Threadless Competition

Decided to use my xmas design for a Threadless competition. Take a peak using the link below and get voting, thank you!

http://www.threadless.com/artwithoutconcept/mucha-winter-wonderland/

Penguins....when I wake, when I sleep

So, here's some clue as to how I spent my Christmas and New Year! I'm convinced at this rate my fingers will actually turn silver and i'll start bleeding pencil lead. But, no time to let up now, the competition is only 2 weeks away and there are still plenty more penguins to be drawn.

Keep an eye out here for an exclusive look at the first chapter....

Merry Christmas and Farewell 2013

Merry Christmas everyone! 

Turns out I could squeeze in a picture that wasn't penguin related for the holidays! 

I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday and is with the people they love, as everyone should be at this time of year.

Thank you for everyone who has followed and supported me this year, it makes all the work worthwhile...this picture is for you.

So, have a wonderful time and i'll see you all next year!

Concorso Silent Book Competition Sneak Peak

Well, I'm about to jump into the full scale final piece production line for Christmas so you may not hear from me during the holidays as I prepare my entry for next years competition. But as a Christmas treat I thought I'd give you a glimpse of how some of the pages are shaping up....

So far the pages are coming out better than expected and I've been able to draw them up and colour them within a couple of days, and seeing as there are 50 more pages to go this is definitely a good thing! Will still be an absolute rush to get them in before the January deadline line but things are looking encouraging as it stands.

For those of you who have missed some of my earlier posts regarding the story, here's a quick synopses:

"Emperor follows the story of a colony of penguins and the mysterious arrival of a new penguin into their group. While he appears friendly and offers them the benefits of technology and scientific progress, one child suspects that a more sinister ploy is at stake.

Dealing with themes of the environment, technology and voice, 'Emperor' is my exploration of the dangers of revolution"

Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines

It's amazing how fast time fly's. Just two weeks ago I was having fun with mock up pages from my silent narrative competition entry, now I'm onto dummy book four with the deadline only five days away. Naturally, I'm starting to go a bit manic.

Yet in all this hectic schedule there have been some fantastic developments. Namely, I have been offered a job as an official concept artist for Forsaken Studios. FS are currently working on a project called 'Embers of Caerus', a new MMORPG which is shaping up to be one of a kind. An entirely self sufficient world which players can construct and shape as they see fit. For more information head over to their website at http://www.embersofcaerus.com/ for more details on the game.

Fantastic as this is, it has had the rather adverse affect of taking my crammed schedule and super sizing it - no rest for the wicked, not that I'd have it any other way!

The new year though is looking to be even more productive however, with not one, not two, but three books written, designed and printed within the first six months. Information on these books will follow soon, but I can tell you that my penguin story is looking to be completed by the end of January, with the first chapter viewable online. Once the limited print has been made, I will be selling the book at conventions and exhibitions around the UK so keep an eye out for upcoming events if you want the chance to get your hands on the rest of the book!

2014 Concorso Silent Book Competition update

Update on the penguins! Got my 1st draft dummy book ready for my entry into the 2014 Concorso Silent Book Competition. Now comes the editing which is always the tricky part :s In the mean time, here's a look at one of the mock pages. Pretty happy with the composition here, and especially enjoying using a good old fashioned pencil again!

 

In other news, the Short Fiction 7 journal featuring my artwork is out on sale now. There are some wonderful stories, beautifully presented and illustrated images, all for just £10, definitely worth it!

  

http://www.shortfictionjournal.co.uk/

 

Penguins in London

As it says on the tin really! Off to London tomorrow to find some penguins for visual reference for my new project which I've neglected to say anything about yet!

http://www.silentbookcontest.com/silentbookcontest/index-eng.html

The International Illustrated Silent Book Contest - really excited to be working on this. I have a huge interest in silent picture books (obvious example being Shaun Tan's 'The Arrival') and have always wanted to dabble my feet in the field. Quite a short deadline for this...full book, completed and sent off by January so will be spending most of my time on this one really.

London will be providing the majority of my primary research and will be chiefly responsible for depleting my bank balance after I visit Forbidden Planet

Vote for my design!

Hello everyone! My entry for Threadless' Sesame Street competition has been approved, if you could give it a quick vote I'd very much appreciate it, thank you!

http://beta.threadless.com/sesamestreet/the-after-years/

Threadless Sesame Street Competition

So here was something fun!

www.threadless.com ran a little competition based on Sesame Street. The task? Create a t-shirt design featuring either Elmo, Grouch or Cookie Monster. Merchandising and t-shirt have never really been of great appeal for me, but, I fancied something different for a change, and a chance to try out a new style. The results were extremely pleasing!

I've had some great feedback from this already, and I'll be advertising my entry like crazy, so, you never know...finger crossed and all that. This could actually be my unknown calling in life!

Poignant Words

As part of illus 341, a module entitled 'Your Professional Contexts' I have been emailing artists and illustrators about their work and experiences in the industry. This was a little daunting, especially when it came to asking them to look at your own work for advice.

We were told to expect little to no response (they are after all professional working illustrators with little to no time to respond to lowly students) but, I'm pleased to report that I have been getting some feedback. I won't name anyone specifically but its surprising how receptive and supportive people are being, no matter how rich and famous they are. One in particular had these words of advice to me:

"Don't look for the experiences of others to compare with your own. There is no master, no method to follow, the way is unique and the responsibility too."

Very poignant words that struck home with me. I've always measured my life against others whether it be comparing my successes to that of my brothers or my colleagues. But in the end, the way we live should not be judged against others. We are individuals and we each should live life by our own rules and standards. I may have to put that quote up on my desk and look at it whenever I need encouragement or solace.

So right now, and feeling good about myself and my work. Which reminds me, I've got some  tshirt designs in the works for www.threadless.com as part of their 'next big tee' and 'sesame street' competitions so expect to see my entries up here soon!

Modules, Websites, Competitions and a week of fresh frustration

I knew it would be busy, but nothing could have prepared me for the shear amount of work ahead of me this year. On top of an already busy year of studio modules, we also have to prepare for life after uni with reports on the industry at the moment, professional web sites, advertising material, portfolios...not to mention a dissertation. But, I'm looking forward to it none the less.

Our first studio module is to be based on Plymouth Museum, so had a walk around there on wednesday for inspiration. We can use it in any way we wish, so I've already got ideas for exhibits snatching people away for their own devilish deeds. I'm planning on creating my first ever children's book which will hopefully be wonderfully scary and dark.

What has been the main source of frustration this week however has been website building. I thought I'd safely put that to bed with my tumblr portfolio account, but unfortunately for me, we have to build a professional site. Its in an early stage yet but I've already got a working template (www.andystuartmills.co.uk) which I plan to work on over the course of the year. I need to design some form of logo or header, not something i've been good at in the past but it will have to be a case of trial and error.

In all this paper work and timetabling I have still managed to find time to explore some artwork, most notably this week discovering Yoann Lossel. Absolutely stunning artwork which caused me to buy some gold leaf for experimentation of my own. Haven't got round to using it yet but its number one on my list.

Anyway, one week down of 3rd year and I am thankfully still feeling excited and motivated. It probably helps that its my birthday this week so I'm looking forward to fresh art supplies!

Year 3 First Day Impressions

Help?!

A little dramatic, but wow, it really, really, really is going to be a busy 12 months. And today, was only the first module brief. Yikes. Serious wake up call!

Skinny and the Giant Fish

Just squeezed this picture into my timetable before starting university (for the final year!) tomorrow. One picture finished, one new term about to begin...

This image just came to me one night, and I've had it stuck in my head for a while. Really used this as a chance to go back to my beloved fine detail that I like to obsess over.

Japanese Brush Pen, Indian Ink, Charcoal, Gouache and Photoshop

Oh God, it's not 3rd year already is it?!

As the title may suggest, I am indeed about to begin my 3rd year of (BA) Illustration and oh boy do I feel this coming like a sledgehammer. Dissertation, website building, business cards and all sorts of professional practice are going to be taught this year and with that comes the slow realisation that soon I will be returning to the real world.  I hope they will still let me draw there!

In terms of projects for the forthcoming year I am actually quite excited. I've already got several ideas that are in the pipeline (as long as they are OK'd by tutors) and have also commenced writing two stories that I wish to illustrate and produce into full novels. Exciting times indeed.

That hasn't stopped me drawing in my own time though, which leads to my sneak peak of September's illustration. Don't know where this drawing came from, other than I had a strong desire to draw some fish. That quickly turned into a full forest environment that really tested my abilities. As it stands I am very pleased with how its shaping up, and its has been a nice return to do some full black and white art.

 

The case of the mysterious vanishing camera cable has yet to be solved so once again, I apologise for the poor picture quality of my camera phone, but hopefully will give some indication as to whats of been working on!

August Illustration 'Once upon a Time'

So here's August's illustration. This was a private commission for a wedding gift, to be used as a cover for the newly weds photo album. This is definitely the most colourful piece of work i've done in a long time and another step down the road to learning photoshop. I think my favourite part is the branch detailing, even if drawing it took forever!

Indian Ink, Brush Pen, Fine Liner and Charcoal

Andy Stuart Mills 2013

The Stranger from America

Competition Entry for short story "The Stranger from America". It's a lovely little tale of two people meeting in a train station and, after mistakenly stepping on his hat, they wind up hopelessly in love. If successful this will go on to be published in a short story anthology as the cover title so fingers crossed!

Indian Ink, Brush Pen, Charcoal, Fine Liner and Photoshop

Fumbling with Tumblr

My biggest revelation at university so far has been comprehending just how much time is spent on self promoting. It really is invaluable, and in equal measure frustrating. Take for example last night where I spent over three hours on tumblr trying to find a theme that I liked. One that displayed work nicely, had more than one column, allowed a personalised header and border. You would think that's not asking for much? But, nope! I was at one point screaming 'WHY WON'T YOU JUST WORK?!' Granted, once finished it did look a lot better than it did previously, but for a technophobe like me it was tooth grinding haul. 

As a result of that being updated now, it now comes to me that I need to update the design of this blog too. Simple things really like a logo, banner etc, as right now it's all a bit of a mish mash of different imagery and fonts. I blame this on my at times terrible sense of colour co-ordination. Luckily, with the developments of photoshop etc, if that colour horror show does translate to my artwork its an easy fix!

Speaking of which, I have just completed my latest piece of work, which is actually the most colourful piece of work i've done in a long time, so once I've cleared it with the customer, I'll be putting the results up on here

Sneak Peak August's Skinny

Quick look at my current work in progress. This one is actually being done as part of a commission for a wedding gift. I've also got a competition that I'm entering which is in the process of being inked up but once that's done I'll give you all a peep at how that one's coming along too!

More experimenting

 

Still busy trying to develop a style that I'm happy with, so did this illustration as a quick test. I'm liking the mixture between the charcoal and the ink, but, to me something still doesn't feel quite right. But its only by trial and error that we learn. Still, I was pleased with this considering how quickly it came together. If there is something that I need work on it is my speed so was pleased that I churned this out over night.

A Royal Photoshop

Well, I know my last post was a sneak peak at what I was working on at the moment, but a rather unexpected thing happened. Suddenly and inexplicably, I was able to use photoshop! Now, for anyone who knows me, my computer skills have always been minimal and I try to use them as little as possible. This definitely applies to my artwork. While I have tried digital colouring before, and have had some success with it, I had always told myself not to rely on it.

Then I did this illustration. My first thought was to paint it with gouache, but, I told myself to scan it in before I did any work on it just for a fail safe. And there it was, lying on my computer desktop staring at me every time I logged in. So, for a quick experiment, I thought I'd load it into photoshop and just have a play with it.

10mins I had started colouring the face, so far so good.

30mins I had started trying out different colours for the jacket.

2 days later I had bloody rendered the whole thing!

Having such an overt fear of computers, I must say I have been thoroughly pleased with myself! And just goes to show that having a fear of something shouldn't resist at least trying it. I think I may do a series of digital paintings based on this one so watch this space. Next job is to attempt a background....