Revisiting My Favourite Local Artist, Neal McCullough

I was putting together my little monthly column for The County Down Spectator today, a piece about summers past here in North Down. I came across this image, a retro ad for Bangor Maid ice cream, harking back to when there was a dairy in Bangor, my home town. It turned out the image was by Neal McCullough of www.handdrawncreative.co.uk the very illustrator who designed my blog's logo from scratch for me. 

The print is available online, and it's going on my birthday list for sure. 

Bangor Maid Print http://www.damnfineprint.com/bigcartel-item/

More of Neal's work available at https://www.etsy.com/shop/handdrawncreative

Artist Reaches Into Your Head & Captures Exactly How It Felt To 'Play Star Wars' as a Kid

I saw these paintings on Reddit this week and just had to share them with you guys. The artist is Craig Davison and his Facebook can be found here https://www.facebook.com/pages/Craig-Davison-Art-Official/349689058403958

I am totally in love with the style and time period captured in these pieces. So nostalgic, innocent and fun. 

Also a thumbs up for the girls being included, not just playing the female roles. 

Monday Morning Musical Doodle Quiz with Happy Toast. How Many Can You Get Right?

I was resetting my avatar on Twitter, and realised my new one has me morphing into my Happy Toast doodle from 2005! 

I love browsing the characters on Happy Toast's website 

http://www.happytoast.co.uk/ So I thought I'd post some of his music based doodles here this morning. Why not test your office and see who has the best recognition of pop stars and their signature looks? Get stuck on one? You can ask Happy Toast who is who on www.twitter.com/IamHappyToast 

Round One : Groups and Bands

Round Two: Single Ladies

Round Three: the boys

Round Four: Misc. 

Volpe & Volpe's Batty Dinner Plate

A creative collaboration between Volpe and Volpe Founder Trish Scorgie and renowned ceramic artist Robert Dawson, the Last series re-imagines traditional British china designs adding a curious and contemporary twist to create modern day collectibles.

Highlighting the fragility of nature and drawing on traditional British ceramic manufacturing techniques, the Last series of four preservation plates blend old natural history prints of animals and birds with a floral design from a long forgotten dinner service creating designs which make them relevant for today.

The Last series of four designs is available at £45.00 each or £160.00 for the set of four (one of each design).

Volpe and Volpe will make a donation of 5% from the sale of each plate to the corresponding supportive charities:-

Greater and Lesser Horseshoe Bats

Bat Conservation Trust www.bats.org.uk

The Last series of Preservation Plates also includes Cuckoo, Hedgehog and Wolf designs - available from www.volpeandvolpe.com

Donations from the Cuckoo plate will go to - B.T.O (British Trust for Ornithology) http://www.bto.org/uk

Donations from the hedgehog plate will go to - British Hedgehog Preservation Societywww.britishhedgehogs.org.uk

Donations from the Wolf design will go to - John Muir Trust www.jmt.org

On the Twitter Bookshelf: Moose Allain

Moose Allain is one of the unofficial group of successful, well-followed, whimsy-junkie UK Twitter club. He has published his first book 'fill-me-in' and it encourages us all to be a little more creative. Find out more on his own blog here.

Famous Artists Cosplay Collectors' Cards, Series One

Super hero cool. Available from the very talented Burnt Candy on Etsy now.

"What would happen if some of the most influential and popular artist's in history decided to dress up as their favorite Marvel and DC characters to attend comic con? 

It's famous artists and cosplay! What more could you ask for? 

This is Series 1 of my artist trading cards. It features the following: Cezanne as Wolverine, Dali as Green Arrow, DeLempicka as Catwoman, Duchamp as The Riddler, Picasso as Iron Man, O'Keefe as Poison Ivy, Koons as Batman, Kandinsky as The Vision, Pollock as Hulk, Van Gogh as the Joker, Warhol as Spiderman, and Kalho as Wonder Woman.

Makes a great gift for comic book enthusiasts as well as art history buffs, art teachers and artists."

Gore-fest Colouring In Book

The delightful Miss Cakehead posted me this gruesome sketch book to add to my unusual colouring book collection.

Kat Kirk's Glorious Addams Family Tattoo Flash

Traditional tattoo art prints by Kat Kirk, including Addams Family & designs inspired by The Craft. Prints available to pre-order now priced between £8 and £10. Check out Her Mother's Eyes online store and take advantage of the free shipping.