MA Children's Book Illustration

Hi all. Steve Rack here. I've not really been online lately, and it's fair to say that my work is going through a bit of a transitional period at the mo, so I haven't been uploading much new work in recent months. The recent change in my illustrative approach is 100% down to the MA in Children's Book Illustration that I am currently studying for at Cambridge.

Strangely, I have found it totally liberating working outside of my comfort zone and as a result I seem to be discovering a new, more real approach to illustrating that somehow feels more honest to me. It's still early days as far as my course is concerned, but I thought I would share with you some of my recent sketchbook illustrations that are part of the first module: Observation and Experimentation. In this module we have to draw, draw, and draw all things that we observe that relate to our chosen theme. My theme is 'Home'.

This whole creative process has also really helped me cope with watching my dad battle through cancer over the past nine weeks in hospital. Words can't even begin to express just what a journey it has been.

My new sketchbook blog is here.

HOHOHO Get a Grip

The spiffing Sam and Kay from Get a Grip asked four illustrators including little old me to create an A6 crimbo card for the first Get a Grip Christmas card pack, all Printed on 100% recycled paper stock using water based inks. They will come with 4 upcycled envelopes by d!rektrecycling made from maps.

You can pre-order the cards HERE for £5 including postage within the UK. Alternatively, you can wait until they are printed, and buy them directly from the studio at The Custard Factory (Birmingham) in a few weeks time (provided they haven’t already sold out).




The pack also includes work by Darren John (top left), Lee Nutland(bottom left), and Thomas Lacey(bottom right)
There will only be a limited number of cards printed, and will be available and posted out as soon as they are printed in the first week of December (if not sooner).

COMPETITION WIN!

HELLO PEOPLE JUST A LITTLE UPDATE ON WHATS BEEN HAPPENING THIS LAST FEW WEEKS. THIS MONTH STRANGER MAGAZINE  LAUNCHED A SERIOUSLY EXCITING COMPETITION WHICH GIVES ANYONE, INCLUDING NEW AND ESTABLISHED ILLUSTRATORS, GRAPHIC DESIGNERS, ARTISTS OR ANYONE KEEN TO HAVE A GO AT THE CHANCE TO HAVE THEIR WORK FEATURED ALONGSIDE SOME OF THE UK'S TOP ILLUSTRATORS IN A SPECIAL RANGE OF CHARITY CHRISTMAS CARDS FOR SHELTERBOX.

COMPETITION ENTRANTS ACROSS THE UK AND WORLD WIDE VOWED FOR THEIR DESIGN TO BE FEATURED AS THE SIX CARD ALONGSIDE FIVE HIGH-PROFILE ILLUSTRATORS CONTRIBUTING WORK INCLUDING JON BURGERMAN AND JENNY BOWERS. I WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT I WON THE COMPETITION!  ALL PROFITS FROM THE CARDS WILL GO DIRECT TO SHELTERBOX, THE INTERNATIONAL DISASTER RELIEF CHARITY BASED IN HELSTON, CORNWALL.

BELOW IS MY WINNING DESIGN. YOU CAN BUY PACKS OF THE CARDS AT THE SHELTERBOX WEBSITE.

It's Playtime!

It's playtime! If you visit one exhibition this summer, let this be it! With playful art from an amazing group of selected artists, this exhibition will be one to remember! Private view is this evening! Exhibitions ends on the 12th September. It is being held at East Gallery in Brick Lane. For more information, please visit Inkygoodness.com. Artists include: Steph Baxter/Dave Bain/Good Wives & Warriors/ Jason Devine/Seb Burnett/Camelia Dobrin/Colourbox/ Hannah Baber/Docvek/Marcus Butt/Stephen Chan/DBO/Sarah Dennis/Christiane Engel/Lisa Hassell/Kate Hindley/ Mister Millerchip/Carlos Garde-Martin/Mc Bess/Simon David Mills/George Mitchell/Moot/Olive47/Tom J. Newell/Sarah Abbott/Vicky Newman/Steve Rack/Steven Silverwood/Log Roper/Juan Salas/Matt Saunders/Leila Shetty/Karin Söderquist/Ben Steers/Michelle Turton/ Toy Factory/Simon Wild/ Mark Wilkinson & Gizem Vural.

CSS Award for www.simoncorry.com

Wow, a big thank you to the guys at The CSS Awards for naming my website - 'Site of the Day'.

It's always great to get recognition for your hard work, especially as it lets me know that people are enjoying what I do. So I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has featured or supported my projects over the past 5 years!

You can visit my page on the CSS Awards to see the full write up:


http://www.thecssawards.com/simon-corry.html


or visit my website:


http://www.simoncorry.com/


^_^

Boys Who Draw at UPFEST 2010

Some of BOYS WHO DRAW got together at UPFEST 2010... Mister Millerchip, Steve Rack and Neil Keating (with Dave Bain curating the whole space and Andy Council doing a collab. piece outside). Other collectives drawing all afternoon were: Girls Who Draw, Inkygoodness, Decked, Urban Illustrators, Hot Soup and Drawn Recordings. Rumpus Films were there doing Live animation and Bristol Drawing Club hosted a huge public drawing floor. Markmaker and Lumen played the tunes.

More images and videos here

A warm weekend!

Well its been a warm one this weekend and so I popped down to Falmouth for a couple of days to catch some rays and see what was going down.

With just a few days left until degree deadlines the summer shows are nearly ready, I got a sneak peak at some bits and pieces and it promises to be a good one!

So a reminder to all don't forget to check out your local university / college summer exhibitions and show support!

Please feel free to use this post too promote your uni/college show.

Toe Fluff - Call for artists!

Toy designers, street artists and character designers from around the world are uniting to take part in a huge collaborative project by Steve Rack. Artists include (clockwise) Raveland Robotics, Bubi Au Yeung, Vomvon Bombon, 64 Colors and many more! Artists are invited to customize Steve Rack’s toy Toe Fluff character design. All art is featured on the Toe Fluff site, and selected pieces will appear in the Toe Fluff exhibition, which will debut in Disney’s twin town, Swindon, UK in July. For more info, including how you can submit your own Toe Fluff, please visit www.toefluff.co.uk.

Its here at long last!

Today I released my new website!

It's full of updated projects, illustrations and information and now combines all three of my original websites in to one neat and tidy package.

I hope you enjoy your visit. ^_^

http://www.simoncorry.com/

Simon Philip Corry
Science & Creativity
Est. 1985

5 WAYS TO HEALTH & WELLBEING

This is an illustration commissioned by the NHS to help promote Health & wellbeing. Enjoy!

KING ST. SWAP MEET: Poster & Type

Ammo Magazine Issue 2

I am a keen collector of art magazines, and Ammo Magazine is right up there in my top five published art magazines, along with Giant Robot, Juxtapoz, Dangerous Ink and Hi-Fructose.

Ammo Magazine is fresh, and it offers a glimpse into today’s world of contemporary illustration, art and design. It really is a feast for the eyes.

The much anticipated issue 2 of Ammo Magazine is now out and available to buy, and it is jam packed with 64 pages of pure eye candy.

Nick Deakin’s cover illustration did make me smile (very bottom pic), and it is his brightly coloured, vibrant and fun art that sets the bold colour theme for this issue.

Interviews with Julian Callos, Chelsie Sixsmith, Gemma Correll and Inkygoodness feature, along with a sweet collection of art by a variety of artists, including Squink!, Dave Bain (picture below), Uberkraaft, Mr Kone, Linzie Hunter and Dean Zappy, to name but a few. There is also an illustration in there by me, based on my (Steve Rack) Toe Fluff characters. It’s great to be in such good company.



I was particularly pleased to see that that the super-talented artists, and founders of art collective Inkygoodness, Lisa Hassell and Michelle Turton, have a prominent feature within these pages.

All of the art featured here is so distinct, imaginative and inspiring, but if I could pick out one piece of art from the pages of Ammo Issue 2 to stick on my wall, it would have to be Squink!’s boldly tragic, yet strangely enchanting masterpiece on page 39. (picture at the top of this post)

If you love art, then I highly recommend that you purchase yourself a copy of Ammo Magazine. That way you can own little bit of art history in the making.

Buy! Press here: AmmoMagazine.co.uk

ILikeCharacters.com Interview Simon Corry

Months and months ago I interviewed Simon Corry about his imaginative world: My Last Star - specifically to feature at my character blog/site ILikeCharacters.com. Well, finally I have published it! Cheers Simon! Here is a direct link.

Also, I have an interview with Jam Factory/Gavin Strange to be published next week just in time for the launch of his new Droplets.

For those that haven't really had a look over at ILikeCharacters.com, it really is worth a look if you are into character art, whether it be plush toys, street art, urban vinyl, etc. I have some really cool interviews over there with artists including Bubi Au Yeung (Treeson), Ben the Illustrator, Dan Goodsell (Mr Toast), 64 Colors, Abe Lincoln JR and, ofcourse, Simon Corry, as well as several others.

Cheers.

Steve
www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack

Tonight's the Night

Andy Council's solo show launches tonight at the Weapon of Choice Gallery in Bristol. Above are details (click to enlarge)!

Emergency!

This came to my attention today, it's a very sad piece of news related to the disaster in Haiti.

A friend, Sarah Larnach (who you'll know as the cover artist for the Ladyhawke album) has had mega troubles with her family who where working in the area.

"My sister Emily lives and works for the U.N. in Haiti with her family (husband and 3 children), and they have been devastated by the earthquake which struck on January 13th. As of right now, January 14th, only two members of the family are accounted for."

In order to try and help Sarah is auctioning off original artwork to raise funds for the relief effort.

"This is the first time any of the artwork related to the Ladyhawke self-titled album, or its singles, has been put up for sale. I had been waiting for the right moment, and this must be it. This painting, and cd's are being sold to raise funds for relief in Haiti."

Show your support: Spread the word. Link to eBay below. Check out the amazing piece of art up for sale.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Painting-by-Sarah-Larnach-Haiti-Relief Rare-Ladyhawke_W0QQitemZ280451182996

Monday.

What a day. What crazy snowy weather we are having! I managed to retrieve my car today from a pretty awkward spot down the road. The joys of living on a steep incline.

Well, today has been a good day. My new Satio phone arrived today. I was going to go for the iPhone, but I just can't get over how bad the photos come out! Sorry, iPhone, you need to get with the times! People have been using good quality camera video phones for years. I think it's time you upped your game. I was tempted to hold out for the new Google phone, that was until I discovered it has a slide out key pad (that's so 2002). I am pretty snap happy and low resolution photos do my head in, so I think my new 12 mega pixel Satio will suit me just fine - look out for non art random pics on my Flickr - until the novelty wears off that is.

Speaking of pictures, I have just been having a browse through all the amazing characters at my ILikeCharacters.com daily blog (which by the way is now open for submissions). I rarely actually sit down and properly take it all in. I have to say that there are some super talented character artists featured there!

Here is a video I did short while ago as a collaboration with Playsoundz. (If you're reading this on a Facebook note, you won't be able to see the video - press here.)

www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack



PS. Check out this cool urban art site that launched TODAY called: www.pimpartworks.com

Character Submissions Welcome

Hi all. I took a mini break from accepting submissions for www.ILikeCharacters.com, as my inbox was ballooning a little too much. However, I have now re-opened the doors for submissions. More info here.

Steve

Exhibitions

Here are just a couple of exhibitions to look out for this month.


The Cut Click Mail Art exhibition will feature my work and Simon Wild's, along with all of these lovely artists: Adoxographic Editions, Stuart Adams, Will Adams, Lesley Barnes, Jonathan Ben-Abeer, Rebecca Bold, Jeffrey Bowman, Alice Bradshaw, Dan Button, Chloe Cook, Emma Cowley, Warren Craghead, Abigail Daker, Sp:ke Dennis, Sarah Ferrari, Red Fox, Patrick Holley, Jellyface, Layer, Chris Lillywhite, Graham Lister, Littleclouds, Le McLennan, MrYen, Munano, Louise Norman, Marie-Louise Plum, S. Riemer, Tigz Rice, Fabio Sassi, Roberto Scala, David Shillinglaw, Penny Tristram, Darren Turner, Caroline Twidle, Simon Warren, Alexis West, Stuart West, April Virgoe - should be quite a show!

A show I am real excited about seeing is Andy Council's solo show (see details below - you can click on the image to enlarge it).


And I really hope this snow clears up soon!

Steve
www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack

I Like Characters.com

Seems a bit weird writing a blog post about another blog post, but I will anyway.

I just thought I'd share with you that daily character blogging has commenced at ILikeCharacters.com after a short holiday break. For those that don't know, ILikeCharacters.com is a website that I set up last year all about characters from around the world, including regular character submissions and interviews with fellow artists that enjoy drawing characters. Artists so far interviewed include Ben the Illustrator, Dan Goodsell, 64 Colors and several more.

The first blog post of the decade features Sir Fiddlehead by Kristin Tercek. Check out ILikeCharacters.com


Steve
www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack