Le Professeur...

I don't normally make comments on this blog... i tend to leave it for illustration, however, i felt i needed to comment on the tragic death of Laurent Fignon.

His monumental battle with Greg Lemond in 1989 stands as my first memory of bike racing. Sat at home on the sofa with my Dad when i was 7 years old, watching that tour, and begnining to understand the ins and outs of a race which i am still obsessed with means that, for me, it stands out as one of my all time favourites.

When asked to cover the race for Rouleur Magazine i revisited and studied the race in much more detail, and it was during this time, surrounded by dvd's and books, that it hit home to me how strong a racer and tactition Fignon was. If the race could be won, he was going to do anything in his power to be the man that won it. That is how i will remember Laurent Fignon, the racer, the tactition, le professeur...

Happy Hanging

Its always great to see a picture of mine hanging up on someones wall... click here to read the story behind it... And thanks to Alan for posting about it...

A Proud Moment...

This email popped into my inbox a couple of days ago... it left rather a spring in my step for the rest of the day to think that one of the greatest legends in cycling has both seen and owns one of my shirts. To think that a family of Lemonds is wearing them on a daily basis was kinda mind blowing. I want to thank Scott for getting in touch, his words are really kind. And if you don't yet own this Lemond endorced product [i need to know why???] you can still get hold of them at the Rouleur website and hopefully soon at the Rapha Bicycle Club NYC

Freshness...

I had the previous look for my blog for quite a while, and whilst working on a design for a cycle jersey with awesome new company Milltag the new Brand ID for 'me' came about. Suddenly the duck i had been using seemed dated and a bit lacking in any cycle based illustration gubbins. So when Ed Cowburn from Milltag sent me this through i thought it was perfect. I want to thank Ed for creating the new RichMitch logo, i'm really happy with it... what is it Cuddles The Monkey said 'i hate that duck'...

T-shirts at Rapha Cycle Club NYC

Early this month, the Rapha Cycle Club NYC opened, it is very similar in outlook to the London shop, showing live cycling, with good coffee, good people and lots of rapha stuff on hand [including Rouleur Books and Magazines.]

Very soon [towards the middle of this month] they will start stocking my t-shirts... When the shirts were sold in the London pop up shop it was great to head there and see them hanging on the rails, but i won't be able to get to NYC, so if you see them, take a pic and send me it via twitter [link on the left] I hope people in the USA enjoy them, having never been to the states myself it is pretty sweet to think that some American chaps and chapesses will be pulling them on and heading down the sidewalk wearing my designs...

so if you do part with some cash to get one, many thanks...

The Vision On Dan Lloyd Gallery of Colouring Art...

Here are the best of the colouring ins i have been sent, one special mention to Dan Lloyds son Ralph, who sent one to me! If you see your one there, well done, you kept inside the lines and have now reached colouring in Nirvana... The message to me from the man himself was very special... Good luck for the rest of the tour Dan, we are all behind you....

Print Shop... Rouleur

Rouleur have opened there new online PrintShop... And the pics above show all the different stages in buying the prints [framed or not.] There are also a lot of photographs from the mag here so make sure you take a peak and perhaps get some of the great artwork of cycling all over the world on your wall!

Paul Smith Antwerp... Rouleur Cycling Images

Paul Smith is renowned for his love of cycling and art... and currently there is an exhibition of Photography and Illustration from Rouleur18 at the Paul Smith shop in Antwerp, which my work is a part of. So, if you are in the Antwerp region, or happen to be anywhere near by why not pop along... if you do, perhaps take a picture or two so i can stick them on the blog, i'm really nosy to see how it all looks! More info here on the Paul Smith Blog...

[NB: this whole post seems quite cool and matter of fact on my behalf, the truth is i think i screamed like a girl when i found out i was going to be on the wall of one of Mr Smiths shops, his clothes symbolise all things great about British fashion... Thanks to all involved for putting it on, it is fantastic to be part of.]

Dan Lloyd... the journey man... the Leg End...

Well done on getting the call to the Tour Dan and best of luck... i have created my first, and possibly my last if no one can be arsed to do it, cut out, colour and KEEP Dan Lloyd/Tour poster [WOO HOO i hear you cry] if you want to tweet me your pics of the poster then there's a very strong chance you will end up in a blog post here in the not to distant future... think of the fame... enjoy and get your wax crayons, felt tips and sticky backed plastic at the ready!

'Tete De La Course' Volume2...

T-shirts at Rapha Cycle Club London...

When a second run of 'legends of the road' t-shirts was mentioned my eye brows raised quite considerably.

The work i do is always fun to create and to see the final product is great; to imagine that more than me, my mum and dad and perhaps one other cycle nut may part with their hard earned cash for a piece i've drawn is humbling. So far Rouleur has seen them fly out of the online door, and as the second batch of shirts to be sold was announced [of the same riders] about a month ago it was also mentioned to me that cycling coolness giant Rapha, were very keen to sell them in their new London based pop up shop or 'The Rapha Bicycle Club'. You can therfore find my t-shirts in what can only described as a proper shop... And what a shop! having been down there on its opening night i can only say that for cycle/style fans this is THE place to visit. Good coffee, all the major races on the cycling calendar on a big screen and everything rapha/rouleur on sale....

The London shop can be found here: 146-148 Clerkenwell Road EC1R 5DG

Next month the T-shirts will also be appearing along side King Kong, the cast of some amusing sit com and the statue of liberty when they go on sale in Rapha's pop up shop in New York [ahhhhh mental]. So, if you read this, and happen to be in London or New York, take a picture of them for me and email me it via the link on the left, if you forget a camera the next best thing is to reach into your pocket and buy one... but i'm not keen on self promotion much... hang on... i think this whole post has been based around that... oh well... enjoy

Rouleur 18... One Day In July

Here are some of the images I have just finished for the new Rouleur18. The story is based on one family's day at the Tour De France and works with the magazines theme of the 'GrandTour' and all the pieces which fit together to create the summers exciting cycling events. These pictures are part of a 6 page piece... I hope you like them.

Publication and Press...

Since i blogged last a couple of really exciting things have happened... one of them only this morning. The first involves Publishing House Gestalten, they approached me a couple of months ago to be part of their new book 'VELO - Bicycle Culture and Design'... To be part of something like this kinda blew me away, i think i'm still getting used to the fact that my work is more 'out there' in the public eye and so to be involved in a book which i would probably buy and have on my shelf at home kinda knocked me for six... after i scraped myself off the floor and sent them the images they required it left my head, until only recently, when the preview of the book popped up on the Gestalten website. It is due to come out in the next couple of weeks, and i think will be available in the usual funky book shops. I can't wait to go into a shop and see it...

The second piece of 'knock me over crazy' happened this morning, and through the power of my new best friend 'twitter' [click the link on the left to follow me... i tend to tweet mainly about cycling stuff and other guff] some chaps that follow me @tawnycam and @afropaul sent me a great message to let me know i was in the London based free magazine SPORT. This publication comes out once a week and shows off hip stuff and interesting things as well as the week in sport that was and to come. It is handed out at tube and train stations and seen by LOADS of people. I had no idea that my t-shirts were going to appear in the mag but it certainly put a smile on my northern mug as i headed into london on my commute to Mind Candy.

So if you saw it in SPORT or fancy swooping on the book when it comes out, let me know... always great to hear peoples thoughts. Cheers

Moshi Monsters...

It's been a really busy month... sorry for not posting recently but i am working for Mind Candy in Battersea on their awesome Moshi Monsters project. It has recently topped 15million users and it is brilliant creating fun and funny animations for that large an audience! So head over to MoshiMonsters now, adopt one of the little fellas and have some seriously good fun. I will be posting more stuff from now on, and i'm sure more cycling pics will appear soon...

Rouleur 16 Cover Art...

When i started working with Rouleur the cover art work was the first thing to really stand out to me as it sets the magazine apart from all the others on the market. The cover art often captures the contents of the magazine in one single image, they are strong, iconic and emotive... When i was approached to create the cover art for Rouleur #16 i was honoured and slightly scared at the the thought of buggering up the front cover of such an iconic and well followed publication... but to see it in print along side the others is a really proud moment for me as an illustrator... hope you like it

Rouleur 16... 1989

Here are three pages from the comic strip i have just finished for the new issue of Rouleur #16 it follows the epic tale of the tour de france 1989 and takes the form of a souvenir book from the same time. The whole thing contains twelve pages and to see more get over to the Rouleur site and scoop it now...

Rouleur Editor...

More Rouleur stuff on the way...

Here's an animation test i did recently for London based studio Mind Candy. This chap is called Cyclo, a one eyed robot with a unicycle for a leg... Give him a click to wake him up... hope you like it

Tete De La Course T-shirts...

Here are the new t-shirts i have just designed for Rouluer Magazine. They are based on some of the greatest names in cycling history and are available in various sizes using ethically sourced fair trade t-shirts. You can get them through the Rouleur website. Check them out here.... [CLICK ME]

The Washing Machine Post...

In October I went to The Cycle Show at Earls Court, walking around on my lonesome I was overwelmed by the amount of amazing bikes/brands and people that make the industry what it is. My aim was to find the guys at Mosquito Bikes and drool slightly over thier range of bikes from American custom builders Idependent Fabrication. While I was there I met Brian Palmer who writes The Washing Machine Post. Brian had written a really great review of my work in Rouleur #14 and so I thought I would say 'Hello'and 'Thank You' for the kind words. After chatting with Brian he mentioned he would love to interview me about what makes me tick as an illustrator and my love of cycling, after picking myself off the floor at the thought of someone actually wanting to interview me I set about answering the questions... So why not click the link and give it a read...

The Trivial Pursuit Experiment....

I worked with BAFTA nominated Flash giants Plug In Media and London based agency Tribal DDB on this battle of the sexes game for board game Trivial Pursuit. I was given assets created by designer Tony Cianci at Tribal DDB and re-created them in Flash whilst also creating a lot of animation you see during the game, especially that between the male and female characters. Click ME to head over to the site and play along...

ProCasts mindOnline demos with Macmillan Publishing...

I have been working with ProCasts again recently and we just completed a large chunk of work with Macmillan Publishing, creating demo videos that explain their new mindOnline language-learning product for teachers and students. Working directly with Macmillan's product lead and script writer to create four screencasts from 2 minutes to 5 minutes that show various aspects of their product. You can watch all the videos here (above) or head over to the MindOnline site and watch them there...

WebFaction...

Procasts have just finished working with top web hosting company WebFaction on this video. Check it out, it follows one man (Jim; of JimsJugglingBalls.com) on his journey to create a new site and utilises all the cool features WebFaction have to offer...

Rouleur#14 - Eddy Merckx The Greatest Show On Earth

A couple of months back, I was approached by the magazine Rouleur to create an illustrated comic strip style version of the film 'The Greatest Show on Earth' which follows the 1974 Giro or Tour of Italy in an epic battle between Eddy Merckx, Jose Manuel Fuente and the then world champion Felici Gimondi. Below are some of the panels from the final piece. If you want to see the full eleven pages go out and buy Rouleur now...









Just seen this very nice review on washing machine post many thanks