BLUEFIRE JELLYFISH
/ISSUE #2/08-05-2014/
Ignite your creativity and bloom / Inspiration, interviews, sources and features for all creatives.
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10 Commandments of Photoshop
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Pekoe / Cover Artist Interview
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Haroon Ehsan / Artist Playlist
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Midlands MCM Expo / Review
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Pipp Matchwick / Fashion Photographer
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Adobe Kuler
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Batcat Graphics / Illustration & Graphics
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Tal Avitzur / Robot Maker. Scrap Hunter.
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Puzzle Page
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“How To...” / Make a Gradient
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Submission Page
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Pirate_fly* / Artist Challenge
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Krakow / Places to Visit
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Reviews
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Banko / All Round Creative Duo!
BLUEFIRE JELLYFISH Welcome back to
Since publishing the magazine on Issuu, it was added to the staff favourites list, and this ultimately sky-rocketed the views and followers, and earned me interest from artists across the globe. So I thought it’s about time I give you a bit of info about myself. I am 21 years old, from a tiny village in England, and made this in my wardrobe studio. Which, yes, is literally a desk built in a cupboard with a computer in it. I am a modern day Harry Potter. To give you some reassurance, I am a Photojournalism graduate. Over the three year course, I gradually learnt that doing photography was not what made me happy. I realised that magazines and pretty pictures did. So I dashed them together, with help from you talented people, and voila! All the writing, photography that is not credited, articles and general putting together was done by yours truly. I had help with the design tweaking, but overall it’s my little baby. Which is what makes me so proud that my little baby is making friends. Friends that mean I have cover artists set until issue #5, which is incredible. And there is also a wide range of friends in this issue! Graffiti artist Pekoe is our wonderful cover artist, we have a playlist and a challenge from illustrators Haroon Ehsan and Pirate_fly*, plus features from fashion photographer Pipp Matchwick, illustrator and graphic designer Batcat Graphics, robot maker Tal Avitzur, and all round creative duo Banko. Thank you to you all. A new feature to this issue is the introduction of a puzzle page to get your creative brains whirring in a different way, so go play! I have also set up a Facebook page! Just search for Bluefire Jellyfish and like to get updates and news on what’s coming next, or just to say hello.
I hope issue #2 lives up to what issue #1 started, and as always – if you want to get involved yourself or contribute, just give me a shout. I would love to hear from you and see what you do. Contact me through bluefirejellyfish@live.co.uk, or drop me a message on the Facebook page.
Editor/ Creator/ Writer/ Designer: Rhiannon Szulc • Primary & Cover Designer: Liam Higgins • Cover Artwork: Pekoe
Welcome back everyone! It has been a crazy ride since issue #1, and first off I would like to thank all you readers, contributors and general supporters of all kinds. You guys make me happy and deserve cookies.
Intermediate
TEN +
1
Thou shalt check if the colour space is set to RGB or CYMK before saving. Get it wrong and the internet will upload your work horribly just to punish and humiliate you.
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Thou shalt never underestimate the power of shortcuts. Or holding shift when resizing objects.
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Thou shalt remember that to undo, ctrl + z only undo’s once. Crtl + alt + z will undo multiple times.
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Thou shalt learn to love the dodge and burn tools, and the adjustment layers. Thou shalt not be tempted by artistic filters.
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Commandments of Photoshop 6
Thou shalt not forgot the layer system. Thou shalt obsessively check that thou is on the correct layer.
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Thou shall save often. Every 10 seconds, if needed. Gauge the computer’s (and Photoshop’s) mood of the day to assess.
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Thou shall check brush type and size before drawing initial line. Thou shall not assume Photoshop has provided you with the brush weight you desired, or thought you left it on.
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Thou shalt also check brushes before stroking a pen line.
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Thou shalt remember never to underestimate Photoshop. It has a mind of its own. And you will love it.
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As an illustrator, battler and spray paint enthusiast based in Bristol, Pekoe is fast rising up the urban and graffiti art scene in the UK. We chat to her about live painting, collaborations and the graff scene.
Pekoe Tell us a bit about your work I've drawn ever since I can remember, and in the last few years, after a long time of doodling and not really doing anything else with it, I started to develop a style which draws influences mainly from graffiti, street art, pin up, art nouveau and tattoo art. I've also always had a fascination with lettering, although it's not one of my strengths! The ladies I draw, to me, represent sexiness without objectification; I see them as smart, interesting, independent, sensual. I find the use of over-sexualised women in some art movements irritating because it's just too pervasive and gratuitous, so I just try to show another side to women, other ways we are attractive and appealing. I've also recently become interested in symbolism but more in an aesthetic way; twisting traditional illustrative elements into mad little symbols. I like to put a bit of darkness and a bit of cheek into my work as well.
What drew you to the graffiti and street art style? The manipulation of letters always fascinated me. Graffiti, especially as you get more wild and abstract, becomes more and more like decoding something. I was lucky to meet, over the last few years, many talented and
amazing graf writers who have taught and encouraged me as I play with letters and it definitely rekindled my passion for it. I fit more into the character side of things but I will keep painting - letters, ladies, cats.. I just want to get better and better. Also; painting on stuff. I'm sorry, but it is awesome.
What do you like best about live painting? This is hard to answer! I've always worked well under pressure and live illustration makes you think and draw in a different way, especially in a competition setting. I like the nerves you get beforehand, I love looking at the crowd mid-event and seeing people just watching. I like the way you need to learn how to fix mistakes or incorporate them; it's been one of the biggest things I've learned and it's a valuable skill. It was also a personal thing - after a few tough years, I suddenly found myself fired up, inspired and motivated and the rest has come from there. It's given me a confidence in myself I didn't have before. And it's crazy fun!!
What is your live painting checklist, and how do you prepare for it? This differs on the event, but having done competition formats I'll go with that, it's a good general basis - sketch, sketch, sketch
beforehand. You need to draw over what you have planned, as close to the size you're going to be doing as possible. Make sure you know what medium you're going to be using - I've been caught out a few times. Learn how to draw blind - a lot of competitions like Secret Walls won't allow you to sketch out first or even have a sketch with you. Control your nerves. Remember that with bigger formats, you don't need to be "pixel-perfect"; concentrate on the whole. Take cues from graf - step back to appraise CONSTANTLY. And concentrate on one or two techniques or elements you can do really well. Best to stay simple than overcomplicate and end with an unfinished piece. The time will go quicker than you can imagine, I promise. And remember - everything is fixable.
What tips would you have for anyone wishing to pursue live painting themselves? There are a few groups and crews that
organise things like this, so google what's going on in your home town. Or start an event! Sketchbook sessions, live battles, there are opportunities out there. For me, it was getting involved with Secret Walls' London Blackbook battles last summer that really opened the door to live illo in a competitive sense, but I also owe a shout to both SPZero76 for starting the awesome Collab Nation project and my Newcastle fam GMC. Without this lot, I'd probably still be doodling quietly at
home doing nothing with it.
What is the proudest moment of your career so far? First and foremost - GMC. Thank you fam. There's a couple of things that I still can't quite believe have happened - being chosen for Secret Walls' team battle at last year's Nass Fest left the most stupid grin on my face for about a week. Painting my first Upfest last year. I was recently featured in the Guardian. Even little things; having a character I painted ride for almost two months gave me the smiles as well! I am both proud of myself, and ridiculously thankful for the way things are going; it sounds cheesy but considering I've only been properly active artistically for about 3 years now I think I'm doing ok.
You do a lot of collab work, how does this help your own work and style? Collab work can be amazing for artistic growth. When you need to add to a piece that is so different to your own work in style or content, it stretches your skills and imagination. I cannot recommend it enough.
I have learned a lot about technique and adaptability from other artists and it's good practice for working in a team. It teaches you a unique flexibility, whether in a live setting or not.
What inspires you? Loads of things! Nice trainers. Hip hop. Colourways. My friends. Books. Other artists. Sunshine. My boyfriend, who is my partner in paint and pens. We collab together a lot and that is always fun. One of my favourite things to do is load up with paint and a couple of drinks and spend a day painting with him.
Do you believe women graffiti artists are on the rise, and what are your opinions on this? It's a tricky one, this. Yes, women are on the rise, and that is only a good thing, but there are still questions to be asked about gender stereotyping in the graffiti world, on both sides. To every woman getting up, and not as a woman but as a writer - big up! There is some superb talent out there - MadC, Utah, The Girls on Top crew have some crazy skills. That's what I like - skill, drive, improvement,
Photograph Credit: The HotRaspberry • Left Artwork: Alts • Middle: Pekoe • Right: Zec
evolution. I have questions about women using their bodies or a put-on shallowness to gather more attention - in a world where female objectification is standard, is it clever to play into that, or just perpetuating? That said, it's my opinion, I don't let it affect me the way it did a year ago, and at the end of the day there are plenty of male writers who trade on pretty much nothing as well. It's the best and worst thing about art, people's opinions. I'm at the point where I just worry about where I am; graffiti does not take naturally to analysis.
What is your ultimate goal as a graffiti and street artist? Keep going, keep painting. In a dream fantasy world, I would have a nice paint sponsorship and get to travel the world painting beautiful locations. In the real world, I'm studying at the moment as well as painting. So, in the meantime I'm going to work hard, keep having fun, keep getting involved. I have been so lucky with the things I've done recently, I don't want it to stop!
E-Mail: heypekoe@gmail.com • Website: facebook.com/heypekoe
Pekoe would like to give special shouts to GMC, SYN, Alts, Ant, Aems, Rusk, Bristol heads (you know), Eileen, Storm, Stina, Alice, Meat Mafia, SPZero76 and Collab Nation, and Secret Walls.
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Mythological European monster fabled to feed on good women
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CHIC
CEVACHE
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Artist Playlist Haroon Ehsan “The music I listened to whilst drawing this up was heavily hip hop instrumental based. I opened with Clams Casino mixtape volume 2. I had I'm God on loop for a while. I then moved on to Baroness - Green and Yellow, which is an beautiful album. I do recommend you listen to Baroness Blue Record. There was a moment where I had Whitney Houston dub plate 'My Love is Your Love' for a very long time. As for vectoring, I had The Weekend - Thursday playing as I got to redoing the line work.”
Who is Haroon? “In central Rochdale born and raised, in my sketchpad is where I spent most of my days. Drawing hands and ladies and even topless guys, all in the comfort off my bedroom. When I realised I could be getting paid to draw. Honestly, its really tough trying write something to the Fresh Prince theme. So I'm a graphic designer, turned Illustrator, turned car sales man, turned English teach in Japan. My website (which is due a heavy update) is www.haroonehsan. com. My twitter (also on my website) is: www.twitter.com/ mischievousecho That's it really. Thank you!” +
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SLAVE
LIFE
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Midlands MCM Expo Telford, in Shropshire, is known for the Ironbridge Gorge, The Wrekin, the ice rink and... cosplay?
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MCM Expo, the name for UK comic conventions, kicked off its 2014 dates with the Midlands Expo in the International Centre, Telford, on the 15 February. As a Shropshire inhabitant myself, the Telford Con has always been one for my personal diary!
Kit Jo Yuki’s Stall
There’s a little bit of something for everyone at the MCM Expo’s. There’s the comic village featuring illustrators, comic artists and writers, and stalls selling everything from plushie Pikachu cars to swords – with everything in between! There’s arcade dance mats, gaming sections, cosplay, and special guests (including Hannah Spearritt from Primeval and Vic Mignogna from Fullmetal Alchemist among other voice acting).
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Now I can be totally biased here (there’s always a few fangirl moments for me at the Expo’s, this time mainly down to Puella Magi Madoka Magica merchandise), but from a creative point of view these Cons are fabulous. At only £7, Telford is one of the cheaper ones to get into, and this year it expanded across more hall space. There was difficulty with parking (being told the car park was full and with no alternatives being offered to us), but having not experienced this in years before it goes to show the popularity that these events are gaining. The main highlight for creative people has to be the comic village. Featuring over 45 illustrators, artists, writers and even jewellery makers, there was plenty of talent on offer. There were firm favourites of the MCM Expo
The Astral Gypsy’sStall
scene, such as DestinyBlue, Kit Jo Yuki and Lyndon White, as well as fresh faces such as Brogan Coral and Dawnie-chan (who complimented me on my Cardcaptors love). As you would imagine, every artist was friendly and approachable, some offering commissioned sketches on the day and all of them offering extremely affordable fan and original art. Apart from the art, there was still so much more to enjoy. Another highlight was the Astral Gypsy stall, an art and book store in Coventry, who sold Copic pens, art supplies and art and manga books. From experience, I know that Copic pens are at least hard to get a hold of in Shropshire (apart from Amazon), so it was refreshing to see them supplied here so you could actually see and hold them. Then there were the obvious good points you expect from an MCM event. From Star
Wars to Steampunk, there was inspiration and simply good things to buy everywhere. I will admit that the MCM Expo’s lean heavily in the anime direction, but there are still merchandise stores for other geeky avenues - TV, film, game and comic books. The cosplay was, as always, amazing, and I always marvel at the sheer volume of cosplayers, particularly at the Midlands Expo. Highlights were a giant Kirby, an army of anime characters, and a gorgeous Elsa from Frozen – complete with full diamante gown. This eventually culminates in the cosplay masquerade on the main stage at the end of the day. With plenty more Expo dates coming in the year and across the UK (head to the next one, the massive London Expo on 23 to 25 May), you have no excuse not to visit one of these. Nerds, comic, anime and geek lovers you will not be disappointed. Bluefire Jellyfish • Issue 02 • buefirejellyfish.com • 21 +
Pipp Matchwick Photography I am pleased to present Pipp Matchwick, an old school friend of mine that I’ve known since I was around 4! But she is also a talented fashion photographer based in the Midlands, having recently graduated from Birmingham Institute of Art and Design with a BA Honours in Visual Communication specialising in Fashion Photography. Tell us a little bit about your work. I would say my style is very natural. I love natural lighting. For this set (right, and illustrated on the following pages in collaboration with Vicky Ink), I wanted something summery and warm, that you looked at and felt that you could see it on the street somewhere. It’s hard because I try and change my style to learn new techniques. You can get very comfortable doing the same thing, but at the moment simple, light and warm.
What drew you to fashion photography in particular? I’ve always loved fashion and the way someone’s personality can be reflected by what they wear. That and the fact that fashion photography is so available to everyone, you can’t walk down the street without seeing fashion photography. I loved the idea that one piece of work can say so much to so many.
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Location definitely. I feel that you can get some amazing images and effects through location and the natural light that you can’t with a studio. Also the model can interact with the location, which sometimes makes for an amazing image. Obviously in the snow I’m craving for a cosy studio and a cup of tea but nothing beats location when you get it right!
For location shoots, how do you find the locations to shoot in, and is there anything in particular you look for? I look at what I’m shooting - what I want to show and reflect in the images. If it’s going to be a city based location I love to have something a bit unusual, and at the moment I love having lines and repetition in the location. Trying to find a location is horrible! I always have what I want in my head and nothing matches up. Blogs are great to find locations, especially if you’re searching for something off the beaten track. Taking a walk around is also a great way - I once found a hidden boho style tent and swing in a forest, along with a swamp, that had an amazing stone bridge next to it.
Model: Roxanne John • Stylist: Josie Cathy Roberts, Stylist/ Creative Director of Cathy Little Magazine, (www.cathylittle.me, e-mail: jroberts6666@hotmail.co.uk
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Illustrations by Vicky Fallon • Vicky Ink • www.vickyink.com • Make-up Artist (MUA): Amy Rose
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Model: Andreea Birladeanu • Stylist: Pipp Matchwick • MUA: Lauren Sanderson +
“
...we had to run out of the building due to some crazy foreigners shouting at us
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”
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Model: Rachel Bowler • Stylist: Pipp Matchwick • MUA: Jaineesha Solanki
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Literally everything, I love walking down the street and seeing something like graffiti or architecture and instantly wondering what that would look like. One of the best ways I’ve found, if I’m struggling for inspiration, is to look on Pinterest. I see some amazing styles and imagery that really get my mind working.
Who is your style icon and why? It always changes, at the moment I love Suki Waterhouse’s style, and also Laura Whitmore. She does casual and still looks amazing, I remember she wore this yellow dress to the Elle style awards last year and I just fell in love with her style from then.
Which is your favourite shoot you’ve done so far and why? I have too many to pick from, the most fun I’ve had was a shoot in a derelict building
What would be your dream job or project? My dream job would obviously be shooting for Vogue, with a huge budget so I could buy all these crazy props. Think Tim Walker doubled! It would probably end up the tackiest thing ever but I would have so much fun.
What would be on your shoot checklist? An amazing team as without them my work would be nothing. A reflector, spare SD Card, plasters and wet wipes because you never know what will happen and obviously my camera. Also my phone, because I love a cheeky behind the scenes instagram! Bluefire Jellyfish • Issue 02 • buefirejellyfish.com • 29 +
Pipp Matchwick Photography • pippmatchwickphotography@hotmail.co.uk • facebook.com/pippmatchwickphotography
What inspires you?
this year working with an amazing team. It was one of the coldest days and we were shooting underwear! In the end we had to run out of the building due to some crazy foreign people shouting at us. Very dangerous but certainly an experience.
Junior
Adobe Kuler
kuler.adobe.com
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This gorgeous looking site is Kuler, from Adobe, and it’s pretty straightforward and awesome. It provides help on forming colour schemes for your work. There’s a colour wheel where you input your base colour, and it automatically finds the colours to go with it, depending on which colour scheme you ask for (complementary, analogous etc). You can also upload an image and find its colour schemes. Or if you’re not entirely sure, there’s a beautiful page of colour schemes uploaded by other users, pictured above, to provide you with unbelievable amounts of colour inspiration. You can save these themes, or create your own and share it with others. This little gem of a site could prove invaluable to artists and creatives of all kinds!
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3 4a
#6
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#9
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6 b9
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#b
9
9 d3
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d ee
#e
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BALANCE TACTFUL VITALITY FAMILY AMATEUR GO SPRING RELIABLE RENEWAL SOCIAL GENEROUS GROWTH NATURE
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Batcat Graphics Mazzie runs Batcat from a hollowed out volcano in the wilds of Cheshire, along with her trusty sidekick and a psychotic cat. How would you describe your work? Well, my favourite types of work to do are digital portraiture, character design and illustration in general - either on paper or on my computer. I’d call it semirealistic and pop culture inspired to say the least. Aside from that though, I’ve done a variety of different design jobs like logos, posters etc. along the way to gain experience, so I like to think I can turn my hand to most things these days!
As your work is primarily based in many different avenues, how important is it nowadays for creatives to be able to adapt to different briefs and styles? I think if you’re going to go the freelancer route – either for yourself or through an agency – a lot of employers seem to want one person who can do a lot of different things. Like, they don’t want to have to hire a web designer and a graphic designer and an illustrator because of course it works out cheaper for them to hire one person who can do all of those things. I think having all those disciplines to at least a competent
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level isn’t necessarily easy, but at this moment in time it is necessary. I’m just learning how to design websites myself because I know there’s potential to alienate a whole glut of clients if that isn’t something I can offer them.
In your illustrations you have worked in vector work and more traditional digital drawings, which do you prefer and why? I like both for different reasons, but I think hand illustrating is my favourite just because it’s something I’ve done for the sheer enjoyment of it since I was about two years old. I used to ask my parents for my ‘dot dots’ (pens) and I’d just sit and draw for hours on end. I was a really cheap kid to keep until I discovered video games! Vectors I enjoy doing when I’m in a particular mood. There’s something really precise and ordered about vectors because you’ve got to layer everything up in the right place. Also, being a creative type, there isn’t a whole lot of order anywhere else in my life so I’m quite obsessive about having
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my computer and files all neatly ordered which I suppose is handy considering the line of work I’m trying to go into!
When it comes to colouring, what tips would you have in perfecting colour in a more traditional art approach - such as skin colour, clothing etc?
How do TV shows inspire your work? It was a complete accident, really. I got sick in around 2007, and because I couldn’t get out much I was marathoning a lot of TV shows, whilst at the same time I was trying to teach myself how to use Photoshop and Illustrator just to try and stop myself going stir crazy. I was lucky enough to get my first graphics tablet for my birthday or something and started teaching myself how to use that, too. Eventually the two things just ended up coming together and I’d practice drawing whatever was happening on the screen. It was cool too because I get a lot of ‘brain fog’ that can occasionally just stump me creatively so it’s good that there was that well of inspiration to draw from when I
If you had to pick one TV show to take to a desert island to watch forever, what would it be? I’d have to take Breaking Bad because it’s a complete package. It was just perfect from beginning to end and I can watch it and be satisfied. I couldn’t take something that wasn’t already over, like The Walking Dead or Supernatural, because never getting to find out what happens in the end would just drive me to the point of kicking in the TV, painting a face on it and calling it Wilson.
How important would you say fan art is to the creative scene, and how has it helped your own career? I think it’s more important than a lot of people give it credit for, honestly. As I said earlier, when a brain blockage hits it’s good to have another point of reference you can push through it with. On top of that, there is a huge well of creativity that circles around a lot of fandoms, and a lot of shows have been clever enough to latch onto that and use that art to get their product in front of more eyeballs than they necessarily had before. Which is important if you want to illustrate or design for a living, as well as nudging people towards a career in design that they might not have ever really considered before, had they not started making fan art. For me personally, it has helped in terms of the amount of people who have seen my work. You’ve got things like hashtags on Tumblr and Twitter where your work will be seen by someone just searching around for stuff to do with a particular show or movie or whatever - whereas if you’ve just tagged it with ‘illustration’, you’re not really reaching as big of an audience. Then once you’ve
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Website: www.batcat.net • e-mail: info@batcat.net • Tumblr: batcatgraphics.tumblr.com • twitter: @batcatgraphics
The best tip I could give is that if you’re in college doing a design course that has a module where you learn more traditional art techniques, listen really carefully because it’s going to be way more useful than you think it’s going to be. All of the stuff you learn about colour mixing and composition and line weight ends up informing everything you do. Even if you’re not in college I’d recommend grabbing anything that teaches you colour mixing at the very least because it ends up being one of the handiest things you’ll ever learn. You can know the Adobe Creative Suite inside out, but if you don’t have those fundamental rules in the back of your mind the whole time you could still end up with something that looks like a dog’s dinner.
couldn’t manage to inspire myself.
got those ‘fans’ following you and checking out your work, they’re more likely to take something original that you’ve done and show other people and it can just grow from there.
Behance: behance.net/batcat • facebook.com/batcatgraphics
With the growth of fandoms, particularly with social media etc, how has this helped (or hindered) the fan art scene? I think again the biggest advantage is the sheer volume of people who end up seeing your work. Particularly because there’s a percentage of them out there who might just come to you when they want a custom piece, or even for work that’s completely unrelated to the thing that they recognise you from in the first place – you just never know! Of course (and I don’t count myself as one of these people) if you become very well recognised for your fanart then you do end up maybe becoming a little bit of a target for trolls. This is something I’ve noticed happening on Tumblr a few times, because there’s always someone out there who’s going to resent that you’re doing well out of something and are going to try and make you feel bad to make themselves feel better. But I think as bad as that is, just sod ‘em and keep going. The good stuff far outweighs the bad as far as I can see.
What tips would you have for anyone wishing to utilise fan art for their illustration careers? Hashtag EVERYTHING. Particularly with Tumblr. Tag your art with the name of the show or whatever, the characters and the actors playing the characters. If you’re looking at it from a point of view that you want it to lead into paid work, you need to make sure everybody is going to see it. Be active on Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook (as infuriating as all of those things can be at
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times) and interact with people as much as you can. I think sometimes people feel a bit self conscious because you’re essentially putting your stuff out there to be judged, but you just can’t let it intimidate you. The worst thing that’s going to happen is someone might not like what you’ve done and really, that’s just their opinion – you can’t let one or two people’s opinions stop you. Just take the criticism on board if it’s constructive and carry on. I think as long as you keep faith in yourself, keep learning and keep practicing you can be successful with this kind of work. That reminds me of another thing – I got into design in my mid-20’s purely to find something I could potentially do for a living despite being ill. I would have gotten into it FAR sooner if I hadn’t listened to people when I was a kid, saying that there was no money to be made in art. If anyone tells you that, they’re lying and you shouldn’t listen to them. You might not always be doing things you’re crazy about doing creatively, but it helps you to make money and gives you the ability do the stuff you actually enjoy doing in your spare time which is a pretty cool job as far as I’m concerned.
Apart from TV, what else inspires you? Old hand-painted movie posters, particularly ones for B-Movies like ‘Attack of the 50ft Woman’, motion graphics designers like Prologue Studios, Tattoo art (particularly Trash Polka style work), robots, weird old TV idents, comedy, post-rock, jangly guitars, retrofuturistic design, constructivism, ‘Archer’, comic books, hand-drawn type, sci-fi, video games, any kind of dystopian/ post-apocalyptic fiction, annoyance with the British government, kitschy glittery nonsense, and my cat.
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Pinterest Find Of The Day
Book Of The Day
Poster by DKNG Studios www.dkngstudios.com
The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini 2003
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Film Of The Day
Behance Find Of The Day
Tangled 2010 Mandy Moore Zachary Levi
Illustration by Kes Scott Kennedy www.behance.net/kesoak
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Tal Avitzur Tal Avitzur, from Santa Barbara, California, creates amazing robots entirely from pieces he salvages from scrap and salvage yards, and “though these robots don’t clean your house, wash your car, walk your dog, or sing and dance they do light up”.
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Photography: Wayne McCall
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“
I suspect the creators of these objects had secret desires to be building spaceships...
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After earning a Masters in Maths, Tal worked for the US Navy in Washington, where he determined the best collection of spare parts that carriers should keep stocked in order to maximise readiness of planes. However the call of Santa Barbara was too great, and eventually Tal returned to teach part-time so he could concentrate on artistic pursuits. After a salvage for a home improvement project, and a visit to a scrap metal yard, Tal sealed his fate. Here we chat to Tal about his robots and how they come to life.
Describe the process of putting these robots together, how do the ideas start and how do you put them together? Each piece begins with a found object. Then I build something based on that one object. It’s like putting together a puzzle. I lay out lots of possible pieces on the floor until I find a group of objects that look like they are
natural fits. After that it’s a matter of grinding, drilling, tapping or whatever is necessary to get all the pieces connected together.
What inspired you to make the robots? I began visiting scrap yards when I was looking for parts to remodel the old house that I was living in. I was amazed by the wide variety of things that showed up at the scrap yard. I was finding old power tools, kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners, floor polishers, laboratory equipment from research labs, and many things whose original purpose will always be a mystery to me. Some things were just too beautiful to be left there, where they would later be shipped off to be melted down for their metal. So I started bringing them home, and before I knew it my gardening shed was full. The collection that I accumulated seemed perfect to build robots and other sci-fi related objects. I suspect many of the creators of these objects, from the 1930s to the 1960s, had Bluefire Jellyfish • Issue 02 • buefirejellyfish.com • 45 +
secret desires to be building space ships and robots, and it shows in the designs.
How long have you been doing this for? I started collecting cool looking objects about 15 years ago. I began creating art about six years ago to justify the large collection of parts and all the space it was taking up.
Your robots all seem to have distinct characterisation, is that spontaneous, or do you have an image of a robot you set out with? The parts on-hand most definitely dictate what is created. It’s amazing how much character can be found in some inanimate objects.
talbotics.com
How long does it take you to make a robot, once you have the parts? Each piece is different. They can take from weeks to many months to finish. I currently have about 15 projects sitting around waiting for some part or parts to show up before +
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I can finish. Once I have the parts, the time to completion depends on how easy it is to connect parts that were not originally intended to be connected.
What kind of things do you look for in salvage parts? I never know until I see it. It surprises me how much fun I can have rummaging through a huge pile of scrap metal looking for some hidden treasure.
What inspires your work? As a child I was a big fan of comics, sci-fi books and movies ... and I still am. I suspect that’s where the inspiration comes from.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to create 3D artwork or artwork out of salvage parts? I started doing this because it is lots of fun and very entertaining. I would just recommend the obvious, no matter what type of art you wish to create, do what you love.
Tal’s Studio - by Nemo Gould
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In honour of Pekoe, our cover artist, this wordsearch features street artists for you to find and remember!
Wordsearch M I A S T I N K F I S H J B
D V F D S N I A V Y Z E A S
H U E N A V G B C E H N H K
S B D J K A M A R J K E O E
A Z I A F D V O I S P A V I
T S L A O E I T Y A N N C T
B A R B A R A K R U G E R H
Invader Miss Van Faile Barbara Kruger Swoon Shepard Fairey Keith Haring
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Z F M V H S Z D L O W I K H
U S W O O N F N E O N S R A
F W K E A A C E K I S F P R
J A Z O I M I S S V A N A I
F M B R H E F Z B I J E I N
S P E W O Z C M L A K U B G
Cekis Banksy Swampy Roa Stinkfish Jaz Gaia
R Y K S I A T E N O R D P R
Every self-respecting magazine needs a puzzle page. It is fact. So as of this issue, here’s Bluefire Jellyfish’s recurring puzzle page! Answers will be in the next issue, and enjoy!
Jellyfish Jellyfish jellyfish
Haymaker Impact Rochester
Jellyfish
Nueva Std Cond
Jellyfish
Franklin Gothic Medium
Jellyfish Jellyfish Jellyfish Jellyfish Jellyfish
Puzzle Page!
Type Scramble A naughty gremlin has forgot to note which fonts he’s been using! Can you unscramble them and match the names to the correct font?
DIN Medium Blackadder ITC Antique Olive Std Gill Sans MT Lobster 1.3 Bluefire Jellyfish • Issue 02 • buefirejellyfish.com • 49 +
1
2
1
3
4 5 3
4
5
6
1 ACROSS: Which English newspaper was Pekoe featured in recently? (from pg. 6) (3, 8) 1 DOWN: What cartoon series are the characters Jake and Finn from? ______ Time? (9) 2 ACROSS: Who is the female Batman villain who shares her name with a plant that gives you a very nasty rash? (6, 3) 2 DOWN: What Northern English city is the home of the Thought Bubble comic art convention, and was the home of illustrator Drew Millward? (5) 3 ACROSS: Who was the author, illustrator and creator of the Moomins? Tove _____? (7) 3 DOWN: What is the name of the massive design agency, based around the world, who share their name with a star shaped symbol? (9) 4 ACROSS: What did Batcat Graphics call her pens when she was a very young child? (from pg. 34) (3,4) 4 DOWN: Where in California is Tal Avitzur from? (from pg. 42) (5,6) 5 ACROSS: What is the name of the Japanese animation studio, responsible for films such as My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away? Studio _____? (6) 5 DOWN: Which European city is Banko’s studio space, also known as the VM Mountain, located? (from pg. ) (10) 6 ACROSS: Who is Pipp Matchwick’s style icon, alongside Suki Waterhouse? Laura ______? (from pg. 22) (8)
Intermediate
How To Make a Gradient in Photoshop
+ Create a new layer + Using the paint bucket tool, click to colour the layer your chosen colour + Right click the layer itself, and select “Blending Options” + Tick the “Gradient Overlay” option in the left hand menu + Go to the gradient option, and there you can select the gradient style, choose the blending option, opacity and direction of gradient + You can also tick the “Colour Overlay” option in the menu, and lower it’s opacity to add extra colour to your gradient.
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I sincerely hope you are enjoying Bluefire Jellyfish so far, but in order for it to keep running...
I NEED YOUR HELP!
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If you are a creative and fancy a platform to challenge your work and gain a little exposure, as well as potentially joining a growing community, I want to hear from you.
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S
SUBMISSION GUIDE There are many different articles and avenues for exposure through Bluefire Jellyfish, including new features such as creating a creative selfie, to an artist challenge, to making a playlist, to 25 second drawings, and many more!
the pack for you to tick which avenues and articles would interest you. This way I will not forget you for issues down the line, and I can call on you in the future if you were interested in more than one article.
If you wish to be involved, e-mail me at bluefirejellyfish@live.co.uk, and I will get back to you with a submission pack! You can also hit me up on the Facebook page (search Bluefire Jellyfish, or facebook.com/pages/ Bluefire-Jellyfish/248726841967249).
I am currently not writing any more cover artists down as definite, as they are booked to issue #5, but feel free to show an interest so I can get back to you for issue #6 or beyond.
Due to the demand raised from the first issue, I will include a full checklist in
Thank you guys, you are what make Bluefire Jellyfish, and I look forward to hearing from y’all!
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Artist Challenge Pirate_Fly* Create a character(s) based around a personal feature of yourself. It doesn’t have to be a self portrait, just one physical feature you may have (eye colour, hair style, etc). Pirate_Fly* chose beard!
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Who is Pirate_Fly*? Pirate_Fly*, otherwise known as Liam Higgins, is a recent graduate of Glyndwr University, with a 2:1 in Design Communication (Graphic Design). With particular interest in screenprinting, he has had experience with many design aspects, from branding to book binding. He spends most of his creative time watching Adventure Time with some oreos, grapes and his cat Attila - drawing weird and wonderful characters that appear from his Wookiee brain. [Editor’s Note]: Pirate_Fly is also the one who helped me with the design of the magazine, he was the brainchild of many little tweaks throughout - and he also drew the jellyfish for the front cover banner and drew up the key system. He stepped in after Naz McDowell (Naz gets crafty on Facebook - check her out) had to pull out of the challenge due to unforeseen circumstances.
Initial Sketches
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Behance: www.behance.net/Pirate_fly • facebook.com/DesignPirateFly • Twitter: @Pirate_Fly • Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/piratefly/
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Erica Williams is a recent love of mine, but am I glad that I found her! The American artist, originally from Colorado Springs but now in Minneapolis, creates gorgeously intricate pieces with a wonderful grasp of colour. Having studied at Kansas City Art Institute but declaring herself mainly self-taught, Erica is a talent like no other. Her work is beautiful and elegant, a subtle feminine and art-nouveau influence creating extremely detailed works of art. Animals feature heavily in her pieces, and each one is drawn with a traditional accuracy paired with her unique style, all created using strong lines. But the main draw, for me, of her work is her mastery of colour. Using rich, unusual colours, she creates pieces that are different but enticing. She blends the tones of the colours together with an ease that is unparallel, and the colours
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make the black and white in her pieces all that more brilliant and eye-catching. Her pieces suck you in with their lavish approach, but she pulls it off wonderfully. I own a recent screenprint of hers (below picture), which was originally album artwork for The Manticores, and I had it for a Christmas present in 2013. This piece is beyond beautiful and, if possible, is even more gorgeous seen in person. The piece is an eight colour screenprint. When you study the colours and the intricacies of the piece – the details of the deers and the linework in the cloud – the printing process must have been extremely difficult! But it was definitely worth it. The colours shine in the print, the rich blues against the subtle greys, this all creates a beautiful piece that is worth the modest price of it – only around $30-$40. Incredible.
ERICA WILLIAMS
ericawilliamsillustration.com
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Places to Visit
Krakow When I mentioned to people I was taking a trip to Krakow, Poland, the main response was, “why?” To be fair, it’s not your typical 21 year old’s holiday – instead of sun, clubbing and drinking, I opted for sun, culture and death camps. My main reason for visiting Krakow was Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Holocaust museum in the world and an UNESCO World Heritage site. Located in the village of Oswiecim, it was the largest of the Nazi concentration and death camps during World War II, and is a symbol of genocide across the globe. It is estimated that between the camp’s opening in 1940, to it’s liberation in January 1945, 1.1 million people were killed – most through being selected directly for the gas chambers. Many of the elderly, the sick who could not work, and children, were murdered upon arrival without a chance. Those inmates not selected for instant death were forced into severe labour, and many died through starvation and exhaustion. The victims
were mainly Jews, Poles, Roma, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals and Soviet soldiers. To write the entire atrocities and horrors that the walls Auschwitz-Birkenau witnessed would take pages and pages, so I implore you all to visit it, and learn about the terror and the history yourself. The scratches on the walls of the cramped gas chamber, the delicate but empty baby clothes, a child’s suitcase, an almost two tonne mountain of hair, the pond full of unnamed victim’s ashes used as a memorial – you have to see it to really feel it. And to stop it happening again, we all need to feel those emotions, however horrible they may be. Please, just go. Moving back to Krakow, the city itself has two main districts that attract the tourists, the Old Town and the Jewish Quarter in Kazimierz. The Jewish Quarter is where you can find all the old Jewish architecture, and an interesting exhibition on Judaism in the Old Synagogue. Across the river, in the district of Podgórze, is where the Krakow
Ghetto once was. Although the Ghetto walls and boundaries no longer remain, the Ghetto Heroes Square has standing chairs as a thought-provoking memorial to it's violent history. You can also visit Schindler's Factory, made common knowledge through Spielberg's film Schindler's List, which is now an extremely well done museum on Nazi occupation in Krakow, with a bit about Schindler himself. For me the Old Town, also known as Stare Miasto, is an unbelievably stunning place, and it was also named as an UNESCO Heritage Site. The main market square is one of the largest medieval squares in Europe, and it has beautiful architecture – such as the Sukiennice (otherwise known as the Cloth Hall) in the middle of the square. This gorgeous building has market stalls straight down it’s middle, where you can pick up everything from silver jewellery featuring a lot of amber, to a beautifully painted wooden plate that looks ceramic. There is also a gallery upstairs. Horse drawn
carriages await you outside the Sukiennice to give tours around the Old Town, or you can remain in the lively atmosphere of the square and take in the sights whilst enjoying a drink at the many restaurants and bars located around the edge of the square. I even watched a classical music concert, played by The Royal Chamber Orchestra, a string quartet of mainly music graduates, in St Adalbert’s church – the oldest church in Krakow. If you have chance to ever visit Krakow, take it. Whether you want to sit and draw amongst the stunning architecture of the Old Town in the sunshine, or take a stroll through Planty Park, or absorb the endless culture, then do it. Or even if you just want to soak in the countless history of the city and its surrounding areas, do it . I know I was deeply affected by the extreme bloodshed and accounts of human plight myself, it is hard not to be. As a creative looking for inspiration, you have everything you need in Krakow.
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GODMACHINE
godmachine.co.uk
If you like ghouls, skulls and all things macabre, then you will love the work of Godmachine. Weaving intricate designs with unsettling colour palettes, this Cardiff born artist is one that is rising fast and deserves more recognition.
colour is amazing, blending vivid tones like pinks and blues with more muted and subtle tones, to create impact and hone the horror feel of the pieces. The bright colours seem too vivid, too cheery, and this is what makes them work beautifully in his pieces.
He creates band and merch work for clients like Bullet For My Valentine and Eagles of Death Metal, to work for the likes of Computer Arts Magazine and Adidas. His art is rooted in the music and skateboard scene, and he has also produced designs for clothing companies, such as a recent piece for RSI Apparel, which I very nearly bought myself!
I own the screenprint of his Demonseed piece, which is gorgeous. The colours are vivid and the bright colour of the woman’s hair contrasts perfectly with the pallid grey tones of her skin. Her pose is so elegant, and yet her horns and demon fingernails create another contrast which is unsettling and wonderful. Like all his pieces, this one is extremely detailed, and requires more than one look to fully appreciate every little part of it.
Clearly inspired by the occult, Godmachine’s work is both unsettling and beautiful - he captures a tone and atmosphere perfectly to draw you into strange scenes of naked ghoul ladies with skulls as faces and hooded demons with religious motifs. He works in black and white to produce unsettling midtones and eerie shadows, but his colour work is what I find most visually impacting. His eye for
Godmachine’s work is truly stunning and something that, although it may not be considered mainstream, is receiving that mainstream recognition that he deserves. However, I still feel he is far too underrated, and hopefully you readers will now go look him up and give him the notice he deserves.
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Designspiration designspiration.net
Ever hit that wall? Ever hit that inspiration block that you just cannot get past, and you’re running out of time on a brief? Then Designspiration is your website! All you need is a keyword, and you’re off. Created by Shelby White in early 2010, the site works off providing great inspiration for you guys. Initially you can just browse the images on the homepage, and the minimal layout provides a clean layout for the visuals to shine by themselves. However, the best part of Designspiration is the search +
option. Click on the search link, type in any keyword you need – and voila! From cake to character design, you can type in anything you need and be presented with a gorgeous collection of beautiful images (anything from illustration, photography, vectors... you name it), all this inspiration is at your fingertips. Another amazing feature is that you can also search by colour. You are presented with a colour palette, of which you can select up to five colours, and find results that use these colours. This is perfect for finding inspiration
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on how colour schemes work, or for working out how others have used certain bold colours in their schemes. You can also register to the site, and save your finds in categories to make it easier to get back to past searches, and store all your favourite images. And if you don’t have a particular search in mind, you can just browse the popular images, or completely by random. With a blog, facebook and twitter links, this is a sure fire way to kickstart that inspiration.
Colossal www.thisiscolossal.com
With a little sprinkle of everything, Colossal could be described as the only art blog you need. It won the Utne Media Award for Arts Coverage in 2013 and was ranked by Technorati as one of their top 50 blogs, so what more would you want? Colossal blogs about all sorts of arty things, including photography, installations, street art, design, typography – basically everything! The creator and sole editor of the site is Christopher Jobson, and the site is updated regularly – with a minimum of 15 posts a week.
From colour coded fruit photography to painted stones and skulls to temporary sand paintings – this site is a gorgeous visual feast. Not only does it provide general inspiration, it also shows just how marvellous the world can be, and how creative people can utilise this positively. I am constantly astounded by some of the people the blog features, and what they achieve, and it never fails to amaze me every time. The site is also used across schools and universities, so you can be safe to browse
at work with the knowledge that no nudity or violence will crop up. It also likes to focus on mainly non-digital work, which is so refreshing in a world dominated by Macs and work created entirely in computer. There is a submission page to, so if you feel inspired by what you see and want to go out and create your own installation or stunning paper art, then head over there and get involved. Be warned though, if you load up this site then make sure you have plenty of time set for it, you may find you’ll suffer that “just one more page” syndrome!
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The A-Z of Visual Ideas John Ingledew This book, by John Ingledew, is a source of knowledge, and claims to help you solve any creative brief. The book starts with brief articles on how to kickstart that creativity, defining imagination, shining light on what creativity actually means and communication in briefs. One part of the first section of the book that I found particularly interesting was the 16 steps to communicating with clients and processing a brief. This really broke down each stage for you to fully gain everything you need to produce your good work, and get all that you want from each step. However, the main crux of the book is in the A-Z itself. With topics such as “Metaphor”, “Juxtaposition” and “Shadow”, Ingledew has covered wonderful areas and sources of inspiration for any brief you may come across yourself. What really shines, however, is the examples provided for each topic. Using mediums such as advertising, photography, graphic design and illustration, there’s +
something for everyone. I particularly loved the clever advertising campaigns, such as a non-smoking advert where an image of a man smoking next to his son transforms the cigarette into a gun pointed at the child through their shadows. It’s clever, inspiring and shocking – and it does its job. There’s also more light hearted examples, like the “Making Faces” section, featuring photographs of inanimate objects with smiling faces and personalities. This book does what is says on the tin, but it does it beautifully. The images chosen are printed beautifully and are hard hitting, humorous and incredibly creative. If you need to start a brief, or are looking for inspiration to break through that creative wall, there will definitely be something in here for you. It’s clever, informative and inspiring.
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100 Ghosts Doogie Horner
“I used to be scared of ghosts, until one evening I walked into the kitchen and found a spooky little guy struggling to get the lid off a jar of pickles”. As you can imagine from this opening sentence, “100 Ghosts” is not engineered to terrorise children. It is, in fact, an incredibly fun, light hearted and well designed book by artist, comedian and writer Doogie Horner. At a mere 4x6, this book is a pocket sized delight. The illustrations of the ghosts are adorable, and the consistent, simplistic design really makes them shine. This is especially apparent when paired with the handwritten approach to the type, which altogether brings these wee ghosts to life. There’s a balloon ghost, Cyclops ghosts (mythological
and X-Men varieties), pirate ghosts, and ghosts going about daily lives – eating spaghetti, checking their phone, being lazy. And so many more. What I love about this book is the illustrations. With the simplistic eyes-in-a-bed-sheet approach, they sing to our inner child. The bold black outlines work so well with the muted blue background, especially versus the black of the description page opposite. Cute, simple and gorgeously executed, it goes to show that the most minimalistic of ideas can often show to be the best. If that’s not enough inspiration for you all to go and start a creative adventure with your inner child, then I don’t know what is!
Photography: Banko
“It is Forbidden to Forbid
”
Space is important to creatives. It’s where we focus, where we find inspiration from our random bits and pieces we’ve gathered over time, and it’s where we work. But to Banko, their space meant so much more than that.
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Nils Viga Hausken and Karina Mosegaard installation - an almost empty projectroom
Artist Morten Sorenson and Master of Arts in Communication Studies Anja Dhyrbya are Banko. This Danish duo grew up together, and in 2009 were offered a rent free space in a commercial unit of Copenhagen’s VM Mountain by BIG – a building that is a flagship of modern architecture.
“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way!”
Within a week the room was booked for seven art exhibitions, a workshop weaving 3D patterns with poly ribbons for students at the design school in Copenhagen, a ceramics exhibition and a raft-building workshop. They have since branched out from the VM Mountain, but this idea of using an empty space as a tool where anything could happen has spurred on all their projects. There have since been three spin off projects that have followed.
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Website: www.banko.me • facebook.com/YouLikeBanko
The pair, who have worked within advertising, architecture, installation art, publishing and illustration (one of them is also a hot air balloon captain and one plays the accordion), felt there was a catch. “When you get offered a deal like that,” they say, “you know someone is trying to take advantage of you... so we decided to do nothing.”
After an afternoon drinking champagne and doing nothing, Banko had everything figured out. They invited people to come and look at their empty space, with this Dr Seuss quote on the invite. There was no indication of why people were looking at the space, or what Banko wanted from it – just the lure of free drinks and an empty room.
Andrei Puica
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Banko Paper Volume 01 issuu.com/morten/docs/ bankopaper_volume_01 With their imagination and creative drive, Banko would never settle for a simple art paper. Banko Paper Volume 01 is an art paper for spies. Based on the idea of the man who seems to be reading a paper, but is in fact spying through two eye holes he cut into the pages, this is exactly what the Banko Paper is. Featuring work from 10 Romanian and 10 Danish artists, each page has artwork around two circles, for you to use as your own spy holes. The artists had one piece of information in which to respond to: “Our paper, will be the result of the accumulation of single pages, each containing an intervention; the shape of a hole. With your page, you can cut, paste, draw, paint, respond subtly or directly using the hole as part of your story! or try to ignore it. So print out your pages and work directly on the paper. The end result being, that the final paper will have a hole running all the way through it, making it perfect for spying when you open it.”
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This project came about when Romanian artist N.E.U.R.O exhibited his work at Banko’s space in VM Mountain. Having just moved to Copenhagen, he knew nothing about the Danish art scene, and vice versa Banko knew nothing of the Romanian art scene. Therefore they decided to create a cultural art exchange between Danish and Romanian artists, in their Banko Paper. The reader does not receive a list of artists until the end of the paper, so whilst they are looking at the work completely unbiased, they are also encouraged to see if they can find differences between the two nationalities within their work. “The hole gives you a chance to play within the art, and it means you are aware of whether you are looking at the art in Copenhagen or Bucharest, your surroundings become part of the artwork,” Banko explain. The paper is available on Issuu to read and download to print for free, or you can get in touch to order your own glossy copy. Banko are also currently working on Banko Paper Volume 02 “This Is The End”, and you can head to their Facebook page (www. facebook.com/YouLikeBanko) to read the open call for submissions and get involved!
Martin Pilskog
Hanne Louise Nielsen
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Pink Light
“We want to be filthy rich but we don’t want to work for it,” is Banko’s comment on this example of a commercial project. They were asked to interpret the theme “Pink Light” for an interior of a two day DJ event. Taking inspiration from the wise words of Aerosmith’s song “Pink”, Morten Sorenson collaborated with JAC Studios to create this radiant, fluffly candyfloss space the provided an escape from the stressful Christmas shopping happening outside.
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Banko Festival 1:1
Just like the paper, Banko don’t do festival appearances in a boring way! Having been invited to take part in the Copenhagen Contemporary, they opted to do things a little differently, “we decided to do a oneday festival in a two-man tent... the style was underplayed, minimalistic and cut to the bone.” Inside the tent was a small stage for one performer, and a small lounge chair for one audience member. The program was written on a chalkboard outside, and the one audience member was first come first served – although you could still listen from the
outside and watch the tent move around. They had film screenings, poetry readings, performances and even a ukulele concert from Aske Grieger, Rune Fisker, Moly Haslund, Tomas Lagermand Lundme, Mette Kit Jensen, Mille Rude, Thomas Boström, Boys With Hobbies, Matheusz Nowak, The Good Army, Karina Mosegaard, Cecilia Westerberg, Sabine Kernbicler, Camilla Boman Jensen, Simon Andersen and Marta Julia Johansen. You can view the video for the event at youtu.be/viIvff-aOQI
Banko are currently working on their next project, the Discoteller project which will entail a gigantic discoball travelling to all the major pride events in Europe to record and share stories about the theme “pride” amongst the LGBT community. The disco ball will house an armchair, a screen and a camera in which you can record you personal story about “pride” and what it means to you. Using social media and the internet, Banko will compile a full collection of the stories they gather, where you can share your own and watch others. They ultimately want to occupy pride on the internet! Bluefire Jellyfish • Issue 02 • buefirejellyfish.com • 75 +
CONTAGIOUS Creativity is
pass it on
Albert Einstein