T-shirts — September 2024

Earlier this year I was invited by Cornwall Bird Watching and Preservation Society ("Cornwall Birds", CBWPS) to submit some designs for use on t-shirts and other merchandise. The idea was to create images featuring Cornish birds, ideally along with some icon of Cornish landscape to lend a stronger local feel to the designs.

The designs were all roughed out on paper, but worked up digitally. That was my choice. Digital is a somewhat new way of working for me, but seemed right for the type of images I had in mind. I wanted crisp, modern and reasonably bold designs that would stand out on a t-shirt. Digital is also a great medium for developing ideas — the opportunities for rubbing things out and moving things around are unparalleled! I like the way images can be built in layers. For me, the process and results bear some similarity to print making. I've been learning as I go along, so I'm certain I haven't been using the digital technique at anywhere near its full potential, but I'm reasonably happy with the results and it has been fun to do.

You can see (and buy, in support of a good cause) the current CBWPS t-shirt and merchandise range here: https://cornwallbirds.teemill.com/

The range also features a splendid design of Choughs at the iconic Crowns Engine House at Botallack by local artist and illustrator Martin Elliot and several brilliant designs by Rebecca Jarvis and Emily Howard, both post-grad students from Falmouth University’s School of Art and Design.

So here are my efforts. First up, a Cornish map and flag with a selection of Cornish species of somewhat black and white appearance. The various species have a vague connection to the region of the map where they appear. I had not particularly intended the birds to be largely black, grey and white, but once the design was shaping up that way, it was not possible to insert anything more colourful without upsetting the harmony. Besides which, the muted colours work well with a variety of t-shirt backgrounds.

Porthgwarra is a famous Cornish seawatching spot, and the Runnelstone Buoy is a familiar feature and reference point in the otherwise largely empty ocean. The old buoy had a bell and a mechanism which emitted a moaning sound as the buoy moved with the waves. It could be heard from land, and especially when passing on the Scillonian. The eerie moaning and slow tolling of the bell were altogether rather mournful; well designed to deter mariners from getting too close! The shearwaters illustrated are Great and Manx... and maybe something else.

Another panorama, this one of Swallows arriving at Land's End, passing the Longships Lighthouse just before making landfall.

Old engine houses are still a feature of the landscape in many of Cornwall's former mining districts. They are very characteristic (and characterful) symbols of Cornwall's heritage. Some of those on the coast are set in fine scenery. The Crowns engine houses as featured in Martin Elliot's Chough design are perhaps the best known and most spectacular. Wheal Coates is another well known and well preserved engine house, on cliffs near St Agnes. Wheatears seem good birds for design purposes with their bold black, grey and white livery. They arrive in spring, in time for the drifts of pink thrift. Together they seem to make good colour combination. I did two versions of this design, one more abstracted.

Oystercatchers are familiar and noisy Cornish residents. They also seem a gift for design purposes, with their simple, yet bold colour scheme. Although, I am, perhaps, thinking more as printmaker than digital artist.

Of course, the colour of the t-shirt has quite an impact on the appearance of the design. Here are the Oystercatchers again, with various backgrounds. T-shirt colour was not part of my remit, but certainly figured in the design process, as I wanted to create images that would work with a wide variety of background colours. However, I rather like the Oystercatchers on a white background, with their one or two "lost" edges.

I also did a couple of designs aimed more at kids, or adults with a sense of humour. Herring Gulls have a bit of a reputation in Cornwall, certainly in some of the harbour towns like Newquay, St Ives and Padstow, for pinching pasties, fish and chips, ice creams... well just about anything, in fact, that they can get their beaks on. The idea of a design based on this behaviour was discussed, but the subject is a little sensitive and controversial — the poor gulls have a bad reputation and are much maligned by local media for exhibiting what is, after all, natural behaviour adapted for new circumstances. So something slightly tangential and disarming was called for, which painted the gulls as happy and smiley. Here's my take on it. Pasties are, of course, another Cornish icon!

And lastly, some funny Oystercatchers for kids.