12 Months Of Illustrated Aliens And Their Animated Planets - A Project by Andy Martin

Begun in January of 2013, illustrator, animator and music maker Andy Martin (Handymartian) has just completed his wonderful year long project - "The Illustrated Aliens."

Each day for a month Martin created an alien and, at the end of each month, he revealed the planet upon which they live via an animated short. He did this for an entire year, culminating in 12 different alien species, 12 animated videos and 4 posters.



Having revealed the final Planet Twelve animation on the 15th of January 2014, the galactic adventure has concluded and I want to share all twelve months of his wonderful work with you.

The Aliens

Planet One Aliens:



Planet Two Aliens:



Planet Three Aliens:



Planet Four Aliens:



Planet Five Aliens:



Planet Six Aliens:



Planet Seven Aliens:



Planet Eight Aliens:



Planet Nine Aliens:



Planet Ten Aliens:



Planet Eleven Aliens:



Planet Twelve Aliens:




The 12 Planet Animated Videos


I had intended to embed all 12 animated videos here but it was taking too long to load and crashing. Instead, please view his planet videos here in Vimeo.

The Posters:
The first of his four posters features all the Illustrated Aliens from the year long project starting with Planet One's characters at the bottom and moving up to Planet Twelve's characters at the top:


The second of four posters has all the planets from this year long project in a 3x4 grid:


The third of four posters has all the characters from this year long project mixed together:


The fourth of the four posters shows the universe created by the planets in this year long project:


You can purchase prints of these posters here at Society 6

Andy will be updating his Tumblr with any further news about the Illustrated Aliens and The Planets as he hopes to send them to animation festivals this year. Best of luck to you, Andy!

All illustrations by Andy Martin.
Follow him on Tumblr.
Follow him on Twitter.
See the sketches on Instagram.
Buy prints on Society6.

Using The Force To Fight Diabetes. 6 Year Old's T-Shirt Would Melt Even The Darkest Sith Lord's Heart.

Now, here's a product that could bring light, love and hope to the Dark Side.



Six year old Audrey Chau has an older sister, Natalie, who has Type 1 Diabetes. In hopes of one day finding a cure for her sister's condition, Audrey has drawn her favorite characters from Star Wars, with much love and care (and talent). The adorable, yet recognizable characters, have been turned into a t-shirt for adults, youths and toddlers to wear, with all the proceeds from the sales going to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.




Audrey and big sister Natalie:


Buy one - I did. The price is right ($12), the cause is just and the drawings are great.



Audrey graciously thanks you for your support and says, "May the force be with you!"

Buy your T-shirt (American Apparel adult crew tee, Hanes 5.2oz Youth or Gildan Toddler Tee) here

Portraits Drawn On World and Celestial Maps by Ed Fairburn

above: Windermere, Pencil on a cropped map of the English Lakes – specifically Lake Windermere.

Cardiff-based illustrator Ed Fairburn sees things in maps most of us do not. His map-based portraits combine the art of cartography with the drawing of the human face. Making the curves and lines of the two dimensional terrain (or the heavens as is the case with his celestial drawings) blend with the curves and lines of human features brings a dimensionality to both the maps and the portraits. The combination of the two has a surprising appeal.

Bartholomew Series (Pencil on original Bartholomew maps of Pembroke (top) and Galloway (bottom):



Deutschland (Ink on a 1977 road map of Germany):


Cambridge (Ink on a vintage street map of Cambridge):

Both the Deutschland and Cambridge pieces shown above were produced as part of a wider submission to Cowbridge Music Festival.

Western Front (Ink on reproduced military maps of the Western Front (WWI):



30 Miles Around (ink on a map of Bournemouth):


From His Michelin Series:


Zambia Charity Project (Oil and pencil on an OS map of South Wales, trimmed and mounted on plywood):


Planisphère Céleste (Pencil on celestial star charts):


Der Gestirnte Himmel/The Starry Heavens (Pencil on celestial star charts):



The celestial charts are divided by many concentric circles starting from the centre – in keeping with this, the portraits have been formed by pencilling many concentric circles, placed and layered to suggest line and tone. On closer view, the smaller details blend with each labelled star shown on the maps.
Both works measure 30″ x 30″

About the artist:


Ed Fairburn is an Illustration graduate whose work is mostly figurative. He paints, draws and constructs using a flexible range of tangible media across a wide range of surfaces and contexts, allowing his practice to exist across various disciplines.

He says of his Map-based portraiture "Through my studies of the human form I examine the patterns and structures which exist across the body. I disassemble those structures and reconstruct them onto pre-patterned surfaces, including maps. The creative process involves synchronising both subject and surface. I search for similarities between the characteristics of the human figure and the topographical features of the map, resulting in a unique amalgamation."

Fairburn has exhibited internationally and has a collection of original works and prints available to purchase here. He is also able to work on a commission basis.

Ed Fairburn