Aiden

Aiden has written 23 posts for Proof Spirit

The Smiths – a tribute

It was thirty years ago that a band from Manchester released their first single ‘Hand In Glove’. For the next four years they released the songs that made me laugh, made me cry and definitely changed my life even if they maybe didn’t save it. I’m not going to try and tell you how great […]

Season’s greetings

Hoole is ace. Christmas lights are ace. Put the two together and you have sheer magic: Hoole Christmas Lights. When I was speaking to one of the committee for said lights several months ago, I offered my artistic services should they ever wish to use them. Therefore, I was more than happy to help when […]

Book-in-a-Year: Foreword

It’s nearly two weeks now since I made the bold declaration that I was going to write (and draw) a book in year. The circumstances surrounding this moment of inspiration/madness are as follows: Having woken up stupidly early in the morning on Thursday 7th of March and been unable to return to my slumber, I […]

Lord Blackadder

Having already created several portraits for what is rapidly becoming my ‘rogues gallery’, I thought for my next piece I would capture one of history’s greatest rogues – Lord Edmund Blackadder. Blackadder is, without question, my favourite comedy. I grew up with it, I’ve watched it to the point of almost being able to quote […]

Ryan Giggs

Last night, at the age of 39, Ryan Giggs played his 1000th senior game – a full 90 minutes against Real Madrid in the Champions League, no less. I always liked Ryan Giggs because he played number 11, left wing, like I did. Suffice to say, he has always played rather better than me. I […]

Pretty Girls Make Graves (remastered)

During the second year of my illustration degree and shortly after completing the original version of Pretty Girls Make Graves, the artist and (renowned cat drawer) Jim Medway came to give what was a very interesting talk at the college and then spent the afternoon looking at students’ portfolios. On seeing this comic, he suggested […]

Pretty Girls Make Graves (original mix)

I produced this comic strip way back in the summer of 2009 shortly before starting the second year of my illustration degree. We were producing a comic to showcase the work of students on the graphic novels course and this was my submission. The images have been on my website since its inception, but as […]

Brindle Records

I was recently commissioned to design the branding for a new record label, Brindle Records, brainchild of my good friend and ace DJ/producer Max Hambledon – Tony Wilson to my Peter Saville, if you will. I wanted something contemporary to mirror the music, yet classic so it could sit comfortably alongside any of the timeless labels. He […]

Party time

If you saw notices like these on Saturday night, chances are you were at the same party as I was. Or driving past, seething with jealousy that you hadn’t been invited. My sister asked me if I could make some signs for her party and this is what I came up with. Can’t go wrong […]

New build

  This is a commission I did a little while back for a local construction company. The image was to feature as the ‘artist’s impression’ on signage around a new-build property while construction took place. I began by taking an angled projection from the architect’s drawings and digitally traced the outline of the house using […]