Peter Bowen

Hi, I'm Peter Bowen, an illustrator/graphic designer based in the UK. Between 2005 and April of this year I worked as a graphic designer at 55DSL, a sister brand to Diesel. I'm currently working freelance from my secret base in London.

Sometimes with a slightly dark edge, but always with a sense of humour, I work in a wide variety of styles and techniques, from airbrushed digital paintings to typography, hand-drawn characters, and anything in between.

It's Popeye quietly dozing in the afternoon sun. I figure he's pretty old by now, and just needs to take it easy every now and again. It troubles me you don't see him very much any more, so this is what I think he's up to.

This panel is an advertisement from a set of Victorian natural history
pamphlets I produced called 'The Modern Menagerie.' The pamphlets themselves
concentrated much more on biology and anatomy, but I always liked how
this page in particular turned out.

In another vintage style, this is my version of how a zombie pinup might
look. Just because she's dead doesn't mean she hasn't got charm, right?
She's full of sass, class, and putrid gas!

Produced for 55DSL's Spring/Summer 2010 season. This was an experiment
to see how kickass I could make a koala look. Missiles, robotics, and
explosions are evidently key.

Another t-shirt design for 55DSL, this time from Summer 2007. The idea
was to do a waterpark souvenir tee and yep, those dots are all done by
hand.

It's a giant robot fist.

Looking for an interesting font idea for a t-shirt, I found myself photographing
my arms in various poses (straining to make sure tendons and veins were
visible), compositing them all together, then digitally painting over
the top.

These final three graphics were all produced for limited-edition 55DSL
t-shirts sold at BEAMS T in Japan. This hot chick was inspired by a good
friend of mine, Jim Phillips' early surf graphics from the 60's, and Lena
Hyena, the ugly toon woman mistaken for Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger
Rabbit. My friend took it as a compliment.

I had an idea to make a drawing of people really pronouncing each letter
of the brand name, so singing, and therefore a band, was an ideal fit.
And if I was going to draw a band, of course the only option was a rock
n roll outfit of potato-bodied ugly ladies.

This is what happened when I bought a set of 1970's Italian medical
encyclopedias full of amazing diagrams and colours.

Contact Info

Drop me a line at: info at petebowen dot co dot uk or take a look at some
more work at Behance.