Molly's New Haircut

Molly got a new summer hair cut!

2 Massive Dogs

Molly met two massive dogs the last day... I mean they were HUGE. I don't know what breed/s they were but they kind of looked like St Bernard size Alsations...I was holding her as we were about to hop into the car when they passed and Molly went mental barking hysterically at them. I don't think she would have been quite so brave had I put her down on the ground...

Molly doesn't walk on roads...

I taught Molly not to go onto the road without my permission, cars are mental in our area, always speeding around like lunatics so for safety it's unfortunately necessary. Sometimes she forgets but she's usually pretty good... The last morning this Lab walked across the road to meet her, but was pretty nervous so didn't come the whole way. She stretched as far as she could off the curb to say 'hello' but never once stepped down. I was very proud! The dog eventually came close enough to sniff before scampering off.

Sunday Mornings

Molly Chewin'

Brought Molly to the Pet Store yesterday to have a look around and stock up on some treats and chew things for the week. When we got home I put everything away under the terrapin tank for safe keeping...

5 minutes later I found her sitting on the porch chewing on one her recently purchased doggie treats. She had opened the press under the tank, selected a treat for herself, and opened the package by herself...

Didn't have the heart to take it off her she seemed pretty proud of herself!

Manuela Riedo Foundation

The Manuela Riedo Foundation is a charity very close to my heart. Its been an honour working with them over the years. The foundation are going through a rebrand of sorts at the moment. I created the following banner and brochure designs to get them started. The symbol of a Robin has been very important for Manuela's parents Hans Peter and Arlette,  the outgoing logo featured a watercolour illustration of a Robin. We wanted to include the symbol of a robin if only subtly so I added a small bird sitting on a branch. To find out more about the legacy of Manuela Riedo and the wonderful work the foundation are doing follow the following link. http://www.manuelariedo.com/

Woodland photograph courtesy: kuschelirmel-stock http://kuschelirmel-stock.deviantart.com/

Molly Action Poses

Molly Action Poses - 001

Not entirely sure where this is heading but these are really fun to draw!

Concept Art

I'm Playing around with the idea of creating a small animation project. Something to chip away at on my lunch breaks... It'll be about Molly and me and will either be a very very short movie... or  just a nice bit of animation. 

My first thoughts were that I wanted something very polished and Golden Era Disneyish given it was only going to a very small project. However none of the early concept art for Molly looked like her, that style just didn't capture her personality at all. In fact since we've gotten her I've found it pretty hard to draw her in a way I was fully happy with.

I really like the way she looks here though, kind of rough and ready and childlike, just like her.

It's looking like I'll hand draw the animation keys. in between/test in Flash then export to Photoshap to paint a frame at a time.

That's the plan anyway...I havent animated in years so It'll be an adventure if nothing else. Posting it here might give me the boost I need do just do it.

Any thoughts on the designs...too simple?

Parklife FC / Errea Kit Designs

More Football shirt design in my spare time, this time for Parklife F.C. the London based club.

The first design features a bold two tone chevron across the chest, with subtle black, yellow and white accents across the rest of the strip.

The second design features a simple chevron pattern with a slight twist. Horizontal bands are sliced and displaced to mimic / accentuate  muscle tone. Bands represent the stripes of a bee as per the clubs crest.

In both designs The white band on the shoulders represents wings and the shorts feature a subtle stinger design.

The Skinner Boys

Very busy in work at the moment working on a new Television Series called 'The Skinner Boys'. It's a co-production between ourselves and SLR, Home Plate Entertainment and Super RTL.

We are taking care of key backgrounds, colour design and props. There have been a lot of late nights while we get through the first few episodes but we have a great crew so it's a lot of fun...

'The Skinner Boys'

The fate of the world now lies in the hands of three rambunctious and fun-loving tweenage brothers. The Skinner Boys, CHARLES, 

HENRY, and EDWARD have been handed the mantle of protecting the world’s most powerful and hidden talisman and mysteries. Their Mother, JULIA SKINNER, knew about this aspect of her father’s life and although we suspect she had something to do with it when she was younger, she moved away to raise her family in less “adventurous” environment. But now she has brought them back – accepting what is a part of her very own DNA.

World renowned explorer Augustus Skinner has left the “ole’ Skinner Mansion” and all of its secret and valuable contents to his three grandsons. But Grandfather Skinner also left them a big surprise. The brothers are now Guardians of the Lost Secrets, a collection of unique artifacts from across the world that possess incredible powers. As the anonymous Guardian of these artifacts, Grandpa Skinner dedicated his life to protecting them against the forces of evil that would corrupt their powers and endanger the planet. In the wrong hands, the fabled Skull of Medusa could turn an entire army to stone! The legendary philosopher’s stone, which turns any metal into gold, could make its owner wealthy and powerful beyond belief. Now he has left this mantle to his grandsons and so begins a new chapter.

In addition to all the cool gadgets and technology found in the Mansion, the boys and their Mother are aided by a “fourth” Guardian, a feisty teenage girl, named TARA and Grandpa Skinner’s former “man-Friday”, WORTHINGTON. And as these boys know very little about girls – she could be one of their biggest challenges. Altogether, these unsuspecting kids have a powerful secret weapon – their laugh it off cloak of invincibility based on their youth.

Nobody would ever guess that four goofy teens would be capable of outsmarting the powerfully evil and protecting the world. It’s like handing the keys to the world to an erratic teenager…times four. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride!

GENRE: Comedy with fun adventurous stories

FORMAT: 26 x 30 minute, 2d (“tra-digital”) HD

DISTRIBUTION: ZDF Enterprises

BROADCASTERS: SuperRTL / Nine Network Australia

PRODUCTION/DELIVERY: In Production - for Delivery 1st Q 2014

PRODUCTION PARTNERS: Produced by SLR & Home Plate Entertainment/Telegael/Super RTL

Middlesbrough Kit Design 2013 - My Favorites

This years Middlesbrough Futsal Club  Kit Design Competition in association with technical sponsor Errea and designfootball.com has come to an end. Judging is now taking place so sincere best of luck to all the participants. In total over 300 designs were submitted.... A truly amazing number especially given the exceptionally high quality of the entries. I don't envy the judges!

Football shirt design is a real passion of mine I had a lot of fun chipping away at different designs for this competition during my lunchbreaks in work or on the weekends. I was lucky enough to win this competition last time around so I am under no illusion that I will be even in consideration this year. ...although a trip to the Errea's Manufacturing and Design house would have been amazing. These are a couple of my designs...

Middlesbrough Kit Competition 2013

I'm a massive fan of Middlesbrough Fustal club and it's been an honour watching them grow from strength to strength over the past few years.

When creating a kit for this years competition in association with Midllesbrough Futsal Club and DesignFootball.com I wanted something modern, very different to the kits that have gone before but most importantly something that can actually be reproduced by Errea utilizing their existing shirt templates.

The design can easily be translated from concept to reality by adopting one of the existing Errea V-neck Templates and applying via sublimation the printed graphic on the front and rear faces of the shirt. The exact process utilized for the current kit.

The shirt signifies the energy within each player and the red energy shards follow the natural muscle pattern of the players body for an aesthetically flowing design.

Best of luck to all entering, there are some truly great designs already!

Graphic Blandishment

Couple of things inspired this piece. 

Charles 'Sparky' Shultz and 'The Peanuts' obviously, but more particularly the fact that I've started using a Wacom Cintiq 24HD in work and I love it... going back to my standard Wacom tablet in the studio is already pretty hard....

Secondly I was watching 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' on Blu-ray last night along with the accompanying special features and kinda felt like drawing something in the 'Peanuts' style.

Schroeder has always been a favorite of mine and is one of the reasons I loved Beethoven so much as a kid.

I created an alternate version that says 'Telegael Graphic Blandishment Department' which I might put up in work next week. 

Drawn in Photoshop CS5 - Characters Copyright Charles Shultz

New Job - Telegael

Delighted to say I will be starting a new job in Telegael next week. Telegael, based in Spiddal, Galway is one of Europe's leading television, animation and new media groups working with a variety of world class international partners. 

I will be working in the areas of character design, storyboarding and background painting. I'm really looking forward to being part of the Telegael team.

My studio is closed to public commission until further notice.

Baboró Bird Toy

I designed this bird a few years ago for the Baboró Arts Festival for Children. He appears across all their promotional materials, website etc. Last year they asked me to translate the birds design into something that could actually be produced as a toy. I created the detailed model sheets above and here is the result. It's just a prototype but I think it's fantastic. The toy manufacturer did a really really great job capturing the look and charm of the character. Fingers crossed they go into production... would love one for the baby!