Tag Archives: illustration

art, illustration, sportraits

David Beckham Sportrait

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For the second of my sportrait series for online gambling site Buddybet, we decided to run a poll on Facebook to find the world’s most popular footballer. Despite heavy competition, David Beckham came out a clear winner and it is in his honor than I created this illustration depicting the moment before he scored that legendary last minute free-kick against Greece that booked England a place at the 2002 World Cup finals.

To convey the moment of calm before impact, I have created several kinetic thrusts: the rush of the player, the downward swoop of his leg and the imaginary arc of the ball as it blasts its way past the wall and into the back of the net. To further intensify the velocity of the scene, I have drawn Becks as a figurative lightening bolt, poised at the moment of striking its way to earth.

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BRUTE!, for sale, illustration, movies, portrait, posters, prints

Scarface (Tony Montana) poster

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It’s been almost 20 years since I last created a portrait of Tony Montana (Scarface), surely one of the most iconic characters ever to have blasted their way out of a movie screen.

Since its less-than prestigious reception in 1983, Brian De Palma’s blazing gangster epic has become even more famous than its illustrious genre forebear, The Godfather, and remains one of the most influential (and oft-quoted) films of all-time.

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art, BRUTE!, illustration, portrait, prints

Samuel Beckett- 30-minute portrait

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click to enlarge.

As part of my 30-minute Portrait series I decided, once again, to draw a man of senior years and created this vector sketch of Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet Samuel Beckett.

Beckett is widely regarded as among the most influential writers of the 20th century. Strongly influenced by James Joyce, he is considered one of the last modernists. As an inspiration to many later writers, he is also sometimes considered one of the first postmodernists. He is one of the key writers in what Martin Esslin called the “Theatre of the Absurd”. His work became increasingly minimalist in his later career.

Keep a look out for a special edition print run of this illustration in the BRUTE! shop.

illustration

Day for Night: Jack the Ripper cover

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Of  all the Illustrator artwork I’ve done over the years, this cover for new band Night Surgeon proved to be so intense and complicated that I had to go out and buy a new PC (each brick in the left wall has between 3-6 different layers and the RoBoHo took almost a week to complete). While the story concerns the antics of Britain’s most famous serial killer, Jack the Ripper’s shadow is the only evidence of his presence in the scene.

I was heavily influenced by my research into the crimes of Jack the Ripper and spent hours poring over some of the lurid lithographs of the period, trying to somehow convey the flickering effect of old gas lamps on foreground and background shadows. In addition to the lithographic research, I sourced early Kasimir Malevitch‘s paintings of farm workers etc. to convey the stiffness in the coats and uniforms worn by policemen of the period.

Of all the work I’ve done so far with Illustrator, this piece has had the steepest learning curve of the lot and the compunction to continue layering was hard to resist. In recent years, I’ve endeavored to minimalise my style to such an extent that I’d forgotten the power of detailing in telling a story. These new skills, plus the power of the new PC, will enable me to generate a more in-depth dimension to my work in the future.

More information about the new release and the band here

art, for sale, illustration, posters

RED DARE poster – now on sale.

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RED DARE – click to enlarge

Inspired by Frank Hampson’s Dan Dare comics and the Rev. W. Awdry Thomas the Tank Engine book series, this retro-futurist hover train comes hot off the BRUTE! presses this week.

Printed on 200gm. photo stock in blazing scarlet, this gorgeous poster will set your wall on fire (not really).

From a special limited edition of 250, each poster is signed and numbered by the artist.

Also available in glazed and framed canvas.

Don’t miss that train!  Order today from the BRUTE! blog shop.

graphics, illustration, news, prints, stickers

Giant FIST stickers roll off the press

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Courtesy of  Twisted Sticker in Toronto, BRUTE! are proud to unleash our latest monster onto the marketplace.

At a pugilistic 52 inches across, this empowering emblem will stun the neighbours into oblivion when they see it emblazoned across your SUV or dirtbike.

Made from weather-resistant vinyl and delivered in custom BRUTE! packing tubes, the FIST sticker is going to smack the living daylights out of your, er… day.

Please check the products shop for details on how to order.

art, for sale, game art, illustration

MESSIAH – game concept art

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Back when I was working as an art director and writer for Zombie Games in Seattle, I came up with a, for then, revolutionary game concept called Messiah.

To play, you set out as a child and worked your way through eight quests, each one leading you further onward to eventually become a wise elder who unites and frees the enslaved populace.

As there were no weapons involved, the player had to use their wits, charm, stealth and cunning to get to the top. Unfortunately, it was such a revolutionary concept in 1998 that it was unable to be made into a game.

Maybe next time…In those days, my usual way of presenting an idea was in the style of a graphic novel which normally took me between a week and ten days to flesh out. The above illustration was hand-drawn in ink on A3 paper and represents a few of the levels contained in the game which would later be expanded on by the level designers.

I presented this concept to GT Interactive and Zombie shortly before I left the company to go freelance.

This original artwork is available for purchase. Offers to: bruteprop@gmail.com