New Collaboration; The Yorkshire Collective

The Yorkshire Collective is a new apparel brand celebrating God’s own county of Yorkshire. Showcasing talented Yorkshire artists, there’s a local tint to all the products available. I have recently joined the collective in designing some T-shirt’s for them.

 

It’s fashion, darling. Look it up

 

The designs I have gone for are influenced by Yorkshire sayings, Yorkshire history and reworking my regular characters into exclusive designs. Designs range from fun to funny. My ghosts make a technicolour appearance. As does a Yorkshire take in a Frankie Goes to Hollywood favourite. It’s been fun to be able to play with apparel designs inspired locally.

 

Although I have been based in Sheffield for the last four years I have also lived in Leeds for five years too. One of the designs features the famous Armley hippo. I have been fascinated by it since I saw it in the Leeds City Museum. The design features an illustration of the skull that’s on display. The hippo dates back to Pangea when hippos would have been wild to the Armley region. It’s an incredible piece of history!

 

I have been their featured artist for TYC and interviewed on their blog. Excitingly I have received a few notifications of people having bought my designs too. I am excited to see more photos on social media of people in my tee designs, All of my designs with the Yorkshire collective are apparel exclusives.

 

Hopefully I will have more designs joining soon too. The YC brand is young, cool and alternative. Dreamt up by a tattoo artist. The style works well with my brand too. I really enjoy seeing my designs being worn by people and it inspires me to explore this area further past my patch designs and threadless shop covered in cobwebs. Perhaps it’s time to dust them off?

My Dreams As An Artist

So, we’ve talked about my goals as an artist for 2019 but what’s the point in having short term goals if you don’t have great big ole dreams too? Specifically, I’m talking my dream jobs as an artist and I’d like to share some with you.

Event Posters

It can still be a dream job if you already get to do it! I’ve done quite a few event posters, but do you know what? I love ‘em! Posters have to convey things quickly and capture people’s attention. It gives me reign to be bold and bright and all the things I love to be! Plus, seeing your work up all around town is a very awesome feeling!  

Murals

Again, let’s carry on with things I have done and love to do. Murals are the best way to indulge that naughty little kid that I’m sure a load of us artists were; the one who likes drawing on everything! There are few things as exciting as a paintbrush, paints and a huge blank canvas, especially when drawing on walls is exactly the kinda thing that was going to get you into a lot of trouble 20 years ago. Well look at me now mum and dad, these folks appreciate it, they even pay me for it!

Gig Posters and Album Artwork

Having managed a charity music festival a few years back I have had the opportunity to do some cool posters and graphics for music events too. Artists across artforms seem to vibe well together, and it feels like an extra nudge towards being truly creative when you are creating a poster for other artists. Find bands and gigs whose vibe match yours as an illustrator and there’s some beautiful synergy to be had.

Movie Posters

Film posters bring me genuine joy. I’m a huge fan of Mondo posters, the type that favour art and illustration over design. I am a sucker for cinema as it is and there are many great movies featuring great art. As a kid I event dreamed of being a matte painter after watching “The Addams Family” a billion times over. I love illustrated posters that take a film’s narrative and represents it to potential viewers through a single, inspiring frame. To create a poster like this for a client would be an absolute dream come true!

Apparel

Similarly to seeing your posters around town, seeing your artwork on human folks is intensely satisfying. I currently produce badges and patches and when I see them on someone’s jacket it makes me giddy. I’ve even been known to create one of knitted pieces too. The dream for me would be to team up with a talented seamstress and create pieces using fabric printed with my illustrated patterns. There are  some incredible illustrators who do this already and I yearn to be one of them!