drawbinista

[drawbinista]

(These are from around 2017/2018, on the right is an earlier sketch without any narrative just exploring the form)

I’ve always loved comics, when I was at primary school my mum threw out an entire collection of 2000ADs that I’d ‘borrowed’ from my older brother who in turn had them from on loan from an even older friend, so it’s a complicated relationship with my emotional memory that’s had ups.

I studied in Brussels during my degree but besides Franquin was more interested in indulging my fine art, rock-star fantasy life.

I often included a gesture toward ‘comics’, and their visual language, the graphic weighted line or when brave enough to step beyond abstraction, characters. B-but I haven’t explored it further apart, of course, from the couple of books I illustrated in the last decade but they were aimed more towards complementing the text than in its place.

I visited Angoulême recently which rekindled my passion for visual story telling but tbh I didn’t really take in how big a role in and thread throughout my life comics weaved until writing this. So there’s an even longer story.

SATS

[drawbinista]

Loved ‘Willow the Wisp’ and clearly, Evil Edna made a big impression -ceramic doodle, biscuit-fired and unglazed, directly influenced by the amazing Pixel Pancho too

[drawbinista]

Who doesn’t love bubble writing?! Calligraphy videos are up there with throwing pots and when I watch them it switches on the same bit of my brain my daughter inherited and employs when she watches slime VT - I recently found Alex L Lewis’ Instagram, it’s worth a look

[drawbinista]

Was asked to explore illustration ideas for a spiritual enlightenment text for a friend

2018

[drawbinista]

Sketchbook doodles and some paintings- (the house paintings sold fairly well 🤗 )

[drawbinista]

Main image is another from the series exploring illustration for text on spiritual enlightenment, others from 2018

[drawbinista]

Work getting to grips with acrylic spray paint and markers

Summer 2018

[drawbinista]

From left- ‘combined portrait - Brian Gittins/Tim Key’; Dreaming Fox cub; Exploded ice cream van dream.

Spring summer 2018

[drawbinista]

Acrylic marker doodles from summer 2018

[drawbinista]

Work in acrylic markers and spray paint using hand cut, abstract stencils as starting points to provoke improvised forms (summer 2018)

[drawbinista]

Minister for Brexit, Dominic Raab, returns without progress from negotiations (October 2018) must have been just before I picked up my iPad/pencil off eBay

[drawbinista]

Generational changes in whale song reported (bbc nov ‘18) Do little Gary Larson cartoons on your office partition-wall still indicate GSOH to that coworker with the snazzy knitwear?

[drawbinista]

Barefoot suburban wilderness guide 2018 (acrylic on big unwanted ikea canvas from eBay)

[drawbinista]

On paper, pencil, fibre tip fine-line pen

[drawbinista]

Massively overworked Rock Star doodle 2018, the point at which I gave in to compulsive naval-gazing doodling over navel-gazing spray-can art pieces

[drawbinista]

[drawbinista]

The Guardian Football Weekly podcast held a little mascot design contest in honour of special guest, the brilliant David Squires. The winner was a crudely photoshopped Italia ‘90 mascot with Barry Glendenning’s face, ffs, he won loads of David Squires stuff that I wanted. Still, scraping away at paper with a pen never felt so hopeful (Nov 18)