This is well worth a look.

This seems to embody everything that drawing should be about.It has movement and as far as I’m concerned there’s not a thing wrong with this, every mark seems to count and it has energy and dynamism in spades. One can feel the bulk of the horse and the feel of that relaxed rider who like a good horsewoman ( and I’m pretty sure it’s a woman on board here ) feels completely at home on the back of this creature. You can find more examples of drawings like this right here.Julia Midgley If you want to see more of Julia’s … Continue reading This is well worth a look.

Going on and on!

I warned you I’d be going on and on about this and here I am doing it again. My old friend David, on the far left in the picture below, found this picture of four of us from all those years ago. I have no idea what it was taken for and neither does he. I’m next to David with Alan Lofthouse on my right and Jim Coley on the right. I never really did get a proper job, but the rest were all in very worthy employment. David became Senior Vice President of All things Creative and Master of … Continue reading Going on and on!

The Kinks : Days (Thank You For …)

Originally posted on The Immortal Jukebox:
Here is is. Another Day. One Day. One among the unknown number alloted to you. Bless the light. Another sacred day. Yours to do with what you will. This Day won’t, can’t come again – though you may remember it for every Day you have left to live. Bless the Light. Today is all we have and whatever happens today you have the absolute existential freedom to choose how you act, how your react, to whatever this Day brings. Bless the light. And, when you come to the end of this Day you will… Continue reading The Kinks : Days (Thank You For …)

Drop in and check this out.

Here’s what became of some of them, from this drawing by Anthony ‘Doove’ Woolaston, who’s subsequent life and career remains something of a mystery. He was certainly talented and managed to capture most of us with uncanny accuracy. I am my usual smiling self in the front row. Also in the show are some of out fellow fine artists, like Bob Nancolis, Bob Frith, and Graham Wells, who don’t feature in this drawing as they avoided graphic design. There are one or two names that I cannot recollect from the drawing, and staff and tchnicians are marked by just a … Continue reading Drop in and check this out.

Impressionists?

Interesting to know quite what you expect of something like that word. A Monet or someone pretending to be someone else. I’m recently back from Manchester where, as readers of this tome know, I’ve been wading through nostalgia. Manchester School of Art, as it is called now, were kind enough to allow myself and several other ex students who graduated in 1969, that they were happy to put on an exhibition for us to celebrate our 50 years away from them! They’ve done a great job, and after meeting up with them and my colleagues last week we are still … Continue reading Impressionists?

Where it all started:

This place is where all the people in the poster below started their degree courses back in the 60s. I used to sit in one of these windows looking out more than down more than I should I suspect. Now a hotel and not very five star, this building housed the graphic designers of the future. Not difficult as there were few graphic designers of the past. And occasionally at the end of a days drawing or designing we’d repair to the Alsatia Cafe, which was part of the greasy spoon franchise that you could find anywhere in Manchester in … Continue reading Where it all started:

…dum diddy dooh!

A chance for more musing on Manchester in the 60s. We paid for stuff in pounds shilling and pence, and in 1969 the farthing was discontinued! We were lucky enough not to generate a debt from our studying being given a Government Grant to attend and keep us in beer and cigarettes. Some of us were better at looking after this sum than others, I supplemented mine by working in the holidays at Haydock Park Racecourse where I helped the groundsmen to cut saplings to make the fences for the steeplechase from Lord Derby’s Estate at Knowsley. We then took … Continue reading …dum diddy dooh!