Something worth noting | About the Star Wars Poster Artist - Tom Chantrell

This post has been created as a nod to the release of a documentary for Tom Chantrell.

Tom Chantrell

Tom Chantrell was an artist and he worked with block bluster films in the 60, the 70s. This documentary covers some of his past and his involvement with the poster Artwork for Star Wars.

Here is the release from Convex Films

London, UK. Convex Films are proud to announce the release of their documentary film “Chantrell”. Made by director Simon Henry, this 51-minute documentary tells the story of one of Britain’s most pre-eminent cinema poster artists, Tom Chantrell (1916-2001). Able to both design and illustrate

Able to both design and illustrate posters, Chantrell was the consummate commercial artist. Though renowned for his vibrant photo-realist compositions, he mastered a range of stylistic approaches and was comfortable working with a wide range of mixed-media (gouache, pastels, magic-marker, pen and ink, chalk, photographs etc.). Chantrell’s back-catalogue (1935-92) encompassed everything from “Brighton Rock” (1947) and “One Million Years BC” (1966) to “Star Wars” (1977). Among the most collectible of posters created by Chantrell were a series for Hammer Studios (1965-74) and for the “Carry On” films (1963-66). After turning freelance in 1972, Chantrell dominated poster production for the independent distributors and established a particular niche in poster design for the sex-comedy films that were so popular in the 1970’s and early 80’s.

The documentary contains interviews with family members, poster collectors, and dealers and with the author and leading authority on British film posters, Sim Branaghan. Chantrell’s poster images are displayed throughout.

Director Simon Henry came to the project after unexpectedly discovering the photograph of Tom Chantrell holding up the unfinished “Star Wars” poster. “The image simply blew me away, seeing the amazing poster in its uncompleted form being held up by its creator... I couldn't get the image out of my head and the more I read about Tom's work and its significance within British film history the more I realised that someone had to put this under a spotlight. I decided to contact Tom's family. We've tried to tell Tom's story through the people who knew him best and hope we've done justice for Britain's most important poster artist, Tom Chantrell.”

Mike Bloomfield, curator of the Chantrell archive (www.chantrellposter.com), added: “American poster artists are quite rightly lauded and their artwork sells for amazing sums. British poster artists by comparison are less well-known but figures like Tom Chantrell deserve a huge amount of respect for their contribution to the film industry. I really hope that this documentary brings to light what a fantastic commercial artist Chantrell was”.

You can now view the documentary either on https://youtu.be/aYB0r2Y7QNY

Or by visiting the website. - http://www.convexfilms.co.uk/

The Home Of Daniel Gumb – A collapsed house hidden beside the Cheesewring

The Home Of Daniel Gumb – A collapsed house hidden beside the Cheesewring

I have been threatening to get this post live and I have finally managed to find the time to get some of these photos added to my personal blog. Now if this isn't a post which is worthy of some inspiring drawings to come at a later date then I don't what is!

One summer afternoon when walking on the Bodmin moor with a friend we set about going for a walk up to Cheese Wring. Now if you are unfamiliar with the Cheese Wring which is close to the Minions, it is a set of ancient stones stacked on top of one another. You may also be surprised to know that this rock is completely natural, but this post isn't about the formation of these stones – it is about the formation of another a pile of stones which lay partially buried beneath the hill.

The Steep Walk Up a Hill

After tucking into a hearty meal at the Cheesewring Hotel, I and my friend set about walking up to the top the Cheese Wring, on the journey up the steep bank and after scrambling over some large granite boulders we arrived at the structure. It's not a new structure to me if I am perfectly honest, I dismissed as being something far more mundane than it actually was. To look at, you would assume it to be a small indent created to shelter the stonemasons and the quarry workers from the harsh weather when the land was worked for its stone and other resources. Saying it was a shelter is part truth, but as I come to learn it was much more.

What Was It

As we sat around the shelter in the sweltering august sunshine we looked inside what we thought was the quarrymens' shelter. No deeper than a few metres with basic seating, it would have made an ideal stone canopy in the grim winter months. What we were actually sat in wasn't shelter, it was an entrance to a 1700's eccentrics stone mason's house. The home was dug from the earth and hewn from stone.

Daniel Gumb's Stone House

When I stood on top of the shelter that day something looked a little odd to me, it looked like an adit or some sort of entrance to a mine that had collapsed so I came back and did a little bit of research and that is when I found out that this was the home of a man called Daniel Gumb. Daniel Gumb was a mason, astronomer and an eccentric that must have loved his solitude. He lived in that now collapsed hillside home with his family according to other sources.

The mason's house was dug from the ground and a giant slab of stone was used to act as the roof and ceiling. I'm glad I wasn't there when it eventually caved in.

Where is his house | by the CheeseWring

Where would the surprise be in handing it to you on a plate – besides on not entirely sure. The Home of Daniel Gumb is somewhere on the left-hand side of the Cheesewring as you approach it from the minions car park.

Daniel Gumb's House Entrance

Daniel Gumb's House Entrance - side view

Daniel Gumb's House Top Collapse

Thank you for reading this post!

I will intend on adding more adventure photo's in the future

Beavering away building websites!

Busy Projects!

...

Hello, if you have come through to this website as you are a keen reader then thank you for coming in and having a look and seeing what I am up to. This is just a journalistic type post, vary casual, doesn't solve any world problems but it does talk about a few things

Artism!

So, I have been expanding on my illustration work by quite a bit and I felt that this website – (good old blogger, you have been a loyal friend for many, many years) has now been relegated for just personal ramblings, posts and what I have been up to!

I have been working on a new professional art blog! Bosh, which will focus on what I have been doing, what I intend to do and all the bits in between.

If you want to hear about it in the future feel free to sign up

Design Blog

Hello, all so I have taken the time to put some of my projects and experience into one neat little blog. This blog will discuss various things like how to design a product, graphic design, website design and various handy tips which may or may not help your business.

As this blog is relatively new please take the time and consider sharing with friends, families, dogs, and gerbils and maybe floppy disks drives... Floppy disk drives will like this blog for certain I hope!

https://blog.jimmsdesign.co.uk/how-i-designed-a-novelty-flash-drive/

Flash Drive Design!
Design A Kickstarter Page!

Blog

What has been going on! - New Projects!

What has been going on!

If you have been half following me on Twitter or another social media platform you may have noticed that I have been up to a lot recently! Since I have branched out as a freelancer and setting myself up in business offering design, development and vector illustration things seam to be going pretty well – tough in stages but good!

If you are not yet in the loop, drop me an email to watch my design work or if you are into my art and character illustration sign up via my brand spanking new sign up page – dedicated to my illustration, art! 2 completely different things, feel free to choose or sign up to both!

Comic Sans Monster Copyright Jimmsdesign

Professional Design Blog

So this blogger or blog spot will still be used for personnel news and entries and all other random bits and pieces that do not have a home. My professional design 'wont' be posted here any more, If you wish to follow my professional design blog you will need to look here.

Design Bytes will discuss business, products, graphic design and general creative projects which are geared towards corporate, education and gaming. A post that appears to get interest is how we created a card game.

Games Promotional Website

As part of a project to expand my portfolio, I have created website which is dedicated to all things to do with niche, old school and family gaming. It was originally built as portfolio piece but due to growing interested I have added a bit more content and energy into the website. If you are into table top games and playing board games with you family I would strongly recommend having a look.

Other News

I am pleased to say that I have been working on some excellent projects for some interesting clients since I have started doing freelance work full-time. I am also looking working some very interesting projects of my own throughout the year! If you would like to watch this space you can either follow me social media or say hello!

Thank you for reading,

P.s that is not me in the pick... I just felt it represented something, maybe a much needed break!

New Gaming Blog!!

Dragon Bone Games

Hello! So this a quick post that is discusses a project that has been created – it's a called Dragon Bone Games.

Dragon Bone Games was created to promote cool board games for families, kids and adults, offering range of products that would appeal to those mentioned above.

But it's not just all about big hitter and main stream games. Dragon Bone Games was also created to publishes games that were niche, indie, obscure or simply out of print and from the good old days! You have a look at the E-shop here and see what might come about in the future.

It's not just a promotional shop!

It has also added a gaming blog to the website which will discuss games and whole manner of other gaming thing's! You can read the latest post on buying cheap card games and which would suit a certain person or family member.

So, if you want to look at cool games over and have a look!

Jimm

Dragon Bone Games

Wimbledon Common Photo's + Windmill Summer

Photo's Taken On Wimbledon Common

Here are a selection of photo's take on Wimbledon Common from the other day. These pictures were taken on my point and snap camera.

Woods on Wimbledon Common

Dirt Track and Puddle From Wimbledon Common

Back of the Windmill

Wet Soil Photo

Mud Track From Common

Clearing On Wimbledon Common

Getting cloudy On Wimbledon Common

These photo were take to share some of pretty scenes you may see on Wimbledon Common on a weekend. Even though it started to cloud over these are some nice pictures. And to think this is within the M25.

Photo's By J Odell

My Take On Dark Souls - Part 2 : The Games That Tested Me!

DARK SOULS GAME - PART 2

I mentioned that I would write a follow up to the first part of playing Dark Souls and I finally have managed to get around to it. If you haven't read the first part you can look here >. To wrap it up quickly Dark Souls is a challenging, fascinating action adventure RPG where you can create a character and put them against creatures of your worst nightmares...

Welcome to Dark Souls...

Basic Dark Souls Items

Dark Souls Items Sheet - Artwork Copyright FromSoftware

Titanite
A very valuable commodity in Dark Souls. Titanite can be used to upgrade weapons and armour. Although upgrading armour with Titanite in Dark Souls 3 is no longer applicable.

Souls
These are the equivalent of currency. Use souls to level up or purchase items. Souls can be found be either killing enemies or found on perished hollows.

Homeward Bone
Great for getting you out of tight spots. I would advise having these equipped. You never know what lurks beyond the grey mist.
Estus Flasks
Are essential unless you have a huge health bar – and trust me, going for a straight up large amount of HP isn’t necessary the best decision when you start playing. Estus is flame, its warmth and above all else is basically health potions. You can upgrade the amount of Estus you carry or how potent each drink is in replenishing health.

‘Flame… precious flame’

Magic’s
I have to admit that I didn’t use too many spells/miracles in my players build. Maybe If I was to play through again maybe I should create a Hexer? Throughout Dark Souls you will come across numerous spells that the player can cast to heal, protect or destroy.

Pyromancy
In the world of Dark souls you can cast pyromancies. These are lesser spells which a non-wizard or spell caster can use.

Throughout the souls games there are many items you can pick up, wear, use or cast in the game. Writing everything here would spoil too much. And there is nothing like the
pre-internet days of discovering something apparently hidden. If you are adamant that you want to look for some special items you can follow a website such as this.

Bonfires

You will find a small comfort from the warm glow of your bonfire. These are sanctuaries from which you are protected by the terrors that lie in the deep gloom.
They are also save points!

SPOILERS –

Inhabitants

Phantoms, merchants, vagabonds and lone wonderers... these are the characters you may meet on your journey.
NPC’s
Through the Dark Souls games you will stumble upon rogues, renegades crestfallen travellers, and many others which will either mean to harm the player or help along the way. Generally speaking its favourable to have the NPC’s at your side. You will often come to notice that NPC’s will gather at the central hub of all 3 games so the player can access them easy to either purchase supplies, weapons and various pieces of equipment.

The peculiar characters of DS world will come across as little ethereal and strange, many seam to laugh for no apparent reason – maybe they are mad, maybe the game is laughing as it knows at the torture of some of the stupidly hard challenges that await. They know some you don't. I'm watching you Pate.

Solaire A fanatic and bizarre sun worshiper that you come across in Dark souls, He is in the first level just after defeating the Taurus demon. "You really are fond of chatting with me, aren't you? If I didn't know better, I'd think you had feelings for me! Ha ha ha!"
Pate
I found out that The voice actor for pate was none other than - Peter Serafinowicz, the actor from Shaun of Dead. Pate is a shifty character that you come across in Dark Souls, so keep your wits about you. He looks a bit like a roman Legionary.

Crestafallen night
The Crestfallen knight is a general down and out misery in Dark souls, he is in the first installment and basically sits around wallowing. The Crestfallen knight is easy to distinguish, he will be sat near the bonfire, being a melt.
Andrei
The humble and generally upbeat blacksmith, he makes me feel reassured… maybe its because of the westcounty accent. Andrei will sell and reinforce weapons.

“Tink – Tink - Tink”
Lucatiel
She is one of many characters in Dark souls 2. She is a good summon from memory, although starts to become a little absent minded as time goes along. You will recognise Lucatiel by her attire – She has the appearance of a musketeer

Bonfire Women (Fire Keepers)

2 and 3. These ethereal characters will help the player to level up throughout the games.

Old Ladies of Dark Souls 2

These 3 characters are met early on in the Dark Souls 2. These cynical old crones are former Firekeepers and they are tended to by a servant called Milibeth.
You can meet the Old Ladies intro here...

"Like a moth to a flame, your wings will burn in anguish.”

Design and Feel
The world(s) of Dark Souls is a large and solemn place, inhabited by the lost, the crestfallen, the mad and... you. FromSoftware have done a great sculpting both a enjoyable adventure story steeped in ambiguous lore and a sword-swing, monster slaying RPG.

Secrets
What I love about the souls games are the secrets, the mysteries and the easter eggs – there are entire hidden zones in games which can be discovered by pressing, knocking on or falling into walls or objects. I won’t ruin the game for you, all I can recommend is that you start knocking on some walls! There are many. I have to confess, I didn’t discover enough in dark souls 1. And it has been a while since I played.

Monsters
The monsters, the demons and even the your standard combatants have had so much attention to detail paid them it's almost a shame to rush the game. The designs of the characters capture elements of historical realism which just add the the authenticity to the Dark Souls worlds.. These monsters feel as old and as genuine as their environment.

These nightmarish monsters pull you deeper into the yawning darkness to join the other lost souls, the countless 1000's which never completed their journey.

The Environment
Dark souls feels like something out of a dark ages. The souls realm is a place of medieval purgatory where misery and total hopelessness emanates from every cornerstone, archway and tree the player crosses on their path. On of may favourite environments is the Majula. Perhaps this peaceful place reminded me of where I grew up, its peaceful and beautiful but bleak at times. The Untended Graves is also another favourite of mine.

Other Gaming Bits

Did you know!

They have made a table board and card games of the Dark Souls games?

You can buy them from Steamforge Games online or from smaller online retailers. Some of these games may come to this website in the future – Board Games

Help and fan sites

http://darksouls.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Souls_Wiki

http://darksouls.wikidot.com/

https://uk.ign.com/wikis/dark-souls

Dark Souls Trivia

Apparently in dark souls 1 there is a forbidden boss that was removed from the game in late stages of the development – he was called the Undead King Jar-Eel

Devil in the level details : From software love to pack in insane amounts of detail, so much so if you can access the game from your PC you can explore the world and distant structures – apparently. When playing the Dark Souls game in Lothric you can also see some of the lower level detail of the roofs if you look off the ramparts.

Copyright Dark Souls – Fan pen drawings by me.

See Ya Satzuma

SEE YOU LATER SATZUMA

The day has come when I leave Satzuma and go off to explore new career adventures. I've had a great time working with these guys and thought I would share some of the delightful pics of my last day for the world.... Had a great laugh with team, sad to go excited to start the next venture.

Now into the great unknown! The company which gave me a lot of creative freedom and long grueling train journeys which inspired my personal artwork.

Take care...

Play Dark Souls 1 - My Tips for enemies and general opinions

Embrace The Sun – Play Dark Souls

It’s not often, or hardly ever that I will post anything about a game. I have enjoyed playing Dark Souls so much that I felt compelled share my excitable thoughts on this punishingly difficult yet awesome game. You will both weep tears joy and frustration... but to me, it was all worth it.

If tearing your hair out with old school gaming frustration is your thing, then Dark Souls is a must. To me these games embody an unconventional and unique style that bucks the trend with many of the modern triple AAA titles. Dark Souls melds both the old and new, it's a challenge for old school gamers who grew up playing PC games and the likes of Golden Axe on the Sega Megadrive. Dark Souls harks back to days where you need to be precious about your health and conserve all those extra lives. Fortunately, Dark Souls has adopted the ability to save your game (though you will have to live with your choices on that play-through). Upon the players feeble and often unremarkable death you will be transported back to your last checkpoint - which happens to be a bonfire (more on these later).

This post is about some play tips, opinions and my general knowledge of Dark Souls these are my own views and feelings on the game and I by no means claim to being a gaming guru! No, no, Just a commoner with strong like of the Dark Souls.

"I have played Dark Souls, and now I am a hollow…"

Introduction – DS1 First Impressions

When I first played this savage game I was taken back by how difficult and unforgiving it was. It will not hold your hand or tell you where to go aside from the initial message prompts that appear on the ground of the Undead Asylum – after this its down to you to find your way, the path of least resistance is possibly my best advice I can give.

Frailty of the main player
Your player’s stamina is that of an elderly, overweight chain smoker with barely enough gusto to swing a sword and lift a shield. Your the vitality is short, a few decent hits will send you straight back to the bonfire and the warm glow of that bonfire will be your only comfort. Prepare to die an unfair, brutal and gloomy death... over and over again.

Is Dark Souls for Me?
Do you like RPG’s, fantasy settings, pinch of horror and sword play? Then you will probably like Dark Souls! Be warned, as I mentioned in the opening paragraph, these games won't mollycoddle you. Dark Souls is fun, old school, and difficult, once your learn the rules of the game and how to best play with your character, you'll be very much into the challenge.

Prepare yourself - How to play
Dark souls isn’t a conventional hack and slash. Running into the enemy button bashing will get your player killed. Learn to evade, block and stay away from weapons – timing is key, especially for Melee characters. You will also need tenacity to play the game as you will probably die many times through trial and error

Warrior Technique
“Running in, sword at the ready” One thing I would advise if you have just started to play is to build stamina. Other attributes such as attack and defend rely on your stamina levels and without stamina you character will struggle with melee combat, let alone running away. You may come across bits of equipment that will boost stamina recovery, but it will be short in the beginning. You can be as strong as you like, but your strength will be useless without the heart, lung and legs to help wield your weapon, you'll tire or be too sluggish.

Know Thy Enemies – Playing Your Foes

1) Understand your enemies
I would advise learning how your opponents move. A well timed attack or counter is by far more productive than going in swinging your weapon, basic enemies can actually hurt the player in Dark Souls so remember to keep your guard up and proceed with caution. Dark Souls doesn’t reward you for sloppy sword play; defend, evade, attack cast a spell how ever you wish to play. An air of caution is advised at first when meeting new enemies, be prepared.

2 ) Enemies with basic or crude weapons.
Some of your early encounters will be with lightly armed enemies with broken sword hilts and light blades, treat these as your training enemies. Learn how they move and time your attacks. These guys are also good practice for parries and back stabs. It's also worth noting that some enemies will also broadcast their moves whilst running towards your or raising their weapons.

3 ) Enemies with shields and spears
I have to admit, I personally love how the Dark Souls team have captured the way the enemies hold their shield and spear, it can be tricky to out manoeuvre these guys, but as will all enemies in this game, there is often a way. Try to circle the spearmen and they will try to circle you also, attack with a weapon and they will deflect it. You might be lucky and be able to sneak in a crafty arrow at the start but guess what they will do after that initial attack! Enemies with shields and spears are at their most vulnerable when they attack. Bait them into trying to attack you, let them swing and lower their guard and go in for the kill. If you are very quick you might sneak in back-stab.

4 ) Enemies with projectiles
These opponents can be a pain as they will try to pick you off from a distance using crossbows, longbows and bombs. Sometimes if you get caught out you might find a bomber raining explosives down on you from and elevated position whilst you try to tackle a Melee opponent on the ground. In other words you will be to pre-occupied with the melee attacker to do anything about the bombardiers or crossbowmen (remember to look before running in) . The best way to deal with ranged enemies is to keep your wits about you and use cover. Look at your surroundings before diving in, keep your shield up – cover! You can either try to pick them off from a distance or attempt the gain ground and get up close personal. Often, if you get up close and personal they are easier to take down... most of the time. 5 ) Enemies in heavy, fancy or stylish armour
If you come across an enemy early on with that is armoured from head to foot, be prepared for a nasty fight. Don't assume because they are clad in armour that they are clumsy or slow and if an enemy is clumsy or slow, they are generally very powerful. My first ever fight with one of the Dark Souls knights involved me throwing a small knife which basically bounced off their back, he chased me down and murdered me. As with some grounding of truth, hammer based weapons are effective against these enemies, blades less so. Learn how they move, wait and then sneak in some attacks. Make them commit and then unleash! Be warned, certain knighted opponents are devilishly hard.

6 ) Invaders / Phantoms
These enemies will move a lot like the player, they will guard, roll, and parry to get the better of you and ruin your gameplay! You will groan when you see the words 'You've been invaded' “No! You are not taking my precious souls, they are like money! AND I NEED IT!” and from that thought they will take you souls, and spend it on something nice like a nice new level up or a sword for example. The computer AI will just absorb souls and feel nothing for ruining your last 25 minutes of intense game play. There is no straight way of beating these, hit hard – hit'em fast, keep your guard up.

7) Bosses
If you see a grey mist… prepare yourself for the horrors that lay beyond. The grey mists will block a passage or an arena and once you step in, it may not be easy for you to get out. You will come across items called ‘Homeward Bones’ don’t be afraid to use these. In one or two (many more probably) boss fights I have found the bosses to be too harsh and catch my player off guard. The Homeward bone will transport you back to your last bonfire, leaving your pride behind in the boss arena.

- Oh, homeward bones can be tricky to use in some boss areas, as the enemy may not give you the chance. You might be too per-occupied with being smashed into a bloody stain – good bye soul collection. The bosses vary from colossal fanged monsters to disfigured knights. I wont ruin too much here fearless adventurer. For the dreaded grey mist is something for your beat – make sure you are prepared, levelled and well equipped. Now go forth and prove your worth!

8 Sneaky Enemies
I wont spoil too much here... watch your back.

Thank you for reading. I have attached some Amazon Links for you get your undead claws onto this game.