If I had a beard I would stroke it...

October-feeeeest

2011-10-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

Right I have just had a week and a bit off, and during this time I have not done any drawing or art. This is manly because I have been stinking ill, on my actual birthday I was so ill I only just managed to get showered and dressed! So I have only just managed to get around to doing the things I wanted to do, on the second to last day of my time off... oh well carry on!

Here are some pictures of what I have been up to during and leading up to October. A mixture of painting, and making.

Here is a photograph of my canvas bag, I finally got to see it on the second to last day of the show. The little red dot on the label means that some one bought it! And it wasn't anyone I knew :)

This is my poster design for the Pantomime which is being put on at the Jolly Brewer in Lincoln. It is in some respects traditional in that the main characters are female, hence why Aladdin is a female in my poster. The Panto is called "Aladdin and the Magic Tankard"

Another loverly thing I have been up to is....I gave all my canvases and poster prints and badges to my boyfriends parents. They took it all to a cafe in Scarborough, Nutmeg. This is where my work is currently being shown, much like when I showed my work at the Jolly Brewer. I do have some photographs but I will save them for when I find out how it went. Not long now, it finishes at the end of this month.

Well that is what I have been up to, it's just a shame that I was ill for so long, I would have gotten so much more done.

Two exhibitions today!

2011-09-20T05:02:00.000-07:00

Today is a very busy day for me! Yesterday I sent my canvases and badges etc to a cafe in Scarborough for a 6 week exhibition. The website is shown below. This is a very nice opportunity as I wouldn't have known about it unless my boy friends parent had told me about it and offered to take it up to Scarborough for me. I really appreciate the help.

http://www.nutmegcafe.co.uk/

And also today I have a custom painted canvas bag, this bag is a part of the Canvas bag exhibition which goes on until the 16th of October. The website link is also below. I painted this while in sort of flu fever the night before my parents were going to take it in to the gallery for me. It look me 4 hours of intense painting and my arm hurt a lot afterward, I was very ill, I'm not sure how I did it.

http://www.artlandish.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=12

I am also working on a Panto poster for the Jolly Brewer Theatre Company, Aladdin and the Magic Tankard. so once that is done I shall post it here too.

Badddddddgers...

2011-07-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

So here is a quick snap from my phone, of my Badger army. They are Badger Badges, but now there also magnets, they are a lot smaller this time roughly 2 inches instead of 6! Only done the purple ones so far, got green and pink to go. They will be on sale at the Kind vintage fayre on the 30th of July.

Stall, How Bazaar, and other wonderful things

2011-04-26T02:57:00.000-07:00

Right my stall is due this Saturday, and my work is up in the Jolly Brewer in Lincoln now. I am going their for a drink tonight (it's also a pub) to take some photos so watch this space. I am also donating some prints to my good friend Courtney for her charity event called How Bazaar. Some of the images are already on this blog but for those of you who are too lazy to scroll down to find them here they are again. Both the images are available for sale at the Jolly Brewer and their will be post cards on the stall as well. I will also be available for commission.

Due for May

2011-03-25T05:56:00.000-07:00

Well unfortunately I am having to withdraw from Laura's In Vitro gallery at the end of this month.It was a really good idea to keep my work out in the public eye, but I can't afford the very small amount she asks to keep it there... It's only £30 or so a month, which says some thing about my finances that I can't afford that... Oh well. It is very good though and I would recommend it.

However at the beginning of May I will be exhibiting my work at The Jolly Brewer. This is free but they have a chocker block schedule at the mo

ment so I'm lucky I got in when most of the bank holidays are so more people will see my work :)

Here are some pictures of some new things I will have up their as well as the stuff I already have.

This is the label design I have come up with for under my pieces, to say what they are and give prices. It's a little boring just to write on a piece of white paper don't you think?

This is what I am going to put up instead of just a boring bit of paper describing what I do. It is a self portrait and there will be a speech bubble saying hello to everyone and telling them what I do.

This is my final drawing. I'm going to try and get it printed on as big a canvas as I can. The Jolly Brewer is a pub which mostly plays rock music, so I'm hoping this image will be very popular.

Well once I have coloured these in I will post again. I am also going to be working on some posters soon so I hope to get them done quickly.

Exhibition stoooof

2011-03-03T15:54:00.000-08:00

Well then, it's been a while... again, this is mainly down to the fact that I am working a lot.

But never mind that pish now I have an announcement!

I have had my work up at my friends gallery called In Vitro... and now The Jolly Brewer in Lincoln want my work up too :D

This is super cool as it's a pub and people might buy it under the influence, its the probably going to be the same stuff as the things I have up at In Vitro now. I am also entering the In Vitro Competition "Shoe Horn". It will be really cool as you can design your own shoes, the Facebook page link is below for those who want to have a look at it

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=135200873213889

You like the Art Nouveau side boob?

2011-02-03T11:59:00.001-08:00

Well this is my first post of the New Year... good lord I space them out don't I? Well I have been trying to get my work revamped and here is a best part of 8 hour straight photoshop binge finished this very day... She tells you to relax and with her swirly hair you best listen to her... Enjoy xxx

Eye flood!

2010-11-19T13:16:00.000-08:00

Right so here it is...
I am doing a range of things at the moment. Below are someimages of things I have done over the last few weeks, and I know they are all in one post but I am a little strapped for time. I am basically waiting to hear back from the organiser of Flexout, a Dj/Mc event that happens in Lincoln every once in a while. They want people to draw things for their up and coming merchendise section. But I can't start until they get back to me really. And there is a small gallery opening up called In Vitro which is opening up opposite Comic Culture in the Mall in Lincoln. The images below are what I am going to be selling in there, you know, boost my confidence and get my work out there sort of thing rather than a huge venture. Hope you
enjoy...

Badges redesigned

2010-10-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

I think these are finished now, I might tweak a few things but now all I need to do is design the packets. This shouldn't take long when I actually get the time. Same deal with my canvases really. I WILL get them done, but real life gets in the way some times unfortunately...

Canvas I'm going to paint

2010-10-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

So here they are, just got to work out the colour scheme then I shall start painting it tonight :)

Website under maintenance

2010-10-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

So here is my latest doodle, which I think would make a nifty Tshirt...

If you know what it is then you are incredibly cool... if not... well... learn!

Time for some painting...

2010-10-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

I have posted two self promotional post cards out with cv and cover letter. I hope to hear some thing from that soon. In the mean time I have 2 sets of canvases to do as well as some ink drawings that need colouring. So a lot to do there...

I haven't really got any idea what I want to paint on these canvases so any ideas are welcome. One set is small square ones, the other is tall thin ones so may those could be one big image but in three sections or some thing :)

2010-09-28T05:52:00.000-07:00

make custom gifts at Zazzle

Well that's it, my first product on Zazzle...

The page is pretty bland at the moment, but it will get there...

My Zazzle store will be open soon

2010-09-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of creating a Zazzle store. It will be called "Basic-Hater Design" after my very first art site on Deviant art, I still like this name and would love if one day it became a big brand... or a little cult on either is good. I managed to work out what was wrong with my website as well so any work I do will be on here and on my website.

I hope people will like my work enough to start buying it...

Peace

My Final Show

2010-09-09T04:54:00.001-07:00

This photograph is from my dad George Upson. It features the work I showed for my final show... and me! I need to root through my computer and see if there is anything I forgot to post up from this. My website is still playing up, but at least I have this blog to update. I am going to write a list of things I want to draw and do. Some things that will feature on this list are, redesigning my badges so I can get a load made and sold. Opening a Zazzle store and making image to put on their, and designing some leaflets for a show I might be taking part in. I just hope I have enough time to do all this in between going to work and sleeping.

David King's Birthday Card

2010-09-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

Well this is a birthday card I did for my good friend David King. I am having some problems with my website at the moment, so this is why I remembered to update my blog after so long. I will get around to updating my blog with all my work from my exhibition if I haven't already. I am in the process of drawing some new stuff, and reworking the "classics" so watch this space for new images. Hopefully if people want to see how my work has progress over the last few year they will come here from my website. I am going to post only my best work on the website, so work may disappear from my website but will always be on here. Enjoy...

Badger Badges finished... finally!

2010-05-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

These little blighters have been on my mind for over a year now. The originals are featured on here some where. Originally made them for an event I attended called SlashSlash Notts. These are made of balsa wood, painted on in acrylic and then put in little packets...

Postcard update

2010-05-03T15:15:00.001-07:00

Some different colours for my potential postcard to send out to people... Little badges will also come with this card. Badges will be put up, once they arrive in the post...

Canvas

2010-04-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

Done on a thick canvas with acrylic... Characters based on a previous sketch featured here some where... fun fun fun

Badge Packets

2010-04-23T07:14:00.001-07:00

They are finally done. The badges were originally from another image... if you scroll down you will probably find it. Decided to try and make my own packaging for them rather than go online and get some sent to me from some website. Being me I am really picky about my work and so naturally I don't think they are as good as they should be... but I am still pleased with the fact I have done a series of them, not just one offs.

Painting rough

2010-03-31T07:22:00.001-07:00

Just thought I would share this with you. It's a rough for a painting I have been trying to come up with for weeks now... I'm going to work out the colour scheme on photoshop before I go ahead or it could go wrong...

Vinyl Toys collection

2010-03-31T04:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't actually painted any of these yet, and I only found out that Rooz and Trikky's existed this week as I saw them along with others in Forbidden Planet in Nottingham... Which is also where the bigger Munny came from. I have been meaning to paint him since last year. Still haven't come up with anything... so much uni work to do as well... Just thought I would share them :)

A few updates, Illustrations, events, what ever

2010-03-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well I said I would wait until the end of my course to post pictures of my work up, but then I realized that would take for ever. Better to do it in small bursts. In no particular order here we come (sorry if I have repeated my self from previous blog entries)

Just a reminder I own www.katieupson.co.uk and so I hope to be having my art work posted on their soon enough. There is a link to this blog though on that site. I am getting this website in exchange for doing a magazine cover for a friend of mine so watch this space for that when it's done.

This... is Manny... and he ate all your bees... inspired by the show Black Books the character is played by Bill Bailey. I have wanted to draw some thing like this for ages and I finally have. I have also submitted it to the Northern Design Competition and printed it as an A1 poster.

This is Annabel Lee, this is for my negotiated project. I took poems by Edgar Allen Poe and illustrated phrases from them. This is the first of my character designs for her and the basis for all of my characters after this point, with some fine tuning. It's nice to have a style at last.

Same character as above, and this time there is some patterns and stuff. I drew all the textures and patterns my self. I have made some badges from the sea monsters and things... they are done but I want to finish the packaging before I post it on here. There is also a T-shirt, but I haven't had a photo of it yet and I need to design the logo and tags for it. Some thing to look forward to.

So what new from me?

2010-03-13T04:11:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't been updating this as much as I want to. But I have been working very very hard indeed. I have gotten my work some thing close to the way I want it to be. And I am producing a lot of work for my final year show. I think the best thing to do is wait until my final show to start loading images up. It will free up some time for me to carry on working, and it will mean that I will have everything finished instead of loading up half done stuff... this will be around the end of May

Watch this space

Redone a lot of work...

2010-01-16T03:41:00.000-08:00

So here they are pictures of work I have reworked for the hand in on Monday.

This included Hans Rabbit, Wright's Soap box, Excessive noise editorial, and one you have never seen but I have reworked from the original Sam the lion thing... stuff... the tutors can never make up their mind what the projects are called. Enjoy (I will post my Wasteland project another time)

Incredibly Freaking Bored

2009-12-21T12:29:00.001-08:00

And this is what the season is all about!

Being bored and falling out with family. But as I have no transport to see the few friends I do have here at home, I can get lots of university work. Watch this space for lots of lovely things... or not... depends how good they are. I'm currently working on a folding book, three canvases, working on old stuff, two tattoos and a magazine cover. So lots of things to gorp at at some point soon.

Have a very happy consumerism day

Editorial 2nd attempt.

2009-11-28T14:05:00.001-08:00

My second attempt at the Flying the nest article brief for the Guardian. In my personal opinion this is a lot better than the previous try. This is a combination of the birds flying the nest and the heart breaking of the mother etc etc...

Website soon

2009-11-15T09:52:00.000-08:00

I bought www.katieupson.co.uk yesterday so once I get a few things out the way I can make my very first website and start posting my work on their. So watch this space...

Soap Box Project

2009-11-14T12:39:00.000-08:00

We were asked to redesign a soap box design for Wright's Soap. It was going to be distributed for free at next years Glastonbury (not really, just so we had a theme and audience to consider). I decided to make collectable models in the soap so you could make your own mini soap festival. This is the result, the box is very orange, the original soap was too.

Transforming Rabbit

2009-11-14T12:20:00.000-08:00

This is the finished image all put together in the frame. I re-photographed this now so it looks better.

Any way back to this piece... This is about a rabbit that keeps transforming. His tail is curling into a new form. I don't paint so often anymore, so it is nice to know I can still do it well after a long break. I want to break into making 3D work painting on objects or creating designs to go on things. So this probably represents a style I will follow up on in the future.

Rabbit transformation

2009-10-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

This is for the story by Kurt Schwitters "Lucky Hans" illustrated by Irvine Peacock. It isn't finished yet but I thought I would show you all. I will put the full description up with the finished piece.

Excessive Noise

2009-10-16T04:36:00.000-07:00

I am pretty impressed with my self that I managed to get it so symmetrical by hand and with no help from the computer. All the line work is my own. The colours radiating out makes you draw your eye into the centre. This is basically illustrating the idea that you are surrounded by noise and that it may seem like a never ending cycle.

Flying the Nest

2009-10-16T04:32:00.000-07:00

This editorial illustration was for an article about mothers perhaps feeling down because their children were leaving home. But it also said that some parents might enjoy more money and space once they have gone. So this illustration is based on the idea that the mother may be waving good bye, but that she is thinking about the future and what she could do. The line work is good, the textures are good... but I do not feel it is as strong as it could be.

Zom-bunny lives!

2009-08-20T14:53:00.001-07:00

Well he is finally painted.

I sprayed him with matt varnish when he was dry to try and keep him nice.

I want to make a box for him to live in, like all the other toys...

Panda, Panda on the wall...

2009-06-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

It really irritates me when work I do on a whim is better than work I need to make for a good grade... *anger*

I have been sooooooo bored for the last ooo month now, so I randomly asked my friend who was online what I should draw and he suggested that I should draw our friend Dave riding a panda.

This was a good idea, however as the drawing developed it ended up that the panda was riding him... oh well... enjoy!

(Additions and colouring will be added later, but right now this is just the inked version)

Dante's Inferno

2009-06-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

This project was a pain in the back side for months...

Took me two attempts to get it done mainly because I was bogged down with so much other stuff.

But this is it.. it's here it's done and I don't have to worry about it any more!

Some circles are better than others obviously, that's the problem when you have to do so many images in one go. I am clearly inspired by Alex Pardee, but also Brian Ewing and Tara McPherson. I have their blogs watched on here... check them out. These are not in order but it doesn't really matter to be honest.

Download was fantastic

2009-06-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

I have a few new bits and bobs to load up on here and some old stuff too. But first let me say this... ahem... DOWNLOAD RAWKED!

I saw a lot of bands, some better than others but I am not going to boast about it any longer... if you are interested in who was playing look at this years line up. Just wanted to share some photos of the fun we had there.

Zom-bunny

2009-06-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

Well this is a personal project I have wanted to do for a while now. For an assignment at uni I created Fwank-en-bunny, you all remember him. Well this is his friend Zom-bunny. Basically he wants to eat you. I was bored this afternoon so I made a 3D version of him. I am going to paint him and varnish him soon but my hands hurt. Took 2-3 hours of almost continuous work, doesn't sound like much but modeling clay can be hard some times.

Munny Funny

2009-05-17T08:45:00.001-07:00

Well on my trip to Nottingham I also found one of these little beauties. I really want to get into painting these guys, I want to paint a load then sell them, start generating an income for my self instead of having to work in a pub kitchen my whole life. Can you tell I'm getting a bit sick of it. I think I will probably use the television to go with the Munny it self. I really need to think hard and plan hard if he is going to look great. Need some decent paints and I need to learn how to paint them to a good finish. I heard matt sealant is good, but any advice would be great. Might get an old toy from a charity shop to practice on first.

Slashslash Notts

2009-05-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

Well a few weeks ago now I went to an event in Nottingham where I was a live Illustrator.

The music wasn't really to my taste, however it was great to see what Illustrators and other freelance artists and creatives were up to out side on Lincoln.

I made some badges and fridge magnets to sell (pics above, I made them in 4 different colours). I only sold 2 badges in the end but one of them was to this person on the till at Page 45. I think he was called Tom, but it turned out he liked it and is going to keep in contact with me if I have any comics or anything that I draw. This is a very useful link, and even tho I didn't sell much, I have two contacts now so if I do get going on this Illustration career I can get them to spread the word.

Apocalyptica Poster

2009-04-16T12:00:00.001-07:00

This is the final poster from my Dream Project series.

Really influenced by Tara McPherson. I think I might take up creating my own boarders in images, I have really gotten into creating patterns.

Zebrahead Poster

2009-04-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

The second in my Dream Project series. This is a poster for Zebrahead, and it's very pink...

This was very much inspired by Brian Ewing... and partly Tara McPherson.

Killswitch Engage Dream Project

2009-04-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

I chose to make three band posters for a project at Uni. I chose Killswitch Engage as a band of one of them, this is the result. Influence for this piece were Alex Pardee and Brian Ewing. People who know their work will see what I mean.

Laziness equals...

2009-04-10T07:36:00.000-07:00

I haven't been up to much recently. But here is a little nugget of fun to keep your weird side fed and happy.

Create Not Hate

2009-03-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

This is an image created for a newspaper page where we had to try and portray the younger generation in a good light. To try and show the general public that many of these young people are actually very intelligent and create people, that first impressions can be deceiving.

Direct mail

2009-03-12T12:38:00.001-07:00

We were asked to create an image to send through the post to make people aware of the homeless and encourage them to help. This is my response. I finally worked out why it was blue and managed to change it to it's original colour.

Cowboys...

2009-02-26T15:14:00.000-08:00

This is for a project handed in a while ago but I had to tweak it a bit again. I seem to have to do that for a lot of projects recently. Comments welcome, I want to print it soon so any changes kinda have to be done sharpish.

Dream Project begins...

2009-02-26T13:05:00.000-08:00

This is going to be the first thing you see when you open my "Dream Project" sketch book. It is clearly inspired by Tara McPherson but I have always been influenced by her. I originally coloured it red but like the maths book cover I played around with the colours. This in my opinion is the best of the several I made. I may post them up later if I have other opinions thrown my way. But this is the beginning of my dream project and I am really looking forward to it. The picture above pretty much tells you what I am planning on illustrating.

Maths book cover revisited

2009-02-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

Well the tutors told me a few things needed to be tweaked. Firstly I chose the wrong colour. So here is the new one. They also said that the little character in the corner could be changed to suit an older audience. I will leave him how he is for now, but I may change him closer to the final hand in. This version does have a better contrast to the previous one, but I always lean towards purple as it is one of my favourite colours. I have to learn to broaden my colour choices a little.

Mathematics book cover

2009-02-23T14:36:00.001-08:00

Well this was one of the most difficult projects so far in my opinion. We were given one of four book covers to illustrate. I got the maths one... this is the best I could do. But its more interesting than half the ones out there. Part of the brief was to make them more appealing to your audience. I know that if I saw this on the self of my college/school library I would pick it up and think "what the hell is that doing in the maths section?"

Any way, if anything has come from this project at least I had fun at the end adjusting the colour levels so I got different versions of the same thing. See if the tutors like that...

IT LIVES!!! insert evil laughter here

2009-02-21T13:53:00.000-08:00

This is "Fwanken Bunny". Done for a project called monster mash... bet you can guess what song it was based on. I really loved painting this. I think this is a style that really suits me, I like thick out lines with thinner details inside. Some how makes it stand out more. Also these projects are not posted in any sort of order at the moment. I am just posting them if I can find the file. Once I have caught up with all my stuff new stuff will be in order... hopefully. Don't hold me to that though.

He will cut you up....

2009-02-20T11:43:00.000-08:00

This is Doctre (this is the correct spelling of his name).

He is a mad scientist and he made him self a new family by stitching them together.

Just watch out he doesn't do the same to you. He was made for a character project.

20 Tiny Fingers

2009-02-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

Well this was the first project of my second year at university. The project was called "20 tiny fingers" and we had to include the mother and father and two babies. We had to use the song also called 20 tiny fingers as a starting point. Not the best thing in the world but it is a style I would have not considered if it were not for this project. Painted in Gouache, I had never used it before but it was worth a try.

Daft Punk Essay

2009-02-17T09:03:00.000-08:00

You would think that being on an art course, art being very practical, that essays would be a thing of the past. Wrong! They are very much alive a well. The good thing is for most of them we get to choose what ever we want. And so I am currently watching my Daft Punk dvd "Interstella 5555". I'm not slacking off... seriously. It is relevant, I think that this was Daft Punk's most important era. This dvd is basically a feature length animation of their "Discovery" album. Leiji Matsumoto was involved in the animation process of this movie, so no wonder the animation is so smooth. You would expect an anime based movie to be clumsy at times. but this is so well done, I am currently watching the "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" video and even the hair moves . It is all in time with the music too!

If you love animation, you love illustration, and you love Daft Punk this is a must have.

Helloski

2009-02-17T04:54:00.000-08:00

Well then people, this is my first ever blog. This is new to me... erm... yeah!
I'm starting this blog because I felt that it would help me to start showing my illustration work.
I am currently about half way through my second year of university, and studying Ba (hons) Illustration.
I have always loved drawing, so this course is perfect for me.
I will aim to update this blog weekly, however if life becomes busy it may be less often.
I will mainly post images when projects are completed, but if there are any rough sketches to go along side I will post those too. It will mostly be universtiy projects on here, there may be one or two personal things here too.
This blog will mainly be for illustration, however if there are any significant events in my life then photos of those may appear too.
Hope you enjoy my work.