I have just launched a new site which showcases some of my work around ‘Live Illustration’ and events. You can have a look here: visualthinking.chrisshipton.com and click on the images to see some of the info-graphics I have made for it!

I have made a christmas card this year using Moo.com* who I use for all my business cards. I like the fact you can upload loads of different pictures and they have a nice finish. Anyway enough advertising, I have posted the images used below.

* thats an affiliate link just so you know

Here are two cartoons submitted to a paper that shall remain nameless and subsequently haven’t appeared anywhere. But now they are here! Sending a fully rendered cartoon to a paper is a gamble. Most people doing on spec stuff send roughs..

This is a response to plans to turn off the internet during the riots.

This is what the Merkozy looks like..

I have become a ‘Corporate Cartoonist’. Readers of chrisshipton.com, which has been around in one form or another since 2006, will be used to the zombies, robots and cartoons that get posted here from time to time (mental note must do more robots). I have discovered that there is a growing need for companies, events, groups and the rest for drawing. And while these businesses tend to use less zombies and Orcs in their work they still make use of drawing. Think of it this way, people in business are dominated by powerpoint (or PPT) and constantly have to go to meetings. Nothing is worse than arriving in a tiny beige room with uncomfortable seats and being told ‘lets brainstorm’. Everyone starts to look at their shoes, ers, ums, and finally the meeting leader suggests all the ideas they had before it started and no one gets anywhere. Believe me I know what its like, thats why I had to do ‘The Business Park of Doom‘.

Detail from a live illustration of Marcus Du Sautoy’s presentation made at TEDx Oxford 2011

What I do is go into these companies when they are coming up with ideas and draw them. By doing this the cycle of relentless power point is broken, processes that use the analytical ‘left brain’ suddenly use the creative ‘right brain’ too. David Sibbett says in his book ‘Visual Meetings’ using drawing adds 80 IQ points to the room.

This work can manifest itself in lots of different ways. It can be grabbing ideas as they are conceived and coming up with quick fire cartoons. It can be attending a speaking event and recording what people say on huge whiteboards and pieces of paper. And it can involve actually running a meeting and using drawings as the focal point for progress, rather than letting powerpoint and clip art do the work (can you sense I don’t like powerpoint?).
So now I have founded Livescribes with Rikki Marr and James Huyton and we are travelling the country using drawings for business. You can check out the website here where there is loads more info about what we do.

Detail of from a live illustration of Rory Sutherland’s presentation made at TEDx Oxford 2011

Is it selling out? Definitely. I have always said ‘I plan to sell out as quickly as possible’. Whilst I am waiting for Hollywood to call to option Orc-tober or The Business Park of Doom I am am very happy drawing anthropomorphised cheese and talking pharmaceutical bottles for corporate entities. It’s a way of rescuing people from that beige room. But most importantly, it’s fun!

Full sized image of Kevin Warwick’s presentation at TEDx Oxford 2011

I read an interview with Dave Gibbons, one of my all time favourite comic artists (he did The Watchmen). He always draws all the characters and all the sets in a given comic first before actually starting on the panels. A great way to work…

Readers of Chrisshipton.com are probably wondering where their zombies are.. well they are very slowly shambling in the direction of the blog. I am working on a NEW and very exciting comic that will rival the Business Park of Doom!! So here are some preview sketches as I work up to the first set of pages…

So it turns out Barry Humphreys will be joining the ever growing cast of famous types in the upcoming Hobbit. A film which has had a fair share of development hell but looks like it couldbe so good! Will it be a Dune? or worse a Phantom Menace? We’ll find out in due course. With Martin Freeman as Bilbo (and Sherlock Holmes fans will be glad to hear Benedict Cumberbatch voicing Smaug) and Peter Jackson with Weta loads of money and two films I am confident fans will be granted our wish or MORE LOTR.

But I think Humphreys is a great choice not least because he fits the description of the Great Goblin so well. I drew my piccy of him for my Orc-tober project based on Tolkiens description, an I think I have drawn a Humphreys!

Check out the orginal Orc-tober pic here.

And have a look at the BBC article here which refers to ‘Evil Goblin King’ given Barry Humphreys penchant for dressing up lets hope he doesn’t turn up as David Bowie.

The prize: nothing much, but I will put the quote into the picture!

Well here is my 100% official depiction of the Osama raid.. but what are they saying? Leave a comment and let me know what you think…

Dear loyal readers of Chrisshipton.com, way back in October you will probably remember my Orc-tober project where I drew an Orc a day for a month and said I would turn the entry with the most likes into a T-Shirt. Well I never bothered to do the T-Shirt. I put it down to two reasons. Firstly I submitted a design to Threadless which was almost immediately rejected, this sent me in to a spiral of self reflective orc angst that prevented me from putting pen to paper. Secondly I realised how much it costs to print T-Shirts to a quality I deem acceptable.

But I am glad to say I have finally ‘been arsed’ to do it and now have completed a one colour design for an Orc-tober T-Shirt – displayed below (original idea here). No way am I sending it to thoses tossers at Threadless, in fact the T-Shirt tastefully depicts the deserved fate of the threadless hipster twats at the hands of the Orcs and their Balrog. So as soon as I have epmtied the piggy bank and flogged a few more Will’s and Kate mugs the Orc-tober T-Shirt will be upon us. Oh yes and I will be doing only ten so if you want one you’d better bags one now!!

My picture of Chuck Norris is now hanging in the amazing Atomic Burger in Oxford. They also have a brand new menu featuring loads of burgers named after various blasts form the past, I had a very good ‘Chuck Norris’ and my companion a ‘Zachary Smith’. I have also sampled the ‘Dead Elvis’ in the past and they all come heartily recommended. I am looking forward to doing the ‘Godzilla Challenge’ in the future which you can see videos of here.

Chuck in position.

Me & Martin the proprietor (and great patron of the arts).

*This blog post is best read in the style of Michael Winner.