Thursday, February 22, 2007

And a caravan...

... Because I felt like it. I'm seeing some exciting new directions in my work and really enjoying the freedom to experiment a little. I'm also newly devoted to my Wacom Tablet.

A Busy Week

I've been working on a big list of illustrations with a tight deadline so excuse my lack of posts. I thought I'd put these up- I've just done them for the 'Ask the Expert' section for Historic Scotland.





Thursday, February 08, 2007

A Little Re-jigging


I wasn't 100% happy with how the monster turned out so I went back to the drawing board (or back to the blank Photoshop document in this case!). I injected a little more colour and took my Wacom tablet for a spin. Thanks to Jill I now have the pressure sensitivity turned on (!) and the results are quite exciting. All of the text was drawn/written directly onscreen.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Worms!!


And while I'm here, this is the text from yesterday put to good use. This is a double page spread from Caterpillar Salad. My favourite bit is the pattern on the plate!

Poster for Wee Bin Beastie

Another college project. The brief was to create a monster that exists alongside an everyday object. My monster lives inside the bin lorries and disposes of the rubbish in a fairly ecologically sound manner. The binman sneak around in the early hours to keep the Beastie from our sights, this also explains why some of the binmen are on foot. I was thinking of extending this to fit in the small stuffed toy that is invariably tied to the front of most refuse lorries...

The Wee Bin Beastie




Monday, February 05, 2007

Caterpillar Salad



My Dad got a bargain the other day in the form of a box of Mitchell's Witch Pens (dipping pens that create a beautifully smooth mark) and I've been playing around with them in my new book. Yes I know, I haven't finished the old one yet but I've got carried away. This one is called Caterpillar Salad and explores children's reactions to new foods.
I also thought I ought to make more of an effort to show off my calligraphy skills- I've just realised I haven't even included any in my online portfolio- something I will need to sort out soon!

Friday, February 02, 2007

Experimenting with backgrounds

Yes I realise it looks a little crazy but consider it a test piece. I'm very fond of the 'spring' hand lettered text and the background created in Photoshop.

Apparently Phil is never wrong, come to think of it it did seem a little warmer today and we even saw some sunshine!