Rob Flowers

Welcome to Thames View. Starring… Tom Davis Roisin Conaty Laura Smyth Joe Wilkinson Alan Ford  Luke Kempner Ambreen Razia  Jason Forbes Thames View will be shown on BBC3 at 10.55pm on Saturday 11th April and available on iPlayer the same day.

I can finally reveal the cover for ‘Make Some Noise, The mind-blowing guide to all things music by the world’s funniest band!’ @hornesection @puffinbooksuk I’ve barely left the house since November and cancelled Christmas but it’s pretty much done and will be out this summer! *The funniest band in the world, The Horne Section (fronted by Taskmaster’s Alex Horne), tell you everything you need to know to be a music genius - with bizarre tales, absurd history and unbelievable facts.* ‘An explosion of silliness . . the whole family will get something from it’ Guardian on The Horne Section TV show With FUNNY tales, ABSURD history and UNBELIEVABLE facts, this mind-blowing guide to music can help anyone become a sound-making sensation. In this book, you’ll find answers to those all-important questions, such as: - Why is cabbage the key to musical genius? - Which is the fartiest of all the instruments? - Which song has the FUNNIEST lyrics of all time? Band leader Alex Horne has also added some special tasks throughout the book, so readers will be making their own music in no time at all - without even leaving the house

FESTIVAL FOLK​ 2018 ​ This is the blurb for my first book, written by my publishers, @cicadabooks ‘ All around the world there are little known local festivals, rooted in ancient pagan traditions. At the centre of these festivals are characters dressed in the most remarkable costumes imaginable The Kukeri in Bulgaria wear enormous headpieces made of goatskin and The Burryman festival in Edinburgh features a man covered from head to toe with burrs and thorns. 40 remarkable festivals are documented in this offbeat, anthropological atlas that will delight children and travel enthusiasts alike.’ This is basically my dream project, two years in the making and something that I’m really passionate about. It was a labour of love, a nightmare at points but it’s one of the things I’m most proud of in my life in illustration.

The awesome dudes at @itsnicethat did an interview with me about Thames View and you can read it now! Head over to their profile to have a butchers "Think crime boss grannies and Loony-Tunes shenanigans - in Thames View the acclaimed cartoonist @HelloRobFlowers takes us back to his 90s East London childhood subverting the boring cliches of city-life. Illustrator, character designer and director Rob Flowers is finished with the miserable misconceptions of London. One look at his psychedelic, rainbow-coloured portfolio and you’ll find that it’s practically impossible for the illustrator to see anything as grey. His newest project, the BBC Three animated sitcom pilot Thames View, purposefully subverts the mundanity of inner city-life, opting for a slice-of-life story filled with saturated colours, quirky character designs and a story indebted to the eccentric crime flicks of the 90s. It follows the story of the Potts family, including a dad with mismatched tan lines, a chain-smoking housewife, a creepy Sadako-esque daughter and a mob boss nan. Elevating kitchen-sink realism, the animated short tackles the common conundrum of a family coming together to make a birthday as rewarding as possible, but through the silliness and tongue-in-cheek humour of Rob’s cartoon world, it becomes an entertaining patchwork of innuendos, British references and cinematic odes. What London’s image needs is more of Rob’s love for trippy visuals and retro toys, penchant for British kitsch and off-kilter sense of humour. Over on the site this week, Rob spoke to It’s Nice That about the passion put into this thirteen-minute odyssey through East London, you can read the full interview through the link in our bio." #ItsNiceThat

Speed Abstractions for Thames View chase scene at the big shops Hoping to revisit these as they were really fun to create

Some more little details in Thames View to share. Michelle’s Close Up I tried to add a flavour of those amazing Ren & Stimpy close ups to Michelle’s bathroom scene. I’d love to do more of these if we go to series because it was always one of my favourite parts of R&S. Barking Barrier The Thames Barrier’s lesser known cousin, it was built in the 1980s. You can glimpse it in the background of the scene when Little Jim exits the bakers. You couldn’t actually see it from the estate when we were kids but I took artistic license with that. Pic by @whyareyoubeingweirdwithme Canary Wharf My dream when I was little was to live in a warehouse conversion in Canary Wharf. You could see the redevelopment of docklands from the estate, I always found it very exciting to see the tower going up - it was finished in 1991. BJ’s nightmare I had a lot of fun coming up with the dream and nightmare version’s of Big Jim’s for these sequences. The idea was Joyce is so upset with her present she leaves Jim, even taking the family pic from the wall. WATCH THAMES VIEW ON iPLAYER & YOUTUBE NOW

ATTENTION NON UK FRIENDS!! Thames View is available to watch on the BBC YouTube page now! Head over and watch it one million times so we get a series All you who have watched it already on iPlayer please watch it again so we get lots of views! THANK YOU!! LINK IN BIO

It’s been so great hearing from you all about the little details you noticed in the show, here’s some more info and insight. Bobby Moore picture in the van We saw this almost like a religious icon that Big Jim would consult for advice and guidance. My real dad does have a framed picture in his van. Sweet as a Nut Printed nightdresses were massive when I was little so really wanted to make one of my own for Joyce Lyndsey Sadly we couldn’t put Edna’s fearsome canine sidekick, Lyndsey, in the pilot but there is a little ref to her on the lamppost as Big Jim exits the house. Dancing Flower Edna’s Lair is a treasure trove of goodies (think that bit at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Del Boy’s lock up) Stuff in the Butchers Mascots were everywhere in my youth, I wanted to give a flavour of that in the butchers scenes as well as finding “Pork on your Fork” a funny slogan. Business Mouse I’m not sure anyone has noticed him yet but BM will appear on all sorts of Public Service posters. Breakfast Tray Big Jim tries his best but his attempt at a breakfast in bed treat is wildly disappointing for Joyce. Props for throwing It was great fun coming up with designs for all the stuff Mickey the Magpie throws at Edna to create a diversion, look out for call backs to Frog Fizz and Yeasmate throughout the pilot. Cigarettes It’s very hard to find a cigarette brand name that isn’t already taken! You want something fancy, sophisticated sounding. We hit on Boleyn after many, many brainstorming sessions as it had the perfect ring to it. Cake Joyce’s birthday cake was a fun one to do but you don’t see much of the whole cake. Alarm Clock When we were kids we had an electricity meter that you put coins in, it would often run out unexpectedly and any digital clocks would reset to 00:00:00 and none of us could be bothered to keep resetting it. - this is a backstory nod to this in the pilot. Van Mag I had a lot of fun creating this fictional mag, which you only see for a few seconds but has got a lot of puns and jokes in there.

Details! So I wanted to share some of the details, back story and easter eggs I created for Thames View. Starting with all the shops I designed for it. As Thames View is on the BBC you’re not allowed to use real shops so I had a lot of fun creating my own shops and window displays for the show. Watch Thames View on iPlayer now

BACKGROUNDS! Now I’ve introduced all the characters from the pilot I wanted to share more of the world building I did for Thames View, starting with some of the 60ish backgrounds I created for the show (with some much appreciated support from @jacobmwolf_illustration & @jessthompsongray.art ) The Big Shops! This was what it was always called when we were kids, and where you’d go to get a your proper shopping, rather than nipping out to the little shops for a packet of fags or pint of milk Although the “U” shaped location is based on the real Thames View shopping precinct, I had a lot of fun making up all the shops that make up the parade with a few easter eggs and tributes to shops in there too. Watch Thames View on iPlayer now!

BACKGROUNDS! Now I’ve introduced all the characters from the pilot I wanted to share more of the world building I did for Thames View, starting with some of the 60ish backgrounds I created for the show (with some much appreciated support from @jacobmwolf_illustration & @jessthompsongray.art ) One of my favourite things in the world are old school butchers shops so I was made up to have the excuse to draw one for Thames View. I threw everything at the design for John’s Butchers at the Little Shops, there’s quite a lot to take in such a small amount of time but I’m really pleased with how it came out. Watch Thames View on iPlayer now!

BACKGROUNDS! Now I’ve introduced all the characters from the pilot I wanted to share more of the world building I did for Thames View, starting with some of the 60ish backgrounds I created for the show (with some much appreciated support from @jacobmwolf_illustration & @jessthompsongray.art ) I did a LOAD of street scenes for the show, designing all the shops and referencing real landmarks on Thames View This is a selection from Edna’s and LJ’s journey to find Terry, ending at the bookies. Watch Thames View on iPlayer now!