Mutant Moments

In early 2009, while at Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe I finally managed to get my 'Mutant Moments' short realised, it's basically a 'Tales From The Crypt' for kiddies, cautionary tales ala Brothers Grimm meets Roald Dahl if you like, with lots and lots of dripping heart, ...or in this particular vingette lots of dripping undigested food!

In 'Mutant Moments' we would venture to the ramshackle abode of raconteur extraordinaire Dr. Frenzy, where he with the aid of his detachable even more wizzened other self Itchy, would embark on a different hilariously grisly goose-bump inducing story every week.

It proved very successful with the kids in a focus group which was held in May 2009...(i think it was May, could it have been June...???) anyway, they all loved it and were really into it, the only comment was 'it could be a little bit more scary', and that came from a little girl! Hurray i thought, I agree completely!!! I'd love it to be that little bit more scary...

...sadly, the powers that be at Cartoon Network failed to see the potential in the show and decided to pass on it, not only this, they then delivered me a double whammy and promptly informed me they were going to ditch me from the development studio too!

Anyway, a big thanks to all those who worked really hard on it, you all know who you are!

I'll be posting more 'Mutants' artwork up in the following weeks, when i locate my external hard drive that is... it's in a box i used to clear my desk out at Cartoon Network, i think it's up in the attic somewhere...only, i think i just heard something moving about up there? Maybe i'd better go and check it out...

Mutant Moments

Les Nouveaux Albums DupUis

Here's an illustration I did for an ad that appears in the June edition of comic book 'Spirou'. The finished version differs slightly, the background texture has been removed as well as the stars...a bit of a shame to lose those elements I think! The finished ad will feature 5 new 'Dupis' book releases, they'll be dropped in later to appear bobbing about on the coils of the tittering snake.

Freaky Foes #1 The Riddler

Spirou Easter Special

Late 2009, I was asked by my friend Etienne, who does a supplement for Spirou magazine, if I would like to draw the cover of the Easter edition of 'Spirou'. For those unfamiliar with the comic, Spirou is one of the longest running Franco-Belgian magazines. A very exciting project indeed, if not a worrying one (my computer was playing up horribly, and I was wondering how the hell I was going to get the artwork done???) ...I immediately got my thinking cap on, and got to work scribbling out some rough ideas for the cover on paper ...ahhh, remember the days of pencil and paper anyone?

The brief was pretty much open to what I should do for it, but somehow I had to incorporate six or at least five of the main characters that feature in every issue of the 'Spirou' comic. Various possibilities were suggested; characters happiliy parading down a street in a horse drawn carriage ...eeeekkkk!!! Maybe a little to ambitious I thought. I submitted five different rough ideas, which I've included here. 'Jaques' the lizard nestled amongst hundreds of eggs, happily painting some of his fellow 'Spirou' characters; symbolic Belgian bell with characters aplenty hanging off it; white, cute, fluffy Easter Bunny, painting eggs? Easter Bunny proved favourite, hurray!

I got to work producing the finished art, and after a few changes suggested by Frederic Niffle -the editor of Spirou - I eventually got it completed, and getting slightly carried away, like I normally do, I did four or five variations of the cover featuring different elments for final approval; spotlight on, spotlight off, spring flower clusters on the bell, no spring flower clusters on the bell? The bell slightly out of focus, the bell in focus, only darker ...oh my! ...You get my drift?

Anyway, the final version became a more simplified affair, we got rid of the spotlight and flowers, plus the ribbon was reduced in size, as well as making the bell a more bronzed colour, plus a light spattering of texture to add a bit of depth to the background. My personal favourite is version 2-b, which I've included here.

Version 2b

Special Saint-Valentin 'La Petite Gazette de L'Insolite'

Finis

A cover i did for the 'Gazette de L'Insolite', a quarterly supplement in French comic 'Spirou'.

'Felix' cat food re-design pitch.

Designs for a Passion Pictures 'Felix' cat food pitch.