Times Dreams & Nightmare Image 8

Here's the final image in the series and I thought this article written by Simon Winch fascinating. It describes the analysis of seafarers dreams. When on land they they tend to dream of blue skies and calm seas, but when at sea they dream of maelstroms, sea serpents and raging storms. Published today in The Times T2 section, here's a snippet....

"At sea, a sailor’s slumber is overrun with nightmares; but when his trick is done, and he is back at home in bed, then his nights are filled with dreams. This is an axiom well known to all who sail: that out there your sleep is ruined by unconscious fear, but back here is made bliss by the nocturnal pleasures of remembrance and longing."

The Times: Dreams & Nightmares Image 7

So here we have the penultimate image in the series. This picks up on the article reference to 'fantastic' dreams that people often have, here surfing the ultimate wave. This whole project has been a joy from start to finish!

A snippet from the text by Henry Sutton...

"The thing about dreams, as someone who quite often has them, is that half the time, upon waking, I/you can really only remember fragments, and these are usually pretty ludicrous. And if anything is clear, then invariably it doesn’t really make any sense. Or at least it’s so implausible it’s laughable. I have dreamed, over the years, that I’ve played right back for Manchester United, that Bill Clinton’s come for dinner, and I’ve survived a plane crash. I’ve also surfed impossibly large waves, run the country, and had a relationship with the wife of a very well known celebrity."

The Times: Dreams & Nightmares Image 6

So here we have the next image in the series. Published today in the T2 section. I thought this article discussed an interesting concept, an extract lifted directly from the text by Tim Butcher...

The best explanation of dreams I have ever heard was what a wise religious studies teacher told me as a schoolboy.
``The brain is like a filing cabinet,’’ he said during a discussion on apparitions.
``Sometimes the drawers get so clogged with ideas and images that they begin to stick. A dream is your brain’s way of clearing out some room. At night it takes a memory from the bottom drawer, a few thoughts from the middle drawer and a whole series from the top and out they come, all higgledy-piggeldy.’’

The Times: Dreams & Nightmares Image 5

Here's the fifth in the series. Image explores the idea of keeping a 'dream journal' to expand / record the nightly conversation between the conscious and sub-conscious minds. Loved working on this particular illustration. Published today in the Times T2 section.

The Times: Dreams & Nightmares Image 4

Here we have image 4 in the series and probably my fav so far. Really enjoyed this one and good to render / play with an image scene without figures / characters present. Article explores a dream the author had when looking down from the gallery inside a church to see writing on the floor change into a compass shaped star. Published today in the T2 section of The Times.

The Times: Dreams & Nightmares Image 3

So here we have number 3 in the Times Dreams & Nightmares series. This was based on a nightmare the writer had as a teenager..... To quote " Wondering what the place of dreams and nightmares were in convent life, where there was so little "real world" to plait itself into their dreaming. It covers ecstasy (dream/subconscious/ waking?) and ends with a poignant quote from a nun about how dreaming is where they go to live."

The Times: Dreams & Nightmares Image 2

The second image in the Times Dreams & Nightmares series. Reference was made in the article to the famous etching by Goya: The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, so the Art Editor and I agreed it would be an interesting exercise to use this as a starting point and create my interpretation of that etching but using the descriptions of the demons in the text. Great fun to do!

The Times: Dreams & Nightmares Image 1

A really stimulating set of commissions from the people at The Times Newspapers for the T2 section. This series will run for seven weeks. Each week a different take on the subject of Dream & Nightmares. If ever there was a gift of a commission, then this is it. Only trouble being that the deadlines are rather tight from receiving copy to press. Always the case with newspaper commissions. My work is pretty labour intensive, but I do like a challenge so its been a good adrenaline buzz so far. I'm very grateful for the powers that be for thinking of me for this job :-)

A work ready studio - finally :-)

Before work began...

Years of water ingress left rotten woodwork...

So it begins...

Desk cut to shape and primed...

Shelves go up - and stay up...!...

And relax, its done...

Its been quite some time since a last entry! I'd love to be able to say that I've been utterly bone idle and have been lazing around, but unfortunately not the case. Decorating my new studio from the floor up has been the main task at hand. Little did I know how much of a DIY iceberg it would turn out to be. I thought it would just be a quick lick of paint after stripping off the old anaglypta wallpaper and that would be it, but alas the best laid plans evaporated into a red mist of frustration. Just a few of the issues that required attention: All lighting replaced. The wall sized window / door needed re-fitting to make water tight as it was completely bodged when it was installed. A new radiator fitted as the old one leaked. The floor needed leveling. And then for fun we found that the drains under the studio and garage were blocked and had been backing up from the main drain for about a year :-( On the day it was cleared you can only imagine at that whole new level of nasty that was encountered underground. So once all that lot was put right, I set to with a circular saw, some 25mm thick MDF and gallons of white paint. A couple of weeks later new desk tops and shelves were installed. One paint area (drawing board) and two computer desk areas. One for illustration work and one for when Su occasionally works from home. The studio finally went live about two weeks ago, leaving a make shift studio in the corner of the dinning room, juggling commissions around while setting up shop. The light is great as its north facing and even though its smaller by about 40cm each way than my old work room, being a simple cube it works more efficiently as a space. A lot easier for laying kit out - no chimney breast or nooks and crannies to work around. After shots show the just moved in look. Unfortunately its not that tidy now! Nice to finally unpack the James Jarvis King Ken sentinels so that they can take pride of place on the top shelf!

Nostalgia trip.

Well, these images are certainly a blast from the past. While going through old folios during the house move I came across some of the postcards I made for my degree show. Home made by shooting a roll of 36 exposure 35mm (film) photo's, then getting the prints duplicated a few times, then cutting each one out and sticking it on some white backing mount card. If that wasn't laborious enough, each one then had sticky label with contact details placed on the front or back. Printing costs were way out of my financial budget at the time of being a student.

The original artwork for both 'Street Entertainer' and the 'Computer Art' piece are A1 in size and the circus scene is some 3X A1 panels in size. I worked a lot larger then! All rendered with acrylic paint and tissue paper collage for the background. The Street Entertainer went on to win the Best Newcomer Award from The Association of Illustrators and the Computer Art piece was an image exploring the then fledgling potential of computers in art and design. How things have changed!