Empire of the Gothtwinz

BWARG!

2011-11-14T13:40:00.000-08:00

Hallo peeps!

Long time no see.....as usual been a busy bee at the studio producing god knows how many characters..think me heads gonna implode scanner style! Still doing any freelance work I can grasp onto in these hard times and of course doing my own personal work. Mrs Goth and the Gothettes are all doing well...mini Gothette is rapidly approaching one year of being on the planet...can't believe how quickly it's gone.

What else, well my latest BBC work was on Doctors but just last week, was easnt to post it up here but as per usual just didn't have the time. They showed my illos quite a bit but the story was bizarre to say the least (cool!)...best bit was the story was about a freelance comics illustrator who starts going mad and thinks the characters in his comics are real and coming after him (we've all been there at some point HA HA) but the best bit was the huge, posh house he lived in...as if, DON'T THEY KNOW WHAT FREELANCERS MAKE?!?!

Right, I've got to get back to work...hopefully I shall return soon!

Toodle Pipski One and All!

Burning Out.....

2011-03-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

......this is exactly how I feel right now....burnt out! Work is unreal at the moment, we're producing CD after CD, some of our triple sets have around 2000 different elements on them! On my main ranges I tend to do between 6-8 full on characters and then countless other things like papers, covers and design sheets. I think we're staring to average one of these sets every 2-3 weeks now....MENTAL! Nearly all my other jobs have had to go on hold now and I'm waiting for some sort of break just so I can catch up on myself, but I've been waiting for nearly two months solid now and I still can't se an end in sight. And to think that about nine months ago I was worried that I didn't have enough work on, now I want a gap from it all. If I don't get out there soon into the real world and see some trees and the odd lake or two I fear I mat go insane!

Where does the time go?

2011-03-19T00:03:00.000-07:00

Well hello there.....if there is anyone left out there! I can't believe how long it's been since I updated the old blog. My lifes been kind of mental over the past months and I think I'd need at least forty two blogs just to fill you all in.
Where to start then, firstly I can proudly announce a new Gothtwin has arrived, baby Gothtwin Evie Eowyn was born on the 3rd of December. Shes a beautiful little thing with the energy of a superhero, massive bluey, grey eyes and a very cheeky grin. We still can't decide on her hair colour though, it seems to change every day.
Work, well I now am an illustrator for one of the countries biggest crafting companies! I'll try and post some of my stuff later (hopefully not another six months mind you). My freelance work has generally slowed down to a drip now. The industry still seems to be in a state of decline like the rest of the country, I don't see me going back to it soon!

The evil company which STILL owes me money has now utterly vanished into nothingness. They went under owing out thousands of pounds to printers, suppliers and of course artists but I doubt any of us will see a penny of it now. I was sent a creditors report recently where one of the key people involved was questioned by a panel. It was amazing how much 'he didn't know' about the runnings of his own company. It seems as long as you claim no knowledge of anything, then you can do what you want and get away with it.....I must try it one day. It does seem that only the people who play dirty make anything of there lifes....take note bankers and MP's.

New Illos!

2010-06-21T03:35:00.000-07:00

Morning peeps. I thought I'd put up a couple of new images as I haven't uploaded anything brand new for a while now. I'm really pleased with the water on the canoe guy but I really have a soft spot for the club singer!

Thanks to everyone for all the comments from my last post......I always know that I can rely on my Army! Cheers guys!

The Return of the Gothtwin!

2010-06-06T01:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it's been a while since my last post....I'm still fighting the system, trying my hardest to keep afloat in this maddening society we have in Blighty. It seems that the more I try to work and 'get out there' the more I get shat on! You'll all know of my ongoing battle with a now defunct publisher (and I use the word 'publisher' with bitter, blood in my mouth) well the 'hilarious' news is I was commissioned by another publisher who's done the same thing! He didn't get any finished work but I put a lot of time into his project doing mock ups and the like. The funniest bit is he knew of my bad dealings with the aforementioned company and was actually sympathetic towards me wondering how 'any professional body could treat a freelancer like that?'...then he goes and does it himself! I wouldn't really mind, but he hasn't even had the guts to get in touch with me and explain himself! Another nail in the coffin for this countries publishing industry!

I've been working on other projects so I' haven't been sat around just crying into my black coffee, heres a job I did for the BBC last year on the Doctors programme which for some reason, I forgot to upload when it was actually on air! DOH!

Attack of the Dinosaurs!!

2010-02-08T03:34:00.000-08:00

Hello one and all, sorry about the lack of recent posts. As a lot of you may know, I've been having major grief with a certain publishing company who owe me a small fortune so I've been tied up trying to sort this out. Needless to say, I'm still in the same postion with them but I hear that various things are happening to them so hopefully it'll be sorted out soon......(and pigs may fly)

Workwise lately, well, I've got to say that it is still dire out there in greetings card world. I've never known it be so quiet, so I'm trying to broaden my horizons a bit. I'll let you know if anything comes of my evil plans for world domination!

Hopefully, I'll be updating more often!

Merry Chrimbo!

2009-12-19T18:37:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Gothtwinz shall return with a vengeance next year!

More moldy oldies....

2009-11-25T04:35:00.000-08:00

These were done to try and get a monthly if not weekly cartoon strip up and running. Needless to say, it failed and now looking past with hazey eyes and can see why! Years ago, myself and Niel Bushnell used to do a couple of daily strips, Flasher Mac for the Daily Sport and The Funny Farm for the Hartlepool Mail and Yorkshire Post. Again, like my previous post, things seemed so much more easier then. Of course, The Farm is still close to our hearts and we're still trying to get it animated but breaking into T.V. is a really long and difficult path!

A Blast from the Past....

2009-11-15T02:53:00.000-08:00

Work is so slow at the moment (as in there isn't any) that I've had an opportunity to go through some of my old files of work. I came across these....all hand painted from eons ago. They were for a now sadly defunct magazine called 'Stories for Children'. This magazine was brilliant, it normally had about 5 to 6 original kids stories illustrated by some of our best artists (including Norman Beardsly...who used to do most of the illustrations on the 'Rainbow' kids show)

I miss those days when everything seemed a hell of a lot easier than they are today!

Scooby-Dooby-Doo!

2009-11-02T05:08:00.000-08:00

Spooky greetings to you all mortals! Tis a tad late I know for Halloween but I hope you all had a good one! I've got to say that it was a really quiet one round our patch, I think the state of the country has even effected this our holyiest of holy days!.....If it wasn't for those pesky kids!

He's behind you.....AGAIN!

2009-10-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

Well dear reader, another year, another panto poster. I don't know where the time goes!

I love working for this client as they're always so easy to get on with and generally give me free rein to do whatever I want to (within limits anyway...I always tend to go for a more moody, dark image and have to be gently reminded these posters are for a family market so brighten the buggers up!) best part is, unlike another company I know, they pay up within a week! They also give me plenty of time but I somehow always run out of it...mind you this year I had a good excuse...the accursed company who owe me are slowly destroying my will to live at the moment.

Anyway, at the end of the day, I must admit that I like this illo...and I got away with doing it with a nightime background as well! VICTORY IS MINE!

A fish called Gothtwinz

2009-09-22T00:21:00.000-07:00

Well the summer hols are done and dusted and as you can tell from my lack of posts last month, twas a hectic time! Two Gothette kids off school for six weeks and one Gothtwin trying to work from home is not an easy thing. Work is slow, the card industry (like the rest of the country) seems to be falling to bits. I'm working on a commission as we speak but after that I'm dry although I've got a new client lined up for some book work which sounds pretty exciting!

Here's some fish I've been messing around with in Illustrator just to keep my finger in so to speak.

I like RED ROBOTS!

2009-07-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

How do all! Heres another old sketch I've just painted up. Haven't got a clue who he's meant to be....I was going to do him in white armour but as always seems to be the case with any robotty things I do...he's ended up in red!

Many,many moons ago I did a couple of comic strips featuring an army of red suited soldiers flying around the universe in their red spaceships. I think it all stems from one of my childhood heroes, Baron Von Richthofen AKA The Red Baron. I adored his Fokker Triplane and loved the fact that he (and his fellow pilots) were so confident that they flew around in brightly coloured bi-planes (unlike thier Allied counterparts who flew in dull coloured planes)

I dream of genie...

2009-07-22T00:28:00.000-07:00

Here's the concepts for the hero and genie for my poster job. There was a green version of the genie done as well as my clients didn't know which version they were going to use. My problem was that in my eyes, the red genie reminds me of Hellboy (one of my gods) yet the green version reminded me of the Hulk (one of the dullest comic characters ever!)

They've plumbed for the red (which I wanted as it links into the overall colour scheme) so I'm a happy bunny!

Bad news is that my bad guy (see below) and the Emperor have been dropped from the poster...gutted at that as I really liked the bad guy!

Angels to some...demons to others.....

2009-07-19T02:20:00.000-07:00

After working on the poster commission, I thought I'd redo an ancient sketch I found from many moons ago. Spent a few hours on it and here she is!

New for old...

2009-07-18T00:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a little something I've just finished working on. The top image is my old avatar, pencils then coloured up in Photoshop. The next image is the new version which was done completely in Illustrator. I've removed the spoon (as the original image was for a cereal box design) and messed around a bit with the geezers proportions. I'll master Illustrator if it kills me.....and it is slowly!!

Is there a Doctor in the house?...

2009-07-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

Heres the work I did a few months ago for the good old BBC. It's for the 'Doctors' programme which I've worked for before, this is now the third time they've used me so I can officially make this a trilogy!

The blurb for the episode says 'Karen helps a 14-year-old boy to win a battle against his school bully and his online avatar.'.... all I can say is that the characters I designed are for a mock computer game Warwolf. They're meant to be half animal/half robot fighting machines of death. I also had to do a mock title screen for the game (featuring the main hero fella) and a mocked up game screen which if I remember correctly is made up from various pieces of Cornwall and parts of the chemical works in my home town of Middlesbrough, they make great futuristic buildings.

The two front view faces are, I believe, going to be superimposed onto the actors faces in the show....sounds like it's going to be good!

It's on BBC1 on Friday the 17th of July at 13.45 so make sure you watch it soap fans!!....oh, and the episode is called 'The Art of War' which is pretty damn cool!

All artwork is copyright BBC PRODUCTIONS. 2009

Good guys and bad guys...

2009-07-13T06:20:00.001-07:00

More concepts from the job I'm working on! (Thanks for all the comments! I'm really enjoying this new style....although I know I'll have to tighten it up for the finished poster!)

A lad insane...

2009-07-12T01:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick concept I've just finished for a poster commission I'm working on. Don't know if shes going to end up like this or even appear in the poster yet but I'm pleased with the overall look. I'll post more from the same job when I get round to doing them!

Victory for the Gothtwinz!

2009-07-02T02:46:00.000-07:00

Hallo peeps,

Like Gretel (see below) another one of my fave designers is a certain young man named Toby Attrill. Although still at school, Toby over the last three years or so, has built up his own handmade jewellery business. His pieces are literally sold all over the world now, he has work in shows and shops around the country, has been name dropped on the radio (though the less said about his age the better!) and has even appeared on national TV with his wares....(talking to the fabled living Ronseal advert David Dickinson)

Toby has a real eye for creative design and an unbelievable sense of business (wish I could say that) You should all check out his work at http://naturalattrill.blogspot.com/

The best bit of news is that recently I won a competition on his Blog and my two Gothettes (Goth Major and Goth Minor) are now the proud owners of one of a kind pieces. A beautiful dragon fly charm and a stunning silver cross (IT BURNS MY EYES!!!) both adorned with black jems.

So Toby, a hearty thank you from myself and the Gothettes, they will treasure these for all time!

Ants in my Pants....

2009-06-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

Here's another business card/flyer logo I'm working on at the moment. The client wanted six legs for the ant but I did a four legs version as well which I prefer. Some people I showed it to commented on why would an ant have four legs instead of six but seemed to ignore the more pressing matter of why the hell would an ant be holding woodworking tools and standing erect!

All the text is just put in to show the client the font, as you can know doubt tell, what woodworking folk do is beyond me so I opted for the classic...BLAHBLAHBLAH line!

I can't seem to concentrate on work at the moment as a client, who owes me a small fortune, are messing me around. They are now 3-4 months overdue with my fees but seem to think that illustrators can live off thin air...unlike their own inhouse staff who seem to be getting paid!

Travelling to the Middle of Nowhere.

2009-06-19T03:18:00.000-07:00

Throughout all my time working as a freelance illustrator, I've got to know a lot of very friendly and talented artists and designers. Some, I've known for years now and even though I've never physically met them in the 'real' world, I feel like I known them for all my life and they're part of the family!

One of the very first fellow freelancers I 'hooked' up with was a lovely lady known to me only as 'Dog' (her old AOI web name) the wonderful and amazingly talented Gretel Parker. In the years I've known her she has dropped the Dog tag and I've followed her work in awe, she's one of my all time favourite artists, and now, through her hard work she's finally getting the recognition she so richly deserves. Her blog page, The Middle of Nowhere, has a massive following and has won awards. I can't recommend her site (and work of course ) enough. She almost daily updates her site with whats she's working on, wether it's personal work or a commission, but she also tells us about her life as well. She lives in a beautiful part of the world in a small cottage, which almost seems like it's caught in some sort of time warp from the past crossed with Emily's toyshop from Bagpuss.

Gretels artwork is hard to describe (so go check it out) beautiful images of creatures and animals living in strange dreamlike worlds. She has a fetish for animals, sometimes looking like toys and at other times looking like they've escaped from a distant land. She also makes felt toys which are amazing, where she gets the time and inspiration from is beyond me.

Another feature of her site is that Gretel has a studio web-cam set up, so every now and again, you can watch a master at work. I was on there myself a couple of nights ago, and wasn't sure if I was watching her in real time or not so decided to email her to ask.....Gretel then wrote out a 'Hello Goth' sign and showed it to the camera, which I've got to admit was cool! I've put up a couple of pictures of her at work and if you look closely you can see the sign just in front of her!

I've also put up a small selection of Gretels work which I flippin'adore but advise you all to check out her site to see even more of it!.....and if you're anything like me, once you enter the Middle of Nowhere.....you'll be blissfully trapped there forever!

Where in the world....PEE CEE WORLD!

2009-06-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

Heres a business card I knocked out yesterday for a new computer repair firm (PeeCeez).Had some fun doing this as I had total freedom to do whatever I wanted!

In space, no-one can hear you puke!

2009-06-05T02:38:00.000-07:00

Heres a rejected illo I've just done for a card commission. Shame really because I quite like it. Anyways, turns out that the whole things to complex and needs to be simplified down a level or two. This is one of the many problems I have when working to commission, you always try and do the best you can and make each piece as professional as possible but then you get told you've put too much into the thing! Of course what we all want really is to get that perfect job where all you do is stickmen on a white background and get paid the going rate for what turns out to be a one hour job! (I did a job like this a few years back....if only I could get more like that!)

My eyes are bleeding!

2009-05-27T04:06:00.000-07:00

Well I've finished my massive commission, 7 humourous calendars, so that's 84 illustrations and all the layouts! T'was a huge gig and seemed to go on forever, the last week of the deadline was hellish and I must have averaged about 3 hours kip a night if I was lucky!

So what next, well I've got 5 new card designs to work on a my annual pantomime poster (which is always fun as I can normally do whatever the hell I want to do and it's always good practice!)

I've uploaded part of one the card designs, it's for a mums day card, the line work was done in Illustrator then coloured and put together in Photoshop. The finished card is having a foil layer added to it, which any card designer will tell you is a nightmare to do, the only worse thing than foil on a card is glitter (what we call in the trade, DEVILS ARSE DUST!)

...and now for a brief interlude.

2009-04-28T03:37:00.000-07:00

As I keep on mentioning, I'm totally snowed under with work at the moment. My main job just seems to be getting harder and harder to do as slowly my mind is melting....(only another 33 to go....groan!). One of Mrs Gothtwinz work mates has recently left to prepare for the birthing of her first sprog, so as a novel fare thee well gift, I was asked to do a quick card for her. Took a few hours to whip out imbetween the regular work and was a nice break form the general monotony!

I'm still here.....in spirit at least!

2009-04-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all, just a quickie update as I've got loads on at the moment. I've been working on 3 different commissions all at the same time, including a huge 78 illo job which is burning me out rapidly.

I've just completed another job for the good old BBC 'Doctors' programme, I'll show all that work later to the transmission date. As usual, it was a fun job to do, their team always give me brilliant directions but totally trust me to interperate the illustrations in my own style. This commission was slightly different from the last two as all I can say for now is that it wasn't a mock comic cover. Personally, I can't wait to see what they do with the finished show, it should be interesting!

Make my day PUNK!

2009-02-19T04:03:00.000-08:00

Here's some of my latest designs. They're all taken from my latest commission which is to produce eighty four gags and illustrations for a range of calendars. This is going to take a while!

Crouching Tiger.....

2009-01-29T02:09:00.000-08:00

Here's what I'm working on at the moment. This is part of an illustration to go into a range of calendars for next years market. It's been a while since I was able to draw something that wasn't a human character or a cutesy type creature so I actually enjoyed doing it. To prove this point I fell into an old commercial illustrators trap, I spent way too long on it! Time is of the essence when you have deadlines and unless you're a genius and have work coming out of your eye-sockets then you should always be preparing for the next commission or promotional sendout whilst working on your current job. I always do the best I can but sometimes I'd love to have more time to work on a piece but this rarely happens. If you enjoy adding and improving all the time then you're really losing valuable time from the next bit of work lined up so I really should have controlled myself more and cut back.

Still, saying that, it was good for my soul so I have no real regrets....and now as the old saying goes, it's back to the drawing board as I have an army of human characters and cutesy type creatures to design......sigh!

Tis the season to be Jolly!

2008-12-24T10:04:00.000-08:00

Here's wishing you all, dear readers, a Merry Yuletide and Splondiferous New Year ! Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing you back here next year !

I'm an Illustrator goddammit, not a Doctor!

2008-11-16T02:50:00.000-08:00

Make a note in your diaries for Monday the 17th of November , BBC 1, 13.45pm......a piece of my artwork is going to be on 'Doctors'! I haven't seen the episode so I'm not sure how long it will feature, if it's anything like the last episode I did it'll be milli-seconds!! (I'll put that piece up later)

One of the characters is a comics nerd (all bow to him) and I believe my poster of a comic cover is going to be on his wall in his bedroom. As I said earlier, I did some work for the same character last year. I produced a mock up comic cover for the props department (and also a logo for the t-shirt he was wearing) he was carrying it around with him but this is where the programme researchers made a fatal flaw......he ROLLED IT UP AND RAMMED IT INTO HIS BACK POCKET!!! Any true comics nerd would never do this!! HAHA!

Anyway, I'm really pleased with this piece...I just hope they don't kill the nerd off.....of course they could bring him back in a shower scene where everything was a dream!!

Dave Ross

2008-09-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

I've been very busy lately, lots of greetings card work on and two poster jobs. Between all this, I did this piece as a favour for a friend. I've took the text off as the joke wouldn't make any sense unless you knew the guy in the card but I thought I'd show you the illustration. It was fun doing it, if a bit stressful, due to my other commitments but it made a change from doing drunk dads and fluffy little animals!

One thing I learnt was that Daleks are an absolute nightmare to draw, I never took in how many blinkin' lines and shapes make them up...and yes Glazy...before you tell me, I know that I've only done three rows of orbs on the lower body instead of four...IT'S ART LUVVY!!!

...Smithers....release the hounds!

2008-08-11T03:31:00.000-07:00

Two months since my last post!!! Unbelievable! The reason for this absence confirms my first post and THE GREAT BALANCING ACT.....after a worrying period of no work, I produced some new stock card designs and hit as many of the publishers that I could. My reply rate was pretty poor (this is the norm, out of thirty or so, I think I got six 'thanks we'll put you on files' and a couple of 'no thanks') I did get a new contact though, I was commissioned to do six humourous greetings cards which then grew into twelve. They were a pleasure to work for, easy going art directions and hardly and changes, which is always good!

In the time I was doing this, I also had a mountain of spec work on, the bane of a freelancer, producing samples on the chance of getting a commission out of it. I've managed to get a handful of cards out of the spec stuff but not as many as I'd have liked! Still, any spec work I now do, if it doesn't get initially bought, I work up to a printable standard and store as stock for future use.

The best bit of news was that I got another small commission from the good old BBC! HUZZAH!! I can't go into details yet but at some point I'll hopefully be allowed to show what I did for them! All I can say is it was right up my street and not cute card characters for a change!

The dog with the butterfly is an illustration I've was playing around with just before my mad rush, I'd show you more of my new stuff but the various companies would probably have me hunted down and shot!

...finally a big thank you to all of you fellow bloggers who have posted here, it makes my day hearing from you, it amazes me who you can meet thru the power of the blog!! Don't forget folks....One Blog to bring them all and in the darkness bind them!!

Monster Raving Loony Party!

2008-05-18T01:24:00.000-07:00

Here's some of my latest illo's, three lil' monster's brought forward from the depths of Hell.....or at least Middlesbrough, which let's be honest is damn well close enough! They were all done in Illustrator so I'm keeping to my promise of getting as much practise in as possible. I'm starting to find it a bit easier to use now although there's still a load of functions that I just can't seem to get my around yet.

I've just got a new little commission so I'm going back to Photoshop for the next few days, I must admit that I'm looking forward to it! You just can't beat plugging into the ol'P.C., listening to Radio 7 re-runs of the Goons, cup of black coffee, pack of Hobnobs, and away I go.................

Illustrator Versus Photoshop....FIGHTTT!!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

This is one of my latest pieces, all done in Illustrator. I don't normally use this program, I tend to stick with Adobe Photoshop but lately, I feel like the greetings card market is dropping the more 'formal' type illustrations for a more stylized image. So, with this in mind I've decided to get some much needed practice in.

All in all, I'm quite happy with the final result but I most admit to prefering Photoshop, I feel like you can beef up your work and achieve some nice effects and I really feel more in control of that program than Illustrator. Still, I will try to do the odd illo in vectors just to keep up to speed.

...and so it begins.....

2008-04-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

Well my dear chums, off we go! The life of a jobbing freelancer is a sorry tale of great times of famine or feast. You may have a great commission on the go or if you're really lucky, more than one at the same time (although of course this can lead to trouble, afterall, you've only got one pair of hands!) When you have nothing 'official' on, then that is the time to calmly panic. I find the worst part of freelancing is the great balancing act, you must promote yourself as much as possible, emailing companies, updating your sites, checking the various art job webs and of course, producing more samples. You do this with the aim of getting a commission, you may get one, so then, all of this side of your business technically stops so you can concentrate on the brief for your latest job, you do said job and then the whole process starts again! In an ideal world, this would be a fluid transaction, but in reality it never seems to fall like that. For example, last year I had two commissions on the go at once (plus a third small regular one as well) I must have averaged about 4 hours sleep a day if I was lucky, my family nearly forgot who I was and I started to go 'Photoshop Blind'...(you start seeing the real world like your PS work area and wonder what button you have to click to change your trousers!) It was worth it, as that is my choosen job, but just as soon as you think you've made it, it all slows down to a grinding halt. I'm at that stage right now, I've been busy creating fresh greetings card stock to send off and am awaiting various companies replies with baited breath. I know I'm on a countdown again, the money only lasts so long until a new commission, you always have that tiny fear in the back of your mind 'what if nothing else comes through?'....you just have to get on with it and have faith in yourself!

Above is my very latest stock card, I've had a thumbnail sketch of this one for a while now and was eager to do a Tardis (nerd I know but sue me!) I'm pretty chuffed with it! Let's hope it sells!

Empire of the Gothtwinz lives........

2008-04-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all and welcome to my new blog. I've been planning on doing one of these for ages now so today, at last, I went for it! Naturally the Farmageddon blog is still up and going, but I thought it'd be nice to share all my mad ramblings from my alter ego side of the Farm.....THE LIFE OF A FREELANCE ILLUSTRATOR!!!

Prepare for blood, sweat, tears and the odd illo from my vast archive of work....

Be seeing you!