• A LITTLE BIT OF BLING FOR CARS •

About 6 months ago I worked on a small, but significant, portion of this new game box for Disney Pixar's 'Cars' franchise. Again, another great commission from Forrest Pruzan in Seattle. Thanks guys.
I made use of some of the chrome filters available via Photoshop and blended a few results together as well as working over th top of these to get a softer silver/chrome effect.

Firstly here's the version that I was sent. It needed 'beefing up' but in a style that would match the 'Cars' franchise logo.

And here's a small selection of the versions I submitted. Getting feedback from the client as we honed in on just the right look. Some were too dark, some had too much reflected colour. The chrome filters in Eye Candy for Photoshop are excellent but often need a little tweaking.

My minimal notes accompanied each visual and version K was the chosen logo.

Can't wait to try out the actual game when I manage to spot a copy.

Please feel free to click and enlarge the image but remember it is strictly copyright. ©

• FINDING DORY •

• FINDING DORY •

Last month I had the pleasure of working on a spin-off of one of my favouritist films ever. 

Wouldn't it be great to post how I'd actually worked on the new Disney Finding Dory?!!? 

But I'm afraid this is as near as I'll ever get to that dream, but it's still very satisfying to be illustrating such well loved characters.

(film trailer here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JNLwlcPBPI)

The commission came from Forrest Pruzan once again - they DO get some fantastic jobs - and called for some colouring skills to create a science-based boxed game spin off to the new film. I was supplied with the raw 3D renders and some cmyk breakdowns, and of course there was plenty of excellent reference on the internet.

Having coloured up Dory using paths for the various patterns and shapes, and added some nicely realistic CG eyes and bubble, I illustrated a seabed background of my own (using Photoshop brushes for the seaweeds).

Here's how the busy full box cover looked at the final stage. The other plastic elements in the science kit all needed cleaning and smartening up.

I thought all was well until the AD got back to me to say that a new, slightly different pose was favoured, so could I re-illustrate Dory! So I had to go through the whole process again to illustrate Dory at this new angle. 

Please feel free to click and enlarge these images but remember that they are all very strictly copyright. ©

• More Miles from Tomorrowland •

• More Miles from Tomorrowland •

More samples of the games I'd helped produce arrived just before christmas.

Here's another from the Miles' series. There was an incredible amount of detail (and therefore time) invested in this artwork. The biosphere 'egg-shaped room, for example, took 2 or 3 days to illustrate. I had loads of fun experimenting with foliage brushes in Photoshop though and learnt quite a bit.

You can read and learn more about customising Photoshop brushes in these two articles in Words and Pictures magazine ...

http://www.wordsandpics.org/2014/03/photoshop-brushes.html

http://www.wordsandpics.org/2014/05/photoshop-brushes-part-two-lets-make.html

Forrest Pruzan in Seattle commissioned half a dozen spin-off games and when I get around to photographing them all I shall be featuring them here.

Please feel free to click and enlarge the images but remember they are all strictly copyright.©

• MORE COCO POPS - MIT MILCH •

• MORE COCO POPS - MIT MILCH •

Spotted this new Coco Pops box whilst over in Hamburg. It's one of the 5 that I was working on earlier this year. I'm not so sure that the German text fills the spaces as well as it ought. The central part of the illustration was helped by modelling in Form Z and then the whole image was finished in Photoshop.

Please click the image to enlarge it but remember that it is strictly copyright. ©

• MILES FROM TOMORROWLAND •

• MILES FROM TOMORROWLAND •

 I'm very pleased and proud to have worked on a few exciting toy spin-offs from this super new space character series. 
Space adventurer Miles Callisto is always ready for action, traveling through the universe with his family and his best friend, a robo-ostrich named Merc. The family includes mom Phoebe, the ship's captain who sets a good example and encourages her family on every mission; dad Leo, a laid-back pilot and inventor who isn't afraid to try new things; and big sister Loretta, who is a brilliant computer coder and always has her brother's back. Together, they use teamwork and problem solving as they encounter obstacles while completing missions throughout outer space for the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. The Callistos' home base is a floating space station called the Stellosphere, and the StarJetter is the vehicle they use to go to other planets and galaxies. Each episode features a fact related to space or science that inspires the storyline.
Here's the first product - finally out in time for christmas.
Please click on an image to enlarge but remember they are all strictly copyright. ©

• COCO POPS PUZZLES SET •

• COCO POPS PUZZLES SET •

I can now post and finally show off this fun series of cereal packs illustrated for Kellogs and Coco Pops.

Commissioned earlier this year by brand giants TAG Worldwide, here are the first 3 of 6 boxes that I helped liven up with an exciting set of puzzles and games.

The size of some of the finished puzzles belie the sheer amount of work that went into creating them. See the detailed 'spot-the-difference' for example.

Although hero character Coco the monkey already existed I had to create the remaining characters from a collection of TV ad stills and other screengrabs.

Please feel free to click and enlarge these images but remember that they are all strictly copyrighted. ©

• FAMOUS NAMES •

• FAMOUS NAMES •
Recently I finished work on some exciting spin-off products for some rather famous movie titles.

I had the pleasure of producing supporting illustration work for some of my all time favourite characters, so you can imagine just how satisfying that was. Some are old-time classics and a couple of them are set to become modern classics - all in all, a great set of jobs.

Unfortunately I cannot show this work until the products are launched later in the year, but of course I can't wait until then. So here's a teasing taster ....

Click on the image to enlarge it but remember that these are all VERY strictly copyright. ©

• ONE THAT GOT AWAY •

• ONE THAT GOT AWAY •

Sometimes, for one reason or another, the illustration work I produce never finds it's way into print.

Schedules change, other ideas are brought to bear on a project and the emphasis shifts. Such changes occurred on my 3rd job for Harvester restaurants. I'd designed and illustrated the children's menu pages before and was getting stuck into this fun underwater scene depicting Harvey snorkelling.

Actually I'd just about finished the whole job when it was decided by the client that they really needed a sight seeing, travelling Harvey showing him on a tourist map of the UK.

So getting paid twice is obviously a great outcome, but it still feels like a lot of effort wasted and a great pity that this treasure chest crossword puzzle and the colouring in fish and seahorse game have not yet been seen by any eager kids.

Can YOU spot the one crab different from all the others?

The new job was also fun to do but this time had to be raced through to try and meet the sinking deadline. I'll post that outcome shortly.

Please feel free to click and enlarge these images but remember they are all strictly copyright. ©

•SNOWPERSONS WINTER WONDERLAND•

•SNOWPERSONS WINTER WONDERLAND•

Here's another great Imaginetics magnetic sticker set for Interplay. It's the 2nd christmas / winter themed set that I've produced this year. I loved creating the snow people characters and would have liked more penguins too, but simply ran out of space.

I developed a useful new brush in Photoshop to 'paint' the woolly scarf textures.

And this seems like a good time to mention an article all about Photoshop brushes that I've written for Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

You can read it HERE and find out how to brush on fur and leaves for example.

Please click on a snow person to enlarge the images and remember that they are all strictly copyright. ©

• MOTHER'S DAY GINGERS •

• MOTHER'S DAY GINGERS •

Look out for these cute Gingerbread characters in your local Morrisons supermarket this week. Following last months Valentines promotion Mr Ginger is back and this time he's brought his mum!

At first I thought of trying to model the icing on mums head in Form Z, my 3D programme. But I'm not such an expert with it and I could foresee lots of trial and error, so opted for plasticene modelling instead.

Once it had been re-coloured, re-sized and placed onto the ginger head I knew I'd made the right decision. The flower needed to look like rolled out icing and this simple version was pure artwork, light and shade created with the tools at hand in Photoshop.

Please click on an image to enlarge and bear in mind that these are very strictly copyright. ©

•HAPPY VALENTINES DAY •

•HAPPY VALENTINES DAY •

Here's the perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day, with a delicious pair of Gingerbread characters illustrated by Hot Frog. This campaign runs through most stores and ties in with a whole host of products from flowers and chocolates, of course, to bakery,confectionary and stationary.

These 2 characters first appeared on film in the christmas promotion featuring Ant and Dec, and they proved so popular and successful that Morrison's thought it cool to have them illustrated so as to run them throughout the year. So watch out for more.

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•HERE'S TO A WONDERFUL 2012

A new year a new picture book app!

I'm now working on a few follow up book apps. and the first in line is a series of 'first' books of Colour, Shapes, Numbers and ABC.
To host this fun series I've been working on a couple of brand new characters that we've decided to call Wiz Bods.
I say we, as they were developed during lots of play and drawing sessions with my little nephew Gian.
At the moment there are just two Wiz Bods, namely Beeble and his friend Blink.
I'm hoping that they flourish and that they feature in their very own stories in future.
My first flurry of commissioned work has arrived and needs must, so these little fellas will have to wait a while before they go 'live'.

• MY FIRST EVER PICTURE BOOK APP!

GET IT RIGHT HERE

• MY FIRST EVER PICTURE BOOK APP!

Just finished work on the conversion of Ga Gunk to become an interactive app.

The artwork for Ga Gunk was finished a couple of years ago and has been seeking a publisher ever since. It's a very short, sweet little story that features two cute little froggies.

They fall in love one magical moonlit night under the shooting stars.

Ga Gunk is the sound that American youngsters think frogs make. I must admit that I'd never heard of it either, but it kinda makes sense once you've become accustomed to hearing it.

And boy have i become accustomed!

This adaptation took around 3 weeks of solid work with many a late hour working on it and liaising with the Interactive Touch Books team in California.

They were always available to help and explain their brilliant (but complicated at first) web.app software.

Ga Gunk is now one of the 30 or so books available in the ITB bookstore and hopefully will prove a popular little tale.

The words came from Susie Ramsey who contacted me to illustrate this tale and told me that her grandma used to sing to her when she was little.

The PB app features 13 pages with a colouring-in page, a build-your-own-froggy puzzle and a Ga gunk song and narration by Rachel Baier.

I now have two further books in development and plan to offer my app creation/conversion skills to other authors and illustrators who might not be able to tackle the online creation process.