Alex Crump - Illustrator

I started this image in the Swindon Paintfest – during a live painting session in the Wyvern theatre. Living in the Swindon area for nearly 20 years now, it’s been interesting to see the locality change and develop. The impetus for this was to try to encapsulate a little of Swindon’s history in a fun and engaging way. Being a sucker for a good story and reading up on a bit of local history, my ‘Homage to Swindon’ came about

So, what’s it all about?! Billie (The pig) comes from the theory that the name ‘Swindon’ comes from ‘Swine – Dun’ (“Pig on the Hill” if you like) the tiny little town that Swindon was for centuries. Billie is dressed in a blue and white striped gown (based on the proposed flag of Swindon) with an orange cape – Swindon council’s colour. Behind Billie is the Wyvern – a great mythical creature that represents the ancient kingdom of Wessex that encompassed the area that Swindon sits in (also the name of the theatre in the town). To Billie’s right is the Robin, nickname of the football and the speedway team (amongst others). Underneath the Robin is a white horse of the hillside – Wiltshire and the surrounding areas has several of these. Coming through the canal tunnel is Isambard (Isambarge?!) Kingdon Brunel, the famous engineer who brought the railway to Swindon in the 19th century and changed the area (and in my opinion, the world!). Riding on the Great Western Railway train (thanks to Isambard) is the Great Bustard – the bird that sits on top of the country badge of Wiltshire.

I’ve already identified a few things I’ve missed – Daniel Gooch, Brunel and “THE Sandwich”! – that’s a story for another day, a ‘Wildcat’ (Ice Hokey)… let me know what else I could add!

New year always brings a lot of new ideas and thoughts, ambitions etc. I think the thing I’ve always found (being freelance) is how to keep my work visible in a very competitive market (where to post, how frequently etc.) I’ve noticed AI generated artwork having quite an impact on things, I’ve always been worried about posting too much but I suppose the worst that will happen will be that some people may decide to ‘unfollow’ so I’ve decided to hope to post everywhere more often, maybe even a few time a week on my website – there’s no rules, we’re all making things up as we go along!

On the subject of AI, I can only say that whilst it’s a convenient tool for some in different circumstances I worry that reliance on the technology will take away the capacity for individual critical thought and erosion of imagination. To quote one of my heroes – Robin Williams “You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it,” and my ‘madness’ is something I rely on – so AI isn’t for me, I shan’t be using it in my work.

Having a bit of fun, beginning to create an image based on the style of the Bayeux Tapestry (I was alerted to a project around this and got inspired). I saw a documentary recently about the tapestry which explored the history behind it and showed artists attempting to recreate the exact colours of the threads when it was newly created as they have faded over time, I’ve used the iPad ‘Procreate’ program to try to match some of the colours.

I remember visiting Normandy as a child and seeing the tapestry up close, such an amazing piece of work, the story behind it absolutely fascinating.

Really pleased to be asked by Ron “Ronski” Clark to illustrate the follow up to our previous project ‘Pipe Laying on a Distant Planet’. where the human crew from the shuttle encounter the different creatures from Tring Tang. It’s been great to reconnect with previous work and help Ronski with his publishing journey.

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