Oooo shopping...

Doodle of the day

Further experiments without lines...

Multi-tasking

Why is it that whatever I'm doing I'm always thinking about other things as I'm doing it?! Is it possible to ever just focus on one thing only? (no rude suggestions/ comments please!). I guess the only time I'm ever 100% focussed is when I'm either drawing or reading. Both activities require total attention and generally render me unresponsive to any communication from outside...

A quick doodle...

Working on something fairly laborious this morning, so this little doodle refreshed my slightly wilting brain. I've had an inspired moment with my people drawings and suddenly they seem to be coming together. Very satisfying progress for a gloomy Monday morning!

Phew, it's Friday...

Here's today's doodle. It's a bit chilly here today so I've got wintery stuff on the brain!

Just Because...

Drawing children...

A children's publisher once told me that they very rarely get illustrators who are confident drawing children. I'm starting to think it's like the whole drawing animals thing, if you have one or have daily access to one perhaps it gets easier?! I'm certainly finding them more fun to draw using my new process, but there's still plenty of practising to do...

Frank the Fox attempt two

At Holly's request, here is my fox. I've been playing around with Frank's story for a while now, although the background here is from another book I'm working on for a client. I finally have a character I like! I'm getting this image printed for some promotional postcards, so watch out for one of these lovelies in your mailbox...

Cuteness...

Okay, so I'm really starting to enjoy the colouring-on-screen thing. Lines? Who needs lines?! This is today's little sketch, I hope you like it.

Apparently Winter has happened while I was away...

I've returned from lovely, sunny, Mallorca to find that Winter is well underway in Edinburgh. The tree outside my studio window seems to have managed to lose all of its leaves in the space of a week, and today I dug out my scarf and contemplated a new pair of giant fluffy slippers...

This week I have been mainly drawing rabbits...

...and here is a selection. The book is for an academic experiment (I'll tell you more at some point) and the artwork has been drawn entirely on my Mac. This is my first big departure from pen and ink and I'm a little nervous about it!

Going Digital

The piece above was drawn entirely on my shiny new iMac. I have mixed feelings about doing purely digital work, I don't know why. I always make a big deal out of the fact that I normally draw everything in good old dipping pen and ink. So what if I colour digitally? Quite often my clients say they couldn't tell either way. Should it even be an issue though or is this a relic from art college where I felt like a sham for not knowing how to wield a paintbrush?!

Yeehah!

I'm off to London tomorrow for the British Book Design & Production Awards as Pocket Mountains have been nominated in the Brand/ Series Identity category for their walking guides (which I do the cover illos for). There are quite a few big names also up for awards so it should be an interesting evening! I'm not sure how this relates to the cowboy, but he's one of my doodles that I've just coloured up and I thought I'd share him with you.

And here's a giraffe...

Just because it's Friday.

Unseasonal festivity...

It's always odd drawing Christmas scenes in the sunshine, or even in my case in the rain. Earlier in the week I lost the plot completely and started baking gingerbread and humming carols. Anyway, here's a lovely Edinburgh Christmas scene. One of my favourite things about the tenement buildings is seeing all of the windows filled with trees, if you have a bay window it's a must-have! Less than three months to go people, it's sneaking up quick...

Sleigh Ride

I've been drawing a lot of Christmas scenes recently, many featuring the cute robin hitching a ride on the sleigh above. This illo is mapping out a vague idea I'm working on for a possible book. I'm really enjoying my bird characters at the mo and I think I could expand them into something interesting...[watch this space!]

Puffins...

My obsession for last week was the puffin. I sometimes get caught up with creating a character and then playing around with him/her for a couple of hours. I might come back to this one later as it has a certain cuteness.

Finally something worth celebrating!

Doggies

Today's offering. Coloured on my lovely new iMac...

The Musicians of Bremen

This is one of my initial drawings for a commission from Korean publishers Applebee. It's going to be a sticker book and I've just sent off the final artwork in time for the weekend...phew!

Oh look, a puffin!

If you haven't seen these guys in real life, you really should. They're adorable, look permanently worried and when they fly they look like they have to use maximum effort just to stay in the air (tiny wings flapping manically).

Paper Tiger Postcards

If you're up for the Edinburgh Festival then I'd certainly recommend popping along to Paper Tiger to pick up some lovely souvenirs. They've just printed a set of my detailed Edinburgh scenes on a range of postcards, oh and you can also pick up one of the very popular Edinburgh walking guides (with my illustrated cover) while you're there...

Some snail ideas...

I had a sudden impulse to draw a load of snails a few weeks ago, but never got around to posting any of them. So here they are...

British Book Design & Production Awards 2010

Congratulations to the lovely folk over at Pocket Mountains who have been shortlisted for a prestigious book design award for their wonderful walking guides series (illustrated by yours truly). Fingers crossed for a well-deserved win!

New commission from Stòrlann

Hot off the press, my latest commission from the lovely people over at Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig, who produce Gaelic learning materials for use in educational institutions.

Horsing around...

Here's something to keep you all going whilst I head for the wilds of Northumberland for a little R&R. See you all when I get back!

Something a little different...

I'm playing around with my style at the moment and I've been toying with the idea of doing away with the black lines. Here's my favourite attempt so far. And yes, I realise it's another deer...oh and it's currently available to license.

Red Deer Day

As an illustrator working in Scotland there are certain briefs that crop up regularly, one being the red deer. Luckily for me, they're quite satisfying to draw and have a fabulous colouring, which makes them a nice addition to any Scottish scene.

Snails...

I'm working on a new book idea about snails. So far the artwork looks incredibly cute and I'm quite excited about it. If any publishers out there in cyberspace happen to be interested please feel free to get in touch to see more.

Some Cute Patterns

Some of my new pattern designs that are currently looking for a home...

A bit of light relief...

Basically I wanted to draw an anteater and got carried away!

Think Pink!

What's in Your Garden?

A sudden urge to draw some birds has culminated in the above!

I've entered this one in the Creativematch competition this month.

Crail Harbour

I'm currently working on some lovely Scottish scenes for use on greetings cards. It's quite a nice way to spend your day checking out pretty villages and ancient castles, I'm getting plenty of ideas for trips to take up North over the Summer (if it ever actually arrives up here!).

Like buses...

...nothing for ages and then two come along at once!

Wooohoooo!

Yes I know, it's been a while. In my defence I've had a LOT of work on and various guests and journeys have kept me away from my desk. Thanks for checking in on me though, I'm still here!