"We'll give 'em to Rango!"

I try to avoid writing film reviews anymore, only because it takes up quite a lot of my time (something that takes you five minutes to read could take me two hours to write and edit, only because I’m so anal about spelling, grammar, etc.)

But I really couldn’t miss the chance to write a quick review (or urgent recommendation) about “Rango”. As always, watch out for possible spoilers…

You may or may not have heard about this unusual movie, and that’s why I’m here to tell you “for the love of GOD watch this movie!”

The sad fact is that it isn’t Disney, it isn’t Pixar, it isn’t Dreamworks, and that means that not many people are apt to give it a shot. This is a film all of it’s own, something you’ve never seen before, a mental mindfuck, but a gloriously-rendered one that rips of your head off and glues it back on upside down.

It tells the story of a Chameleon with an identity crisis, who finds himself in the remote desert town of Dirt, where he adapts the persona Rango: a gun-toting hero. He is quickly made Sheriff of Dirt and given the responsibility of looking for their water supply, which has been vanishing mysteriously.

In the meantime - through high-speed bat chases featuring a hilarious rendition of “The Ride of the Valkyries”, insane dream sequences featuring a CGI Clint Eastwood (I think), and madcap theatrical performances - Rango falls for the deadpan, no-nonsense Beans, and comes face to face with Rattlesnake Jake… seriously, this is the most badass friggin’ snake villain ever! Suck it, Jafar. He has a Gatling Gun for a tail.


I think the reason this film works so well is that, by usual standards, it doesn’t work at all. The characters are ugly, the setting murky and miserable, the story unheard of… but from a storyteller/character designer’s perspective, this movie is perfect.

The characters, those weird, wonderful freaky looking animals are so beautifully crafted! Every one of them looks and acts completely different. It features some of the most amazing character designs I’ve ever seen, and this is coming from someone who isn’t exactly fond of drawing animals.

The cinematography is astounding, and often so realistic I had to remind myself it was animated. But what can you expect from the people that worked on Pirates of the Caribbean? Director Gor Verbinski really knows how to make thrilling movies, that’s for true.

The voice acting in this movie really brought out something special in each character: Johnny Depp as Rango was his usual charming, quirky self. Isla Fisher struck a chord with me, as Beans was unexpectedly funny, while still being a pretty tough female. But by far the best voice award has to go to Bill Nighy as Rattlesnake Jake. He gave me “slithers” down my spine.

Apologies for the above pun.

And finally, the music… what can I say really? Hans Zimmer is a leg-end. Just listen to this example. I love it. Gives you a good idea of the rest of the soundtrack. Fast and fun!

Saying that however, I feel very strongly that this film should not be aimed and marketed at kids, because it is so much more than just a typical kid’s cartoon. It’s made by people who love and appreciate great animation, great characters, great music and classic storytelling with a twist. And if it doesn’t win Oscar for best animated film next year, I will literally scream, because I really don’t think it can be topped in 2011 (Christ, what have we got to look forward to with “Rio” and “Hop”?)

Anyway go see Rango, enjoy it, agree with me, and come back and tell me I was right!

COMPASS Charity Art Exhibit and Auction

Anyone who knows me knows I love doing things for charity, whether it’s to help children, babies, animals, baby animals, soldiers, or poor goth girls murdered by chavs. I guess I just think that if someone can live comfortably on £100 a month, they can probably afford to give about 5% to a good cause. Every little helps…

So when I spotted an advert in a Liverpool Gallery asking artists to donate work for a charity auction, I jumped at the chance. Not only would I be helping out a good cause, but I could also get my name around a bit, whilst doing something I enjoy. I decided to make it into part of my first Negotiated Study project for University too, with additional paintings to follow later this semester.

I produced two pieces:

“Violet”, featuring my character Bluey enjoying a bubble-blowing session…



…and “Lil Night Music 2.0”, my homage to one of my favourite paintings, Dorothea Tanning’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”.

It felt quite good to have my name up there...


The pieces were based around the central theme of human form and emotion. It fitted perfectly with the aim of the charity, COMPASS, which arranges counselling for adults in Merseyside. As a regular sufferer of depression, I found this to be a cause rather close to my heart.

The exhibition took place in a little community centre in Liverpool; the walls were decorated with large animal creations by some of the local children, which was adorable. But the artwork to come was immensely good, and I’m only sorry I can’t feature the pieces here (don’t wanna get sued).

But I was chuffed to see such a variety of work; my cartoony-stuff next to large-scale tattoo-style paintings, alternative-model photographs, surreal paintings, masks, portraits, life drawing… there was a lot of great work, the only downside being that a lot of them were priced as though they were up in the Tate. I figured with it being an auction in the middle of a small community, and for charity, that a lot of the artists should have lowered their prices, and I was right, as not many of the pricier pieces were sold, which was an awful shame.

I, being of modest talent (and little of it), put my pieces up for auction starting at £20 each. So I was terrifically pleased that “Violet” sold to a little family and their daughter for £28, which means at least two people must have been bidding for it! I’d really love to know how they’re getting on with my artwork, so if you bought “Violet” please drop me a message.

Unfortunately, “Lil Night Music 2.0” didn’t sell, but I’m not disheartened. I feel the concept was too personal to me, and wouldn’t make sense to anyone who didn’t know the significant details of “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” (the sunflower, the flowing hair, the murky colours…)

However, it is still up for sale at £20 (not including p&p). So if you’re interested, please email for enquiries.

I can’t finish the blog without mentioning two people. First of all, Kim Jones, who organised the event and managed to raise money for a great cause. Congrads to her!

And also, Graham Jones, the photographer behind the exhibition (who I really hope doesn’t mind me posting his pictures here!). He was super friendly, and called me “very photogenic” which was flattering… you can see some of his work on his website here.

So all in all, a great day for me, I really enjoyed it, and I’m happy that I sold my first piece to what seemed like a loving little family, and for a cause that will hopefully make a difference to somebody’s life someday.

Here’s to my next exhibit!

FOOTNOTE: Should’ve mentioned this a while ago, but I was lucky to win a drawing competition for Bizarre Magazine. The theme was fantasy body-mod, so I went a bit mad and created this:



The mad Tank Girl-esque chick sports a stretched tongue, triple-pupils, webbed fingers and a cosmetically removed nose. Anyway, it won me a bunch of Bizarre stuff, including bacon-flavoured soda, several weird books about gruesome things, an inflatable baby bottle, a “Gay for Pay” t-shirt and “30 Days of Night” hat that I gave to my boyfriend, couple of magnets and stickers, and a DVD called “Twin Cheeks”. I’ll leave you to figure that one out…

Brighton Tattoo Convention

Well it’s been a long time since I last wrote anything, and I have much to talk about, so let’s think of a logical (and quick) way to do this…

I’m going to divide these next few posts up in order to get a good overview of them all, because I’ve been up to quite a bunch of things these last few months.

So I’m starting off with the Brighton Tattoo Convention…


Deciding to go to this was kind of a last minute thing for me, but I was bombarded with advertisements by Tattoo Revolution magazine and figured “What the heck?” It was around my 22nd birthday and I’d get to spend a few days alone with my boyfriend, ogling tattooed strangers. Hit and a win!

First of all, how fantastic is Brighton?! We stayed at the Premier Inn, right smack bang in the middle of everything, and three minutes from a Yo! Sushi, where I inevitably had my birthday meal. We were also less than ten minutes walk from the Odeon too, and went to watch Tangled in the evening, with a bunch of other geeky adults.

Anyway, the convention… I’m trying not to jabber too much, because I have so much to talk about, and so little space and time.


This was my first tat-con (yes I’m lazy and thus forth will refer to it as that) so it was extremely overwhelming, both in good terms and bad terms. The good being that I got to see so many shit-hot tattoos, and everyone seemed really friendly. There were cupcakes, and a corset shop and hundreds of free stickers (the cheap-man’s way of covering my sketchbooks). And best of all I got to meet Alex Guest of Tattoo Revolution Magazine, who turned out to be cooler than I could have imagined, and gave me his business card and a fortune cookie which said I was going to get a pay rise very soon. Cheers Alex!

Dan and I also pondered over him getting a tattoo, after we spotted the Bad Bunny Tattoo Studio sketchbook, and fell in love with their quirky new-school drawings. If it hadn’t been for the hefty price tag and my lack of funds, I would have bought the book, but luckily you can still see some of their artwork on their website.

Of course, there were plenty of juicy pieces of artwork hanging around, as you can see from my eager snaps…








We even spotted some traditional tattooing!

The downside to the Saturday was that, for once, instead of sticking out, I basically just disappeared into the crowd. And I felt really insignificant for not having my first tattoo. So I spent much of my birthday feeling sorry for myself, and not paying attention to the fact that I should have been enjoying myself!

So after some initial scolding by my boyfriend, we decided to enjoy the Sunday, which we really did! We watched a couple of the Tattoo competitions, oohing and ahhing at some awesome artwork, my favourite of which was a Doc Brown (Back to the Future) tattoo, it made my day.

Then, as if by some miracle, Art Historian Matt Lodder presented a seminar about tattoos as art objects, which was not only fascinating in itself, but was also completely relevant to my final year Dissertation! So I listened with rapture, while Dan made a recording, and for the first time that weekend I had the gumption to approach Dr Lodder and talk to him. Far from looking like your usual old-fart art historian, Matt Lodder was a tattooed and pierced young dude who dressed like he’d just jumped out of the ’40’s. He was so incredibly friendly, and offered to help me with my Dissertation (which he did, evidently, but that’s another story).

Dan and I spent the rest of the afternoon looking in on the Sugar Project (and I wish to God I could bid on one of those!!!), eating chips, and finally landing ourselves in the “cinema” watching Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry. I’d been meaning to watch this for a while, and I wasn’t disappointed; it’s a hilarious, and often poignant film, about the original old tattoo dude, Norman Keith Collins and his bizarre life. Apparently, the version we saw was the short version (about an hour and a half) so I still have more to see. But if you watch it, keep an eye out for “Crazy” Philadelphia Eddie, he had me giggling every time he was on screen, funny git!



Some stills from the Sailor Jerry Cinema...

We ended the day on a high note, wandering up to the piercing/branding room where we watched a huge guy have the number 13 burned into his neck (electro-cautery tattooing) by the very talented Quentin from Kalima body piercing studio. We got to talking when he noticed me drooling over pictures of tongue-splitting (seriously, Google that if you don’t know what it is). He told me that he was one of the first people to have the tongue-splitting procedure over here in the UK, and told me about his way of doing it, and how he encourages his clients to really think about the painful body mod. Something which I am doing, after taking his card.



Quentin and his victim...

Finally, I can’t talk about the convention without mentioning the few celebrities that we saw. Dan Gold and Phil Kyle of London Ink fame were there, working hard. I have to admit, I’ve always thought Phil Kyle was pretty awesome, so it was cool to see him there. But I had to giggle when my boyfriend asked, “How long to you reckon Dan Gold will take to do that tattoo?” as he’s known for being a tad slow. He might be a bit of a cheeky bastard I suppose, but I still get goosebumps when I see someone off of the telly… I just wish it had been Jodie Marsh so I could fix her freaky nose with my fist.



Phil Kyle and Dan Gold getting it on!

So, despite a rough start, all down to my own insecure feelings, I really did enjoy the con, and I’m hoping to go the Manchester Tattoo Show next month, and the Liverpool con in May. I’d recommend those wondering if they should go to one, to just do it, and don’t let fear of intimidation ruin it for you. You don’t need a tattoo to have fun at these conventions, and nobody will judge you.

Luckily I learned from my experience, and next time I’ll be getting more out of those fantastic tattooists, than just their business cards (of which I got like sixty of them…)

Until tomorrow then!

Please Vote!

Wow, I'm so chuffed to make it to the finals of the Gorillaz Design the Evangelist competition :) But it would be great to get to the semi-finals!

If you think I deserve the chance, then you can vote for my entry here. You also get to see my entry being drawn in super high-speed, so it gives you a good idea of how I work.

My love to you all! x

Too much thinking for this ol' fuddy-duddy

Well, it's been a while and I am now in my final year at Glyndwr University, still plodding onwards. I wont bore you with the details of the last two months, suffice to say that Orlando was riotous fun! I'll dive straight back in with my November blog...

About a fortnight a go I scurried off to Liverpool for a good dosage of culture, as the 2010 Biennial was being held. With various galleries and museums participating in the festival, it seemed like a great time to have a nose and see what was new in the arty-farty world. I headed over to the Walker Art Gallery to check out a painting competition.

For a student of the arts, I find it very discouraging that the majority of these competitions still focus on pompous nonsense when it comes to works of "art".

I was, for the most part, disappointed with this year's John Moores Painting Prize. Whatever happened to painters actually being able to paint? It seems that any so-so can chuck a blob of acrylic onto a canvas nowadays if there's an "idea" behind it. "Oh, it represents the randomness of life." Get over yourself.

Honestly, there were only two or three paintings even deserving of the £25,000 prize, and you can bet your bare arse none of them won because the meaning is too obvious.

"Protest, 1st April 2009" by Nicholas Middleton is a beautiful painting, done in monochrome, of a crowd of people at a rally. The expressions and details are so mesmerising it's almost like looking at a photograph, but the tiny brushstrokes hint at the human talent behind it. I could practically hear the noise of the crowd whilst gazing into it.


Christian Ward's "Frontier Monument" spoke less of obvious talent, and more of imagination. The lack of perspective is overshadowed by the painting's mad colour scheme and landscape. It's a Nirvana that I would have pictured as a child, but that's not to say I wouldn't want to dive into it now. I think my fascination with this one is it's resemblance to something out of "Yellow Submarine". Whilst I was looking at it a group of children ran over to it, exclaiming that it was their favourite. "There's lots of purple", "look at the lovely trees" and "I like the squiggly-armed guy" were some of the phrases they used. I think when a child "gets" your work, then that's something to be proud of.


"An Alpine Biodome" by Geraint Evans was an interesting piece. Not something I would have on my wall at home, but well executed and an obvious example of work by someone who I imagine would do well in design and architecture.


"Near the Site" by David Fulford is, I think, worthy of a mention because it comes across as as storyboard. I couldn't quite make out the story, but I loved the colour scheme of a Sunday afternoon in the summer; all dull yellows and browns. Even without a story the pieces stand individually as photographs, as though someone has hurriedly painted them to capture a moment in time. There were 60 small canvas paintings in total, and another reason it bodes well with me is because the idea relates to one of my Negotiated Study projects.


Finally, it's worth mentioning that there are five extras this year, as the JMPP celebrates a new venture by opening the competition in Shanghai. My favourite of the five shortlisted was Li Weizhou's "Where are we from? Where will we go?" From a distance it looks like a large blank canvas with a tiny queue of people running across it, but close up, you realise that these tiny people all look completely different, and all appear to have personalities about them. I also loved this painting because of the medium used: ink on rice paper. That's new to me, but the effect is beautiful and works for the enigmatic piece.

So there were some really great pieces, including ones that I haven't mentioned, but the majority I will not dignify with a mention, because then they get free advertising. I honestly believe that if, as artists, we allow our craft to be exploited and tarnished this way, then our livelihood is going to fade very fast.

To finish off, I will put in a mention for this wonderful little blog post that kept me smiling, even when I felt done-over by the artwork thinking I don't have a chance. If you're worried that you may not pan-out as a full time artist, whatever your creative pursuit, have a gander at this list of ways to know if you truly are an artist. Hopefully it'll put some minds at ease.

Leonardo Da Flake

If I could go back in time, or bring the past forwards, Leonardo Da Vinci is the person who I (and most likely many others) would have sought out to be my Mentor. How I long for a Mentor! His eccentricities and endless drawings and notes, to me, made him seem like some sort of unreachable God or Alien.

So I was quite surprised to read, in this article, that he was an unstoppable procrastinator, not unlike myself. And while I spend all my time procrastinating and wishing I were dead, he managed to do it with some style. And he still sounds awesome.

Have a read of the article and see how you feel afterwards. Do you conform like the rest of the World? Hitting deadlines on time, rushing things that are supposedly "important", but in the long run do not matter? (Like a degree in comics, when you want to be a Tattooist... *cough*)

This quote from the article suggests imperfection is the right way to go about it:

"Productive mediocrity requires discipline of an ordinary kind. It is safe and threatens no one. Nothing will be changed by mediocrity; mediocrity is completely predictable. It doesn't make the powerful and self-satisfied feel insecure. It doesn't require freedom, because it doesn't do anything unexpected. Mediocrity is the opposite of what we call "genius." Mediocrity gets perfectly mundane things done on time. But genius is uncontrolled and uncontrollable. You cannot produce a work of genius according to a schedule or an outline. As Leonardo knew, it happens through random insights resulting from unforeseen combinations. Genius is inherently outside the realm of known disciplines and linear career paths. Mediocrity does exactly what it's told, like the docile factory workers envisioned by Frederick Winslow Taylor."

After all, why rush to finish something you hate on time, when you can spend years doing something you love...

Personally, I hope I grow up to be like that mad Italian Geezer!

Tattoo Survey

For my third year dissertation I am investigating Tattoo Art as it appears in/with other forms of modern art. My aims are:

• to discover how and why Tattoo-art is inspiring other art-forms, focusing on graphics, fine art, photography, illustration
• to investigate why Tattoos have experienced a rise in popularity, and what benefits and problems may (or already have) come from it
• to look at how Tattooing has been influenced by other art-forms (e.g.: photo-realism, comics, graffiti, surrealism, graphics…)
• to look into the future of this juxtaposition between Tattoos and Modern Art

I’d be really grateful if you’d take just five minutes to fill in my survey, in order to help me complete my dissertation with some interesting results.
If there are any questions you are uncomfortable answering, or if they do not apply to you, just leave it blank.

Name:
Gender:
Age range: Under 18/18-24/25-34/35-44/45-54/55+
Occupation:

1. First of all, do you have a tattoo, and if so why? If you don’t, why not?

2. If you have a tattoo, what concerned you the most during the process: your own health and safety, the tattooist, the tattoo design, it’s meaning or it’s location on your body? Why?

3. When you think of “Tattoo” what kind of words spring to mind?

4. Now think of “Art”, and what words pop up?

5. Take a look at these two pictures:



Do you prefer the a) tattooed artwork, or b) the artwork of tattoos? Explain your decision.

6. Have you ever bought any merchandise decorated with tattoo art (e.g.: clothes, iPod covers, jewellery, perfumes etc). What attracted you to its design?

7. Take a look at these two people:



Who do you find more appealing: a) the celebrity with a tattoo, or b) the stranger with a tattoo? Explain your decision.

8. Tattoos have experienced a major increase in popularity over the last few years. Why do you think that is?

9. Do you see your current opinion of tattoos, whether good or bad, changing in the future? Why?

Thanks for taking the time to do this, I am very grateful! You can either post your answers directly to this page, or email me at BulletprufZombie@hotmail.co.uk. Please put "Tattoo Survey" in the subject box.

*Please note: All images here are taken off Google Images. I do not own them.