Inlaw or Outlaw?!

Today's doodle drawn as I peer mournfully out of my studio window at the blanket of white fog that seems to have enveloped Edinburgh. Brrrrrrrrr. The postie brought me a nice surprise though, 100 lovely postcards featuring my Animal A-Z illustration all ready to be addressed and posted to clients old and new. If you'd like one sent your way get in touch!

Little Dog Lost

A new character/ book idea about a little dog called 'Roo'. Possibly based on my own dog (!) apart from the lost bit. Oh now I'm hoping I haven't jinxed him or anything...

Super-sized Last Supper

Inspired by an article on the BBC website about a study of paintings of scenes from the Last Supper. According to the BBC "The main meals grew 69% and plate size 66% between the oldest (carried out in 1000AD) and most recent (1700s) paintings. Bread size grew by about 23%. The sharpest increases were seen in paintings completed after 1500 and up to 1900AD".

Mrs Buttkiss and the Big Surprise!

My first US children's book has just been published! You can buy it here or check out the website here.

Here's the blurb...

"Mrs. Buttkiss is the charming tale of a big woman with a big secret. She’s been holding in a fart….forever. And she’s terrified of what will happen when she finally lets it out. The story of Mrs. Buttkiss was born a decade ago, when author Eric Rosenfeld--a Harvard MBA and nationally recognized expert in investing and corporate governance--was desperately trying to get his three kids (then aged 6, 8 and 10) to settle down and go to sleep. Knowing exactly what got their attention, Eric dreamed up Mrs. B and her secret. The kids quieted down in minutes—and soon began to laugh. And laugh. By the end, all three were in hysterics. So what happens when Mrs. B finally lets it out? Will her greatest fears be realized? Or will the outcome be . . . magical?

You’ll have to read the story to find out!"

Pig-tastic

It's pigs on my brain today, as demonstrated by my scribbles! I'm sitting in my studio inhaling the lovely scent of the hyacinths blooming on my filing cabinet. I've just been reading about an experimental study, I think it was in Japan, where office worker's creativity was tested with and without a pot plant in the room. Those working with the plant present were found to be more creative! So get down to the garden centre and give yourself a little boost!

Joys of Spring

Today's quick sketch scribbled inbetween my commissioned projects. It was actually almost warm today in Edinburgh and the flowers in the Meadows are looking lovely. With Spring on my mind I drew this little pony full of the joys...

Butterflies flutterby

Part of a lovely illustration I'm currently working on for the nice people over at Scottish Natural Heritage. It's going to be a gorgeous orchard scene, full of hidden wildlife and luscious plants. I'll post the final piece here once it's finished and printed!

Elephant Algebra

I like drawing elephants. There's something very satisfying about them! This elephant was intended for something else but I got a little waylaid by a sudden idea, so here he is...

Sock It To Me Competition

I entered the 'Sock it To Me' competition to design a pair of socks. Sadly not a winner but my design (see above) got an honorable mention on the wonderful Print & Pattern blog.

Like buses...

...nothing for ages and then two come along at once! Here's another little doodle I coloured up this morning. I'm obviously trying to make sure I don't forget Mother's Day on Sunday (that's a head's up for anyone who hasn't remembered!).

Dinosaur Scene

Here is last week's doodle, a little late due to workload...

Coasting along...

Just thought I'd share some of the coaster designs I was working on over Christmas for Castle Melamine.

The Birth of a Rumor

A little doodle all coloured up and posted for everyone to see...

Wild Animal Alphabet

I've had a bit of time to play with a new project this week. This piece is actually on a larger scale than my normal work, it's around A3 size. I'm considering sending it out as a promotional poster, but then how many ADs have enough space for that on their wall? Not sure...

Jungle Fever

Or possibly cabin fever for me, it's been a busy few weeks but today I got out the studio for a nice long walk in the sunshine (always make the most of any sunshine you can get at this time of year!). I can almost feel Spring slinking around in the background...

A bit of light reading...

I've always found this phrase amusing and this little doodle found its way into my sketchbook today. A bit of research followed and I was interested to find that it relates to the Scopes Trial in the US, where a teacher was tried for violating the Butler Act (which made it illegal "to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals" in any Tennessee state-funded school and university).

Okay so I'm slightly obsessed with drawing foxes...

...I think it's the colour. I just love that bold dash of red.

Paper Boat

I'm thinking of re-drawing this with just a load of animals in it. After all, there's always room for a giraffe...

Research Day

Today I've mainly been flicking through websites and images in search of inspiration. This little doodle kept me occupied and I thought I'd share it with you.

Hello Fox

Right, that's me done for the day and off to cook some dinner and walk the dog. See you all next week!

Crocodile Smiles

A little doodle I did today having finished up some big projects and finding myself with some time to mess around (for the first time in nearly a year!).

This week I have been mainly drawing sheep...

Happy New Year everyone...

Okay so I'm a little late with this one but I'm finally back in my sort-of dry studio and working hard. Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines are all this year seems to have been about so far, but I'm almost there now with some epic projects and hope to display the fruits of my labours soon! I've got two new books due out this year so watch this space...

Some hand-lettering

I was breaking in a new nib today and thought I'd scribble down a few carols to make myself feel festive. We've had a recent studio disaster as an upstairs neighbour went out and left his taps on, causing a giant flood. Luckily we got the computers and books out but I lost some artwork. No studio for me until 2010 now- it's got to dry out!

The Rainbow Thief

Last night I was just drifting off to sleep when a story began to grow in my mind. I woke up remembering something about a magpie and colour. The general gist of it is- a magpie likes to steal objects of various colours and a little girl (or possibly boy) figures out why and brings it all to a happy conclusion. I like magpies, I like their latin name Pica Pica and I like the lovely flash of blue/ green colouring on their wings. As ever, this idea is under development whenever I get the time but I just had to do a quick sketch of my proposed main character. So here he is...

By the way, I hope everyone is enjoying the nicely freshened up website. I'll be doing a mail-out soon to alert people to the changes!

New website on its way!

If you've visited this blog before you may have noticed it now has a new header and colour scheme. This is a sneak preview of the direction my new website will be taking and I hope to have the real thing up at some point this week (fingers crossed!).

SPAM

Based on the title of a piece of spam that landed in my mailbox today...

New Heights

This piece is actually quite big and very long, not in the dimensions I normally doodle about in!

Because everyone loves a spotty dog...

Here's today's doodle :-)

Bear Obsession

Yes, I know, I've drawn a lot of bears recently. But look how cute he is!

Stamp design

I'm thinking of getting a new stamp made for my stationery and this little guy seems to fit the bill quite nicely.

Christmas is coming!

Pirate Cat

Spot the Difference

Just found some old drawings for a children's book idea I had about the differences between animals. I still like the artwork (unusual for me!) so I thought I'd give it an airing!

Hooo's there?!

I've got a new project under development featuring my old favourite topic of Scottish words. I'm thinking a book, perhaps some framed prints in an exhibition and some fun goodies to sell...

Autumnal Greetings!

Not long now until Halloween and the start of the slippery slope down to Christmas! I've had a bit of a breather today so I've had time to doodle (please see above). To be honest I just fancied drawing a bulldog...

Cupcakes!

Baking is my therapy and cupcakes are my favourite tasty stuff to bake. Here's my favourite recipe (the simplest ones are the best!). In other news, I'm currently scribbling away on an exciting new book project for my lovely American clients! I'll give you all a little peek once it's published and on the shelves!

Truman the Tiger

Busy, busy, busy over here but still enough time for a quick doodle. This is Truman. Maybe one day I'll give him a story, until then he remains a lone character on a page (on a side note please remember that all of my images are copyrighted to me- so no borrowing!).

Black Sheep

I was working on some sheep designs and had a sudden desire to make them into a quick pattern. So here it is!

Bear Essentials!

I've been playing around with my bear character for a little while now and today, despite the rain, I'm feeling a bit festive apparently! These designs are currently available to license.

Liberated Gnomes

I was reading this on the BBC website and I took a fancy to the title of the article. It's all systems go over here at Vicki's desk. I'm super busy, hence the non-posting, but should hopefully have some lovely new work to show for it soon!