What's this guy doing? Hmmm, looks pretty innocent to me.

But take a closer look; he's a yeti hunter and he has caught sight of one! Run yeti, run!

For this week's illustration friday - kernel. 

The woodsman has cut down all the trees and there's nothing left for the squirrel to eat! He's had a change of heart, but it's too late! 

The Children's book I've been working on, Stones, is nearing completion!  

Only a few more pages to go. Here are the latest spreads...

The Beast is Back is the pseudonym of designer, animator and all-round-immensely-good illustrator; Christopher Lee.

Check out his website here

Billy's been playing skipping stones A LOT, and it's having an effect on the island's height!

New pages from the children's picture book, Stones.

Still playing around with the font on this project - what do you think of the playful script font - is it too Comic Sans-esque?

I returned to the Stones cover to make some adjustments. Also, I've been busy laying out the inside pages. Here are some more 'work in progress' images from the book, mostly without the words (don't want to give away to much of the story!). Hope you like them!

I have recently been working on a new children's book called Stones.

It is a nice little story about Billy; a boy who finds a fun new hobby - skipping stones. Whilst skipping stones, Billy learns the importance of preservation the hard way! 

The story and illustrations are far from finished, but here's the cover as it stands now...

My website is now live! Click here to see more work examples...

There's nothing like a good cliffhanger to add a little suspense...

This is my first ever painting using only Photoshop (ie without drawing in illustrator first). It's pretty fun and the
effect is very different from my usual method - will definately be doing more like this in the future.

Here are some close ups...

Twirl for this weeks Illustration Friday.

I love painting, even though I'm not so good at it! This is acrylic on canvas.

See the other entries here... 

A nice little article on Scrumpers can be found over at Complex Magazine. Click here to have a read...

It's Illustration Friday again - this week's topic is Prepare.

Whilst the pirate chef prepares dinner for the crew, dinner is preparing it's escape!

Check out the other entries here - illustrationfriday.com

Here are some close ups...

I recently bought Jon Klassen's book 'I want my hat back' for my daughter, Robyn. It's a great little book, with beautifully simple illustrations that are typical of Klassen's work. 

His website - www.burstofbeaden.com - is well worth a visit...

Here is a picture for Illustration Friday. This week's topic is grounded.

This poor little guy is in the process of being grounded for spilling some milk... it's very sad!
I think I'll try this as a three colour screenprint pretty soon. 

Illustration Friday is a really great website which posts a new illustartion topic each friday.
It's free for anyone to have a go and upload their work. So, if you have a spare hour or so, head over to www.illustrationfriday.com

Woo hoo! I'm really excited that Scrumpers has been featured on Packaging of the World - you can check it out here

Packaging of the World is home to a vast archive of some of the world's best packaging design. It's a great resource for anyone looking for design inspiration, or if you're just a design nerd like me.

The first batch of Scrumpers has been bottled - just in time for christmas! Here are some pics...

My Fiancée, Sara, and I are working on a children's book called The Magician's Rabbit.

We've plotted the story out in great detail, started writing, done loads of character studies and sketches, so I thought it was about time to plunge into some coloured, final-ish illustrations!

Here is a sneak peek at the cover (or what is currently the cover, but will almost certainly not be the cover due to the fact that I have months of procrastination ahead!) The font will probably change, the colours may well change, hell; he might not even be a rabbit by the time we've finished! (errrm, ok, he kinda has to be a rabbit).

Don't want to give any of the story away... but it's gonna be a fun, funny, sometimes dark, sometimes scary, rabbity adventure! 

We hope to get it finished and available mid way through 2012. More soon...

Here is my depiction of Max from the 1963 children's classic, Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. It was requested by my sister as a gift to her own little wild thing called Max (I think she's getting t-shirts made for his first christmas).

Max is instantly recognisable with his beastly get-up of wolf costume topped with crown, and as far as iconic characters go, he's up there with the best.  The recognisable nature of Max allowed me to be very simple with the illustration.

I hope you like it, and I know that most of you are likely to think 'it's nowhere near as good as the original!' - but believe me, I already know it!! 

The dogeatcog shop is now open - Click here to have a gander!

I've produced it through Zazzle, which basically means they print and send out the items with my artwork on. I went with them mainly because I've bought items from them before and the quality is very good.

As I posted earlier, I will be opening a more personal shop in the future with hand printed and signed work for sale. More to come on this soon...

Sea shanties! And rum! Here's the Anchorface poster...

Good news – scarlettabbott's new website is now live! You can check it out here – www.scarlettabbott.co.uk. Fitting it in around client work has been tough for the team, but it's definitely been worth the effort. Vibrant colours, textured illustrations and a lighter tone replace the more corporate feel of the old website.

I was tasked with pulling the homepage story together, so I knuckled down to learn some basic animation skills. It's no Toy Story, but I'm pretty pleased with it as a first effort. To keep it looking loose and rustic, all the drawings were hand done with a pencil in a quick and easy style, with splashes of watercolour added for a bit of vibrancy. Hope you like it!

Good news; the dogeatcog shop will soon be opening it's cyber doors! Fancy a t-shirt with a pirate on? An iphone case with a moustache on? Who doesn't!?

At first the shop will be done through zazzle, but when I get my act together I'll open a more personal shop selling signed screenprints, limited runs and handmade goods.

Watch this space...

It's Christmas soon, and it'll be my daughter Robyn's first one ever! This illustration is her present... shhhhhh don't tell her!

For the past two years, me and my mate Joel have taken to brewing cider. Last years effort, Scrumpy Joel, went down well, and this year's is coming along a treat. We've been a tad more adventurous this time, having brewed not one, not two, but three varieties of cider (whether they actually taste any different remains to be seen)!

The name Scrumpers has come from the fact that we didn't actually pay for any of the apples we used. That's not to say we stole them, we just happen to know a lot of very generous people who have a lot of apples!

Sally Cinnamon, named in honour of the newly reformed Stone Roses, is brewed with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. What a Pear is pear cider and Adam's Apple is apple, pure and simple. 

Hope you like the designs, more pics will follow when we actually bottle the stuff...

A fully functioning, totally free, dogeatcog website is coming soon to a screen near you. Available from all good internet browsers!

I think it'll be ready by January...

There comes a time in every designers life when they are asked to design their mate's band's poster. My time has come and it has to be said, it was an absolute pleasure! 

The Ruined Barons are a sketchy traditional folk band, and can often be seen busking on the fair old streets of York. They intend to start gigging soon, hence the posters.

My mate's other band, Anchorface, will be getting the same treatment soon. Watch this space...  

Forward! Why climb a tree to get an apple, when you can just as easily get a bear to give you a hand?