Dino Time!!!

One of the first companies I worked for in Bristol was the brilliant Puppet Factory. There I learnt many skills on mold making, armatures, sculpting and painting techniques.
A few of us worked on this Dairylea Dunkers T-Rex. We built a full bodied Dinosaur and a larger neck and head, with bigger hands/claws (for the close up shots).
Ray Harryhausen was at the shoot and was highly impressed with the final puppet/s. Merlin Crossingham animated the commercial, Creative Director of 'Wallace and Gromit' at Aardman Animations.

Here's a shot of me putting the finishing touches to the paint work on the T-Rex:

Here is the larger head. For the skin we used foam latex. The tongue had a few replacements and was made from silicone. The claws and dental work were cast from dental acrylic.

Grrrrr!!:

Ray Harryhausen on set with the full body puppet and Merlin Crossingham.

And here is the final commercial. It has Harryhausen's style splashed all over it:

I had an amazing time working at the Puppet Factory. They were all a very skilled and talented crew. A big thanks goes out to Sam, Simon, Max, Andre, Sarah, Clay, Andy and all the others that walked in the door. ☺☺☺

Snails!!

I was asked by Aardman's Director Luis Cook to create some imagery for a 'commercial pitch'. It was for the Saturday Telegraph's home section. Aardman got the job and Luis did a brilliant job of directing it. The stop-motion puppet was stunningly made, painted and animated (I held it after the shoot...Wow!!).
Here are some of the pencil and watercolour sketches that I did for the 'pitch' and a link to the beautifully atmospheric advert:

Here is a YouTube link to the commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD6MDbgJ4ns

"Rickety Hill"

I have always liked the idea of a 'Model Village'. When I was younger I used to look at the 'Lilliput Lane' houses in the shop windows. I then came up with the idea of the complete opposite to the pretty little cottages covered with flowers, and so I created 'Rickety Hill'.
This is the first model I made back in my early teens:

Here are a few of the sketches I've done to inspire other/new models:

These are some of the models. I generally use mount card and cereal box cardboard for the main structures.

I am open to commissions. *Note: Clear dust cases are not supplied.

Easter Card.

I did this illustration for a Happy Easter card. Sketched with pencil and painted in Photoshop.
This creature is called 'The Hatcher'.

Perhaps he's thinking..."Maybe I need a career change!!"

'Plub'

A character design for a Children's book:

Wildlife Paintings

I have always loved wildlife from an early age. From wave crashing Whales to the smallest of Insects, I enjoy studying and watching their beauty, grace and movement, in both reality and on television.
Here are some of my original paintings (no digital software was used for these). Although I now use a Wacom tablet with Photoshop, I still like to return to holding a paint brush and mixing the colours before I was self-taught with my first computer.
These ones are painted with Water colours and pencil:

I painted these 'cluttered' Ladybirds by painting white (Matt) emulsion paint on cereal box cardboard, then used old paint brushes and water colours:

This one I painted by airbrushing the water colours, then roughly sketching the outline with coloured pencils. 'Fluffy Monkey'!!

Tattoo Studio

Whilst working as an assistant in a Tattoo Studio my Boss came up with the idea of Tattoo Artist merchandise. I sculpted, molded, cast and painted 3D Tattoo awards and Tattoo gun and ink stands.
Here are a few of them:

Here are a few of them, including the early casting/colour tests:

Green Stuff Sculpt

A couple of years ago I made some 'Green Stuff' models. I think I need a lot more practice.
Here's the original painting that I did:

Here's the sculpt:

The gun. 'Sense of scale (a bit blurry!):

I did this painting when my first Nephew was born.
It's called 'Elliot the Slayer'!!!

I painted it with Water Colours and Pencils, then re-painted the sky with Photoshop.

Seeing Red

At the end of 2008 I completed my eighth draft for 'A Little Red'. It gathered great interest from both The Film Agency of Wales and an Animation Production company. An option agreement was offered to me for more development but due to creative differences, I 'pulled out'.
This is one of my many concept drawings from the film:

And here is a slide-show that I posted on You Tube:

I am still on the look out for a Film Producer and/or Production Company, to move this project ahead.