Open Doors SW9 at the Brick Box

I was fortunate to be involved with the latest Open Doors located in at The Brick Box in Brixton. It was special for me personally for a couple of reasons. It was my first exhibition and it also featured my old mate buddy pal Fuad as well, so it was also our first exhibition we did together.

The art exhibition was themed around a game of consequences. Open Doors had collected words written by local residents about the area. The words have been passed onto artists who will be exhibiting original art directly inspired by the words.

 

'I love to draw, that's how I do it.'

Why the title? Allow me to explain. The other day I was talking to a close friend of mine, who is an illustrator, about the amount of drawing we both been doing as of late. Now at the moment we're both in simular situations as the illustration field isn't our main source of income, so we both work at jobs doing shift work for ridiculously low pay. Now anyone who has ever done any kind of shift work (retail, fastfood, etc.) knows that it leaves you utterly exhausted by the end of the day, both physically and mentally.

Dispite that I always end up doing some kind of drawing everyday, be it a complete work that I post on 'Ant Can't Draw' and 'The Prophets of Illustration' or just a quick doodle in my sketchbook. I'm pointing this out because my friend ask me how I do it? Because of our situations we both feel like death when we get home and he said he never has the energy to to do anything, let alone draw and couldn't get how I manage to knock out a new drawing every couple of days. So he asks me, "How the hell do I keep drawing?"

My answer was pretty simple. "I love to draw, that's how I do it."

And I do love it. I been drawing for as long as I can remember and it's one of the few things I will brag about as far as my skills go. I went to college and university to do creative courses because I wanted a career doing something I love doing and not once have I considered it a chore. It is a great field to get into as you're always doing something different and seeing a piece you created either on display, printed, in a magazine, etc. is one of the most gratifying feelings you'll ever get. On a person level it keeps me sane as I use it as a way of escaping if I've had a rotten day at work or if I've had an argument and immerse myself in what ever I'm putting on the paper (which these days is a lot of Spider-Man drawings). 

Someone once said if you do a job doing something you love then you'll never work a day in your life and I believe that. I mean when ever I get a comission I never see it as work and I enjoy doing. Drawing, illustration, animation, graphic design and whatever else you can put under this field is my passion.

It's what I love to do.

Friendly Spidey Rivalry

As some of you are aware (and if you're not shame on you) I'm apart of a little collective called The Prophets of Illustration. It consists of me, Fuad Ali, Tom Dryland, Lois Dryland and Hannah MacDouall. Now Tom and I have started a little game of one-upsmanship based around 'Spiderman' in which we trying to see who can come up with a better costume. So far I have done two, a black and red alternative and a steampunk version while Tom has done an armoured spider suit. As it stands now I'm waiting for Tom's comeback to my steampunk, so watch this space.

My first attempt at designing a spider suit.

Tom's spider armour in a very cool pose.

My steampunk Spiderman.

Tom's Grinch Spidey (for lack of a better term).