6 small paintings.

Painted each morning while the family get ready to go out!

Happy 2010

How terrible do I feel about using the same image I painted from last year?!
I think I can squeeze a few more years out of this one.

Freelance Job-2

I was asked to redesign a new bag for The Disney Store for it's transition from plastic to recycled. I found the original bag garish and loud and wanted to do something subtle and tasteful with the bag. Here's my sketch and my finished rendering in Illustrator. I haven't seen the final bag that's being used, but I bet it doesn't look like this! Secondly I did a range of birthday cards for Hallmark Cards-they gave me freedom to draw and design some concepts for a Winnie Range.


Caga Tio.

This is my illustration for an exhibition in Barcelona. A Xmas Catalan myth tells of a log that upon being beaten by children with sticks "expels" sweets through it's backside. I've probably got this completely wrong. Thanks to Oscar Grillo and Ed Carosia for letting me take part.

Freelance Job~1.

One of my first freelance projects was to up-date the Vintage Monopoly series for Hasbro. Maybe I could have pushed this further (I remember quite a tight deadline) but I enjoyed working with a character I found appealing in a design sense. These are 2 designs for the Front Of Pack that I drew, then rendered in Illustrator. Images are copyright of Hasbro.


Syringe

I've thrown myself whole heartedly into this music promo/video/nonsensical thing to the point that I've completely neglected the blog. Here's some old stuff-another wood painting entitled "syringe" and another wooden sculpt.

Tattoo & Fringe dweller

I'd like to put together an animated music video which I hope to finish soon, so in the meantime it's back to pictures. These are two pieces finished a while ago. "Tattoo" is painted on discarded wood, and the companion sculpture entitled "fringe dweller" is also made of wood.

Moon Landing

40 years ago this month it happened-or did it?! Some would suggest it didn't.


New Old Mickey Project

An old project that didn't lift off. I was playing around with Mickey as a collectible toy. In essence he's a robot/machine in each of the situations-a submarine,a buddha, a lantern-or even a Geisha Robot Minnie. I'm not sure any of them work or feel like a Mickey franchise, but sometimes I believe Disney merchandise can simply be appealing graphic interpretations, and nothing more.






Marvin the Martian

I enjoyed this poster brief a lot-taking Marvin and doing anything I wanted with him.

Johnny Cash

BBC2 screened a superb documentary on Johnny Cash Sunday night. I was aware of most of his movements, but didn't know he crawled into a cave with a bag full of amphetamines at one point! Coincidentally I've just finished a poster concerning the Cash. Each year there's a festival in Mississippi celebrating the fact that Johnny was once arrested for the heinous crime of picking flowers.

Howard Pearce 1919-2009

My Grandfather approached life with humility, humour and inquisitiveness. The only survivor of his Wellington Bomber, he was shot down over Bremen in World War 2, marched to Poland and made a Prisoner Of War in Stalug Luft 3- the setting for "The Great Escape". Dressed as a German decorator, with impeccable forged passport and attire, he was discovered in the Tunnel "Harry" on that fateful night in March,1944. His name was amongst the 150 names placed into a hat. 50 were chosen and brutally shot dead on Hitler's orders. Returning home after the War he married Phyllis Pearce-their marriage lasting 63 years.

With a voracious appetite for History and Literature, My Grandfather was an endless source of fascination for me as I grew up. I compared him to the comic book heroes I read about in "Victor" and "Hotspur" as a little boy. Because my Dad had left home when I was 2 and my brother 4-Granddad became our father, and there was no finer as far as we were concerned. His bravery and memory will live long in our hearts.



Leaving Disney

After nearly 6 years I'm leaving Disney to pursue other avenues. It's been an absolute pleasure to draw and design with these characters. I approached each project with the aim of always trying something new and interesting, whilst retaining the sentiment and sincerity of the characters. Below are examples of my professional and personal work. Please be aware that Disney owns the copyright to their properties, and will burn your church and eat your children if you use them without authorization. I'm less heavy handed. If you're interested in contacting me about work you can e-mail me at mscruickshank@btinternet.com. I'll add my new details into the "contact me" section of this ye blogge once I figure out how to do that!








Personal Work