Lets try this again...

Well, its been a pretty long time since my last post. Civilisations have risen and fallen, corrupt governments have risen to power, world leaders have died, our natural resources continue to be depleted at an incredible rate and the 'draw something' app has become really popular. apparently.
For those of us who like to draw the proper way, and not on a tiny ponce-screen (yes, I am talking about me ) theres been a few changes. Way back in November 2010, I got a new job. This meant that time to create was short and pretty much all my energy went into working for a living, so I could afford food and rent and stuff. Fast forward to August 2011, a strange foreigner in London arrived seeking shelter. Never one to put myself before others arrangements had to be made to find a shared living space. So yes, my girlfriend moved over from Finland and we now live together in North London. Again, there was little time to indulge selfish art practices during this testing, but ultimatelly satisfying, time.

What does this have to do all the art stuff? Well nothing. Other than it explains my prolonged absence from creating stuff and puttting up here for no-one to see. However, things have settled with both work and home life and I am now ready to return to the creative process. As time was short when I began working again, I found solace in my sketchbook. I started to take it with me to work, and any spare time I had I tried to draw stuff. At first I was, frankly, rubbish. However for some reason I kept at it. Perhaps age has given me more resolve, and I know longer felt the petulant need to throw my materials across the room and declare that I will kill myself if I can't get the eyes right.

I focussed mainly on figure drawing, as it just comes natural to me and I've never been that great at anything else. Slowly I started to get better, simply by ensuring I kept drawing regularly. I started taking more risks- more complex poses (for my percieved ability), facial details, hands, feet. I tried to get back into that headspace of drawing what I wanted to draw, not drawing to impress others or to create a portfolio that might get get me work. I was just drawing stuff I liked because I wanted to. I felt 9 years old again, flicking through the UK reprints of Chris Claremonts and Jim Lee's X-Men and drawing whatever character struck me. Only now I had the skills I needed to create some pretty decent character ilustrations. I've never felt so free as an artist as I have done over the last 18 months. More confidence has grown and I feel far more focussed.

As a result there is now loads of stuff, for sketches to more finished pieces, to upload. And more in the pipeline. Heres some of them.

A recent comission I have imaginatively titled "IT'S ALIVE!"

Mina Murray from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

A Character that started as a quick doodle in a sketchbook. Tentatively called 'Ork Hunter'

This are just a few of the things I've been working on, and I'm really looking forward to uploading the rest.

Few more things. I probably won't write this much again unless the situation dictates. My new M.O is going to be finish it, scan it, upload it, tell you what the fuck it is, get the fuck out of here. Pretty pictures are nicer than boring words anyway.

Also, might change the name. 'Dirty Mouth' seemed much more witty 2 years ago....

Learn to Draw the Dirty Mouth Way!

Greetings from the grim toothy cave of my Dirty Mouth.

A new era has begun, and admittedly I'm struggling to keep up. I am thoroughly enjoying feeling like an artist/illustrator/doodler again, but I do feel like I need to step up my game.

The best way I've  to do this is by drawing. Lots of drawing. Eating? no, drawing. Sleeping? no, drawing. Amusing internet memes on youtube? well theres always time for an amusing meme. But you get the idea.
So, to help get myself up to scratch, and also work through my ideas, I have returned to the humble sketchbook. Well I didn't right away. Feeling rather full of myself for getting the previous work done, thinking that I could create anything and that soon the whole world would be worshipping me as an Art God, I went in all guns blazing on a piece. This was the result.

Yeah, Rubbish.

Maybe thats a bit harsh, but it definitely showed me the benefits of taking things slow and allowing things to emerge organically, like a blossoming orchid. Or the passing of a stool after a period of constipation.
So to the sketchbook I went, and the results were far more successful. These two 'sketches' (as they are called in the art world) represent the first stages of the 'band thing' I referred to in an earlier post. The band are called Barefaced Cynics, and they...oh fuck it. Just go here:

http://www.myspace.com/barefacedcynics

I am expecting huge financial compensation for that shameless and vulgar plug, in what is otherwise a Church of Creativity.

Heres the sketches.

These came together swiftly and I think they're pretty effective. Even if he says so himself.

Hopefully they will evolve into something special, and worth putting on the internet. Because the last thing I'd want to do is clutter up the World Wide Web with useless crap.

Come back soon, Love you, BYE!

The Dirty Mouth,

its gums bleed when you brush its teeth, so be gentle.

End of Prologue

Right. Two finished pieces now to show and write about.

It has been very interesting getting back into a creative groove and attempting to be a proper 'artist' again. Although these pieces were gifts for people I know and love, the process (and the fact I had a deadline) helped get me into the right creative headspace, which led me to take a more professional approach to their creation. Well, more professional than I have been for last 3 years.

Both pieces I am reasonably happy with, one more than the other. However both proved the perfect place to apply the defibrillator to the then cold corpse of my talent, and luckily it managed to choke and splutter its way back to the land of the living. My intention was to talk about the pieces whilst showing stage by stage photos of the pieces coming together. But fuck that. It'll take too long and while I like these pieces a lot, they are not necessarily what I would choose to represent myself as an artist. It was good to step outside my comfort zone for a while, I liken it to going to a kind of Illustration and Painting Gym, but I'm longing to get started on something that I can truly get the yellowed, rotting teeth of my DIrty Mouth into. So I'll discuss the 2 pieces briefly here, show some pics, and be out of here for presumably another few weeks.

Piece 1- Wine Lady

This was really fun to do, and came together with more ease than it should have done. I got some reference for the hand and the wine glass, and for the grapes, but the rest I kind of just made up. Creating anything with pretty girls in it is always fun and relaxing, and theres a simplicity to the piece that I really like. As this was the first major piece I had attempted for a while, I kept the composition, drawing and painting techniques down to the bare essentials, which has definitely worked in its favour. In my opinion.
 I also think I've got better at knowing when to leave things alone. The face came together really quickly, and I avoided the (very strong) temptation to over work it. The piece has a few mistakes, some quite noticeable to a discerning eye, but overall I think the piece just 'works', and thats all you can really ask for. I would have perhaps add some texture or something to background as it is a bit flat, but hey! it's not for me! I won't have to look at it much ever again!

Ahem.

Piece 2- Wild West Landscape Thing

Conversely, This was an absolute nightmare to finish. However I learned some important lessons about ambition, working with subject matter you don't know very well and attempted to ape other artists' styles without really thinking things through. Glenn Fabry is one of my favourite artists, particularly his covers for the comic Preacher (more on which when I get round to discussing inspirations and influences). With this piece I intended to capture the kind of mood and atmosphere of those Preacher covers, but I encountered I numerous problems. The main one being I have never painted a landscape in my life. I did use a couple of reference images as usual, but even drawing out the composition onto the canvas was a struggle. The more I worked on it the more I realised I had over reached. It wasn't until the end, when I desperately applied detail with colouring pencil in an effort to get the image to a place where I would be happy to give it as a gift, rather than bury it in an undisclosed location never to burden anyone with having to look at it, that it started coming together. The overall result has a very comic book look, but not the kind I had originally intended.
However, I like colour scheme and certain bits of the detail, and the figure on the horse could have come alot worse. My Dad seemed pretty chuffed with it and I suppose thats all that matters.

Right thats them out the way. Although these pieces don't necessarily represent 'Me' as an artist, they were a great, low-risk way of seeing if I still had what it takes, and I definitely think I may still do. probably.

Hopefully next time I'll have some proper ideas and pictures to show you, not just some presents I made.

Don't forget to check my Dirty Mouth regularly. It'll only get worse if you don't.

The struggles of weeing yourself with excitement.

Well, it has been a while.

And I don't really have anything new.

However, stuff is happening. Due to a sudden surge in my job hunting abilities (writing crap that no ones reads doesn't quite make ends meet) and the fact I have two pieces which I can't show yet that need to be finished in two weeks, my current ideas and projects aside from those will have to wait. But like I said, stuff is happening. You'll see.

Amongst the projects I hope to be working on soon will be a comic thing, a 'London of the Future' thing, something based on a Chris Morris thing, and some stuff for a friends band thing.

See? lots of things.

And if the mere mention of these magnificent things hasn't made you moist downstairs, then I don't know what will. I really don't.

Heres some sneak peaks at one of the 'secret' pieces anyway, just to prove that I am not a liar.

I am going now. Bye.

Studio Soundtrack provided by:

'Red Dead Redemption' Original Soundtrack (its music from a videogame, but its awesome.)

The Dillinger Escape Plan - 'Option Paralysis' (Used to not like this band when I was younger. Too shouty. Now I think everything they've done is a masterpiece. Taste is weird like that.)

The Difficult Second Post.

Welcome back into the dark, dripping cavity of my Dirty Mouth.

I promised myself I would update this everyday and hopefully create some new artwork, which would serve as a complimentary image to the theme of the word text stuff.

That hasn’t quite happened.

This is an update, yes, but as I am yet to complete any artwork, there are no finished images.

So today I will talk about my ‘process’ or ‘processes’, to give you a little window into the artist at work. Or how an unemployed, overweight bearded man spends his days when he should be looking for jobs. This is likely to be quite boring and worthless, but I’m doing this blog more for me than you. So there.

I used to call myself a comic illustrator, but seeing as I haven’t really created a piece of comic art since my degree, I would currently class myself as an illustrator. An unemployed illustrator we’ve established, but an illustrator all the same.

‘What was the comic art you created for your degree?’ I hear no one ask. Well, It was an adaptation of ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe, which has been in my portfolio so long I can’t bare to look at it. However it will probably make its way here if there is a slow week.

Anyways, materials wise, I mainly use various pencils (B’s of some kind), biros, and acrylics for the painting part. I usually work on Bristol board, but at CassArt on Berrick Street (PLUG) they were selling some thicker board, which I have started using instead. Went in there to get some more recently but they didn’t have any. The bastards (NOT SO MUCH A PLUG).

I got into the habit of tracing my line work from found images and photos, but as you will see from one of the following images, I’ve tried to step into the dangerous and unforgiving world of drawing without reference once again. Anyways this is some pictures of some drawings what I did. Look at them.

After I get the pencil work done, I trace those filthy line sluts with my biro. And those pencil line bitches love every minute of it.

Ahem. The reason I use biro is because I use a lot of paint washes in my work, and washes are usually watery, and biro is resistant to water. SO I CAN STILL SEE THE LINE EVEN WITH LOADS OF WATERY PAINT ON TOP! IT’S LIKE MAGIC!

See For youself!

Next stage is to build up afore mentioned washes, and incoporate little details and thicker layers of paint. I find this gives the image depth, and with the right colour scheme can create a moody, atmospheric feel. Which is good for the budding comic artist who can’t be bothered to draw detailed backgrounds. A couple of deep, colourful, moody, atmospheric washes over poorly drawn close ups and figures are all you need!

See how I do that here.

I think that is enough for today, I am tired and it is late and this was far too long for something that is unlikely to ever be read. More on these (Who?, Why?, etc) when they are done.

 I’m coming back tomorrow. You won’t get the better of me, I WILL ALWAYS WIN.

For I am the Dirty Mouth, Bane of the Orthodontist.

Todays studio soundtrack provided by:

Fantomas- ‘Delirium Cordia’ and ‘Suspended Animation’

Sonic Youth- ‘Daydream Nation’

Welcome.

Welcome to the disgusting mess of my Dirty Mouth.

Through the use of words and images, I intend to tell the real life story of Man Vs Creativity. As I am currently unemployed (again), I hope that this space will provide me with the means to keep myself occupied as an artist, illustrator, and for the first time, a writer.

Fuelled by a love of art, culture, music and snacks from the newsagent, I hope to share and discuss my ideas and processes with YOU, yes YOU! RIGHT THERE!

I currently share a studio space with another, more talented artist than me. However I will not discuss him/her further as I have not been financially compensated enough to do so.

It is in this space that I tend to do the majority of my creating, and currently I have several illustrative projects on the go, some of which I can’t discuss yet but certainly will as soon as they are done (This is not because they are high profile yet secretive, well paid commissions. They are presents for family members and loved ones FOR NO MONEY and I do not wish to ruin the surprise. That’s the kind of guy I am).

However the first image splurged into this misguided and ill thought out stumble into the world of ‘Interweb™’ blogging is an unfinished picture of my face. By me. I assume there is a pretentious art word for this, but I am a man of the people and believe in art for all, and will not segregate my fans (because that is what you are now) through my use of language.

Anyways I am going now. Come back if you can be bothered to see what other things I have made, thought of, or found near the bins.

Journey into my Dirty Mouth.

(I was going to finish with ‘Come inside my Dirty Mouth’, but decided against it. I am many things, but never crass.)