Red, White and Blue: House of Cards

Addicted to House of Cards and cannot wait until season 3. This started off as a doodle on my Samsung galaxy note 10.1 using Sketchbook pro, but then I got a little carried away :) Much prefer the version with harsh strokes and an absence of colour as it better conveys Kevin Spacey's ruthless character and is in line with the title of this post.

Sketch on a Plane

A couple of biro sketches while on the plane to Sweden. I stumbled across the bearded guy in a magazine. Think he's a music composer. Totally forgotten his name :/

Zero to Hero

A teaser of some character designs for a potential mobile game. A bit of a Tiny Thief influence here.

Ice breaking

Hey people!
I've been away from the blogging for a bit so let me cut to the chase and tell you about some things that have been happening in my life...

Dark Cow Rises
In my previous posts you may have remembered I was working on a CG animation for a TV production company in Sweden. Well, production on that was suspended due to some major technical issues.
The good news is that the Cow will return as all the technical shizzle is now sorted!

DIY PC maintenance

She's back! Much more to come!

Graphic Design projects
I've been designing publications for a few businesses. It has been a worthwhile experience and challenge (especially when working on an office PC with 1gb of RAM!) and I've met some truly wonderful people. My most proud achievement was creating and designing a mascot for the children's cancer charity, Neuroblastoma Alliance UK.

Mascot for Neuroblastoma Alliance UK

Character development

3D version of their logo for possible 'bouncing ball' animation

Drawing, drawing, drawing
Recently, I've been asked to design a tattoo of an Egyptian sphinx (the part female, bird and cat one). Surprisingly, I haven't designed a tattoo before so it's a new challenge that I'm excited about completing.

Initial design for tattoo, flying lady with deadly sharp nipples

'Team Edward' cartoon. What's life without humour?

Run Forest, Run!

I've always been keen on fitness and challenging my physical limits but never keen on going for runs outside as a supplement. I usually preferred running on the treadmill in the gym as it put less strain on my body. However, since the beginning of 2012, I've totally scraped the gym and decided to go for regular runs outdoors as well as use breakdancing techniques to stay in shape. It's much cheaper anyway!

I'll also be dancing at the Paralympic ceremony (missed the main Olympic auditions) and rehearsals have been a lot of fun and met some cool people. That's all I can say on the subject at the moment because it's proper top secret and I'll be kicked out if I reveal more!

taking a breather after a run in the local park

strawberry picking my way!

3 is the magic number!

Quad-biped cow designs

Some more character development for that cow that has now invaded my dreams.
Research on quadruped anatomy, not just cow anatomy, was essential.

closer to final design

Cockney Cow

Cow concept art for a recent project.
A cow with the personality and style of Pat from the British TV soap, Eastenders. A bit muddy and rushed, but just a concept. 'Av it!

Moo cow - caricatured designs

These are my early character designs for a recent project. The initial project brief didn't specify the characteristics for the cow so I explored many ideas. None of these will be developed further as we have now gone for a more realistic look.

very animatable

Yes, it looks more like a pig

??? Odd, but one of my fav designs

safe

Feng Zhu Digital Art Tutorials

If you're into your concept art and design, I can't recommend these tutorials enough. Feng Zhu is an awesome concept artist and his digital tutorials are in-depth and easy to follow.  All of his episodes are invaluable and FREE! Subscribe to his YouTube page for more...

This is one of my favourite episodes where he shows how he adds colour to game character line art as well as giving general advice for budding digital artists.

Character Design - Animal Mashup

I designed this creature while in the waiting room in a hospital in Sweden, looking through a wildlife magazine.
It's a cross between a cat, a mole and an eagle. The instincts and speed of a cat, the wings of an eagle and the digging ability of a mole. I imagine it's habitat to be a forest or cave. Pretty random concept, but was just a bit of fun. I may develop this character further and create a 3D rig for animated short.
Below is a copy of the initial sketch and some quick colour tests.