Tonight i headed over to watch Oliver Twist in Theatre. Ever since watching the 1968 musical version with Ron Moody, i’ve been obsessed with the story, the time it was set in, the clothes and scenery all the things that build this story up are so interesting. First being published in 1837 the man who illustrated the story George Cruikshank, could not draw pretty woman or children well. If you take a peek at the illustrations below, the children look like small men and the women look like they hit the ugly branch a few times, but never the less these drawings are amazing and he did a great job capturing the story in image.
I’ve had the Oliver! Original soundtrack for a while and often listen to it while drawing and sing along, when i have a Suffoca store your all welcome to come join me to sing or dance.

I cant say i’ve ever looked back in to the non musical versions as i took a glimpse in to the latest remake which doesn’t include any songs and it really kills the whole magical feeling i get when watching the 1968 addition. Anyhow, with my icecream in hand to help prepare my vocal chords for some singing along and my eyes wide open i sat down to watch Oliver Twist in theatre and wow it was impressive. The performers were amazing from the Artful Dodger to Fagin and Nancy they all really blew me away, the new parts added and jokes fitted  in so well. So if you haven’t ever seen the musical Oliver Twist go already and watch it, and if you have defiantly go see it at Theatre.
What a great birthday present. 

It was my birthday this tuesday and thanks to a load of messages, friends and family it was great. It was mostly spent wondering london with a group of friends just having a good time, laughing, skateboarding and juggling beanmen.

The last week & weeks to come are real busy so spending time making memories with friends was right up my street.

After floating around, are stomachs turned on the rumble shakes so caught some dinner together and finished the night off in true suffoca style with tea pots, saucers and maisie’s magical work on the wheat free cupcakes, these were even topped off with Alice In Wonderland pictures, wonderland tastes good.

Thanks to all who sent me messages on my birthday, made my day.

During in August, im going to be over the pond in USA. So drop me an email or message on Twitter / Facebook if you fancy hanging out, ill put up some more details up soon.

I’ve been getting request’s for prints, posters or some other formats of my artwork rather then apparel. So i worked on a poster design and also decided to print up the beaneyed design as it looks great big. These’s are brand new products to the Suffoca Shop, im not one for small pictures so i decided to go big with these designs, measuring up at (23.5 x 32.5) they are A1 Printed on heavy matt paper, which brings out the large selection of gradients in the designs.

These are running real limited to as low as 10 and will not be restocked, so if you have been waiting around for a suffoca print to decorate your wall then don’t hesitate. Those of you who follow me on Twitter & Facebook would have seen the sketch for the swan poster a little while back, its something i’ve had in my head for a long while and im real happy with the outcome.

The best way to send a print in the post as i know at the moment is in a tube, so this isn’t any exception but i did want to make the experience still different to others who sell them. So iv doodled on the tube’s, each one is different you may get a bean man ridding a banana or the drops of water like in this shot, also iv always been a fan of the old style scrolls with the wax stamps and strings so adding extra protection and some cool detail i added the suffoca stamp and string finish.

To see full and buy the new prints head over to the shop now, Take me there now.

I recently did an interview with a new friend FatKidOnFire you can catch it by just clicking his name. I enjoy doing interview’s and answering questions on the brand as i know the answer’s, its the type of test you wish for when your back at school the chance to just speak what you think and do. But also while listening to the question’s you can learn more about what your doing and it gives you a boost to want to go on to push the jobs at hand to get your brand known around the world.

One of the question’s was “Your designs are strong and striking – do they have an underlying theme..”
I often forget to explain my self fully on my work so i explained the shirt above HolySmokes.

Holysmokes shirt was based on the idea that “Time flies when you’re having fun”, which is kind of a thank you for letting me do what I do. I love to draw and create and I wanted the message in a image form to be picked up by people who enjoy themselves and have fun. As Dr Seuss said “If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good”.

First week down of the new product release and the response has been great. I’ve had some amazing, supportive emails & messages on Facebook / Twitter, and some heavy orders from truly prompt, loyal Suffoca supporters.

As the brand starts it’s third year, I, with your help, want to really spread the name and story behind Suffoca, and show that an independent artist or person with passion for what they do, a strong work ethic, and who makes errors and learns from them, can make their way to success from an idea.

Also Happy 4th of July to all in the USA who support the brand and keep it alive, will be over your way soon enough for a visit.

To celebrate the release, me and maize decided go give animals and insects a visit at london zoo. I cant remember the last time i went to the zoo at home and o man i’ve been missing out, having somewhere like this so close to go and get bucket loads of inspiration, knowledge and  have a good time admiring what else is outside of a computer screen.

This guy below was defiantly a favourite, with his much oversized legs to the size of his head, he gave beanman a little ride round the pound.

The other larma’s ganged on this guy i named stew and decided to bury him in the sand, he thought it was funny until he noticed he was stuck so i lent a hand.

I may have got snackish and ate a fish or two on the way round.

Theres been a full problems with new shop system the last day or two, but as far as i know at the moment everything seems to be working fine, registered customers can now login and out also checkout fine.

Were still working on getting the Internet Explorer side of things and just want to say sorry to all those who normally use that browser.

After a long, back breaking and tedious time, all is fixed and ready to show. A new product release.

With this release I planned to really up Suffoca’s game as an independent artist run company and show the raw characteristics of the brand. So, starting at the begining, I’ve always kept the style and characters in Suffoca different to any I know, but from time to time I’ve noticed the methods I use would sometimes restrict the outcome of the design. I went back to the place I feel most comfortable, working with biro and pencil. This gave the designs a real unique, one-off touch, and I would say that the end result is the closest a print comes to an original drawing.

This more raw way of working left the designs more individual. I also single handedly added woven tags to each of the new products, really bringing everything together. It’s no longer someone else’s work with my designs – this is a full Suffoca product. The quality of the product has been upgraded too – in every aspect. From design and fabric, to print and packaging. I really feel this is a big leap forward for the brand as we just sneak into start of our third year.

I decided to work on a more relaxed video for this release. One which would show you the whole process of my work, from the little extras that go along with each release, to the people I spend my time around – those who inspire me, have supported me from the start, and are my friends.
The plan was to have it released a little earlier, but due to some problems I had to hold it back, which, believe me, was hard. So, a little late, like the white rabbit the movie has made it to the sunshine.

Lucky enough for me, my friends have got some real talent with cameras and helped out while me and Maisie would sort out the product shots and film. Gilbody & Phil caught some great life shots of everyone. The whole day wasn’t set up like a film set or normal photo shoot, it was planned to a degree but left plenty time for everyone to be together and just have a good time.

The shots came out so great that I decided to work it into a short LookBook. if you click the photo and press the space bar, you can use your arrow keys to navigate through the book. If not, sit back and enjoy it at it’s default speed. You can click the photo below to be directed to the book now.

While working on the appearance and quality of the products you receive, it was also time to make the website were you get them, look and work a lot better and, easier on the mind. This did hold up the release a little longer, but now when your scrolling through the site, or products in the shop, the flow of the it all is smoother than butter.

But thats not all, Iv also worked out a great little extra you will get in your orders. A Suffoca first collectors zine, which folds out to become a A3 poster, these will only be put in orders till they run out so make sure you get in early or miss out.

Its been a long couple of weeks working non stop, so with my eyes drooping over my checks i think its time to call it and have a short rest.

Enjoy.

Things are starting to get wrapped up, there were some problems editing the current shop system so we decided to change to a completely new shop, this has cost more time but by the way its looking so far its well worth it. Look Book, Promo Video are both finished and will soon make there way on the site for your viewing pleasure.

So hold tight.

Iv decided to do a little game for you all on the excising products, some designs have one or two shirts left and some only have one size so from today i will be doing a price drop in which selected items will have there price dropped low and each day there price will slowly crawl back to its original number. So why not grab one of the last prints of its kind at a low price?

Goodluck all

Yesterday we printed up some more packaging, these bags are slightly bigger then the silver ones ive already shown you, they come out great and i cant wait to fill them with some products for you guys. All the new prints are folded, labeled and packed, last night i shot the flat product shots and just need to edit them down so they look sharp and clean for the shop front.

Also i got through a little treat iv been working on for you all, i have alot of folding to do and i don’t want to spoil your surprise so you can only see the cover for now.