because I was as yet unclear how I
would describe the background. If there had been time, I would have made a small colour sketch to determine the background in such a way so as not to distract from the central character. The principal function of illustration is to convey a message, so it's important that whatever you do doesn't create visual clutter.

This is the finished art that I submitted to the Irish Times. You'll notice that I moved the shadow downwards because it looked as if he was about to scrape his undercarriage on the stonework. Now that would be a business failure. I also toned back the cityscape with a little white and cyan suspended in matte acrylic medium. It gives the impression of distance and magnitude, while isolating the main character and maintaining focus on the message.

The second illustration is obviously related to the first, with the same character, now almost entirely encased in plaster, happily rocketing [to a spectacular death?]. Since it was a progression of the first idea, it also required less work in sketching out details. Once again, the same stipulation applied that the composition be set in an urban environment [my tendency being towards laziness and the abstract shapes of nature!]. Still, I enjoyed playing with the details -the little lights blinking in the dusk; tiny plumes of smoke rising from chimneys; the vague shapes of buildings; the frightened cat and the surprised face in the window. I also had our man dropping his crutch to help along the suggestions of movement and height. In all, each illustration took about eight hours to complete, although I could've gone on, given time. It isn't often that what you like doing coincides with what your clients need but when it happens, you're flying! I hope that this helps you appreciate what goes into good, meaningful and unique art for business. Hopefully, this will encourage you to test how well those drab, meaningless stock CDs fly. I'm McSherry; Fly me.

Bloomsday 2007

2007-06-12T09:46:00.000+01:00

The annual Joycefest will be celebrated next Saturday. Make sure that you have your inner organs at the ready [preferably somebody else's]. Have another attempt at reading Ulysses and brush off your straw boater. Die hard fans: contract the clap and relocate to Trieste. Enjoy.

Marrow Envy & Other Stories

2007-05-11T12:45:00.000+01:00

My current exhibition, and second in the Alliance Française, was launched last night by eminent historian and broadcaster, John Bowman. The show comprises 24 framed works, the greater part of which were published in newspapers and magazines such as the Irish Times, Marketing Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.

The show runs until June 11th in the ground-floor Café des Amis. Grab some lunch and enjoy the marrows.

Thank you to my sponsors who helped to make this show such a success, including: The Irish Times, the Alliance Française, Celine Cazali of Océ Digital Printing Machines, Adam Lawrie of QPA Print and Lensmen & Associates.

Financial Report Illustration Project

2007-04-20T14:41:00.000+01:00

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan organisation have just launched their new financial report, designed by Toronto-based design studio, The Works. The studio art director's vision for the project used illustration to convey the central theme of this year's report which is 'balance'.
Although The Works had a clear idea of the principal image which is one of a high-wire unicyclist, they wished to use other characters throughout the design to focus on other activities of the OTPP.

Several rounds of sketches were made to present ideas for various aspects of the report. However, after consideration by the designers and the client, the concept was kept to one character.

You can see here, the development of the central character. The sketch at left was my first rough rendering which was changed according to the designers' comments. The final illustration kept close to this last drawing, save for the objects being juggled. A nice idea was to show the reverse of the unicyclist on the back cover:

It was fun trying to get the model to balance just that little bit longer while I set up my easel on the other side of the line. A thorough dousing with fixative spray helped him to maintain the pose. The report is now in print and online on OTPP's web site. and the model has finally been removed from the unicycle and returned to his family.

Paris: Group Exhibition

2007-03-22T10:06:00.000Z

Agents Associé, the organisation for French artists' representatives will hold their first biennial group show in Paris's Les Arts Décoratifs -a part of Le Louvre complex. I was greatly honoured to be selected by a panel of industry jurists to exhibit three artworks for the show, which is entitled: 'Les Trésors Cachés de nos Artistes'. In other words; self-promotional, work otherwise unpublished or made purely for the pleasure of creation. The show runs for one week from 29th March to the 4th April and is located in the Louvre museum's western wing, known as the Pavillon de Marsan.

Above is one of my artworks that will be on show. I'm delighted that this was one of the chosen pieces. It was created for the promotion of the Illustrators Guild of Ireland in a postcard campaign -and it also won the Best Self-promotional Illustration gong for 2006. It fits perfectly into this exhibition and gets the message across: The craft of illustration needs a superhero to join the battle against the depressing mediocrity of stock imagery; and who better than the childlike Pencil-Boy, the Hand-made Hero?

It's also interesting to see the difference between the French and Irish attitudes to illustration -even amongst industry insiders such as illustrators and agents. There's a much greater acceptance of illustration's cultural significance in les payes francophones [perhaps it's true for the rest of Europe, though I've little experience on which to draw]. Go to any French bookstore or hypermarché and there will be an abundance of bandes dessinées on display. There's a thriving publishing industry of graphic novels and an appreciation for the artists who produce them -with an important festival dedicated to the art in Angoulême. I'll come back to this topic in later posts. It'd be interesting to have an exhibition of bandes dessinées in Ireland; perhaps our own mini-Angoulême. Would that interest you? Hmm?

Meanwhile, Marie Bastille, my representative in France is currently very involved with organising the Trésors show -great credit to her. Vive Pencil-Boy!

Marketing Magazine Covered

2007-01-11T09:21:00.000Z

We're moving towards election time again. The current issue of Marketing Magazine features one of my illustrations. The feature article describes the challenge that advertising creatives face when commissioned to create campaigns for political parties.

If you click on the above image itself, you'll see a larger version.

I want to give you an idea of the process and collaboration that ended with the illustration as it appears [a collaboration between Michael Cullen, editor of the magazine, Jamie Cullen of Dynamo and myself]. The first rough sketch is the one that we felt conveyed the message in the strongest way. Like in previous posts, there were others, but there's neither the space or the inclination on my part to show them!

Once this was accepted, I felt that the composition could be improved and made more lively. Also, I thought our creative should have the full hatchback head rather than a little back door and that we should see the brief a little more clearly.

So I submitted sketch 2, which was duly approved and I rendered the final illustration. It was completed in acrylics on Winton oils paper. So, that's it. Vote for me! And invest in Marketing Magazine - try their web site.

Ho ho ho... A Very [Insert franchise name here] Christmas

2006-12-18T09:37:00.000Z

First, I'd just like to wish a very happy and peaceful Christmas to both my readers!

Apparently, 'tis the season to send badly designed Christmas cards to people that you don't know very well, in the hope of generating a bit of oul' business. For, as it was once told to me by a wizened old marketing professional -you can send all the flyers you want during the course of a year but people will only remember the Christmas card.

I agree -but only if the card is worth looking at. I just received one from the garage that sold me my second-hand car seven years ago [as I have done every year since]. Although it doesn't take the gong for worst card design, it comes eye-wateringly close. There is no excuse for sending abysmal cards unless you're a graphic designer in a corduroy jacket who could say with a knowing smile, 'This card is an ironic statement'.

Seems to me that all such cards generate is indifference, or worse; enmity. If the person to whom a card is sent is not a personal friend- then the card must have some other obvious merit. It should be very funny or very arresting in some other way. You can't get good results from a picture lifted from a royalty-free image CD or one that has a company logo plastered garishly across the cover illustration. I venture to suggest that cards' inner messages should also be hand-written, perhaps with a wry humorous note [since there may be no personal relationship with the receiver].

And... since companies habitually decide to include Christmas in their marketing strategies; they shouldn't leave such important design choices to busy office managers or outsource the task of design to printers [printers and design are like builders and varnish; they don't mix]. There are plenty of great illustrators and graphic designers -who are born for such work and can advise on approach. There are also excellent cards made by some of the charities, like Oxfam or The Irish Cancer Society. So, there's plenty of choice -all well worth the expense and which could start generating a bit of warmth in these cold-hearted times.

Perhaps as image-makers, we're not doing enough to convince people in the general business community of the value of design?

I'd wecome your thoughts on the subject. Have you received any cards this year that provoked a wince? Clean your stomach contents from your shoes and tell me about it.

An Iggy from the IllustratorsIreland.com Awards 2006

2006-12-11T14:22:00.000Z

The Illustrators Guild of Ireland had its annual awards last Friday in the United Arts Club in Dublin's City Centre. I was delighted to be awarded the 'Iggy' for this illustration in the 'Self-promotional' category. In fact, the idea was conceived in response to a call by the IGI for images for a promotional postcard campaign but it's still self-promotional really. There was some beautiful work on show from everybody but especially from PJ Lynch [Best Book Illustration] and David Rooney [Best Editorial and Best Overall Illustration].

'Pencil Boy' is a witty soubriquet bestowed upon me by photographer John Redmond [or 'Lens Creature'] one day and it made me laugh with its crazy American comic-book language dude-like hipness. I thought a Pencil Boy would be a good image to promote a bunch of illustrators.

Anyroad, while staying at my father-in-law's gaff in Provence during the summer, I obviously found that I needed to pass a lot of time away from the house. So it was that this was painted in the light-speckled shade of the garden. Sounds quite idyllic but the aging brittle plastic garden chair upon which I was sitting gradually collapsed, bit by bit. First the left arm, then the right, then the back and one of the legs until I was balancing on a three-legged stool. I also realised when I unpacked my kit that I had forgotten my cadmium red acrylic, so the piece is a mix of acrylic and cadmium red oil. Consequently it took ages and I wouldn't recommend it as an approach.

You can see all the competition entries on the IGI Awards 2006 judges' site

Never Mind the Testiculation

2006-10-10T11:42:00.000+01:00

I was over in London last weekend, on an invitation by a friend to go and see The Stranglers. I was an ardent fan around the late seventies so I was dubious about going to see them now, especially as Hugh Cornwell left the band some years ago. Cornwell, with his sinister vocal sound, seems to me to be irreplaceable. Sure enough, their new lead singer [Let's call him Nugh Cornwell] crashed through songs that should only be sung by Cornwell himself, and moved the group into the territory usually occupied by tribute bands. No more heroes indeed.

On another note, I learned a new word, 'testiculation'. A friend of mine explained, during a mouth-melting curry engagement, that it means 'talking bollocks while waving your arms around'.

Charity Auction for Zest 4 Kidz

2006-09-10T13:55:00.001+01:00

Last Friday 8th September, at the Investor Magazine Mortgage and Insurance Broker Conference and Forum in the K Club, my painting 'Tryst in the City Garden', was sold at auction for €7500. All the money raised at the auction went to the Zest 4 Kidz charity, who operate educational orphanages in many war-ravaged countries. Their web site is down at the moment, but Zest 4 Kidz can be contacted through its founder Stuart Wilson. You can see some photos of the event at Ashville's conference site: here.

Also, special thanks to the excellent John Redmond who came to the rescue by photographing the canvas in his studio.

Early Ear Error

2006-09-10T13:55:00.000+01:00

I attached myself to a guided tour of the National Gallery of Ireland the other week and learned that even the masters made mistakes. Judas, who can be seen kissing Jesus in the composition, had his ear lowered. You can see the vague outline of the earlier version about 3/4" above the existing one. This seems at odds with Hockney's assertion that Caravaggio [amongst many others] relied on the camera obscura; unless the model he used was possessed of very high ears, of course.

Studying with Oisín Roche

2006-09-05T21:21:00.000+01:00

I spent a morning, along with fellow illustrator Padhraig Nolan, learning from Irish portrait artist Oisín Roche [One of his many portraits above]. He's an artist who has studied the techniques of the great portrait artists of the past and has a phenomenal grasp of how to describe flesh tones [along with everything else]. As an illustrator, I rely a great deal on whatever my own inner vision generates and what my drawing skills can support, and true-to-life depictions aren't absolutely necessary when the message of the illustration is paramount. However, I feel that I'd like to continue to strengthen my basic drawing and painting skills -because that's what has always attracted me to art anyway, and there's always something to learn. I picked up a great deal even in the first minutes and it proved to be an invaluable few hours overall. Especially with regard to the palette -I've never been one to limit myself to the basic few colours really needed to complete a painting! I'm looking forward to the next session...I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile here are a few pictures from the session -showing Oisín's own work. Sorry about the picture quality; I had to use my phone's camera and it has a lens the size of a gnat's chuff. [Don't get technical -you'll lose them -Ed]

As this was a study, Oisín mentioned that the reason for drawing the subject in charcoal directly onto the canvas was to save time getting to the colour work. I'm not quite sure how he would've approached the task otherwise.

The charcoal drawing was spray-fixed and a wash of burnt umber acrylic applied.

And the study in oils begins...I'll bring a decent camera the next time.

More Doodlecraft

2006-08-30T16:01:00.000+01:00

I was in a position, yesterday morning, to just sit down and spend my time doodling. Fortunately, I had all the material with me [which doesn't happen often, believe me] including a 4B pencil which makes it a pleasure to build up dark areas. The first drawing shown here started out as a preparatory sketch for an editorial job but developed into something else entirely. It might form an element of an artwork further down the line, who knows?

The second doodle is another working of a recurring theme. I have a small stove in my studio, that belches black smoke and smuts all over my studio during the winter -mmmm, nice. Winter means about half the year, here in cold, dank Ireland by the way. This particular match of furnace rugby [Dublin 1934] was called off before half-time after rain soused play.

Irish Times BTW illo

2006-07-13T14:37:00.000+01:00

This is a review of this week's BTW illustration. The topic: How banks are fawning all over us in an embarrassing way in order to lend us money. [For my part, I insist that all loan negotiations be carried out while my bank manager is dressed in a gimp outfit]. Below is one of the first idea sketches [there were others, but along different lines].

I then worked up a more elaborate sketch to show the editor:

Once approved, I squared up my stretched paper and drew the composition accurately. Don't try that banker's position at home. I had to hire another model, after the first one put his back out trying to achieve the desired pose. I had to remove him from the premises in a wheelbarrow:

And finally, here's the finished illustration. I made the man of the couple a little less formally dressed -they are out house-hunting, after all:

New Pencils

2006-07-12T17:23:00.000+01:00

I bought a couple of new 4B pencils in Kennedy's the other day. Beautifully soft smooth leads and a pleasure to doodle with. Hence the above sketch; done while on the phone. That's a real space-filler of a blog post, if ever there was one!

Rub-a-dub-dub, Four Men...

2006-06-17T12:12:00.000+01:00

It's been a tough week. Whatever about the good weather outside; it's been snowed-under here in the studio. Preparation, which is almost complete for my onslaught on France through the Marie Bastille Agency and projects for American clients have kept me slaving over my drawing boards. Then the Irish Times presented me with a mind-warping piece of financial text. Anyway, between the editor and myself we fixed on an idea over the phone, which I quickly scribbled onto a receipt. Whoever heard of an illustrator who had decent pads of paper handy?

That evening, on the settee in front of the telly, I worked up the idea into a more finished sketch and squared the drawing up for the following morning. Luckily, summer TV schedules determined that there was bugger-all worth watching on the idiot's lantern [as my old French teacher, Mr. Dansie used to call the telly - Me: 'What does 'bateau' mean, Mr. Dansie?' Dansie: 'It means you haven't been listening, McSherry' followed by, 'I suppose you've been glued to the idiot's lantern again'.].

Finally, I managed to get the final art into the old lady of D'Olier Street at lunchtime. Now, what's on the lantern...?

Luvverly Dunmore East

2006-06-10T19:13:00.000+01:00

Dunmore East, from the Waterford Tourism site

We've just returned from a week's holiday in Dunmore East -and once again, I don't have a single sketch to show for it. This is a recurrent theme in my life, good intentions thwarted by indolence. It is a lovely, lovely spot, no doubt about it and kick-started another little ongoing theme -thoughts of relocation away from the big smoke. However, the reverie was broken at the long weekend by hordes of city heads, intent on relocating their rubbish onto the beach. Why do people do that?

But, hey -the water was goooood. I encountered a couple of good-natured jellyfish [they didn't sting me] and we chatted about where to site the blue flag. There's also a cave adjacent to the beach where there's some of the best-carved graffiti I've ever seen. From as far back as 1823. Forget your black markers -a couple of these messages looked as if they had hired a stone mason to realise them.

Scanning the Horizon

2006-06-01T17:19:00.000+01:00

Lately, I've been working on a few projects that have been over A3 in physical size. Notably a suite of illustrations for brand developers Island Bridge and for the Royal Canadian Mint [That's money, not sweets; though confusingly it did feature a polar bear]. Confident in my reprographic background, I thought they could all go straight down to my local repro bureau for digitising on their high-end drum-scanner. Well, it seems that things have changed somewhat since I left my last full-time job in a repro house, 11 years ago. Apparently, most of the old scanning behemoths have bitten the dust, been sold to China or shagged out into skips. Imagine that! These things must have cost about half a million squid when I were a lad and now they've been drummed out, much like myself, [only they lasted longer]. All the Crosfields have gone to Hell, it might be said, and been replaced with tiny little desktop scanners that you can buy out of petty cash.

Ah, but there's a catch...just try scanning flat-art that's bigger than A3 -even in your A3 desktop. You'll get a pain in your face stitching those files together. That's why I was relieved when I discovered that Master Photo. still have their Crosfield 640 running -and I saw it today when I dropped in the art. What a beast. What reassuring solidity. What the Hell are we going to do when the old dinosaur finally lays down her old head and dies?

New Gallery for Kilkenny

2006-05-16T13:39:00.000+01:00

Maestro artiste-turned-impresario Roger O'Reilly [AKA Rodge] is about to open his new gallery in Kilkenny city. He has been collecting work from many sources including a selection of McSherry prints. The gallery will open on Friday 19th May [so he'll be sweating about now] and it's at, 1 Saint Kieran Street, in Kilkenny City. If you're down that direction...

Step by Step Movie

2006-04-20T11:14:00.000+01:00

A Very Bouncy Project
I've just completed a small movie, tracking the course of a single illustration. It should go some way to explain how I work -at least once rough sketches have been approved by the client. I had enormous fun making it. Basically, it's a series of still shots taken while the artwork was being hand-painted in acrylic on Arches watercolour paper [my preferred method!].
Click here for the movie
You'll notice that I decided some way into the work to eliminate the background. It's a decision I allowed myself as I had complete control over the final look; the final art not being created for a client.

The thing that really got me excited about the project was licencing the music. It's the first time I've ever ventured into the whole area of licencing a piece of art as a client. Joanna at www.penguincafe.com was wonderful, however, and seemed enthused about the idea. I was sad to learn of Simon Jeffes' [the Penguin's composer and founder] untimely death some years ago; it completely passed me by. I've loved his eccentric music since the early eighties, although I think he even arranged music for the absurd Sex Pistols film 'The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle', so the PCO go back quite a bit further.

Enjoy the movie.

What a Strange Way to Make a Living...

2006-04-07T14:47:00.000+01:00

So, purveyors of 'visual assets', Stockbyte have been sold to Getty in what must be the world's blandest and most passionless corporate deal. Just imagine what the celebrations were like: Off to the charity shop to buy an old grey suit and shiny tie. Then down to the local greasy spoon for a slap-up feed of reheated leftovers and cola from the slop-catcher!

$135m? Double Take wouldn't have given them yesterday's chip wrapper for it.

Just to celebrate the deal [but not so much that we draw attention to ourselves] Double Take illustrates this article with an appropriate image. A typically charmless image of a pathetically grateful-looking handshake. That must be Getty on the left.

Mmmm - While I think of it, I have a bag of used batteries here... Mr Getty!... Mr Getty!

All Blacks versus Royalty Free Stock

2006-03-29T12:35:00.000+01:00

Just a little observation about blandness. It struck me the other day that communications sent out from businesses should be like a haka. If ever there was a statement of intent, conviction, values and unity, it's in the haka. It's unequivocal and leaves no doubt about the serious drubbing you're going to get, once all the gods and ancients tool up and join the rest of the team in the field. 'You're not only playing us, you pathetic fools' it seems to say, 'you've got several volcano gods and all the tribal spirits to deal with'.

Well, when you see the drab uninspired stock photography that populates corporate literature all around, think of the haka. Only illustration that you commission, that you collaborate on will tell your company's story and call down your gods. Ko Kapa o Pango e ngunguru nei! The alternative? Taking the field with a reworked Westlife song [in other words a picture of two businessmen shaking hands -or any of thousands of other boring, mediocre pictures that may well already have been used by your competitors]. Your team will exit the field with its collective ass in a sling. Don't do it. If you feel the urge to reach for a stock image, call me and, as your team coach, I'll roar at you in the changing room. Au, au, aue ha!

This haka was first performed by the All Blacks versus South Africa on 27 August 2005 at Carisbrook, Dunedin. The All Blacks won 31 - 27. This haka was written by Ngati Porou's Derek Lardelli. This haka will only be performed before special test matches. Sourced from http://www.nzallblacks.net/haka.asp

Kapo o pango haka:

Kapa o pango kia whakawhenua au i ahau!
Let me become one with the land
Hi aue, hi! Ko Aotearoa e ngunguru nei!
This is our land that rumbles
Au, au, aue ha!
And it's my time! It's my moment!
Ko Kapa o Pango e ngunguru nei!
This defines us as the All Blacks
Au, au, aue ha!
It's my time! It's my moment!
I ahaha! Ka tu te ihiihi
Our dominance
Ka tu te wanawana
Our supremacy will triumph
Ki runga ki te rangi e tu iho nei, tu iho nei, hi!
And will be placed on high
Ponga ra!
Silver fern!
Kapa o Pango, aue hi!
All Blacks!
Ponga ra!
Silver fern!
Kapa o Pango, aue hi, ha!
All Blacks!

Van Gogh took Tube to Isleworth

2006-03-21T21:11:00.000Z

Van Gogh, yesterday

Turns out that Van Gogh [...reverential pause here...] spent time at my old school, Isleworth Grammar in West London. That could explain the pointilistic patterns oft seen in the jacks. He taught grammar [would you believe] and French. Not at the same time as I was there, obviously. Curiously, I don't remember any mention of the Great Impasto, so perhaps he became an embarrassment after laying it on a bit thick once too often.

So I have the right schooling, then.

Turas go Chill Rialaig arís

2006-03-21T13:02:00.000Z

I've been kindly invited to take a residency at the Cill Rialaig Artists' Retreat in beautiful west Kerry. It'll be this time next year but I'm already looking forward to it. It has to be one of the remotest spots in Ireland, with a hamlet of ancient cottages clinging to the side of a cliff, refurbished by Noelle Campbell-Sharpe and the Cill Rialaig Board [The hamlet, that is; not the side of the cliff]. I spent a splendid week down there in December 2002 with some other members of the IGI painting and exploring new artistic techniques -for keeping warm! Note to self: Remember to bring camera, flute [for sessions] and woolly socks [for flute]. The photograph was taken by illustrator Brian Gallagher [also taking a residency].

My ol' Mum Loves This

2006-03-20T12:54:00.000Z

The Art Editor from the Wall Street Journal rang me last week and laughingly told me that he had an article ready to serve up to me. In his own words, he "...couldn't make head nor tail of it". I don't blame him; it was one of the driest morsels of indigestible text I've ever eaten. Only recommended eating for the most ravenous, the only way of saucing it up was with an illustration, pictured here. Writer; can I please have the bill now...?

Sketchbook scribbloids

2006-03-14T12:12:00.000Z

Here are a couple of sketches from my sketchbook. The guy on the right of the top page is the look you should aim for if you aspire to being an illustrator.

One for the Childer

2006-03-13T18:02:00.000Z

My good rep in Toronto Three In A Box., produces a themed promotional book every year aimed at certain segments of the market. These books are branded as 'Box Lunches' and the current one is the fourth. Anyhuff, the theme this time is 'Childhood' and the attached pic is my contribution. I never saw myself as a children's book illustrator so when I told Denis Goodbody of Adept Advertising he expressed surprise. He's right, of course. Certainly what I do engages with the child inside of the reader -even at the level of the business/financial work that I do. Furthermore, my own lovely wife consistently points out my childish behaviour. Consider that we all grew up in our pre-school years with picture-books being our chief means of getting the sense out of print. We all have these absurd self-images and it's about time we burst them. Perhaps we can meet up and burst each other's absurd self-images. Say, next Wednesday? Good. see you then.

I enjoyed this project immensely. Obviously, you can't have too many robots.

Kevin the Magnificent,
King of all the 'bots,
He has multitude of them
(that means lots and lots)

They spring out of his picture-books,
And from amongst the toys,
To do their monarch's bidding,
(That means lots of noise).
©
Who knows; it may go on to form part of a book itself...hmmm...

Illustration appears on the Radio!

2006-03-13T15:54:00.000Z

Last Friday saw me arrive into the Anna Livia studios for an interview with Alex Gibson on his show, 'The Persuaders' -a weekly marketing and media programme. The Persuaders. It was a good chance to get an inside view of the wireless -all those wires! The interview covered my beginnings as an illustrator and my part in the birth of the Illustrators Guild of Ireland. I had my portfolio with me and Alex described a selection to the audience. Hang on -I *was* asked... A case of a thousand words painting one picture. There's an audio file available on my site [just under 7Mb]. Just to keep with the subject matter, I'm not going to include a picture.

Today's Irish Times Illustration

2006-02-24T18:14:00.000Z

This is the image that went into today's Personal Finance section of Business This Week. The article it accompanies is about the upcoming SSIA accounts coming to fruition and the enormous amounts of bureaucracy associated with realising them. In fact it wasn't the idea that I first proposed to the editor -which was simply a wrapped gift, completely bound up in red tape and a dismayed person looking at it. That would have done, I suppose -but it wouldn't have been one that inspired a double-take! I preferred to do this "Boys' Own' version, complete with skull and poised cobra. Far more manly. Harumph.

The Art of the Double Take

2006-02-24T17:28:00.000Z

I've often heard it said [and usually by magazine publishers] that they won't use illustration because '... we can get photographs far cheaper on the web'. I take that to mean they'll use anything that's cheap and instantaneous. It doesn't appear to me to be an ethos that will improve standards. First, they probably won't get what they're looking for, and insert an image that is 'along the lines of what we want, but it'll do...'. Secondly, photography and illustration are mutually distinct and serve different purposes. Photography is a reflection of one instant in time. It shows what is, or the actuality of the subject [like a portrait]. Illustration -we could call it artwork- encompasses the subject but expresses it in a unique way, takes the viewer into a different world -the world of the bizarre, perhaps, where anything can happen. Good editorial illustration should draw viewers in and make them return for further viewings.

I presume the same editors wouldn't use copy that nearly says what they want it to say...or would they? Magazines full of reworked press releases, anybody?