One Curious Chip .com is LIVE!

In recent weeks, I've been developing my portfolio, both online and in print, and I decided that it was about time I bit the bullet and got my own .com! In future, www.OneCuriousChip.com will be my HQ, so I've designed it in a way that means you should be able to find anything and everything you might want to see. My portfolio, about me, my contact details, my CV, and of course, my blog all have a new home! Please do feel free to check it out and click around. And if you think something's missing, or something could be better: please let me know! I'm sure I'll be tweaking various bits and pieces while I'm settling into the new space!

PS: Big thank you to Lightning Strike Comics for supporting the new site!

Brainfreeze

Closeup

"...so little time."

Part 2!  Last week I shared Heartburn, which was an illustration inspired by my usual reaction to new experiences, ideas, and possibilities. This week, I'm sharing Brainfreeze... the aftermath of that.

Initial Sketch

Brainfreeze is essentially what happens when Heartburn burns out, and it represents my indecision. I'm thankful that I've found so many wonderful things that make me excited, but there is a cost in being passionate and enthusiastic about so many things. It's tough to make decisions. I find it difficult to decide if I want to follow this wonderful rabbit hole of an idea or that one. I stress out a lot; because I know that choosing this means saying no to that. You can do anything, but not everything, and all that jazz. Ultimately, decisiveness is something I'm trying to work on.

I designed these two illustrations together; to show my thought process. I don't know if anyone will see elements of themselves in them, but at the very least I hope you lovely people think they look cool. :)

Heartburn

Closeup

"So many ideas..."

Part 1 of 2! The idea for these illustrations first hit me back in February-ish, but for one reason or another, I haven't had the chance to really bring them to life until recently. They're nearly more relevant now than they were then though, considering the incredible summer I've had, and all the decisions that I've had to make in the past few weeks in particular. I'm incredibly thankful, and overwhelmingly excited about everything that's been happening in my little corner of the world lately; and this little drawing sums up that feeling pretty well.

Initial Sketch

Heartburn - I'm a sucker for a pun, and visual puns are even better! - represents my excitable side. If you know me in person at all, you'll know that I'm essentially a storm in a teacup... If I like something, I tend develop an all-out obsession with it, so I throw myself at projects or ideas or stories with a passion and enthusiasm that sometimes surprises people. It's fun, it's fast, and usually it means I produce work that I'm proud of.

Full Image

That's just one half of the story though. I'll share Part 2 next week! ;)

Blues

Late post this week, I'm afraid! It's been a crazy hectic fortnight overall, between moving to my new little house and travelling to Derry for ComicCity, as well as getting back into the swing of college life and keeping on top of freelance-y work. It's been busy, but I'm learning so much, and I'm having an absolute ball!

Post-con blues have hit hard this week. I came home from ComicCity in the wee hours of Monday morning, buzzing with a renewed passion for creating things, and a huge appreciation for the people that work so hard to make things happen. This week, I've been feeling an almost overwhelming sense of gratitude, new admiration, and incredible excitement for the future in every sense! I've got lots of books to look forward to reading (check out the photo below!), lots of ideas I can't wait to get down on paper, and lots of experiences to anticipate!

Aqua

For one reason or another, I haven't been able to think straight all week. Ever since I came back from Dublin Comic Con, I've had SO MANY ideas and thoughts, that everything in my head kinda burred together. That, and a very hectic work-life-freelance week, means I haven't been able to draw much more than a doodle. So, inspired by the fact I got my helix pierced a few weeks ago, here's a sorta-self-portrait with a bit of an Atlantis Twang. :)

Liar, Liar

Pants on Fire. Your nose is longer than a telephone wire.

I recently got talking with someone about the best films we've ever seen; and I reckon I will always put Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels at the top of that list. It's got good, solid, characters, the use of the English language is off-the-wall, and it's one of the best-told stories I have ever come across. No matter how many times I've seen it; it still makes me laugh, makes me frustrated, and makes me excited to see what happens next. Classic British comedy at it's finest.

It's also a very, very well directed film (hats off to you, Mr Guy Ritchie!), so there were a LOT of shots that I wanted to illustrate. Alas, the week was busy, so I could only pick one. So, here's Tommy, during the boxing-ring poker game that sets the ball in motion.

I'm pretty happy with how this turned out overall. Wish I could spend more time on it, but between day-job, odd-jobs, and freelancey-design-jobs, I was lucky I was able to spend the few hours on this at all. I might return to Lock Stock for more inspiration in the not-too-distant future though; 'cause I had a lot of fun with it. And  it's a pretty good excuse to listen to the soundtrack and watch my favourite film all over again. And with scenes like this:

How could you not love it?:)

The Chicken Song | Update 01

I am incredibly excited about this project, and really couldn't wait to share it! Recently, I was approached by Ruth Butler to animate a music video for a song she had written. I'm about two weeks into this ten week project, and I'm happy to say that things are going very well. Ruth has a brilliant sense of humour and a clever way with words, which all poured into this quirky, entertaining little tale about a chicken and a golden egg.

Because the song is such a fun story, because Ruth wanted the lyrics to appear on screen, and because I needed to animate to a high standard quickly, I thought styling it like a comic book would be the best route to take. So saying, I'm looking forward to seeing the final result, and because I've designed everything according to both US Comic Book Dimensions, and HDTV, the story will look good in print as well as on screen when it's finished.

This is just one page in this little story, but there's a lot more to come that I'm very much looking forward to showing you!

PS: If you think that you, or someone you know, would have a good voice to sing a song like this, get in touch at allie22 (at) gmail.com! :)

Logo Design | Ortús Chamber Music Festival

Final Logo Design

Very excited about this project! Back in June, a friend of mine - super talented cellist, Sinéad O Halloran - approached me about an idea she had. Together with Mairead Hickey, she plans to launch a brand new chamber music festival, called Ortús, which will be based in East Cork in February 2016. It was an absolute pleasure for me to get involved by designing a logo for the event!

Very loose and sketchy initial thoughts.

After discussing the project with Sinéad, I learned that the name of this festival - Ortús, pronounced "ore-toose" rhyming with moose - originates from two words; the latin word, ortus, meaning rising, beginnings, origin; and the Irish word tús which means beginning, start. The overall idea of the festival is to encourage young Irish musicians who have studied and performed abroad to come home and share what they've learned from their experiences with our local communities. Three concerts are planned, as well as open rehearsals, and outreach in schools. With all of this, Ortús really wants to make chamber music more accessible to the public, and hopefully inspire the next generation of musicians to broaden their horizons too. 

Colour studies.

With all this in mind, I began drawing up sketches in various styles and colours. I considered a wide range of symbols; inspired by everything from the passion that these musicians had for their craft and the cultural significance of returning home to share their experiences, to the dawning of their careers and the idea of crossing oceans and moving mountains with their talents. I also considered more physical elements of the project; including elements of string instruments and music notes, as well as waves of the ocean and the colours of the sea and land. 

Final design.

After various experiments and revisions, the final design that we came up with was this. Encompassing the idea of crossing oceans, and returning to the island of Ireland, I included waves and 'bubbles' in a deep blue design. I also used four "strings" to represent both the instruments that will be played during the festival, as well as the sheet music the musicians will play according to.  The curving shapes were inspired by the scroll at the top of those instruments, as well as the treble clef used in sheet music, and the fluid motion of music as its played- both in the sound, and in the musician themselves, as they pull the bow across the strings.

A few photos I took of the musicians involved.

Sinéad was also kind enough to let me tag along during a photoshoot at the end of June, which gave me the opportunity to meet with the musicians involved, take a few photos, and listen to them play. They're impressive, to say the least! I can't wait to see them perform again next February, and I'll share details as the event approaches on my social feeds, because I think you might like to see them perform too!

Taken while I was waiting around on the day of the photoshoot.

I was also fortunate enough to meet with Richard from Creative Productions, as he recorded a promotional video on the day, and with Bríd O Donovan, who handled photography.  Go and like the Ortús Festival Facebook Page to keep up to date on all of the Ortús Festival details. It's gonna be good! 

Illustration | Harley Quinn

A pretty vibrant character with a healthy dose of attitude; it's gotta be Harley Quinn. The trailer looks promising, no?

Digital painting is something I've admired from a distance for a long time, but never really felt hugely confident with myself. Nevertheless, it's one of my favourite ways to colour, and it's a skill I really want to develop, so I've decided to embrace the challenge. I've just partnered up on a really fun comic/animation/music video project too (can't wait to share the details here, but you'll have to wait a while!) so I figured I could do with a colour study anyway.

Harley is a character I wish I'd come up with. She's a lot of fun to draw, so I keep coming back to her when I'm trying out different styles and whatnot. I shared a few of those sketches below.

Sketched during down-time at work (I only had a refill pad).

Quick pin-up style, inspired by one of the photos doing the rounds online.

Inspired by Geneviveft on Instagram.

Illustration | Mad Max : Fury Road | The Nux Car

Mad Max : Fury Road. Have you seen it? Did you love it? Can you guess my favourite character? As always click to enlarge the images; both images below are desktop wallpapers. ;)

This was a fun learning curve. It started life in pen on paper, then I painted it digitally. I made a few custom photoshop brushes for the mud splatters and whatnot, and used rust textures where I thought they'd work. Other than that, this was all layers, masks, adjustment layers, persistence, and time. Learning.

PS: I draw vehicles a lot. If you're interested; here's a smattering of links (some of which are to external sites, where you can buy prints and mugs and pillows and other fun stuff of particular designs):

MotoGP, MotoGP - Marc v Rossi, Harley Davidson, Vespa, VW Bus, F1- Ayrton Senna, Mini Cooper, FW-190, Spitfire, P51 Mustang

Go look if you haven't seen 'em! 

The Battle

Weeks ago, before I headed off to Catalunya, I drew two of my favourite MotoGP riders - Marquez and Rossi - battling for a win. Originally intended to be a doodle/a test/me playing around, I never felt the need to share it. After the events of the Dutch GP at Assen, though, I couldn't help but revisit! That last lap battle between these two guys? Amazing.

I didn't really know what I was going for at any stage, but I had the style I used here in mind.. Here's a breakdown of me playing around escalating into something more.* 

Original drawing with pen on paper. Finished off on the plane.

Messed up the lineart in Photoshop. Added lights and darks with line and tone.

Added colour.

Adjustment layers to add a little oomph. Et voila!

The Little Black Book - Character Sketches

Click to enlarge it! 

A few weeks ago, I bought a little black sketchbook. I don't know what I intended to do with it originally, but it quickly became a little book of characters. They're generally quick sketches; usually around five or ten minutes, depending, and they're a lot of fun! Here's a collection of twenty-five of them. Some of them are completely original, some of them are characters I created for other projects, and some of them are inspired by or adapted from books or films or TV shows or art that I've come across.

Some of these characters have backstories, and a lot of them are calling out for colour, so you might see a few of them crop up again soon. I've got a lot of other fun projects in the works too, which I can't wait to share!

It Never Rains but it Pours

Do you ever have those days or weeks or months that you have solid plans in place, and then, for whatever reason, the plans take on entirely new directions? New responsibilities crop up, one thing takes longer than you expect it to, opportunities appear when you didn't expect any. That's what May was like for me, in good ways and bad. I thought I had it all worked out. Then suddenly, I found myself with a fairly intense job, my car had to take a month-long holiday in the garage, and a million other things just sort of filled in the gaps between responsibilities I didn't know I'd have. It never rains, but it pours.

That was the main inspiration for this piece, but there's another reason I felt like rain this week; because it's finally June! And June, in Ireland, is the real beginning of the "I need some sun and all we get here is rain, so I'm getting on a plane as soon as possible and taking a holiday" season. And I am in exactly that mindset. So saying, the grand plans I've been excited to start will have to wait another few weeks, because this Sunday, I will be happily dragging my sleepy self (there's a six o'clock in the morning!?) off to the airport, and from there, I'll be jetting off to the wonderful city of Barcelona. I'll be saying goodbye to sleepy days spent watching rain running down the window, and I'll be saying hello to sunshine and warmth and motorbike racing; A few of my favourite things! It's going to be wonderful to get away for a little while, I'm sure, and when I come back, hopefully I'll be refreshed and ready to tear into those personal projects that I can't wait to get started on!

The first thing I'll do when I come home though, is start pulling together a sketchdump here, to share all the little sketches and tidbits I gather on my trip. Although I won't have internet accessibility worth talking about, I'll still be sketching and drawing while I'm away! I'll also share some character design doodles I've been playing around with (some of which a few of ye might have seen on my Instagram and Twitter feeds). For now, though, I shall did you all adieu! I'll be back here before too long, probably staring out my window at rain again.

PS: Check out my friend's new lifstyle blog: A Little Amy! In her first post, she models one of my tshirts from Society6! 

Ballpoint Pen Illustration | Origami

Remember: These illustrations and more is for sale on Society6. Check it out!

The other night, I took a playlist of delightfully questionable taste, a ballpoint pen, a Moleskine sketchbook, and two hours to illustrate this. It felt like I was coming home, and it felt SO good. Ballpoint pen is still my jam. I've missed it oh so much. I missed drawing just for myself, just to get a tiny snippet of my own thoughts out on paper. Click through to read more, and see the rest of this mini collection!

If You Have Enough Book Space | Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett...

I started reading Discworld when I was around twelve years old, and while that series instantly became one of my favourite collections of novels, Pratchett immediately became my favourite author. The characters, the worlds, the stories that Pratchett created and showed to his readers were incredible. His creativity, imagination, and wit have always inspired and delighted me, and his quirky, ever-positive outlook on life, and death, and everything in between are so mind-bogglingly brilliant that that they consistently leave me in awe. The more I read, the more I learn, and the more I appreciate the wisdom and intelligence of Pratchett’s view of our world.  And so, more than just an author, but as a human being; Terry Pratchett will be missed. Quite terribly. 

Curiouser And Curiouser

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I love the characters, the environments, the utter bizarreness of it all. I recently started reading the book again, and had a sudden urge to draw up the famous quote "Curiouser and curiouser!" and I also thought it'd be a good way to kick-start a bit of activity in my shop. So click here and check this design out on t-shirts and mugs and all sorts of other fun things! Please do!

Photography | Tones

Last semester, I also studied a photography module, which was something completely new for me. Yes, I have taken photos before, but I had never taken the time to really get to know how to use a DSLR to its full potential. So, photography class was a bit of a learning curve, and its a skill I would love to develop further. These shots were taken for a photography assignment in the past few months. Click to embiggen them!