Illustrated Song Titles

July 2010

2010-08-01T18:58:00.003+01:00

Look into my eyes, look into my eyes. •waves fingers• It is still July, it is still July.

Ok some much needed holidays were taken and a shuffle did happen at some point. July's song of choice ended up being More Than A Feeling by Boston.

Slice of all time classic fm rock there. The illustration inspired by it shall appear at some time this month - ok it is August after all.

One By One All Day – Gallusness

2010-07-05T22:05:00.004+01:00

Quickie this month. Lyrics didn't inspire me all that much but the song title itself did. Thought it'd be nice to get back to some really clean minimal illustration this moth as well. Quite happy with the result considered about adding the lyrics or a song credit but then thought naaaaa less is more.

NEXT…

June 2010

2010-06-06T10:18:00.002+01:00

The shuffle has just taken place and the song is…

One By One All Day by The Shins

Ok I'm not familiar with this one, off to listen to it and to check out the lyrics. Catch you at the months end, hopefully.

Twilight Of The Innocents – Gallusness

2010-06-03T08:34:00.007+01:00

It's the month start(ish) and it's time to unveil this months solution(s) to the shuffle.

Last weekend I went to my regular Dr Sketchy's Glasgow anti-art school drawing class. It was a steampunk special this month and the models were (largely) resplendent in Victorian/futuristic costume – Well at least until the burlesque element of the afternoon kicked in. This setting and the models (two of which are a couple in real life) made me think that it seemed like a fitting way to answer this months title. Twilight of the Innocents is a suitably apocalyptic track and their own War of the Worlds routine seemed in a similar vibe. I chose to use white conte on black sugar paper to tie in with the twilight idea.

I've uploaded a few of my sketches from the day, nothing too finished or styled. At Dr. Sketchy's you draw to the length of a song, or series of songs. Shown are a mix of 2 songs and 3 songs sketches.

May 2010

2010-05-10T22:40:00.002+01:00

Must remember when I commit to an IST shuffle it's handy to actually have your proper I-Tunes handy and available. Only fair to through it open to the world of chance and this months result has turned out to be…

Twilight Of The Innocents by Northern Irish Punk Poppers Ash.

Hmmm, ok. Off to check the lyrics. See you at the months end(ish).

Army Of Me - Gallusness

2010-05-04T22:06:00.004+01:00

May the fourth be with you.

Topical puns aside we belatedly have an April entry. It's not big, it's not clever but it's a better effort than my first punt at the title. The lyrics didn't inspire me so much and then there was a distinct lack of other soldiers to make up more of an army. I'm thus a one man army, taking on the world or some unknown foe. Metaphor for life… who knows.

If there are positives to take it's nice to be back into the swing of IST. Hopefully a bit more drawing and possibly something a bit more meaningful will appear at the end of the month. Guess that will all depend on what the song title is though.

Shuffle to follow tomorrow.

April 2010

2010-04-02T22:23:00.003+01:00

I-Tunes has been shuffled and the track for this month is…

Army Of Me by Björk

To aid creativity and possibly time all limitations are off. Time to go and check the lyrics. Catch you at the months end.

It's been a while

2010-04-02T21:30:00.003+01:00

Yip been a distinct lack of action on the IST front. Sorry about that.

From the emails flying back and forth between us all it would seem the last two months have been respectively mental on both the work and life fronts. Hoping I can speak on everyone's behalf and say largely it's all good, but spare time in which to IST has been a rare commodity. A very very rare one.

We've ended up collectively having a wee two month break but I'm hoping to do a shuffle shortly so I can try and keep my hand in. If the guys can join in they will but this having to work for a living malarkey - sheeeeeeeesh, roll on the lottery wins.

I'm off for a shuffle (easy now, yes the I-Tunes kind), back in five.

Living Backwards - Gallusness

2010-02-04T23:45:00.003Z

This month I ended up going with more of a concept than a full on illustration. I thought it'd be interesting to see how the lyrics of the song worked when read backwards. Technically it was the lines of the song in reverse order as opposed to every word. That would have been weirder and even less likely to work. What I found when I did this though was arguably a more haunting story desolate was revealed. There is the odd line that doesn't make sense but all things considered think it was quite an interesting result.

Sticking to my own limitations (the darker areas are just the green multiplied over more green) I then set the lyrics out in quite a generic font to help with making the type bland and lifeless. The original opening line that now became the finale struck me as quite dark and Reginald Perrin alike. This inspired me to add the abandoned shoes as a wee nod to that thought.

Living Backwards - Jones

2010-01-31T01:00:00.001Z

Ok, new job is going well thanks. But working on an IST entry in work time is now a DEFINITE NO NO. So having to stay late tonight and watch an important document print out has given chance to knock up my entry quickly.

The inspiration for this was a godsend. Harry Pearce, partner in design heavyweights Pentagram, came to Plymouth to give a lecture last week, which I attended. One of the famous pieces in his impressive folio is a book called 'Conundrums' - in my opinion, a glorified game of Dingbats (I hope he wouldn't mind me saying!), but a witty and simple idea. Google it if you haven't heard of it.

Anyway, the premise being - make the words into a picture, tell a story using just the words, make them literally say what they say. And here, on IST, Scott has kindly chosen a perfect example for me to pay homage with. Obviously, I had to take inspiration from the Aerogramme album cover too, hence the colours. But thank you Harry, and thank you Scott for the gift!

January 2010

2010-01-04T17:59:00.002Z

New year, new month, new title.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 •shuffle•

Lady and gents it's - Living Backwards by the now defunct but very sadly missed Scots alternative, post rockers Aereogramme.

And for this months limitation I'd like to take a lead from the artwork from the album that track appeared on (My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go). Can this months illustrations be done as a two colour solution (well three if you count white (paper colour)). The colours to use are Pantone 417. Which is 1 | 0 | 25 | 65 in CMYK breakdown terms. And Pantone 1795 whose breakdown is 0 | 94 | 100 | 0.

Everything else is fair game.

Fairytale Of New York - Gallusness

2010-01-04T17:46:00.004Z

Happy New Year.

Belated posting from Gallusness. One of 2010 resolutions is to learn to utilise the auto posting thing.

Anyways…

Once again this year I decided to keep it light on the time allowed front. Last years 12 minutes of Xmas became the 25 minutes of Xmas. Does that mean it's twice as good? Naaaa not really.

When I saw the title and original celeb limitation in my head I started thinking of how how fairytales start. Once upon a time… So I was thinking Once upon a time in New York. Which made me think of Once Upon A Time In America, which is kind of the same thing. It starred Robert De Niro, so I tried to quickly sketch him. I feel like the time made my drawing style to regress back to secondary school standard, oh well.

A fresh year awaits. I think looking back it's my limitation. Back in five.

Xmas 2009 Reeko

2010-01-01T10:07:00.002Z

So, time caught up with me. Again. At the time of writing today is the 18th December and I'm am packing up for the holidays. The image above is something I put together for a Sci Fi art annual and I've posted it here because... Well, I haven't got anything else and it looks a bit wintery!

Hope everyone had a great xmas and new year and roll on 2010!

Fairytale of New York - Jones

2009-12-31T10:06:00.001Z

Before leaving my old job, I have had a bit of spare time but not a whole load of motivation and so, knowing there's no chance of doing an entry over Christmas, I knocked up an early entry for December.

Here's the Christmas fairytale for you, Santa meets the Statue of Liberty. Lovely.

Would have loved to have done the statue as Rapunzel with huge green plaits but, in all honesty, I couldn't raise the enthusiasm to undertake the task!

December 2009 - UPDATE

2009-12-09T11:31:00.003Z

Hi all,
I've realised I was too ambitious with my limitation. If it's ok with y'all I'd like to amend the limitation to just make it Christmassy/seasonal and ignore the celebrity thing. That can wait for another day!

Hope that's ok. Feel free to put a celebrity in if you've already got that far!

Thanks.
O

Unwritten Rules - Gallusness

2009-12-03T22:24:00.003Z

Not so fast Mr. Jones…

A belated entry from up here.

I was a little bit pressed for time and so thought I would do a remix which stayed true to the original image which would be created was using similar but different elements.

Pretty simple.

Roll on even less time in December.

December 2009

2009-12-02T16:57:00.002Z

Ok, looks like just being me and Reeko for November. And us, only just.

I've got a new job starting in January which will almost certainly impact my ability to continue IST. However, for December ( I think it's my turn? ), I am going festive on y'all.

The song will be: Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty Whats'erface.

The limitation: Must feature a celebrity. And of course be Christmassy.

Unwritten Rules – Reeko

2009-11-30T16:49:00.002Z

Yep. Ran out of time. Busy bee at the moment.

So, the idea was to flip all the bits of the original artwork. The mugger becomes the victim, death becomes life and the power station becomes a picturesque scene. Also I like how un-"punk" some of these subjects are. Kind of feels a bit like breaking unwritten rules...

Unwritten Rules

2009-11-30T09:17:00.002Z

First thing that came to my mind regarding unwritten rules was the phenomenon of urinal etiquette. Where do you stand? There are clear boundaries, most men are aware of them. Here's a simple one. Check out the net for other scenarios - it can get complex!

Remixed using previous entries. Rockin.

November 2009

2009-11-03T06:10:00.000Z

Doesn't time fly?! Here we go....

All 1:42 of "Unwritten Rules" by Rancid from their self titled 1993 debut.

Haven't we done Rancid? Should really put a list together of all the bands we've covered... Also, I guess that's the point of shuffle, it's random! Ok, and now for the limitation;

"Remix"

There are many different ways people remix, from cutting up one bit of a song and adding a beat to essentially recording a new version. Here's the source material, go to town!

Best of luck to us all!

squeakey clean

2009-11-03T05:45:00.005Z

Not sure how many times I have listened to and sung along with the song in question. Suffice to say it is many! So I decided to do something with the song lyrics. Cleaning seemed obvious, although I did make some - futile - attempts to get away from it as a concept. Oh well. If you can't fight it, clean it, as they say. The rest is here for you to be the judge of. Oh, try and listen to the song if you haven't already, it's so great!

Until next month, peace

Mr Clean - Gallusness

2009-11-02T23:01:00.007Z

I would firstly like to thank Mr Jones for helping to give my entry this month a little context (and I was going for a little continuity, honest).

My effort I guess you wouldn't really class as an illustration probably more a concept that I've worked up. Time was properly conspiring against me this month and so I thought how about Mr Clean being the man tasked with cleaning up some of the more infamous/controversial album sleeves that are out there. Arranged grid like as an homagé to another notorious album sleeve (U2's Acthung Baby) I went for a 3x3 grid as opposed to their 4x4.

Next month I'm well picking up pens/pencils as it seems to have been too long. Guess that'll all depend what the limitation is?

Oh and here is the flat artwork as well.

Mr Clean - Reeko

2009-11-02T07:41:00.002Z

Superman is known in comicbook circles as a goody goody two shoes "Mr Clean".

Mr Clean - Jones

2009-10-31T13:42:00.001Z

'Ello.

Mr Clean, as a CD cover - voila.

...and here's the artwork for you. Fun with bubbles and type, glad I have been quiet at work this month...! ;)

October IST

2009-10-06T13:26:00.002+01:00

I know, I know... first I don't do a post for September, now I'm picking songs. Well, you're about to like me even less. My shuffle says October IST will be Millencolin, Mr.Clean from the 1998 album Same Old Tunes. Not only that but the (diabolical) limitation, which is a pain in the back side by the way, is... it's gotta be in CD format. So 123x123mm, with a spine and a title. You can use whatever title you like, only the subject should be Mr.Clean. The reason for this is that Millencolin have a history of designing their own artwork for their records, and as a hats off to their efforts we will use that restriciton this month. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Peace, happy October!

Sorry

2009-10-03T15:42:00.001+01:00

Sorry boys, I couldn't make it this month... I'll make it up to you next time round!

There She Goes My Beautiful World - Reeko

2009-10-02T13:05:00.002+01:00

Death of worlds was were I was at with this one. How could I not throw in monsters and scantily clad women? What else happens at the apocalypse?!

On another note I really enjoyed the "no drawing" thing. Found it very liberating!

There She Goes My Beautiful World - Gallusness

2009-10-01T12:57:00.003+01:00

A pretty straight forward solution from me this month. Looking at the lyrics there is real redemptive theme going on. Using this months limitation of no drawing it was a case of finding images to bring the song to life and trying to then get a sweet composition (bit trickier than I'd imagined in both respects). Some of the images are directly referenced in the lyrics and others just seemed to fit/felt right. I also wanted to use a more limited colour palette as I felt it would help bind the sourced elements together.

There She Goes My Beautiful World

2009-09-28T16:19:00.001+01:00

Well, here's my cobbled hour's worth of retouching for ya. Been away so had very little time for clever ideas or perfect execution but it is what it is - does what it says on the can!

September 2009

2009-09-02T09:13:00.002+01:00

Lady and gentlemens, the shuffle has been done and we have – There She Goes My Beautiful World by towering Antipodean gloom merchant Nick Cave & his Bad Seeds.

Nice…

And guess I should also set us a limitation, ok lets flip side last month. That means NO DRAWING! This month can we have four photoshop-collages produced entirely from found, sourced or 'borrowed' imagery.
Ta

Keep drawi… eh, keep cloning, blending, feathering etc.

Underwater Love - Jones

2009-08-31T13:58:00.000+01:00

Hello guys and girl. No computers eh? What sort of plonker was I deciding on that rule?! Talk about shooting myself in the foot?

Actually, no, I enjoyed the chance to get back to basics and do some sketching. And having been ridiculously busy with lots of huge Photoshop files this last 2 weeks I've been able to use the 'saving and opening' times to construct my IST response.

There's no blue either. No colours in fact, all just a sketchathon. Hope you like. I think Ariel is enjoying it! ;)

---

---

Love, schmove...

2009-08-31T10:16:00.005+01:00

What's so great about pencils, hmmm??! Why can't I just use my trusty Adobe programs? James, I blame you. See below:

Underwater Love – Gallusness

2009-08-30T23:32:00.003+01:00

This month has been an interesting one. The enforced limitation only added to the fun. The title didn't grab me straight away and there was a fair bit of humming and hawing. Away from IST I've started a new full time design role which has been my priority and keeping me busy. My entry has taken a back seat until a few days ago. It's been sketched out over a couple of train commutes and then inked up properly when I was happy with the scale and composition.

Subject wise I wanted to depict an unconventional love, as I'm guessing the fact that is underwater in the first place is adds to that. My head took me to drawing a worm and a hook and I guess I was amused by it being wrong and right in a number of ways. I guess love can be a strange beast and that's what I was hoping to show in a slightly tongue in cheek way.

In terms of finish the limitation was good in that I didn't overly worry about getting it totally right and slick. It was much quicker to do and it's certainly a million miles away from what I'd have done with the use of a computer, so I guess in that sense the limitation worked.

I had intended to add some bubbles (in the shape of love hearts) to help give it more context, but just plain forgot so yeah oooops. An interesting month really, I'll await the other posts, have a mull over a limitation and of course get ready to have a shuffle – hmmm.

Underwater Love – Reeko

2009-08-30T13:15:00.005+01:00

So, this has been a good challenge! I've enjoyed the limitations of "No computers". I've found it very liberating. No retouching, no stress, what my hand does with the brush pen is final. I even refrained from colour or contrast adjustments after scanning.

We are currently in the process of emigrating to Athens, Greece. I had big plans for this month but ended up packing the paints before I'd had time to do the artwork! So I turned to my tiny moleskine and switched my idea into a little series of images. When drawing in my sketchbook I often represent my ideas in a more abstract way. I then work up the idea, playing with composition and gathering reference to make the final artwork.

This little story is about a sailor being rescued by mermaids who, for some reason, need to enter from the surface of the water!

Ok, roll on the next month and the next limitation!

(Trying not to look at all the flaws I could fix so easily in Photoshop! Trying not to look at the...etc etc)

New Title - August

2009-08-03T09:59:00.001+01:00

Haha, just shuffled and the title is:

Underwater Love, by Smoke City (from the Thicker Than Water soundtrack amongst other things).

Here we go!

Charlie – Reeko

2009-08-01T14:00:00.000+01:00

"So much more than Charlie's waking me

To my core and Charlie's shaking me "

Oh... Charlie!

Charlie - Owen

2009-07-31T12:13:00.002+01:00

Hmm, I've noticed a slide in the quality of my recent entries. The trend seems to be to leave it too late (in fairness, things have been hectic!) and throw together a hurriedly produced effort.

Well, Charlie was no different I'm afraid. Maybe you'll like it. Maybe. Unlikely though!

My first thoughts were to do with (a) Charlie Brown, (b) phonetic alphabet and (c) cocaine! I discounted the cocaine and worked out how to combine the first two with the least effort involved (sorry, gotta be honest).

So I made a picture of Charlie Brown, complete with zig-zag jumper, out of lots of letter 'c's. And here it is. Man, I'm ashamed.

'Speak up man'

2009-07-31T07:12:00.006+01:00

July's theme was a slow starter but I really enjoyed it once the idea formed. I took my cue from the NATO phonetic alphabet, and after looking through some of the photo archives of the Big Picture, I knew what I wanted to do. The idea is you use the words to make sure someone at the other end of the line can understand what you're saying. It felt like this was a starting point and the project could go a number of ways so there's two versions here, see what you think.

Charlie - Gallusness

2009-07-30T00:45:00.003+01:00

Ok so I'm posting this a day early. It's been a good month up here in the world of Gallusness. More info to follow about why that is at some point. July's entry is done and dusted so I thought I'd get it up and out there. It's worth also saying July has been such a good month that even May's - Tell Me A Lie entry got revisited. There is now an updated illustration that's been added to that previous post, it's now in a place I'm happy with.

But over to this months entry. Charlie as a title was an absolute gift, I knew instantly what I was going to do. Since setting up www.gallusness.com just over a year ago I had a number of personal projects that I had on the go that I wanted to finish and add. One of these was a t-shirt design involving Charlie Chaplin. It'd become something of a personal quest to finish this design but it has always been the one that got away. It's been mostly done for ages now and probably would have remained that way (despite it being a 2009 new year resoultion to finish it). My motivation and reason behind the t-shirt is the story of how Charlie Chaplin entered a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like contest in Monte Carlo and came third… I LOVE that fact, it's genius! And I love the fact that he was up for entering in the first place.

This fact has always amused me and I fancied celebrating (and wearing) a tribute so I set about designing an appropriate image. As this was going to be for a t-shirt I kept the real Charlie C as a photograph. But then illustrated the other entrants in a pretty apt colour scheme and fashion that would give a better printed result.

Although I effectively had a head start on this entry I went back and re-visited it as a whole to tidy it up and get it to exactly where I wanted. One of the newer additions was working up how to best achieve the podium finish. The Monte Carlo text that appears was hand crafted before being traced over in vector work.

I've included a visual of how I imagine the final t-shirt looking below.

Yip Charlie as a title was about as close to perfect as you could get for me, top of my head think only the Stereophonics 'Looks Like Chaplin' could have topped it.

Overall I'm really happy with this one. It's so nice to see it finished and fully realised, just have to get around to arranging a print run now. Reeko, I salute your I-Tunes and it's shuffle-ability (well for now).

Untitled - delayed

2009-07-06T08:11:00.000+01:00

Eeeek!

Nevermind that it's the 6th, better late than never. I actually did this at the very beginning of the month but have been caught up in lots of freelance work and forgot to post it. Sorry kids!

July 2009

2009-07-02T17:18:00.000+01:00

Round and round she goes, where she stops no one knows!

...and the song for July is;

"Charlie" by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers from "Stadium Arcadium – Jupiter"

Another record I didn't even know I owned. Heads down and best of British!

Untitled - Gallusness

2009-07-01T09:42:00.001+01:00

This months title for me represented an opportunity to do an illustration I'd been wanting to do for an absolute age now. I also felt that the song title allows me to not to have to give a fully detailed explanation this month. Lady and gentlemen, Untitled by Gallusness.

See you next month.

Untitled – Reeko

2009-07-01T08:13:00.000+01:00

So, here's how the train of thought went.

Untitled. So he doesn't have a title. Who doesn't have a title? Do I have a title? Yes, I'm a "Mr". You have to be outside society to have no title. Who is outside society... A homeless person perhaps...

I tried to convey some of the bleakness of the song in the image. Oh, and the reflections in the pavement were a real experiment and I'm still not sure they quite work. Ah well, onwards and upwards!

Have a great month.

Untitled - Jones

2009-06-30T17:43:00.000+01:00

Hi all. Thanks Christie for such an open ended brief! I should give a brief explanation...

Actually sod it, work it out for yourselves!! If you want to, that is...

New month - New song

2009-06-02T11:19:00.000+01:00

James tells me it's my turn to shuffle, here goes:

Untitled, by Interpol (from Turn on the Bright Lights)

Knock yourselves out, this one is a free pass ;-)

Tell Me A Lie - Gallusness

2009-06-02T02:45:00.001+01:00

Ok as promised here is my attempt from the wee sma hours of a Monday/Tuesday morning. Think it's better to regard this as a work in progress still. Feel it's going in the right direction but it needs finished properly. But in not wanting to hold up IST anymore thought best let you guys (and now gal) see what I've been up to.

My submission has come out of two thoughts. The first one was from one of the most classic film scenes of all time. By this I mean the Christopher Walken/Dennis Hopper interrogation in True Romance. The inspiration that came from there is basically Christopher Walkens claim that he is trained in the seventeen (I think) ways in which somebody can lie. In the film we all know what follows… Well I hope anyway!?

So that idea led me to trying to show one of he most obvious forms of telling a lie – reading somebody's eyes. With this decided I then thought if you were going to tell a lie lets go for a biggie. My illustration has taken the form of a possibly make or break time in someones life. There's a passionate arguement happening and the following has been thrown out there

"Look me in the eyes then and tell me a lie. Tell me you love me."

The illustration is meant to try and represent that moment just before a lie might happen. I've hopefully tried to capture an uncertainty and it's open to interpretation if you think a lie or not will follow.

I would just like to point out that despite a less cheery illustration this month life up here is grand. Just where my head went to this month. Also I fancied going back to a purely vector based entry this time (probably with the excepion of the background in my final attempt I'd wager!)

UPDATE

As was promised I've managed to grab a few wee snatches of spare time to revisit my Tell Me A Lie entry. This is at the stage now I'd originally hoped to have gotten for the end of May deadline. The main additions are the textured background and some gentle shading. Certain areas were simplified a little as well. Much happier with this one now.

Tell Me A Lie – Reeko

2009-06-01T08:46:00.000+01:00

As soon as I think about the Fratelli's, I automatically conjure up the first video I saw (probably for that do-de-do song) that featured a lavishing of 19th century imagery and as many "burlesque" dancers as they could round up on a wet Wednesday in Shoreditch.

Going down that route I imagined a Moulin Rouge style scene with one... gentleman caller... arriving swiftly after the next, the first sneaking out the back as she says "Why, Sir? What kept you? I have been waiting for you alone all evening..."

Bellow is the process, the main jump being a twist in angle half way through as I thought the image was just a bit static. Also, changing the arm into a silhouette really helps draw the eye rather than using colour as I had originally planned to.

Tell Me A Lie - Christie

2009-06-01T08:43:00.000+01:00

An unexpected visitor to the Illustrated Song Titles, I hope that's ok. I am really excited about contributing, thanks for having me! The standard of work is really high, so I'm going to have to keep my game good. This first entry was inspired by the strange notion that pulling petals off a daisy will somehow enlighten us about the love of another... There is always a tiny amount of hope that it might somehow, born of sheer willpower, be true.

Peace, Christie

Tell Me A Lie - Jones

2009-05-31T09:04:00.000+01:00

I went on a small, relatively uneventful (though slightly interesting in a vague kinda way) journey with my thought process for this one. As always I started by looking at the lyrics and listening to the song on youtube. I loved the fairground theme and thought about doing a pic of a woman with a moustache, in a circus/freakshow way. But it seemed a little bit too straight forward and maybe a bit dull.

My next thought was based on Eddie Izzard's observations about toasters and showers sharing similar turn-y knobs that LIE. Was there an idea in that somewhere? Possibly, who knows? I didn't really commit enough time investigating it I'm afraid.

Time passed. The end of the month approached. Then I remembered I hadn't done a thing. Cue panic.

Having recently found myself truely inspired by the illustrative type of such artists/agencies as Alex Trochut, Seb Lester and Vasava, I wanted to harness that inspiration and take the opportunity to try and create a typographic illustration.

Tell Me A Lie?

"Honey, tell me 'honestly', does my bum look big in this?"

Here's the final piece. In all honesty, I'm a little disappointed with the finish, it certainly doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the artists name checked before, but there are some cool elements to it and overall it's not too bad considering the time I was able to spend on it!

Here's a scan of my initial sketch/layout, which I was actually pretty pleased with.

May 2009

2009-05-01T22:47:00.000+01:00

The songs have been shuffled and this months task is:

Tell Me A Lie by The Fratelli's

Mine will be finished by the end of the week… Yeah, got into the spirit of this title already. Pencils, pens, paintbrushes at the ready. I'm off to check the lyrics.

Like A Stone – Gallusness

2009-05-01T22:13:00.000+01:00

Hey chaps. Ok so a wee bit late but here is April's entry. Interestingly enough I chose to use some lyrics like Mr. Reeko. And interestingly enough they weren't a million miles away from the lines he chose. What I decided to do was to compose an image based on something to do with the following section:

'In your house, I long to be, room by room, patiently, i'll wait for you there, like a stone, i'll wait for you there, alone.'

'And on my death bed, i will prey, to the gods and the angels, like a pagan, to anyone who will take me to heaven, to a place, I would recall, I was there so long ago.'

Mega cheery stuff from me this month. Whilst doing this entry I've found myself doing some experimenting with the colouring and finishing. Some changes worked and some haven't, it's all about the development.

Oh and while doing the colouring up realised there is a touch of the Amy Winehouse about the lady. This was unintentional and its been bugging me ever since I noticed it.

Right, off to find us a new title and comment on your respective pieces. Dam you guys for being so good.

Like A Stone - Jones

2009-04-30T14:00:00.000+01:00

Here's my nice early posting for Like A Stone. Found a nice bit of free time early on to nail the idea, and a bit towards the end to do some finishing off with the colours etc. Bonus. I've noticed though, that the ones I've managed to spend a bit more time on have generally been ones where I've chosen the songs! Strange?

All quite graphic-y I know, and not really conventionally illustrative, rather a little bit conceptual. Hope you don't mind.

The downward lines are used in different ways to spell the words "like a stone", with the arrows showing the gravitational pull as they fall, like a stone, towards the bottom. Simple as that I'm afraid!

Like A Stone – Reeko

2009-04-30T13:38:00.000+01:00

Arcylic on board, A1.

"In your house I long to be
Room by room patiently
I'll wait for you there
Like a stone
I'll wait for you there
Alone "

Traffic In The Sky - Owen

2009-04-01T18:06:00.000+01:00

"pant pant, puff, puff..."

Here I am, sorry I'm a bit late!

My effort is a bit like what I'd envisaged, but a lot less detailed and not quite as good! This is based on my first sketch. I later ditched the sketch and wanted to just concentrate on the red and white light trails in the sky but couldn't get it to work very well with limited time, so went back to the sketch.

I like the fact I experimented with a slightly different style, and I like the rough pencil work (to a point, anyway) showing through. If I had a couple of days just to dedicate to it I'm confident I'd have managed something more 'finished' looking!

Traffic 'Cone' In The Sky - Gallusness

2009-04-01T15:57:00.001+01:00

Now if I just keep talking no one can possibly notice what I've done there/here…

Right so this month I decided to get a bit cheeky with my entry. The image depicts the Duke of Wellington statue which is regarded as one of the original statues to get continually 'coned'. It stands outside the front of the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow city centre. Because of the sheer number of times the statue gets 'coned' and due to it's location the cone when a top Wellington's head is now no longer removed by the council.

It's become something of an icon it's own right and many see it as a cheeky pop at everyday folk showing up the modern art located mere feet away. It's quite a statue to cone as well, sitting at nearly twenty foot high and on top of a big concrete pedestal. If the statue does happen to lose it's cone it usually only takes a student night to pass by for it to be sporting it again.

March was a funny month in that I knew what I was going to do for a while. Then life/work went a bit crazy mental busy (hence my post of last week saying guys I'm struggling). Then yesterday I got landed with a day off and some time to cobble my entry together. Most unexpected but welcomed none the less. Style wise I wish I could back to half way through this entry and change the finish. But ah well it's done now.

Bring on April.

April 2009 - New Song

2009-04-01T11:05:00.000+01:00

Hiya. I'm hoping I might scrape together something for March this week, apologies for the delay.

In the mean time, the new song for April is:

Like A Stone by Audioslave.

If you have time that is...!

O

Traffic In The Sky – Reeko

2009-04-01T09:23:00.001+01:00

This month, well firstly I thought I wasn't going to post at all! Then I finished stuff earlier than I thought and discovered to my delight that I had a whole day to play with.

I decided to paint this one in acrylic on board... mainly because I just wanted to. I've been looking at a lot of painted work lately and fancied having my first bash at it for... ooh, could be 5 years?!

The idea comes from this line in the song, "Shadows of the planes...". What you may not be able to see is that the figure has a toy plane in his hands.

Have a great month!

March 2009

2009-03-01T12:24:00.000Z

Ok, we've been wanting a good one. Not sure if this is it, but it's what we've got. The sound of a thousand Oz Experience bus rides...

"Traffic In The Sky" by Jack Johnson from the aptly titled "On and On".

From a Q&A with Jack;

Q: What was the first song you learned on the guitar?
A: I learned two at the same time: "One" by Metallica and "Father and Son" by Cat Stevens.

Bimeos. See what you created?!

And Here I Stand – Reeko

2009-03-01T12:01:00.000Z

From the mighty wikipedia;

"Hanging people from early gallows sometimes involved fitting the noose (a.k.a the tater) around the person's neck while he or she was on a ladder or in a horse-drawn cart underneath. Removing the ladder or driving the cart away left the person dangling by the neck to slowly strangle."

I would like to make it clear, in light of recent drawing related racial issues in the media, that this drawing is in no way related to the lyrics of the song, just the title. The idea is to explore the feeling of the last stand, on the cart, waiting for the whip to signal the drop.

In fact, I didn't bother reading the lyrics until now as I had such a clear idea of what I wanted to do after reading the title. Wish I had now as I feel a little uneasy about posting.

Oh well. Nuthin' but love. I really like way I've done the horse!

And Here I Stand - Gallusness

2009-03-01T01:09:00.001Z

Ok my bad. So I-Tunes didn't give up a gem of a title this month. Here's hoping for better luck in March.

So yeah I decided to take the title literally. Very literally! I think it harks back to days of drawing/designing trainers when I was younger. Along with super duper fancy hot rod cars and football strips while we're on that thought pattern…

But anyways, this is where I was standing. I had my tigers on, it was all good.

To preempt some possible feedback, I'm thinking I am kind of finding my style in terms of my IST responses. Hand drawn, dumped into photoshop where it's coloured and delivered with a flat-ish finish. That's kind of what I'm going for. Ta

And Here I Stand - Jones

2009-02-28T17:00:00.000Z

Hello. I've struggled this month. Really couldn't get to grips with the race war/anger/rage of the lyrics and feel of this song, and encountered a busy period at work (and an 'annual' review where, although in the best part very positive, I was certainly 'encouraged' to spend less time doing my own illustration/web browsing when there's work to do!!).

Anyway, as you know, I support Plymouth Argyle. And as you may be aware, we suck. A poor run of recent results left manager Paul Sturrock perilously close to the sack but the board love him too much and bottled sacking him. I personally think it should have happened a couple of weeks ago but now fear it is too late and we are in serious risk of relegation anyway. We might as well keep him because he's as good as anyone in the league below so if we do go down, he might be the man to get us back up.

Well he's come out and made it clear that he's not going to quit, and so here he stands.

Aaagh.

February 2009

2009-02-02T17:11:00.000Z

Ok chaps, shuffle done and this month we have…

And Here I stand by the seemingly recently reformed Skunk Anansie.

And in a true Brucie Forsyth stylee Keep drawing.

Apple Tree - Gallusness

2009-02-02T13:40:00.000Z

Howay, ok a little bit late but you know blame the Superbowl.

This month I had a hum and a haw and then on Thursday the 8th of January the brief for me solved itself. This was when the Bank of England cut interest rates to the lowest they've been since 1694. The year Newton had his theory about gravity and generally apple trees became involved in a child's education for every more.

I thought of the medium and felt pen and pencils would be a little wrong. Instead I've done it in a style of a piece of graf to reflect this event. And yeah the world is ever so slightly screwed so lets make it a little bit more pretty.

Just to check guys, am I on February's shuffle duty?
That'll be 26 days and counting (gulp).

Apple Tree - Reeko

2009-02-02T07:43:00.000Z

I had 5 goes at this one. This one sucked least.

I was a bit under the weather one dark January day and decided to spend it doing my entry for this month. Several expensive sheets of Fabrianno that I may as well have just wiped my bum with later, I came up with this.

It's the result of chasing my self into a cul de sac with an idea bubble diagram. I think the train of thought was something about trees being factories and GM crops... oh well.

It's about a bazillion times better that the Adam and Eve stuff I was coming up with originally, so at least I got one point off the shop floor creatively. Roll on February!

Apple Tree - Jones

2009-01-31T17:00:00.000Z

Hello, just found a minute to post this (early, but using the clever delayed posting feature!) and not knowing when I'd next get a chance I grabbed it with both hands!

Here's my interpretation of the title 'Apple Tree'. I expect that the other fellas probably had similar thoughts (or at least relating to the Apple computers theme), so I'm not claiming to be original or particularly cryptic with this one! But I am really chuffed with the end result and would really really love to screen print it as a big ol' poster!

Hope you like it too. I'll post some close ups on my website soon.

O

January 2009!

2009-01-05T17:29:00.001Z

Apologies again for slow posting. I've realised I'm meant to have provided the new title, and here it is...

Apple Tree by Wolfmother, off of the album, Wolfmother...

Sorry, it's not a great title I know! But at least it's less morbid than some recent ones!!

Go!

Roses for the Dead - Jones

2009-01-05T17:21:00.001Z

Oh gosh. So it's 5 days into the next month, and there's me thinking 'oh they won't have got round to it either, I'll be ok...'.

WRONG

Both Reeko and Gallusness have managed to post, and therefore so shall I. With regret...

It's a long long way from being the finished article but I'm afraid I didn't even get round to thinking that up - this is very early stages. Excuses and bull aside, I also realise that Gallusness has produced a sketch based on the Cadbury's Roses idea, and that it may seem that I've nicked his idea.

I honestly didn't. My sketches were based around the idea of the mystery gift under the Christmas tree wrapped in deathly wrapping paper - I didn't intend to use the Cadbury's branding etc, as the shape (as it always does) gives away the contents.

Again, apologies. Hopefully I might get more time this month but it's still looking unlikely...!

Roses For The Dead - Gallusness

2009-01-02T14:04:00.001Z

December came and went in the world of Gallusness just like that. When I read Mr Jones last comment I sat thinking I'd done nothing also but for having had the briefest of mulls.

So a plan of action was struck. When you guys let me join in IST I wanted above all else to have some fun and experiment. This plan involved completing this months entry in twelve minutes. In a wee tribute to twelve nights (unfortunately there was no chance of using that time scale). A cheeky wee drawing was knocked out. Taking the title very very literally Cadbury's have found another occasion to cash in on, or maybe not. Gents I give you the coffin shaped Roses tin.

Happy New Years to you both, here is hoping more normal service resumes in 09.

Roses For The Dead – Reeko

2009-01-01T18:00:00.000Z

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm writing this post on Friday 19th December. I am going to use the clever auto posting thingie to hopefully post this image on New Years day. All that feels very strange and Back To The Future-y so let's hope nothing happens that creates a paradox and the image starts to fade before our eyes. I don't know what that action could be, I just hope I don't end up stuck in 1885... I do look good with a '50's quiff so at least my hair would be happy.

There was a lot of development, dropped ideas and reworking that went into this image but I won't bore you with all that here! For those interested, come on over to my own site to read the full story there...

Song 10 - December

2008-12-03T19:19:00.000Z

So! looks like we're having a black Christmas...

Song 10

"Roses For The Dead" by Welsh emo rockers Funeral For A Friend from their second record "Hours".

Get out your lace and crosses boys...

Killer Queen – Reeko

2008-12-03T19:05:00.001Z

Hi! Mum & Dad? See this? This is what I spent all those years in after school classes, extra life drawing lessons, years of careful patient encouragement, expensive trips to galleries, Christmas and birthday presents, hundreds of pounds in art materials and got into huge debt at university for.

Ladies and gents... Hitler in drag.

I'll get my coat. Where will I be? By the Hammersmith flyover, drinking turps, shouting at rats and wondering where it all went wrong...

Killer Queen - Gallusness

2008-12-01T01:13:00.000Z

Right ok lets see if having tickled this up I can post it in a vaguely consistent fashion to how you guys normally do it…

My entry was a hark back to 50's B-movies and was going to feature a giant killer queen bee or a queen ant. I opted for the ant, as bugs and aliens and all things Starship Trooper esque have been on my mind this month (check www.gallusness.com for the full story).

So the big bad killer queen ant looks hungry. It's also been properly worked out and drawn up to ensure no October type situations occurred. Roll on December.

Killer Queen - Jones

2008-11-30T17:00:00.000Z

Now, I realise with this and 'Die, Alright' I've gone a bit 'blood splatter gore' with you but hopefully it's subtle enough to not make people think I'm a psycho...

The concept was my first thought as soon as the name of the track was released and I'm pleased that I've pulled it off fairly well! That said, I'd like to have worked more on the setting/context/layout/composition aspects of the final illustration, but I'm happy with the idea and the portrayal/detail of the character.

Song 9 - November

2008-11-03T15:58:00.000Z

The song for this month has been chosen by Gallusness. Here's what he has to say.

Mwah ha ha ha ha ha. Reeko & Jones have entrusted the task of the shuffle to me this month.

There's over a month of solid music this could potentially be. There are some classics, some obscure stuff, some stuff I don't even know and haven't heard yet. More worryingly there are some guilty pleasures in there as well.

Sharp intake of breath, close my eyes hit shuffle and it's Killer Queen, by Queen from the Sheer Heart Attack album. Hmmmmmmmmmm, game on.

Set it Off - Jones

2008-10-31T09:44:00.000Z

Hey hey.

Much like Gallusness this month, I was almost instantly struck with the idea that I wanted to depict. I had visions of setting off fireworks or explosives, quite an energetic and textured piece, with the words 'Set it off' joined up, as if they were a cable from a detonator.

Unfortunately I hit problems after I had drawn the custom type (which I'm actually quite proud of - will update my own site with some crops at some point), as I couldn't find a context or layout to display it in!

Eventually I settled on the composition you see here. I'm still not completely convinced it's as well composed as some of my other work, but (as was pointed out to me by Reeko recently) the idea of IST is a chance to experiment, and experiment I did! I've never been really into custom type but it seemed a natural direction and great opportunity, so I took it.

So here it is.

Set it Off - Reeko

2008-10-31T09:39:00.001Z

I wanted to do more with colours and texture this month as I was all super planned and early... I'm pleased with the result, even if conceptually it's a bit weak! But then I've always been a bit of a weak concept.

Set it Off - Gallusness

2008-10-31T09:37:00.000Z

Ok so this month I had a belter of an idea, and sat on it for three and a bit weeks. Then on finally putting pen to paper realised it was going to be too difficult to properly bring it to life. One quick reinterpretation later and I came up with an idea for a simple clean image. Gallusness has gone spiritual and calm amid the current turmoil of the world. It¹s just a scene of serene calm as someone is saying goodbye to something dear to them. Setting whatever that is to wherever it rightfully needs to go.

No joss sticks were burned during the illustration process.

Just Die, Alright? - Reeko

2008-10-01T11:52:00.000+01:00

Whoa! What's with all this posting the title before deadline stuff! I'm here! I'm here!

Today is my birthday. It's also the first 5 minutes off I've had this month. I sketched this on a train a couple weeks back and only have been able to polish it up to posting quality today. Also, I ain't finished with this... but I have run out of time! So what's done, is done. I plan on finishing this soon so if it turns out better I'll repost.

The image is based around all those horror flicks where the actress with the cunningly ripped blouse screams in desperation as the killer climbs out of the shark pool/acid tub/mince grinder/molten lava/outer space to continue his ever so slow stagger towards his victim... "Just... die, alright?".

Welcome Gallusness! Hope you can keep up man, 'cos I'm struggling!

Ain't no quitter though... I'll be back. Game on!

UPDATE

As promised I've had a tinker and added a background. This is what I had in mind...

Song 8: October

2008-10-01T10:47:00.000+01:00

So here it is, song 8, and with it an opportunity for newbie Gallusness to get a whole month under his belt, and for Reeko and myself to once again feel the excitement of a new challenge!

The song this month is 'Set it Off' by Welsh ragga-punks Skindred.

Ready?
Steady?
Go!

Die, Alright: Jones [The Pedant's Revenge]

2008-09-29T16:53:00.000+01:00

And now I'm posting this on behalf of, um, myself.

The instructions were to create light hearted results so here it is! I like it, it was the first thing that popped into my head and it gave me an opportunity to do exactly what I had been looking forward to doing - a really simple 'screen-print poster' style image.

In case you have to ask, the common misconception is that the featured item is a 'dice', when in fact it is a 'die' (dice is the plural). So...

'It's not a dice, it's a DIE, ALRIGHT?'

Die, Alright: Gallusness

2008-09-29T16:48:00.000+01:00

I'm posting this on behalf of our newest contributor. Here's what he has to say for himself!

"Hey, I'm Scott who shall probably be known henceforth as gallusness. It's my first contribution to IST so thanks go to the chaps for having me. I love the concept (of IST) and hope to contribute with a full months thinking and illustrating in future. This one could've done with more tlc but the standard of Owen & Reeko will keep me on my toes going forward. To explain my solution for Die Alright, I actually looked at one of the lines from the song 'And the way I feel tonight is gonna make me die all right'. I thought (and please excuse the cheese) what could you feel, at night, that would make dying alright? I reckoned how about the urban myth that is falling in your sleep. You know if you hit the ground you'd never actually wake up. I'm guessing most folk have had those occasional dreams where you've woken up by randomly kicking out? But supposing you were comfortable with accepting your fate, could you die alright by seeing through your fall? My take was to capture this as it was happening...

Just wait to see how the other guys answered the title. Looking forward to next month and properly breaking out the pens & pencils as a starting point. Oh and in a shameless plug if anyone else wants to see what else I get up to please swing by www.gallusness.com cheers."

Song 7 - September

2008-09-02T08:39:00.000+01:00

Alrighty then.

Bunking off to do illustration time is shortening, but I feel it's important to keep putting the title out there.

The song for this month is "Die, Alright!" by The Hives from their compliation album, "Your New Favourite Band".

I'm looking for light hearted results here!

Becoming the Bull – Reeko

2008-09-02T08:37:00.000+01:00

I've done it, partly. I'm looking all my grainy graphic pencil strokes as I type. When I have some time, probably at the weekend, I'll scan, finish and post.

My bad.

UPDATE 5/9/08

Becoming the Bull - Jones

2008-08-29T18:42:00.000+01:00

Yeah, here's my entry. Gotta dash so no rant or big preamble this time. Hope you like!
It's pretty dark innit!
O

Song 6 - August

2008-07-31T09:15:00.000+01:00

Wow, we're on a roll. And Summer is here. Or, it was. Um, where's it gone? Probably under something... Hmm, I'm sure I had it here somewhere................... Let me know if you find it!

The song for this month is 'Becoming the Bull' by Atreyu. Gotta love it!

GO-GO-GO.

Everything Has It's Point – Reeko

2008-07-31T07:42:00.000+01:00

Right then. Early posting? Better nip this one in the bud!

Well I'm early too! So there! One whole day! And I got home late from freelancing last night so there too.

My tiredness generally leads to bit of melancholy, hence the riff that is to come. Read on, dear friends!

Pencils. They break. They have a point and they break. Generally when I'd rather they didn't. I use a mechanical one. Well, it's slightly mechanical. Kind of like the way a bow and arrow is mechanical in that they have one action and one moving part. Simplicitity to be used everyday. And you could kill someone with it.

It belonged to my Grandfather who was a toolmaker & draftsman on the London buses. They designed tools that would go inside parts of buses that weren't designed to be opened and fixed. Sort of like NASA, but with men smoking woodbines and going down the pub for two pints at lunch. This is all through the post war years to the Eighties. In the post war years things were tight due to the war. After that, things were tight because it was London transport.

My Grandfather's pencil is made of metal and is essentially a clamp for lead. It's a proper tool, all solid and heavy. The leads are thick graphite pencil leads. I had to learn to use it as it's a bit tricky to get a good line out of. Now, I love it.

I was given a box of his art supplies when he passed away, everything held together in organised bundles with brittle elastic bands that snapped when you moved them. Yellow plastic French curves with little pieces of aging sellotape on them. To be honest, it took me ages to go through them. When I finally did, I found the pencil. My trusty tool and my link to a quiet witty man.

Didn't really mean to write about that and I've just looked back up at my image! Not really all that suitable! I'll just point out for the record that the robot is not supposed to be my Grandfather, all right?! If anything, it's me.

So, what new title have you got for me Mr Jones?

Everything Has it's Point – Jones

2008-07-30T14:10:00.000+01:00

So how about this then? Posting early, in a feeble sucking up attempt to appease the IST warlords who fastidiously monitor the punctuality of posts to this fine blog, and PUNISH those who are late to join the fun. They happen to be very wordy warlords as well, hence my ostentatious use of the word 'fastidiously' (and 'ostentatious') - another attempt to avoid punishment and further shame.

Anyway, this isn't a dictionary, so on with business. Everything has it's point. Not necessarily true. Consider seagulls, chavs and men's nipples. No, I must argue that not everything has a point.

However, many things do have a point but unfortunately that point often becomes lost in the swirling winds of life, and so those things tend to become overlooked and in time, their use seems to fade into non-existence.

One such thing is the focus of my post/illustration/RANT this month, and that is the use of indicators on cars - particularly fast, expensive and sporty cars, driven by men in expensive suits who are considerably richer than us minions and so it is apparently their RIGHT to own the road and not feel the need to tell other drivers or pedestrians what the HECK they are going to do next! [breathe]

For example, as a pedestrian waiting to cross a side road, I like to look to my right (and my left, of course) and see if a car is coming and if it is, is it likely to turn into the road I'm crossing? You know how I know whether (a) the car is going to turn, and as such I should wait until it has passed before crossing; or (b) the car is carrying straight on, meaning I am free to cross and not risk my neck (not to mention my elbows, my spleen and my skull) in doing so?

INDI-BLOODY-CATORS!

Every car has them! They're usually activated using a little lever/stalk on the left of your steering wheel (on the right on some models I believe) - up for right, down for left. Just flick it with your finger - it doesn't take much - and astonishingly, other road users will suddenly be aware of your intentions and will not be placed in a situation of peril due to your laziness!

THAT, people, is the point of indicators.

Here's a picture of an indicator/cornerlight.

I thank you.

When The Night Feels My Song - Owen

2008-07-07T13:58:00.000+01:00

Ahem. Time for an apology.

It has become apparent that my commitment to the Illustrated Song Titles cause has been somewhat lacking in recent months. I have allowed other elements of my life (lazing on a beach in Turkey for example) to distract me from the task in hand, and for this I'd like to offer my full and sincere apologies. I'd like to think that this has been a mere blip, and that I will have the opportunity to put right the wrongs from the past.

With this in mind, I have decided to submit a rough sketch I did as preparation for my June entry (When The Night Feels My Song) and didn't have (or make) time to vectorize.

Please accept my apologies. I hope we never encounter this sort of ugly situation again in the future.

Song Five

2008-07-07T12:04:00.000+01:00

Right then, since Jones was super busy and then on a beach for a week last month, looks like he might or might not post.

All together now, Loo-oo-oo-ooser!

So, song five;

*Ahem*

"Everything Has It's Point" by Rival Schools from one of my favourite all time records, "United By Fate".

When The Night Feels My Song – Reeko

2008-07-01T09:08:00.000+01:00

Bang! Smack! Pow! Have some Mexican Robots and some lov-erly brushes Mr Jones!

This was all painted in black ink, the type was supposed to be redone in a typeface but I love the sketchy way it came out even though I just sketched it straight in. Although I have to hold my hands up and say I retouched it quite a bit to make it legible.

Song Four

2008-06-02T09:36:00.000+01:00

Yeah yeah yeah, May was a blip for me. And I suspect June might be too - I've just accidentally picked a really difficult title! That's the thing with being honest and going with the random selection as agreed! Ah well, are you ready...?

Drum roll please? No? Alrighhhhhty then.

The song for our intrepid explorers of illustrative enlightenment this month will be pop/reggae/radio hit 'When The Night Feels My Song' by Bedouin Soundclash.

How the heck is that gonna work?! Good luck all...

All That's Left - Jones

2008-06-02T09:20:00.000+01:00

So, um, yeah. Bit embarrassed really this month... TOLD YOU SO! Ahem, excuse me...

Time really got away from me and I didn't end up having enough of it left to do the super cool ideas I had for this fantastic title! How annoying.

Anyway, excuses aside, here's my rushed, slightly scraped together, and in all honesty, probably half-arsed depiction. Please be gentle Mr Reeko! I'll get back on it this month, honest.

All That's Left – Reeko

2008-06-01T12:12:00.000+01:00

So, I figured it was time to throw the smack down.

Yup I broke out my big guns, pen and ink baby! I'm sticking with robots, in fact I might even make it a "theme"... at least until I get bored with it... and produced a nicely contemplative piece all is glorious grey scale.

And I know Jones won't be posting until tomorrow due to broadband issues so I'm gonna get a full day's head start. Game on...

Song 3

2008-05-05T12:05:00.000+01:00

Oh yes! Number three. The bank holiday weekend has put us back a bit but here it is! I'm sure a couple days (ok, 5) won't matter that much in the long run.

What that? Get on with it? Jeeze...

"All That's Left" from "The Artist In The Ambulance" by the simply astonishing Thrice.

Full lyrics here for those that like to use that for inspiration.

Go team go!

For the Heart I once Had – Reeko

2008-04-30T11:55:00.001+01:00

Yeah yeah yeah. First shmurst that's what I always say, especially when I'm not first. When I am first I tend to say things like "WINNER! ME! I AM THE WINNER! You? LOSER!". But enough about me...

Negative space boys and girls. That's what we've got going on here. both in my robot themed image and in Owen's excellent tasteful submission.

In Owen's picture the space between the crack and the swing figure draws you through the empty cold and gorgeous layered greys to the fading hills beyond. Your eye is then thrown around the piece providing interest and challenging you. If you don't ask questions of your audience why are they going to spend time with you?

Now with my piece of jackassary I'm messing with your perspective. The space between the heart and the robots allows me to throw you all over the place to look up to what's above. Positioning the viewer in a very definite place in the image.

And you people thought I just throw this stuff together... ;)

For the Heart I Once Had - Owen

2008-04-30T11:36:00.000+01:00

I'm proud to once again be the first to post their submission.

This month's effort is deeper and more sensitive than March's blasé and comical entry. I struggled for inspiration from the title alone so I used the lyrics as direction, particularly the first verse and chorus:

Heaven today is but a way

To a place I once called home.

Heart of a child, one final sigh

As another love goes cold.

Once my heart beat to rhythm of the falling snow

Blackened below, the river now flows

A stream of molten virgin snow.

For the heart I'll never have, for the child forever gone

The music flows because it longs

For the heart I once had.

I know, I know, it's deep man.

Well here's the illustration, hope you like.

Song 2

2008-04-07T14:44:00.000+01:00

No, I'm afraid the song for April won't be Song 2 by Blur.

It will in fact be 'For the Heart I Once Had', from Finland's own operatic, classical heavy metallers 'Nightwish'.

Submissions due by Wednesday 30th April. Get going, team!

The Sound of Secret Minds – Reeko

2008-04-04T07:52:00.000+01:00

The Sounds of Secret Minds – Owen

2008-04-04T07:48:00.000+01:00

Challenge One

2008-03-09T18:17:00.000Z

The first randomly selected title is;

"The Sound Of Secret Minds" by Japanese punk muppets Hi Standard.

Let battle commence!