East Coast Social extras…

So, we did some work at the East Coast Social in Southend a few weeks ago and I just recently found a couple of pics on my phone that I had forgotten about. I think the fumes may have been getting to me that day…

We added some ECS bulb logo’s to the half dozen tables they had upstairs and gave the bowler hat light fittings a touch of class with the further addition of the alternative bulb logo. I believe the venue is going great guns and wish them the best of luck.

Cheers

id-iom

Full Intention – America (found record redesign)

 

Found record redesign – AFTER

So this is the second of my cover redesigns for some 12″ records I found abandoned. I just had to give them a good home. At least temporarily before I repainted them and placed them back on the streets. With this one it originally looked something like this:

Found record redesign – BEFORE

But now has some extra 3D effect linework in there. My skills are so seamless that my girlfriend thought that my update was the original cover. Until i put the ‘red’, ‘white’ and ‘blue’ lettering on there. The ‘white’ lets me down somewhat although I think the overall effect still works nicely. Anyway best of luck in finding it but we’ll update when they’re all out and about…

Also, if you don’t know the song and want to hear it you can do here:

Cheers

id-iom

The LA Beast

Ah the power of the internet! Last week I was having a bit of a Youtube session when I came across a competitive eater by the name of the LA Beast who will eat just about anything. We first watched his cactus challenge video where, you guessed it, he eats a cactus. Whole. We then moved onto the ghost chilli challenge which brought tears to my eyes – as well as his. After perusing a few more videos we decided to check him out online. The banner on his Facebook page was looking a little pixelated so the muse demanded I create a new one for him as thanks for the amusement he provided.

Once I had an idea for the design it was all pretty straightforward except for the fact that I couldn’t find any decent resolution shots of his face in profile (which was required for my design). So there you have it. All that was left after that was to send it off to him and see if he’d get back. He did and it turns out he thought it was ‘awesome’. Everybody’s happy…

Cheers

id-iom

Middy Middy Middy

Middy Middy Middy

After reading the word ‘middy’ in a dictionary I’ve somehow become quite obsessed with it. I’ve put it on walls and pictures and just like how the way it sounds. Especially when you say it three times in a row. Give it a try! Rolls off the tongue doesn’t it? I’m not entirely sure why I’m trying to promote the continued usage of such a word given the two definitions of a middy are: a midshipman or a woman/child’s loose blouse with a sailors collar. I think I may have been painting too long on my own. Roll on the summer when I can get outside and interact with people again…

Available from idiom.bigcartel.com/products

Cheers

id-iom

Title: Middy Middy Middy
Materials: Paint pen, watercolour, spray paint, acrylic, pencil, pastel and charcoal
Size: A4

Little boy blue

Little boy blue

It’s funny that because this picture is on a sheet of A4 paper you don’t really get an impression of size of the subject. The person this picture is based on is actually a giant at well over 70 metres tall. But that doesn’t come across well in the picture. Maybe I should have added some smaller things in by way of perspective but that’s never been my strong point and I fear I would have made it all just look a bit odd. Suffice it to say that he eats cows whole when he wants a burger and drinks beer by the bathtub full. The clue is actually in the title as he’s called ‘little’ boy blue in that particularly British way of giving someone a name that is somewhat opposite to their obvious attributes. Like calling a short man ‘lofty’ or a man mountain ‘tiny’. Either way I’m not entirely sure of what to say other than if you come across him it pays to be nice before he decides to use you in a sandwich…

Available at idiom.bigcartel.com/products

Cheers

id-iom

Title: Little boy blue
Materials: Watercolour, ink, acrylic and charcoal
Size: A4

The Christmas Skull

The Christmas Skull

I think there should be a jolly festive song called ‘The Christmas skull’. I have done a cursory bit of internet research and it would appear that no errant songsmith has managed to come to my aid as of yet. We live in hope. This piece was actually drawn on Christmas morning last year whilst recovering from the shenanigans of the previous evening (which included losing a dog that wasn’t ours) and waiting for a lift up to my auntie’s for Christmas Day. The picture isn’t very pretty but then again neither was I at the time. I felt defeated but still in charge. Like a king whose lost a battle but is still around to try and make amends. I think a combination of hangover and sleep deprivation was probably just kicking in at that point though…

Available from idiom.bigcartel.com/products

Cheers

id-iom

Title: The Christmas Skull

Materials: Paint pen, watercolour, spray paint, acrylic, pencil, pastel and charcoal

Size: A4

Blaaaa

Blaaaa

You know sometimes when you’re speaking to someone and you get the distinct impression that no matter how you go forward with the supposed conversation they are, in fact, delivering a soliloquy to which you are expected to be nothing other than a passive receptacle for their ill considered ramblings. They may be ‘drunk’ or just plain ignorant but there is always a solution for dealing with such nuisances. These range from the somewhat passive ‘I’m just heading to the loo’ (obviously not in order to return) to the more confrontational ‘just what on earth are you talking about?’ to the downright aggressive approach of giving them a Captain Kirk style ninja chop to the side of their neck. It’s all about balancing up the escape opportunities and the threat level presented. In the case of this picture it appears to just be a drunken girl so you have the whole spectrum of responses to consider. It’s down to you…

Available from idiom.bigcartel.com/products

Cheers

id-iom

Title: Blaaaa
Materials: Paint pen, acrylic, pencil, pastel and charcoal
Size: A4

One more drink…

We’ve done quite a range of work down at the Electric Social in Brixton over the past couple of years and with the folks behind it getting themselves a new venue in Southend they came back to us for some more id-iom brand contemporary interior decoration. The East Coast Social is to have a similar look and feel to the Electric Social. They wanted that to include some spray painted work on the interior and we were more than happy to oblige. So, with the first nice day of Spring in the air we packed up the id-iomobile and headed for the coast. Knowing it was to be something of a long day we started early so we’d make sure to be able to finish as their grand opening is this weekend…

With the somewhat discordant accompaniment of a sound engineer running their speakers through a sound test and some workman hammering away we set to work. The main issue was having to work around the light fitting that was already up on the wall but, thankfully, we’d already thought this through in the design stage and so started there with the dark bulb logo stencil and worked the rest of the background from there. A couple of applications of the main stencil and a bit of colouring in later and here you have it. The somewhat sobering thought of needing another drink to be able to deal with her new fella…

Cheers

id-iom

Blah Blah Blah

Blah Blah Blah

I’m not entirely sure where the inspiration for this piece came from. I’d like to think it was from listening to too many mind-numbingly boring conversations whilst trying to enjoy a quiet pint in the local hostelry but I fear it’s actually a fairly accurate representation of my interior monologue that is droning on day and night – whether I’m listening or not.

Perhaps this suggests that I should go and see a qualified medical professional and seek further advice but I like to put on my battered coat of arms better known as ‘I’m an artist (or at least pretending to be)’ and therefore dismiss everyday notions of mental health in favour of pretending that it’s the Muse who directs my actions. And that’s all you’re getting from me for now. They’re listening.

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Cheers

id-iom

Title: Blah Blah Blah
Materials: Paint pen, watercolour, spray paint, acrylic, pencil, pastel and charcoal
Size: A4

The girl with the grey shirt

The girl with the grey shirt

As it’s getting late in the day and writing these is making me somewhat cranky I’ll give you a peek behind the curtain and you can see the inner workings of id-iom. When I sat down to write this there was already something saved in the text of the post by the other half of id-iom. This is what it read:

“This girl looks like she’s just finished at the gym but that wouldn’t be the case i can tell you. In fact i don’t think she’s done a day of exercise in her life, unless you consider copious amounts of sex as exercise.”

Now if that doesn’t sound like an excerpt from the ‘Letters to the editor’ part of a particularly fruity copy of Fiesta from 1983 then I don’t know what does. I’ve even left the title as I found it. Which also sounds like it should be a chapter heading from an 80’s Jilly Cooper novel. Anyway, I digress, but you see what I have to work with. The girl with the grey shirt is actually quiet, intelligent, sensitive and a snappy dresser. It’s just that you can’t see the rest of her outfit. And that’s that.

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Cheers

id-iom

Title: The girl with the grey shirt
Materials: Paint pen, watercolour, spray paint, acrylic, pencil, pastel and charcoal
Size: A4