3 kings (or, in reality, wise men)

This three kings design pairs up with the shepherds one I did before. Perhaps next time I'll do them as wise men to be more biblical. I gave them all a complexion, the middle one more so but I think it would be interesting to paint them as authentic middle-eastern men of their time though I'm not sure how commercial this would be.

Reindeer snow scene

Further experimentation along the digital printmaking theme, this time with images reversed out.

Christmas card designs aimed at the female market.

Digital collage

Christmas designs focusing on a 'digital collage and cut out' style.

Something a little bit different

I've been experimenting with creating digital images that have the look of being made with traditional print making methods such as lino cut, letterpress, collage etc.

Technology designs

These greeting card designs focus around technology.

For the phone image I was trying to create an elaborate scene, perhaps in the vein of Heath Robinson. It was quite fun thinking up different ways to implement construction tools into the picture.

Nativity designs

These Nativity designs are something a little bit different. I was asked to focus on using larger shapes in the images. So this is what I came up with.

Christmas cards

Here are some recent Christmas card designs I have done. Some have more of a narrative than others but I have always tried to create interesting 'Christmassy' situations.

Birthday Cake

Illustration commission for a girl's birthday card. Its fun to see how much you can jam onto one cake!

The stars and title were foiled on the final card.

Done in Photoshop.

More snow

I've resolved that one of the most appealing ways to paint snow is to paint it like it's icecream.

It's Christmas every day!

Here is a Christmas card design I did. The curly beard feels like a homage to the Nightmare before Christmas (only a bit less dark!)

Done (as usual) in Photoshop. I really need to try painter, or better yet get back to some traditional painting!

Christmas Pudding

Christmas is coming, albeit a long way off. So I thought I'd post up this Christmas card design I did. I like the idea of creating odd situations in my own little world:)

Everyone loves Christmas pudding, right?

Done in Photoshop.

And one more

Thought I would try zooming out a bit with this composition. I was going for a sense of protection with the cub under the mother's legs.

Photoshop.

More polar bear

Second in the polar bear series of card illustrations. Still trying to keep the overall feeling soft yet with an air of realism to it.

Done in photoshop.

Polar Bear mother and child

This is the first in a series of greeting card illustrations of polar bears. The theme is love and relationship. I tried to create a very soft, gentle image.

Not much else to say on this one apart from that I'm embracing the challenge of being very flexible in my style of illustration.

Done in photoshop.

Sunbathing

This is the first in a series of greetings card designs aimed at the female market. Bright colours and thin (but not too thin) women are the order of the day.

Done in photoshop

Happy Father's Day

Whoo! It's my very first Father's Day being a Dad! Here's a card design I was commissioned to do some months back for the quintessential Dad ;) - he likes morning coffee with his paper, then he's off fishing.....

...anyway, Happy Father's Day Dad!

Angel

This is the second angel I did. It took me quite a while to get the face to a stage I was satisfied with. Practise makes perfect!

Niblet designs

Some fun character designs for niblets. They are little bouncy creatures with curious telekenetic powers.

Angel

This is an angel I painted for a greetings card design. I worked digitally trying to emulate oil painting technique and textures.

Digital lets me work quicker but traditional painting lets me work better I think. Its also more fun!

Game Character Development

This is some development work I am doing for characters in a computer game. Im really loving learning about manga style.

Still Alive

Just thought I would say that blog is, in fact, still alive. I am just waiting to find out which of my commercial work I am allowed to post up here.

Snow painting #2

This is my second study on the snow theme. This time I decided to try a pinkish light at sunset.

Digital painting, Pshop

Snow, Trees and Light

Environment study done for computer game.

I'm working out how to best depict snow and how it looks under a variety of lighting conditions.

I am also finding it interesting to notice how snow settles on different surfaces.

Digital painting done in PS CS2

Maiden Flight of the Silver Turtle

This is my first illustration using my new digital tablet. Digital painting isn't quite how I imagined. In some ways its more tricky because you dont get the sense of feel that you do with traditional painting, on the other hand, being able to undo and fiddle with layers means you can make mistakes and try things out without sacrificing the picture.

I'm off to practice :)

PS Done in Photoshop CS2

Silver Turtle continued

This is the development work for the silver turtle emblem to go on the aeroplane. I wanted to create a humorous character reminiscent of plane emblems from the WW2 era. For the final illustration I was imagining the logo was emblazoned on the welded and bolted stell side panels of the aeroplane body.

The painting is oil on panel. The drawings are pencil on vellum and tracing paper.

Silver Turtle Concept Sketches

These are development sketches for a story I am illustrating. Basically, its about a plane built by an inventor and his adventurous children. I enjoy playing around, looking through old aeroplane books, and generally just inventing whatever comes to my mind - now the question is 'Would it really fly?'

These sketches were done with pencil and marker on tracing paper.

Restaurant logo character

Some very early development sketches for a logo character I am doing for my friend's restaurant in Shanghai. At the moment we are just trying to find the right 'look'.

The character is based upon a woman from traditional chinese opera.

Flower study

It was a sunny summer's day and as I looked out the kitchen window I noticed the beautiful way the sunlight caught the golden yellow flowers on the Senecio shrub in my back garden. So I quickly grabbed my oil paints and easel, ran outside, and set about doing this study.

14 x 18", oil on canvas board.

Sky Sketch

A quick sketch of the sky from my studio window.

Oil on canvas board. 12x10in