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Here's a sketch a did a while back but thought appropriate for this weeks word.

Snow= Snowman Times

So when it snows this much, I couldn't miss the opportunity to make a good snowman. With the aid of someone who is over 6 foot this beast of a snowman has come to life.

Owls owls owls!!!

Fennec

So I've recently discovered a real love for fennecs, and here's my first and hopefully not the last drawing of a fennec. I'm there's a story to come of of this.

A Morning Painting

So this morn I woke up with an urge to paint, he is a lion looking pretty proud of himself...
a rather large red dog. With a bow tie and glasses of course and....
a fox on a bicycle. I have no use for them at the moment but I'm sure they could inspire some book characters. Enjoy!

West Bow

I've been missing a bit of Edinburgh lately and I drew this a few weeks ago, so here we go.

Transportation

I'm back and with a quick brand new illo for this weeks Illustration word. Saw this old cracked water tank whilst I was away on holiday and thought it had to be used for something... possibly a form of transport or hide away for monsters. Monsters are not something I usually draw but it was actually quite fun. Hope you like!

Feeling Bookish

Hello, it's been quite a while since my last blogging session, but here we go. I'll start with some exciting news. My "Feeling Bookish entry" will be featuring in the forthcoming 7th edition of Uppercase, which is one of these below! I will post more photo's once I have a copy.
The magazine is widely available all over the US and Canada and Europe, and in Magma Books and Pedlars in the Uk. But can also be purchased online!!! and here's a little money saving tip, if you enter the code "bookish" you will get 10% of your order.

Chairs, Chairs, Chairs!!!!

A little pattern of chairs which i hope to do something with.

Flint's restyling

Reworking some old ideas and restyling Flint into a tad more dapper style fox. This is one of my ideas so far. He's possibly missing a little something, but it's coming along. By the way I'm not proud of the photoshop grass- for the purpose of a rough only!

Playtime trade show

After featuring as Small magazines Small illustrator this spring, Small Magazine decided to use my black and white colouring bear for a promotional postcard at the Playtime Trade fair in New York, and will soon feature in their new colouring book.

Donkey tandem

Here is a little i've been working on at the moment for a sumer quiz. The question this illustration relates to is- Donkey rides at seaside resorts became very popular in Victorian times, and children can still enjoy a ride on some beaches in the UK. But what are the correct names for the male and female donkey?

a) A John and a Jackie

b) A Joe and a Jessie

c) A Jack and a Jenny

Sisters

So I need to hand in some roughs today, but its getting to the last few which really uninspiring me. Therefore instead i've been drawing people, here are a few! and now I shall crack on.

No longer Caged

This is an image I did a while back for the book Pigeon fancier, for the saughton stories series

Double- Spot the Difference

Two twins, but can you spot some of their subtle and some of their obvious differences. There are 5 differences in total.

Smoking Lemur

So since being to the zoo, I've been sketching a lot of lemurs and this one seemed to just appear on the page. A some what 20's gangster looking lemur, but a lemur none the less.

Carrot breakfast

This is a spread from my book Chickens Can see in the Dark, and this is chuck who decides that to see in the dark he will eat carrot based food all week long. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. carrot cookies, carrot sundae, carrot cake etc

Brand New Work

My website has just been revitalized, some of the old work has gone and brand new work is up. So please have a little browse and let me know what you think.

Isac and Rachel Lillie

Firstly i would like to say a massive congratulations to Rachel lillie for her well deserved winning entry to this years AOI competition to design a poster highlighting the benefits of cycling around london. There is lots of beautiful work on her website, but this is definitely one of my favorites and I can't wait to see her work around London when I'm down next week. Big well done!!
On to a little of my own work. In between doing a little work I've also been trying to sort out portfolio and website stuff. Along the way I found Isac, from my short book Inky who has served his time on my website, and will soon be replaced by more recent work.

Ampersand

I recently took part in a collaborative edition of a publication called Ampersand. The magazine is a new publication showcasing and celebrating a collection of design. Featuring illustration, graphic design and photography.
Edition one features a collaborative project. Where the featured artists have pooled together to create a final design piece- The Ampersand Collective
It was a fun project to work on, and features some great fellow creatives including the lovely Sophie Warden, Mr Owl, David Gallety, Menna Jenkins, and most of all Matt Ellwood- Editor and art Director.

Zoo Times

I had a lovely day at the zoo the other day, think the lemurs and monkeys were my favorites, but i was rather disappointed when I didn't find any big cats, so here is a jaguar to fulfill my zoo experience.

Dailies

I was grateful to be asked to do a photographed dairy of a day in the life of me for the fantastic Design For Mankind. I did this a while back, but with Erins busy life the article was blogged yesterday. Read the whole article here. And check out the rest of her blog it is packed with inspirational goodies.

Rrrrrraahhhh

Thats right its a lion! no more to be said... good night!

Nicola O'Byrne

Nicky has a great range of work, most of which can be seen on her website. My particular favourite is this series of images from a picture book about fishing, as I'm drawn to the limited palette.
One of nicky's favourite places to draw are in coffee shops and she has collated a collection of lovely observational drawings in a handmade book which will be exhibited at the Edinburgh College of Art from this Thursday to the 21st of June.

Vangeli

We've had buildings and birds, so next comes the work of Vangeli Moschopoulos which can be viewed here on the illustration 2010 website. Vangeli's work brings us a great combination of screenprinting and woodcut print methods. Vangeli has really developed his style this year and his method of working is extremely important to him. There is great concept in his work and he has developed a strong eye for composition, as his love for graphic deign and poster design has grown.
These are the 3 posters exhibited at the show and follow the theme of resistance.

Menna Jenkins

The second of my fantastic illustrative peers is the wonderful Menna Jenkins. Other than having a passion for gouache paints and mechanical pencils, her final major project named Faded Glory has really illustrated that she is rather fond of drawing buildings to. See more of her work here
This photograph shows her exhibition space, with paintings models and books Menna really demonstrates a clear direction for her work. A big well done!!

Sophie Warden

The beginning of the degree show approaching (Thursday 9th of June) to be exact, I have decided to show you a selection a the great work which will be featured. Firstly the lovely Sophie Warden.
Sophie's way of capturing detail through her drawing, make birds a perfect subject. She is great at recreating the character and behavior of the species. Her birds are my favourite around town.
If you would like to see more of sophie's beautiful drawings, prints and sketches just have a look on her website. Just to make a point Sophie doesn't just draw birds, her drawings of people are amazing to.

Chickens Can See In The Dark

A finished this a while back, but here is my finished book, which I am delighted to d=say was high commended by macmillan, and my chicken model of my main character- Chuck.

Leo

I've recently been pretty rubbish at the whole blogging thing, but I'm getting back on it and here is a little something I've just done on a series of horoscope illustrations. Being a leo myself here is my leo illustration.

Election

Inspired by the election, I did an image/ editorial to reflect that so many voters where still so unsure about who to vote for even when they were queuing at the polling stations.

Reading Your Dog

Editorial about about how to read your dogs signs of behaviour, and not treating them the same as humans. This dogs impression is " knife and fork- Bolognese!!- Are you kidding!" I kind of prefer the original drawing, but it needed some colour.

I wish I could do this

With all the boring stuff left to do before my hand in, like statements and cv's, I wish I had the ability to do it all while I was a sleep, and i would wake up with it all done. So i could spend the day drawing nice things. This is a great little piece of work by Jean Julian, and it sums up how I feel right now.

Lost treasures

In the process of going through all my drawings/ photos etc in preparation for my hand in, I found these two amazing photos of two lovely people of which i seem to have tampered slightly, but I kind of like them.

Art exchange

I recently took part in an art exchange and here are some goodies I've got so far. 2 great prints from the Cloud Commission based in Newcastle. A mini zine and some lovely drawings by Sanna Dyker A beautiful handmade brooch by Kathleen at Murgatroyd and Bean and ring by Beth Dawson. Thanks Guys.

Shop Now set up!

I now have a shop!!!, it's rather modest right now and needs a bit of a redesign but it's a shop none the less. So don't hesitate to have a browse around the vast variety I have to offer, Or give me suggestion of what I should put up. just click here

forest

My desk looks like a forest at the moment, full of little trees which links to one of my children's books at the moment. My love for trees is growing.