Olympic Mascot 2012 : Park Cycling

I was really excited to approached by Wild In Art back in February, and asked to submit some designs for a commission they had secured to produce around 80 life sized models of the Olympic and Paralympic Mascots for London 2012. The mascots are to be arranged in trails across a variety of locations in London, from mid July until the end of the Paralympics.

The process involved artists being allocated various themes to apply to a mascot template. Once artwork was submitted, the designs had to be approved by the Greater London Authority and London Olympics 2012 Organising Committee.

Above is the original design I submitted on a 'Park Cycling' theme. There were directives with regard to logo placement, the colours of the Olympic rings the mascot wears as wristbands, eye colour/highlight and the 'taxi light' on his head. These elements had to appear consistent across all the mascots, each being produced by different artists across the country.

My cycling design was approved, and in April a 'blank' fibreglass Wenlock model was delivered to my house. Below are a set of progress images, to show the process of how my design translated to the finished mascot.

Drawing on the design and a background coat of colour

The pose of the mascot that arrived with me was different to that in the original design, so I had to adjust the layout of my design and also create additional cyclists to go around all sides of the mascot.

Starting to paint in the cyclists one by one

I had set myself a limited colour palette for the design, and applied this to the painting of the bikes and riders as I went along.

Additional details were then added - the trees, leaves, flowers, a bandstand, a fountain, and bicycle wheels as iconic elements on the hands.

The line of the 2012 logo was applied as a black outline transfer over the top of a painted background colour - a nerve-racking 'one go at this' moment, which thankfully worked well. The taxi-light on the top of his head was a sticker that had been provided.

The mascot is finished with a gloss varnish.

The finished mascot

This mascot will be located in Grosvenor Square, for the duration of the Olympics and Paralympics, after which time I believe all the mascots will be auctioned off, with proceeds going to charity.

I have posted a little time-lapse movie of the painting of this mascot, start to finish condensed into around 2 mins..check it out here.

Paralympic Mascot 2012: Victorian Square

Having had my first design accepted - see above, Wenlock/Park Cycling - I was asked to produce another design for the Stroll: Discovery Trail. This time, it was to be the Paralympic mascot, Mandeville and with a 'Victorian Square' theme.

This was my approved design, pulling together my idea of Victorians at leisure, a sunday afternoon stroll complete with flying machines, an organ grinder with his monkey and the obligatory moustache.

Below are progress images taken as I painted the mascot...

First stage of drawing my design onto the blank white mascot,
then painting on the background colour

I used acrylic paint for both mascots, which looked pretty streaky to begin with - a good few coats were required!

Building up the design and adding in the characters one by one

The black line of the Paralympic logo was applied as a transfer over the painted background colour and then I had to mask it to paint in the surrounding colour.

The Finished Mascot

The Stroll:Discovery Trail takes place around London July 27 - September 9, this mascot will be located in Regent's Park for that time.

BUNT!

BUNT is an upcoming exhibition, organised by Drawn in Bristol to showcase the biodiversity of the South West in a totally unique way - over 60 local artists will depict endangered species on large triangular wooden 'Bunt' pieces, to be strung up at 4 venues across Bristol: Arnolfini, @Bristol, Colston Hall and M Shed, on June 9th - 17th.

Running in conjunction with Bristol Biennial and Big Green Week, each piece of BUNT will be auctioned online during the exhibition. To receive the latest updates on how to purchase artwork from the exhibition, join the event here.

The only directives for creating the artwork was that the species should be endangered and that colours should be generally green. My piece of BUNT features the Blue Ground Beetle Carabus intricatus.

Below are a series of process shots and the finished piece. (I missed taking a shot of the bare, unpainted wood, but I'm sure that can be imagined!)

Base colours and stencil cutting

Spray painted 3 small silhouetted beetles
and quite a bit of paint splattering

I painted on the main beetle and then decided
it didn't really stand out from the background enough

...So masked the main part of his body
and added some more white paint splats around the beetle.
Once the tape was removed, I re-painted in the detail

My finished BUNT: Blue Ground Beetle

Handling the Media - Print Copy

Following on from my previous post, here are some pictures of my illustrations all printed up! Handling the Media is a media training guide & thanks to Tina at Mentor Digital for sending me a copy.

The book is available from Amazon here

"I was happy to do anything
to increase Virgin's profile..."
- Richard  Branson

The Doorstep Interview

The Radio Interview

Add picture appeal to your story
( Wheel in the animals and children! )

The Press Conference

Handling The Media

Thought the bunny ears made for an apt Easter blog post...

A couple of weeks ago I was briefed to create a set of 6 black and white illustrations for Mentor Digital, to be used in a specialist training manual they are producing about 'Handling the Media'.

Here are 3 of the images: 'Doorstep Interview', 'When things get tough, bring on the animals and children...' and 'News Conference'

This was a fun, and interesting challenge for me, as my work doesn't normally feature people quite so prominently. I look forward to seeing the publication printed up.

Hey Diddle Diddle

I was asked by Wonky Films to develop an illustration style for a pitch they were developing for CBeebies. The job was to design & animate a series of 10 nursery rhymes in a fun and interesting way, aimed at pre-school children.

I was briefed to produce a couple of sample illustrations to depict a nursery rhyme ( I'm sure you can guess which one) - this is what I came up with. A land/space-scape of abstract letters, with simple 'cut-out'characters.

Unfortunately we didn't win the pitch this time. Shame... would've been a fun project!

Screen Printing

I've had a brilliant day today - the first proper screen printing I've done since college!

Having recently joined Drawn in Bristol a new illustration initiative/collective - Amongst other benefits, I now have access to some great screen printing facilities at the shared studio space in Stokes Croft.

The racing pigeon is an image I came up with a while ago, but thought I would adapt slightly to work as a 2 colour screen print. The print will form part of a collection of work I am putting together to sell at the Drawn in Bristol Pop-Up shop which will open it's doors very soon.

First colour down!:

Second colour:

Close up on the finished image:

























And of course there were a few practice runs and registration issues... these are fun in their own way!

Super-G Returns!

Having spent 12 weeks over the summer moving in and around St Nic's Market, Bristol as part of the Wow!Gorillas project (read down for more information on the project and progress pictures) - At the end of September Super G was sold, along with 59 other gorilla sculptures at a charity auction to raise awareness and money for Bristol Zoo's conservation projects and Bristol Children's Hospital. From the combined sales of all the gorillas the auction raised an amazing £427,000 for the charities.

Super G was actually bought by a trio of partners: St Nicholas Market traders, Destination Bristol and Bristol City Council, and this week has returned to the foyer entrance of the Exchange Market on Corn Street. The partners' intention is that Super G should remain visible to the public as part of the Wow!Gorillas legacy- he is currently back at his 'spiritual home' of St Nic's, but in the coming months Super G may well become a roving ambassador for Bristol and visit other parts of the city centre.

Paul Sawyer, one of the original traders to sponsor Super G commented "Throughout the summer Super G was super fun. Shoppers loved his bright, colourful presence and he became the market's mascot. We are all delighted to have Super G back!"

Super G - in location

Here is my gorilla "Super G" in position at St Nick's market!

High up on top of one of the stalls in the covered market is his first placing, though I believe he will be moving around within the market over the next 10 weeks to link in with weekly competitions to win £50 shopping vouchers.

Read down for previous postings to find out more about the Wow! Gorillas project and progress pictures of Super G in the making.

Also a map is available showing the locations of all 60 Wow! Gorillas... download it here

Gorilla Watch: Update #3 The Completion

Brilliant day today.

Having done 3 coats of matte varnish at intervals over the last week or so, I was finally able to collect the skis from being cast, and get them fixed onto Super G - Downhill Racer

Slightly un-dignified, pre ski-fit:

and then back on his feet, complete with skis...

The skis were cast in resin with aluminium powder added to give them their super-shiny metallic look.

What an amazing project to be a part of. It has been great fun, a steep learning curve and pretty stressful at times, but I'm really pleased with the outcome which is very very close to the original design. To re-cap my concept which I submitted in January this year:

"Super G is King of the mountains and big hills, a racing champion on the Alpine ski circuit. Off-season he gets his thrills where he can, and for whatever reason this summer he finds himself in Bristol. From the top: Blackboy Hill/Whiteladies Road/Park Street is an exhilerating walk in the park for this downhill supremo... WATCH HIM GO...!"

From the 4th of July this is one of around 60 gorilla sculptures which will be placed around Bristol for 10 weeks as part of the Zoo's 175 year anniversary celebrations and to raise awareness of their conservation projects. Super-G has been sponsored by Bristol City Council, specifically St Nick's Market, which is where he will be sited for the duration of the event.

For further information on Wow!Gorillas and to see some of the other Gorillas that have been produced have a look at the Wow! Gorillas facebook page... 

Huge thanks go to Alec Walker, and Lisa & Mark of Plenderleith Scantlebury (www.plenderleithscantlebury.com) for their advice & assistance in the making and casting of the skis. Also to Joe Allotey, the Maintenance Manager at Bristol Zoo for coming along to fit them for me.