The 7th World

Word Hunters – Secret Files

Posted under Publishing, Word Hunters on November 16th, 2016 by tezza

I was never a reader when young. I struggled with focussing my attention on the words and reading them to build a story in my head. I just wasn’t one of those kids that read. Possibly my imagination was too strong to stay on the page.

But I loved cool images.

This book was always going to be more visual. A book that I would have loved as a child.

The Secret Files, is the book that I’ve had in the back of my mind since working on the series. And now it’s here.

Full of strange words, gadgets and recipes. With some challenging puzzles thrown in for good measure.

The Secret Files came about when Nick and I were talking about back stories and what other Hunters were out there. It also got me thinking about more gadgets that Caractacus could have had.

We decided that a non linear approach would be different. Readers could enter the book and it would still work for them. They might want to build a suit of armour one day, then read about wputting ginger up horses bottoms the next.

This was where the journal from Caractacus came from. A scrapbook of ideas and notes.

It needed to be rich and varied. Styles would change from collected bits of paper throught history. A combination of hand drawn and computer generated images were developed. 3D gadgets were also generated.

This book also has the added value of the Layar app.

The information we couldn’t fit into the book, but didn’t want to lose, is now floating through space. It can harnessed by using the Layar app. Just hover over any page with a red Peg, and voila, more information will be pulled into your phone. All the information is on the back of the book.

Hope you enjoy!

We have CONTACT

Posted under Design, Home, Visual Ramblings on February 14th, 2016 by tezza

I was asked a little while ago to design the logo for the NatCon in Brisbane.

I had never heard of NatCon. Why hadn’t I heard of this.

So I did a little digging around and found that the last event held in Brisbane was in 2006. That was 10 years ago. I was still in ad land back then and not totally focussing on books. Yeah, I’ve heard of ComicCon and Supanova, but NatCon had escaped my focus.

I met with Aimée Lindorff whom I recognised was one of the writers from a Tiny Owl Workshop project called Pillow Fight. She was also the chair for NatCon Brisbane.

They gave me the name of ‘Contact’ for the event. They also mentioned that would cover a lot of genres.

I walked away with many things in my head.

The brief was a simple, but I needed to think about all the genres they wanted to cover. They didn’t want too many pieces, just a logo and maybe some design elements for collateral.

I took a 60s style of illustration and twisted it a little.

A little nod to the Super Science Fiction magazine covers via a femme fatale. I’ve always loved the way they had a strong women character suited up ready for action. Maybe a little too sexy at times, but she was always a strong character.

I saw her as the main focus to the design. She needed to look modern with the added highlights of nostalgia.

Aliens, got to have some sort of alien, right?

Thought a lot about this, I didn’t want to just create a Creature from the Black Lagoon style of alien. It needed to look different.

I took a more Starship Troopers angle to the aliens rather than a 60s film. Loath or love it, the alien designs were interesting.

I added a little pattern work which is a small nod to steampunk. Steampunk also weaves through the design of the raygun. I personally love Steampunk and Jules Verne with Journey to the Centre of the Earth being at the top of the list.

Overall it has all come together nicely.

Click on the images to view.

Snapshot of my work in progress.

I like to build in one document. This way I can move elements around simply and compare colours etc.

The final logo

3 versions. Reversed – Colour – Black and White

Design elements for icons, postcards etc.

Poster designs

Bright colours with a large character seem to work really well.

Extras

Gotta have tshirts.

RED

Posted under Home, Visual Ramblings on September 10th, 2015 by tezza

Latest illustration. This one is called ‘Red’.

It’s quite large at approx 1.5 metres high. Being so big, my computer was starting to lag and would take around 2 mins to save to the hard drive.

I’m planning on adding to it over time but at the moment it’s finished for now.

Here’s how the berries were done.

A couple of in progress shots.

Here are some close ups of the final piece.

New thingies

Posted under Home on July 11th, 2015 by tezza

I’m starting to think about new illustrations and the stories that go with them. Currently in the works is a 1.5m high digital painting. It will have badgers, foxes and rabbits amongst other things. It’s quite large and will be done in stages.

Also a large scale model is in the works. Created with polymer clay and leather. I’m looking forward to this one and will be a show piece to sell another book I have in mind. It will be slightly dark and quirky with a delicate story that weaves around friendship and loneliness.

NEWS – I’m still here.

Posted under Home on May 30th, 2015 by tezza

Time has flown. Little has happened here on the website. But I can say lots is happening in the background.

Apart from my full time job in advertising, I’ve been working on a few things.

One in particular is a Faery Project which I’m doing with Tiny Owl Workshop. It will be a project that I hope will excite and attract a few writers around the world. I’m busy making things and doing lots of research.

I’ve also been doing the next stage for Lane Of Unusual Traders. Thinking and conjuring up areas of interest that I hope will inspire more stories from writers. Stage 3 will have more features that will influence certain areas. I’ve also added a business in Stage 3 that will work its way through the lanes.

And, I’m constantly doing artwork. Sunday sketches is also still happening and you can find these through my Twitter accound @tezzabold.

Word Hunters has also bubbled to the surface again in a different format. Stay tuned for more.

My version of Krampus.

Posted under Home on December 22nd, 2014 by tezza

When Tiny Owl Workshop asked me to create a Krampus, I didn’t know that much about him. I’d heard of him but didn’t know the detail.

During research I came across a few variations of Krampus which highlighted that I could create my own. As long as he had the key elements, I guess he could look like any other devilish creature.

So I made him cute on the outside and if you look into the eyes, they tell a different story. Something evil lurks behind those eyes. Eyes you just wouldn’t trust.

Ok, so here is my process.

Firstly a sketch. All my illustrations start here – loose and sketchy.

Then I start to fill. Slowly building up the tones and colour.

I take breaks from areas and begin others. Here I’ve started the fur.

Working more on the hair to smooth it out and create that fur look. Again, you’ll notice that I’ve worked on the face more too.

Playing more on the face.

I wanted the background to be fairly simple to make Krampus stand out.

And here is the final image. You’ll notice that I’ve changed the colour of the fur to give it more punch.

Krampus

Posted under Home on October 3rd, 2014 by tezza

Again, Tiny Owl Workshop are doing it differently. They are supplying cafes in Australia and the UK with Krampus crackers.

Now if you don’t know anything about Krampus, check him out here. Not a very delightful character but great inspiration for writers.

Forget those terrible jokes and plastic toys that you find inside the Christmas cracker tubes, Tiny Owl Workshop will have stories in the crackers instead.

Tiny Owl Workshop asked myself and other artists to supply an illustration that will go along with the story.

Here is a treaser from what I have done.

Now, if you want to know more, go here to find out updates from Tiny Owl Workshop. Or just follow them on Twitter.

Cutter & Savage brand logo

Posted under Design, Visual Ramblings on August 13th, 2014 by tezza

Some years back, I was part of a small company in London. I have to say, the most fun was creating the brand and the overall look of the company itself.

It was named Cutter & Savage. The name itself told us what style to use.

I designed and illustrated the business cards with the added touch of having them letterpress printed.

The squid lady was based on an old Punch illustration. It was redrawn and with the added drawn font, made the cards unique. I drew up various layers which were scanned and combined in photoshop.

« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 … 8 Next »