Jason Lear – 12 Hour Illustration
Illustrator and fellow Soupa creative Jason Lear is working all night tonight on a 12 hour sketching session, he will be posting every hour with updated work so check it out here: http://jasonlearillustration.blogspot.com/ Jason's Soupa profile
Here is the first sketch of the night.
Yo Illo
Yo illustrators!
Been spending too much time with your tools and not enough with your peers? Head down to this illustration meet up in London to mingle and network with other people like you!
Next event is on the 11th May 2011
Check out the website for more info about the events here: http://www.yoillo.com
Soupa Zine @ Dazed Live
If you went along to Dazed Live earlier this month, you might well have seen some copies of our latest Soupa Zine. Wonder how they got there? Well, we sent over a few copies over to Jotta a couple of weeks back who were curating the zine part of the festival.
The focus of the zine exhibition was to chart the history of London's self publishing scene – so early 70s punk zines to contemporary fanzines sat side by side.
Unfortunately we didn't get down to the actual event, however the guys over at Fever zine have some great pics of the event here. Fever zine's flickr stream. Can you spot our Zine? We can!
Lazy Oaf - Its their birthday!
WOW - Women of the World
Thanks to Clare taking for the photos and writing this piece and on our latest Soupa event at WOW festival:
Soupa was invited by Storm in a Teacup to host a zine making workshop at The Southbank Centre today and yesterday for a new festival called WOW – Women of the World which kicked off on Friday with a live of broadcast of the brilliant BBC Woman’s Hour.
Although, there’s a lot to cover, I’ll keep it brief and tell you about some of things we did (with the aid of a few pics).
In preparation for the festival we made our own special edition Soupa Zine (above) containing lots of exciting new illustrations, photographs and bite-size stories. You can read the zine in full here: http://issuu.com/jospencer/docs/soupazine-mar-2011-23
We made little packs for each zine maker who came to the workshop and we also took along our fantastic retro typewriter which I picked up for about £2 in a recycling centre.
I did a bit of typing to encourage people to give it a go – blank white pages can be a bit intimidating!
While many of the zines contained important messages about women’s issues, we also wanted people to relax, have fun and be creative. Fellow Soupa member, illustrator Elissa Elwick brought along her friendly characters, the Bob Wob’s (watching you from above, and below) and was on hand with Anna Spencer to help people create their own illustrations.
Throughout the day, there was live music and this seemed to attract a lot of people to the workshop – all of whom worked really hard creating something unique to them. As you can see, the workspace was a mess with glue, cuttings and pencils everywhere, but as far as I’m concerned, all the better to take pictures of.
I took five minutes out to catch up on the other events going on at the festival and headed downstairs where I met Mary Kilvert, an illustrator who makes products which include these pretty cushions. Loving the one of these print-perfect sheep!
I was glad we had taken some old magazines for cutting up as these were providing some unexpected inspiration for zines (thanks to my sister for passing them on to me). The illustration below is a great example of this.
Over the weekend, the Soupa team are helping to create a Master WOW Zine that will be a lasting reminder of the amazing work created.
If you came along to WOW this weekend, we hope you had a really good time!
Posted by Clare Kelly
We will be uploading our pictures from the weekend to our Flickr stream very soon.
Colour me Totem - inkygoodness
Inkygoodness are calling for submissions for – Colour Me Totem – their first online creative project!
Colour Me Totem
Here’s your chance to be part of the inkygoodness Character Totem project..
Discover your inner character – doodle, ink, paint or digitally design your own Character Totem. Give him a name & send us the results!
All you need to do is:
- download
- print off
- customise
- scan
- submit
All you need to do is download the Colour Me Totem pdf below and get drawing. Give your characters a name, along with your web address & contact details and keep a close look at their gallery for your Totem to appear.
Send your submissions to: inkygoodness@easy.com – no later than Friday 25th March. All entries will be uploaded to their evolving Character Totem online gallery. The best entries will be displayed in the Neurotitan Gallery as part of the official Character Totem exhibition at Pictoplasma this year – so what are you waiting for? Get involved!
Emerging Talent Exhibition - Spindle magazine
This Friday there is an exhibition featuring the artists, designers and photographers who make up the pool of talent that goes in to making Spindle Magazine. A fashion and culture magazine curated by Heather Falconer.
A quarterly magazine that's now in its third incarnation. Why not stop by Madame Geisha from 6pm to see work by Sarah Ferrari, Peter James Field, Kevin Mason, Maria Sagun, Soupa's very own Carlos Garde-Martin, and a host of others.
Exhibition Details
Private View - Friday the 4th of March, 6-9pm Madame Geisha - 75-79 East Street, Brighton
Pick Me Up 2011
Design Museum - ILLUSTRATE, NOMINATE, FONTIFERATE
Click here for more info http://designmuseum.org/design-overtime
YARNfest Round-up
Those of you who follow @okjo_soupa on Twitter won't have failed to notice that there's been a lot of YARNfest talk of late.
If you were lucky enough to come along, or unlucky and not able to come, here's a little round-up of events for your pleasure...
Saturday night's alright (and the day isn't so bad either)
The Soupa crew (Jo, Anna, Elissa, Jessica, Jamie, Clare) were up very early indeed and made their way to The Book Club to get started on the Zine Workshop.
Elissa, Jessica and Anna were on hand to help out those who attended the workshop by showing them how to create characters. We were really chuffed with the turn-out with many people booking in advance and then staying for the duration of the workshop.
Oschon Wespi-Tschopp of Cure Studio came along with a screen and some really vibrant inks to enable all those who came along to screenprint their own cover. This was a great introduction to screenprinting and produced some great results. Jo was also able to help demonstrate the art of hand stitching to ensure that no one's zine fell apart!
We saw some really fantastic work being produced and Efdeay were in attendance to provide a zine template which could be worked into as much or as little as people liked.
At 5pm, the workshop drew to a close and the floor and tables were testament to the amount of creativity that had taken place with bits of magazines, glue and pens strewn about the place! This did take some time to clear up but because some of those on the workshop were reluctant to leave, we did have some help!!
Soupa then disbanded for the evening to get ready for the next day of YARNfest (and have some much needed sleep).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/okjo/sets/72157625975085229/
Easy like Sunday morning
Team Soupa enjoyed a chilled out morning before rocking up to The Book Club for day two of the proceedings. Once again, the basement were the event was taking place, was completely ram-jammed and lots of people had turned up for the quiz – a fully interactive event that called for improvisation, wit and a sprinkling of talent. Then came the SCAT PACK with their improvised 'film' which has been a hit at Edinburgh Fringe due to its quick thinking talent. Read more about that here.
This allowed everyone to relax a bit before thoughts turned to the Illustrationarium which would see Soupa members Jessica Allan, Luke Waller, Harriet Gray and Carlos Garde-Martin illustrate live on a overhead projector (not seen since school days) while authors and storytellers such as Helen Smith, Rachel Rose Reid and Katy Darby read and performed. A tough task if ever there was one! Soupa felt very proud of all its talent who put so much into it and created some really unique pieces in front of this live audience.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/okjo/sets/72157625975208423/
Tell me why I don't like Mondays?
I don't know why you don't like Mondays really. But perhaps if your name was Jamie Littler and you were about to do a live illustration of a book cover in front of the author Hanif Kureishi, you'd be a little worried about Monday's too!
However, this Monday at The Queen of Hoxton turned into a pretty good one with Jamie doing a beautiful illustration that nearly made Team Soupa weep with joy! There were three other illustrators from other collectives from AMMO Magazine Claire Hartley, from Paperfox press Robin Boyden, from Hidden Dingbat Phil Howell and Lauren Baker taking part too and while Jamie didn't win in the final round, he did win his own round, and though we are biased, he was our winner for sure.
This was the culmination of YARNfest for Soupa but everyone left feeling energised and ready for the next one. If you missed it, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more news about the next YARNfest event – we wouldn't want you to miss out!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/okjo/sets/72157625984252863/
Soupa would like to thank the following for their part in making YARNfest so much fun:
Gemma Mitchell, Osch Wespi-Tschopp, James Hurst, Anna Spencer, Elissa Elwick, Clare Kelly, Jamie Littler, Carlos Garde-Martin, Jessica Allan, Harriet Gray and Luke Waller.
La Boca @ Concrete Hermit
Design giants La Boca this Thursday at Kingly Court!
La Boca, one of London's most exciting and recognisable design studios are taking over our Kingly Court shop space from the 25th February until the 10th March.
Alongside an amazing portfolio of prints, they will have a selection of other products available to buy, and an installation on the back wall.
Their neo-retro film poster inspired design has seen them undertake work for a wide vareity of clients, including Sony, Renault, SixPack France, and Warp Records.
Private view of the work THIS THURSDAY (24th Feb) at Kingly Court You can RSVP on Facebook , or just turn up!
Open books @ RCA
Pick up a pencil
We are busy working behind the scenes ahead of YARNfest which begins tomorrow. It's going to be more fun than you can shake a pencil at!
For more info and goodies, visit: http://www.yarnfest.com/ or see previous posts. Looking forward to seeing you!
YARN fest - this weekend!
Yarn Festival is happening this weekend. If you are in East London on Saturday, Sunday or Monday evening pop along to meet some of the Soupa illustrators and see some great story telling and live illustration! You can watch or take part - either way you will be in for a great time!
Zine workshop / Free / Sat 19th Feb - 12pm - 5pm / The Book Club, 100 Leonard Street
< more info and to book here >
Come along and make your own zine with the help of HATO press, EFDEAY, Soupa and Cure Studio. There will be an opportunity to create characters with Elissa Elwick and Jessica Allan, make narratives with EFDEAY and stitch, fold and make the zines with Soupa friends.
We may even be bringing some screen printing screens to print the covers so come along and get inky!
You can just pop along, if you decide last minute. Or come along for the whole session, spend hours on creating your perfect zine or just pop in and have a go.
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Illustrationarium / Free / Sunday 20th Feb - 12pm - 5pm / The Book Club, 100 Leonard Street
Release the doodle and turn words into pictures. Join in with YARN downstairs at the Book Club and create your own illustrations using an OHP, pens, paper and whatever else you can find!
In partnership with Cure Studio and Soupa Creative Network
Book a slot here (or pop in on the day): http://www.yarnfest.com/illustrationarium/
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Illustrationarium – LIVE! / £3 / Sunday 20th Feb - 6.30pm - 8.30pm / The Book Club, 100 Leonard Street
< more info and to book here >
Hear the words and see the story illustrated live.
Authors, storytellers and illustrators, include Chris Cleave, Helen Smith, Rachel Rose Reid, Neil McFarland, Carlos Garde-Martin, Luke Waller, Harriet Gray and Jessica Allan.
In partnership with Cure Studio and Soupa Creative Network
Katy Darby will also be joining us. Katy Darby’s work has been read on BBC Radio, won various prizes, and appeared in magazines including Stand, Slice and Mslexia. She teaches writing at City University, edits the literary magazine Litro (www.litro.co.uk) and runs monthly fiction event Liars’ League (www.liarsleague.com). Her first novel, Whores’ Asylum, will be published in 2012.
Chris Cleave’s debut novel Incendiary won a 2006 Somerset Maugham Award, was shortlisted for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers Prize, won the United States Book-of-the-Month Club’s First Fiction award 2005 and won the Prix Spécial du Jury at the French Prix des Lecteurs 2007. His second novel is titled Little Bee in Canada and the US, where it is a New York Times #1 bestseller. It is titled The Other Hand in the UK, where it is a Sunday Times bestseller. It was shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards.
Rachel Rose Reid is a Storyteller, creating Live Lit performances to melt boundaries and build bridges between the oral tradition of our ancestors and the spoken word of today. She has been named a rising star of the festival circuit by the Independent on Sunday, and is a winner of the UK Young Storyteller of the Year. She has been a featured artist at Latitude, Camp Bestival, Port Eliot, the London Literature Festival, Burning Man and the Secret Garden Party, at storytelling festivals Festival at the Edge and Beyond the Border and on BBC Radio.
Helen Smith is an award-winning novelist and playwright. She’s the author of Alison Wonderland, Being Light, The Miracle Inspector, and The Emily Castles Mystery Series, as well as children’s books, and plays.
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Cover Wars – The Buddha of Suburbia / £5 / Monday 21st Feb - 7.30pm - 10pm / The Queen of Hoxton 1-5 Curtain Road
::: COME DOWN AND SUPPORT JAMIE LITTLER OF SOUPA CREATIVE NETWORK! :::
Four Illustrators, one book cover, who will win?
Four illustrators representing illustration networks across London will pit their pens, pencils, brushes and glue against each other in a battle to create the best book cover for Hanif Kureishi’s ‘Buddha of Suburbia’ live on the night. Hanif Kureishi will read excerpts on the night as well join Jon Gray of Gray318 on the judging panel.
In partnership with Faber and Faber
Who’s taking part?
From Soupa: http://www.soupa.co.uk/ Jamie Littler http://www.jamielittler.co.uk/
For AMMO Magazine: http://www.ammomagazine.co.uk/ Claire Hartley http://clairelouisehartley.co.uk/
From Paperfox press: http://www.paperfoxpress.com/ Robin Boyden: www.robinboydenillustration.com
From Hidden Dingbat: http://www.hiddendingbat.co.uk/ Phil Howell and Lauren Baker
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Bass Notes: Kemistry Gallery
The Pencil : Open Night
Just a quick post to say a big thank you to all who came to the opening night of Harriet and Luke's exhibition 'The Pencil' last wednesday. We had some great responses about the work on show and made a few sales, which is always nice!
Unfortunately we were having such a good time playing host and hostess we forgot the get our camera out till towards the end of the night, so didn't get chance to take as many snaps as we'd have liked, but here are some that we did manage to take before everyone left!
The work will be on show for the whole of february, so do feel free to pop into The Wheatsheaf anytime to have a look.
YARN Fest
The Pencil Exhibition
Soupa members Luke Waller and Harriet Gray have been busy this month organising their latest exhibition, The Pencil, to showcase their most recent works.
You are invited to join us for the launch on 2nd Feb from 7pm
This intimate exhibition will run throughout the whole of february at the Wheatsheaf's exhibition space 'arty bars' in Shifnal, Shropshire.
for more details about the venue please visit www.artybars.co.uk
Goodbye 2010
to celebrate the new year Soupa member Harriet is having a sale in her etsy shop ... aaand you can also get an extra 10% off with coupon code : HELLO2011
wishing you all a wonderful new year!