These illustrations came out the back of another Domestika course that I completed during lockdown. Mattias Adolfsson is an amazing artist who creates these extremely detailed pieces with a fountain pen and watercolour. His work really connected with me and you can probably see his influence in these works.
As a child I really enjoyed the Richard Scarry books which had a similar theme of busy and detailed illustrations. He had some books with double page spreads of town scenes, with different animals rushing to work and you could spend a while finding little details. I seem to remember there was always a worm that was difficult to find too. So it’s a real joy to find that experience again with Mattias, and something I love to take forward in these unlikely stories.
Flight from Bondolvia
Flight from Bondolvia was my first attempt to try and develop a story. All good illustrations really need to have an element of story behind them. So I put myself in the frame with Captain Yook and concocted the following:
Time for a quick cup of Cocoa as Captain Yook takes the controls for the final approach into Stansted. A shopping trip to Bondolvia for some homemade Mescal and 583 oddly shaped “Charlie Bears”. A brisk walk through Nothing to Declare and home…
On reflection, I think I should try and keep things family friendly, but I reckon I’m not the first to allude to adult themes that are hopefully well above the heads of the children reading it. I was careful enough to pick an imaginary country (Apologies to the people of Bondolvia if there is one) as I didn’t want to insult any existing nation for their out-of-control narcotics trade.
Living in the Shadows
For this piece I imagined myself auditioning for The Shadows and how that just wouldn’t mix with my musical taste which tends toward the Metal and Electronic genres:
Chronology aside, I worked closely with The Shadows in their post-Richard era. However, we quickly decided to part ways on account of artistic differences in their musical direction.
I struggled with the watercolour on this. I really wanted a flatter blue on the walls, but it just didn’t work out. Maybe not enough of a wash. The cactus and teddy bear has also become a repeated motif in these works, usually to fill in the space when I’ve run out of ideas.
Cupertino Presentation
Back in the late 90s and into the early 2000’s I lived and worked in Chicago for a software company. I remember getting the first version of the iPhone and have had them ever since. I’ve also been married to Apple products since 1991! I remember the first versions of MP3 players before the iPod made an appearance, and I also invested heavily in Mini Discs which were thought to be the future of music media.
Back in 2000 I was invited to Cupertino to present my vision of the future to Steve Jobs. It didn’t amount to anything, other than some mediocre “smart” phones somehow becoming fashion of the day.
So I filled this scene with all the clunky electronics that were around (and not around) in that era, and here I am presenting some smart phone that incorporated the Mini Disc technology. I love how Steve Jobs seems to be seriously considering my proposal before calling for Security, I’m sure I wouldn’t have gotten through the front door.
Agility on Line #1
The rest of these have been presents for friends and colleagues leaving my place of work. So the details tend to be little in-jokes or things that mean something to the person receiving it. They were also poignant to other colleagues who had worked with them for a number of years. Ted was a great colleague and friend and I was especially sad to see him move on to greener pastures.
The Music Room
This was a paid commission! Very grateful to have received payment for doing this for a friend. Her husband Bruce is a huge music fan, so I decided to place him in his music room and festoon the place with clues about bands and other little knick-knacks that mean a great deal to him.
Martin’s Retiring
I worked with Martin for a good couple of decades and consider him a good friend. He is the most patient person I have met, so great with customers and had a real talent for keeping everyone calm and working through a problem. I wish I could be more like him, and now that he’s gone I do find myself thinking “How would Martin handle this?”.
Again, there are loads of details in here that would go straight over the head of anyone who hadn’t worked with him, but I enjoyed making it for him.
The Unexpected Guest
A birthday present for Angelika who turned 50. She and her husband Chris are massive KISS fans as well as loving various 1980’s hair rock bands. Angelika is German, hence all the references such as England beating them on TV with a very appropriate score.
I haven’t done one of these forever and need to get my head back into them. I just need to think of some situations and back stories in order to develop them more easily. They are pretty impossible without a story. I will keep you posted for any more in the pipeline.