Signs of the Zodiac on Society6

Society6 is a website where artists and illustrators can upload their work and sell high quality products, like prints, canvases, T-shirts and iPhone covers, on demand and direct to the adoring masses.  And the masses (or you) can choose from a large and well-priced selection of artwork to adorn your home/gizmos/body.  The lucky things are based in sunny California, but ship internationally.

I recently joined and uploaded my Signs of the Zodiac project.  And yesterday I got an email informing me that 'Leo' has been picked to feature in the Society6 shop!  Shazzam.  Well, I'm not entirely sure what it means but it definitely sound like good news.  I did find it in the "NEW" section (pictured in situ above) on Pg 20 (Better than a poke in the eye!).  :)

Leo

I did a previous blog showing how I made Leo, step by step here and you can see the whole Signs of the Zodiac project on my website.

All my work that is available for purchase via Society6 can be found here, at my studio.  If you fancy a browse, the site is offering 5% off all products bought this weekend!  Also keep an eye out in the future because I will be adding more goodies "as and when".

Do you have a studio on Society6, or have you ever bought anything via the site?  If so, tell me about it!

Image Hoard: Ornature

My inspiring stuff this week is a blend of patterns and the natural world: Ornature.  

Click on the pictures for a slightly larger version.

Left:  Jonny Wan "2011 Year of the Rabbit"

Right:  Aztec sculpture of Coatlicue, the Goddess of Earth & Death

Jonny Wan is an amazing Illustrator operating out of Brighton who makes everything look like Aztec/Scandinavian circuitboards.  It may sound strange, but with super beautiful results.

Coatlicue (sounds like co-at-lick-way) (wikipedia) translates to "Her skirt of snakes".  She is the goddess that gives life and also takes it away; because, while Earth is a loving mother, it is also an all-consuming and insatiable monster.  The sculpture is currently on display at the Museo Nacional de Anthropologia in Mexico, but after it was discovered in 1790 it spent a lot of time buried underground because the Europeans found it so horrific to look at.  Certainly, towering at almost 9ft, wearing a necklace of severed hands, human hearts and skulls and a skirt made of snakes and spurting blood she cuts an imposing figure.  I love the way the snake scales are rendered.  I think it's beautiful and terrible at the same time (a lot like life) and O, what I would give to visit.

Flight of the Conchords poster by Aaron Horkey

I couldn't find a website for Mr Horkey, but do a google image search of his name and you will not be disappointed.  His level of detail is insane and his lettering and mutant fauna are amazing. 

Hi/Bye by Wilhelm Staehle

Mr Staehle operates SilhouetteMasterpieceTheatre.com; loaded with a multitude of witty and concise visual one-liners, conveyed through the medium of paper cuts.  Take a look, it's funny.

That's all for now.  Toodles!

Austra's 'Beat & the Pulse'

Austra are a Canadian band.  Music from Canada is like my achilles heel, and Austra are no exception.  Their music is dark and electronic with female vocals, prompting many comparisons to The Knife.  And while they do have Knife-like qualities I would say Austra's ouvre so far is more sombre and more beautiful.  Front-woman Kate Stelmanis comes from a background in classical music and it shines through in her strong vocals.

I created this illustration to accompany Amelia Gregory's interview with Kate Stelmanis for Amelia's Magazine.  The title of my piece: "Capture Something Rare", is a line from 'Beat and the Pulse' (arresting video further down the page) and the image is meant to reflect the rippling synth of the track and the brooding beauty in Austra's music.

Austra's debut album, called 'Feel it Break', dropped on May 16th and I strongly recommend you check it out.

Capture Something Rare

Warning: The video below contains a nipple (but just the one).

AUSTRA "Beat and the Pulse" by domino

New Website!

For years now I have been wanting a place to call Home on the world wide web.  Blogger is absolutely marvellous, but the dream has always been to have a URL all of my own.  

So now, it is with extreme pleasure that I present to you with my first ever website.  Ladies and Gentlemen, please point your browsers to www.abiheyneke.com!

The Dream

After a bit of preparation and lots of help from my friends, it is now fully functional and available for your viewing pleasure!

What's more, I will be sending out monthly updates featuring new work and other exciting news.  If you want to get it all delivered to your inbox, sign up on the info page.

Please have a click about and enjoy!  I welcome feedback and any suggestions you have for improvements.

Poor Bruin!

The Shaman and Walser did not live alone. There was a bear, a black one, not yet a year old, still almost a cub. This bear was part pet, part familiar; he was both a real, furry and beloved bear and, at the same time, a trascendental kind of meta-bear, a minor deity...

He would be offered bear steaks only after he was dead...

On its first birthday it would be taken to the god-hut and its throat would be slit in front of an ursine idol sitting above a heaping mound of skulls of bears who had met their fate in a similar fashion... 

The entire village crowded into the god-hut to watch the ceremony, lamenting vigorously and apologising profusely: "Poor bruin! We're so sorry, bruin! How we love you, poor little bruin! How bad we feel because we must do away with you!"

from Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

I have finished reading Nights at the Circus; it's a fantastic book, very enjoyable and full of evocative imagery.  This is my first full-blown illustration spawned from the text, of a bear who is blissfully unaware of his intended fate.

Image Hoard: Morbid Fascination

I know, I know.  Halloween is still a long way off but I just can't resist anything to do with skulls/death/headhunting/etc.  Here are a few gems that I have found recently...

Left: Original Fake Skull Kiss T-shirt design

Right: Nicki Minaj for V Magazine

I love Nicki Minaj and her HUGE arse.  But I love her even more when she puts on a Versace dress and tribal body paint to pose for V Magazine.  You can check out the rest of the pics and the article here.

The Original Fake T-shirt must be last season, because I can't find it on the website anymore.  I thought it was pretty rad.

Left: Dayak Trophy Skull

Right: Poster for a House of Fairy Tales event

The Dayak are a people from Borneo who were a headhunting culture.  The skull here is a decorated trophy from such an outing.  I drew this one and posted the pic in a previous blog.

Left: Dayak Chief

Right: Crystal Renn by Terry Richardson

This fella was a Dayak Chief, king of the headhunters.  Check out his feathers; I dig his shield too.  Good legs.
I did warn you that I was obsessed with Crystal Renn, and here's another image from the Feast editorial for French Vogue.

O Grave, Where is Thy Victory by Jan Toorop, 1892