Drawings and Sketches

Here is a collection of my drawings and sketches over the past few years. 

Collection of other art work

After my Paintings and Drawings here is a collection of my other works

Some of my paintings!

I would like to come back and write in more detail about these pieces but here is a collection of my paintings over the years. 

MA Show... The Fragility Of Normality.

After 2 years of hard work, stress and deadlines my MA was finally coming to an end and although I am relived to have it all over and done with I am also sad that this great adventure is ending but I now have my sights set on the future and all the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Here is my installation which I created for my MA show entitled "The Fragility Of Normality". 

The Roaming Renegades Travel Magazine Project

Finally after month of hard work the first issue of the roaming renegades magazine has been printed and is on sale online in both paperback and e-book versions. Publications have become a massive part of my practice over the past couple of years on my MA and this Roaming Renegades Magazine sets out a marker in my career and development of that. 

Double Exposure 35mm URBEX Photography

I recently played around with a new panoramic camera I acquired producing some interesting double exposure images inside a local derelict mill, he I wanted to play with the idea of the multi layered experience and existence of these spaces. 

Cross Processed 35mm Slide Film Photography

I took the Pentax k1000 back out again and this time got hold of some expired slide film, which was something I hadn't used before but I had done a little digging online and thought it sounded like it could result in some interesting photographs so I was keen to give it a try. 

"The Fragility Of Normality", Testing time exhibition.

I have recently come to a mile stone in my Masters where I am beginning to look at what I could exhibit in the final MA show in October. Ok, it is a little soon you might say but what we have done here is called "Testing time" which is where we try to bring our ideas together to see how we might show them and see how well our practice is working and how it communicates our ideas. Well, here is my offering and I feel it relates quite a lot to the idea of alternative lifestyles and breaking out from that mold of normality. 

Exploring The Fragility Of Normality and The Everyday. Photographic Experiments.

As the pressure and deadlines at University have began to pile up I have been working towards a mock exhibition in preparation for the MA show in October. I have been experimenting a lot with film photography as well as using the spaces themselves to leave am impression upon the image of itself. I have thought a lot recently also about how my work and my plans for our future escape are beginning to align more and more as I come to the point in which I am ready to make my final statement for my work. 

Seeking Out The Misplace In Your Everyday. Zine Experiment.

Earlier on in my practice development I had created some mock train tickets and used them as an intervention within Manchester. I had also began collecting some images of the train tickets taken by some friends on their travels and it gave me an idea to develop this project further and into a zine entitled "Seeking Out The Misplace In Your Everyday". 

35MM & 120MM Film Photography/ Lomography

Over the past couple of months I have been experimenting with film cameras both colour, black & white, 35mm and 120mm alongside my digital photography. I have taken my film cameras with me on some recent explorations and trips and feel for my final MA outcome the use of analogue photography will be a central component.  

Atmospheric Lomo style URBEX photography.

Continuing on from my explorations last week I wanted to re-look at the images I took to try to really play with the idea of history, atmosphere and the unique experience. As mentioned before I have been taking my film camera out but they are not ready to be developed yet, so this is some experimentation with the types of effects and images I would like to start creating. 

URBEX Photography. Revisiting old faithful!

As practice 3 gets into full swing at uni I was keen to take some of my new ideas out into explorations, to look more at atmosphere and really capturing the feel of a place. I also felt I had gotten more confident with my photography and after visiting Hartford Mill I was keen to get back up to Fothergills as the weather and light conditions favoured the type of image I wanted to create. 

BUDAPEST Zine, Remnants Of Memory

I have recently become more and more interested in publishing and layout design along side my travelling and exploration work and after creating a zine for my trip to Japan in October last year and so decided I would continue to develop this side of my work with this Budapest zine. 

New Creative CV and Portfolio

I have recently been working on a new creative CV and Portfolio in order to gain some more professional experience and freelance work. I wanted something that really expressed me as a designer and as an individual as my interests and beliefs very much inspire my creative outputs. I wanted something which would communicate my personality and create also some intrigue. 

Photography with my Pug!

I had my camera out yesterday playing around with a few things for uni as well as the 4 film cameras I have acquired for some on going experiments I hope to update you with soon. I decided to get some up to date shots of my little monster/ gremlin Dooku. This dude is not the easiest to photograph, he just jumps about all over the place and tries to scratch the camera!! But here he is!

Observational Drawings and Found Stamps.

Recently I have been playing around with some observational drawings in order to see how another method of image collection effects how the place is captured and how they reflect better the idea of personal interpretation of our environments. 

BURO 2. Publication Printing and Lauch

So BURO 2 is out! If you don't know, BURO is a collective publication produced by the MA art and design students at MMU/Manchester School Of Art. BURO 2 centred around the themes we looked at in our context presentations towards the end of last year. My presentation was entitled "Getting Lost On Purpose: Embracing Complexity" which you can read more about on my post here: Contexts Presentation and Lifestyle Revelations

Rock Nook Mill Photography and Experiments

Recently I feel I have improved a lot with my photography and also progressed a lot with my practice and ideas, I was also keen to get back out and explore some more. So we took a trip back to Rock Nook mill (Fothergill & Harveys) to have another look around, take some photos and look for further experimentation ideas... always scheming! 

Exploring The City. Observational Photography.

For me the true essence of a place is in the details, in the things that make the place unique, that give it its true character. Manchester is a city I love and am proud to call it home, I love walking to and from University, wandering around the back streets and seeing what I might find. 

Train Tickets Urban Infiltration!

As part of my on going practice and interventions I decided to create a series of train tickets to them distribute in the train stations of Manchester to create a direct message and connection to the city and it's people. 

Hijacking Billboards & Fly Posting Messages!

I have been doing a lot of work recently since my last tutorial after realising I was maybe thinking about all this stuff a little too much, planning and procrastinating and needed to take a leap and start making! My first endeavour was to go out into the urban environment and spread my messages and ideas! 

BURO 2. New Submission.

I've been flat out with assessment work and Christmas this past few weeks I but finally had chance to do something creative again and was excited to look at my submission for the MMU School of Art publication Buro. 

Questioning Normality via Propaganda Banner Intervention!

After my experiments with my fly posting and billboard interventions (Billboards and Fly Posting) I was keen to take it to the next level and make a big statement using a banner. I had aspirations of something much larger, which may be something I go on to do, but this was the test piece to see how those ideas transferred to this presentation. 

Observational Photography around the city

For me the true essence of a place is in the details, in the things that make the place unique, that give it its true character. Manchester is a city I love and am proud to call it home, I love walking to and from University, wandering around the back streets and seeing what I might find. 

Assessment for MA D&AD!

So yesterday came the day I have been both waiting for a dreading for the past few months... my second major assessment point for my MA, having had my last one all the way back in May and smaller presentation assessment in October. 

Gruber Garratt Logos and Branding

Logo Experiments.

I have been keen to develop my professional outputs of late as well as working on my main practice and I had a unique opportunity to test out my new found skills, confidence and style by working with my current employers on their re-branding. 

InBetween Places. My Book!

Recently I have been working on my first book in which I aimed to bring together a lot of the work I have been doing over the last few months to create a document which represents those ideas in a concise and ambiguous fashion. 

Well, here it finally is!!

Mock Newspaper Implanted Into The City!

I have recently been interested in creating some publications and also doing some interventions in public spaces. I felt that both suited the way my work was going and so decided to combine the two and create a newspaper which mocks the fabric and messages of the city. 

Contexts Presentation & Lifestyle Discussion

I usually try and keep my posts down to a smaller word count but this post is centered around some quite important issues to me and also some revelations I came to whilst working on my recent presentation for University and I felt it was useful to discuss them here as they give some context to my work and blog. I hope you can take the time to have a read through! 

Hand Printed Tokyo Zine!

Since my last tutorial and my contexts presentation I have began to set myself some deadlines and really started to push my work and start making and doing all those things I have been thinking about. 
The first was to produce a zine which represented my trip to Tokyo and also the ideas about that relating to my contexts presentation. (my unaltered scans which I used for this piece are included with my presentation too.)

No Fly Posters - Printing On Found Objects

The work I did a little earlier on for a submission to the "No Fly Posters" project in Ancoats (http://www.nichilditch-short.co.uk/2014/06/no-fly-posters-project-in-ancoats.html) has over the time since then become an important part of my practice and ideas. I decided to take it a step further and to give it some additional context by printing this onto found objects such as glass and old paper. 

Censored Posters Exploring Ownership Of The City

After playing around with some posters ideas I wanted to look at pushing the ideas of ownership of the urban environment a little further. I decided to look at censorship and denial of information along with the cultural and social implications of doing so. 

Experimenting With Lost Narratives And Fragments Of The City

After creating some pieces for the publication NOUS earlier on in the year I had kind of moved on from there until my tutor suggested I take another look. I began to see past the original intentions for this piece and saw how I had created something which spoke about the ghost like broken narratives left behind in an abandoned buildings through remnants of signage. I decided to  develop this further. 

BURO 1.5 - Screenprints & Postcard Developments

Following on from the work I had done for my BURO 1.5 submission I began to realise as the year went and especially after my contexts presentation that these ideas were much more important for my practice. I decided to develop them further and take those smaller postcards and screenprint them up on to some found substrates from abandoned buildings. 

No Fly Posters project in Ancoats!

I have been on the look out for anything I can get involved in of late looking for both opportunities and inspiration and in this project being ran by Jon Bland in Ancoats I found both. Being in Manchester and relating to street signs it really caught my imagination. 

Photos Of Photos In Abandoned Factory!

I was back in Fothergills earlier on whilst putting the banner up and decided I would take the opportunity to do a few experiments with some photos I had taken on the previous visit. I wanted to continue from the idea of the glitch photos and an alternative reality and take some photos of photos back in the space to explore that further. 

Playing Around With Type & Lettering

Recently with the trip to New York and all the arrangement with the wedding going on I haven't had much time to really do anything creative, but after returning I wanted to work on my travel scrapbook and make some little mementos. I felt this would be a great way to get me back into the swing of things for the upcoming University semester and also do something a little different than my practice work. 

BURO 1.5 - MMU School Of Art Publication - Submission.

I have again been involved in the development of the publication Buro along with my fellow MA D&AD students. Seeing as it was over the summer period and so we were all quite busy we decided to produce 1.5 as a smaller mini issue based around the idea of "Holidays" which connects to a lot of my interests. 

Scrapbooking The City...Psychogeography Experiment!

I decided to take a walk around my city with no particular destination in mind and collect interesting objects and photographs to create a new kind of representation of the city. 

QS Gruber Garratt Letterhead.

Letterhead Designs.

This one is a little different to my usual practice but as I am trying to get together my portfolio and develop my professional practice I was grateful of the opportunity to have a go at this.

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NSS Poster competition

As part of my professional and portfolio development I have been looking out for competitions and briefs as well as working on my main practice. I came across this call up to design the National Student Survey poster and felt it was a great opportunity. 


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Creating Logos As A Graphic Explorer!

I have been focused recently on developing my skills and portfolio and as part of that I wanted to really show off my new found confidence and identity as a "Graphic Explorer". I wanted to almost brand myself and experiment with this definition in a logo format. 

Alternative Logos Inspired By The City.

Along with the other logo experiments I have been doing (http://www.nichilditch-short.co.uk/2014/06/creating-logos-as-graphic-explorer.html) I have been looking at some which instead of being more about personal branding are now about creating icon for the city using found features of the city and reflecting it' exploration. 

Wedding Gift Commission Design.

I was approached recently to design an emblem to be etched into glass for a wedding gift. This was great for me as I am always looking at new ways to express myself and my style and also gaining more experience as I go. 

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Disconnection and Re-Connection via Exploration.

I had come across a project being run by a classmate and decided I would produce something for submission. After playing around with some ideas and designs I came up with something that in fact began to mean a lot more to my practice itself and helped me kick start this semester. 

BURO Launch!

Finally after much planning, deliberation and discussion we had the launch for our joint publication at Odder Bar in Manchester. It was great to have something in motion for the start of practice two and also have some work published. 

Propaganda Exploration Poster

I decided to bring together some of the logo work with the photography I had been doing and my wider ideas to create a poster which I felt represented the stage of development my practice was at. I experimented with both screenprinting and the Risograph to get a sense of how this may effect the image. 

Exploration Logo & Found Objects

I have been interesting in the idea of creating a logo to represent the idea of exploration which brings together the atmosphere, remnants and texture of the urban environment it is inspired by. I decided to take this a little further by then screenprinting that logo onto objects found in the city. 

Alternative Tagging around Manchester

After playing around in the Letterpress studio for the last few weeks I thought it might make an interesting experiment to look at an alternative form of "Tagging" using luggage tags to connect to the idea of interaction, history and craft as opposed to vandalism. 

Pink Adventures Logo

I have been working on Freelance designs and logos recently and have been on the look our for new opportunities or thinks I can re-design. The climbing gym I go to has been taken over by a company called "Pink Adventures" and although I quite like their name and concept I hated their logo. I just did something quite to get an idea of what was possible but I feel that there is much more that could be done here 

Screen Printed Train Ticket Interventions

After playing around with logos and printing onto found objects I wanted to experiment further with creating interventions using everyday objects and transforming them into pieces communicating the opportunities the city has to offer which we often walk past without even realising. 

Fear Is The Thief Of Dreams Poster

These posters are something I did whilst playing around with some other ideas and just wanted to express this idea that for many it is a fear of something, whether that be failure, disappointment, disapproval or even injury. It is that fear that ultimately keeps us in the safety of normality and makes us settle for less than our dreams. I have learnt recently that feeling fearful is not wrong, but how you deal with it. 

T-Shirt Intervention & High Street Infiltration. Break The Rules!

Interventions have become increasingly important in the development of my work as I feel they allow me to really communicate with the city itself, create a narrative between my work and the environment and also directly communicate with the general public. I decided to take that further with some infiltration art in the Arndale Shopping centre (Mall). 

DRIP DRIP Till Roll Experiment!

I've been quite busy recently getting a lot of my ideas going and wanted to play with a till roll and the idea that this "Drip Drip Drip" was the never ending beat of the forgotten city below us.

Using The City To Represent Itself

I got the idea a little while back that in representing a place it is the earth, the dirt and the make up of that place where the reality of it exists. It represents the fabric and physicality of that location. So to explore this a little further I created a piece using Manchester as both my subject matter and my media.

UMBRELLA Logo Ideas for Joint Publication.

Over the last few weeks we have been talking about producing a joint publication for the MA Design and Art Direction students at MMU. One of the things we are still in the process of disguising is the name and so I did a few logo experiments with my suggestion of "Umbrella".

Rules Only Exist As Far As Our Consent To Be Ruled.

I have recently created a series of posters which challenge the idea of rules and our complicitness in accepting those rules without questioning the motives behind them, especially when it comes to our navigation of environment.

Imagery, Lettering and Missing information Experimentation.

To start of my MA project I wanted to do some simple experiments playing with imagery, lettering and missing information. 

Letterpress Obsession!!

I have been playing around with the Letterpress for the last few weeks, playing with lots of ideas and making a lot of progress. The letterpress is great in how it adds a level of tradition and value to text it's computer generated relation just doesn't have. 

BURO Publication Logo Creation.

We have been working on ideas for the joint publication for the MA Design and Art Direction students and after some deliberation we finally came up with a name and I was chosen to work on the logo.