Getting a smile to look right is important. There is a fine line between friendly and psychotic.

Not sure if I achieved that here but these were ‘fun’ to do.

Not sure who the one on the left is but the one on the right is of  actress Ziyi Zhang.

I’ve been working on a few projects recently including Alice in Wonderland. I like to explore lots of different options when I’m designing a character. This is just the initial amount of sketches with reference to the original illustrator Sir John Tenniel in the top right. I then chose the designs I like the most and develop them further with more variations in shapes.

I like to get the reference right first and this helps me learn more about the character, but I think having fun and trying crazy variations is also very important to the creative process.

I’ve also been doing some warm up exercises I learned from the Schoolism course I did last year (Character design with Stephen Silver). There are infinite variations you can create with the circle, square and triangle as a starting point but here are just 3. the top one is the closest to the original reference but obviously stylized somewhat.

I’ve updated my mixed media brush library for Corel Painter 12.

I made some new ones and got rid of ones I didn’t like so much.

mixed media set 2013

Enjoy!

Some portrait studies from various photographs (copyright of respective owners- only used for study purposes).

I love painting real people like this, you can tell they have had interesting lives. It also helps inform characters for my character development when I imagine what sort of people they are.

I’m not adding new “work” yet but I still want to add things like sketches and development here.

Much like Alice in Wonderland I’ve done most things over the years backwards and in anything but the right order, but never mind all that it’s a new year after all.

Here are some speed paints of one of my favorite animals.

I will not be adding new work to the galleries or the blog until March because I am developing new pieces for my portfolio. Thanks for your understanding.

I am still available for freelance commissions and I can also do personal portrait work (animal and human).

I thought Disney’s film was very good and it inspired me a little.

This is a type of frog fairy.

I seem to do well with deadlines, did this in a few hours today between decorating the cake and baking gingerbread for my tags to go on presents.

Have a happy Christmas everybody

As someone interested in Mayan mythology and culture I did do my research and there is nothing to suggest any apocolyptic event for today at all.

My sister has been busy re-buildng her website portfolio today and we are both busy on new projects for our portfolios for next year so I am glad the world is still here.

Please check out my gallery, there is some new work in the Sketchbook and character development sections.

Here are some painted characters for my Selkie idea.

Here are some sketches for the development of a character I’ve been doing for my mythological/ magical creatures project.
I’m going to do the costume and decide on a few poses to render next.

These are some style tests I did a little while back.

Here are some studies for today.

I did the lips yesterday and made a video of the painting progress on youtube.

I’m a bit of a mushroom fan, I’ve got about 6 books on the subject now. I just love the different shapes and colours.

This is a study using the lovely actress Tilda Swinton as a starting reference.

I’m a bit obsessed with red hair I suppose- it’s not very easy to paint with so many shades going on so I like the challenge.

I also saw Pixar’s film “Brave” last night and it was brilliant- lots of red hair too.

More paintings.

I’m doing a lot of painting study to improve, gain inspiration and test things out for future illustrations.

I had fun with the reflective lips.

I just finished reading Gods Graves and Scholars last night  (a classic book about all the pioneers of Archaeology).

I dare say it was on my reading list in university but it somehow passed me by which is a shame because its a great read.

If you haven’t read it you must, especially if your into the exploring and adventuring side of archaeology and it explains how it all got going as a science.

I like to research things for my illustrations to try and get details right and to work up inspiration for future drawings. I also wanted to use my archaeology knowledge more in my artwork than I have previously.

Another painting study.

My nose is red raw and I can’t stop sneezing.

Did some painting for a change of pace tonight.

I made a nice brush in Painter and wanted to try it out for a bit.

I’m a traditionalist at heart with fairy’s- I think they probably would be naked most of the time, but only because they like to see the startled looks on peoples faces.

I meant to do something faster but I’ve still got the flu sos.

Ratatosk was (or is) the squirrel who runs up and down the World Tree (Yggdrasil) in Norse Mythology.

The World Tree is an Ash tree which is sort of topical right now but nothing to do with this picture.

Feeling a bit under the weather so I did some more line work today.

Red hair runs in my family and reminds me of my grandmas mother who had long red hair.

Someone sing me a Celtic lament I love those things they always cheer me up.

I thought I’d have a go at seeing what the line art looks like with a semi-painted look as well today.

This is a mermaid. Not much back story on this one yet. I do want to illustrate some scenes from the little Mermaid at some point, but time flees.

I saw on TV they want more people to read books so it got me thinking about Book Worms.

I’ve never seen a real Book Worm but I’m sure they must exist.

More experimenting today.

Repeating patterns are something I would like to explore more. I was looking at Art Deco and Aubrey Beardsley’s work (great stuff) as an inspiration.

Please be aware that this website may not be updated for a while with new artwork as I am currently working on new material for my portfolio.

If you need any artwork or illustration I will be happy to discuss your requirements with you.

Here is a small selection of the preliminary studies I’ve been making for a project I’m working on (top secret at the moment).

I’ve been working in water colour a lot more for my paintings rather than just digital. I’m really enjoying the change to be honest.

I think both have their advantages and disadvantages of course- perhaps I’ll write an essay on it if I get bored.