Being a fan of 50s/60s kitsch art, have been playing with a contemporary way to create this type of art featuring modern iconic people. Some famous, some not. This is Ida Gyllensten, actress and singer. Drawn in pencil and crayon.
Ida is a friend from wild days in London in the mid-noughties.
Ida is a phenomenal actress. The Guardian said of Ida’s Magdalena in Scandi Noir ‘End of Summer’:
Magdalena is overly protective of her youngest son and cruelly dismisses her daughter. Some of those flashback scenes are beautifully dream-like, before they dissolve into nightmares.
I recently accepted commissions in a drawing challenge to create portraits for £30, and completed 5 in one day. These are black & white sketches, necessarily made with a quick technique.
This is Ziggy, a lovely lurcher dog who recently passed away.
Hand drawn map commission for Falcon Road Heritage Festival 2016
The Falcon Road Heritage Festival, SW11 is on 25 June 2016. There are two stages, art and craft markets, a heritage display on Falcon Road itself and a street party in Coppock Close. There’s community involvement from the Islamic Cultural & Education Centre, Providence House Youth Centre, as well as the Brownies, Cubs and Scouts. Battersea Fire Station are involved with a first aid station and community safety street. Not forgetting, the secret garden and sports activities next to Sacred Heart School.
Drawing the map
Normally for a map, I like to visit the area. Especially as I knew this one is to be community based. Most people viewing this will know the roads really well, and it is a case of helping them know what is on where. This time I was unable to visit because I was out of town. However, this is part of the area I grew up, so I know the area really well. One of my first girlfriend’s lived nearby and we used to walk her dog in that park, so I’m pretty ‘familiar’ with it, ahem…
The map was a bit tricky due to the L–shaped scope of the festival. I’ve also included visually familiar geographical and psycho geographical elements. Shillington Park has a a Victorian elevated viaduct making an elegant curve over it. Anyone who has crossed that park will know it, and more importantly, will understand where I’m describing. This area is, apologies to anyone who lives there, back streets. They are not main thoroughfare (except Falcon Road) and unless you are local and know the shortcut to Latchmere Road, or live close by, even Battersea residents may only be half familiar with its layout. There are a lot of pedestrian paths not easily seen, or not visible on Google maps – although they do appear on the good ol’ ordnance survey map, they are hard to describe if you’ve never been down them. This is why I’ve included visual features that locals will instantly recognise and people less familiar won’t get lost…
Battersea Power Station
There are a couple of features in the map I’ve added which Battersea residents will hopefully pick up on. One is Battersea Power Station in the top right corner. If you are on Falcon Road, it is approximately in that direction on the sky line. The view of Battersea Power Station, a Grade II listed building by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is now obstructed by new building. I’ve shown it in a way familiar to anyone who has grown up in the area, or takes the train across the river from Victoria station.
I’ve shown also the building surrounded by cranes, ubiquitous on the current London skyline. This is a fairly accurate Battersea skyline at present!
Pink Floyd – Animals
Also featured above Battersea Power Station is a flying pig. This is a well-known psycho-geographical feature from Pink Floyd’s animals cover. The pig ‘broke free’ and floated across London and was ‘caught’ by Police in Kent.
This view of Battersea Power Station no longer exists. This artist impression show show it will look in a year or two when the building work is finished.
Arding & Hobbs
This is a real well-known Battersea landmark, a Grade II listed Edwardian Baroque building in Clapham Junction built in 1910. The original building famously caught fire at Christmas the year before and the fire so intense that it cooked the turkeys at the poulterers across the road. I’ve drawn it with the SALE flag flying. My mother can see this from her bedroom window over a mile away and always knows when there’s a sale on because of it. It’s now a Debenhams.
Map compass
Because Battersea is south of the river Thames, and has a very strong South London identity, I’ve marked the compass with south, rather than north.
Would you like a map?
If you are looking for a copy of this map, it will be available as a high resolution download. please contact me here.
Map commissions
If you would like a map commissioned, please contact me here with details.
The Dead Queen of Bohemia by Jenni Fagan (The Panopticon, The Sunlight Pilgrims) is out today. I am very excited to say I illustrated the front cover and internal images.
Looks pretty damn cool – Irvine Welsh
The book is an extraordinary collection of poems.
The original brief was to illustrate the cover. Taking inspiration from the book itself, I ended up with a collection of illustrations to fit individual poems.
I think this is one book I will judge by its cover. It looks fabulous.
Ohhh, beautiful cover!! – Hank D
The poems are extremely visceral and I didn’t want to detract or overly influence the reader’s own imagination when reading them. I decided to just draw objects from them, rather than scenes. There are Wonder Woman Converse trainers, Doc Marten boots, a duck with sharp teeth and a dancing skeleton. They are in pencil – for complete honest simplicity. I love the way the publisher has allowed them to look like doodles scribbled into the book.
Nathan Thomas Jones’ illustrations really help to make this come alive. – Ed Crossan, Birlinn Books
These frames were commissioned by Lizzie Haines at Shoot it Momma (shootitmomma.co.uk). They form the backdrop for the website. They are all drawn from real frames and mirrors – some from my mother’s house. On the website, they frame some of Lizzie’s photos.
My first book jacket commission (aged 5). I came home to a brand new set of Stabilo felt tips (those lovely striped tubes!) and a brief for this picture. The football is one I actually owned and the handwriting is mine too. My only disappointment with the final product was that they changed my multi-coloured lettering to red.
Also featured above Battersea Power Station is a flying pig. This is a well-known psycho-geographical feature from Pink Floyd’s animals cover. The pig ‘broke free’ and floated across London and was ‘caught’ by Police in Kent.
