Bigger Digger

'Bigger Digger' Out today! written by Steve Webb and Illustrated by me.

Below you can see some roughs for the Front cover and the final version that went to print.

Out today is my

Drawing board customisation

So, I've wanted a bigger light-box for some time so that I can trace larger images to paint them on thick watercolour/fabriano paper and I thought that it would be really good to turn my existing drawing board into a Light-box, which I will be able to adjust. I'm going to document how I did this, just in case any of you think it is a good idea. Below you can see my old classic drawing board.

Phase one of the project was to remove the drawing board top and replace it with a sheet of clear acrylic which is 20mm thick. It is actually bigger than my drawing board so I had to lose the parallel motion (slider that moves up and down) but I don't use this anyway. The photo below shows the drawing board with the new translucent acrylic top, which hads been screwed onto the legs using their existing screw holes. We also used the handle of the parallel motion slider as a little ledge at the bottom to keep pencils in and stop sketch books falling off.

I then covered the acrylic in frosted window film, with the help of someone else as its a pretty tricky job. I bought a clamp on energy saving lamp so that it does not get too hot, and there you have it, a lightbox drawing board. I may at some point, get another lamp that I can clamp to the other leg so that the light area is bigger, but at the moment it is fine for me.

My new website!

My new website is up and running...

Doggy delight.

Some rough sketches I have been doing to try and tease out a book idea.

Old MacDonald Farm

I have been raiding my sketch books and found these early Farmer sketches I did for 'Old MacDonald Farm' Children's Book I did a few years ago.

The Steam Train

Here's a personal piece for a book idea...

'One Sheep, Blue sheep'

A few Sheep designs for an upcoming book Called 'One Sheep, Blue sheep' published by Scholastic. The final design was a sort of amalgamation of all three.

Frogs galore

Some Froggy sketches for Children's Book 'Hippity Hoppity Splash' for Usborne. We went for the bottom right one in the end and you can see him in the final book on my website.

Teen fiction pitch

Some concepts for the main character for a pre-teen fiction book cover.

Callum's Incredible Construction Kit

Here's some early sketches for Callum's Incredible Construction Kit, a Children's book that will be coming out later this Year.

Cadbury's Furry Tales

Here's a few images from a pitch for Cadbury that I did a while back. It all went very well and I ended up illustrating 3 interactive books, with plenty of games and activities to keep any kid and parent happy. You can see the final product on my website...

Aliens vs Trolls vs Dinosaurs

Some concept sketches for various characters for a book

Pirates Ahoy!

Ahoy there! Here be some pirate sketches for a book. These were never included in the end as the spread concept was changed.