Tuesday 29 June 2010

Patrick's Sketch Diary 19

This morning I was woken up by the postie ringing my doorbell over and over again. Bizarrely, todays scheduled sketchbook diary is about the same thing pretty much. Here's a page from a just before we moved to our new flat.... Just like today I had to put on a girl robe to answer the door.


Bloody annoying.

Sunday 27 June 2010

Patrick's Sketch Diary 18

Another random sketch I did whilst I was bored. This one helped me work out some text layout issues for something I'm working on as a proper piece.

Friday 25 June 2010

Patrick's Sketch Diary 17


Back to the normal sketchbook diary now... And todays entry is a double-pager of two unrelated sketches I did to amuse myself. Enjoy.

Wednesday 23 June 2010

SPACE NEWS! - Alien Planets and Suspended Animation!

So it's been at least a month since I last did a Space News Blog... So here's a double-bill. Two lots of connected Space News for all you interstellar heads:

Hundreds of new Earth-Like Planets discovered by Kepler Spacecraft

NASA's Kepler spacecraft hunting for Earth-like planets around other stars has found 706 candidates for potential alien worlds while gazing at more than 156,000 stars packed into a single patch of the sky.

If all 706 of these objects pass the stringent follow-up tests to determine if they are actually planets, and not false alarms, they could nearly triple the current number of known extrasolar planets. They were announced as part of a huge release of data from the mission's first 43 days by NASA's Kepler science team this week.

To date, astronomers have discovered more than 400 alien planets lurking around stars beyond our solar system. That includes six newfound worlds discovered by a French observatory that were announced earlier this week.

The Kepler observatory will continue conducting science operations until at least November 2012. It will also continue searching for Earth-like planets, including those that orbit stars in a warm, habitable zone where liquid water could exist on the surface of alien planets.

The discovery of all these potential new planets is interesting and exciting. But they are all so far away... how can we get to them???

Which brings me to the second half of my Space News Blog:


Suspended Animation No Longer Just a Pipe Dream

Suspended animation is no longer a pipe dream

A research scientist in a Seattle cancer laboratory has discovered the secret to reanimating organisms that had been frozen to a temperature below survivable limits.

Dr. Mark Roth was inspired by cases of individuals who survived prolonged exposure to the bitter cold with few adverse affects — like Canadian toddler Erica Nordby, who wandered from her house in the winter of and whose heart stopped beating for two hours before she was rescued, warmed, and came miraculously back to life; and Mitsutaka Uchikoshi, who fell asleep on a snowy mountainside in 2006 and was found 23 days later with a core body temperature of just 71°F. He too was successfully reanimated having suffered no appreciable ill effects.

Experimenting on yeasts and worms, Roth and his team found that if his specimens were deprived of oxygen before freezing, they'd enter a state of suspended animation from which they can be reliably revived.

Um so.... That's pretty exciting... Am I right?


Sources: Space.com & io9.com

The Future of Limousines...

I want one.

Tuesday 22 June 2010

Patrick's Sketch Diary (Holiday Edition!) - Part 4

Here is the final sketch from my holiday diary. It's a little comic entitled:

"My Holiday Changed Me"

Please click the image to see it larger (and read the text)

I will be re inking this piece to go onto my website, but for now... while it was timely I thought I would post it up for your enjoyment.

Monday 21 June 2010

Patrick's Sketch Diary (Holiday Edition!) - Part 3

Here is the final part to my Holiday Sketchbook. Save for the comic I drew while I was out there "My Holiday Changed Me" (which I will post up tomorrow).

I had to skip about 4 or 5 pages of the sketchbook because they were packed with ideas I plan to use in the next 6 months, so I don't want anyone getting the jump on me! haha






Sunday 20 June 2010

Patrick's Sketch Diary (Holiday Edition!) - Part 2

Here's part 2 of my Holiday Sketchbook. As always, click on an image to see it closer.

Hope you enjoy!







Saturday 19 June 2010

Patrick's Sketch Diary (Holiday Edition!) - Part 1

Hello you! I'm back from my week away!

I thought you might like to know about my holiday, but rather than type loads of words... I thought I might post up some extracts from my sketchbook! Pictures YAYYY! I did about 50 pages, so I may have to post up a few each day for the next week. But anyway....

Here are the first 5 pages:






Tune in tomorrow for more good times!

Wednesday 9 June 2010

Tomorrow I go on holiday for a week...

So don't expect any blogging until I'm back.... But I will leave you with these thoughts:

Holidays Shmollidays.

I've never really been a holiday person to be honest. Sure... I've enjoyed holidays that I've been on, But I can go years and years without even considering one. I think it's to do with the fact that my family never really did much holidaying when I was growing up. We already lived in a hot climate, so there was no need to travel for that, and as a kid... you can have just as much fun with a cardboard box and some marker pens as you can by travelling to the beach.

Well, at least I know I could.

In fact, I find beaches in general to be a bit annoying and always have. The only holidays I remember genuinely enjoying were camping trips. Mostly because they were times where my dad truly came out of himself and tried to connect with me. I'm not trying to paint some sort of sob story here, but my dad seemed more at home in the woods, or fishing on lakes and rivers, than he did at his actual home... And it was nice. Camping trips are different in America, because there is a lot more wildlife and nature to experience. The British countryside can be beautiful, but it is mostly tamed, so not really camping country.

Back on to holidays in the more general sense, For me... unless it's for some sort of cultural experience, (travelling somewhere historic etc) the idea of trying to get away from what you do confuses me.

Normally, I do the things that I do because I want to do them. So getting away from them for a long period of time doesn't make much sense. In actuality, it usually stresses me out because I'm off in some other place, powerless to achieve anything.

Regardless of all this anti holiday ranting, I shall endeavour to enjoy my week away. Even if it's just for my girlfriend Kate's sake. We are off to the Canary Islands, (aka Hot Britain) and I intend to, if nothing else, come back with the ability to breathe underwater.

Here goes...

Patrick's Sketch Diary 16

This one is quite a fun Sketchbook entry. It involved a bit of imagination and experimentation. Have you ever tried drawing in the pitch black? It's quite difficult!

That should say "(shaven)" not "(unshaven)". Whoops.

My mum was unimpressed that I involved the royalty. Perhaps more so that the Queen Mum looked like some sort of goblin.

I was especially stoked about this two pager!

I think doing these drawings helped me to work out how much of my artwork is visually reactive, and how much is straight from the imagination to the hand. Try it some time.

Tuesday 8 June 2010

I've never really been one for Jewellery, but...

...A close friend of mine recently converted me with her distinctive style.

Jewellery designer/maker, Emma Witwicki swayed me with her braided tweed and silver bracelet shown below. It features the lyrics from the NIN song 'Hurt' (popularised by the late Johnny Cash.)


I have long admired her work, but my dislike of having paraphernalia on my arms always outweighed my desire to own one of her pieces... But I think she has recently stumbled upon an almost irresistible concept for personalised accessories.

To check out some of the pieces she has for sale at the moment, click HERE.

Keep in mind that she also makes them to order, so if you have a particular favourite song, line etc, she will accommodate all requests.

Patrick's Sketch Diary 15

Monday 7 June 2010

Patrick's Sketch Diary 14


Here's another couple of pages in my sketchbook. I normally don't post any of my real "ideas" pages. But this one I'm cool with posting as I don't think I will ever get around to making any more of it than the gag on this page! Haha!

Sunday 6 June 2010

Is there Life on Mars?


"Researchers at McGill’s department of natural resources, the National Research Council of Canada, the University of Toronto and the SETI Institute have discovered that methane-eating bacteria survive in a highly unique spring located on Axel Heiberg Island in Canada’s extreme North. Dr. Lyle Whyte, McGill University microbiologist explains that the Lost Hammer spring supports microbial life, that the spring is similar to possible past or present springs on Mars, and that therefore they too could support life.

The subzero water is so salty that it doesn’t freeze despite the cold, and it has no consumable oxygen in it. There are, however, big bubbles of methane that come to the surface, which had provoked the researchers’ curiosity as to whether the gas was being produced geologically or biologically and whether anything could survive in this extreme hypersaline subzero environment. “We were surprised that we did not find methanogenic bacteria that produce methane at Lost Hammer,” Whyte said, “but we did find other very unique anaerobic organisms – organisms that survive by essentially eating methane and probably breathing sulfate instead of oxygen.”

It has been very recently discovered that there is methane and frozen water on Mars. Photos taken by the Mars Orbiter show the formation of new gullies, but no one knows what is forming them. One answer is that there could be that there are springs like Lost Hammer on Mars. “The point of the research is that it doesn’t matter where the methane is coming from,” Whyte explained. “If you have a situation where you have very cold salty water, it could potentially support a microbial community, even in that extreme harsh environment.”"

Source (And more info): Physorg

Friday 4 June 2010

Electronic Beats?

As regular readers will know, I'm now the proud owner of an MPC 2000xl. If there are any producers of electronic music out there, or budding musicians, you might want to know where the best place is to get pro quality, copyright free samples. Well I've scoured the net, and the highest recommendation goes to an American site called MPC Sounds. They've got a great selection of sounds and drum sets, and they are actually cheaper than a lot of the british sites.

Hit the link below to check out their website:

Patrick's Sketch Diary 13

Bow Down....

Bow down before this function drummer's AWESOME ROCK SKILLS!



I COMPELL you to watch the whole thing. This guy's got moves you've never seen before!

Take note drummers... If you learn to rock this hard, you could be in a band as good as this!

And I always thought I was fairly UNlucky...


Yesterday I was out for a meal with some close friends, and one of them thanked me for bringing the sunshine out that day. I laughed... bemused, and asked what she meant.

She explained that if they were going out without me, it would've most likely been a horrible day, with bad weather etc etc. Now, although that is a ridiculous statement, because the day was as it was, it allowed me to look at my life a little differently. I mean, Apparently I am considered to be quite a lucky person.

A strange new perspective on my life, I must say, because I have always thought that I had shit luck. I'm fairly clumsy, and often break and spill things, I was in crippling debt for years, and I have had more than my fair share of knocks and bad/sad times.

This having been said.... I was in town today, painting my friend Richard's face pink and purple (as you do), and I received a phonecall.

Picking up my blackberry, and subsequently covering it in a pinky/purplish smear, I answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi is that Mr. Patrick Currier?"

"Yes it is..."

"Excellent... well I am about to make your day!"

"How's that?"

"Well Patrick, this is Chris from Overture, the HiFi shop in town.... and I'm calling to tell you that you've won a pair of Linn Loud Speakers in our competition."

"!@* f´®u*!˚bç∆g©kj!^&!!!!!!!! THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU!!!!"

"....."

"Um... I'll be down in a minute to pick them up."

*click*

So here they are:


I think probably everyone thinks they have bad luck.... either that or I've just been really ignorant for a long time about all the wonderful things that life gives me.

In either case, whether my luck has changed, or if I've had it all along.... TODAY is a good day.

Tuesday 1 June 2010

Celebrities Are all PLASTIC!

Here's a different series I've been doing,in a similar style to my CAFA sketches. This stuff will appear under the tag: CAAP.

Patrick's Sketch Diary 12

Probably going to do a larger version of this comic.