Brigitteland

Merry Christmas from Brighton!

2011-12-22T12:55:00.001Z

This was designed as a Christmas card for clients of Epic PLC. I wanted to share something unique to our business and part of that is the gorgeous seafront location. I don't think it's going to snow this Christmas but this image is just what it looked like here last Winter!

Moon

2011-12-02T08:36:00.001Z

Having recently rewatched Moon on the new projector, I came up with a poster for the film. It's quite relevant to this week's Illustration Friday as the theme is "round".

I love 2001, and I've heard Moon rips off Solaris too, but whatever parts are similar to those films, it has enough individual merit in the performances, direction and production values to make it great cinema viewing anyway. See it!

SheSays Brighton: Get Over It!

2011-11-26T21:46:00.001Z

The second SheSays Brighton event is already sold out!

One of the speakers (Rachel Blackman) at the first event spoke about getting through difficult times and how important that was to her growth and focus. Emily Toop told us to find a space in which we can be pathetic, and have an outlet for our fears and worries. I think it's important for all of us go-getters to allow ourselves pathetic moments, because we are not Superpeople, we are humans. Accepting our weaknesses and moving through them actually makes us function better. I spoke to Sally Turner at the ideas wall about it resonating with both of us and now it's become the theme of the next talk.

We've all had our ups and downs figuring out the best way through life and rather than dreading the lows I'm looking forward to hearing from some more brilliant women about how the challenges that nearly destroy us usually end up teaching us the most.

I was again commissioned to create a flier, this time opting for my ink/markers style. I'm slowly moving completely over to ink and brush, but I will always hold markers dear to my heart!

SheSays Brighton: What's Your Secret?

2011-11-26T16:14:00.001Z

SheSays Brighton's inaugural event was a stonking success! On Thursday the 10th of November Emma Sexton, Rachel Blackman and Emily Toop set our brains blazing with inspiration and camraderie for the creative women of Brighton. Rifa Bhunnoo deserves huge thanks for getting us all together in the first place and mindorchard provided sublime cupcakes from the Angel Food Bakery in the Lanes.

The Lighthouse was a brilliant venue, complete with bar and ideas wall. I met so many women with such a diverse range of jobs and experiences. It was so refreshing to see these kick-ass women in real life! I walked out totally invigorated about all aspects of life, not just my career or creativity.

Katariina Jarvinen of Light Trick photography took much better photos than me which you can see here on Flickr. If you'd like to know more about @SheSaysBrighton, I did a post about it back when I designed their first event flier here.

Here's the final image from Emily Toop's talk which lit a fire under all our seats to stop wasting time and do what we love! (with thanks to Katariina)

Illustration Friday: Silent

2011-11-13T13:41:00.001Z

Watching David Attenborough's Frozen Planet last night my fiancé and I couldn't help cracking up at the disappointed polar bear. He looks like he's waiting for the baby seal to come back. A silent situation anyhow, therefore apt for an early submission to this week's Illustration Friday.

Illustration Friday: Scattered

2011-10-21T10:40:00.000+01:00

Starlings above the west pier in Brighton. Autumn is here, sigh.

The Periodic Table

2011-10-19T15:30:00.000+01:00

This is a tribute to science and design, and more specifically, Henry D. Hubbard's 1924 design of the "Periodic Chart of Atoms". This all started when I was drawing Teller for my "Atomic Heroes" portraits. I found this photo of him with a remarkable periodic table behind him.

Edward Teller

My fiancé and I have been talking about putting together a periodic table poster for some time now and this was clearly the one to adorn our wall. After doing a little research we found some more images and discovered that it was Henry D. Hubbard's design, previously published by the Chicago-based Sargent-Welch Scientific Company. However, these days they sell far less attractive versions, with seemingly less information. I saw no option but to undertake the foolhardy task of recreating the original version.

1979 Edition, via Flickr

Armed with a few low quality jpegs of the chart (ranging from the 1956 to 1979 versions), Wikipedia and Illustrator, I set to work. It took much longer than I expected.

While endeavouring to understand every tiny symbol on the chart, I found myself getting bogged down in quantum theory, which was frustrating, but as the table grew and I gained a wider overall understanding of the strange formulae, patterns emerged and the pieces started to click together. My real breakthrough came when, I found this pdf from Searl Solutions with a photograph of Hubbard's "KEY TO DATA" on page 22. The final pieces of this montrous puzzle were set and I was able to finish inputting accurate information on all the elements, fulfilling it's purpose of being beautiful and functional.

Henry D. Hubbard patented his table in 1924 and Sargent Welch has copyright on versions up to at least 1979, however, with no version available to buy and a strong desire to see this design honoured and used daily in my house, I have copied it. It is not for sale. If Sargent Welch has a problem with this, maybe they can start selling this wonderful original design again. Having recreated its every detail I can guarantee that it is worth the money.

Henry D. Hubbard with his creation in Popular Mechanics, Oct. 1928

* * * * * Update * * * * *

I have begun to change the design to match the black table in Teller's photo but I cannot finish it until I buy Gloucester MT. Sigh, I've got a bad case of font-lust.

Also, the Hubbard periodic table made a guest appearance in the final part of Jim Al-Khalili's fantastic Shock and Awe documentary on the BBC. If you've never heard of Jim Al-Khalili, he's the saviour of science on television, always informative, never flashy or dumbed-down like a certain show starting with H. Between him, Attenborough and The Sky at Night, maybe things'll be alright for educational television after all.


William Shockley : The father of Silicon Valley and "a git".

M.A.R.R.I.E.D.!.

2011-10-14T11:50:00.000+01:00

I've been working on the periodic table this week and after watching Shock and Awe part two last night I perused the Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers (1941, 7th edition) in awe of the complicated diagrams and exotic lexicon.

Two friends are getting married today so I translated it into science. This Illustration Friday theme happens to be "contraption", which I think is conveniently appropriate!

Illustration Friday: Hibernate

2011-10-06T14:41:00.000+01:00

Continuing with the Sharpies I added some good ol' Pantone markers and brush/ink lines to this Illustration Friday entry. I am happy with the inking, but there are so many choices when it comes to colour! Next week I will stick to Sharpies and work at a bigger scale. I like that they force me to be more concise.

The jumper on this girl is like one my Mum knitted when I was a kid. The indian Summer is over in Brighton and with forecasts of snow (!) it really is time to hibernate here.

Illustration Friday: Ferocious

2011-09-30T13:12:00.002+01:00

Ferocious: 1. Savagely fierce, cruel, or violent.

I went with savagely fierce for this week's Illustration Friday. Sharpie love.

SheSays Brighton : What's Your Secret?

2011-09-30T11:26:00.000+01:00

Exciting things afoot for creatively minded femmes in Brighton. SheSays is a global organisation that holds events, where top females in the industry share their thoughts and help people work their way up. They even run an award called The Golden Stilletto, the first ever wearable award for women who stepped it up.

Some switched on ladies from the creative hive that is Brighton are starting their own chapter and I've been recruited to design the flier for the first major event. On Thursday the 10th of November speakers including Emma Sexton, Head of Expression at Added Value, London and co-founder of SheSays UK will be kicking off the corroboree.

I want to get any comic making women involved too, because ours is certainly an industry needing more of a female perspective. SheSays also has chapters in London, New York, SF, LA, Boulder, Seattle,Dallas, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne, Scotland and Montevideo. Here's to the ladies who are making the world a more exciting place to be!

The Wonderful World of Tony Blair

2011-09-28T15:09:00.001+01:00

I've been busy working on some storyboards for mindorchard, and when I finished I caught a little of Channel 4's Dispatches: The Wonderful World of Tony Blair. Though the documentary left a little to be desired it had plenty of footage of the "gurning rictus" (as my fiance puts it) of Tony Blair's grin. He is truly quite a spectre. I had a go at sketching it but, I feel I have failed to capture the horror completely.

Sunday Movie: Strangers on a Train

2011-09-19T12:07:00.001+01:00

Snuggled in on Sunday with home-made pizza and the Hitchcock classic "Strangers On A Train". This poster is inspired by the fantastic film.

Illustration Friday: Boundaries

2011-09-16T12:44:00.002+01:00

Based on the idea of the North American Union: Canada, The United States and Mexico becoming a union and abolishing their own currencies in favour of the "Amero". I used the national birds of the respective countries, the red-tailed hawk, the bald eagle and the golden eagle (the largest bird of prey in the world!) Canada's bird is unofficial at the moment but as it's only competition for the title of "National Bird" is the Canadian Goose, the choice was easy.

True Romance: Your Brain in Love

2011-09-14T10:50:00.000+01:00

On Valentine's Day this year Scientific American ran an article called "Your Brain in Love". I've been wanting to do something for them for some time so I thought, "why wait?" This is two watercolours combined digitally to form the piece for the article.

Atomic Heroes - Oppenheimer

2011-09-12T17:24:00.000+01:00

The series of Sharpie drawings I did a while back is turning into a series of posters of "Atomic Heroes", starting with Oppenheimer.

In other news, I was approached by HireAnIllustrator.com (HAI!) to host my portfolio with them. As I'm currently working on my own mailing list I thought it would be worth a try for accessing a broader audience, faster. I've heard positive things so far, I'll report back in a few months on how it goes.

EN-GAGED!

2011-09-02T14:15:00.000+01:00

After my recent engagement I received a card which just had the word "ENGAGED" repeated on the cover. It sounded like a Dalek to me so I made this engagement card for the geek betrothed worldwide.

Daleks Copyright to BBC.

Brigitteland Re-Brand

2011-08-22T11:09:00.002+01:00

As some of you may have noticed, I recently re-branded my online presence, what you haven't seen though, is my new business cards, and they excite me so much I had to share them. You see, apart from being my own calling card, they are fully functional 3D glasses!

You can view some stereoscopic images here:
http://holographica.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html

Man's Heart

2011-08-22T10:42:00.001+01:00

Browsing the corny beauties of vintage romance comics at Sequential Crush I wonder, was there ever a comic about Man's heart? There is now.

Special Edition of Peacemaker Issue 1

2011-08-22T10:10:00.000+01:00

Peacemaker's introductory offer has ended and issue 1 now costs $3.99 AUD, but for your extra bucks, you get some bang!

I've compiled some of the concept art and commentary for the book while Marianne has included the short story (approximately 5k words!) that the character Virgin Jackson is based on.

More info here: http://www.mariannedepierres.com/peacemaker-update/

I await the script for issue two, which will be twice as long. Marianne is adding finishing touches now, while working on her Tara Sharp books and probably several other books while juggling knives. The woman is a machine!

Guardians

2011-07-22T11:13:00.001+01:00

A few years ago I was so tickled by a letter to Guardian Weekend that I sketched an image to accompany it. I began habitually tearing phrases from the section and drawing characters to match, promising myself I'd add some colour one day. Here are the first few.

Fitba'

2011-07-18T09:55:00.001+01:00

My fiancé sat me down to watch the lovely Bill Forsyth film Gregory's Girl the other week and we could tell immediately that something was wrong.

At first we thought the sound was out of sync, then he noted how flat the performances were, remembering it being much more lively. I recalled that, in America they sometimes subtitle Australians on the news, could they have re-dubbed the whole film in a softer Scottish accent solely for the US audience? We looked up a clip on YouTube to check and they had done just that.

The original version was perfectly understandable, there was absolutely no need to re-dub in the first place. If you ever sit down to watch it and find it sounds a bit dull, a bit less animated, a bit... English, then check your version my friend because the original is well worth a watch. What a lovely film.

I love the dark grey light of Glasgow.

Continuing on the fitba' theme, a poster for the England Women's football team who made it into the World Cup and won this match against Japan. Unfortunately they didn't make it much further, but what an achievement nonetheless!

Wimbledon 2011

2011-07-14T13:09:00.003+01:00

Sketching Wimbledon. Ahh Lisicki, you'll get her next year...

PEACEMAKER

2011-06-27T11:57:00.000+01:00

Well folks, my latest comic project has launched! Marianne de Pierres and I have put together a tasy little package of sci-fi-western goodness for your consumption. It's been a joy to work on and I'm very excited to be sharing it with you all at last.

"Peacemaker introduces readers to park ranger, Virgin Jackson, and US cowboy, Nate Sixkiller. Dead bodies, missing spiritualists, an imaginary eagle and a wholly psychotic businessman, Joachim Spears, are just some of the things that force the two into an uneasy alliance to save Park Western from being closed. Trapped in the heart of a sprawling Australian super city, Park Western is the only piece of natural landscape left in the entire country, and Virgin will do anything to preserve it."

Marianne de Pierres has won awards for her science fiction and crime novels and had her work adapted for RPG and animation. Peacemaker is the result of Marianne’s long term romance with Westerns, which started many years ago when her father gave her a copy of Light of the Western Stars by Zane Grey. It was only a matter of time before she wrote one herself.

Brigitte Sutherland’s award-winning comic art has featured in numerous anthologies across the world. Brigitte recently released her first creator-owned graphic novel, The Adventures of a Homunculus. Peacemaker allows UK–based Sutherland to share the beauty of the land she grew up in while indulging in high adventures starring a sassy heroine!

Come on down and git yer free sample here!

For a limited time we're offering issue one at just $AU99 cents! By purchasing this fun-packed chapter you'll be supporting the production of the next issue! So support independent comics and grab yourself a fistful of adventure!

Atomic!

2011-06-16T11:55:00.002+01:00

I've been away from the blogosphere, working solely on Marianne de Pierre's Peacemaker comic for some time now. I can't take you to the official site just yet, but I can guide you to the talented lady's blog.

Despite my intensive work during the day I have found the odd moment for delicious sketching. My love of Sharpies knows no bounds and as my fiancé reads to me from the awe-inspiring and chilling "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes, I vivify the geniuses with lurid markers. Geniuses like Edward Teller...

... And Ernest Rutherford.

*Update*

Robert Oppenheimer

Enrico Fermi

Laser Babies

2010-12-03T18:54:00.000Z

Comic Cavalcade

2010-12-03T18:52:00.002Z

Judge Dredd and Anderson

Wolverine and Sabretooth

Lara Croft

Bristol Scribbles

2010-12-03T18:44:00.001Z

Mad Men's Betty Draper (January Jones)

Bettie Page

Lady on the bus to Bristol.

iPhone-tans

2010-07-29T07:14:00.000+01:00

Drifting steadily back to the relative safety of super-cute manga for a bit. I couldn't find any other versions of ithe iOs-tans so I whipped up my own. iPhone 4-tan and iPhone 3-tan getting in some "face time".

Shiva Aeon/Guardian Force/Summon... whatever

2010-07-29T07:12:00.000+01:00

Replaying Final Fantasy IX on PSP and recovering some old inspiration. This my own take on the Shiva of FFVII, where I first saw her.

Women of The Prisoner

2010-07-29T07:09:00.001+01:00

The first two in a series of watercolours I'm doing for funzies. The women of The Prisoner are smokin'.

Flower Girl - Lucille Soong

Number 26 - Jane Merrow

Nothing up my sleeve...

2010-06-28T14:00:00.000+01:00

I start the day inking and finish this off. It's sweltering so I go for a swim. Still wet from swimming I walk to the shops, drying in the sun and it makes me feel like I'm at home in Sydney so I cook Pad Thai for lunch. I'm about to get to work on more comic stuff.

Sigh, it's back to the day job tomorrow. I'll keep those irons in the fire in the mean time.

Lola, Holy Roller

2010-05-17T08:39:00.000+01:00

Lola and I promised to make each other birthday cards this year. She likes Roller Derby.

I have no scanner and my only camera is part of my phone so it's not the best quality.

Flotsam

2010-05-17T08:35:00.000+01:00

When my friend Lola came to stay we made a postcard for the awesome Julia Wertz, creator of Fart Party. The tower seen in the post card has been spray-painted with the title "TOWER OF DOOM". I drew the Giraffe and Lola drew the monocled cloud. We love Fart Party!

A while ago I sent off a painting commission wrapped as follows.

I don't know why, moths just sounded right.

God bless P.O.D.

2010-05-16T21:03:00.000+01:00

No, not the born-again Christian, nu-metal band of the 90s, I know that's what you were all thinking, but no. Print-On-Demand is the boon to which I refer.

You see thanks to the forward-thinking folks at Ka-Blam printing, I can make The Homunculus and his Adventures available for anyone to buy, anywhere in the world (with a mailbox). The files are being checked and soon you will all be able to visit the terrible and sublime world of our improcerous friend, the Homunculus.

In the mean time I've finished a poster I've wanted to draw up for myself for months now. Fast cars woo!

C'est Fini!

2010-04-12T22:38:00.000+01:00

The Adventures of a Homuculus is complete! I finished it last month and have submitted it to several publishers for consideration. If none of them pick it up, don't worry! I will make it available online as an e-book (the future of comics) available to all.

I am a champion of the printed form, however at sixty pages the funds needed even for a small print run preclude it from my options at this stage. With support from sales of an e-book, hopefully I can one day see it in print even if the publishers don't take it on.

So for now, until I hear from the publishers I offer you some sneak previews from each chapter.

P.S. He's on Facebook now too.

Page 2

Page 3

Page 18

Page 19

Page 27

Page 28

I removed the text from the next batch of pages -no spoilers!

Page 42

Page 43

Page 44

Pages 47 and 48

Page 49

Page 55

Well that's all for now! Enjoy the anticipation, I know I am!

The Adventures of a Homunculus

2010-01-31T23:28:00.000Z

Official teaser for the comic. I finished the pencils today, thirty left to ink.

The bizarre travelogue of a very small man. Marvel at multiple metaphors with mixed meanings (but never mixed metaphors). Howl at the horror of ignorance and the sorrow of wisdom. Sing, run and fly with the Homunculus and a curious cavalcade of characters ~ You will be thrilled, guts will be spilled and brains will be filled.

Coming soon.

Homunculus is Latin for "Little Human".

Black Canary

2010-01-26T22:18:00.000Z

I finally coloured this old pin-up today as a "break" from pencilling. I did three pages today, woot!

Snake and Mongoose

2010-01-21T13:46:00.000Z

I did this commission last year and now that he's finally received it I am free to post. Brief was: "A woman on a chaise and a woman behind her. Make it dark and Victorian." Snake is itching to get away from Mongoose. Mongoose will do as she pleases.

下妻物語

2009-12-24T18:45:00.001Z

Cards on the table, I have a thing for Anna Tsuchiya and despite regularly turning my nose up at fluff EGL pop manga I bloody love Shimotsuma Monogatari (the movie). This film is vapid, I mean embroidery is a key theme here, but it's so much fun! Look!

Halloween Man vs. Cupid

2009-12-24T18:37:00.001Z

For a competition at Halloweenman.com: draw H-Man versus any other holiday mascot. Swatting at Cupid like the pesky blood-sucker of a mosquito he is. C'mon, wouldn't we all like to swing a shovel at that nosy wee cherub?

Creeper

2009-12-24T18:33:00.000Z

Originally inspired by a shot of Brittany Murphy and a low, wracking mood. After I finished this I found out she just died. As Silverstone said, I hope she is at peace.

The shadow of his own loveliness

2009-11-11T16:05:00.002Z

I was given a copy of Dorian Gray with the cover from the recent film so I undertook my own cover to obscure the former blemish on my otherwise lovely book. It's odd, Dorian is described as having "crisp gold hair" but in all film and comic book adaptations he is a brunette. I used Boyd Holbrook as reference.

dirty pretty stings

2009-09-01T00:02:00.003+01:00

You've got to watch out for the pretty ones.

I think the reference photo is the lead singer of Suede.

Un poison violent, c'est ca l'amour

2009-08-03T08:13:00.006+01:00

I should clarify that the burning mentioned is not in the sense of passion, it is to painfully consume. From a scene in Une Vieille Maîtresse, which I haven't seen. I have pictures of Asia Argento around and this... well it fitted.

Berlin

2009-08-03T08:08:00.003+01:00

A tipsy scrawl in Cafe Luzia, Kreuzberg.

Oskar, Turveydrop, B and S.

2009-06-11T20:43:00.003+01:00

Hits of the month: Låt Den Rätte Komma In, Bleak House and, God help me, Gossip Girl. It's my zen TV show! It empties the mind like nothing else.

Voilà! fallait pas rêvasser!

2009-06-11T20:35:00.004+01:00

“Voilà! fallait pas rêvasser!” (“That's what you get for daydreaming!”)

Other work doodles...

Crime and Punishment

2009-05-18T10:33:00.003+01:00

While reading Crime and Punishment I decided to make my own cover in the vein of Penguin Classics. I've just started Book IV, it's fantastic.

"It was about eight o'clock and the sun was going down. The heat was still as oppressive as before, but he greedily breathed the dusty, foul-smelling, contaminated air of the town. His head began to feel ever so slightly dizzy; a wild kind of energy flared up in his sunken eyes and pallid wasted face. He did not know, or stop to think, where he was going; he knew only one thing: that he must finish with all this today, once and for all and at once; that otherwise he would not go back home, because he would not live like this!

Keen as...

2009-02-02T22:29:00.007Z

I've been doing some Illos for the rad comedy magazine Mustard. I recently spent £1 on a sandwich without mustard that made me feel sick, for the same price I could have had laughter and Mustard. The moral is; go buy Mustard. You can purchase it from their website, in Borders or at Gosh Comics...

... Satan Says So. I couldn't help vamping up such a sexy image. She looks kinda like Megan Fox. I put it down to subliminal brainwashing as I just watched Transformers for the first time. My favourite version is Post-Nuke-Foxy:

The drawings are for spoof magazine covers and haven't been treated for publishing yet, but I did my own treatment for "Enjoy!". The accompanying article is written by a man who is purported to be "taller than Jesus" and this man who made me laugh at the Poodle Club, especially when bringing the audience's attention to my friend's police record. Good show sir!

Cuckoo

2009-01-26T11:47:00.002Z

Not this human sadness,
cuckoo,
but your solitary cry.
~Matsuo Bashō

Schiele Boy

2009-01-26T11:41:00.003Z

We could all learn from the Koi.

Hollow Poppies

2009-01-26T11:37:00.003Z

The public's favourite celebrity martyr. Lo! She rises again.

Manumissions

2009-01-26T10:23:00.004Z

From Almodovar's Todo Sobre Mi Madre. They look like a mischevious devil and angel at play to me.

Supermodels look uncomfortable. Who wants to look like a coathanger? All contorted, wiry and stiff.

Bad Day.

LIVE TONIGHT ONLY!

2008-12-19T23:47:00.003Z

I have started doodling fictional gig posters at work. I like making up nonsensical band names with a theme.

Money is a Bitch.

2008-12-19T23:41:00.004Z

I'm still scannerless but I kinda like the deep focus effect of taking a photo of a sketch.

Money is a Bitch

Saw this guy walking around Shoreditch, matching flouro wheel and all. Bollocks to the in-crowd, they look ridonculous to me. I gave him the power of the speech bubble.

Sketch update!

2008-12-19T23:34:00.005Z

The best part of Hellboy II:

Also scary:

Sketches in Oxford:

No Sale

2008-12-10T09:46:00.004Z

After a few "no sale"s on the till at work this lady presented herself to me in my sketchbook.

Some Pin-ups

2008-07-16T08:10:00.002+01:00

Getting ready for San Diego Comic-Con 2008! I have a mile long shopping list so I won't be packing much. Really looking forward to the Masquerade, I just hope I get seats!

So I've been doing some pin-ups of my faves for pure, giddy fun.

I think Lucifer (DC/Vertigo Comics) looks just like David Bowie so I rendered him thusly. Also, a Y the Last Man playing card theme pin-up and I coloured my old X-Men Annual 33# Pin up of the psychic warriors Selene and Emma. Not happy with it, I'll put stormy clouds in one day.

Colour stuff!

2008-07-04T10:40:00.002+01:00

A cowgirl and an ooooold warrior/shaman character design from College days.

Character sketches

2008-07-04T10:34:00.003+01:00

A Tank Girl for my friend's wall, a Supergirl from back when I tried to read it and a shameless exploit in cuteness.

Fight!

2008-07-04T10:31:00.004+01:00

Here are some warm up sketches I did while watching Dead Or Alive and Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Japan Sketches

2008-06-23T12:14:00.017+01:00

Hi, I finally set up a blog for my art. Here are some ink drawings of people I saw in Japan.