Monsters Archives | Freelance cartoonist and illustrator

Cartoon Pterodactyl

As we’re rumbling through Jurassic June, I felt we needed to add some variation to our dinosaurs with a cartoon Pterodactyl.

Why choose to do a cartoon pterodactyl?

Not strictly a dinosaur, but is synonymous with what we have in mind when we think of prehistoric times. This particular pterodactyl is actually based on one of the larger species, known as Pteranodon.

Pteranodon had a wingspan of over 6 metres and due to a large toothless beak, fed on fish. They lived primarily in North America during the late Cretaceous period.

Other types of Pterosaur

There were many varieties of pterosaur that roamed the skies of the Mesozoic era. I’ve included a few more for you below!

Feilongus

Another giant of the prehistoric skies was the Feilongus.

Feilongus basically translates as ‘flying dragon’ – quite apt when you consider his appearance!

This Pterosaur had two crests on it’s skull – one long and low one in the middle of it’s snout and a second projecting from the rear of its head.

Quetzalcoatlus

With a wingspan the width of a small aircraft, Quetzalcoatlus must have been an impressive sight some 70 million years ago!

This Pterosaur had an unusually long, stiffened neck. Its name comes from the Mesoamerican feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl.

Do you need any cartoon dinosaurs or prehistoric creatures?

These are always great fun to draw and I’d be more than happy to draw some for you!

contact me

Cartoon Ankylosaurus

Talk about a living tank – this cartoon Ankylosaurus is that and then some! Even his eyelids were armoured!

What was the Ankylosaurus?

An armoured giant from the late Cretaceous period, Ankylosaurus was more than a match for even the biggest Tyrannosaur!

Its name means ‘fused lizard’ from all of the tightly fused armour plates on its body.

It was a gentle herbivore, reaching lengths of up to 7 metres and covered in bony armour plates and dozens of sharp spines.

It had a wide, low skull, with two horns pointing backwards from the back of the head, and two horns below these that pointed backwards and down.

The end of the tail was formed into an enormous bony club, which would have been swung at predators for defence.

Why a cartoon Ankylosaurus?

Ankylosaurus has always been a popular favourite, both of mine and popular culture.

This particular dinosaur was created firstly as a pencil sketch. I then fully digitised the artwork in Adobe Illustrator.

I’m particularly pleased with how the armour came out – almost like a giant, purple corn on the cob!

The contrast between the light and dark shades of purple also work well and helps to distinguish him from my other dinosaur cartoons.

Fun fact…

The fused plates that make up the Ankylosaur’s armour are called ‘Osteoderms’. These are only found in extinct animals, as well as crocodiles and some amphibians.

Cartoon Dinosaurs

I don’t know about you, but I love drawing cartoon dinosaurs (and anything else prehistoric for that matter!)

Whenever I possibly can I’ll break out the sketchbook and create some monstrous beastie from the Mesozoic period!

If you’d like to know more about a particular dinosaur, simply click on the picture.

View a few of my favourites below and if you like them, there are more in my portfolio!

A selection of my cartoon dinosaurs

Cartoon Stegosaurus

Here is one of my favourite dinosaurs, the Stegosaurus. Always been a big fan of this dinosaur, with his array of plates arranged down his back.

Be wary of that tail though! He’s armed with four, three-foot long spikes which would definately make any Tyrannosaur think twice!

Triceratops Cartoon

Next up for your Jurassic celebrations is the mighty Triceratops! With three giant horns on his head and a protective head-frill, this dinosaur would have looked impressive in life.

Luckily for us, my cartoon version is much friendlier and would rather play fetch!

Cartoon Velociraptor

Springing into action is my fierce and lively cartoon Velociraptor!

Armed with sharp claws on his toes and even sharper teeth, he isn’t someone you’d mess with… unless you were Chris Pratt of course!

Be sure to take cover when you see a Velociraptor… as others aren’t usually far behind!

Cartoon Brachiosaurus

Say hello to a gentle giant of the Jurassic period – the mighty Brachiosaurus

One of the tallest of the dinosaurs, Brachiosaurus could easily look over the top of a three-storey building and weighed as much as twelve elephants!

Cartoon Ankylosaurus

Check out this guy – a walking tank, covered in armoured plating and toting one mighty club on the end of his tail!

Ankylosaurus lived at the end of the Cretaceous period and would’ve used it’s defences against hungry Tyrannosaurs!

Cartoon Pterodactyl

Ok, so not strictly a dinosaur but a family of winged reptiles that ruled the prehistoric skies.

This particular creature is a Pteranodon and had a wingspan equivalent to that of a small light aircraft!

Parasaurolophus cartoon

Another popular dinosaur that I just had to have a go at drawing is Parasaurolophus.

Also known as one of the ‘duck-billed’ dinosaurs, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to add a comical expression to his face.

Topped off with a nice vibrant orange colour-scheme, I think he stands out very well!

Tyrannosaurus cartoon

I’ve saved my favourite for last – the undesputed king of the dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus Rex!

As with the other cartoon dinosaurs, this one was devised as a pencil sketch before being fully digitised.

He’s now free to roam my portfolio, hunting down his favourite prey…

My cartoon dinosaurs are all available as vinyl stickers!

Head over to my dinostore and bring home some prehistoric beasties of your very own!

Let’s go dino shopping!

Dennis Nedry Cartoon

Just for fun, I thought I’d create a cartoon of Dennis Nedry, one of the principal characters in the absolutely amazing Jurassic Park.

Who is Dennis Nedry?

Dennis Nedry was a computer programmer at Jurassic Park. Due to a low salary and financial issues, he accepted an offer to smuggle dinosaur embryos off the island.

He wears a rather loud Hawaiian shirt during the start of the movie, so took full advantage of Illustrators ability to create editable patterns.

I first made a series of flowers and plant leaves and then brought them together to comprise his shirt.

I also added in his can of shaving foam, which was specially adapted to house and refrigerate the stolen dinosaur embryos.

Fun fact for you too – ‘Nedry’ is an anagram of ‘Nerdy’

The Dilophosaurs

Those who have watched Jurassic Park and know of the canon will be familiar with the Dilophosaurus!

Although he is killed by only one Dilophosaur in the movie, I felt that having him with one peering menacingly over each shoulder would be much more fun!

These dudes see the to the demise of Nedry, as he attempts to escape the island and make off with the dinosaur embryos.

Some additional lettering…

Just to keep true to the movie, I thought I’d add a quote next to my cartoon. This is the classic phrase that is uttered by his computer once the Jurassic Park team discover what he’d done.

I think there isn’t a more iconic phrase uttered from Dennis Nedry than the one used when the team discover his treachery!

Get yourself some Nedry merch here

Meet the Metaluna Mutant!

Whilst being in the mood for creating cartoons of classic movie monsters, I remembered seeing one bug-eyed monster in particular from my youth.

Saturday afternoon monsters

I remember this monster particularly well from watching the tail-end of an old black and white movie as a kid, with this strange mutant creature with clawed hands and an enormous, exposed brain.

Of course, I had no idea what this creature was or the name of the movie.

Luckily, my good friend Google managed to help me come up trumps and after a short search, I discovered this movie called ‘This Island Earth’.

‘This Island Earth‘ is a 1955 movie, directed by Joseph Newman, and the basic premise is a series of alien spaceships make contact with a scientist as part of their master plan to enslave all the people of Earth.

The Metaluna Mutant

The clear highlight of the film for me was this creature, known as the Metaluna Mutant.

Ok, I guess by today’s standards he probably looks a bit dated and goofy, but I remember being captivated at the time at his enormous brain and elongated clawed arms.

These mutants were originally bred by the Metalunians for general, boring labour work and are compared by the scientists in the movie to Earth’s insects, with their colony structure and hard external exoskeletons.

Other cartoon monsters

I’ve created a few other cartoon monsters and they’re in my portfolio, along with an earlier monster blog post, so if you enjoyed this one, I’d go and check it out!

And if any of the monsters you’ve seen on my website interest you, be sure to get in touch – I’d love to create a monster for you!

More cartoon monsters…

I’ve been having a lot of fun recently creating some new and creepy cartoon monsters for my portfolio!

But why cartoon monsters Nick?

Good question! Simply because cartoon monsters have always made me laugh and enjoy making them look as warped as possible and you can have great fun exaggerating all of the features and expressions!

Carnivorous Plant

I’ve been wanting to draw a giant, man-eating plant for some time now and having recently watched the movie ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ recently, I had the perfect incentive to get sketching.

I wanted to put a lot of emphasis on the giant mouth full of teeth, balanced atop a rather scrawny stem.

The other great thing about creating this cartoon monster is that I could go mad with the vines and leaves all around the base.

Just to complete him, I’ve placed him in a cracked plant pot, with roots sticking out, akin to the depiction at the exciting climax of the film.

If you’d like to see the final version of my carnivorous plant, he can be viewed in my portfolio.

Creature from the Black Lagoon

Another favourite of mine from a bygone age is the Creature from the Black Lagoon, based on the classic B-Movie of the same name.

This one was especially fun to do, with all of his overlapping scales and trying to achieve a feeling of depth in them.

My original plan was to create him carrying a scantily-clad young lady as per the original poster artwork, but sadly I ran out of time – might be something to revisit at another time!

Edward Scissorhands

No series of cartoon monsters would be complete without the inclusion of something from the imagination of the great Tim Burton!

Edward Scissorhands was always a favourite childhood movie of mine, with his vacant expression and complete sense of innocence.

I also felt that his costume would be an interesting challenge, with all of the straps and buckle detailing.

I thought I’d add an additional slice of my humour by giving his moon belt-buckle one of my usual zany grins!

The finished version of my cartoon Edward Scissorhands can also be viewed in my cartoon portfolio.

A cartoon witch for Halloween…

With Halloween almost upon us, I thought we could do with a new cartoon witch for Halloween!

And to be honest, it’s been a fair while since I actually created a new character for Halloween.

Previous Halloween characters

As you may have already seen by delving into my cartoon portfolio, there are a fair few creepy Halloween characters floating about in there.

We’ve a mad scientist and a creepy tree, plus everyone’s favourite – a brain hunting cartoon zombie!

Creating the cartoon witch

Initially, I was going to sketch her standing next to a cauldron – eye of newt and all that.

But then thought about making the whole composition that little bit more exciting – she needs to be riding a broomstick!

Our witch is also quite rotund in build, harking back slightly to those old Bugs Bunny cartoons from childhood (you know the one – she cackles and then disappears in a flash, leaving only a couple of hair-pins behind).

Additional details…

Although the main details of the witch are in place – such as curly shoes and a pointy hat – I’m thinking she could do with some other details.

I may well add a black cat or toad to the front of the broomstick, hanging on for dear life!

Or possibly a small cauldron, hanging from the back of the broomstick, loaded with potions and other goodies.

Scenery and background

Provided I don’t run out of time before Halloween, I think I’ll put together some kind of creepy background before adding to my portfolio.

Maybe a full moon, before a blue-grey evening sky? Or maybe a burning red sky?

Working on a dragon sketch…

It’s been a little while since I’ve created something new for the portfolio, as I’ve spent every spare moment up until now working on my new homepage image.

I’m really pleased with how this came out and is currently serving me very well on my homepage, as well as all of the headers on my social media.

But although we have a range of characters in this image, we had something that children relate to missing… dragons!

Teeth and wings and spiky things…

So your usual dragon generally consists of a bulky body, with a head full of sharp teeth one end and a spiky tail at the other.

And wings! Wings are essential on a dragon – after all, you’re not going to be able to swoop over villagers and belch fire without them!

Horns? Well, why not – but I also like those little wing things that dragons tend to have on their heads too.

And scales – lots of scales – but not the type you get in Waitrose.

Taking my dragon sketch further…

So with my dragon sketch completed and at a stage where I’m (pretty much) happy with it, I will move on to the digitisation.

I’ll firstly create all of the outlines on the dragon sketch in Adobe Illustrator and then move onto some vivid colours.

Keep an eye on this blog or my updates on Instagram to keep up with progress!

A cartoon dragon update…

Really pleased with my final cartoon dragon and he can be viewed in my portfolio.