Illustration Archives | Freelance cartoonist and illustrator

Blue Crab Cartoon

Ahoy there! Here’s a happy cartoon blue crab giving you a friendly wave!

Blue crabs are a common critter in the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

This cartoon crab is a female, as they have the gorgeous accented red on their pincers (possibly crustacean nail polish?)

Creating my blue crab cartoon

As with all of my characters, this one started out as (various) pencil sketches until I had something I was happy with.

Once the pencils were completed, I fully digitise the outlines before adding in some vibrant colours.

I think I drew this crab out several times before I settled on a look that I liked, especially taking some creative licence with the mouth.

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!

Visit my Dinostore

Cartoon Witch On Broomstick

Swooping in low on her broomstick is my cartoon witch!

I’ve created this cartoon witch specifically for Halloween, as lets face it, it’s the best time of the year!

I’ve also added in the typical curly shoes and a high-speed brookstick (probably equipped with some kind of gear shift!)

I also wanted a stark contrast between her dark robes and the vivid green skin and red hair.

Finally, we’ve a rather scared little spider hanging from the end of her pointed hat!

Just to complete this piece and make it extra Halloweeny, I added in a moody sky and a big, bad moon!

If you’d like to read more, I’ve written a blog piece about her creation.

Pirate Folk Song; The Ballad of Shillelagh O’Toole

Never was any pirate so cruel, than the old Irish pirate, Shillelagh O’Toole!

This was a little commission piece, created to illustrate the front cover of a pirate folk song, written by the very talented Robert Palomo.

And being he was an Irish pirate, I’ve used some shades of emerald green on all of his clothing, but this also aids in making him stand out against a primarily brown backdrop – perfect for small phone and iPod screens!

In his hand is his weapon of choice, the dreaded blackthorn shillelagh, and top his shoulder rides a rather squawky (and probably unstable) parrot! If you look carefully, there’s also a little crab hiding out in his pocket.

To complete the scene, we’ve a circle of rather trembly arms that belong to an extremely scared ship crew, each brandishing a weapon!

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