Matthew J Griffin Illustration

I've moved!

2010-09-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

I will no longer be posting here, as my brand spanking new website has gone live at long last. Huzzah!

From now on, please go to:

http://www.matthewjgriffin.com

...for my new blog, image galleries, videos and suchlike..

It's all very exciting.

If we don't support this...

2010-09-16T05:31:00.000-07:00

We'll be stuck with nothing but bad news, over-zealous reactions to piffle in order to create news and 20 documentaries per day about how the economic downturn happened. We need art, like Cowen needed a hair of the dog.

Self Promotion

2010-09-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a lot of reading about self-promotion recently.. This is the first image that came out..

This is what happens when I allow myself to doodle....

It's actually the first time I've ever done some rendering to my Robothead alter-ego. I enjoyed it, fleshing him out, making him slightly more 'real'.. Plan on doing some more of that in the future..

Treehead

2010-08-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

This guy first popped out of my head on the original rejected Dublin Flea Market Poster. I always intended to do more with him, so while I had some down time today I thought I'd do my first image of him in his own right. And here it is:

I didn't quite intend him to be quite so bleak. But, that's the way he came out. Maybe it's mood I'm in (subconsciously)...

New Site Nearly There

2010-08-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

My new website is nearly done. I'm very excited.

It will be featuring a blog, so I might not use this one anymore. But I'll keep you posted (scuse pun).

In the meantime, here's another random illy from years and years ago, found in the bowels of my hard drive:

The last time I used actual paint I think.. Must start using it again

More Monks

2010-08-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Another monk pic for The Cloister restaurant, Ennis. This time for the leaving cert results

Uh. Hmm. It's.. It's some.. Uh

2010-08-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is a bit weird. I'm not sure what they are. But I had some downtime today (while I wait for my spanking new website to be built) and decided to doodle. This is the result. It's basically an amalgamation of various things: getting inspired by the bizaare creature illustrations I look at every day, wanting to play more with textures and wanting to develop a style I haven't done before. Namely bizaare creatures with lots of texture use.

Alright, that describes most of my work. But you know what I mean. I also wanted to stop using black outlines all the time. Going to do a lot more work where I abandon the black outline I think.

Make sure you're connected

2010-07-29T04:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am now fully embracing e-promotion.. As in, I now have Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and a new thing called Behance all linked to each other, and all featuring my work.

If you're on any of the above, please like/follow/connect/join/merge/enlist etc!

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

More John Lynn

2010-07-28T02:52:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I did some stuff for comedian John Lynn, but I've started on a couple of new pieces for him. This is the first:

And here's another. Not entirely sure this is finished. But sometime you have to know when to leave something alone:

Monks

2010-06-30T02:55:00.000-07:00

I've started doing some promotional work for a gorgeous bar/restaurant in Ennis called The Cloister.

The Cloister is set in the grounds of an old abbey in the heart of Ennis, with the ruins rising up around it, while inside it's very slick and chic, and at the same time the venue's branding acknowledges it's monastery setting.

So, my idea was to use monks in a playful way - partying, eating dinner, drinking cocktails etc - in a highly stylised way to catch the eye and hopefully make sure people pick up the flyers. Below is the first sketch, where I settled on the illustration style and below that is the first illustration in use, for their 4th of July celebrations in a few days.

And this is for their party flyer:

IGI'd

2010-06-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to announce to my membership of the Illustrators Guild of Ireland...

You can see my portfolio by clicking here.

The Seller

2010-06-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

This was the image for my first idea for a Dublin Flea Market poster. It was deemed to 'culty', but I was pleased with the illustration, so I've taken out the text and kept it as a piece in it's own right. I did a couple of colour re-jigs which I'll post if I get a chance.

Heaps on at the moment thankfully, so will be posting new work very shortly.

IMDO - Follow The Fleet

2010-06-10T04:01:00.000-07:00

I recently did another job of creating assets for award-winning animation house Caboom. When I say 'assets' I mean they give me a list of drawings (and a style guide), I draw them and Caboom animate them.

This particular project was for the Irish Maritime authority (IMDO), who held a competition for school kids (called 'Follow The Fleet') to write essays based on various maritime themes. The winners were then chosen to be immortalised in cartoon-ness (and shown on the Den).

The style brief was to go more towards doodle-y, copy book-y, slightly imperfect-y.

You can watch all four animations on their YouTube channel here. And below are my personal favourite characters from the whole project. I've changed quite a bit on the style front here (gone quite Quentin Blake I think)...

Not new art, just news

2010-05-31T04:48:00.000-07:00

No projects on the go at the moment (apart from the omnipresent personal ones, which I'll admit I am slow to develop past sketch-phase), but thought I'd just post a bit about what's going on in general.

Firstly, and possibly most importantly, I'm relocating to Co. Clare in a couple of weeks, to be with my better half. It's not my intention to alienate myself from the Dublin scene, just to make the commute a bit more painful. I'll be working from my new home in the main, and traveling to Dublin (or wherever) whenever there is a meeting/talk/exhibition/pint.

I'm busy as always, learning Flash as I hear there's a fair bit of work in banner creation, and picking up my (admittedly back-burnered) After Effects animation. I also hope to be doing some new bits for stand-up John Lynn, and I'll be creating some artwork (t-shirts and tour posters) for the best trad band in the world - Lau - which I'm very excited about.

I recently had to turn down a commission, which was incredibly painful considering I am desperate for them. But the brief called for photo-real illustration, and while I'd love to give it a go, it's just not my bag and would only end in tears with the pressure of a professional commission. A man's gotta know his limitations...

That's it for now. As I have no new work to post, I thought I'd stick up something from the distant past. So I found this in the bowels of my hard drive:

I believe it now hangs in the boat of a some good friends somewhere in the south west of England.

Flea Market Poster Mark II

2010-05-17T04:43:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The poster has been 'LeCooled', which is... cool!

http://bit.ly/a5tO1y

Here's the second design for May's Dublin Flea Market... It's not as illustrative as the last one, and indeed doesn't really feature my illustration that heavily at all.. But it looks pretty I think, and that's the important thing.. Hope they like it!

Flea Market Poster Part II

2010-05-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in the last post, the poster I originally made was not to the clients taste. Which is fair really, as it's quite strange.

I was quite fond of it though, so as a compromise I suggested I 'de-cult' my design with a new colour scheme, and by getting rid of pagan runes and woodcuts. Here are the two adjusted images:

I like the blue one personally.

In the end though, I've decided to do a whole new poster. I think I'll get the initial three printed anyway, as both myself and a couple of friends like them...

Dublin Flea Market Poster

2010-05-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The Flea Market guys felt I had gone slightly too cultish for their liking.. a little too dark.. Which is fair enough. So I'm in the process of attempting to de-cult the below, or even do a whole new one (my preference). I really like this one though, so I think I may print a couple myself...

I've just done the poster for May's Dublin Flea Market...

I really, reeeeeaaallly enjoyed doing this, as I got to completely use my imagination and go all dark and trippy.

The Flea Market people are doing a really cool with thing with this poster business.. It's done by a different artist every month, and they're all for sale (with limited stock) at the market itself.. some illustrious predecessors too, like Brian Coldrick and Alan Clarke - check them all out on the Flea Market website: www.dublinflea.ie/

I definitely want to do more poster work, so I'm going to have to tap up all the bands I know to let me...

Death's Day Out

2010-04-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

In a nice little bit of marketing fun the guys at Mimesis dressed a friend up as the Grim Reaper and had him walk around town while they distributed my Mort flyers. Nice.

They're aliiiiive

2010-04-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

I've just started making some pictures move (very, very basically). They are George Hook and Mick McCarthy caricatures I posted here before, which will be part of an animated sports spoof we're hoping to make...

Any animators out there will think it's pretty awful I'm sure, but hopefully I'll get better with practice! I didn't bother with proper mouth movements or anything, just kept it nice and simple..

Also no sound as yet, that will be provided by my brother.

ADDITION: For some reason they've come out really small. And so they look fairly crap. Not sure I can have bigger videos on blogger... If anyone knows how please let me know! I'll post them anyway. Why not eh?

Here's Mick:

and George:

Roy Keane and others to follow...

And more 40 Foot

2010-04-09T05:11:00.000-07:00

For a BBQ flyer...

And for inside the wine, champagne and spirits menu:

More 40 Foot Stuff

2010-04-08T09:21:00.000-07:00

I'm just in the process of doing a few more bits for the 40 Foot restaurant in Dun Laoghaire. Keeping the theme of simple, quirky illustrations with the emphasis on slightly dark humour, I've posted them here in white against my own brown paper background. I like them like that, but on the menus themselves, they will (probably) be just black line on brown recycled paper.

Here's the cocktail menu cover:

and here's another for the cocktail menu:

Here's the wine menu cover:

...and a bit of detail on that one:

Lots more to follow on this one...

Mort

2010-04-01T09:30:00.001-07:00

A poster I've done for Mimesis' production of Terry Pratchett's Mort

Nappy Trouble

2010-03-31T09:29:00.001-07:00

Another couple if images from the Dad's project...

Full Textured Jacket

2010-03-31T05:19:00.000-07:00

Here's another bit from ongoing project. I'm really enjoying textures at the moment.. feels like it's giving my work a lot more depth. But, who knows, next week I may be back into flat colours and stick men.

Obviously inspired by the Full Metal Jacket poster, I think it has a real Gorillaz feel to it too..

Forests Are Nice Places

2010-03-18T09:31:00.001-07:00

Started on first bits of artwork on another new project. This is the first bit of background for a forest setting. Very Secret of Kells I must admit, but it's a work in progress...

More on this project to follow

Work in Progress

2010-03-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

Doing a fun little project re-illustrating a book.. I've been given free-reign more or less, on how out there and quirky the drawings can be, so that they contrast to the often quite serious copy. So it's a nice one for me.

I'm only in the early stages of playing with style and colourings, but thought I'd stick up work as I go. Just because.

On these you can see I'm using more textures now, for skin and colouring etc.

As always, more to follow...

bit more detail

..and here he is with his body...

...And here he is with the background

I may be asked to remove the poo

oh and in case your interested,here's the original sketch idea thingy

Mick McCaaaaahhthy

2010-03-03T06:16:00.001-08:00

Mick from the same project as Georgie boy below

Fowl Play Sketch 1

2010-03-02T08:14:00.001-08:00

This is the first sketch for a new animated project featuring our best loved sports pundits and a giant guinea fowl. Obviously.

I'll keep posting stuff about it as I go...

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

2010-02-24T09:54:00.000-08:00

There has been a slight change of plans in my professional life. I had been one of three company directors at the production collective Media Coop (www.mediacoop.tv), but I have decided to pull back from that roll in order to concentrate more on my freelance career, and a couple of very exciting personal projects which I will be revealing very shortly.

So, now I am the Art Director at Media Coop. Which by the way has a lovely new office in Ringsend so at last I have a proper place to work.

I have a Twitter account now so if you're into that sort of thing, I'm @MJGillustration.

Oh and as this post doesn't feature any illustration, here's a sketch I did way back in 2002, which I've just found while trawling through old files. Just for fun like.

Thisisjohnlynn.com

2010-02-11T07:47:00.000-08:00

Actor/Comedian/Writer John Lynn's website, for which I did all the art direction, is live at last - www.thisisjohnlynn.com.

In the gallery section you can see a couple of illustrations I did. This is basically how John's art direction is going to look now for DVDs, posters etc, that is unless Warners decide they want to use their own... Hopefully not.

Soon to follow the website for Writer/Journalist/Comedian Carol Tobin...

Flea TV 2010

2010-01-14T05:44:00.000-08:00

We're rebranding our (Media Coop's) online music show Flea TV (www.gigiddy.tv/fleatv) both as part of it's natural evolution, and to ready it for a pitch to broadcasters.

This was last year's logo and mascot:

The logo featured the font 'coffee tin', which is now the most widely used font in the entire history of typography. So, the logo needs to be changed and while I'm at it our mascot will get an update.

I'm just in the middle of it all, but I thought I'd post stuff as I go (January very quiet) so here's the first draft of the new mascot:

..and here's how he looks now

More to follow...

Merry New Year

2010-01-04T06:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Please give me illustration work, because as of New Year's Eve-Eve I now have a wedding to pay for!

A very happy new year indeed...

40 Foot Restaurant Menus

2009-11-30T04:56:00.000-08:00

I just did some illustrations for the 40 Foot Restaurant in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin. I was really pleased they went for them as they could have easily turned down my slightly dark humour in favour of something safer (see the cow's bum, pig's side and chicken's stumpy wing)...

Here's the original pic...

...and here's how it'll look on the menu

The menus themselves were designed by my brother Mark - check out his amazing design and photography on www.markjgriffin.net

Sheeshuns Greetings

2009-11-26T03:31:00.000-08:00

I'm going to do a set of Christmas cards this year, all with the inscription 'Sheeshuns Greetings'. This is one of the sketches for them, but I may well make him slightly less offensive...

Damn you Henry

2009-11-19T09:34:00.000-08:00

RTE Radio 1 Ads

2009-11-13T00:27:00.000-08:00

These ads were made by the brilliant Caboom (www.caboom.ie).. They give me a list of things to draw, and then they animate them. A perfect match.

And thanks to Caboom what gave me the mp4's for the blog!

iPhone Sketchbook App Fun

2009-10-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

The sketchbook App for iPhone is the dog's. These are the first few doodles I've done. And doodles they most certainly are - but thought I'd post them here as I do them, sure why not?

Mi Ferst Afftar Effex Filim

2009-10-14T07:51:00.000-07:00

At long last I'm learning how to make pictures move! I now officially love After Effects.. BUT I have only just started learning, so I suck at it.

This is the first thing I've ever made. It's a top or tail sting for use on our Media Coop videos. I play the chicken.

New Site Soon

2009-10-14T05:15:00.001-07:00

My website (www.matthewjgriffin.com) is going under the knife, so a brand new look, new work and new blog will all be coming soon.

The Imaginarium of Dr John Lynn

2009-10-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of putting a website together for the amazing stand-up/actor/writer/looper John Lynn, and below are some examples of the art work I'm creating for said site. I'm putting the man himself in a kind of tripped out, surreal, dark environment, which reflects the very tripped out, dark nature of his humour.

I'll post more from this job as I go along. Enjoying this one...

Night of the Living Wed

2009-09-08T01:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a slightly new approach to wedding invitations, commissioned by a friend in London. The same fella commissioned a big piece of graffiti on the wall of his new house, so fair play - he's a patron of the arts alright...

And here's one of the zombies:

Blowing the dust off my blog

2009-09-01T02:16:00.000-07:00

Holy sh.. May! I can't believe it's been that long since I made a post here.

Thankfully it's not been because I haven't been busy - things are picking up pace very nicely at last.

On the illustration front I have four ads for RTE Radio 1 running on telly at the moment which I'll post here as soon as I get the encoded versions. They were made by the brilliant Caboom (www.caboom.ie)

I've also been busy working with our baby the amazing Media Coop (www.mediacoop.tv) and things there are certainly gathering momentum.

Like I said I have to wait until I receive the video files to post the ads, but here are two of my personal favourite elements from them.

The Organ Grinder

2009-05-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

Just a random doodle.

Back in Beeswax

2009-05-06T03:03:00.000-07:00

I'm back in business after my mac survived a near-death experience.

There's loads on at the moment, especially with Media Coop gathering some serious momentum. So, there'll be loads of stuff to post here in the next week or so. What it does mean however, is that things like Fresh Air and the Monster Circus will have to take a back seat for a while.

Here's an example of the new stuff for the Coop. It's the first bit of concept art for a music show we're producing called 'Flea TV'. It's set in a flea market, hence the name and the strange guy selling stranger wears. There's lots more development to be done on these, but we like them. And they'll make for some great animated credits.

Give it to me straight, Doc

2009-04-22T02:43:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately my mac has been taken ill. As a result, work has hit the skids and there have been no new posts here. Hopefully I'll be back in business as soon as possible.

Count Your Chickens

2009-04-04T06:14:00.000-07:00

Mediacoop is the brilliant new production company I have joined forces with. I'm currently working on the branding/website/logo look and feel-y type stuff, which is the pic above.

Here's the Mediacoop manifesto:

"What is Mediacoop.tv?
Mediacoop.tv is a like-minded collective of highly skilled freelance media professionals. Using our combined resources, experience and know how, we aim to produce high end Video, Photography, Animation and Graphics. From script to screen, we can provide all your production needs at a price to suit every budget.

Mediacoop.tv utilizes a core group of industry freelancers, handpicked for their technical and artistic backgrounds. Using freelancers enables us to operate without the usual outgoings of staff and premises. Unfortunately you won’t be greeted by our hot receptionist, a frothy coffee or lollipops on arrival, but we only cut costs not corners. This keeps production costs down without compromising on detail or quality.
In a nutshell, we pretty much do everything. Our Coop team have just about done it all-feature films, commercials, corporates…you name it. We are a one stop shop for all your High definition media needs from animation to zoetropes…and everything in between.

Whether you want promote your company on the Web with a cost effective interactive video, perhaps you want to launch your new product to the masses with a viral advertising campaign, or, you just want the world to check out your new music promo. Mediacoop.tv can do it for you."

The Cad

2009-03-31T09:56:00.000-07:00

A chap I'm working on for something which might not happen.

Fresh Air

2009-03-30T04:11:00.000-07:00

Another project I'm working on is a thing called Fresh Air.

Fresh Air was an idea I had for a cartoon, that made it's way over to Warners in America. Unfortunately after some deliberation they decided not to go for it. I always intended to work on it anyway, in comic form, so I've started at last.

It's my first comic, so it's going to be a massive learning process. But I am loving it, as it combines everything I love doing - drawing, storyboarding, and story-telling.

I've only just scanned in the first sketched chapter and have yet to do the proper work in Illustrator, but as a taster there's a page below.

Also to give you a taste of what it's about, here's the blurb that went on the pitch to Warners:

"Billy’s life is not great.

Billy is a beat-down office drone, a slave to the man. Billy lives with his mum. Billy’s existence is grey servitude. Cloudy, blank, endlessly dull. Billy has existed like this, on autopilot, for as long as he can remember. All of that is about to change.

Our hero spots an advertisement for a new holiday firm called ‘Freshair’. Freshair calls out to the worker bees of the city - the millions that are just like our Billy. They say - ‘Hey, we bet you’re stressed and miserable. We bet you need to get away from your repetitive hell, and we can help.’ For a nominal fee, Freshair will take you, via helicopter, out into the wilds and leave you, naked if required, for however long you wish. While completely alone and free one can recharge and then get collected by the chopper, rejuvenated and ready to turn life into something positive.

Billy thinks this is exactly what he needs. Unfortunately there will be a problem...

All the years of stress and compliance have made Billy’s mind a ticking time-bomb. The wilderness has an instant affect on him - he goes crazy, and decides to live as a feral nutter in the boonies forever.

Of course his mother and boss soon begin to worry, and the authorities are dispatched to find our missing hero. They will attempt to bring him back to his hated city life, while he will try to stay in his new blissful world of unhinged insanity.

Fresh Air is an animated series, made up of the ‘real world’ - the chase in the wilderness to bring Billy back to ugly reality and his encounters with real people on his adventures, and the ‘Billy world’ - the world of his demented imagination, and all it’s colourful inhabitants."

Monster Circus

2009-03-30T04:06:00.000-07:00

One of the projects I'll be working on is a thing called Master Lusus's Miraculous Monster Circus. The circus guys are already on the blog somewhere, and here's a bit of notebookery for it.

Monks

2009-03-30T04:01:00.000-07:00

Another bit of randomness, this time from notebook. I don't know what these guys are, or what purpose they'll serve. But to me they look like monks, and a motley crew of them at that. Might do a story around them some day.

Spot the irony

2009-03-30T03:53:00.000-07:00

Two random drawings here, originally intended for my brother's wall. We'll see if he likes them first.

Back in business

2009-03-30T03:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated this in a while as I've been over on the west coast, suffering through beach walks and good times to get some inspiration.

It's definitely worked, I have loads of new projects to get on with, so I'll start by putting up the sketches and then the more finished art work as and when I complete it.

Have a bit of news in that I have joined the ranks of brilliant new production agency Mediacoop, and will have more on that as it develops. I will say it's very, very exciting to be part of something so promising right from the start. I'm also doing some writing on music website state.ie, so I'm pleased I can keep my toe in that business too.

Life's tough.

When character creation goes awry

2009-03-04T12:05:00.000-08:00

I am creating a character for something top secret that if anyone finds out about before they're supposed to their eyes will fall out. He was intended to be something of a cad.

But, I lost the run of myself and ended up with a camp adam-west-batman-villain zombie who looks like he has an appetite for poo.

So as I will not use him for the thing he was originally intended for, I can post him. Who knows, I may find a use for him some day.

More notebook

2009-03-04T10:02:00.001-08:00

Another couple of notebook bits...

Expanding on the old-bar-guy theme, I'm going to do a few bigger pieces featuring them drinking alongside robothead and moonhead. I don't know why. The funny voice told me to.

Will be changing style a little for these. Using a ruler for the first time, and matte black.. simple clean lines.. and so on. Etc.

...and another bar guy from the notebook. I think this has a resemblance to my uncle, but I doubt he's going to thank me for it.

Fishing

2009-02-18T10:03:00.000-08:00

Irish Angler magazine are after an illustrator so I did these today.

Notebook work

2009-02-09T10:29:00.000-08:00

I've started using notebooks again, so if I do anything worthwhile in them I'll put them up too.

One of the great things about home is the characters you get in the pubs. I'm going to start creating a few of these types, so here are some preliminary sketches...

2009-02-04T06:11:00.000-08:00

Another circus guy, with pet.

2009-01-30T05:59:00.000-08:00

Another new circus freak. Although this one looks more like a Fagan from Oliver Twist.

2009-01-29T06:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some things I've been working on recently. I've got circus people bouncing around in my head for some reason, so I'm going to do a few of them over the next while.

Originally this was for a Guinness ad idea I had, but now I'm going to just draw lots of circus people.

This is the latest in a series of pics I do of a guy with a moon for a head, and a guy with a robot head. I am not entirely sane. You can see the others on the aul website.

2009-01-29T06:03:00.001-08:00

Here's one I did for E4. It was commissioned for the background to the games section on their website. Unfortunately on the site you can only see the edges, but that's my fault.

I think you might be able to click on it to make it bigger.

2009-01-29T05:31:00.000-08:00

I need to brighten up my shiny new blog so I'm going to put some things up.

Over in London I did some drawings on a cult celebrity website called Holy Moly. They were of Pete Doherty and Amy Winehouse, and they were not flattering. Here's a couple:

and this is amy's then husband blake:

You can see more of them on my website

2009-01-29T05:11:00.000-08:00

Hello. My name is Matthew J Griffin, and I draw pictures. I've just moved home to Ireland after 7 years in London, and have had an incredible idea - I'm going to go fully freelance, drawing pictures, during a deep recession.

On this blog I'm going to do what most bloggers do and post new work as I do it, and any news I might have about exciting commissions (please god).

Please feel free to leave comments, I love feedback.

You can see other work on my website - www.matthewjgriffin.com.

I hope you enjoy it.