1920 Electric Cinema Christmas Card complete!

I am very happy to share this brand new design paying homage to The Electric Cinema that is available to buy from my etsy shop online and will soon be fully stocked at The Electric Cinema box office and online. I wanted to capture the flippant charm of 20's fashion illustration set against the iconic art deco bar in the cinema.

The Big Read update!

The Big Read launches in 3 days on Thursday 14th July and here are some sneak peeks of the finished and varnished book bench for Thinktank Birmingham and Millennium Point.

I am so excited for it to go live and hopefully raise money for the Children's Hospital through all the creative and literacy events that will raise money during Summer 2016.

The photograph below is a snapshot from the wall display at Millennium Point which will tell the story of the bench's conception!

Owl Aboard voted #1 favourite owl of the Big Hoot 2015!

 it was lovely to win Birmingham Mail's public poll of 5,000+ people, who voted Owl Aboard as their favourite design, which CrossCountry Trains have tweeted too.

Lady Sonnnnnnnnsa, watercolour and pencil, (March 2015)

This is my completed Game of Thrones Compendium entry. I just need to reformat the piece and submit it in the next week or so. I feel I have captured her well, with a confrontational and piercing expression. I wanted to blend some gingerliness with darker tones in her hair to show the transition she has gone through and wash out her skin and eyes so she appears more like a cold, ruthless cow bag.

Boot Café Lovin'

The Boot Café have kindly posted the first update of my illustration on their own account! I will be making them up into greeting cards before I head to Paris in May. My work definitely suits a more European audience and whilst on holiday it is a good opportunity to make some inroads. 

If I can put my work in their gallery space it'd be great. I am aiming to get one or two more designs of this series made up and put in and around cafés in Montmartre and Versailles! Watch this space...

All Aboard! Big Hoot Competition Submission!

My design is titled Owl Aboard! I wanted to create a piece promoting Birmingham’s forward- thinking and development of the new Metro service which will travel from Snowhill to New Street. Focusing on this theme was when the idea took flight.

I created a whimsical world in the trees above Birmingham where owls flock to catch the Metro to Snowhill. The little owlets departing the train are on a school trip is an ode to Birmingham recently being named for best UK city to visit. 

I have given the owl’s individual looks and personalities to represent the mixed cultural population in Birmingham and it is safe to say they are having a right hoot. 

Yorks Bakery Cafe completed Christmas card!

Yorks Christmas card complete! I added a vintage 1930s feel through the choice of typography and gave the impression of night time through the vibrant lighting inside and the purple hazed snow reflecting the winter night sky.

Yorks Bakery Cafe Christmas card progress

Some good progress on the Yorks design, including a coloured wreath, lamposts and the boy with the sled.

I wanted to capture the essence of Yorks homely feel, and the golden tones set by the low-hanging bulbs have been echoed in the illustration.

Winter Dogs Christmas card

I have completed this pair of scheming pooches, plotting to break their stoic stances in favour of building a snowman. Recreating the aesthetic of the fabric required some translation to look convincing in pencil form and this was a nice challenge

The Grand Budapest Hotel Christmas card teaser

Coming Soon!

Weird dogs update!

 I am illustrating a pair of winter-dressed pooches as part of my Christmas animals range

No Sleeps Left Christmas Card

Here is the completed Christmas Sleigh piece. I have gone with a traditional red and gold palette on the wooden sleigh to further the vintage feel introduced in the 1920s car designs.

Yule Ball Harry Potter-inspired Christmas Card

Here is the completed Harry Potter Christmas Card. I have added the pillars and gargoyles to replicate the Grand Hall to set the scene for the Yule Ball, and gives more of a magical, typically Harry Potter feel to the design.

Santa is Coming Game of Thrones-inspired Christmas Card

'Next Stop, Christmas!' Card

This is my final design for the Next Stop, Christmas! card. I have added a snowy road to the car so it isn't floating in the air. The snow on the christmas tree gives a much more wintery festive feel so this was a nice touch to add.

Here the car still looks plain and the tree just looks like a random tree.

The white background is more contemporary, however as a vintage card I feel the card should be more inviting and old fashioned with a warm Christmassy feel.

Update 3

Latest update, next to add some snow

Bad News Barrett illustration

I've been dabbling with Live Trace a little more to get a sharper finish to my illustrations, as I was getting annoyed by the jagged lines caused by the paper grain when scanning a pen-drawn piece at high resolution. I'm obsessed with WWE so thought this would be a good way to go and experiment with a completely different feel to my usual pencil-laden work.

Maths-teaching Robots!

This is a series of Robots I designed and illustrated for a company which used exercise to teach mathematics. Each character deals with a discipline within maths, for example the Data Handling Robot, which uses his keen eye to analyse data like a detective.