Lincoln 05/09/10

A couple of weeks ago I visited some family in Lincoln. It's a strange, beautiful place that possesses two equally impressive faces; on the one hand you have miles upon miles of serenity and natural beauty provided by the infinite crops and fields that  dominate the landscape; the other side shows the bustling urban lifestyle of an ever growing city that possesses a wonderful array of both modern and old buildings.

I thought these two shots portrayed this view well; the abandoned telephone box gathering cobwebs and slowly being overshadowed by the spindling weeds and winding grass and the grand cathedral that completely dominates the horizon for miles on end, never to be overshadowed or disrespected and always full of equally admiral people like myself.

1998

Yesterday I got a letter from my bank saying that I had gone in to my overdraft by £6 and for each day I didn't rectify it I would be charged a further £6. Before I knew it I owed £30. Without sounding over dramatic or suicidal, life's shit when you're all grown up.

It got me thinking about the good old days as a kid around 8 years old. I was either playing on my SEGA Mega Drive on my dodgy telly or out all day playing football, making dens or climbing trees... and that was it; my life as an 8 year old summed up in that one sentence. The only stress that came my way was choosing what sweets to have in my 50p mix. What I'd give to be in 1998 again... maybe I didn't realize it at the time but, fuck, life was good.

A Bottle Of Love ☮ ✌

Inspired by The Beatles and their global message of Peace and Love, I thought to myself 'Wouldn't it be good if a glass of Love could cure all the anger and hatred in the world'. And so, my design was born... Lately the whole planet seems riddled with normal people turned crazed gunmen all because they've had a bad day. They could all do with a bottle of Love in my opinion!

Read More to see the original sketch.

Addicted Britain

Britain has been celebrity obsessed for years now but I'm afraid I've had enough now. I can't even look for a photography magazine in a super market anymore without shoveling my way through endless hoards of red, pink and white celebrity magazines, all trying to out sell eachother by offering various snippets of Cheryl Cole's life. 'Woman of the Year' she was awarded. Now I've got nothing against her and she didn't ask for all of it (did she?) but surely there are mothers worldwide who can barely feed themselves, never mind their kids, are sick with disease and homeless- yet they still do their best. What have people like Cheryl Cole and Katie Price done to get the god like status they have amongst some people? One (or both) can't sing, has mimed on a talent show, on which she judges better singers than herself whilst the other gets her boobs out and claims she's a business woman.

I just find it sad that people are genuinely interested what Katie and Alex are up to this week. Who gives a fuck? Maybe if we worried about ourselves more this country might be a little more respectable. Camping outside Waterstones to buy a book describing how Katie Price has had a harder life than everyone else or how Paris Hilton earned her millions- nothing to do with her last name or the classy video she made. It's been the same old tireless shit for years yet people still feel the need to worship these over egotistical nobodies.

On a lighter note, I made this to portray my feelings towards the current situation :)

Devious or Desperate?

This basically represents that conundrum when you see a homeless person (or even a Big Issue seller) directly plea for money. Now that you've been put on the spot, do you merely ignore them or immediately look for any spare change you have? My case is a strange one; i remember walking past a pair of 'homeless' people in Southport, only to see them rolling their sleeping bags up, counting their money and getting in their car on the way back. I'm not saying all homeless people are like this, but it makes you think...  

The Observer

I found this shot on my camera yesterday and decided to give it some life. Ironically, I had also come across an article portraying Liverpool's past the same week which gave a brief history on the Liver Birds. Unknown to myself, there are actually four (cormorants?) Liver Birds throughout the city; the two iconic marvels as well as one perched on top of the Mersey Chambers office. The fourth -a small stone version- was originally on top of the original St John's Market building until 1964 when it was demolished- it now resides in the Liverpool Maritime Museum.

Legend has it that the male (as pictured) watches over the city and the people in it while the female looks over the sea waiting for the seamen to return and if they were to ever turn around, mate or fly away the city of Liverpool would cease to exist...

Vintage: Lara Croft

The previous posts showing my Capital of Culture project got me thinking about other past work I have created. Therefore, I searched my pictures saved to the hard drive in the hope to find some nostalgic material I had saved from extinction. Now that college has finished, I thought why not and so when I found this the memories immediately started flooding back. I remember, about 3 or 4 years ago, drawing Lara Croft from a battered copy of a Tomb Raider comic I had bought. I remember drawing it on an A3 sheet in pencil and trying to scan it into an A4 scanner (hence the missing toecap!), having to resort to scanning the drawing twice- the top half and bottom half. I then connected the two best as I could on Photoshop; this being the result. I still plan on adding colour to it at some point...

Withering City 3/3

The final piece of the series shows a bordered up house in the heart of the city centre. The first shows the eyesore at day, whilst the second shows it at night, illuminated by he countless bars and clubs surrounding it- almost giving it new life.

This concludes the project... it would be interesting to hear your views on the city- local or not- and what you find/found positive and negative about Liverpool, Capital of Culture 2008.

Withering City 2/3

Funnily enough, I passed this very wall a few weeks ago and I thought 'Where have I seen that before?' Of course, I had stood in the exact same position
roughly two years ago with my Vivitar digital camera. Amazingly, the scene is still exactly the same; the peeling wooden sign board, the rusty looking bricks and the draping vines covered in rotting leaves. Capital of Culture obviously didn't reach everywhere...

Withering City 1/3

This is a mini project I made about two and a half years ago... It contains 3 illustrations (each with at least one variation of the original) showing different areas of Liverpool. The reason behind the project was to highlight the less known, slowly deteriorating parts of the city whilst the city centre was rapidly being modified and  built up as part of the 2008 Capital of Culture scheme.

It was great seeing plans for new spectacular buildings, but the reality soon hit you in the face when, just around the corner or across the street, you were greeted by a crumbling house, a peeling row of doors or an angry looking reel of barbed wire strung across a decaying wall.