“What is Creative Mondays?

Monday’s are always a drag. The start of a new week, you have to go back to that routine of going to bed early/get up early. If (like me) you have to commute then you prepare for that long journey into work and that long journey back for the first time after a nice two day break.

So to kick off those lousy Mondays, I’m going to get my creative mind flowing in a positive way. Creative Mondays. A chance for me to show off something unfinished or finished that I’ve been working on throughout the previous week.”

This week’s Creative Mondays piece is just a nice reminder to myself. I’m only at the beginning of a big adventure and there’s so much still to learn. There’s so much inspiration out there and if you’re a budding designer/illustrator or creative person in general then I’d suggest getting yourself on Twitter and explore the plethora of talent and knowledge. You can find me there @jasonwstanley

“What is Creative Mondays?

Monday’s are always a drag. The start of a new week, you have to go back to that routine of going to bed early/get up early. If (like me) you have to commute then you prepare for that long journey into work and that long journey back for the first time after a nice two day break.

So to kick off those lousy Mondays, I’m going to get my creative mind flowing in a positive way. Creative Mondays. A chance for me to show off something unfinished or finished that I’ve been working on throughout the previous week.”

This week’s Creative Mondays piece is inspired by none other than Star Wars. My wife and I just finished watching the entire 6 film Blu-ray set and it never fails to impress me. The battles in space were awe-inspiring and as a kid I would try and watch every detail as the X-Wings took on the TIE Fighters.

With this piece I wanted to show the movement, chaos and excitement of the battles as the Rebel Alliance attempt to take down the Death Star and put a stop to the evil Emperor and Darth Vader.

What I loved about creating this was the fun I had. I sketched out a few ideas but mainly it was experimentation and seeing where the idea would take me. Sometimes it’s nice to free yourself from the usual boundaries and guidelines.

It’s that time of year and what an awesome year it’s been! Settling down to some time with family and friends and a nice break to recharge those creative batteries!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very happy holiday and I look forward to 2012. Bigger, brighter and beautiful!

Jason.

A few months ago I was sent a link to a Space Exhibition that was being organised in part with the Cardiff Design Festival. The idea was to submit a ‘space themed’ illustration or design piece of work that would be showcased at Jolyon’s in Cardiff starting on the 1st of October.

Space Exhibition

SPACE is a collection of work from artists, illustrators and designers from around the world in response to the theme of ‘Space’.

This site showcases all submissions. But a shortlisted selection, curated by Benjamin Cox, the Managing Director of the industry leading Central Illustration Agency, can be viewed at the SPACE EXHIBITION at Jolyon’s at No.10, 10 Cathedral Road, Cardiff, CF11 9LJ

As luck would have it I had not long finished my ‘A Star Had to Die‘ poster and decided to submit it to the site. I was up against about 150 other artists and I was happy

I think that's my proud smile...

to have something uploaded with the group. So time ticked by and I really didn’t think much about it. I checked on the site every now and then to see the new entries being posted and to my surprise on the 26th of September I received an e-mail stating that my work would be one of the chosen pieces for the gallery!

So not wanting to wast an opportunity I found the time to travel up to Cardiff and see my piece of work with a few of the others! Was such a cool experience and I was immensely proud to have my work chosen for show!

I believe the exhibition has been extended until the 30th of November so if you’re in or around the Cardiff area I recommend checking it out!

Every now and then ideas pop into my head and I just have to put the idea down onto paper. Zombie Astronaut was something I came up with about a month or so ago and it just so happened that it was perfectly timed for Halloween! Zombie films,  zombie television show, zombie games and well basically anything to do with those crazy undead creatures instantly captures my attention. Even some of my earlier sketches and a couple of my illustrative pieces on this site feature a few zombie creations.

The idea behind the poster was to replicate something similar to the photos that the real astronauts have taken of themselves. It was going to feature a zombie posing for the camera much like this photo below:

NASA Astronaut, Michael T. Good. This is NOT who I based the illustration off of!

I liked the thought of replicating this but as I progressed, the idea of zombies not needing oxygen popped into my head and how terrifying that threat would be in space.

In the past, I would create my illustrations mostly by sketching first, scanning the image and drawing using Adobe Flash. For this particular illustration I wanted to work entirely within Photoshop as I’ve been trying to get used to the different brushes and more particularly the detail you can get from using a stylus. I went to town with the gore on this one and with the help of a few blood brushes created some decent splats and sprays. I built up the image using layers of shading and then added dirt/grunge and blood on at the end. This enabled me to go back and make any adjustments on any layer I wanted. A really handy tip if you ever make a mistake and have to go back to redo anything.

With the title of the piece I was inspired by the look of The Warriors font with it’s rough spray paint style and The 1985 Twilight Zone title. I wanted to create the title rather than use a font so I decided it was best to try and sketch my version out by hand and once again scan it in. I still haven’t mastered writing using a stylus so this was an easier option for the time being. I refuse to give up the sketching!

Detailed image:

So here’s my poster in all it’s GORY! I hope you enjoy it and have had a fun and safe Halloween! Might get one of these printed and see what she looks like full size!

Here is a poster design I had been thinking about doing for a while. A few weeks ago, an episode of the very popular ‘Wonders of the Universe‘ was on BBC2. The episode was called ‘Stardust’ and in it Professor Brian Cox discussed what we are made of and more specifically where we came from.

Amazingly, the answer comes from the death of a sun.

As Professor Cox says,
Our ingredients were cooked in the hearts of ancient suns, thrown out into the universe in their deaths and eventually brought back together to form our solar system by the relentless pull of gravity.

The elements we hold most precious were forged at the moment of these magnificent stellar deaths.

Each week the television show usually pops up on Twitter’s trending list and there are always some great comments that people leave after either being inspired or intrigued by what they’ve just seen. The one you see on the poster design (from @robleen on Twitter) inspired me the most and it beautifully captured the message of the show.

The version that you see here is pretty much as I envisioned it. I’ve been meaning to get back into creating for myself recently so I wanted to start on an idea that was fresh in my mind. I have to add that the work of James White (Signalnoise) was a huge inspiration to me on this poster. I also have to thank Robyn Clark for the awesome Twitter quote!

I’ll be trying to get a proof printed off soon in hopes that I can get a printed run going and sell a few of these to anyone who’s interested!

For me, when I stumbled upon this image I was taken back to when I was younger, looking at images of the planets and our solar system, thinking about how far our galaxy reaches and what other life forms (if any) also exist. I’ve always had a fascination with space and the statistics that we were taught about growing up. How far each planet is, how big each planet is in relation the list goes on.

This image taken from the National Geographic website fascinates me in the same way that I was as a child. I love looking at the detail, following the lines and working out each destination of every mission.

To see the hi-res image click here.

More details from National Geographic:

The first attempts to reach Mars (1960) and Venus (1961) failed, yet triumph followed quickly. Of nearly 200 solar, lunar, and interplanetary missions depicted on this map, most have been Earth’s closet neighbours. As rocketry, navigation, and imaging have become ever more capable and reliable, the planets and many of their moons have been examined in detail. The New Horizons mission to Pluto is under way, as is the MESSENGER mission to Mercury. Others not yet launched, perhaps not yet dreamed, await.

- Jason

I wanted to be able to focus on particular genres/categories each week so starting today I present to you some of my favourite sci-fi outer space posters!

Alien - 1979: A classic take on the simplistic yet unknown alien threat. Brilliant design can come from a minimal idea.

Aliens - 1986: The classic 80's style illustration poster beautifully capturing a climactic point in the film. Also wanted to note the contrasting styles of the first and second film and how they relate to the actual styles of filmaking in both. Alien being a very cold mysterious thriller while Aliens a gung-ho action flick.

2001 A Space Odyssey - 1968: A classic poster for a classic film. Why not show off some of your best visuals on the poster, after all the film was made pre Star Wars special effects and its just one of the reasons to get you interested in seeing this film.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - 1979: I'm not the biggest Star Trek fan out there but some of the artwork for the earlier films are stunning. Unfortunately they seemed to get cheesier and more 'made for TV' as they went on.

Moon - 2009: Okay I cheated a little, haven't even seen this film yet. In fact it isn't even out yet!

Zathura - 2005: Space isn't all gloom and doom as advertised in "Zathura's" bright, colourful imagery and kids that just want to explore!

Apollo 13 - 1995: They say an image speaks a thousand words. Tom Hanks aptly proves this point in Ron Howards gripping space flick about the failed mission to the moon.

Forbidden Planet - 1956: I should really have added more than just one of these from the classic days of space horror, but this is one of my favourites.

The Empire Strikes Back - 1980: I had to put a Star Wars film in here somewhere but I was just not sure which one as there are so many to choose from!

So there ya go, and thats just a small handful of posters. I’m sure I’ve missed out quite a few, what others would you recommend?

- Jason