Creature says: We happened on the work of Tom Hovey aka Twisted Loaf and it led us to discover what is probably one of the most explosively creative Illustration collectives around. What’s more, The Dead Sea Mob were formed via twitter. So, for the last in our series of posts on tweeting illustrators we drown ourselves in the tale of how this motley crew of artists gathered and how they plan to take the world by storm!
Words by Carla Pino The story goes like this… in August 2010 via the means of Twitter, I overheard a couple of beardy artist types talking about a live drawing event they did in Cardiff and someone joked about them taking it on the road. I happened to be listening and snared them into an idea I had that was so crazy, it might just work!
It was all about a live art tour, that would take them up and down the UK, and across Europe!
Godmachine and Drew Millward were instantly on board and so the search began for
2 more mates, we searched high and low and in the end we found the 2 Toms- Tom Hovey aka Twistedloaf and Tom J Newell. Ultimately me and twitter are what brought all 4 members of The Dead Sea Mob together, but they named themselves and formed the collective.
Drew Millward was born in 1981 in Coventry; he grew up in Bolton, and now lives in Leeds, where, since around 2004, he has been drawing pictures. Drew likes to draw ‘the old fashioned way’, using pencils, pens and a love of the craft of illustration. While his subject matter can vary dramatically, he hopes that the attention to detail and the love of drawing is apparent throughout his work.
Drew says about Social media:
It’s pretty important. In truth, i’m not entirely sure i would communicate with anyone at all throughout the working day, were it not for social media. Be that Facebook, Twitter, forums…etc.
The life of an illustrator is a pretty lonely, and the ability to chat with other artists, prospective clients and fans of your work in these ways is essential. In times gone by you would need agency backing and networking skills to really build up a career for yourself, now it’s possible to side step that. Through blogging, micro-blogging, communicating through Facebook and websites you can bypass the middleman.
www.drewmillward.com
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I design under the name of Godmachine. I have drawn some nice images for some big bands, some small bands, some huge skateboarders, some small skate companies. Some small clothing labels and some huge clothing labels. I live in Wales. I love cats and coffee and wish I was an otter.
Godmachine says about social media
I didnt get on with myspace, i wasnt part of that scene at the time and managed to cut my teeth on a website dedicated to just t-shirt design. It was a great place to learn about stuff. I dont use facebook for work, just for family.
I get on great with twitter as it lets me say just enough, just as much as I need to to direct people to my website or my blog where more can be said. I like how twitter is run by people and not PR agents of companies managing tweets etc. Its direct.
I love how you can recieve quick replies from your heroes without them having to type long winded replies and you will forgive them that. I tried some other things but there are too many for my brain to handle. @godmachineuk come say hi.
www.godmachine.co.uk | godmachineuk.tumblr.com
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Tom is a freelance illustrator and designer, he divides his time between south wales and London. He has had many commissions from some great brands and taken part in many exhibitions. He is also part of the dead see mob.
Tom says about Social media:
Social Media has been a valid tool for me over the past couple of years.
The first site I really used for spreading the word about my work and gathering feedback was Behance, other sites followed like Illustrophile, and Illustration Mundo.
But I think the most useful is, of course Twitter. It has helped me make vital connections with collectives and groups that have spawned a large amount of amazing work over the past couple of years.
The Dead Sea Mob would not have been formed had we not been aware of each others work via Twitter. You will see a lot more of us this coming year we have some amazing projects in the pipeline – this band of salty sea dogs.
I recently launched my new website www.twistedloaf.com – social media like facebook and twitter were vital in spreading the word! I also have an online shop - twistedloafshop.bigcartel.com
Tom is a comic book maker, gig poster artist and illustrator of stuff who is also an occasional musician and turntable tinkerer. Tom has provided intricately hand-drawn illustrations for Dazed & Confused magazine, Moshi Moshi Records and WGSN, and has recently become a member of an illustrious group of artistic urchins known as The Dead Sea Mob.
Tom says about Social media:
It’s hard to balance things out sometimes as I’d much rather be making work than Twittering about making work, but social networking is an important and relatively easy way to promote yourself and stay in touch with other people who’re in the same illustrated boat.
I’ve started to make contacts that’ve led to interesting stuff happening. I suppose the next step is to sort myself out with a phone that can get the worldwide web beamed directly into it. I haven’t yet got the Internet in my pocket like most of the rest of the humans I know, so I can sometimes miss out on important Tweets ‘n’ what-not.
www.tomjnewell.com
A word from their keeper…
The Dead Sea Mob will be hitting the road this summer, and bringing the roadshow to a town near you, but
in the mean time we’ve got a group show happening wtih The Pure Gallery in June and
will be launching a line of merchandise in the coming months.
For more info, you can summon The Mob here: www.thedeadseamob.com
The last word from Creature.
Thanks to the Dead Sea Mob for providing us with their insights and for providing an estra special final edition to our tweeting illustrators series. Twitter has brought these four artists together and that alone proves how valuable a tool it can be, providing a fierce catalyst for new and inspiring artistic interaction.
See the whole series of tweeting illustrators post featuring 31 artists here: Tweeting Illustrators Series
