This year, alongside producing what felt like a million tote bags, I had the pleasure of designing the Take One review zine – a departure from my usual work and an odd sensation not to be constantly drawing and scanning. Three different sixteen-page editions are produced over the eight-day festival with contributions from reviewers, Cambridge 105 film critics, student writers and weirdly a film-themed sudoku.
My illustrative/screenprinting side project Hot Yoghurt made this year’s Cambridge Film Festival tote bags – currently on sale at Festival sites around the city. There are only 50 and each one is painstakingly lovingly printed by hand so pop down before they sell out!
found this in an old sketchbook from a trip to italy, 2010
For those of you local to Cambridge, my greetings cards are now stocked in Urban Larder, Mill Road.
Morning all!
This weekend I’ve been shooting a short ‘how to screenprint’ film to help people set up their own DIY businesses and make us millions. I’m sure I’ve mentioned Hot Yoghurt on here before – we make small-run limited edition t-shirts, tote bags and prints with downbeat slogans for people who hate slogan t-shirts. You can view our blog here and our lovely shop here. Film will be out soon…
… and 1½ feet.
I watched roughly 2.5 matches during the Euros and spent most of that time repeating the funny players’ names back to myself, saying ‘kick it!’ and ‘do a goal!’, and listening to the weird things that commentators say, this being one of them. More to follow.
Found this old tiny mirror the other day and did a quick sketch/reminder to self in Posca pen. Strange things are going on in the world right now but everyone’s still got to do what they think is best! Also, drawing on a mirror is hard and confusing. Bye then.
#VoteRemain
A few quick shopfront sketches from here and there.
Alan. Not Alan’s. Alan.
sweet dreams xoxox
When in a thrift store in New York some years ago I came across a trough full of old studio portraits ranging, I think, from the 1930s to 1980s. I’ve had a vague idea since then to create images that provide a funny juxtaposition of tame and dangerous, and I started asking friends for their favourite lyrics from rap and hip hop, that are decidedly vulgar or offensive, in order to create an illustrative series. Let it be known that a) these are not genres that I generally listen to, and b) in no way am I an expert. But the more lyrics I read and the more videos I watched, the lower my tolerance became in terms of the attitudes and language towards women, when I would expect my tolerance to increase. I am a feminist; I recognise that women taking their clothes off sells products, although of course I strongly disagree with it. I am used to being under- and mis-represented in the media, and used to fairly forward-thinking friends of both sexes saying things like ‘man up’ and ‘don’t be a pussy’. In short, I detest being called love or sweetheart, let alone being told to grab my titties and swallow for B.I.G. I don’t want to, Biggie. Come on.
However, I also have a sense of humour, and don’t spend my days sticking pins in figurines of Tyson Fury and Donald Trump while boiling my own menstrual blood in a cauldron. The lyrics I was reading threw up an odd contradiction: can you enjoy and endorse, and ultimately make money for, musicians whose careers revolve partly around representing women as lesser citizens? I know I am hardly the first person to come up with this bold and revolutionary question; I’m also not the most erudite. But for me it’s not something I’ve thought about much up until now. For example, I enjoy dancehall and bashment music, despite the general consensus being that the majority of it is homophobic. I would not buy records by someone who has made sexist/racist/homophobic remarks publicly – but is watching a video of theirs on YouTube ok? Can you listen to the sexist lyrics of a hip hop song and distance yourself from it, and just appreciate the music and songwriting, and is that still ok?
The line that I have semi-conclusively drawn while I’ve been watching the 300th oiled bum jiggle around on my monitor is whether or not the songwriting is clever. To give you an idea: I am someone who appreciates the mundane, very British aspects of lyrics by bands such as Half Man Half Biscuit and Arctic Monkeys – niche references to shit English nightclubs and high streets and bus routes, that are very funny. And rhyme well. I am not naturally drawn to songs making obvious references to money and/or bitches, because to me it feels tired. However, if the song is about money and/or bitches, and it’s got witty rhymes and specific references, my interest is piqued. That’s why I’ve included the bottom image (Nasty Girl by Notorious B.I.G.) – ‘…and give me what I need while we listen to Prince’. Haha! Biggie wants to get dirty to Prince! We all love Prince! Sure, Prince is probably turning in his doll-sized grave, but it’s a neat reference, so I can overlook the lyrics throughout the rest of the song (‘and I don’t stop til I squirt/jeans, skirt, butt naked, it all work’) … sigh. Maybe.
I’m not sure I can make a conclusion one way or another. You might be surprised to learn I am neither a journalist or a professor. I am, however, a gender expert, being that I am a human being who has a gender. I am just interested in what I’ve come across in this tiny, tiny section of the music/gender Venn diagram, and I’d be interested to know what other people think. I wonder whether trolls frequent illustration blogs? Now’s the time to find out, I suppose.
Images, from top: Bitches Ain’t Shit – Dr Dre ⋅ Shake That – Eminem ft. Nate Dogg ⋅ Nasty Girl – Notorious B.I.G.
Shouldn’t reveal the whole thing, but I recently designed some wedding invites for a friend, in greys/burgundy/pinks. Really pleased with them – more photos to follow at some point!
![Brighton poster final [flat] RGB](https://nicfarrell.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/brighton-poster-final-flat-rgb.jpg?w=500&h=703)
I designed a poster and flyer for Cambridge-based comedy duo The Cutlery Crew for their show at the Brighton Fringe later this month. Murder! Police! Spoons!
