Spoonerism

Eating and cooking with a wooden spoon pleases Ernest for many reasons 

We hate modern spoons. Once, we had a spoon bend when it hit the surface of a cup of tea. True story.

Now, what Hatchet & Bear have done, and how we love them for it, is create a selection of spoons and spatulas that have been hand hewn from locally gathered wood. If you read Ernest, then like us you don’t want your utensils manufactured. You want them hewn.

Made by woodworker EJ Osborne, using simple tools and traditional methods, these spoons and spatulas are brilliant for everyday use, as well as making you feel like a Viking while you eat your cornflakes. 

Spoons/spatulas, Hatchet & Bear, £12 to £40, hatchetandbear.co.uk

Extract from Inventory in iPad issue 3. Download the issue now!

The great defender

Behold the jacket that will keep you sane in Britain's manic weather

Signature Jacket, BEE, £300

If you live in Britain, the weather hates you. Yes you, personally – don’t look over your shoulder hoping that it’s someone else the weather hates. It’s you.

The proof is in its behaviour. Have a birthday picnic planned at the beach? Forget it. Looking forward to getting some sun on your week off work? You may as well spend the week punching yourself in the face and save the weather the trouble.

Luckily, BEE is here to help. The Signature jacket is crafted from Blenheim fabric, which has the look of an oilskin but a softer cotton feel. It’s reversible and will feel just right, whatever the weather decides to throw at you. 

Signature jacket, BEE, £300, beeclo.com

Extract from Inventory in iPad issue 3. Download the issue now!

Sea monsters in need of a good home

Whatever happened to the sea monsters? Illustrator Dan Bright has brought them back from the brink in his beautiful limited edition prints...

Sea monster poster set

£40.00

Quantity:

Add to Cart

For our inaugural print issue and iPad issue 2, writer Duncan Haskell and illustrator Dan Bright take us back to a time when leviathans ruled the northern seas.

One of our Kickstarter rewards (update: this has now ended!) was a bundle of three limited edition prints of Dan's Monsters of the Northern Seas and a printed edition of Ernest Journal, all for £40. These sea monsters are in need of a good home, plenty of water, and the odd human to bone-crunch from time to time.

Biast Na Srognig gift set

£23.00

Issue:

Select Issue 345678910

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Quantity:

Add To Cart

Meet Biast Na Srognig, the beast with a single horn. It hunted off the west of coast of Scotland, patrolling our waters throughout the Middle Ages, eagerly awaiting every encounter. Its spiral horn extended to a sharpened point and was powerful enough to penetrate and sink a ship. The creature’s horse-like head would rise out of the sea and the malicious glint from its flame red eyes would be the last thing the poor mariners would see before they drowned. From the neck down it was hard to tell where the sea ended and the monster began, its legs and body appearing to be made from the water itself.

And this gargantuan leviathan is what Icelanders called Lyngbakr, his type were known across the globe as the island whale, great fish that sailors mistook for land. The lump of a whale, with its dull grey scales, resembled the cliff faces of home, so sailors would swim ashore. At first, not even the pitching of tents could stir the monster its slumber. Fire was a different story. As the sailors began to cook their saithe, the creature’s burning skin caused him to stir then dive deep into the ocean’s stomach, drowning every last one of its unsuspecting occupants.

sold out

Lyngbakr gift set

Issue:

Select Issue 345678910

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Add To Cart

Iku-Turso gift set

£23.00

Issue:

Select Issue 345678910

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Quantity:

Add To Cart

And last but not least, Iku-Turso. When it set eyes upon man, it would climb out of the water and up the nearest cliff face to catch them by surprise. Its two colossal tusks were so strong that ascending rock was no obstacle and the beast could scale cliffs as if climbing a ladder. With four muscular legs it would grab unsuspecting humans and kill them with ease, using its sharp teeth. So proud was this beast of ridding the shoreline of our kin that he sported an enormous tangle of a beard in which he left remnants of his victims’ bones as a reminder of his malice.

We caught up with Dan Bright to find out more about the inspiration behind his illustrations...

What inspired your Sea Monsters?

Duncan (the writer) and I met met for coffee a few times, bounced a lot of ideas back and forth, spent hours online looking for more and more obscure monsters, sadly dismissing all the great lake monsters for being a bit off brief. Then we finally decided on our cast of beasts. I’m fairly obsessed with myths and legends and dinosaurs and natural history so the elements all came together pretty easily.

What was your design process? 

Research – a lot of looking at art, folklore, medieval maps and particularly, Viking artefacts. Also attempting to identify the real-life inspirations for the legendary creatures. 

Sketching – doodling and more doodling and yet more doodling for a month or so, idly playing with shapes and ideas. 

A big dose of panic – it’s been a month and all I have is doodles.

Calming down – found the three doodles I liked. Expand them further.

Final composition – drawing in Adobe illustrator, keeping it simple. All my drawings are composed from as few shapes as possible. 

Texturing and finishing in Photoshop, where most of the ‘magic' happens – shading, texture and mood.

How did you get to become an illustrator for a living?

I studied painting at university. I accidentally became a graphic designer and spent the next 12 years creating all kinds of things from wine lists to football programmes to corporate magazines. Quit and travelled around South America for six months. Came back and decided to follow my heart and attempt to make money drawing pictures of dinosaurs and monsters and designing independent magazines – it seems to be going OK.

Sing a song, any song (one that gets you in the creative mood!)

Going with my all time favourite: Devil Got my Woman Blues, by Skip James.

What's on your bedside table?

A lamp shaped like a triceratops and two books – Wind, Stars and Sand by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and slightly more pulpy – The Call of Cthulhu by HP Lovecraft.

Finish the following sentence: I have never…?

...really doubted that you could get somewhere in life by drawing pictures of monsters.

What do you really eat for lunch when you work from home? Be honest, now. 

Well sometimes I do make an interesting salad or something, but honestly most days it’s cheese on toast!

To get your hands on all three Monsters of the Northern Seas limited edition prints and a hot-off-the-press copy of Ernest Journal, visit our store.

It's time for Ernest to put ink on paper...

We are delighted to introduce you to the Ernest Journal Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for our first print edition, which comes out in early June.

We launched the Ernest blog in November last year and followed this up with our first iPad app in March. We are now ready to put ink on paper and we need your support to turn Ernest into a thoughtfully-crafted, tactile, sniffable, printed magazine: that’s 160 pages of slow adventure, curious histories, timeless style, wild food and workmanship, in a handy satchel-sized journal that’s ready to be well-thumbed and carried with you on adventures. 

To get involved, please check out our Kickstarter page, share it with friends and consider our awesome rewards below. The limited edition Czech bread bags are proving especially popular, so grab one now if you’d like a satchel to keep your first copy of Ernest safe on your adventures this summer.

Here's a furtive glance inside issue one of the print edition...

Pledge today to reserve one of these awesome rewards... 

Issue one £10

A chance to get your mitts on the first print edition before anyone else. Plus a personalised thank you letter from our grateful editor.

Sea monster bundle £40

Issue one of the print edition plus three A4 prints depicting monsters of the northern seas by super talented illustrator Dan Bright.

Bread bag £60, Bergen bag £100

An original Czech bread bag or a Bergen backpack, repurposed with a tweed panel and a woodcut and letterpressed lining printed with bicycles, bees or British birds. Plus issue one of the print edition and a thank you letter.

Wild day out £135

Embark on a wild day out with Hunter Gather Cook and the Ernest team in Sussex. Master basic butchery, forage for ingredients for a wild banquet, learn how to smoke your food and wind off the day with a wild brewing workshop and stories around the fire. Plus issue one.

Sponsorship bundle £750

Rather than filling the issue with adverts, we've chosen to work with three like-minded companies as sponsors. We will open with a thank you and your logo, then design a double page spread with 150 words to introduce your company.
 

Subscription Smörgåsbord: Win a Baker + Bell thermos

This Stanley thermos from Baker + Bell could be keeping your hot toddy warm very soon if you subscribe to Ernest Journal.

Stanley thermos, £23, Baker + Bell

Tea, coffee, hot-pokered cider – whatever's your poison – this Stanley thermos will keep it piping hot for up to 12 hours.

To be in with a chance of winning this flask from Baker + Bell, click the pic below and subscribe to Ernest Journal (opt in to letting us see your email address, so we can let you know you've won).

Terms and conditions:

The closing time and date is 11.59pm on 4 May 2014. Entries after that date will not be considered.The prize is a Stanley thermos from Baker + Bell, worth £23. The prize is non-transferable and no cash alternative can be offered. See our full terms and conditions.