Before I was Born
Illustrating this beautiful story was a real pleasure, and working with Corey on her book was a wonderful experience. I had to do a huge amount of research for each image and stage of pregnancy, and I went through several transitions before settling on the decision to create a soft style of watercolours and pencil.
I sketched out the layout on pencil and paper first, then used my Wacom Bamboo Stylus and the drawing programme Tayasui Sketches to emulate the watercolour style and coloured pencil.
To order your own copy of Before I was Born you can visit Amazon.co.uk.
StorySense
StorySense Bio
Making stories come alive for babies and toddlers through sensory activities that engage and excite. - Nikita
I was asked to create a set of illustrations by a local baby and toddler playgroup here in Devon.
Illustrating these fuzzy characters for Nikita from Storysense was a lot of fun. I was asked to take each character from Nikits’s Stories and create a set of illustrations she could use on merchandise.
If you want to find out more about StorySense please visit Nikits’s website or Facebook page where she has lots of updates and info on classes and events.
Don’t forget to pick up some merch!
The Cow Who Can Fly
Some projects you just can't say no too, and The Cow Who Can Fly, is one of those projects. Based on a real cow called Droopy this hilarious children's story needed some illustrations.
When I first spoke to Kelly about this project she clearly had a real love for this cow and clear idea of what she wanted. We spoke about the overall style and layout options and she kindly sent me loads of photos from her farm of Droopy and the other cows as well as her husband who features at the snd of the story holding his hat.
I spent a lot of time researching and sketching, then after several tweaks and amendments I was able to begin painting from the illustrations. This was made considerably easier by using several new apps plus an iPad Pro.
Join Droopy as she rescues Eric the baby bunny on her first magical night of flying. You and your children will love this funny adventure of flames, rainbows and bodily functions.
Marco and the Pharaoh's Curse is available now on the Amazon store. All proceeds are going to The Guide Dogs for the Blind and Hearing Dogs for the Deaf.
Marco and the Pharaoh's Curse
Book Cover Design.
The Printed book available now!
I was asked to create a book cover for Paul's latest novel. The story of Marco and the Pharaoh's Curse includes fantastic descriptions of Paul's direct experiences, from diving in the Mediterranean Sea. He describes in detail the corals, fish species and the shipwreck.
When Paul got in touch with me he had some great ideas and a clear vision of what he wanted. Sending me his concept idea I was able to take that vision and create a photoshop composite image that included everything he wanted on the cover. I added layers of texture and lighting effects to add depth and atmosphere to the image.
This is what Paul had to say about his cover design.
“I understand the cover is the most important issue with a book. Sam’s design boosted my book’s credibility enormously. Even my well-respected editor commented: ‘a very striking and eye-catching cover. I like the way the colour changes from shades of blue to the gold towards the seabed, and how the colouring of the title blends everything together.’
Sam is truly a very, very gifted artist, and I have no hesitation in recommending her to you.”
Panda Pals World Map
Development of the Island Environment for Panda Pals. As part of a project I worked on with US company www.sockpanda.com. I was asked to design the world that the characters lived in, and to create a map of their environment.
Originally the design was to look like a sock, but as the back story for the characters developed we began to create a more sophisticated environment for the characters to inhabit.
Each area of the final design have different environmental technologies, from wind farms to bio domes and even future technology like a vertical farming tower.
In each story the island played a big part, setting the scene for each S.T.E.M challenge for the character to over come. Along the way they would learn important life lessons and help to tech kids about the world.
Panda Pals Comic Strip
Panda Pals is an online sock subscription company based in Venice, California. Each month a pack would be sent out containing a variety of fun, educational items for kids including two pairs of socks, a story and activity sheets, as well as stickers and other fun items.
I worked on the comic illustrations and story ideas so that each month we had a pack of items for kids to open.
All the artwork for this project was vector based and created using Adobe Illustrator.