Further Festive Developments...

My Christmas image in progress, background and robin now added!

It's that time of year again...

I've got Christmas tunes on in the studio, the tree is up and I'm going to tuck into the first mince pie of the season later today. It's officially Christmas Time!

New Fox Spread

Here's a spread from one of my own stories, currently work in progress.

Dog Doodles

Sketched these today on an impulse and I'm quite happy with how they turned out. I think the little Scottie may even work as a character somewhere, he looks cheeky enough for it!

I'm still here...

...I've just been rather busy. I have a load of lovely projects lined up for next year and I'm currently working on something new for the fabulous folks over at Barrington Stoke (sneak preview above). I don't often get the chance to work in black and white so I've been enjoying the opportunity!

New Promo Piece

I've been busy, that's my excuse for the silence on here! I have a few exciting new projects on the go, but I thought I'd share my new promo piece with you. This is currently being printed as a lovely postcard that will be winging its way to certain publishing peeps in a few weeks time.

Drawing, drawing, drawing...

I've been busy in my studio this week working on some lovely new projects for Usborne. Frankfurt Book Fair creeps ever closer and I'll be glued to my desk until I get these finished!

First Circus Sticker Book is now out in stores!

This is the first book I've illustrated for Usborne and it has some very sweet stickers (I'm always a sucker for a sticker!). I've attached my versions with the stickers in place here, but you can view the actual pages at the Usborne website here.

New Book Jacket for Pocket Mountains...

ToucanBox Box

I'm back from the USA with a tan and a lot of happy memories. But here's a project I finished just before I headed off for my honeymoon. It's a new box design for ToucanBox and it's pretty cute! 

Andrew Bird Poster

I don't normally enter in this kind of thing, but I'm a big fan of Andrew Bird's work and I was instantly inspired by the brief. If you like clicking 'vote' buttons visit the website and vote for me. Or for someone else, that is okay with me too! 

New designs for UK Greetings

Here are two of my latest card designs for UK Greetings. These won't be in print until 2014, so it'll be a bit of a wait to see them in the flesh!

Roughs & Finals

I thought I'd just share a little look at my working process with you today. Here's an example of one of my rough pieces and of the final artwork. I normally start with a sketchbook and pen to rough out the elements of a piece and the key characters (these look like crazy scribbles and I rarely share them with my clients!). I then work with a digital pencil to create a fairly neat file to send through to the client for approval and feedback. Once we've worked through any changes I move into colour, keeping a layered file in case there are any further adjustments or colour tweaks at a later stage. This example is a commission from ToucanBox, which I'll be popping up on my website when I get a chance to update it!

Vikings Ahoy!

It was a bit quiet on here last week as I was busy scribbling away on a project for the lovely folks at Storlann. Here are a few of my favourites...

The Finished Version

Animal Olympics

There were going to be a whole set of these, but due to weddings and work schedules I just haven't had the time. Perhaps next week...

New Mug Designs

I've been busy extending my hand-lettered mug range for McLaggan Smith. They aren't up on the website just yet, but should be soon! 

Lovely new Pocket Mountains jackets

If you're familiar with my work you will know that I illustrate the jackets for a series of walking guides published by the wonderful folk at Pocket Mountains. I've been working with them for quite a few years now and they're always great fun to draw and look fabulous on my bookcase (they have their own entire shelf now as I've done so many!). The Run Edinburgh book is from a different series by the same publisher and is something entirely new...

It's been a bit quiet on here...

...because I was doing this instead of drawing! Normal service will now resume.

Frank Fox's latest incarnation

Yesterday I decided to try and combine my sketchbook drawings with my character experiments on-screen. I'm also trying out bringing back some line-work, although this is all digital. So far I'm liking it.

Oh, and I'm experimenting with alternatives to my dots-for-eyes approach...

Today's Doodle

I'm tempted to do some baking this evening, it's just been that kind of a day...

McLaggan Smith Mugs

Last week I received some gorgeous sample mugs in the post from the lovely folks at McLaggan Smith. I've designed a little range for them and you can check the rest out on my website here or buy one for yourself here!

Singing Squirrel

Before I head off for the weekend, here's a squirrel singing Karaoke. He's a character from the book I'm currently writing/illustrating.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Here's a little something I drew earlier this week (he's available to license, just drop me an email if you're interested). I hope everyone has a fabulous bank holiday weekend. I also hope the sun keeps on shining up here in Edinburgh, because we need the vitamin D!

The (in)Famous Frank Fox

I've finally, almost, got the words all sorted on my first story, I'm just taking a few out and shuffling the others around a bit. It's been taking up a lot of time, I really do think words are much harder than drawing pictures - but I'm much more used to picking up a pencil for the purpose of doodling rather than writing! I've started sketching out my supporting cast and giving them personality traits and quirks in my mind (they don't really have huge parts in the story, but I like my characters to be well fleshed-out!).

Usborne Circus Book

The sticker book that I illustrated for Usborne is up on Amazon. I drew the artwork for it earlier this year and it'll be published in September!

Where I'd rather be today...

I might play with this one a little more if I get the time, but I'd much rather be sitting on a beach today than suffering this grey weather!

Coming Soon - New Pocket Mountains Jackets

Those of you familiar with my work will know about my illustrations for the lovely folk at Pocket Mountains. They produce pocket-sized walking guides that make great souvenirs, and also contain a wide range of walks for all abilities. I've even done a few of them myself! Here's a sneak preview of some soon-to-be-released designs that you can also see on their Facebook page here. 

Totes Amazeballs!

Wow, this weather is really starting to get me down. The good news is, being stuck in the studio with no desire to go outside is good for creativity/production levels! The design above is available to license (email any enquiries), although I may print a couple on bags if I have the time.

Animal A-Z

I'm working on a new mail-out and wanted to share this adorable antelope with you.

One of 'those' days...

I've illustrated this before, but I fancied taking a second crack at it with a pure lettering design. It's one of my Dad's common phrases...

Frank Fox Finds Some News

I'm working on commissioned projects today, but I took some time at lunch to start work on my re-draft of Frank. I thought I'd share this page with you as it's my favourite so far.

Today's doodles

I'm playing around with some new brushes today. The fox is Frank, who has his own story...

Puzzles in the Post!

I had some lovely post this weekend as samples of the puzzles I illustrated for Storlann earlier this year arrived. I've added photos to my website here if you have time to check them out.

A Cat in a Hat

New projects in my portfolio

I've just updated my website with two new projects, a logo design for ToucanBOX and a set of very cute puzzle designs for Storlann.