Welcome to Classic Cool Surface.com - The (old) Art of David Cousens!

Looking for the new art? Click the links below!
the new portfolio!
the blog!

Hi there, if you're seeing this site, you've probably just come from the all-new revamped Cool Surface.com (or maybe from the blog) because you're feeling nostalgic and want to see all of my old art or news posts. I can conclude from this that you have a lot of free time.

Only kidding, I'm flattered that you want to look at my old art. Anyway, the site is archived here as some sort of weird digital memento to my artistic progress. This is the last update this site will ever receive, which actually made me feel a bit sad for a second, until I remembered that the new site looks loads better and will continue to show whatever crazy scribblings I come up with next!

So to conclude,please raise your glasses as I say, for one last time (on this site at least!) :

Have fun,
David

PS. Actually, please don't start waving any sort of drinks near your computer, I cant be held responsible if any of you spill your drinks over anything expensive!

Saturday 17th June 2006

Wow, I knew it'd been a while since updating but damn...Anyway, IMPORTANT NEWS!!!
A fully redesigned Cool Surface.com is on the way! It will be here soon.

But wait! That's not all! To celebrate the launch of the new site, we've now have a sister site for you to see. the CoolSurface blog!

The blog will be updated more frequently with all sorts of things, including sketches and behind the scenes goodies! Go check it out now! Go on, before I start to sound too much like an infomercial and start to offer you a free juicer with every commission!

Have fun, and keep watching!
David

31st January 2006

I'm thinking about redesigning the site soon as it's starting to take ages to make even simple updates now, and because it's probably time for some redecorating anyway. Can't talk about much at the moment because it's all concept stuff that I'm working on, so there will be stuff to show, just nothing that I can show you yet. I'm not holding back on you, I swear!

Anyway, enough about stuff I can't show you, here's some stuff I can:

Have fun,
David

Thursday 5th January 2006 - Happy New Year!

Hope you've all had a great festive season, I had the best Christmas since I was a kid! (And I got some toys and comics, so not much has changed since then...). Things have been hectic throughout December, Lanzarote was superb, then there have been commissions from all over the place-quite a few people got Dave Cousens artwork as presents this year! And that's not just including the people who got Cool Surface Christmas cards!

New art:

Have fun,
David

Monday 28th November 2005

As you can probably guess, the lack of a recent update means I've been very busy. I'm heading off to Lanzarote in 2 days, so I don't have a lot of time to write because I have to sort out my insurance, get my Euro currency, discuss some marketing opportunities and sort my hair! We all know which of those is most important...

We have 3 new images for you to look at, including a band poster/cd cover for The Rentals, and as promised, the Frequency entertainment guide magazine cover and the ever lovable Skull-Kidd!

And when you're done there, check out the links section for some new places to visit, including the website of the very talented (not to mention tall!) Laura Bath
Tell her Gareth sent you.

More soon, including a DVD cover and because everyone loves him, more Skull-Kidd.

Have fun,
David

Tuesday 11th October 2005

Well, it's been a while since the last update, but that's because a load of commissions (complete with NDAs) all came in at the same time, they're a lot like buses in that respect. Fortunately commissions don't usually require me to sit next to somebody who smells suspiciously like urine, so I like commissions more. There will be a few things that I can start to show you over the next few weeks, so lets start with these:

Once you've had a look at these, check out APT-Shirts.co.uk for some really excellent T-Shirts by the very talented illustrator Adam Poole! Check out the Blockabilly T-shirts in particular...

More soon: including a magazine cover, and the return of Skull-Kidd!

Have fun,
David

Tuesday 9th August 2005 - I'm back

New art, based in part on the recent London bombings.

I've had a lot of fun since I last updated the website, the celebrations for my 25th birthday went on for over a week. At one point it was solely voodoo magic that was keeping my corpse animated through the proceedings! How I survived, I'll never know! Naturally, it was great fun!

The latest edition of Frequency is out in Wiltshire, with my interview on page 14. I have to say that I'm really impressed with the guys at Frequency for putting out such a well made magazine, my images were printed at a very high quality so I'm nice and happy. For a lot of my workmates it was the first time they've seen my art, so I received lots of compliments and proved that I'm not just an amazingly pretty face with kickass stubble.

Who wants to touch me?

Last thing before I go, I've added a small F.A.Q in the contact section to save me some time answering the same questions over and over. So if you have a Painter question you wanted to ask me, just click here.

Aren't I nice?

Have fun,
David

Saturday 16th July 2005 - Renovations

For some 'sort-of' new art , click the button to the right.
It's an old-ish sketch that I've redone because I felt the original colouring job didn't do it justice. (And yes, they are what you think they are).

Those of you that are observant will spot a few cosmetic changes around the site. The main banners for the site have been changed so that there is a general theme to make the site a touch more cohesive. The theme behind them being images I've done reworked to make them seem more cold. If I have to point out the link between cold and the name of this website then you've been out in the summer sun too long!

Not that I blame you, the weather is gorgeous at the moment. I'm getting a great tan.

You may also have noticed that I've changed the official site link banner, if you've linked to me, please replace the previous banner with this one:

And if you haven't linked to me, now is the time! I mean, look how shiny this new banner is!

That's it for now,

Have fun,
David

Saturday 2nd July 2005 - A matter of opinions...

"Excellent." --Warren Ellis, Author of Transmetropolitan, Planetary, The Authority, and a load of Marvel comics. This image was one of the images selected by well known comics writer Warren Ellis to be used on his new radio playlist site telepathine. The above quote was his response to the clockwork frog image you can see just to the right. I've been a fan of Ellis work since his Excalibur days -I was a sucker for his character Pete Wisdom as he was the first English character I'd read that actually felt English. He smoked and drank too much, loved a fry up, was overtly cynical and he taught the other characters to use the word 'git'. What's not to love? To receive praise about my artwork from a creator that I admired as a kid was...well... excellent. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Continuing with our theme of opinions I've just been interviewed by Frequency Magazine who wanted to do a showcase of my art. The magazine will be published later this month. Keep an eye out for it.

I was also interviewed by MTV last week, unfortunately this interview wasn't about my art, although I figure it's only a matter of time before they realise my creative genius and are lining me up to do some advertising for them!

This interview was held last weekend at the Wireless festival featuring Basement Jaxx and the Stereo MC's both of whom were awesome. (I almost used 'excellent' there again!). I was talking to my friend Mark Lawrence (an actor from Steven Spielbergs 'Band of Brothers' ) and the reporter, obviously attracted by my pretty boy good looks came across to ask us a few questions about the bands playing. The interview was going well until:

Reporter girl: So what do you think of the band playing now: 'Telepopmusik'?
Mark: Yeah, I'd not heard them before but they're really good. I'll definitely buy their album.
Reporter girl: They've actually got 2 albums!
Mark: Yeah? What are they called?
Reporter girl: ...

After about 4 seconds, we realise she doesn't have a clue, and we both start to laugh.

Me: Research! You're on TV now!
Mark (motioning to the camera): Cut! Lets go from the top!

I'm fairly certain the interview won't be airing on your screens any time soon!

Note: Anybody who wants to send me a copy of either of the Telepopmusik albums so that I will finally know what they're called, just e-mail me! (What? I can't try to blag a freebie on my own site?)

Finally for our interview themed update, we have the new piece of art in a pseudo interview layout: Red boots!

Have fun,
David

Tuesday 6th June 2005

As before, the thumbnails for the updates are here just in case the gallery doesn't update. Ironically, when I did this last time, everything updated perfectly for the first time in ages. I'm starting to suspect my ISP is trying to wind me up on purpose...

Anyway, today we have an image called Morning, another experiment with mixed media, followed by the original sketch I did did for it because I've had a few requests to show my pencil work recently. Finally, we have possibly the most exciting and innovat--ah forget it--it's just an observational sketch of a box.

Have fun,
David

Thursday 19th May 2005

I've been having problems with my website host not updating the gallery page for a day or two after I've made the update, so just in case this happens again, I will post the new image links here too. (Aren't I nice?)

In order, we have: The Skull-Kidd(TM) limited edition trading card, "Nostalgia" and the Test Subject. Those of you with good memories will recognise that test subject is an improved version of an older image that I felt could go a bit further.

Have fun,
David

Wednesday 11th May 2005

Felt like playing around with some mixed media. Behold the Clockwork Frog!

I've moved a few things around on the site so that the main gallery doesn't seem too crowded. You can find the older stuff by clicking on the button in the gallery that is imaginatively titled 'older stuff'.

Have fun,
David

Tuesday 2nd May 2005

New image added here. For those of you interested, prints will be available soon! Visit back in a couple of days for more details.

Want a commission? Mail me at david@coolsurface.com

Have fun,
David

Wednesday 27th April 2005

Redesigning the site a little, focusing more on the business element. Sorry to those of you who come here for the personal updates, but due to a recent misunderstanding I've decided it's for the best not to share much about day to day life. Don't worry, there will still be plenty of art to look at though!

Have fun,
David