One of the main reasons I’ve been so fascinated with the Illustrated Police News lately is because of the old-school illustrations in them. I like the idea that entire front covers of newspapers around the turn of the 20th century may have been filled, essentially, with comics telling the latest news and gossip stories. Some of them are fascinating little slices of life: in my research, I’ve seen illustrations of stilt-walkers racing the trams in Dublin, and hot air balloons going rogue, and police tracking convicts who’ve escaped by hiding in coffins. I’d be unlikely to have noticed any of those stories if they hadn’t had curious little illustrations alongside them!

With that in mind, for the front cover of my Study in Scarlet project I decided to fill the page with a sort of comic summary of Part I of story itself. From the initial discovery of a dead body at Lauriston Gardens, to Sherlock Holmes’ clever capture; it’s all based very heavily on illustrations and layouts and typography I found in actual issues of the Illustrated Police News, and also some very early artwork of Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Lots and lots of crosshatching later, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out!

One of the first elements I drew for my Study in Scarlet Project was 221B Baker Street. From what I can tell, Baker Street would have been a high-class residential area when the stories were written, and the apartment that Holmes and Watson share would probably have been part of a Georgian Terrace house. Although the street itself did exist when A Study in Scarlet was written, the numbers didn’t go up as high as 221 until the street was extended in the 1930s. The residents of the new building almost immediately began recieving both fan mail and genuine letters of inquiry from people hoping to avail of the consulting detective’s services, at a volume that apparently warrented hiring a full time staff member to deal with. XD

In 1990, the Sherlock Holmes Museum opened its doors at numbers 237 - 241 Baker Street, yet claimed the address of 221B. When the leader of the Westminster City Council officially bestowed the famous address upon the museum, a dispute quickly broke out between the museum and the residents of the actual No. 221. It seems the feud wasn’t settled until 2005, when the residents of the real No. 221 left their premises, and the museum was given sole rights to the famous address. To this day, Baker Steet is the only street in London that has a house number out-of-sequence with the rest of the street.; a fun little literary quirk popping up in urban architecture. :)

All this is to say: I based my illustration largely, but not entirely, on 221B as it stands today. It didn’t exist when the story was written, so I felt free to use artist license. Nevertheless, I had fun learning about the history of the address. :)

I've been listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks lately, and I'd forgotten how much of a drama queen Malfoy is. I recently finished book 3, in which he reacted to what turned out to be quite a minor injury by yelling ‘I’m dying! I’m dying, look at me! It’s killed me!’ He's an interesting character. Very much a product of his environment... As for Harry; I can't help but admire how Harry handles everything life throws at him. Doesn't give in and doesn't give up, even when there are dragons involved...

Click through for extras! Custom Gryffindor red damask wallpaper with lions and lilies for Harry, Slytherin green with snakes and narcissus for Draco, the original sketches for both, and a silly doodle of shennigans from PoA.

A while back, I started listening to Sherlock Holmes stories while I worked. One idea led to another, and soon enough, I found myself researching early 1900s typography, advertising and newspapers, so that I could redesign the first Sherlock Holmes story, "A Study in Scarlet," as an issue of The Illustrated Police News, full of illustrations and advertisements that support the story. For many reasons, this is perhaps the most self-indulgent personal project I've taken on lately, and one of my favourite portfolio pieces to date. ️️

I plan to talk about some of the individual elements later on - this project gave me an excuse to draw steam ships and violins and portraits and hats! - but for now I just want to share the project as a whole. A fun little adventure through history and storytelling via graphic design. ️

“Be the rabbit. The humble bunny can outwit all of his enemies. He’s brave, and sneaky, and strong. Be the rabbit.”

This is part of a series of storefronts I'm working on at the moment, inspired by my friends and family. In this case; this little sweetshop is for my brother, who has a very sweet tooth and always seems to have a selection of sweets to share! I taught a workshop based on this illustration, so if you’re curious about my process, take a look below!

"If it's any consolation, Miguel, you made my life an adventure. // If it's any consolation, Tulio, you made my life rich."

I've been watching lots of Foil, Arms and Hog lately, while playing around with illustration styles…

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