Ammo Magazine Issue 2

I am a keen collector of art magazines, and Ammo Magazine is right up there in my top five published art magazines, along with Giant Robot, Juxtapoz, Dangerous Ink and Hi-Fructose.

Ammo Magazine is fresh, and it offers a glimpse into today’s world of contemporary illustration, art and design. It really is a feast for the eyes.

The much anticipated issue 2 of Ammo Magazine is now out and available to buy, and it is jam packed with 64 pages of pure eye candy.

Nick Deakin’s cover illustration did make me smile (very bottom pic), and it is his brightly coloured, vibrant and fun art that sets the bold colour theme for this issue.

Interviews with Julian Callos, Chelsie Sixsmith, Gemma Correll and Inkygoodness feature, along with a sweet collection of art by a variety of artists, including Squink!, Dave Bain (picture below), Uberkraaft, Mr Kone, Linzie Hunter and Dean Zappy, to name but a few. There is also an illustration in there by me, based on my (Steve Rack) Toe Fluff characters. It’s great to be in such good company.



I was particularly pleased to see that that the super-talented artists, and founders of art collective Inkygoodness, Lisa Hassell and Michelle Turton, have a prominent feature within these pages.

All of the art featured here is so distinct, imaginative and inspiring, but if I could pick out one piece of art from the pages of Ammo Issue 2 to stick on my wall, it would have to be Squink!’s boldly tragic, yet strangely enchanting masterpiece on page 39. (picture at the top of this post)

If you love art, then I highly recommend that you purchase yourself a copy of Ammo Magazine. That way you can own little bit of art history in the making.

Buy! Press here: AmmoMagazine.co.uk

Art Loves Haiti - BWD Art on eBay

Hi. I just found out that it's my art's turn to go up for auction for Art Loves Haiti, an important initiative organised by Sarah Larnach. Art Loves Haiti is a way for artists and people who love art to contribute to the aid efforts in Haiti. It is a collective auction of artwork, that contributes directly to the children and families affected by the earthquake Haiti on 12 January 2010. Proceeds from this auction will go to Save the Children Haiti Emergency Appeal.

My piece up for auction is 'Journey South of the Kingdom of King Soso'. This is a piece of work created in 2008 that remains a key piece within my personal vision of a land of fantasy, adventure, magic and friendly creatures. It was on display at Simon Corry's Babahog's art space in Falmouth for the best part of 2 years, and now it's up for grabs for those that want to own a little piece of magic.

The link is here: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Art-Loves-Haiti-Steve-rack-original-drawing_W0QQitemZ260544645983QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Drawings?hash=item3ca9abcb5f#ht_500wt_1130

Fellow Boys Who Draw, Joel Millerchip, also has a 2 piece of really cool art ('Im and 'Er paintings) up for grabs via 'Art Loves Haiti'! Check it out!


Link here for Joel's: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Art-Loves-Haiti-Joel-Millerchip-two-original-portraits_W0QQitemZ260544709668QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Paintings?hash=item3ca9acc424

Support 'Art Loves Haiti'. Let's get bidding!

Steve

ILikeCharacters.com Interview Simon Corry

Months and months ago I interviewed Simon Corry about his imaginative world: My Last Star - specifically to feature at my character blog/site ILikeCharacters.com. Well, finally I have published it! Cheers Simon! Here is a direct link.

Also, I have an interview with Jam Factory/Gavin Strange to be published next week just in time for the launch of his new Droplets.

For those that haven't really had a look over at ILikeCharacters.com, it really is worth a look if you are into character art, whether it be plush toys, street art, urban vinyl, etc. I have some really cool interviews over there with artists including Bubi Au Yeung (Treeson), Ben the Illustrator, Dan Goodsell (Mr Toast), 64 Colors, Abe Lincoln JR and, ofcourse, Simon Corry, as well as several others.

Cheers.

Steve
www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack

Feb's Bruno & Quincy

As you may know, I illustrate a little comic strip monthly for my local scene mag, Frequency Magazine. It appears on page 3. Anyway, here is Feb's. Inspired by our (or should I say my) obsession with social networking. You will need to click to enlarge.

If you are reading this in a Facebook note then press here for a larger version.

Steve
www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack

Mail Me Art 2

Here is my submission for Mail Me Art (2). This series is called 'Luvvahug and the Mystery Envelope' - Mail Me Art are still excepting submissions, but the deadline is real soon: mailmeart.com/going-postal/submit-mail-art/

These 4 pieces are on A6 postcards. I will be sending these off first thing tomorrow.

Steve
www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack

My Wall of Art

Over the past 48 hours I have just been tweaking my portfolio site, so that it shows a lot more of my personal work. So, I created a Wall of Art which features over 120 images of some of my favorite pieces; characters include King Soso, Snuggletuff, Squiddlepip, Goldbebble, Tubblepuff, Ikkle Tewwa, Luvvahug and many, many more. This is just a glimpse into my own little universe of make-believe.

www.steverack.com/art

Steve

Art

Hi all. I have been busy blogging away here, but it dawned on me that I haven't really blogged much of my artwork, so here is a selection of my work from over the past couple years.






Steve
www.steverack.com

Tonight's the Night

Andy Council's solo show launches tonight at the Weapon of Choice Gallery in Bristol. Above are details (click to enlarge)!

Emergency!

This came to my attention today, it's a very sad piece of news related to the disaster in Haiti.

A friend, Sarah Larnach (who you'll know as the cover artist for the Ladyhawke album) has had mega troubles with her family who where working in the area.

"My sister Emily lives and works for the U.N. in Haiti with her family (husband and 3 children), and they have been devastated by the earthquake which struck on January 13th. As of right now, January 14th, only two members of the family are accounted for."

In order to try and help Sarah is auctioning off original artwork to raise funds for the relief effort.

"This is the first time any of the artwork related to the Ladyhawke self-titled album, or its singles, has been put up for sale. I had been waiting for the right moment, and this must be it. This painting, and cd's are being sold to raise funds for relief in Haiti."

Show your support: Spread the word. Link to eBay below. Check out the amazing piece of art up for sale.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Painting-by-Sarah-Larnach-Haiti-Relief Rare-Ladyhawke_W0QQitemZ280451182996

Monday.

What a day. What crazy snowy weather we are having! I managed to retrieve my car today from a pretty awkward spot down the road. The joys of living on a steep incline.

Well, today has been a good day. My new Satio phone arrived today. I was going to go for the iPhone, but I just can't get over how bad the photos come out! Sorry, iPhone, you need to get with the times! People have been using good quality camera video phones for years. I think it's time you upped your game. I was tempted to hold out for the new Google phone, that was until I discovered it has a slide out key pad (that's so 2002). I am pretty snap happy and low resolution photos do my head in, so I think my new 12 mega pixel Satio will suit me just fine - look out for non art random pics on my Flickr - until the novelty wears off that is.

Speaking of pictures, I have just been having a browse through all the amazing characters at my ILikeCharacters.com daily blog (which by the way is now open for submissions). I rarely actually sit down and properly take it all in. I have to say that there are some super talented character artists featured there!

Here is a video I did short while ago as a collaboration with Playsoundz. (If you're reading this on a Facebook note, you won't be able to see the video - press here.)

www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack



PS. Check out this cool urban art site that launched TODAY called: www.pimpartworks.com

Character Submissions Welcome

Hi all. I took a mini break from accepting submissions for www.ILikeCharacters.com, as my inbox was ballooning a little too much. However, I have now re-opened the doors for submissions. More info here.

Steve

Bruno & Quincy

Every month I write and illustrate a comic strip called Bruno & Quincy for a local (Swindon) art and culture scene magazine called Frequency Magazine.

The characters were actually inspired by Swindon's Brunel Tower. Bruno is the tower and Quincy is the ariel. Bruno is a play on the words Brunel, and Quincy is a play on the words Frequency (as in Frequency Magazine).

Here is January's. Click the image to enlarge it.

Steve
www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack

Exhibitions

Here are just a couple of exhibitions to look out for this month.


The Cut Click Mail Art exhibition will feature my work and Simon Wild's, along with all of these lovely artists: Adoxographic Editions, Stuart Adams, Will Adams, Lesley Barnes, Jonathan Ben-Abeer, Rebecca Bold, Jeffrey Bowman, Alice Bradshaw, Dan Button, Chloe Cook, Emma Cowley, Warren Craghead, Abigail Daker, Sp:ke Dennis, Sarah Ferrari, Red Fox, Patrick Holley, Jellyface, Layer, Chris Lillywhite, Graham Lister, Littleclouds, Le McLennan, MrYen, Munano, Louise Norman, Marie-Louise Plum, S. Riemer, Tigz Rice, Fabio Sassi, Roberto Scala, David Shillinglaw, Penny Tristram, Darren Turner, Caroline Twidle, Simon Warren, Alexis West, Stuart West, April Virgoe - should be quite a show!

A show I am real excited about seeing is Andy Council's solo show (see details below - you can click on the image to enlarge it).


And I really hope this snow clears up soon!

Steve
www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack

I Like Characters.com

Seems a bit weird writing a blog post about another blog post, but I will anyway.

I just thought I'd share with you that daily character blogging has commenced at ILikeCharacters.com after a short holiday break. For those that don't know, ILikeCharacters.com is a website that I set up last year all about characters from around the world, including regular character submissions and interviews with fellow artists that enjoy drawing characters. Artists so far interviewed include Ben the Illustrator, Dan Goodsell, 64 Colors and several more.

The first blog post of the decade features Sir Fiddlehead by Kristin Tercek. Check out ILikeCharacters.com


Steve
www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack

My 10 favourite artists of the decade.

Today somebody asked me who my favourite artists from the past 10 years are. This is pretty tough, as I have so many! In my opinion, these are the best! (In no particular order.)

Bue the Warrior

Alex Pardee

Drew Millard

Zoë Darnell (Girls Who Draw)

Dave White

Jeff Soto

Michael Allred

Feric

FriendsWithYou

David Horvath

I could go on and on and on! I am sure I will think of more, but for now, these are my favourite 10 artists of the noughties.

Who are your favourite artists?

Steve
www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack

My turn to blog - Steve Rack

Hello! And happy new year!

It's really weird to think we are in 2010 now. I look back to where I was 10 years ago and I wonder where I will be in 10 years time. That's if the world doesn't end in 2012.

As far as blogging here is concerned, the boys have set the bar quite high, and I haven't really thought too much really about what I will be blogging about this month. I can't believe it's already my turn to blog! Where has the time gone?

I think what I will do is just blog what I am up to as each day passes. I will try and keep things as interesting as possible, so If I start boring you with random blog posts, just tell me to shut up.

So what am I up to right now? Well, other than working on a few ongoing projects, I have been in and out of the vets with my ill cat.

I have just compiled a submission for my first picture book that I have written. The lovely Felt Mistress brought one the book's characters from the book to life in the form of a plush toy. The book is called Toe Fluff, and I will update more on that later this month.


So what are your new year resolutions? Mine are to spend more time with family and friends, go for walks more often, go to the gym every day (yeah right) and I really want to spend more time supporting positive causes. And there is this odd little shop near where I live called the Collector's Corner - looks like Bagpuss should be sat in the shop window. I am determined to step foot in their sometime soon. I drive past it every day, and it's opened at really weird times. Maybe it's a doorway into an alternate reality.

And by the way, I have given my character art site, ILikeCharacters.com a new year makeover.

www.steverack.com
www.twitter.com/steverack