BBC: Top Ten Comedy Kit

As you can see, I've given up on comedic-pun titles for this blog, and it's with some degree of irony here because this post deals with comedy.

Following on from my last post, the next many-drawings project for the BBC was The Top Ten Comedy Kit. In a nutshell, a bunch of comedians created top ten lists for a BBC3 short-form series and my job was to turn these lists into illustrated elements. This was done for you, the internet user to "remix" into funny animations on the online Mixital platform.

The official blurb makes more sense, is also longer and less lazily written than mine... HERE

So because Jessie Cave mentions a Haribo ring in "Top Ten Things about My Dream Wedding", I created a mean illustration of a Haribo ring... and so on. Other list providers include Michael Spicer, Jack Carroll, Nish Kumar, Mae Martin, Lazy Susan, Ken Cheng, comedy duo The Pin, Mandem on the Wall, Jamali, Steve Bugeja and Holly Walsh.

I'll put a collage below and then some of my other favourites in full, forgive me if I gush over these; I'm a bit proud of how they turned out.

Some stuff and The Queen. 

Roy Lichtenstein-esq explosions,

the works!

Aw, is that Emma's Special Bow?

(Wiggles reference).

Love the chair. It is based on an actual chair; I'm not a furniture designer.

Look at the shimmer on that. Love the plate.

BBC Heaven!

Vizii? Mixital? ...Internet? ...What do these words even mean? Well, the BBC have a thing online called Mixital, which has in turn a sub-thing called Vizii.

"Mixital's a BBC site that turns players and viewers into creators.
We've designed easy-to-use tools for young people over 13 years old to make and share things like visuals and stories."

"Vizii is a new tool aimed at kids and teens, allowing them to 'visualise' music and the spoken word and available on the mixital platform"

So Mixital is the platform and Vizii is the tool. It has taken me a while to get my head around this. Basically kids can make music videos by dragging a load of pre-set elements into a video maker to accompany a music track. I created some of those elements.

The tracks include such artists and bands as The Staycations, Asylums, Blooms, Monogram, Rukhsana Merrise, Rawschac, Alex Vargas, Jayelldee and Lorelai (presumably not to be confused with the Alan Tam song from Armour Of God starring Jackie Chan). If none of this makes sense, just go to the bloody site: BBC MIXITAL and VIZII

I created images of people playing guitars, banging drums, jumping around, texting (as kids are want to do). I put some of those elements together for my own sites like thus:

 That is "sick."

 Gnarly! ...That's still a word right? She bangs the drum
whilst wearing a dinosaur onesie. A DINOSAUR ONESIE.

 Wicked! (That means the opposite of wicked.) The Texting Astronaut.

Inks for Manchester Art Gallery's Interactive Machine!

The title says it all really. For those that don't know, as well as working freelance I also have a job working at Manchester Art Gallery. Earlier this year I was asked if I'd like to have a crack at doing illustrated interpretations of some of the paintings for their then new Balcony Project. In which gallery decided to fill the balcony space full of paintings and statues; that particular area had been devoid of artworks since Manchester Art Gallery's huge makeover completed in 2002.

Manchester Art Gallery

My interpretations along with written interpretations from other people are availiable to view on a an interactive console in the gallery foyer, situated just below the balcony in question.

Here are my images compliled into one.

Click to enlarge!

The paintings I chose (in descending order) were:
Pymalion and Galatea (1797 Louis Gauffier), Essentially a painting about a sculpture being brought to life in front of it's adoring creator.
Battledore (1906 Leonard Campbell Taylor) In which two middle class women are playing badminton indoors
and The Victory of Appollo (1716 Sir James Thornhill) - image available!! The Greek God Apollo kicking some mythical butt.

I'll leave you to interpret as to just why I came up with those images but suffice to say, I like drawing robots, comics and I've seen Rocky IV more times than anyone has a right to. Though I will be honest about that last one, I knew what I was going to draw after seeing the title alone.

Interesting factoid: The images are actually my first attempt at inking with a brush and I've been doing it ever since.