scamp: an irish illustration blog » Alé Mercado

The Illustrated Alphabet

Alé Mercado — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:49:12 +0000

Y- Jonathan McHugh

The Small Print invited 26 of the very best illustrators from around the globe to produce 52 original pieces, 1 letter and 1 illustration [based on the letter]. A huge variety of wonderful talents from [A] Oliver Jeffers to [Z] Chris Haughton, make up this newly imagined alphabet which encompass a broad range of disciplines and concepts.

Artists featured are – Alan Clarke, Ben Newman, Bjorn Lie, BRENB, Craig & Karl, Chris Haughton, Richard Hogg, Eduardo Recife, Emily Forgot, Genevieve Gauckler, Jonathan McHugh, Joven Kerekes, Kevin Waldron, Martin Haake, Michael Gillette, Nate Williams, Olaf Hajek, Oliver Jeffers, Rilla Alexander, Serge Seidlitz, Steeve Doogan, Steve Simpson, Tara McPherson, Tomm Moore and Una Gildea

Illustration at Fire: Artist’s Talk

Alé Mercado — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:29:48 +0000

Artist’s Talk from 6 – 7:30 pm, Thursday 8 december 2011 at The Cooper House Gallery off Synge Street, dublin 8.

After the Revolution Illustration Competition, Fire is organising a talk with winner Steve Simpson, runner-up Kevin McSherry and finalist Mario Sughi.

Not to be missed.

‘Revolution’ Exhibition

Alé Mercado — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:42:07 +0000

Mario Sughi's Revolution, the Barricade

Opening 6pm – 8pm, Thursday 1st December 2011
The Copper House Gallery
off Synge Street, Dublin 8
The recent ‘Revolution’ Illustration at Fire Competition was the second disbursement of the Fire €150,000 Arts Fund. Following judging and determination of the ten finalists, The Copper House Gallery will be exhibiting the short-listed and winning illustrations. The overall winner and runners-up will be announced on the night of the exhibition launch.
The ten ‘Revolution’ finalists are Sharon Bruton, Derry Dillon, Jennifer Farley, and Illustrators Ireland members Brian Gallagher, Matthew Griffin, Kevin McSherry, Padhraig Nolan, Steve Simpson, Mario Sughi and Donough O’Malley.

On the judging panel for the ‘Revolution’ Illustration at Fire Competition were Art Director at Ogilvy & Mather Laurence O’Byrne, The Small Print’s Bren Byrne and The Copper House Gallery Curator Leszek Wolnik. The ten finalists were announced on Friday 18th November 2011.
The ten finalists will each receive a prize of Fine Art Printing Services to the value of €1,000, and the overall winner will receive an eight week residency in Fire incorporating a solo exhibition in The Copper House Gallery. The winner also receives mentoring as well as exhibition prints and limited edition prints to the value of €8,000.
Admission is free to this event and all are welcome.
For further information please contact Orla Martin, email orla@fire.ie or tel 00353 (0) 1 478 4088 or visit:
http://thecopperhousegallery.wordpress.com

Launch of new Steve Simpson’s book

Alé Mercado — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:35:43 +0000

Futa Fata, the children’s publisher, will officially launch the picture book “Cáca don Rí” written by Ailbhe Nic Giolla Bhrighde and illustrated by Steve Simpson in Galway and Dublin over the coming days.

Galway Launch with Máire Éilis Ní Fhlatharta (Caitríona from TG4, Ros na Rún series) in Gaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh, Knocknacarra, Galway on Friday, 25th November at 7pm.
Dublin Launch with Laureate na n-Óg, Siobhán Parkinson in Hodges Figgis Bookshop, Dawson Street, Dublin on Wednesday, 30th November at 5pm.
Children especially welcome! www.Futafata.ie

And the winner is… Chris Judge!

Alé Mercado — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:51:46 +0000

Congratulations to Illustrators Ireland member Chris Judge. His book, The Lonely Beast was awarded last night the Irish Children Book Award.
Also a mention to Illustrators Ireland member Steve McCarthy who was shortlisted for the same award.

Well done guys!

Illustrators Ireland Latest Work October 2011

Alé Mercado — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:28:42 +0000

Here’s some recent work created by members of Illustrators Ireland (IGI). Each member has submitted one of their favourite illustrations from the previous month, either commissioned or personal. Follow the link below to see all this month’s entries.

Inklings

Alé Mercado — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:49:34 +0000

Once again following on from the success of Adrienne Geoghegan’s last student’s exhibition ‘Picture This’ last April in Temple Bar, we now have a great new location, for ‘Inklings’ show - ‘Little Green Street Gallery’ off Capel St, Dublin 1.

Outstanding new work, plus Irish Distillers drinks promotion and Pichet nibbles on the night!!

Incidently:

The next courses begin in January (Tues and Weds evenings) 6.30 – 9pm, €780 for 24 weeks. For more information, syllabus, to view student work, and testimonialswww.adriennegeoghegan.com

Places are now very limited (3 left on Picture Book course and 6 on Illustration Boot Camp)

Steve McCarthy’s Sally Go Round

Alé Mercado — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 08:00:30 +0000

Irish picture books shortlisted for the Réics Carló Young Persons Book of the Year Award 2011

Alé Mercado — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 08:00:47 +0000

Five books have been shortlisted for this years award and this is the first year that the illustrators are jointly recognised with the author. It’s an Oireachtas na Gaeilge award and the winner will be announced in the National Library on Tuesday the 15th of November 2011.
Five titles shortlisted are:   

My little Honda 50 illustration

Alé Mercado — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:13:17 +0000

Illustrators Ireland member Eoin Coveney was recently approached by Sony Ireland to produce an illustration to accompany the new single by Christy Moore- “My little Honda 50″ - the Client’s concept was to film a time-lapse video of an illustration to accompany the song instead of the usual route of showing stills or other arbitrary imagery…

I first listened to the song several times over and was immediately struck by how clever the lyrics were. This was something with a knowing Irish whimsy- the typical “big fish” story you just know can’t be true and yet, part of you wants to believe it as it’s so charmingly told.I concluded that I wanted to show something (hopefully) of the real rural Ireland rather than the more clichéd urban view of what the country is like. I dispensed early on with the idea of showing Gombeens on scooters or indeed any people (unusually for me) and decided to just go with the bike itself, nestled in a typical country backyard jumble of objects that might build up over years.

The old petrol pump recalled for me a link to old Ireland- plus I’ve always found them to have a very nostalgic tug to them.Once the concept and rough had been okayed by the Client, it was time to figure out how it might work in time lapse. I decided to break it down into 3 parts- first, to draw a rough pencil, then a scanned and printed version of the finished pencil was inked over. Finally, a scan of the finished ink was printed onto bristol board which I then coloured in real-time.The great guys behind the filming and editing them blended the 3 versions seamlessly into the finshed video.