//”In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer”

I recently entered the Don’t Panic competition to create an image that summed up my vision of summer. The image needed to include the entire range of Vitamin Water bottles as well as their branding. On top of that it needed to be scaleable to over 10 metres across, as the winner was to be printed on the side of Cordy house in East London.

My entry was entirely vector based, created in illustrator- which is slightly different to how I usually like to work. There were just over 250 entries and my image finished 3rd in public voting. The final winner was chosen by Stuart Semple. Unfortunately my design wasn’t chosen to be printed on Cordy house…but Semple had this to say regarding my design:

“A great response to the brief, yummy vector skills. Light and playful, definitely one of my favorites. A lot of depth and I appreciate all the hard work that must have gone into this.”

I was also invited to the Vitamin Water launch night over at Cordy house- where the finalists (including myself)had their images exhibited. I’ve included a few snaps below.

Finally, thanks to everyone that voted for me

//”If you have a burning, restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass.”

This is a recent image I was commissioned to paint based on La Roque Gageac in France. It is a slight departure from my usual subjects, but was very enjoyable none the less.

It was painted at around 6000 pixels wide as it was for a relatively large physical print. I had a lot of fun with the brush work, particularly on the foliage, so I’ve provided a few closeups.

Here is the wider crop, but I don’t feel the composition works as well as the portrait version.

Finally, the initial thumbnail sketch!

//slowgolde