India Value Study

Practicing my value work and getting back into concept art. Really enjoying myself doing these!

Egypt Value Study

Making the most of my spare time and getting some practice in doing some value studies.

Kitty Cat Geisha

A kitty cat dressed up as a geisha I created for the character design challenge!

Pirate Chef

A quick character design, not too happy with the silhouette.

Punk Girl

A quick drawing. I'm hoping to do a lot more of theses, especially now I have less freelance work on my plate. Definitely learnt my lesson not to take on too much work!

Score Release!

As of today the game Score I've been working on for the last six months is out on Steam! I've been fairly quiet in regards to the release date as it was undetermined for some time but its finally out and I couldn't be happier. The game is a cross between FIFA and GTA with a touch of the sims. It takes place in Legend city where you can choose to be one of a number of professions based in the city and around the football stadium where you can also play matches. Its a massively multiplayer online game based in a huge map which was a giant task to create especially as an indie team. If you get chance I hope you can check it out here http://store.steampowered.com/app/438310/

Score Loading Screen: Cop Car

Here is one of the many loading screens I created for the game Score. I created it entirely in illustrator which is a lot better to use when creating hard surface objects. It's also one of the first times I have illustrated a car/vehicle. The whole project is completely different to anything I have ever worked on before and that made it a huge challenge but great fun.

Score

I've been rather quiet on here over the last couple of months and thats all because I've been working on a game called Score set to release in April. With the release looming I'm finally able to show some of the artwork produced! I'll be posting a bit about the game over the coming weeks up until the release along with a selection of artwork that I've produced!

Boy Scout Poses

Here are all the poses for my Boy Scout character together. I really like the way they have turned out and it's been really refreshing working in a new style. Next up expressions!

Another Boy Scout Pose!

Getting this one in before the weekend. I'm really enjoying posing this character, he's fairly simple so its quite easy to do and I've got so many ideas for him! Hope you like him!

Boy Scout Poses

I've been working on this little guy and his poses today. I tried softening the lines and I think he looks a lot better. I love the style, it's completely different to what I'm used to doing but I'm really enjoying working in it.

Boy Scout

A quick character design of a boy scout I created today. Really enjoying working with these new brushes!

Warm up Sketch

This is a quick 45 min warm up painting I created before getting on with other work. Still trying to get used to these new brushes.

Thumbnail Painting Postbox

A quick digital thumbnail before I start my latest traditional commission. I created the composition myself as I didn't have a photo that was appropriate and changed the angle of the robin and postbox. I also knocked back the wall to highlight the robin. I will post the final picture in the near future!

Timmy the T-Rex Hallway

Finally managed to get this finished. Decided to take away the rounded walls out and go with straight ones. I think it looks a lot better and easier to read.

Elves on the Fireplace

This is my first digital painting in a while. I wanted to try out some of the brushes I recently purchased from Kyle Webster. I'm very impressed with them and would highly recommend them to anyone. Also trying out various new styles within my work over the forthcoming weeks. I hope you like it!

The Best Animated Feature Films of 2015

I wrote my second article for Skwigly this week reviewing the best animated films of 2015. It was a massive honour to be able to look over the amazing films that have been released this year and give my opinion on the good and not so good. Have a look at the article via the link below!

Skwigly The Best Animated Feature Films of 2015

Manchester Animation Festival

I attended the first ever Manchester Animation Festival last week which was awesome. I really enjoyed meeting new people and learning new things. I also wrote my first article for Skwigly on MAF which you can view via the link below!

Skwigly Manchester Animation Festival - Overview

WIP Timmy the T-Rex's House

It's been a while since I created any 2D backgrounds so it was nice to get back into doing them. I had a blast creating the initial line drawing and now I'm just working on the colours and lighting to make sure everything right, but heres what I've got so far.

Hotel Transylvania 2

I finally got around to watching Hotel Transylvania 2 yesterday and I have to say I'm glad I went to see it. In my opinion it's one of the best sequels I've seen in a long time, and where as a lot of sequels seem forced and made simply to make money, Hotel Transylvania 2 had a fantastic storyline that picked up right where the first film left off. The opening sequence introduced the plot of the film, starting at Mavis's wedding and quickly moving to the birth of her first child, Dennis whom the story is based around. Once we get past the fairly soppy yet quite endearing opening sequence we encounter the initial problem, is Dennis a vampire or a human? As he is nearing the age of five and has still not show any signs of vampirism Mavis and Johnny have a big decision to make, will they stay in Transylvania where it could be potentially dangerous for a human child to grow up, or move to California where Johnny's family lives. Here we begin to see some fantastic comedic moments as Dracula desperately try's to find the monster in Dennis to prevent his precious daughter Mavis from moving away.

Every other scene has a laugh out loud moment, I particularly liked the introduction of technology to the hotel and Drac's struggle to use it throughout made the film current, relatable and hilarious. The film is directed by animation veteran Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s Lab, Samurai Jack) and you can see his 2D background influencing the over the top animation which successfully incorporated 2D techniques such squash and stretch to the CG rigs full potential. Drac's facial expressions are a major highlight in the film for me as they tell you what he is thinking and feeling at all times without him having to say anything, but combined with Adam Sandler’s brilliant voice acting Drac is an eccentric, lovable character who drives the story along.

Each and every character in Hotel Transylvania 2 is well formed and realistic, showing not only the characters strengths but also their weaknesses. The older monsters all have their little quirks, which make them more relatable. Wayne the werewolf can't stop chasing balls when he is supposed to be teaching tennis, Murray the mummy has a bad back and can't perform his curses anymore and Griffin the invisible man pretends to have an invisible girlfriend to hide his loneliness. The introduction of Dennis juxtaposes all these old ‘scary’ monsters with one of the most adorable characters I have ever seen in an Animated film. His tiny little body, big head covered in curly ginger locks and wide, expressive eyes captured my heart and brought the essence of an innocent, unassuming five year old to a adult filled film. He is such an innocent well loved character that when his heart is almost broken by his favorite TV character, Kakie the Cake Monster, I couldn’t help but empathize with him.

My only complaint would be that the resolution was fairly predictable and following in suit with the original the film ends with a strange dance sequence that to me wasn't needed. Overall it was a fantastic family film, well written with real laugh out loud comedy that I think anybody who is in the mood for some spooky entertainment would enjoy. I would even go as far as to say it's even better than the original.