Stanley Chow prints

Get your partner, mother, father, sibling, aunt or uncle something they might actual like this Christmas - a Stanley Chow print.

With Christmas coming quicker than a Matt Cardle fist clenching stomach churning wet fart of an excuse for a single, the majority of us will spend the next two weeks inwardly dying in faceless department stores, contemplating which of the reindeer shaped wine cooler or Fred Dibnah autobiography father will hate the least. Or, alternatively and infinitely more appealingly, you could be ordering a Stanley Chow print from the comfort of your living room. There's no need to shed a silent tear when mother forgets to smile when you present her with the same vase as you got her last year from M&S, as instead she'll be cooing over a fine Chow caricature of Lionel Messi. She'll probably be thinking you're on crack for buying her a picture of the love child of Gilly from Hollyoaks and Doug Fieger from The Knack (look it up), but you and the old man will like it and with any luck she'll forget who bought it her and give it you back for your birthday. Manchester born illustrator Chow has only recently returned to his first love of caricatures having started his career designing flyers and posters for the Night & Day cafe in Manchester, the venue that brought together many of the city's best bands, before being commissioned by the likes of GQ, Elle, Volkswagon, the BBC, Marks and Spencers and BT in the commercial sector. A limited edition USB stick for the White Stripes earned him a Grammy nomination in the design category before he concentrated his efforts on caricature work, with the BBC having commissioned him to turn his artist's eye on Dr Who and Graham Norton. Chow's ability to capture a subject's likeness via vector illustration in such an uncanny way sets him out as a face to keep an eye on, which makes his affordable price of £20 for a signed print even more appealing. In Chow's current collection of prints there are nine footballers available, ranging from Gareth Bale to Colin Bell, while Muhammad Ali fans are also catered for with one of his stronger prints in my opinion. Chow doesn't restrict himself to sport stars though, with his work also encompassing figures from the worlds of TV, film and music. Iconic album covers from the likes of The Beatles and Bob Dylan are given the Chow treatment to give revered imagery a fresh makeover, while Bill Murray, Larry David and the cast of Mad Men could also be soon adorning your wall if you're that way inclined. In short, if you've got any taste, like cool art and cooler people, Chow's print shop should have something that appeals. Earlier this year a number of Chow's football illustrations figured in the well received Football Heroes Gold, a hearty tome of illustration that saw 150 of the world's best footballers interpreted by some of the world's top caricaturists. That's the kind of company Chow deservedly keeps so if you want a little piece of his magic on your wall, at 20 quid you can hardly go wrong, we strongly recommend you get your order in now to beat the Christmas rush. Otherwise, you'll be stood at the top of Debenhams's escalators on the 24th pondering whether it might just be easier to throw yourself down... Visit Stanley Chow's print shop for Christmas gifts here.