Global Honour for Irish Examiner Ad

A nice pat on the back for me and Chemistry for our Examiner Billboard Adverts.
Somehow they managed not to mention me in this article, but we illustrators get used to that kind of thing.
See also The Inspiration Room.

Hell on Earth

The folks at Chemistry asked me to do another poster advertising a forthcoming series of articles in the Irish Examiner newspaper on the clergy in Ireland to-day.
They wanted a picture that looked like an old master painting but with a crowd of people in modern dress who are about to burn a priest at the stake. The scroll was my idea. What a fun brief!
Unfortunately I had a really short time to create the picture, so I developed a technique that is half oil painting and half Photoshop. I was very pleased with the result, which should start appearing on poster sites in Ireland next week.
Many thanks to all my friends and relations who volunteered to model for the crowd, and especially to my pal Giuseppe who was perfect as the priest.

My Boozy Celtic Heroine

I don't do a lot of ad jobs, but I was attracted to the idea of this one.
Binge drinking is a huge problem in Ireland and still our pub culture seems to be one of the biggest draws we have as a tourist destination.
To advertise a series of articles addressing the issue that will run in The Irish Examiner from Friday, I was asked to provide an image of a Celtic heroine who has had a few too many.
There is a full page ad in the Examiner to-day.
I had a lot of fun doing the research and the painting, and with a really tight deadline it was a great change from my usual children's book work.