“All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn to draw?” — Banksy, Existencilism. Oof, AI eh. Never in all my career have I experienced something so dramatically divisive, threatening and talked about; discussed, debated, vilified and worshipped. I’m not talking about…

With a rolling canvas in front of us, and a long weekend, why wouldn’t we do it twice? This much-loved Nissan Pao, at the end of its life and destined to be recycled for parts, was re-imagined this time as a vehicular extra in A-ha’s phenomenal hit record, Take On…

What do you do when a car comes your way that’s not gonna make it? Well, you can paint on it! I’ve painted a few ‘things’ — office walls, advertising hoardings, giant sunflowers, brick walls; I’ve customised speakers, radios, baseball caps, shoes — there are bound to be more I’ve…

A human-generated story in 3 chapters. This article’s been a long time in the making. Not being able to ‘get to it’ has hassled me for ages but, as I finally get my assorted notes and thoughts assembled, I realise that quite unintentionally, the right time is now. I’m writing about AI. Of course I am. Not only am I expected to have an opinion on it, as an artist (I do), but every man and his hamster knows about AI and moreover, also has an opinion on it. This is no…

Cosmetics, jewellery and perfume mail order behemoth Avon asked me to create illustrations that worked with and around the model for their new fragrance range last year, in a campaign which has just gone live. The ‘Eve Become’ quartet of fragrances consists of Truth, Privé, Confidence and Eve; each created to reflect a different aspect of the wearer. Taking their cue from womanhood and everything the word can mean, and presented in beautiful, contemporary glass bottles, the scents offer alternative vibes depending on your mood…

I recently received this email from David Shelley at Hachette Publishing, along with many other contributors to the book industry, and am sharing it here as it contains some beautifully positive, useful and curious insights into the landscape of books right now, as we move away from a pandemic into…

Gordon Hayes, owner of Nervous Records, the longest-serving record shop in Hinckley, died on Monday, and a town is in mourning. — Gordon was our friend, and was thought of as a friend by most of our small Midlands town, it seems. …

I’ve just seen someone talking about a website called My Future Self where you write to yourself privately and check back in later — either much later, or just a few months. The potential for encouraging, moving, sorrowful or grateful readings years later is all there, and it seized my imagination in the moment. What a novel idea, I thought. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

My creative choices for 2022’s annual mailing were a bit different this year. For 2022’s Christmas project I decided, in a break from 20+ years of massive annual mailings, that I wouldn’t post anything — Autumn’s Royal Mail overwhelm, the cost of postage, workload and the strikes led me to…