Comic Illustration - Pundo and Binky at the Seaside

Here's another comic I made on my Comics Class with Jane Porter. This week, we were looking at framing and playing with layouts. It look a long time but I couldn't resist trying it fully coloured. Pundo and Binky are characters I wrote a children's story about earlier this year. They started reappearing when drawing comics and I've enjoyed getting to know them more this way.

Comic Illustration

 Lately I’ve been learning about comics with Jane Porter and having so much fun!

This is kind of inspired by a combination of memories and exaggerated for dramatic purposes, I swear...

...and here's a colour version I tried:

Drawing Dogs in my Sketchbook

There's been lots of dogs appearing in my sketchbook lately!

I decided to to draw something in my sketchbook every day and give it a theme - animals. It think it’s my longest running streak (even though I’m an illustrator, not every day is an art day), even if sometimes it’s only been a super quick drawing at bedtime.

Dogs became the most common theme, I do absolutely love dogs after all and have spent more time with them this year through joining Borrow My Doggy.

I’ve always liked drawing poodles! I found out that this flamboyant shaved style originates from days when they were water hunters. The shaped balls of fur were to protect their joints (and the fur balls on their hips were to protect the kidneys!) from the cold water. Fancy that!

Yorkshire Map print now available!

My Yorkshire map is now available as a print! I illustrated this for A Very Yorkshire Colouring Book last year and decided to try it as an A4 print. It’s been doing really well so far in my stockists so I hope to get more made soon. It's available to buy on my etsy shop here.

Featuring the moors, the dales, the cities, as many towns as I could fit, some sheep, some bridges, boats on the coast and special statues! There are 4 new Yorkshire prints all together, visit my Etsy shop to see if you can spot ‘em!

New Sheffield Prints

Here are some of my latest new prints for my Sheffield Pick & Mix range. Thought I would introduce them here and share why I chose to draw them.

I originally wanted to make a print of Endcliffe Park Cafe after I drew it for my Sheffield Colouring Book, but in the end I decided instead to draw it again from scratch. The park is one of my favourite places to be on a sunny day. Not only is it a perfect picnic spot, but there's the delights of Ecclesall Road and Sharrow Vale Road nearby for fun shops and lovely snacks!

The Rutland is a favourite place of ours to meet friends before going to a gig at The Leadmill. I love the cosy atmosphere, the juke box (with accompanying list of songs banned from the jukebox) and their gorgeous food!

Red Deer because it's another pub I'm very fond of in Sheffield city centre. It feels hidden away, does a good Sunday lunch, and they have board games to play while you wait. What more could you want?

Speaking of food, The Riverside in Kelham Island is another favourite for a Sunday dinner (sensing a theme here?). I love the quote on the sign of the building and seeing it lit up in red, when arriving back from somewhere far away, telling me I'm back in lovely Sheffield.

The Brother's Arms beer garden is a super special spot and well worth walking up a hill for! Lots of space with nice views and lovely dogs whenever I go :)

The Winter Garden print has been on my list for a while - The Makers Shop there was my first proper Sheffield stockist and I'm very proud to still sell there. A walk through the beautiful garden and visit to the Millennium Gallery is a top choice to take Sheffield visitors!

Another for Sharrow Vale Roadies, the Lescar was a fun one to draw. The architecture style is more modern than most pubs I've illustrated, I especially like the font for the name.

I first drew The Bessemer Converter as part of a bigger illustration of Kelham Island Museum. I've isolated it here and reworked it to neaten it up a little... and incase you're wondering what a bessemer converter is, it's a machine which (in my super simple terms) removes impurities from pig iron and converts it into useful steel. Nifty! 

As a piece of art, it refers to Sheffield's proud history of steel production and sits well alongside my other landmarks or Kelham Island icons in the range.