One Year to Go, for the Big Four O

Another hectic week, and a rather extended birthday weekend, which will probably extend to the next weekend. Good times and far too much cake. Ok there is probably room for more cake.

So since I am currently teaching character design, I thought i would share some character designs of my own, since I am currently working on a childrens book:

Meet Harvey:

This was my first real stab at Harvey, a toy crocodile.

I imagined him as rather dumpy (he loves cakes), and friendly. Then I tweaked and altered the head a little, because I wasnt happy with it:

But actually the client preferred the original. Some times you get it straight away! I think the first design is cuter, so I explored him a little:

So then on to Eeak-Squeak, a toy mouse this time. I think I had Mickey or Danger Mouse on the brain when I drew him here:

Which the client noticed. So I went back to an early idea, and this seemed to capture more of what the client was hoping for:

Sometimes the client doesnt know what they want until they see what they definitely dont want, so its always worth experimenting with different approaches if they dont have a definite image or direction in mind.

This is also a character of sorts, I did for a friends birthday. He is a Larper (Live action roleplayer) who is planning to play a dwarf next. So I envisioned him in full garb, complete with rubber sword, nerf-crossbow pistol and stripy pants. Apparently he liked the idea so much, he is getting a pair...

No Rest for the Wicked

Things have gone a little crazy, workwise, especially now my yearly teaching stint has begun. Disney is also keen to throw book after book at me, so there isnt a lot of time to rest at the moment. Unfortunately, that means the roleplaying projects I have been working on in my spare time, have had to take a back seat until things quiet down. Still, I have managed to cobble together some things I have been working on over the past few months:

This is Sorcerer Bob, a character I have been working on, based on Magic: the Gathering card game. There are half a dozen other characters, so eventually I shall post them here. I have a soft spot for Bob, who is a Ming the Merciless wannabe, but happens to be short, fat and not remotely intimidating. This is a design for a gaming mat.

These are a couple of interior illustrations for the Levercastle book I have been working on. I am going for a sketchbook theme, as if captured from strolling around the imaginary locations of the book.

This is Albion, a British Superhero I was toying around with earlier in the year. A work in progress.

And this final sketch is for a friends role-playing character. What with everything else this year, I havent got round to finishing her off just yet...

Where did that half of the year go?

Ok, so its been a long while since me last post, but it has been kind of manic. For one thing, I made the move back to freelancing, and there have been plenty of things to occupy my mind. As I am currently working on Levercastle, heres the cover:

I have also been working on Spiderman for some Disney Books. Heres a colour sample I worked on:

Actually, Disney want a more painted feel, so I here is a cover for a horror anthology I finished recently, with a departure from my normal style: