MIKE HALL

Serco Prize entry: ‘Shoreditch Church and Broadgate Tower...

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:56:00 +0100

Serco Prize entry: ‘Shoreditch Church and Broadgate Tower from Hoxton Station’

This is my take on ‘Secret London’, the theme for this year’s Serco Prize for Illustration, jointly organised by the AOI and Transport for London. Happily my submission is one of 50 entrants to be shortlisted for the prize!

All shortlisted entries are to be exhibited at the London Transport Museum this November and December when the winners are announced. More info about the competition and a full list of shortlisted entrants can be found here.

May the best illustrator win!

Interview on Deptford High Street blog

Mon, 07 May 2012 15:52:01 +0100

Interview on Deptford High Street blog:

This is from a couple of months ago - an interview I did with Deptford High Street, a new website dedicated to life and goings-on in Deptford, SE8, talking about my recent “Deptford Wives” exhibition at Deli X.

Illustration Friday - “Towers of London” My...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:20:00 +0100

Illustration Friday - “Towers of London”

My submission for this week’s Illustration Friday topic “Heights” is this new sketch for a poster idea, a comparative depiction of the tallest buildings (as of April 2012!) in London with a few well-known buildings included for good measure.

How many familiar buildings do you recognise?

New work in progress, pencil on paper drawing

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:32:26 +0100

New work in progress, pencil on paper drawing

I currently have a display of drawings in the downstairs lounge...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:08:01 +0100

I currently have a display of drawings in the downstairs lounge at FLATPLANET®, 39 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7JG.

Each drawing is a depiction of real life characters I observed in the surrounding streets of Soho and all are available for purchase.

I also designed the flyer for Lewis Barfoot’s poetry and performance event which takes place every first Thursday of the month - more details here.

Next in my series of East London Line characters, this is...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:01:10 +0100

Next in my series of East London Line characters, this is ‘Surrey Quays Shopping Centre’.

This is ‘Whitechapel Road’, a new piece completed...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:58:51 +0000

This is ‘Whitechapel Road’, a new piece completed today.

This is the first in a new series of character portraits of people that I encountered nearby to stations along the East London Line during a walkabout one sunny day last month.

New work in this series to follow in the coming months!

Crafty Fox shall be hosting another fantastic pop-up market at...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:07:00 +0000

Crafty Fox shall be hosting another fantastic pop-up market at the Dogstar, Brixton (389 Coldharbour Lane SW9 8LQ) on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th of March.

I shall be there on Saturday with a full set of London Borough maps and other print designs available.

The flyer has once again been designed by my very talented studiomate and fellow stallholder Jimbobart.

For more information visit the Crafty Fox blog: craftyfoxmarket.blogspot.com

My ‘Deptford Wives’ exhibition at Deli X in Deptford...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:43:49 +0000

My ‘Deptford Wives’ exhibition at Deli X in Deptford High Street is entering its final weeks! The eighteen portraits from the series, some on public display for the first time, shall remain until Sunday 12th February.

Limited edition specially-designed posters (illustrated above - £25) and the remaining stock of my tie-in ‘DW’ shopping bags (£5) are available for purchase.

The deli is a stone’s throw from the local rail station, and I heartily recommend the almond croissants!

Deli X, 156 Deptford High Street, London SE8 3PQ.

Regular followers will be familiar with my ‘Deptford...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:42:00 +0000

Regular followers will be familiar with my ‘Deptford Wives’ project, completed earlier this year, which is a series of portraits of women originally photographed in the eponymous neighbourhood of south-east London on market day.

From the 4th January until the 12th February I shall be exhibiting the full set as framed fine art prints at Deli X, a recently-opened and smart delicatessen-cum-cafe on Deptford High Street.

Each piece of artwork shall be available for sale (prices TBC) as well as related merchandise including a newly-designed poster and my silk screen cotton bags which have proved to be reasonably popular locally!

Follow the link at the left of this page to scroll through the full series of portraits.

More news soon!

**UPDATE 30/12/11**
This post has been edited to include the amended opening date.

Here’s a selection of festive fowl, drawn a couple of...

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:16:00 +0000

Turkey

Duck

Goose

Guinea Fowl

Chicken

Partridge

Pheasant

Quail

Here’s a selection of festive fowl, drawn a couple of weeks ago specially for a new set of Christmas card designs for 2011. The turkey has also been used for the Christmas-themed promotional artwork for Brockley Market.

These new cards were debuted at Crafty Fox Market in Brixton last weekend (where they proved reasonably popular) and shall be on sale again at Brockley Market tomorrow!

They are presently unavailable online but shall be in 2012. Ho ho ho gobble gobble!

Yesterday I completed the latest addition to my series of...

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:18:10 +0000

Yesterday I completed the latest addition to my series of illustrated London Borough maps - the borough of Lambeth, which occupies a thin wedge of city south of the river and encompasses Brixton, Clapham, Herne Hill, Stockwell, Streatham, Vauxhall and Waterloo.

Copies of this map, alongside copies of the other maps in this series I have completed so far (Hackney, Islington, Lewisham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets) shall be available at the Crafty Fox Market at the Dogstar, Coldharbour Lane in Brixton (see previous post or here) both days this upcoming weekend, 10th-11th December!

All my maps are also available to purchase on Etsy.

I shall selling artwork prints and gifts at the Crafty Fox...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:55:00 +0000

I shall selling artwork prints and gifts at the Crafty Fox Christmas Pop-Up Market at the Dogstar pub, Brixton, on the weekend of 10th and 11th December, 11am-5pm.

Copies of my illustrated maps, including a new upcoming Lambeth design, as well as other London-themed prints, gifts and greeting cards shall all be available, and customers shall be eligible for a 10% discount voucher for my Etsy shop!

A list of all stall holders at this fantastic market can be read here:
craftyfoxmarket.blogspot.com/p/christmas-markets-stall-holders.html

The awesome flyer has been designed by my studiomate James Ward.

I was recently asked to produce a poster for a campaign...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:43:17 +0000

I was recently asked to produce a poster for a campaign currently active in Deptford, south London against the proposals by Thames Water to build sewage works on green space in the middle of the neighbourhood - more information on which can be read here:

www.dontdumpondeptfordsheart.co.uk

My design, inspired the resemblance the shape of the River Thames in this part of town has to the u-bend of a toilet, can currently be seen in shop windows along Deptford High Street including Deli-X.

New studio website

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:16:00 +0000

New studio website:

I’ve spent today setting up a smart new website for the studio in Islington I share with four of my friends and fellow illustrators - James Ward aka Jimbobart, MESH137, Zack McLaughlin and Lauren Ellis. Here we shall post updates on each of our activities, whilst continuing to update our individual sites.

Check it out!

www.cobblelanestudio.com

Here’s the latest addition to my London Borough map...

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:16:00 +0000

Here’s the latest addition to my London Borough map series, my home borough of Lewisham. Finished late this afternoon, the pixels are still fresh on this one…

Copies of this map, as well as other local-themed art and map prints, shall be available this coming Saturday and on the 3rd December at Brockley Market where I shall once again be holding a stall.

The market is held beside Lewisham College in the car park, just off Lewisham Way in London SE4 between 10am and 2pm. Worth coming for the Bad Veggie Sandwiches sold by London Particular alone! Website here: www.brockleymarket.com

Alternatively, non south-east London dwellers can check out my Etsy shop where all my maps are available to order: www.thisismikehall.com/shop

Here’s a new drawing completed yesterday, continuing my...

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:18:43 +0100

Here’s a new drawing completed yesterday, continuing my series of London landmarks, this is Christ Church in Spitalfields in London’s East End.

The tall spire of this magnificent building, designed and built in the 18th century by Hawksmoor, dominates the neighbourhood and stands on Commercial Street opposite the Old Spitalfields Market.

Coloured copies shall be available online and at upcoming markets soon, stay tuned!

Here’s some new party poster artwork - for the National...

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:23:00 +0100

Here’s some new party poster artwork - for the National Gallery staff Christmas party.

The nativity scene is based on ‘Adoration of the Shepherds’ by Guido Reni (c.1640): http://bit.ly/veq5s1

Just today completed a new addition to my series of London...

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:02:00 +0100

Just today completed a new addition to my series of London Borough maps: this is Islington, where our studio is based.

This borough, one of the smallest in London and with the proportionally smallest square mileage of open green space, stretches south from the fringes of leafy Highgate and Crouch End, across Holloway, Highbury, Angel and Clerkenwell to the edge of the City.

4 down, 29 to go!!

A new reference title for kids, published by Dorling Kindersley,...

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 11:00:25 +0100

'The Spy Book' front cover

Illustration #1, 'Spot The Spy'

detail of 'Spot The Spy'

Illustration #2, 'Behind The Mask'

detail of 'Behind The Mask'

A new reference title for kids, published by Dorling Kindersley, is now in the shops: ‘The Spy Book’*, produced in association with the International Spy Museum in Washington DC, features two illustration contributions from me.

This is my first major book commission which is rather exciting!

http://bit.ly/pejF9w

(* = known as ‘Top Secret’ in the US)