Tom Woolley Illustration Blog

Illustration Friday: Messenger

2011-12-28T18:45:00.003Z

Life Online Illustrations

2011-12-23T20:34:00.008Z

So this is my first post in a very long time. I've taken a bit of a hiatus from illustration for the past six months due to being super busy at my day job. I've been working on a new gallery at the National Media Museum in Bradford called Life Online - it's a permanent exhibition that tells the story of the internet. There's been a lot to do and it's kind of taken over my life but recently we needed a few little illustrations doing at short notice so I got the chance to dust off my pencil case.

We have commissioned a couple of other illustrations and animations for the gallery so it's been interesting writing briefs and working ideas up with other illustrators. When we needed a few other illustrations quite last minute I was reluctant to offer my services as I was so close to the project and was keen to offer more work to other artists. But tight deadlines and dwindling budgets meant I got to work from home for a couple of days and do something different.

These three illustrations will be included in a part of the gallery exploring how search engines work.

This first one is to help visualise the dark web - the hidden bit of the web that search engines don't venture in to.

This is to help illustrate different top-level domain name extensions.

And this comic strip aims to explain how the semantic web might be better at understanding human requests and working out relationships between different bits of content.

Life Online will open in March 2012 and hopefully then I'll find some more free time to get back into the illustration.

Saltaire Arts Trail

2011-05-31T20:20:00.004+01:00

This weekend I exhibited some of my work in one of the Open Houses at the Saltaire Arts Trail. I think I drew one of the long straws and was lucky to exhibit at 4 George Street - the owners had recently renovated the living room and cellar which made a fantastic gallery space. This was the first time I'd ever exhibited my work and really enjoyed it - even sold a few bits of work!

The Arts Trail is a great event - really buzzy and a great way to see the village and meet the artists behind the work. I also enjoyed having a nosey in people's houses and found new bits of the village I'd never seen before. It's a very well organised and friendly event - thanks to everyone involved who helped make it such a pleasure to be a part of.

Albert Terrace, Saltaire painting

2011-05-16T21:38:00.003+01:00

Albert Terrace, Saltaire, pen and watercolour.

Near Wingfield

2011-05-02T20:24:00.003+01:00

Bruno's Big Trip - Children's Book Idea

2011-05-01T18:39:00.005+01:00

These are a few sample spreads I produced for the 2011 Puffin Digital prize. The brief was to come up with an idea for a new children's book that had interactive elements and could work on the iPad. My story was called 'Bruno's Big Trip' - a tale of one little beaver's quest for acceptance. My entry didn't make the cut but I thought I'd post it up here anyway to show you what I've been working on recently.

Salts Mill Illustration

2011-04-11T20:51:00.002+01:00

Shipley Glen Illustration

2011-03-26T16:16:00.002Z

Here's a new illustration of Shipley Glen, a piece of woodland just outside Saltaire in West Yorkshire. Sorry for the severe lack of updates recently - the day job has kind of taken over and at the end of February I spent a lot of time working on an entry for the Puffin Digital Prize 2011. I'll post some pics up here soon when I know if it's been accepted or not.

I'm looking forward to exhibiting some of my illustration work at the Saltaire Arts Trail at the end of May. I'll have a few pictures in one of the Open Houses so if you find yourself in the locale, come along and say hello.

Saltaire Triptych

2011-01-28T21:52:00.005Z

Et voila! Here is the latest picture in my Saltaire series to complete the triptych. I've also joined Society 6 so prints are available in my online store.

Saltaire illustration

2011-01-13T20:42:00.003Z

This is the second picture in a series of Saltaire inspired compositions.

IF: Winter

2010-12-27T18:23:00.003Z

This is a pen sketch I did last week whilst visiting some friends in Breda, Netherlands. This is a view from a little bar in the main town square - drawn as a fresh layer of snow just starts to fall. I've added a bit of colour and shade in Photoshop.

Winter Woods

2010-12-21T21:53:00.002Z

A seasonal illustration... Merry Christmas!

IF: Mail

2010-12-21T21:46:00.002Z

I've been experimenting with the brushes in Photoshop recently and trying to create a painted effect digitally. This is the first in a series of Saltaire inspired pictures.

BAF 2010 Ident Animation

2010-10-16T10:11:00.004+01:00

The final animated ident for the Bradford Animation Festival 2010 is now online. Check it out. Amazing animation and sound effects by Hexjibber, working from illustrations and storyboards by yours truely. Really fun project to work on and glad to see it released into the wild.

You can see the original sketchy storyboards in an earlier post.

IF: Transportation

2010-10-10T11:33:00.003+01:00

A new entry for Illustration Friday under the theme 'Transportation'.

IF: Dessert

2010-09-04T22:11:00.004+01:00

A smorgasbord of regional desserts. And if any naysayers argue that Yorkshire Pudding is a savoury dish, think again! Yorkshire pud with a dollop of strawberry jam is a treat you should try!

BAF 2010 Ident Update

2010-08-27T19:58:00.003+01:00

Well, the BAF2010 ident is now complete thanks to Andy Syke's phenomenal animation skills. Loads of great transformations, whizzy backgrounds and crunchy sound fx - all down to Mr Hexjibber. This image is a sneak preview but to see the finished article you'll have to come to BAF in November to see the world premiere!

IF: Immovable

2010-08-27T19:54:00.002+01:00

Favourite Food Friends

2010-08-12T15:10:00.004+01:00

I made this picture as a present for a couple of friends to mark their baby daughter's naming ceremony. I got it printed through The Print Space and was really chuffed with how it turned out.

I went with the Hahnemuhle Photorag Giclee option - great, deep colours and a nice matt finish on watercolour paper. I'll definitely be using them again.

Pen Sketch

2010-08-12T15:01:00.002+01:00

Went up to the Lakes this week for a short break. Here's a quick pen drawing of the view from the B&B.

IF: Caged

2010-08-11T19:36:00.002+01:00

Hey, here's a new quick entry for Illustration Friday - an attempt at mimicking the screen print effect through Photoshop. Hmm... don't think it's quite there just yet. Apologies for the total lack of blogging recently - I've been busy on a few little illustration projects that I'll update you with in my next post.

Cycling in London entry

2010-06-13T21:57:00.002+01:00

Here's a poster design I did last month for a London Transport Museum/AOI competition that promoted cycling in London. It didn't make the final cut to go in the exhibition but I'm quite pleased with it. Ah well, another piece for the portfolio.

BAF 2010 Ident - Transformation

2010-06-08T22:07:00.004+01:00

More keyframes from the BAF ident animation. After drinking the potion the BAF Man transforms into a giant lizard monster and smashes through the ceiling. Andy's animation is looking brilliant so far... more coming soon!

Give & Keep holding page

2010-06-08T21:53:00.003+01:00

I did a quick bit of illustration work for my friend Pete and his web design company Panoetic last week. They're designing the new website for mail order gifts company, Give & Keep and needed more icons in the same style as their logo. Here's my first effort responding to the brief:

And here's the final version after a few tweaks.

Panoetic then sliced it up and transformed it into a website. This isn't my usual style but was good practice doing something a bit different in Illustrator.

Sketches from Dubrovnik

2010-05-21T16:09:00.009+01:00

Had a lovely break in the delightful Croatian city of Dubrovnik a few weeks ago. Lots of sun, seafood and island exploring. I also took my sketchbook. You can see my photos over on Flickr.

The sketch on the left is outside the City Walls. Done whilst waiting to meet our landlady. The sketch on the right is of the main street, Stradun.

Inside the apartment.Waiting for the ferry at Lokrum.

View from the apartment.

On the beach at Lopud.

Two quick sketches from above the harbour.

BAF 2010 Ident - Drinking the potion

2010-04-28T18:58:00.005+01:00

Some more scenes from the BAF ident animation. Here the BAF man is dissecting a lizard and adding one its organs to a special potion. He drinks the potion and starts to transform...

BAF 2010 Ident

2010-04-24T17:51:00.009+01:00

I've been busy the past few weeks working on the new ident for this year's Bradford Animation Festival (www.baf.org.uk). I've helped programme events for the festival in the past and a few months ago the Festival Director, Deb Singleton asked me if I'd like to design the poster. This is the first bit of print for the festival - a postcard to tell people they are now open for entries.

I'm also working with the award winning animator Andy Sykes (aka Hexjibber) to produce a snappy, 20 second animated festival ident. Here's the rough storyboard:

The BAF man is working in his lab on a new experiment. He drinks one of his potions and transforms into a giant lizard monster, before being attacked by fighter jets and rampaging through the city, in true Godzilla style. I've found a piece of library music that's big and orchestral with lots of stabby strings to build the tension. I'm now working on the keyframe illustrations before passing them to Andy to work his animated magic on them. Here's the first scene inside the lab, without colour:

And with colour:
Will post the other illustrations when they're finished. In the meantime, check out Andy's fabulous showreel:

Hand-drawn Trainers

2010-04-07T22:06:00.002+01:00

I had an unusual request last week - a friend bought some plain white pumps and asked me to doodle on them. I used a black Sharpie marker on the white canvas - fingers crossed the ink won't run when they get wet.

IF: Dip

2010-04-05T18:31:00.001+01:00

More tinkering with Illustrator... I love nachos and dip!

Monster Monster

2010-03-30T22:20:00.003+01:00

A little more experimenting in Illustrator.

IF: Rescue

2010-03-28T20:09:00.004+01:00

This shirt and tie wearing kitty works in an office and needs to be rescued from the daily 9 till 5 routine, otherwise he's gonna flip out!

I've been playing around with vectors and Adobe Illustrator and had a stab at following this excellent tutorial on how to turn a quick sketch into a nice piece of vector art. I normally scan and colour my illustrations in Photoshop so thought it was about time I dipped my toe into the world of Illustrator. The pen tool can be pretty frustrating but with a bit of practice I'm pleased with the results. As you can see, I've made my cat a bit friendlier and not quite so evil as the one in the tutorial. Oh, and here's my original sketch for comparison:

IF: Subterranean

2010-03-15T21:47:00.001Z

Jeff, the subterranean homesick alien.

Museum Poster

2010-03-01T22:11:00.000Z

The illustration for this poster was created for the National Media Museum in Bradford. They asked for bold text surrounded by lots of TV and video game characters. In the end the Museum decided to go with a different campaign but hey ho... it's something else for the portfolio.

People I've Never Met and Conversations I've Never Had

2010-02-07T11:49:00.004Z

A submission for Nobrow's Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1185256@N25/

IF: Focused

2010-01-31T18:30:00.000Z

Zen bunny.

Pirates of Penzance poster

2010-01-23T13:56:00.005Z

Well, 2010's been a busy year so far... had a couple of new commissions including this poster for Bradford University's Society for Operettas and Musicals forthcoming production of Pirates of Penzance. And here's the first sketch without any colour that I send to the producers to get their feedback on the design.

Why are pirates called pirates? Because they arrrrrrrrrrr! Classic.

IF: Pioneer

2009-12-29T19:56:00.001Z

Raul the Rabbit was a pioneer at juggling whilst riding the unicycle amongst his friends. Happy 2010 everyone and thanks for all the comments this year!

IF: Undone

2009-12-20T16:18:00.002Z

I hate it when my shoe laces come undone.

IF: Crunchy

2009-12-07T18:58:00.001Z

Playing with cute characters...

Northumberland sketches

2009-11-24T14:45:00.005Z

A few rough pencil sketches from a break in Northumberland, October 2007.

IF: Music

2009-11-21T16:09:00.003Z

A little doodle of Rabbit serenading his loved one on his parsnip trumpet. I thought I'd bring this rabbit back after reading Melanie Matthew's insightful post; 5 things I've learnt so far as a freelancing noob. I've never really stuck with the same character so thought it would be good practice to draw Rabbit in different poses, engaging in different activities. So you might see him again some time soon, just need to think of a name for him.

IF: Skinny

2009-11-01T18:17:00.003Z

An entry for this week's Illustration Friday theme 'Skinny'. I'm not sure whether I like the term 'What's the skinny?' or not - it pops up every now and again on the web and seems to be seeping into common speech. Funny how American New Yorker-isms are so potent they can rapidly spread across the Atlantic. Reminds me of Steven Poole's article on the term 'put it to me this way': http://unspeak.net/put-it-to-me-this-way/

IF: Fast

2009-10-25T18:28:00.003Z

A quick post for Illustration Friday. Whilst I was doodling I remembered the beginning to Watership Down; one of my favourite pieces of animation. Love the aboriginal style.

Team BAF Continued

2009-09-27T18:37:00.002+01:00

Team BAF

2009-09-20T20:02:00.002+01:00

IF: Magnify

2009-08-30T17:29:00.004+01:00

New drawing for Illustration Friday theme, 'Magnify'. These are some of the little germs, bacteria and other little beasties you might see through a super high strength microscope. My girlfriend suggested I should title it 'Petri-fied'.

Travelling Moleskine

2009-08-27T21:30:00.003+01:00

A wild moleskine recently knocked on my door and asked me to draw in it. There's lots more great doodles to see in the Culture Vultures Flickr pool. Check it out at http://www.flickr.com/groups/travelingmoleskine/pool/

IF: Caution

2009-08-23T20:55:00.004+01:00

Tried my hand at a bit of painting this weekend - this is inspired by the view from my bedroom window. A red sunset sky always reminds me of the cautionary saying;

Red sky at night, shepherd's delight
Red sky in the morning, sailors warning

Today also marks the end of my two and half week summer holiday. Back to work tomorrow. I've uploaded a few of my pics from my recent trips to Cornwall and Prague to Flickr. Also discovered I'm pretty good at baking bread!

IF: Modify

2009-08-05T14:50:00.003+01:00

The first idea I had for this week's theme of 'Modify' was of four-legged fish turning into monkeys and then evolving into humans. I then continued this train of thought into humans evolving into super heroes with special powers. Probably also inspired by the Wolverine cartoon I saw this morning as I'm on holiday!

IF: Idle

2009-07-28T08:14:00.001+01:00

This is inspired by memories of a night out in Idle a few months ago. Idle's a village on the outskirts on Bradford and some friends who live there took me to a biker pub with a live band. It was also a fun way to idle away a few hours on a Friday night.

Tribute to Bradford

2009-07-23T22:00:00.003+01:00

I've had this image floating around in my head for a few weeks now and I've finally put pencil to paper. As it's often said, nothing is original, and this image is no exception. I think I first thought about drawing the city of Bradford after seeing this painting by Jane Fielder hanging in the Starbucks on Centenary Square. I love it's simple shapes and bold colours, reminiscent of Lowry.

The colours for this illustration come from the yellow limestone and grey concrete that create the city. Architecturally, Bradford is pretty amazing. Everyday I notice some tiny detail I've never seen before in the ornate classical design of many of the buildings. There's a fair bit of brutalist concrete, but even the 'alien spaceship' design of the currently vacant Highpoint building has it's charms.

The best thing about Bradford though has got to be the people. Most people are pretty friendly really, kind of down to earth and self-effacing. There's something about the city of Bradford that cuts through any air of pretension. I miss it when I'm staying in any big, metropolitan city. Plus the curries are the best you'll get in the UK!

IF: Tango

2009-07-19T21:02:00.002+01:00

Summer Doodle

2009-07-06T18:33:00.004+01:00

Another design using the random doodle technique. Summery colour scheme and characters chosen by the girlfriend.

Culture Vulture doodle

2009-07-01T00:37:00.003+01:00

A recent illustration I did for web magazine The Culture Vulture. Don't forget to click the image to view more detail.

Wimbledon Illustration

2009-06-28T12:49:00.002+01:00

A new doodle themed around all things Wimbledon. C'mon Murray!

IF: Drifting

2009-06-21T15:57:00.002+01:00

For this week's theme of 'Drifting' I started out with a doodle and tried not to think about what I was drawing too much... just let my mind and hand drift. It was a really relaxing exercise. Some of the characters I've doodled before in boring meetings and long phone calls but quite a few new ones also popped up that kind of took me by surprise. It's definitely inspired by the chaotic doodles of Jon Burgerman. I've also made the pattern tile so you can use it as a wallpaper background if it takes your fancy.

IF: Unfold

2009-06-14T17:27:00.002+01:00

Sporty Boy

2009-06-08T16:27:00.003+01:00

This little fella's been hanging around in my sketchbook for a while now. Thought it was about time I dug him out and gave him a bit of colour.

St Pancras biro sketch

2009-06-08T15:21:00.003+01:00

A rough sketch I did last week whilst waiting for my train at St Pancras station, London.

IF: Craving

2009-06-07T18:34:00.003+01:00

Barry had a craving for cheese and women. So he decided to combine the two.

Moccas pencil sketch

2009-06-07T17:48:00.003+01:00

Another sketch I did whilst on holiday last week. We stayed in a fabulous old farmhouse built in the 16th Century, about 20 miles from Hereford near the England/Wales border. The sun shined most of the week and my mobile phone had no signal. Bliss!

Biro Sketch

2009-06-04T20:46:00.002+01:00

A rough biro sketch I did last week on holiday.

IF: Adapt

2009-06-02T07:44:00.002+01:00

The only way the bear would be accepted was if he adapted his outfit.

IF: Contagious

2009-05-18T22:30:00.002+01:00

Why is yawning contagious? Some scientists say it is a subconscious message spread amongst a pack of animals to communicate tiredness levels. Other theories suggest it helps cool the brain to try and stay awake. I'm not sure what to think, I'll sleep on it...

IF: Theatre

2009-04-25T16:03:00.003+01:00

New drawing for Illustration Friday theme, 'Theatre'.

IF: Impossibility

2009-04-19T16:00:00.003+01:00

Is it an impossibility that aliens exist? Huh? I dunno! Hopefully they do, it would spice things up a little. What do you think?

IF: Fleeting

2009-04-14T21:08:00.003+01:00

A new drawing for Illustration Friday's 'Fleeting' theme. Er, I misread the topic as 'Flighty' and have only just realised, oops, oh well, guess this works for 'fleeting' too... as in, King Nigel often made regular but fleeting appearances astride his beloved giant blue chicken.

From the Attic: American Kid

2009-03-22T17:38:00.003Z

Went to visit my parents in my home town of Ripley, Derbyshire last week and after doing a bit of hunting in the attic managed to dig out this early comic. Think I must have been around 9 or 10 years old when I did this. It's inspired by American TV programmes like The Wonder Years and Roseanne that I use to watch all the time. Apologies if it offends any US readers! I think it says a lot about how I viewed the town I grew up in.

You may notice that the sixth cell is drawn in a slightly different style. This is because my older brother hijacked the strip and decided to draw it for me - I've even tippex-ed out what I think must be swearing and added cleaner dialogue.

IF: Intricate

2009-03-08T19:10:00.002Z

A new drawing for the Illustration Friday theme, 'Intricate'. This is my first proper go at a comic book narrative, possibly inspired by the release of the new Watchmen film I'm looking forward to seeing.

IF: Breezy

2009-03-03T13:18:00.003Z

A new entry for Illustration Friday's theme 'Breezy'.

IF: Instinct & Tutorial

2009-02-21T17:27:00.009Z

Hello, here's a new drawing for Illustration Friday's theme, Instinct. It sometimes takes me a few days to think of an idea I'm happy with before I start drawing but this week's theme made me think of this design pretty much instantly. I think it's something to do with all the media attention surrounding the Darwin anniversary recently.

This is the original sketch -

I drew a quick thumbnail sketch in the corner to work out the composition before drawing a larger version. I don't really worry about rubbing lines out as these can always be erased on the computer later. The sketch is then scanned in at 300 dpi and imported into Photoshop.

I crop it to size and then adjust the threshold (image>adjustments>threshold) to strengthen the pencil lines. This is the part where I erase/tweak any lines I'm not happy with.

The layer containing the drawing is then turned to 'Multiply' in the layer options so it becomes transparent. I then add several layers of colour underneath. One thing I've learnt since doing more drawing for Illustration Friday is that when is comes to colour, a limited palette is often better and helps retain a consistency to the image.

I keep the different colours in seperate layers so the hue/contrast/transparency options can be changed easily if needed. The shadows are then filled in and the pencil lines I've used as a guide are erased. I've also added an inner-shadow to help lift the animals off the page.

Finally, a texture of rough paper is added to a layer above the shadows but below the animals and set to 'Multiply'. Overall, this took me around an hour.

IF: Celebrate

2009-02-16T23:24:00.003Z

This is a poster I've recently designed for a new student production of 'Merrily We Roll Along'. It's a musical that celebrates the history of three close friends and the different paths their lives take.

IF: Flawed

2009-02-01T18:53:00.003Z

New piece for Illustration Friday theme 'Flawed'.

IF: Pale

2009-01-18T16:42:00.004Z

A quick bit of fan art this week inspired by the Pale Man from the magnificent Pan's Labyrinth. The Pale Man has to be one of the best movie monsters ever created...

The director, Guillermo Del Toro, is one of the most originally imaginative film makers working in Hollywood at the moment. Take a look at his sketchbook here.

IF: Contained

2009-01-12T20:32:00.002Z

A quick doodle for this week's Illustration Friday topic, 'Contained'. Didn't think I've have time to do one this week but found a little time today - not sure where this idea came from. I was trying to draw a man trapped inside a glass box but couldn't get it right - then this little chap just popped into my head.

IF: Resolve

2009-01-02T18:30:00.001Z

A new drawing for Illustration Friday theme 'Resolve'. Happy 2009 everyone!

IF: Clandestine

2008-12-28T20:47:00.003Z

The monthly card game was always a clandestine affair...

IF: Voices

2008-12-22T11:35:00.002Z

A quick doodle for Illustration Friday topic, 'Voices'.

IF: Rambunctious

2008-12-17T23:05:00.003Z

Tis the season for festive doodles... Santa's Elves finally finished making all the presents and celebrated with a full keg of Christmas mead and a most rambunctious party!

Merry Christmas folks!

Illustration Friday: Balloon

2008-12-01T20:18:00.002Z

The famous adventurer Phileas Fogg sets sail in his balloon...

Twilight Film Festival postcard

2008-11-29T15:40:00.004Z

A postcard design for the Twilight Film Festival. I wanted to try and create the effect of the traditonal celluloid film breaking up and becoming fragmented with the arrival of digital cinema.

Billy Bickle

2008-11-29T13:59:00.007Z

Just cleaning up my computer and found these old drawings from 2003. Character sketches for a children's picture book idea that never went any further. I'd love to do a full picture book someday but think I need to keep honing my craft. Shaun Tan's and Marc Craste's work makes me drool!

Illustration Friday: Pretend

2008-11-19T23:23:00.006Z

The dastardly wolf devoured Grandma for tea and waited for pudding to arrive!

Textures taken from Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cvanfleteren/2863780288/ - Many thanks to Christophe Vanfleteren.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/confections/486383734/ - Many thanks to Confections.

Illustration Friday: Wise

2008-11-10T21:47:00.003Z

My entry for the Illustration Friday theme - Wise. Wanted to create quite a mystical, Scandinavian storybook vibe... like a wise Nordic god keeping an eye on things.

Illustration Friday: Repair

2008-10-28T22:19:00.002Z

My entry for this week's Illustration topic, 'Repair'. Inspired by Ted Hughes' Iron Man.

Animal Farm Poster

2008-09-07T15:09:00.004+01:00

A poster I drew for a theatre production of Animal Farm.

Illustration Friday: Memories

2008-09-01T22:47:00.004+01:00

Happy memories.

Past work: Salad Days Poster

2008-08-29T13:19:00.002+01:00

A poster I did for an amateur theatre group. Drawn using Flash and then laid out in Photoshop.

Illustration Friday Entry - Routine

2008-08-27T23:10:00.003+01:00

This is my first entry to Illustration Friday submitted for the topic 'Routine'. It's a quick pencil sketch scanned and then coloured in Photoshop. I was aiming to depict a typical daily routine dividing my day into segments of the clock face, but letting the hours bleed into each other.

I guess this is a typical Friday - my mobile phone alarm wakes me up at 6.45am but I'm rubbish at getting out of bed so usually don't surface to around 8am. I'm doing alot of reading at work at the moment and up until yesterday I was getting really annoyed by the amount of email spam I was getting, until my girlfriend kindly told me how to block it.

Friday is usually chips day so a group of us from work go into town for fish and chips from 'The In Plaice'. After work there's often a few drinks before the evening slips into Saturday morning.