Baby dinosaur #dinosaur #illustration

An old painting I found whilst sorting through my archive for illustrations to put on my new website.

Based on a sketch I drew on the back of my Son's birthday card a few years back.


Shane

ShaneMadeArt.com

Christmas in a galaxy far far away... #christmas #starwars

Little Oink Christmas illustrations

Here's a selection of Christmas images featuring my new cute character, Little Oink (he's a pig don't you know).  No pigs in blankets jokes please.

As with Ruffles the Raccoon, cards are now available in Tesco stores across the UK

Happy Holidays!

Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Ruffles the Raccoon Christmas Illustrations

Here's a sample of some of the Christmas illustrations I've created featuring Ruffles, my new cute card character.  Love this guy's weird head!

If you have a special someone with a fondness for cute and fluffy things the cards are now available in Tesco stores across the UK.


Happy Christmas!

Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Little Oink and Ruffles #cute

Introducing Little Oink and Ruffles!

I've been working on these guys on and off for the last year, and this Christmas they'll finally get to see the light of day on greetings cards in Tesco stores across the UK, followed by everyday designs early in the new year.

I'll post a more festive preview soon but, until then, here they are...

On a sidenote, I'm going to be redesigning my website and moving to a new host in the coming weeks, so it'll likely vanish temporarily in the process (this blog will stay put though), but I will be back!

Shane

www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Sometimes I just NEED to draw Sonic the Hedgehog #sonicthehedgehog #sega #retrogames

My first videogame character obsession and something (along with the Hero Turtles) I remember copying so much that I can still draw the classic 'pointy finger' pose, featured on the MegaDrive game cover, nearly 25 years later.  Good times!


Shane

ShaneMadeArt.com

I can finally show 'Retrocave', my illustration for art book #EVERYDAYISPLAY by @Gamepaused

Retrocave

Super proud to have this painting included in the stunning coffee table art book "Every Day is Play", now available on Gamepaused.net.

From an early age I've been pretty obsessed with video games, and this painting has several meanings (as well as a bunch of game references - can you spot them all?);

1, It depicts how a single controller (in my case my first time was with a NES) can be a gateway into another world for a highly imaginative kid.

2, It shows how often, when we revisit the things we remember fondly from our past (especially old games), they haven't aged too well and don't live up to the amazing memories we have of them.

The kid dangling from the wire is me in the early 90's at the height of my obsession - a simpler time when games were 2D, all multiplayer was local and the most important thing in a game was how 'cool' the mascot was.  Ahh, good times!

Below are some shots of the book itself;

You can order your own copy from www.gamepaused.net/books/everydayisplay and it's well worth the money.



Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Monster digital painting demo

A (very) brief video showing some digital painting techniques that I commonly use.  This was produced for a recent visit I did to my old school.

Painted in Photoshop CC, real-time painting time was just over an hour.


Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Introducing Whittle Mill, plus cover illustration for 'Progressive Greetings' magazine

In January this year my sentiment driven card range for Gemma International, Whittle Mill, launched into Clintons stores nationwide!  It recently featured on the cover of Progressive Greetings, the number one magazine of the UK greetings industry, which was really satisfying to create and see in print.

Whittle Mill is a cute sentimental range centred around two wooden puppets. There’s a sweet little story to accompany them which tells of how, long ago, a couple carved a heart into a tree which sealed their love inside it forever. Years later a branch falls from the tree and is carved into two puppets who, imbued with the love once sealed in the wood, come to life to be reunited.

This range is very much a love letter to my Wife, who inspired the relationship based illustrations as well as the background story (below) and the verse inside—which in its self was a whole new, and very rewarding, experience to write.

The story on the back of every cards reads (get ready for the feels!);

"A long time ago, before you and me,

A happy couple sat under a tree.

Into the bark they each carved a heart,

And swore to each other they never would part.

In leaving the hearts their promise was kept,

And for many years in the wood their love slept.

Then on one windy day a branch snapped and fell,

Landing next to a sculptor, who said with a yell...

“This wood is perfect for the toys I’ve drafted!”

And from the branch two puppets were crafted.

The sculptor examined his work, delighted,

The happy couple at last reunited."

But my illustrations would be nothing on cards without the expert graphic design skills of fellow Gemma creative Adam Martin which frames them so perfectly.  

As previously mentioned, Whittle Mill is currently in Clintons stores across the UK, and will soon be sneaking into Tesco and WH Smith.

This post contains excerpts from a recent interview I did for Tuts+ which you can read here.


Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Noah's Park, my card range for Gemma International, has been nominated for a Henries award!

I'm pleased to announce that Noah's Park, my children's card range for Gemma International has been shortlisted for a Henries award in the 'Best children's range' category!

The Henries are pretty much the Oscars of the UK greetings card industry, so to have my first ever card range nominated for one is something I'm super proud of.  To check out the other finalists head over to the article.

I'll be talking a lot more about Noah's Park in future posts, but in a nutshell the range centres around a group of animals (Noah is the lion) who live on an island zoo which is smack bang in the middle of a theme park.  Eventually the plan is to have them leave their island home to explore the various regions of the park.


The illustrations are heavily inspired by CG animated characters, but are actually painted in photoshop (which takes a while!).

Can't wait to share more about this fun little character brand!


Shane
www.shanemadeart.com

Death meets his number one fan...

I like to include elements of story in my illustrations when possible, and this little idea had been floating around in my head for a while so I thought I'd use it as a chance to experiment with a simpler style than I usually use.




Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Corporate character designs

Some officey type characters for Gemma International's company website.


Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Tatty Teddy / Me to You card illustrations

Hi res version here! 

I got my start in the industry drawing Tatty Teddy (the Me to You bear) for cards back in 2007.

I believe all of the illustrations are digital now, but back when I was working on the brand everything was done in good old graphite pencil and watercolour.

This guy is surprisingly difficult to get right, and the small size of the originals (a bear would be drawn at about 3 to 4 inches tall) meant you needed a steady hand and eyes like a bloody hawk in order to get all the tiny 'ticks' of hair right.

I'll be honest, it was a painstaking process which I don't miss, but it did teach me a lot about drawing characters for greetings cards.  I still see them in stores occasionally, which is strange considering some of them were drawn nearly seven years ago.

Above is a mega sheet of every Tatty Teddy card image I drew during my time at Carte Blanche Greetings, if you spot one in there you want to see in more detail let me know and I'll add it to this post;



One more CBG post to go!

Shane

www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Blue Nose Summer beach

Image courtesy of Carte Blanche Greetings

As the weather's so amazing at the moment I thought this painting would be approriate.  Enjoy the summer while it lasts!

I feel it's time I closed the blue nose chapter of my illustration career, so I'm only going to post a few more of my Carte Blanche images, after which it'll just be personal work and anything I get approval to post from my current job.



Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

The Librarians

My week 4 assignment for Nate Wragg's course, 'Character Design for Animation' over at the CG Master Academy.


Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Pirate Crew of Cthulhu

My week 3 assignment for Nate Wragg's course, 'Character Design for Animation' over at the CG Master Academy.

Tried not to include too many pirate clichés with these guys, hence the lack of parrots, hooks and skull and crossbones.

Loving the course so far - five more assignments to go!

Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Blue Nose Friends Blossom Pond

Image Courtesy of Carte Blanche Greetings

A promotional illustration created for the launch of the included characters in plush form.  I always enjoy painting water and it was fun experimenting with different colours and levels of transparency in this piece.

Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Percivile the Impatient

My week 2 assignment for Nate Wragg's course, 'Character Design for Animation' over at the CG Master Academy.


Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Dexter's Dinosaurs

When my Son, Dexter, was six months old I started this piece.  It marked the start of my first proper oil painting (shameful I know!) so I was full of enthusiasm for a new project, new medium and it was dinosaurs - what could go wrong?  Well, as it turns out, oil painting is actually pretty bloody difficult which is why my son has just turned two and I've only just finished it!

I could make excuses about house moves, job changes, and wrestling with different techniques, but the truth is that I didn't have a dedicated painting space at the time, and the fact that I'm so accustomed to working digitally meant the mere thought of setting up all my materials, mixing colours, being frustrated for several hours and then clearing up again, every time I wanted to paint, was enough to put me off.


I had messed about with oil colours before but never got much further than a few sketches, the required use of solvents really put me off and is why I didn't touch them again for nearly ten years.

The discovery of Winsor & Newton Artisan water soluble oil paints is what brought me back, the ability to use water for clean up making everything infinitely more convenient and enabling me to paint without worrying about the health of myself or my family.  I would highly recommend them.


But I finally found a technique that I was happy with and fought through to the bitter end, the painting now hanging proudly on my little boy's bedroom wall.



Below are some closeups of the individual letters;

Shane

www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Blue Twit

I'm currently working my way through Nate Wragg's course, 'Character Design for Animation' over at the CG Master Academy and am really enjoying it so far, the creature above was my week 1 assignment.

I've been designing characters for years, but have never really put any thought behind my process, so the course is really helping me to rationalise my design choices, leading to better characters in less time.

I'll be posting my work from each assignment so stay tuned!


Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com