Kung Fu Poker

Well, World Poker Tour magazine certainly know the kind of things I like to draw. A couple of months ago they wanted some poker playing robots, and this time it was kung fu poker. Naturally I was happy to oblige. My illustration embellishes an article about how skills in the real world, such as martial arts, can help players improve their Poker game. Hence the 'city type' 'busting' some slick moves. Is that too many inverted commas for one sentence?

And no, the main figure's face wasn't based on a certain Michael Owen, but for some reason he just ended up looking that way. Which, objectively speaking, isn't a bad way to look...

BBC Children In Need Game

Last month it was very nice of Nowwashyourhands to invite me to work with them once more - this time on a 'lil flash game for BBC Children in Need. And what fun we had creating Pudsey's Pie Throw, which is now up on the virtual circus that is the web. I designed and created all the in-game graphics and most of the interface, although I cannot take credit for the character designs that grace the screen, which apart from the ubiquitous Pudsey of course, were created by NWYH.

Charcoal Portrait for Painter Magazine

If you were to pick up the brand new issue of official Corel Painter magazine (that's number 9 by the way), and turn to page 30, you'd find a short feature that I put together on using the charcoal brushes, including this loose black and white portrait.

Self Portrait

I occasionally need an image of myself for online profiles and magazine features, and for a while now I've been meaning to get an illustration together for just such a purpose. As well as being less embarrassing for myself, it's also much safer for the general public. Yep, I'm so vain I even think this blog is about me...

NME Rock 'N' Roll Riot Tour

Last month I was working once more with Archibald Ingall Stretton, and projects included designing the main game interface for part of the NME Rock 'N' Roll Riot Tour, presented by O2. Taking the train departure board theme from The Enemy's album cover, the aim is to pick people up from a town square using your giant hand, thus filling up the train where one of the gigs is set to take place. I supplied the initial design, based upon concepts outlined by the art director.

The (Super) Entertainment Directory

When I say that I've designed the official SuperTED site, I don't mean that I can now reveal the secret magic word to you (apologies if that means nothing to non UK residents who are under the age of 25, but I digress). In this case I'm talking about The (Super) Entertainment Directory (SuperTED for short), where site visitors can book anything from a DJ to a juggler for their upcoming event via SMS.

I worked on this for Multichannel TV quite a while back, so it was nice to get sent a link to the live site this week. Here's one of the more extensive pages from inside the site, chosen because it covers several aspects of my involvement, from art direction and website design through to icon creation:

Hot Fuzz Canvas

Fresh from the lovely people at Blaugallery is this canvas of my recent Hot Fuzz inspired illustration, which if you missed it, is covered here. I've used them a number of times before, and once again I've been hugely impressed with the craftsmanship. As is director Edgar Wright, who was chuffed to get his copy of the canvas last week.