RICHARD COLLINGRIDGE BLOG

Characters

2011-10-06T00:37:00.000-07:00

Have been a while since last posting as am really busy at the moment, but have a couple of things to put up, here is one of them.
Here is a selection of characters i have drawn some of them old, and some of them new. Obviously master chief on the bottom right isn't mine but the rest are!

Personalising presents

2011-07-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

I usually find when getting presents for loved ones, that the more you spend the less effort you put into the packaging...this year was one where i spent a little less than usual. So instead just something really big and cool, i went for a few smaller (but still cool) things. Usually, when people personalise gifts they put them in a nice bag, or print out stuff to put on the front...I didn't have that option as my printer was busted! I had loads of old school packaging paper and gummed tape (which i used to use to stretch paper but when you work digitally you don't need it)...So i decided to do the packaging as if the items were from different places around the world and i gave them all individual stamps locations etc... as i didnt have a printer i had to hand draw everything, ended up being really fun, and i may start doing it for everyone i send presents to!

Sketchbook blog!

2011-06-18T07:17:00.000-07:00

Made a sketchbook blog a couple of weeks ago, mainly for everything that isn't on here...have a look!

http://richardcollingridgesketchbook.blogspot.com/

Zella-Haggis

2011-06-09T03:12:00.000-07:00

This is an image I have just completed for the Great Ormond street charity GOSH. The idea was to go round to different schools in london and to get kids to produce an image by folding up the page into four parts and one kid doing the top part and one kid doing the next part and so on and so forth. In all there were 33 complete drawings so times that by 4 and you have the amount of kids that took part. After all of these images were done, illustrators were/are being bought in to do their take on the images. So the illustration above is my take on one of the images. I decided to go more cartoony as opposed to my usual epic style of drawing as i thought it was better suited, and i think it has turned out quite well!

(if navigating this blog from my website please open image in new tab)

Jack

2011-06-04T04:05:00.000-07:00

This the main human character for a story im working on called 'The Legend of the Firebirds', which is a story of a boy and his pet growing up together in a heavily fantasy/sci-fi world. My idea is that the story will be split into around 3-4 parts, I have written a first draft out for the first part. Its called 'Jack and Russell'. The image above is is of Jack, but as a slightly older boy/teenager than he is in the first part of the story!

The image is still a work in progress at the moment, but i want to go for a kind of nostalgic 1940s-1950's illustration style, like the way the americans used to paint pictures of woman on their bombers during the second world war. feedback would be great ;)

(if navigating through my website open larger image in new tab for proper viewing)

The Deserter by Peadar o Guilin

2011-05-30T00:56:00.000-07:00

Above is a cover i did a while back for 'The Deserter' by Peadar o Guilin.

The Deserter is the second book in the bone world trilogy (the first of which is called'The inferior') and is based around the journey of Stopmouth, a savage living on the surface of a ruined post-apocayptic planet being watched (in a kind of reality TV show that follows he and his tribes life and exploits) by civilised people who live on a 'roof' world that covers the surface of the planet(both literally and figuratively). I was watching the running man with Arnold Schwarzenegger the other day and it kind of reminded me of that, but on a much more epic scale (also I think subliminally it influenced me in my cover design - as the character is kind of running). Anyway, thats how the book starts... (I think this part of the story is covered more in the first book) Then , In search of his lover, our main character Stopmouth journey's to the roof world and meets a boy and an old woman who help and hinder him in his search for his lover as well as divulging chilling secrets to the origins of the world.

I loved this book, everything is explained well visually so i had good idea of how i wanted to visualise the cover and even other parts of the world which would have been cool if illustrated.

buy at amazon: link

Showreel

2011-04-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

I have been attempting to build my website for a while, but because i decided to build it in html it has taken too long! so in the mean time i decided to make a showreel to show my new work. I wrote an article for the view from here magazine which explains in more detail:

http://www.viewfromheremagazine.com/2011/03/designing-your-website.html#more

Trash/Roskaa (andy mulligan) Finnish edition cover

2011-04-15T02:31:00.000-07:00

Trash Finnish edition published by WSOY - Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö

As Trash has sold pretty well, (there are even making a film about it, with Richard Curtis doing the screenplay) it is being published 15 different different languages (or countries, not sure which one) and a couple of three of those have asked to use my artwork for the english edition as opposed to the american version (which is a desaturated green colour...). Anyway, the Finnish language edition publishers asked me if I could redo the Font in finnish.

The original font was drawn onto an A2 sheet of paper (to give it enough detail to stand up as cover font), which took quite a while. Since then i have started to adopt digital painting instead of working traditionally, so thought it would be a good idea doing it digitally. I managed to complete it in a fraction of the time the original took me and I think it actually looks better!

top image ® Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö

bottom image ® David Fickling Books

WE John Dickinson Trailer

2011-02-21T03:22:00.000-08:00

I did a Book Cover a while back called 'Trash' by Andy Mulligan, and a while later noticed that someone in-house at RHCB had done a trailer for it...and i thought i could do that...So, I decided to put together a trailer for another cover i had done called 'WE' by John Dickinson. I chose this particular cover because it was a kind of suspense sci - fi and i only had a few days free to work on it and therefore couldn't produce a lot of different animation work, instead had to rely on sound design and text, with the money shot coming at the end!

p.s. sorry, for some reason the video is cut off on the right hand side...

Supergranny!

2011-02-21T02:44:00.000-08:00

©richard collingridge 2011

I was inspired to do this speedpaint after i read an article on sky news about an old lady who foiled a jewel robbery, by beating the robbers (who had motor cycle helmets on to cover their faces) with her ham-bag, she even managed to knock one off his bike while he was trying to escape.

It stated as a little doodle, while writing something else...and then i thought i'd quickly paint it digitally..probably in about 15 mins...then decided to add the thief towards the back, with an idea of dropping them into a street scene...couldn't be bothered in the end as the perspective i needed to show the thief from would have have meant the 'supergranny' was out of perspective...which, i think is less apparent with nothing in the background.

link to the article (couldn't find the link to the sky news article):

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/08/earlyshow/main7328716.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;3

telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8311642/You-cant-beat-a-hero-with-a-handbag.html

Einsteins!

2011-02-21T02:24:00.000-08:00

Above is a character design I did for Added-Dimension. They wanted a kind of disney look, so i went away and did a few concepts, and we refined them down to the finished character at the top pretty quickly. Was quite fun to work on this, as it was quite refreshing to work in a more 'cartoony' style as opposed my usual more realistic (and more time consuming style) style.

added- dimension sell electronic hardware, with special features such as 'spec checker' and 'E-val-U', for more information click on the link to navigate to their site:

a quick attempt at photo realism

2011-01-14T05:50:00.000-08:00

©richard collingridge 2011

A first attempt at photorealism done in about a day....pretty easy really, could have got it absolutely perfect if i spent more time on it...but whats the point of doing something absolutely perfect/real unless it is something that couldn't possibly be real....otherwise just take a photo...

Sorry, has been about 1 million years since i posted anything....mainly because i have a lot of new work and wanted to wait for my new website to go up, as that hasn't been updated in a year either! it is built (in photoshop), but as i can only use flash atm have asked someone else to do it for me in html....and you know what they say about getting someone else to do your dirty work...if you dont basically what i am saying is that they are taking AGES, hurry up!...anyway...hopefully up soon as have a lot of new images to show...

Sky Beast

2010-08-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

FINAL IMAGE AT TOP...update, a cropped version of the final image is at the top!

J.S.S concepts

2010-08-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

©richard collingridge 2010

Super soldier concepts, worked up from the last post. Was watching the Stargate film (with kurt russell) the other day, and after i came back to this image i think i ended up doddling something similar to the patterns from the opening sequence.

Perspective drawing

2010-08-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

©richard collingridge 2010

***EDIT***-Unfinished piece. made a couple of changes to the layout, so need to add in detail and adjust the lighting accordingly!

First time ive done a perspective drawing years! been working on this for the last couple of days, mainly concentrating on light and detail. Little problem with the scale issue as the two statues are human form, although the actual humans in this image are much smaller and cast in shadow so not easily visible. unfinished.

digital painted landscape

2010-07-28T04:01:00.000-07:00

***UPDATE***- added new version (top), hopefully better than before!

I have trying learn digital painting lately. Also wanted to improve my portfolio to be able to use in an attempt to get a job as a concept artist. I identified a few areas that i thought were missing in my current work and one of those was that my work is generally quite dark (colour scheme wise), so decided to produce something with a lot of light. The inspiration for the creature was from the giant tortoises in the new final fantasy game, although looking at the final image it reminds me a lot more of something out of star wars!

Also i didn't use a standard landscape composition, i composed it as if it was a rap-around for a book cover as im quite interested in trying have a portrait image within a landscape that doesn't look forced.

Have pretty much finished it now but not entirely happy, think something is missing so any feedback would be great!

Produced using painter then photoshop.

Face sketches

2010-07-27T05:35:00.001-07:00

©richard collingridge 2010

As all i have been doing lately is digital painting I decided to post some sketches (theres more to come i just didn't want to put too many images up at a time). Heres a couple of sketches of facial expressions...The top one is a concept i did for Robinson Crusoe, The other is a little older, its based on the character of Dersu the Hunter, by Vladimir Arsenyev an early 20th century russian explorer.

Trash by Andy Mulligan

2010-07-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the final cover for Trash by Andy Mulligan (top). I decided to post up two other versions as i really like them.

Trash is about about three boys who live in a slum and collect rubbish off a giant trash pile for a living in an unnamed country (which i think is mexico as the day of the dead is mentioned in the text), for the setting think slumdog millionare.

Everyone at Random House thinks this is going to be a massive book, so look out for it. I think it comes out around Septemberish. I'll post a review closer to the release date!

First Digital painting with graphics tablet

2010-05-12T04:52:00.000-07:00

©richard collingridge 2010

this is the first painting that i have created using a graphics tablet! Did it in about half a day, is not fully worked up as i was experimenting, But was a lot of fun! DOne using Corel Painter and Photoshop (minimal).

The No-Ones CD cover artwork

2010-05-09T10:40:00.001-07:00

These are some of the images I did for Alcoholiday, the No-ones debut EP.

If you want to check out their music, follow this link.

Dragon Doodles

2010-04-26T04:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't really had a chance to do any quick sketches recently, so when i went away to Troyes for for the weekend i picked up a little sketchbook to do some doodles in, and i ended up drawing dragons, which i hadn't done for a long while....

Mission Telemark by Amanda Mitchison released in march!

2010-02-12T06:56:00.000-08:00

I am finally able to put up some of my images that i did on Mission Telemark. Having just received a copy i can honestly say that it is one of the most beautiful books that i have ever seen.

The images here are just a small selection of about fifty - sixty Ink and pencil drawings that i have contributed to this book! (i didn't do the cover art)

What i really liked on this book were all of the mini pop -ups and pull outs that are laced throughout, with period maps, instructions on gestapo interrogation techniques, facts about bears and all sorts of information and techniques on how to survive in freezing conditions!

The Author Amanda Mitchison has just put her website up, which gives some interesting insights about herself, the book and other projects she has worked on: http://amandamitchison.com/

I posted a mini review for this book a few months back: mission telemark review

also you can buy it and look at what other people have had to say about it on amazon : amazon

New Characters!

2010-02-12T06:04:00.000-08:00

An update of some of my character designs including my very own version of master chief!

will update my website with full size versions as soon as i get the chance!

Antarctic: Exploring the Extreme

2010-01-29T04:52:00.000-08:00

A cover design i did because at the time i didn't have any covers in my portfolio.

I saw a book cover on amazon entitled 'Antarctica: Exploring the Extreme' and thought it was perfect for an image i had already done. here is the result!

Z.Rex by Steve Cole

2009-12-12T06:30:00.000-08:00

Z.rex.

A very well paced action packed book, which targets the mid teens...I thought it would work

very well as a Hollywood block-buster as the action scenes are very well described and as I said earlier well paced.

Mission Telemark by Amanda Mitchison

2009-12-12T06:13:00.000-08:00

Mission Telemark by Amanda Mitchison, published by Walker Books and illustrated by Richard Collingridge (me! Although i didn't illustrate the cover) is coming to book shelves on the 1st of February 2010.

Mission Telemark is the debut novel of Amanda Mitchison and also the first professional job I worked on (with the exception of a calendar job i did a couple of years back, but lets not talk about that.). It is based on a true story in World War 2 about Norwegian saboteurs working for the allies attempting to destroy a heavy water facility that is controlled by the Nazi’s (who are occupying Norway) and are using the facility to help develop their nuclear

weapons program. Probably the most famous rendition of this tale is the film ‘Heroes of The Telemark’ starring Kirk Douglas. Its shown every year around christmas time for those who don’t know. Mitchison’s version takes all of the original elements along with a lot of little interesting details, but changes the Norwegian saboteurs into a quartet of highly skilled/specialised teenagers and uses their age and size as a means to pass various chalenges

that the book presents that maybe an adult wouldn’t be able to pass. This, (for me) gives it the sort of flavour of a ‘Famous Five’ novel which should be very enjoyable to young teens and adults who are familiar with the film and the Enid Bylton books. My contribution to this book are the fifty or so pencil and ink interiors.

W.E

2009-07-22T02:36:00.000-07:00

Coming to your shelves on the 7th of January 2010 is John Dickinson’s ‘WE’ (published by David Fickling Books).

The premise of the book is based on the internet and how it advances to a point where it is implanted into our brains and performs all of our dailly tasks for us and has even rendered speech inept! The novel begins with you the main character, being taken away from all of this and being thrown onto the other side of the galaxy, onto a giant moon overlooked by an even bigger planet with the company of only four other human beings for the rest of your life.

It asks a lot of questions about us as a civilization and the direction new technologies like the internet are taking us. I really enjoyed this book and although it targets teenagers I would say it definitely would appeal to adult readers as well.

My contribution towards this book is the front and back cover design and artwork

New Website

2009-03-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

My new Website: collingridge.co.uk

I put my first website at about this time last year. I had never done anything in flash before and was on a tight schedule to get it done. At the time i was very pleased with myself, but over time it has become clear to me that it was too small to display my images the way i would like them to be seen and it didn't have much room for expansion.
So with this website i have expanded its size, added a few bells and whistles to make it more user friendly and generally just cleaned it up.
There are still a few glitches (such as if you click on a thumbnail or any button for that matter twice, it will take you to the next image or page), but hopefully i will be able to iron them out before too long.
Also i haven't been able to put much new work up, as some of it has not been published yet!
But hopefully you should enjoy it!

Concept Characters

2009-03-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

To co-inside with the launch of my new website, i have created a new category called 'concept art', which in not actually the fore mentioned but character designs i have been working on in my spare time. 'Space Boy' (hadn't thought of a good name for him yet) is the newest.

V & A illustration Competition

2009-01-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

I decided to enter the V & A student illustrator of the year award a couple of weeks ago.

This is the first competition i have entered any of my illustrations into, so it will be interesting to see how my style measures up to fellow young illustrators out there. I have a feeling that they are looking for something a bit more 'out there' but we'll see!

Giant Reindeer Christmas Card

2008-12-21T10:19:00.001-08:00

After a few different ideas and attempts at something for a christmas card i came up with this.

I was really trying to think of a new way for a christmas card without doing anything too cliche and i came up with the idea of a giant reindeer, of which father christmas rides on the back instead of following behind.

Sketches

2008-12-09T13:57:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of sketches that i did a while back, that i thought would be nice to put up. One is a character (the child with a wing) is from the world of the forgotten children which is referred to in the image in my previous post. The other is a character i drew out about 3 months ago because i was bored and was meant to go into a story that my partner was going to write but none of that happened.....

THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN

2008-11-18T09:49:00.000-08:00

A new idea i had in my head for a new style of character design, i was going for something a bit more free and character focused.

My Degree Show

2008-06-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of the work i put up for my degree show! It went very well and all the illustration work was to a high standard. The show went up on friday the 13th (june) of all days

and comes down on the 18th.

Welcome to the real world.....

2008-06-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog.

I have just put up my degree show and am rearing to get into the world of illustration and concept art, with the eventual aim of becoming a film director.

I have already got a website online: http://collingridge.co.uk which you can feel free to look though at your own discretion.

This blog has been put in place to be a more regular update of art and show i come up with.

thankyou for your time.

Richard Collingridge