A new species

There are the three main species of Arbea. But who are these guys? I won't give too much away but they're character ideas for a later book. What do you think they should be called?

Card 2011

I've settled on a montage for my 2011 card - a combination of photo montage and hand drawn elements. Having fun doing some tests but here's the sketch and full colour version of the illustration for the final card. The idea is the characters are being squashed out by the photographic images from the real world.

You'll have to wait until December to see the completed card!

It's Christmas time

So, as I begin the search for an illustration for this year's Christmas card I'm trying to think of the thing I want the most for Christmas. No, no, not Santa wish-list style but what I want my Christmas to be like. I'm having a bit of trouble at the moment so I'm taking a quick look back at previous years to try and remember what I was doing at that type that inspired me.

My earliest cards are somewhere in boxes so I'll have to fish them out and scan them, but since 2003 I've been doing digital so here are some delights. You can see my 2010 card on here.

2003

2003 was my last Christmas at University and all I wanted was to stay in college forever! So, here's Opeel having a white Christmas out in the snow wearing a big cosy Yale jumper. And there's Wishmaker, the mascot for my greeting cards, on the back working his magic.

2004

This was my first year out of Uni, away from home, out in the big bad world waiting for my next big adventure - moving to Scotland. So, the card is a bit etherial. It's actually my least favourite card, but looking back I realise how relevant it was to my current situation. And there's Wishmaker, stuck out in the cold looking in through a stained-glass window - psychoanalysts eat your heart out!

2005
I missed my 2005 card because that was the year I first moved abroad so I was a bit preoccupied. But, I came back with a sufficiently Scottish themed card the following year.

2006

I took a trip to the Isle of Skye in early 2006 so wanted to treat family and friends back home to one of the idyllic views that I witnessed on the trip. It was amazing!

2007

2007 I got into collage. So, all of the textures of the characters clothing are actually images of clothing photoshopped in beneath the drawing. This was the first year I switched to postcards because the cost of postage on top of printing a 3-sided printed card was getting higher and higher. And, I wanted to be able to still send cards across the waves. So, sadly, my little greeting card mascot Wishmaker did not actually make it to the final print but here's the sketch of his swan song.

2008

2008 I was keen to create a new character for Opeel's universe so meet Lautza, a wish dragon. He makes Arbeas (Christmas) wishes come true. This is actually a predecessor of the creation of Arbea so, hats off to Lautza for being the first bit of Arbea folklore.

2009

2009 was my first venture into reality with my card. I envisioned that the only thing I really wanted for Christmas was to have a nice family Christmas with my then partner. I have to say, 2009 turned out to be everything I wanted it to be and fantasy became reality. See if you can spot my parnter's dad peeking out from behind the door with cups of tea!