My Friend Gouache

I have moved

2010-01-15T03:47:00.000-08:00

So, this is my first post of 2010. Therefore, this is my first post of the decade, and apparently, my first post since August of last year?! But this is also the last post I'll be making on My Friend Gouache as I now have a new blog, which can be found here. My Friend Gouche and all the old posts will stay here for a while longer, but please see the new site for any new projects and news. Thank you for stopping by My Friend Gouache over the last 14 months, I will look forward to seeing you over at the new site. Bye for now! x

Ape

2009-08-29T06:34:00.000-07:00

KISS painting on my denim jacket

2009-08-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

The other week I did a painting of KISS on the back of my denim jacket. I really like the way it came out and had a lot of fun painting it. I was using acrylics for the first time in a long time (sure I could've used gouache, but I wouldn't be able to wear it out anywhere for fear of it getting wet) so that took a bit of getting used to but now I really wanna do some more! If anyone is reading this and would like a painting done on their denim jacket then please let us know.

The best video tribute to Lt. Commander Data you will ever see!*

2009-08-08T06:36:00.000-07:00

*Guaranteed! If you can find a better one, then please post it here.

I drew that.

R.I.P John Hughes

2009-08-07T14:22:00.001-07:00

I still sometimes find it hard to comprehend how Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Breakfast Club, Uncle Buck, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Weird Science and Home Alone were all written by the same man. John Hughes! How did he do it? I would wager most writers would have to write for years before making a film on par with Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The fact that he not only did that, but then went on to write a plethora of other incredible films may explain why when I was growing up, our VCR would rarely not have a John Hughes videotape inside it. Like most people my age, my first exposure to John Hughes was Home Alone. My father, who was a big fan of the guy, then started to introduce me to his back catalogue, starting with Planes, Trains and Automobiles (which was an edited version recorded off the telly. The amazing scene where Steve Martin goes nuts at the rental car lady - "I want a fucking car right fucking now" - was sadly omitted from this version) and then Uncle Buck. Soon I began to realise that any film which had the name John Hughes in the credits was bound to take a spot on my ever-growing favourite film list. His films are steeped in nostalgia for me. Whenever I watch one of them, wherever I may be, I still feel like I'm a kid again lying on the carpet of our front room watching them on our old TV. So I was pretty upset to hear that John had passed away yesterday. Although he's been absent from writing for a few years now, there was always hope he would make another film. The fact that we will never see another John Hughes picture is a real shame. He will be missed. I don't really know how to end this post well, so I'll take a leaf out of John's book and ask you to just picture me getting up from my desk, walking across a football field and raising my fist in the air as Simple Minds play in the background. I defy anyone to call that a bad ending. Thanks John!

Lester Bangs

2009-07-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

Peter

2009-07-26T13:47:00.002-07:00

Paul

2009-07-26T13:47:00.001-07:00

Gene

2009-07-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

Ace

2009-07-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

Coltrane

2009-07-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

Ricky Steamboat

2009-07-22T09:11:00.001-07:00

Ouch! Portrait of "The Dragon" after he got his nose broken back in '91 by "The Ravishing" Rick Rude. What a jerk that guy was.

"The Z-Man" Tom Zenk

2009-06-18T05:46:00.001-07:00

Portrait of professional wrestler "The Z-Man" Tom Zenk. If you're wondering, I looked into it - that is his actual name! Tom Zenk, wow, I guess if you're born with that name you can only really be either a) a professional wrestler or b) the leader of a superhero team called The Z-Men. And he was wrestling in WCW at the same time as Larry Zbyszko, which isn't his real name but a pretty cool moniker all the same. No one in wrestling these days really has an interesting name, Dolph Ziggler being a notable exception. Ink and gouache on paper.

Wardrobe Envy

2009-06-17T05:57:00.001-07:00

Jealous. I don't have nearly as many KISS badges and patches as Craig does. I don't have Jason's rad haircut. And I certainly don't have that bitchin Joker t-shirt the Batkid is sporting! All these photos are from the outstanding Sexy People blog. I've wasted many an afternoon on this site. The photos I've posted here are just the tip of the iceberg, there's so much more good stuff on there. Loads of denim too, which I like. Go have a butchers!

"Never rub another man's rhubarb!"

2009-06-17T05:51:00.000-07:00

Last one of these I promise! Mixed media on paper.

"You're a vampire Michael! My own brother, a goddamn, shit-sucking vampire. You wait 'till mom finds out, buddy!"

2009-06-08T06:59:00.000-07:00

Copied from an advert for the 1987 motion picture The Lost Boys I found in one of my old issues of Kerrang! Ink and gouache on paper.

Batman issue no. 424

2009-06-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Mixed media. Copied from the cover of an old Batman comic - issue no. 424 to be precise - which happens to not feature Batman anywhere on it. I did this for fun, but also as a submission for Robert Goodin's excellent Covered blog. Whilst it didn't quite make the grade for inclusion on the blog, it did succeed in being fun.

Record Fair

2009-05-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Hot damn! I love a good record fair. There was one at the Brighton Centre today. I'd been looking forward to it all week, but as it turns out it was only alright. They'd upped the entry to £2.00, which I thought was pretty steep, usually £1.50, that's 50p I could've had towards a Pepsi on the way home. Anyway, I managed to get this live Earth album, Sunn Amps And Smashed Guitars, on CD! I've been looking for it for ages, was having trouble finding it anywhere. For the record, it's awesome. So yeah, obtaining that made it worth paying the astronomical entry fee. Also got Pelican's City Of Echoes which was a bit of an impulse buy, but as it transpires, is pretty awesome too. While I was there I heard these two gentlemen talking about Bob Dylan's Happy-Themetime-Disney-Playhouse-Marvel-Action-Hour or whatever the heck it's called, y'know, his Radio 2 show. This guy said something along the lines of "I don't need Bob Dylan to tell me what to listen to!" It was pretty funny. I mean I didn't tell it as well as he did it, a lot of it was in the delivery...

"Ever dance with the Devil by the pale moonlight?"

2009-05-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

Another drawing of Jack Nicholson's Joker. Ink on paper.

Catch the Werewolf

2009-05-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

Copied from an etching concerning the pursuit of the werewolf who terrorized the inhabitants of Eschenbach, Germany in the 17th century. Ink and gouache on paper.

Ruffians

2009-04-16T04:42:00.001-07:00

Ink and gouache on paper.

Sheilas

2009-04-15T01:26:00.000-07:00

Ink and gouache on paper.

The Beatles

2009-04-08T07:04:00.001-07:00

Ink and gouache on paper. People always call the Beatles 'the Fab Four'. In my opinion, there are about half a dozen four-pieces out there who are much fabber than the Beatles.

"This town needs an enema!"

2009-04-07T04:18:00.000-07:00

Mixed media on paper.

Prohibition Criminals

2009-04-04T07:41:00.001-07:00

Ink and gouache on paper.

Holiday Snaps

2009-04-03T10:29:00.001-07:00

Aladdin

2009-03-20T12:30:00.001-07:00

I found this comic at my mother's house when I was back home a few weekends ago. The motion picture Aladdin was released in 1992, so I reckon I was about five or six years old when I made this, my first foray into self-publishing.

I couldn't find the other three books in the series. Truth to be told I'm not completely certain I ever made them.

Harold and Maude

2009-03-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

Drawing of the poster for the 1971 movie Harold and Maude. I made this as a birthday present for my friend Carmen. Ink and gouache on paper.

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention

2009-03-10T10:32:00.001-07:00

Ink and gouache on paper.

Hillbilly Jim

2009-03-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

Retired professional wrestler Hillbilly Jim is now a disc jockey. Ink and gouache on paper.

Takin' a dip

2009-03-07T04:15:00.000-08:00

Ink on paper.

Q. Are we not Watchmen?

2009-02-25T12:12:00.001-08:00

A. We are Devo.

As we get closer and closer to the Watchmen movie hitting the multiplexes, I feel compelled to share my favourite frame from the graphic novel with you all. Anything referencing Devo gets a gold star in my book! Artwork by David Gibbons.

Kate Pierson of The B-52's

2009-02-23T06:12:00.000-08:00

Ink and gouache on paper.

Uncle Scrooge

2009-02-21T14:32:00.001-08:00

Copied from a Carl Barks drawing of Scrooge McDuck. Ink on paper.

Procol Harum

2009-02-21T14:20:00.000-08:00

Ink on paper.

Jimbo

2009-02-02T09:19:00.001-08:00

I got this pretty neat postcard today. It says on the back it was made by the good people at Santoro Graphics.

Copied from my William Shakespeare t-shirt

2009-01-31T11:41:00.001-08:00

Ink on paper.

Gorilla

2009-01-18T08:50:00.000-08:00

Ink on paper.

Bank notes

2008-12-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

Boy, have I been slack at posting on here lately. Third year, eh? I've got an assessment coming up soon y'see, so I've had a lot on, but I figured I should post something just to let you all know I'm still here. And to show you these drawings I did back in October of the way I fold my bank notes.

Drawing Allen Konigsberg

2008-12-02T06:50:00.000-08:00

Ink drawings of Woody Allen done as a birthday present for my friend Emma.

Grand pied avec la chaise

2008-11-25T15:32:00.000-08:00

Felt tip pen on paper.

"Berlin's citizens wanted their own symbol and coat of arms. How or why they chose the bear remains unknown."

2008-11-22T11:21:00.001-08:00

Felt tip pen on paper.

"Let's put a smile on that Pez!"

2008-11-16T13:55:00.000-08:00

Felt tip and fine line pen on paper.