Journeying with Shadows

Just found out that Plymouthian Man's showing at the International Festival of Animated Film in Stuttgart at 9pm TONIGHT!!  There's a hyperlink below if you need directions.

Mittwoch, 09.05. / 21 Uhr, Metropol 3: Programme 1

Programme 1 begins this journey of animated shadows and images that then progress to animated shadow play puppets. Traditionally-animated and digitally-finished works complete the programme, showcasing the 'tradigital' nature of silhouette animation today. The programme is rounded up with a short that has been nominated for an Academy Award, proving that the art form still remains relevant and is timeless.

Stay frostig ;)

Xander Lee

Massimo Mucha to Eat in

Another brand new sea sailed, this time a certificate for Costa, for Team Excellence.
I went with some lovely Alphonse Mucha smoke, though I still think I could've used it his framing technique better! Went back to basics, being that the brief was all about simple and professional graphics, so just two tone colour (Red being Costa standard, and Gold being the colour of success obviously) scheme and simplified printmaking-esque shapes. Never really noticed it before but the 'Massimo' cup really looks like a trophy cup. In any case they were pleased as was I on the final result.

 

Stay Frosty

Xander Lee

Stuttgart BABY!!!

A couple of months back, I got a surprise email from Doreen Schaible. At first I thought it was either a bank account scam, or the usual "please try this software and sell out your blog completely" though if they checked out my blog's viewings I doubt they'd find it that viable! 

Still, being the little engine that should, I found out this lovely lady wants to show Myself and Oliver Butcher's "The Plymouthian Man" in 'The 19th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film'!!  

 

Not only that but in a special section entitled "Journeying with Shadows", perfectly encompassing our film in that the programme "shows the long way from telling stories with shadows on cave walls and the shadows of puppets moving on a screen" aaand "pays homage to the inspired vision and works of Lotte Reiniger".

 I mean, how kizmet is that!

It took awhile to find someone who could convert this digital video piece into a nice, seductively analogue, Beta SP tape (in which I owe 'Stanley Productions' a great debt of gratitude for their meer existence, let alone speedy turn around!) but it's been sent off, received and now currently awaits the perusal of a much larger audience than I think either of us ever believed during conception!

If your around the city on the 8th-13th May I'd love for you to check it out, as unfortunately, due to the fact that I'll soon be up and moving premises, my bank roll for such a great and inspiring trip came up nill! And if you could send any photos or pamphlets/leaflets, I'd be eternally grateful!

Stay frostig ;)

Xander Lee

How to lose friends and alienate people ;)

Sorry about the lack of communicado, much going on, so shall try and organise this block update.

 First up, marvel at the joy of my Edward Hopper inspired piece, "EL Gordo Lusto Vs The Night-Jerk"
Obviously it's very different from the initial thumbnail I did years ago (which sounds even strange to say) but I like the colour work on it. Might even render up the thumbnail due to its difference. I produced this for a friend who was leaving to go back to Spain, and thankfully she loved it! Notice that I didn't give her the art BEFORE she wanted to leave the country! Wish I could've added some more detail on his mask, but didn't want to overload the already busy piece.

Next up

 A piece to go alongside a great poem about accepting death by Daniella Carter "Rabbit's Friend Bear".  I wanted to try a kind of etching style on the animals, plus finally breaking out the screentone tool on PS. I enjoy the subtly of the piece, though wish I could get some time to do some proper physical print work some time!





There's another piece in the works for another friend, and it's a quite cool new avenue for my work, so watch this space ;)

Stay frosty

Xander Lee

Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Holidays!


Stay Toasty

Xander Lee

Cheltenham road...trip

Just incase you haven't already seen it!
The awesome new Boston's Cafe in Bristol



wheeere my t-shirts are currently being worn!


it's going to be interesting how they hold up in the X-mas rush and even busy days, still that's why its mostly dark colours!

Stay frosty

Xander Lee

...Curly and Mo'

Just finished up a poster for Costa's Exeter Princesshay foray into Moustache growage.
Chalk this one up to a bad 'Son of Man' homage and too many Saturday morning cartoons.
I initially wanted to obscure the face with the 'tache but the physics of it seemed wrong, as did having the monster 'tache doing the hat tipping. Sure the 'Son' would be more similar in pose to Magritte's original, but it just kind of lacked life. That and I think it works so much better when each end is offering up and shielding the flat white.

Preamble/rhetoric aside, I still like how it's turned out, sort of. I learned what "doffing one's cap" means, not to mention some of my typeface work doesnt look all that bad! My first step in digitally altered ink washes as a different style of rendering also don't you know The newspaper's a tad contrasting in styles, what with it being more texture than details but you can't win 'em all.

Thumbnail

Final Visual

Finished Poster

And as always, especially in these winter months, stay frosty!

Xander Lee

Emerging from my secret bunker, twenty floors below sea level

And without further ado,
The winning entry to the Bristol Boston Tea Party Competition, for their Cheltenham Road Cafe, recently opened in Bristol. Pretty chuffed with how it's all turned out :) Took awhile to get the right look of the wave ripples, placement on the tee (being my first foray into textile adaptation) and the ever thorn in my side, color palettes. Just for the sake of clarity, it depicts a whole bunch of crates, bundles and barrels being tossed into the sea in Boston, ie, the 'Tea Party', but with a slight Japanese twist, homaging Katsushika Hokusai's wave prints. I even got to watch some wacky American cartoon for historical research, though less said about that the better. I mention it for same reasons any survivor recalls their past trials/horrors.

Wish I'd done something with the shoulders, but I'm not the one incommunicado with the printers, so I guess it is best to have kept it relatively easy to produce. The same goes for having it wrap around the hips to have a barrel on the back. Pretty sure that's a saving grace for not having tea stamped just above the barista's bottom. Just saying.

Anyways, as usual here's some thumbnails, visuals, and finished piece images for you to peruse.



Definitely has me in the mood to design for some more '3D' formats, seeing as though I still have a naked Russian Nestling Doll and (separate) Wristwatch somewhere.

Stay Frosty, or well fed if you decide to check out a Boston Tea Party Cafe ;)

Xander Lee

Video [Games] Killed the Radio

Recently finished the second of my submissions for 16 Bit Fury, a weekly, Retro Video game themed Tumblr site run by my good friends Sam Rennocks and James Loram.
The theme's I managed to do were the infamous Mario Brothers and Blizzard's Magnum Opus 'Diablo', though I do have some thumbnails for the Zelda and Megaman briefs I didn't get around to finishing; was a new experience creating weekly, square formatted art.

The Nintendo piece "Dames and Drains" has the brothers investigating a damsel's distress. The female thought bubble gals are Pauline/Lady from Donkey Kong, Peach from Super Mario Bros. aaand Daisy from Super Mario Land/the 'film'. Dig the Vibrant, Brash 80's colours, as I was going for a Video Arcade palette.





The Diablo piece "Fresh meat"
It's kinda a mix of Diablo I and the unofficial Hellfire add-on. Was going to go cow-mob crazy, surrounding the hero with heffers but didn't want to miss out on the fun with demons, (The Butcher, a Hidden, a familiar, aaand creative licence withstanding, something with tentacles ;p) plus the seeecret cow level is in a field (Yes, I totally love easter eggs in media, and in reality!) so that kinda doesn't bring across the dark dungeon crawl feel of playing the game.

Hoping to do a few more at a later date, but at the moment I have a few other briefs to take care of first. Still, without further

ado/for those lazy enough not to click on links!



Stay Frosty

Xander Lee

Competition time

Currently in a secret location, scribbling away at something, though in the spirit of competitiveness, I'm not going to come right out and say it! How would that be sporting?!

Stay Frosty

Xander Lee