Back From Berlin! ... For a month now.

As it has been a month since I attended Pictoplasma, its probably about time I blogged about it. Berlin was a simply amazing place and the festival was so interesting and fun and I GOT A SIGNED POSTER FROM DAVID OREILLY THIS MADE ME THE HAPPIEST OF HAPPY!

.... *ahem* yes. Perhaps I should start back from the beginning!

Monday evening, we arrived in Berlin to nice weather, which didn't last very long (seems Germany was trying to make us feel at home or something... kind of ironic considering back home it was sunny the whole time we were away) and we went for a bit of sight seeing. We got a few photos of the graffiti on the walls and made it our mission of the day to find the TV tower... which was much too far to get to by foot. Much easier to catch the train to Alexanderplatz. If only I'd known that earlier, I could have spared my leg and hips the trouble!

My first meal there was McDonalds. Way to step out of my comfort zone there, eh? I'm actually surprised they got my order right as it gets mixed up sometimes here (how hard is it to make a PLAIN cheeseburger and fries, eh?)

Tuesday was a mainly sightseeing day, all of us as a group wandering around together and taking photos of... well, everything pretty much.

 I loved how they painted their products on their buildings, its a really clever idea and makes the place very appealing and interesting to go to.

Loved the eye catching colours and how the girl stands out from the bright orange background.

 I just liked the composition of this here, how all the bikes are lined together in front of the graffiti. Photography is a hobby of mine.

 I just realised, I never actually came back to buy this and try it like I planned! Sad times!

Consider this a message to my better half <3

Anyway, there's about a ton more but I think I should move on by now and talk a little about the work I found inspiring at Pictoplasma. I was especially fond of those who gave their characters spaghetti arms and legs like I'm starting to do with mine but I found many of the artists creative ideas and methods inspiring.

David O’Reilly, who is well known for work such as Octocat, Please Say Something and The External World has always inspired me due to his relatively upbeat yet twisted sense of humour and out of the box ideas, so I was especially pleased to see him at Pictoplasma and even more so to get a signed copy of The External World poster. Best 10 Euros I ever spent!

Also can't help but mention this pic again. Well I suppose I could but shut up.

Oh, and he retweeted one of my twitter posts. Don't tell me I'm a saddo to be happy about this, I'm already aware. So hush.

I should probably link to the work I saw at Pictoplasma. I know I've moreso fangirled rather than analyse his work but well... look at this and see for yourself, eh?

http://www.theexternalworld.com/

There were also other artists whose work I enjoyed and whose lectures I found interesting. One in particular was Ryan Quincy, who even wore the costume of his character during his talk (and such props always make one more inclined to listen!) not to mention that he's the head animator in South Park. Apparently it only takes 6 days to make an episode? Unbelievable yet very impressive!

Art styles I really enjoyed seeing were of Jeremyville and McBess, both of which create work that is very cartoony and references work of old cartoons, particularly McBess. As I enjoy seeing work of a similar nature, thats a big reason why these two stuck out for me. The difference between the two is that McBess tends to have a more 3D approach, creating a story using music as accompaniment whereas Jeremyville's work is simplistic yet incredibly heartfelt, creating a small but busy and meaningful world with a story to tell. Both have given me something to think about and ideas to try with my own work.

Rilla Alexander and Matt JOnes gave lectures that I also enjoyed. Alexander gave a wonderfully sweet presentation about her little girl character Sozzi and her ideas, which are creatively portrayed as living creatures. The antagonist is a monster made of scrumbled up paper, representing the characters procrastination and lack of satisfying ideas as theystart to escape her. Incredibly creative. I hope to own the storybook one day.

To see more of Alexander's work, go to her website: http://www.byrilla.com/

I just adore the design of JOnes' work, how he combined a character he created with his favourite drink. Its quite a creative idea (although I wouldn't recommend sitting in tea- you'd get quite a few burns) and also the fact that you don't know what colour character you're gonna get makes it part of the fun when collecting them, not to mention the limited edition designs. I definitely want to collect more of them when I can.

To see more of JOnes' work, go to his website: http://www.lunartik.com/

I bought two of their products, both of which reside of my chest of drawers. They're good pals and often meet my toy Rabbids to play a spot of Cricket and Avoid The Plunger.

Thats more or less all my favourite speakers as far as I can recall. As of now, I think I'll share with you some of the screenings I saw at Pictoplasma that I've found on YouTube. I'm still looking for a lot of them and I'll update my blog with them when I find them. For now, enjoy these nice little offerings here!







As this is all I can think of to share for now (and if I type more of this blog I will have to suffer more ageless buffering and frustration) so methinks now is the time to wrap up this entry with a nice photo I was shown on the Pictoplasma website. This was at the end of The Missing Link show and I was one of the crazy nuts to get onstage and dance with the yeti things. I actually hugged and danced one of them!

I doubt you can spot me in this, I'm hidden so damn well.