Kuzco the man, Kuzco the llama, Yzma, Kronk, Chicha and Pacha

I’m delighted to share the news that Really Rotten Rhymes - the first children’s book I’ve had the opportunity to illustrate - is now available to pre-order!

I'm delighted to share the news that my graduation film, The Clockmaker, has been selected to be shown at the Dingle Animation Festival this year!

This past year has been one of the busiest years I've ever had in college, and although I'll miss a few aspects of student life, I'm quite content to be closing that door and moving on to the next chapter of my life.

Happy Valentine's Day! It seemed appropriate to share a "photograph" capturing a moment in the lives of Albert and Lilly, the fictional couple from my final year film. Several photos like these will appear throughout the film as cinemagraphs (like the one below!). 

Back in September, I started developing an idea for a short film. The story is now called The Clockmaker and by the end of next May, I hope to be able to show the world a charming little story about an elderly little gentleman as he closes up shop. 

Carrying on from last week, I've been looking forward to sharing this little character. 8-year-old Lucy is one of the main protagonists in Burn the Biscuit. She's the youngest in the family, and adventurous in spirit. Light and agile, she's quick thinking, full of energy, and very focused. Here's a little collection of development for her; including colour studies, a turnaround, and an expression sheet. :)

Now that I'm a fourth year animation student, I have two significant projects - amid a sea of smaller ones! - to concentrate on over the next few months. And I'm excited about both! I can't wait to share some of the ideas I've been developing for all of those, but first, I've been wanting to share an older story pitch that I developed last year! 

I can't believe it's August already. 2016 seems to be rushing past at record pace! It's going to be a crazy busy few weeks though, with a few adventures and projects I've been very excited about for some time now! :)

Click to play! This project has been a long time coming (you can read about Update 01 and Update 02, if you like), but I'm finally sharing the final render. It was something of an experiment, which meant it came and went with a whole bunch of challenges, but I did have a lot of fun with it! 

For the past three weeks, I've been kept busy with full time work placement in an animation studio in Dublin. It was fun, I was able to develop my skills, and I met a few wonderful people along the way. I gained so much more from the experience too; discovering what it was like to live and work in the biggest city in Ireland. I'm incredibly thankful to have had that opportunity, but it did take some getting used to... and I was exhausted from it. When I got home, I spent an entire day just sleeping, thinking, writing, and drawing in an effort to get my energy levels back up to usual. So, to kick this blog into its usual routine again, I thought I'd share one of the pieces I did that day, which helped me get back to my usual self again. :)

It's been a long time coming, but The Chicken Song is finally here! Ruth Butler and I have been working on this project for a few months now, and we're both incredibly excited to be able to share it! Ruth, always a treasure trove of ideas, developed the story and song, while I've been busy developing the visuals and animation. The journey has been a fun-filled one, so do please press play, check it out, and subscribe to Ruth's YouTube channel or my Facebook Page or other social accounts to keep up-to-date on our musical adventures! And be sure to have a very happy Easter too!

For some time now, I've been thinking about my little pocket watch logo, wondering whether or not I should update that as my icon across social media. I had a few good brainstorming conversations too, which made me wonder if it was time to start using something digital, something more characterful, and/or something closer to a visual representative of me as an artist. With all that in mind, I decided to draw up this little stylised version of myself as a character. I'm not 100% sure that I'll use it as planned (I'm pretty attached to my pocket watch!) but it was a fun little experiment all the same. :)

And so, as promised, here's the full and final piece! I had a whole lot of fun with this, and hopefully I'll be able to do more work like it soon. I've also entered this and two other pieces (this and this set) into the LSAD Drawing Awards this year, so if anyone is intending to go to that exhibition, keep an eye out for it!