Dinosaurs Archives | Freelance cartoonist and illustrator

Sabre Tooth Tiger Cartoon

This ferocious sabre tooth tiger is better known as Smilodon, who roamed the plains of America during the Pleistocene era some 10,000 years ago.

Smilodon had a very robust build for a sabre tooth tiger, with particularly strong forelimbs and oversized canine teeth; perfect for a precision kill.

Luckily for you, this one has already eaten – although I think he might be partial to a nice chunk of Mammoth!

Creating my sabre tooth tiger cartoon

As with many of my cartoon characters, this sabre toothed beastie cartoon began as a pencil sketch.

Once I had a pose and composition I was happy with, the next stage was digitisation.

Outlines are created first and then base colours added. I went with similar colours to today’s big cats.

I then created a little earthen mound for him to stand upon, proud as punch!

Cartoon Mammoth

Here’s one happy and hairy cartoon mammoth, floating around in the ice age on his own little ice floe!

I especially love his comical expression and slightly oversized features – they really help to create a dopey character to my mammoth.

Creating my cartoon mammoth

As with all of my characters, he began as a pencil doodle, which was then digitised fully in Adobe Illustrator.

Base colours were then added, along with some areas of shade and highlighting.

The final stage was to then create an ice-themed backdrop to place him on. I thought having him floating away on a piece of ice would be quite amusing!

Tyrannosaurus Cartoon

Here he is, the King of the dinosaurs himself – meet my mighty Tyrannosaurus cartoon!

Reaching up to 12m in length and averaging 6 tons in weight, you wouldn’t want to be on the menu!

He had unusually small arms, but these were countered by a six-foot head filled with 8-inch teeth!

Creating my Tyrannosaurus cartoon…

As with all of my cartoon characters, this dinosaur started life as a pencil sketch.

I then create all of the outlines digitally, before adding a splash of vibrant colour.

I usually colour the eyes white but wanted to convey more menace in my Tyrannosaurus, so I went for yellow!

Dakosaurus Cartoon

Dakosaurus was a medium-sized marine predator that lived during the late Jurassic period.

Armed with a mouth full of sharp teeth, its name basically translates as “Biter Lizard”.

Creating my Dakosaurus

This prehistoric beastie was created firstly as a pencil sketch.

The next step was to fully digitise the outlines, followed by a nice bright green.

I then topped him off with a darker green pattern on his back and a few other shades and highlights.

I’ve placed him on a marine-themed background to really make him leap out of the page!

If you like this prehistoric critter, be sure to take a look at the other dinosaurs in my portfolio!

Cartoon Velociraptor

Here’s my cartoon velociraptor, springing into action with teeth and claws bared!

What was a Velociraptor?

A velociraptor was a small to medium-sized predator from the late Cretaceous period.

Armed with a large retractable claw on the middle-toe, they hunted in packs to bring down prey much larger than themselves, rather like Hyenas or Jackals.

Enough or them could even take down something as large as Triceratops.

Creating my cartoon velociraptor

This cartoon velociraptor started life as a quirky pencil sketch, before being fully digitised.

As they are a very active creature, I wanted to make sure my cartoon was leaping into action!

I had a nice teal shade in my colour palette and coupled with some blue stripes he’s very akin to the ‘blue’ character from Jurassic World.

Triceratops Cartoon

Look out! This Triceratops cartoon has charged into my portfolio and he’s ready to play!

With is three great horns and strong, stocky build, it’s no wonder that Triceratops is a firm favourite.

A little about Triceratops

Triceratops means ‘three-horned face’ and was a 6-ton herbivore from the late Cretaceous period.

The horns would have been used to defend itself against hungry Tyrannosaurs!

He would have used that large beak of his to chomp his way through tough cycads and tree trunks.

Creating my Triceratops cartoon

Created firstly in pencils and then fully digitised to give a crisp and vivid appearance, with a rich shade of green to really make him pop!

I especially love his cheery expression and playful gate as he charges through some late Cretaceous undergrowth!

The perfect companion to my cartoon stegosaurus.

Be sure to check out my other cartoon dinosaurs, and if you see any you like, get in touch!

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Cartoon Stegosaurus

Stomping its way through my portfolio is my cartoon stegosaurus – a gigantic prehistoric dinosaur from the late Jurassic period.

a little about Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus was roughly the size of an elephant but with a brain the size of a walnut!

Its name means ‘roofed lizard’ in reference to the two rows of bony plates that line his back.

The tail ends in four, three-foot-long spikes which were used to defend the Stegosaurus from predators.

Creating my cartoon stegosaurus

This cartoon stegosaurus was created initially in pencils, before fully digitising all of the outlines.

Finally, solid colours were added, along with some shades and highlights.

I decided to try out a bright yellow, with strongly contrasting red plates.

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Cartoon Dinosaur

Roar! Take cover – it’s a cartoon dinosaur, armed with a mouth of sharp teeth and equally sharp claws!

This particular cartoon dinosaur was created as a commission piece for The Jester – the monthly club magazine of The Cartoonists Club of Great Britain.

Initially created as a pencil sketch and then scanned in, before digitising the outlines. The final stage was to then add in all base colours and shading.

To give a little more detail to the cover, I decided to work on some cartoon foliage to adorn the bottom of the page.

These jungle plants come in an array of different shapes and colours and are completed with the inclusion of a couple of terrified cartoon dinosaurs!

Just to add a little more comedy to the piece, I included two little cartoon Pterodactyls – created in the same way as the Tyrannosaur. They had better move quickly though – he looks very hungry!

You can read more about the creative process of this piece in my blog – both the sketch of the cartoon dinosaur and also the accompanying prehistoric jungle foliage!