Monstertree sketchbook

HR Magazine

2012-02-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

Here's some recently completed work for HR Magazine - I had the pleasure of painting the front cover. The brief was to re-illustrate a WW2 poster changing certain elements to depict the feature article, so this was part illustration and part master study!

Jeweled Flower Mantis

2012-02-10T08:03:00.000-08:00

Another insect!

Rabbit at Rest

2012-02-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

So this is what I'm reading at the moment. The whole time I'm reading it I keep thinking how the cover would look if I illustrated it - so I gave it a go, and here's the result!
Let me know what you guys think.

Goliathus Regius

2012-02-03T06:25:00.000-08:00

New scanner, testing it out and throwing some colour on a sketch. Think I’ll be using more analogue textures in future work ;)

OSS 117

2012-02-01T14:04:00.000-08:00

Psssst......Monsieur!

Comment est votre blanquette?

Tumblr

2012-01-30T07:12:00.000-08:00

I'm now also on Tumblr!

Financial Times

2012-01-29T07:49:00.000-08:00

Here's a recent illustration which featured in yesterday's Financial Times. The illustration accompanied a review of the book 'What we talk about when we talk about Anne Frank' by Nathan Englander.
The article has also been published on the FT site.

Year of the Dragon

2012-01-27T06:20:00.000-08:00

I know this is late, but happy year of the dragon!

More Politicians

2012-01-25T09:08:00.000-08:00

More quick politician sketches.

David Cameron

2012-01-24T12:57:00.000-08:00

Been working on editorial illustrations a lot lately. Here's a quick morning sketch of the PM that helped me get in the zone one day.

What I've been working on

2012-01-20T13:40:00.000-08:00

Here's what I've been working on for the past few months!

Prepare for takeoff

2012-01-19T09:16:00.000-08:00

Drew something for Illustration Friday as my morning warmup, the topic is 'prepare'. Hope you like it!

Preview!

2012-01-13T06:26:00.000-08:00

Here's a preview of a short story I'm working on in my spare time!

The Artist

2012-01-12T08:38:00.000-08:00

I urge everyone to go and see this film!

Proper update coming soon ;)

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-29T06:43:00.000-08:00

New Year's Morning

by Kobayashi Issa

New Year's Morning:

the ducks on the pond

quack and quack.

Hope you all had a great holiday, bring on 2012!

Separated at birth

2011-12-15T08:37:00.000-08:00

For illustration Friday, the topic is 'separated'.

Ellis Island

2011-12-13T01:35:00.000-08:00

A visit to Ellis Island last week was really inspirational, the place was just so evocative and overwhelmingly steeped in history. My morning warmups have been immigrant themed ever since!

Warm up

2011-12-01T06:59:00.000-08:00

Today's warm up sketch!

BATTER UP!

2011-11-23T11:28:00.000-08:00

"Hey McFly you bojo, those boards don't work on water!"

One of my favourite films of all time - always takes me back to being a little kid and praying for the invention of a hoverboard!

So I'm selling Giclée prints of this image, and all profits will go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research.

The piece is 8.3 x 11.7" , printed on Somerset velvet art paper, limited to 100 copies and hand numbered/signed.

To purchase one, click on the nifty paypal button in the sidebar to your right!

Please feel free to tweet, re-blog, Facebook (or anything else you do) about this and try to spread the word.

Drawing Dreams

2011-11-10T13:42:00.001-08:00

So I was asked a little while ago to contribute a piece of work to the Drawing Dreams Foundation website to help promote the cause.

Drawing Dreams is now holding a gallery show and auction at the Society of Illustrators in NYC on the 7th of December.
Here is my contribution to the show:

41 x 28 cm Acrylic on Bristol Board.

More details on the show soon!

Home sweet home

2011-11-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

Quick Flight

2011-10-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

Had a few spare moments and doodled this out!

Starting a painting

2011-10-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

The first tentative steps towards a new painting.

Digital plan

Lightboxing onto Bristol board

Back!

2011-10-16T11:58:00.000-07:00

Wish I could have sketched more while I was away, but it was so hectic and we were always on the move. Here's a small selection from the sketchbook I took with me.

Brb

2011-09-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

Off on holiday! More art in 2 weeks ;)

Forest Village

2011-09-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

Photo study...kinda.

Working through ideas

2011-09-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Working through ideas and some practice, as always let me know what you think!

It's been a while

2011-09-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

Growth

2011-08-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of years I've been toying with an idea for a graphic novel. I think the time as come to start making it a reality. Recently I've been playing with styles and I think I've reached a stage I'm happy with. Would you be interested in a book that looks like this?

The main character has gone through loads of changes over the years as the story changed (as have my art skills) feels so strange looking back on the versions from a few years ago:

Left to right in chronological order from 2008!

Also here's some unused freelance stuff:

Scraps

2011-08-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

Little doodle between work :)

Γιαγιά χελώνα

2011-08-03T03:42:00.000-07:00

Morning warmup and a nod to my Greek heritage ;)

Over 100!

2011-08-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

Over 100 followers, I can't believe it! Thank you everyone ;)

Henderson the Rain King

2011-07-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed the novel by Saul Bellow, and felt inspired to draw how I saw the protagonist.

Over-enthusiasm

2011-07-13T04:44:00.001-07:00

The big reveal

2011-07-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

Update!

2011-07-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

Update! a couple more panels to finish off the page.

Really strange wrestler

2011-07-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

I have no idea where he came from...

In other news my image Fugu Balloons features in the CFSL book 'Magnitude 9'. Have a sneak peek at the book and pre-order a copy here - you get a book stuffed with awesome art and all profits go to give2asia to provide aid in Japan.

Nearly there

2011-06-29T06:53:00.000-07:00

Been a little while since I updated, expect normal regular posts to resume soon ;)

Coming to an iPad near you...

2011-06-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

Check out the preview for a game I created the character tiles for: tiles&terrors!

Gearing up

2011-06-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

First tentative exploration image for a new project I'm working on. Throwing around some ideas and just trying to get into the feeling of it.

Art block!

2011-06-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

Silly quick panels trying to work my way through a brief spell of art block, one of the most irritating feelings!

Sketching

2011-06-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

Thinking of making a scene with a few of these guys, not sure yet though.

In other news, my work is to feature is the Cfsl Magnitude 9 artbook. Pre-order a copy and you'll get a book jammed full of art, as well as raising money to provide aid in Japan.

Secrets

2011-06-01T06:08:00.000-07:00

Down the rabbit hole

2011-05-30T12:01:00.001-07:00

A decision is made

2011-05-30T09:26:00.000-07:00

Gatchaman

2011-05-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

Warmup sketch before starting work.

Bumper bundle

2011-05-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

The end of the world as we know it

2011-05-10T14:09:00.001-07:00

Many apologies for possibly the longest cliffhanger in the world, but freelance has been taking most of my art time. Better late than never?

Jizō - お地蔵様

2011-05-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

Oil on board 10"x12"

Loved these more ornamental Jizō statues in Arashiyama, and have been wanting to paint them ever since I saw them.
This painting is currently for sale - $200 plus postage and packaging. Please send enquiries to monstertreeart@gmail.com .

Croak

2011-04-23T03:13:00.001-07:00

Been experimenting a lot lately, and evidently only drawing toads.

Nijō Castle - 二条城

2011-04-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

Oil on mountboard

Megaman

2011-04-13T01:29:00.000-07:00

Drew this a little while ago for the Megaman tribute book, great fun!

Standup

2011-04-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

I've been super busy lately working on multiple projects, and have had little to no time for personal work. Here's a piece I recently completed for standup comedian, Joe Riga. The idea was to try and incorporate as many of his punchlines into one image as possible. Hope you like it!

Fugu Balloons

2011-03-20T17:21:00.001-07:00

Artists Help Japan - Painting for a donation

2011-03-15T10:50:00.001-07:00

14"x10" approx. Watercolour and pen.

This painting has been sold. Thanks so much everyone.

Artists Help Japan fund.

Artists help Japan

2011-03-13T11:10:00.001-07:00

On March 11, an 8.9 earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan near the city of Sendai. The earthquake generated a massive tsunami with waves as high as 30 feet, resulting in floods, fires and the closure of airports and transit systems. Hundreds of people were killed, and homes, fields and towns were flooded or destroyed.
Artists Help Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Fund is responding to the immediate needs of survivors as well as short-term to long-term recovery projects undertaken by the affected communities. Founded by Dice Tsutsumi, an art director at Pixar Animation Studios who was also behind 2008 Totoro Forest Project to help preserve Sayama Forest in Japan and Sketchtravel Project.
>>>>DONATE NOW

Painting Giveaway - We have a winner!

2011-03-13T00:15:00.000-08:00

The winner of the painting is.........drumroll..........suspenseful music............Ericka!

Congratulations, a painting will be on it's way to you in the post! Just drop me an email, and we'll sort it out from there.
Thanks loads to the people that wanted in, I really appreciate you taking an interest in my work. This was fun, maybe I'll do it again sometime in the future ;)

Brave Story

2011-03-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

Already some replies about winning the painting on Sunday! You're all awesome ;) In the meantime here's some art - totally different to what I've been doing lately. Simple lines and colours are really fun and challenging in their own way, but I just got the urge to render the hell out of something. I Recently read 'Brave Story' - really enjoyed it, and thought it would make an amazing film. Here's my take on how one of the main characters would look, hope you like it!

Painting giveaway!

2011-03-07T14:09:00.001-08:00

Acrylic 4"x5" approx

So I'm giving away this acrylic painting. All you have to do, is follow my blog and leave a comment saying that you would like the picture -easy! I'll then put the names of everyone that wants it in a hat, or another suitable receptacle, and choose a winner at random. I'll choose a winner on Sunday - see you then!

Website

2011-03-02T04:37:00.000-08:00

So I've been working on a new portfolio site, which is finally ready to go live. Without further ado, here's my new portfolio - MONSTERTREE. Art coming soon ;)

a big shock

2011-02-23T08:19:00.001-08:00

The passenger

2011-02-22T13:30:00.000-08:00

Piazza

2011-02-16T14:24:00.000-08:00

Quick doodle from a recent trip, those pigeons really bathe in luxury.

Rooting around

2011-02-13T05:58:00.001-08:00

Year of the Rabbit

2011-02-04T13:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese new year - bring on the year of the rabbit! 新年快乐

Re-Designing

2011-01-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

Revisiting a super old character of mine, and giving him a well deserved facelift. He wears a mask, but I've not figured that all out yet ;)

Inuit

2011-01-12T14:22:00.000-08:00

Watching a documentary the other day inspired this sketch. Hope you like it!

Desperate times

2011-01-10T12:28:00.000-08:00

Back after a short break ;)

Teaser

2011-01-10T08:13:00.001-08:00

Megaman illustration complete! I'll hold off posting the full image until it gets published/rejected :D

Getting closer

2011-01-07T14:59:00.001-08:00

I'm still playing with proportions and other fun stuff, changing bits here and there to put my own mark on the character.

Mega

2011-01-05T14:56:00.001-08:00

Sketching this guy with a view to creating a submission for the Megaman tribute book Udon is putting out.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a great new year!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-19T14:04:00.000-08:00

A little break from the comic. Merry Christmas everyone, a festive sketch and best wishes from me to you.

Our hero speaks

2010-12-15T08:44:00.001-08:00

The adventure begins

2010-12-13T13:27:00.000-08:00

Sticks and stones

2010-12-08T06:17:00.000-08:00

The last straw

2010-12-06T15:01:00.000-08:00

Poor choice

2010-12-01T16:04:00.000-08:00

Part 1

2010-11-29T14:09:00.001-08:00

Expect more of this story. I hope to keep updating with new panels, so keep checking back for new episodes ;)

The Haunted River

2010-11-17T04:46:00.001-08:00

Hope you like it, let me know what you think ;)

A little work in progress...

2010-11-14T12:57:00.001-08:00

Hello all, hope you're all doing well!
Here's what I'm working on at the moment, thought you may enjoy seeing it in the earlier stages ;)

Blue Ducks

2010-11-09T00:53:00.000-08:00

Here's something a little different from a few months back. Designing a cd cover for the Blue Ducks was great fun: "it's got to be square and it's going to be called 'one planet at a time' - now draw whatever you want!" Give the tracks a listen here. Also I've just switched to mac, which has slowed the art process down a little - but I'm getting the hang of it, so expect more work very soon ;)

Still exploring

2010-10-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

I'm still experimenting, really taking the time to nail the look I want for the finished thing. Here's attempt 1, kinda what I was thinking but not there yet.

And here's 2, getting much closer to what I have in mind. Not sure if I'm still 100% satisfied, so more tinkering is needed. I love the initial stages, there's just so much freedom!

Sneak peek

2010-10-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a teaser for a new illustration I'm working on. Just a little sketch trying to pin down a style - more coming soon!

Tuak homebrew

2010-10-19T14:41:00.001-07:00

I decided to brew my own Tuak a few weeks ago, and I now have a bubbling pot of (what smells like) alcohol. Naturally being the geek that I am, I wanted to design my own labels for the bottles. Bottling time is 3 weeks away, so I'll take a few pics with the printed labels attached!

Hornbill Pilot

2010-10-13T05:24:00.001-07:00

Hello! Sufficient time has passed since my last foray into pencil rendering for me to want to have another go at it. Much easier this time around, and I'm putting it down to using cheap printer paper! The printer paper was so smooth, that it was really easy to keep control of the forms in my drawing - shame it feels so flimsy and disposable. I need to find a paper that's good quality, but also ultra smooth.
Hope you guys like it :)

Puff puff

2010-10-06T07:11:00.000-07:00

Slapped some paint onto the drawing and voila. Hope you like it ;)

Work in progress

2010-10-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

Hello all, here's something I'm working on. It's in the early stages, and I'm having fun so far. Work on the composition and background elements is next!

Nocturnal

2010-09-30T12:15:00.001-07:00

Something a little different. I could really do with simplifying a lot of areas, but time is running out and I have to submit it. I'd quite like to have used a traditional medium with this, who knows maybe I'll do another version in the near future. Let me know what you think ;)

Selamat Malam

2010-09-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hello, I'm back from holiday! It's been such an amazing 2 weeks, and I've kept a kind of sketch journal which ended up filling a whole sketchbook. Here's a few compilations, I've not included the more personal images, stuck in things or ones that simply don't make sense out of context. So yeah, I hope you like them.

Gone Fishin'

2010-09-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

Not literally (I hope), but I will be away on a trip for 2 weeks. I'll be back soon with loads of travel sketches ;)

Photo study

2010-08-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

I had a spare hour this morning, so I decided to study a photo and create a portrait. Hope you like it!

It's all about speed

2010-08-26T13:42:00.001-07:00

Having loads of fun over at sketchoholic.com, with the intense sketch marathons. You have about 45 minutes to come up with an image, with only 2-3 words as your brief. Here's a couple of my favourites from the past week.

Nightmare

2010-08-16T16:07:00.001-07:00

Another Sketchoholic entry, the theme is 'Nightmares'. I decided to draw the nightmare I had the most when I was a kid - catching a giant fish while I was stuck in a tiny dinghy. Hope you like it ;)

Sketchbook entry

2010-08-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

Lot's of super quick bits and pieces I've been fitting in here and there.

'Anime in your own style' competition at sketchoholic.com - the prize was an original painting by Dice Tsutsumi. Unfortunately I totally missed the deadline, and it remained a sketch. Can you guess the movie?

Another for sketchoholic. The topic was 'weird shapes'.

I've been staring at Dice Tsutsumi paintings wondering how on earth he gets that unique look. Gave it a go for myself, and I'm still none the wiser!
Finished work coming soon ;)

Gross

2010-08-05T16:35:00.000-07:00

Yet another disgusting little creature! Warmdown after working on an illustration :)

Too much eye

2010-07-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

What is it with small animals having eyes way too big for their skulls? It's as if they could fall out if they looked down. I hope you enjoy this silly warmup drawing, in all it's bug-eyed glory ;)

Two gentlemen enjoy some tea

2010-07-14T17:22:00.001-07:00

Well here's an experiment. I felt the urge to mess with a pencil and digital combo, and see what would come out the other end. This was the result, I hope you enjoy it ;)

Just say YES!

2010-07-01T13:58:00.001-07:00

I really enjoyed 'Get him to the Greek'. The song 'Just say yes' has a music video, so why not design cover artwork?

And here are some of the steps involved in creating it, from the oh-so-sophisticated initial sketch to completion.

Coroico

2010-06-23T07:16:00.000-07:00

Another from my travel photos that I've been wanting to draw. This was loads of fun! Hope you enjoy it.