Grillust infiltrates BAFTA red carpet

You can't move these days without bumping into an comic book hero. Here at Grillust Towers we've got our very own hero in the shape of Beth. Beth's powers, which include a strong Brummie accent, originate from a wooly hat of questionable stylings, which she must wear at all times to conceal her true identity / keep the shaved portions of her head warm.
But what happens when heroes meet? (Apart from everyone going bananas and handing Marvel a licence to print money).
Here's what happens when Beth met...

The Man of Steel


Keeps his pants inside his trousers.


Captain America


Invades personal space.


Loki


Pinches her camera (but returned it later because he knows what's what).


(This one's stretching it a bit) Jonah Jameson (from Spiderman)


Smugly ignores her from a distance.


Charles Xavier


Turns his back when his mind reading powers are blocked by Beth's wooly hat of power.

Tune in next week, same Beth time, same Beth channel...

and here she is on the BBC news (who have stupidly captioned the piece with Rosamund Pike's, name as she also appears).

You might remember the our very own 3rd Year Graphic Design student, Josh J. Ford (21), was commended in the 13-14 YCN Student Awards.

For the awards ceremony we can only hope that fashion icon Josh complimented the mandatory tuxedo with his 'trademark' footwear – rhinestone cowboy boots (or wellington boots in inclement weather); either worn outside the trouser.

Well, all that was last summer but, apart from a slap-up feed and free alcohol, Josh has also been featured in the recent YCN Student Annual.

Josh (now 33) has been employed as  graphic designer with Honda since graduating. Hopefully he still wears the boots.

Visiting Illustration Lecturer - The Wonderful Jill Calder

One of the nations' finest professional illustrators Jill Calder, paid a welcome return visit to The University of Cumbria recently.



Jill commenced her art studies with us here in Carlisle many years ago (see above) when we were simply called Cumbria College of Art & Design. Since then she's gone on to forge a successful international career as a freelance illustrator.

Apart from giving a guest talk to our students in a packed lecture theatre, Jill also found the time to hold one-to-one tutorials with our Year 3 Illustration students.


Jill is represented by Central Illustration Agency in the UK and by Friend and Johnson in the USA.


Jill gave lots of advice on the pros and cons of having an illustrator's agent.



One of the biggest projects Jill has ever worked on, her illustrated 'Robert the Bruce' was published to great acclaim last year. Jill spent a year working on the illustrations for this book, producing over 174 large sheets of ink drawings and lettering and 5 sketchbooks of notes, drawings and ideas, bringing the final illustrations together digitally.


One of the 'Bruce' sketchbooks...

Jill talked about the process of developing her final illustrations...

De Bohun attacks Robert - first version

De Bohun attacks Robert - second version


De Bohun attacks Robert - as used in the book




Jill has recently been creating a lot of experimental artists' books.

After her lecture students spent time looking at Jill's sketchbook and development sketches

Here are a few of the slides that Jill showed during her talk...

 'Lion Food' (digital print)

 Sound advice...

 Spot any famous faces?

 Murals for The Royal Brompton Hospital, London

 'Forest Deer' a bronze award winner from AOI Images 35

Now Showing...

That's right folks, 1971's Carry on Henry (the 21st film in the ever popular series of highbrow rib ticklers) has finally made it to Carlisle cinemas. One to share with that special someone this Valentine's weekend?

What did people do in the Dark Ages?

Well last Tuesday we found out...

Careless road workers drilled through a major electrical cable plunging a third of Carlisle (the third that has our campus in) into total darkness*

Let's see how the students (and staff) coped without their beloved electrical technology for what seemed like an eternity**

 Dazed and confused, the enormity of the situation has yet to sink in...

 Year 3 students express their displeasure by adopting the typical 'local' newspaper 'we're not happy campers' pose.

 As bodies cooled down, almost forgotten playground games were employed to increase circulation.

Smug illustrators Jake and Maddy (21 & 21) gloating at the emergency safety light illuminating their illustrating.

 "Hello ladies..." Who needs electricity? Certainly not James (21) with his vast array of marker pens...

 ...or Ed (also 21) with his equally impressive collection

In a future devoid of power the smart money was on pens and pencils. Please note the well ordered queue to our shop. Even in such terrible circumstances, order and politeness ruled the day.

* The power was cut at 11.45AM

** Power was restored 1 hour 45 minutes later

Wicker Hut Watch No.3

February 2015

Q: Is it still there?

A: Yes it is!