• 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. ©

• 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. ©

•NEW GAMES WORK •

•NEW GAMES WORK •

Here are a couple of games I've just worked on for clients over in Seattle.

Now I'd love to say I illustrated Captain America, The Hulk or even Tommy and Tallulah, but the truth is, I added a bit of extra pizzaz to the look of these games.

Often they are brilliantly rendered in 3D but lack that extra bit of sparkle and dynamism.

So with a few motion blurs, spins and shines it all comes together to tempt you to PLAY!

Please feel free to enlarge these images by clicking on them but bear in mind that the are all strictly copyrighted. ©

• NEW YEAR'S DAY, NEW WORK •

As I mentioned in an earlier post I was fortunate to make a great start to the year with a string of interesting jobs booked in and waiting for illustration.

First off was a set of handwash labels for Vantage chemists. Here's one of them featured above requiring the depiction of clean, pure water droplets. I worked on this on Jan 1st which actually felt good rather than being a chore. Though a few christmas chocolates were required to help me concentrate!

Also, below, is a new CD cover for the kid's song album I produced a few years ago for Somerset Entertainment in Toronto.

This time the kids are packed off on a road trip to the amusement park and need jolly songs all on the way. The fairground was eventually dropped and I had to replace it with a ferris wheel. Pity as I kinda liked the swirly rides.

Please click on any image to enlarge and bear in mind that all images are strictly copyright. © 

• NEW YEAR - NEW WORK •

• NEW YEAR - NEW WORK •

The year started very early work-wise at Hot frog Graphics, I was even catching up on a few on New year's Day.

I'm very pleased that jobs have flowed in but it has meant some long hours to kick off 2014.

I've just finished the first of two great novelty picture books for Cheeky Monkey publishing.

Obviously these won't be ready for release for a while, but I couldn't wait to share with you a few of these cropped teaser pictures.

If you want to discover where these fun critters are racing off to, then watch this space.

Please click on an image to enlarge it and kindly remember that these are all very strictly copyright. ©

•CIRCUS MAGNETIC STICKER SET•

•CIRCUS MAGNETIC STICKER SET•

This is my 5th set for Interplay and another great job to work on.

I'd love to develop this artwork into some kind of animated App experience with all the sounds of the circus woven throughout.

So, sorry to have left you staring at Peach Yoghurt for so long, holidays and embargoes conspired to leave a blank month in July but I was certainly busy in the studio creating this and one other set too for Interplay.

Plus an online Slotto game as well as some yummy ice creams. More to follow soon.

Click on the images to enlarge them and remember that they are all very strictly copyrighted. ©

• CHILDREN'S FUN & ACTIVITY SHEETS•

• CHILDREN'S FUN & ACTIVITY SHEETS•

Now this was a really fun job to work on. Commissioned by The Allotment Agency for the chain of Crown Carveries.

Double sided activity sheets for children, to help keep them occupied until the Smarties on the ice cream have had their sugar rush.

I think we managed to pack a lot of fun into these two A4 sides. Please click on the images to enlarge them and remember that they are strictly copyright. ©

•CRAZY MONSTER MIXER IS PUBLISHED•

GET IT HERE

Over 4 months in the making, many notebooks and tons of sketches and over 9Gb, that's NINE GIGABYTES of new artwork.

14 monsters in total but the potential to create many, many more as you mix new ones from existing body parts.

Over 50 full screens are displayed in the book - made of almost 500 individual images or 'assets'

150 sound files - 2 colouring-in pages - and over 20 secret buttons that lead to even more fun and excitement.

I’ve already started writing various back stories for

these monsters and plan to bring out a follow up set

of tales linked to each of the most popular monsters.

Click on an image to enlarge but please remember these are all strictly copyright. ©

• TILT AND TUMBLE •

Another great game for Interplay in the US. Shown here are a couple of close details of the box cover plus some of the early reference shots exploring the best angle to capture this game from.

Right at the last minute, and just in time for going to print, it was realised that the title should have read Tilt OR Tumble!

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• FUN SANTA

• FUN SANTA
A early Christmas commission to create a fun Santa and friends for a CD cover. It was produced for Somerset Entertainment.
The job came in on the Friday and was wanted for Monday morning, a little rushed, but fun nonetheless.
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