You can now buy prints, iphone cases (including the below) and other stuff on my Society6.com page…
Illustration at Fire
The amazing people at Fire put on a great show for the ten finalists of their Illustration at Fire competition, and I was very proud to be one of the runners up, along with the brilliant Kevin McSherry. The big winner on the night was Steve Simpson whose win was richly deserved with his brilliant piece.
All of the finalists displayed incredible work so it really is a huge honour to have been runner up and I’m very chuffed.
Thanks to all at Fire – and if you’re in Dublin check out the show in the Copper House Gallery, off Synge St, Dublin 8.
Scroobius Pip with Tiny Little Horse
I recently had the pleasure and honour of collaborating with Gav Beattie of Tiny Little Horse, Ireland’s premier gig poster printmakers, on a poster for Scroobius Pip’s gig in Whelan’s. And here’s the result:
It’s a limited edition print run of 30, and you can get more details on how to get one here.
Hopefully it will be the first of many collabs between us, as they are great, great folks to work with…
Revolution
‘Revolution’ for the Illustration at Fire comp…
Pichet Restaurant
I’ve been creating artwork for the revamped Pichet Restaurant on Dublin’s Trinity Street. Originally the brief was to create one or two posters and a t-shirt design – we discussed something French, a little risqué in places and modelled on old posters, but with a comic twist. We also felt the guys should feature in the pieces. Thankfully Nick and Steve liked it so much that now the whole place will be decked out in them, and many of them will be for sale in the form of prints, t-shirts etc. It’s a great brief and a fantastic client, so I is enjoying it 
UPDATE: A few more pics added to the gallery here..
Why Always Me? For Paddy Power
Here’s a nice little video made by the good folks at Paddy Power, with the illustrations supplied by myself…
The 4th and Probably Final Old & New
Time to move on from these methinks. But here is the (most likely) final ‘Old & New pic, called ‘The Reminisce’…
IT Gremlins
In the last month I have had a spate of IT issues that have dogged my endless patience to the point where I would like to somehow personify these ‘gremlins’ and microwave them, like in the movie…
If you have tried to email me over the last few weeks, and I have not responded, it is not, I assure you, because I am rude and couldn’t be bothered.. It’s just because I was not receiving any inbound mail whatsoever. I did wonder why it had gotten so quiet…
Thankfully, it looks like these issues have been resolved and I can now receive and send email. Famous last words perhaps, but for now - hallelujah 
ABSOLUT Creative Edge
I will be taking part in the really very cool ABOSLUT Creative Edge on Friday 23rd September (in The Front Lounge, Dublin, with Fergal Brennan and Joven Kerekes) and Saturday 24th September (in The Workmans Club, Dublin, with Steve Doogan and Steve Simpson) thanks to my good friends at The Small Print.
I can’t wait, I’ll be in great company.
Old & New
I started work on a new series that has been floating in my head for a little while. It’s called Old & New, the title being pretty obvious when you see the pics.
Here they are:
And here’s why I’m doing them:
Firstly, from my folio it’s pretty obvious I love drawing old school stuff (like the Irish folk tale work) and weird sci-fi (like the Punt cover). So I wanted to mix the two. I’m a huge fan of traditional music, I love ‘old man’ pubs and I love the type of characters you find in them. I also wanted to create robots that no one has seen before. I imagined old Irish traditions surviving long into the future, when robots are a common element of society, even in traditional Ireland.
In my images we are so far in the future that the technology of the robots is incredibly advanced. I based them loosely on the architecture of Richard Buckminster Fuller, who created the Geodesic dome. The robots ‘architecture’ is made of triangles, to allow it to assume different shapes. It takes on a humanoid shape probably only to try and fit in, although it still looks pretty other-worldy. In ‘The Spoon Player’, one plays along with the old guy in a session. But if you look closely the low whistle he is playing is just a piece of wood with no holes. He’s probably able to create the sound himself, and just uses a prop to appear more human. In my head, it’s kind of naive and appealing.
So there you go.. I’m currently working on the next couple of images for the set so more to follow…
More iPhone Wallpapers
Two more iPhone wallpapers here, in two colour choices no less…
Feel free to use them on your phone. But please don’t try and sell them. That would be mean. And illegal.
Elements
As mentioned I just took part in a how for the Dublin Science Gallery called ‘Elements’. While I was away on hols it was featured in the Irish Times (my mum saved me a copy), which was pretty cool:
All the pieces are now available to buy online and in the gallery shop (I think). Here’s the link to the online one:
http://www.sciencegallery.com/shop/elements-microshow
and here’s my one specifically:
Cobalt for the Science Gallery
I’m very honoured to be taking part in an exhibition in Dublin’s Science Gallery, whereby a bunch of artists/illustrators/designers/photographers etc were each given an element to portray on a 50cmx50cm print. Honoured because of the esteemed company I’m in – there’s a lot of top, top guys taking part..
So, my element was Cobalt, and here is the piece I’ve produced. It’s not in anyway cryptic whatsoever.
By way of explanation – Cobalt gets its name from the German ‘Kobold Ore’ which translates as ‘Goblin Ore’. It turned into some kind of Arsenic Oxide when smelted, poisoning said smelters. It’s also used to dye things like glass blue (the blue being that for which Cobalt is probably most famous) and before it’s bluified, it’s a lustrous grey metal. So, you see, my picture is now very obvious.
In any case, the exhibition runs from 15th – 30th July – here’s some info. If you’re in Dublin you should defo check out the gallery, I hear it’s brilliant (I have yet to go)
Elements 15th – 30th July, 2011
The Science Gallery’s Summer 2011 flagship exhibition is to explore a
visual connection between art and science that draws on Dmitri Mendeleev’s
iconic periodic table; involving work by artists and scientists, an “in
situ” lab and a series of ‘flash workshops’ and demonstrations. The purpose
of the exhibition is to develop an exhibition which surprises, engages and
entertains visitors and ignite interest in chemistry and physical science.
My prints are arriving tomorrow so I will post a picture of one when they arrive. At the moment, the piece will be a limited edition of just TWO signed prints, and will be available to buy in the gallery shop for a yet-to-be-decided-but-very-fair price.
More John Lynn
John Lynn, Ireland’s best comedian, is off to Edinburgh this year and I’ve just done his poster. And here it is:
The thorns took me ages.
Kai & Sunny Drool
I recently won a competition with Creative Review on Twitter (name the best creative duo – I entered Hanna/Barbara) and my prize was this incredible box set of Kai & Sunny prints, with a short story by my favourite author David Mitchell. It is now my prize possession. Fellow design nerds, prepare to drool…
