An old sketch I found today whilst digging around in my computer, an unfinished redesign of Zangief from Street Fighter. I decided to give him a bit of an older, statesman-like look (after all, he has been flying the flag for Russia for a while now). I will post it here to remind myself to finish it! 

Next one in 'travel sketchbook' series, Tai O fishing village on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. This is a small fishing village that's peaceful to wander about in after the hustle and bustle of the big city. You can walk to Yeung Hau temple on the far shore through the backstreets, past old wooden houses and gardens. 


Hello! I'm back from my Christmas break, and ready to go. Here's my warm up piece for today, 'Player One'. A homage to vintage adventure games inspired by the excellent and free-to-play mini game Skrillex Quest. Go play it!
It is dangerous to go alone! Take a print with you?
Ladies Market, Tung Choi Street, Hong Kong. Prints available here.
Now entered in creativematch's FLAIR competition.

 Work in progress for my travel sketchbook series. A shopping street in Hong Kong.

I'm on Amazon! Somehow I didn't realise this until today, but this is my cover Illustration for the play 'The Woodsman' by Steven Fechter. I originally did this artwork a few years ago for posters and leaflets to promote the UK premiere of the play at the Old Red Lion theatre in London. The author himself saw it, contacted me and requested it to be used for the book cover, which I was pretty chuffed about! I found it a difficult book to read because of the themes it deals with, but I thought it was interesting and really thought-provoking. Worth a read for sure. It was also made into a film with Sir Kevin of Bacon.

An old design for a book cover thing I did today, and an announcement: Free shipping worldwide in my shop until 9th December! Click here.

Finished version. A bit more pencil-y than some other recent stuff, but I'm enjoying it!

Here's a personal project I've been working on recently, some bits for The Sword in the Stone, one of my very favourite books. These are the rough pencils for a work in progress.

Work in progress, some country chickens! Also, my Illustration Healthy Heart is now up in this month's flair competition. Fingers crossed!

Some new stuff, little spot illustrations for an article about bone health.


New editorial work, keep your heart healthy! I really enjoyed drawing this one, and trying out a new colour palette. 

News: Some of my travel maps are now on offer at the TDAT shop, with 30% off this week (Use code: SPARKLE30).  If the link doesn't work, go here: http://www.imagekind.com/ and search for carlydraws. 

 I hear it's drawing Calvin and Hobbes time over at http://mookiest.tumblr.com/. I can't resist joining in even though I am not on twitter, so here's my version of one of the best double acts around.
New editorial mockup about art theft. Illustration by me, text belongs to The Washington Post online.

Another Editorial mockup, this time about the wonders of Royal Jelly. Article text belongs to 'Healthy' magazine, Artwork © carlydraws.

'Have hammer will Smash'. A piece inspired by one of my favourite games. Have one for your wall.



Some new editorial work, Seal Family! The Illustration is based on an article on the BBC news website, so I made a mockup of how it could look if used. (Article text and BBC website design © BBC, etc). The illustration by itself is available as a print here. Can you spot the imposter seal cub? 

Mini Update! The Eden Project liked my Illustration so much they asked to use it as their facebook profile. Thanks guys!
I've been catching up on some classic manga recently, so here's a little sketch I did as a warm-up. Astroboy/Mighty Atom by the great Osamu Tezuka.

Work in progress, part of a big piece. More bits soon! 

Number 8 of Travel Sketchbook: The Batu Caves in Malaysia, which are amazing! You climb 272 red and white steps past this huge gold statue of Lord Murugan ( a Hindu Deity ) to incredible caves with colourful temples inside. The little path on the left leads to the dark caves, where you can take a torchlit tour to see ancient rock formations and hear the millions of cockroaches scuttling around you. Prints available here.

Some painting practice today, 1990s Storm and her giant shoulderpads from an old comic I picked up recently.

Update: print available here.
Mini Update: Eden project is now up at They Draw and Travel. See it here on the website and the shop.

Work in progress, a little bit of a much larger piece inspired by one of my favourite games.

Finished! Number 7, the Eden project, Cornwall. The Eden Project is a bunch of huge greenhouse-dome things in Cornwall, that have amazing rainforests and all sorts of cool plants and sculptures inside. They sit in a hollow in the hills, and at night they glow gently like giant fireflies. If you're anywhere near, go see! I'm really enjoying this project even though it's slower going than some of the others. I hope you are enjoying it with me!
Hello! prints of Hong Kong Harbour, memorial halls, and Cromer I and II are now available in the They draw and travel shop. Thanks a lot Nate & Salli!

Work in progress, a colour sketch for number 7 in travel sketchbook, the Eden project, cornwall, UK. You might be able to spot some of the last illustration lurking in the background, I like to paint right on top of the old work and layer things up. This one will be finished soon hopefully! Also, check out the Eden Project, well worth a visit.


Travel Sketchbook 6: Hong Kong Harbour. One of my favourite parts of Hong Kong was the skyline. The angular shapes of the skyscrapers contrast against the rolling mountains behind, and the clouds pile up behind the peak. This is a condensed version of the skyline as seen from a boat ride around the harbour, with all my favourite bits in it! Now up at They Draw and Travel. Thanks Guys!



Number 5 in the much-delayed travel sketchbook series...a peaceful image for a peaceful place. Cromer beach in norfolk, UK. And yes, I have been there before.
Also news: free shipping in my society6 shop untill this Sunday (16th). 
(update) this map is now live on they draw and travel. 


 Sprucing up a bit of older work today, a book cover design for Chaucer’s Canterbury tales. If this was a real thing, I would have the cover made of really dense, soft manuscript-y type paper. (But it’s not, so I have to imagine!). Stay tuned for some more travel illustrations, I have a few on the go at the minute.

Hurrah for Science! I've been wanting to do a series about science and how things work for a while; maybe a book, or some posters to put up in classrooms or something like that. Here is the first attempt at seeing how this could work... I wanted a modern, fun take on the old school diagrams I used to get. Let me know what you think?


Finished it! Here's the final book cover art, and the cover mockup. The front cover art is here as a print.

More work in progress! A wrap-around book cover design for a classic. I like the idea of the full picture only becoming clear when you open the book out and have a proper look.

The final version of 'Freyr' is done, and there is a print version too, without the text. Sorry it's taken so long, but expect more illustrations soon!

Some work in progress, from a book about mythology I've been working on for myself.


A recent commission, Theseus and the Minotaur for a children's book. Underneath is the sketch that started this Illustration off. 

Here's my version of Edward Lear's 'The Owl and the Pussycat'. More to come of these guys! Would you like a print of these two?

Film poster time! Check it out in the shop, with free shipping until August 12th!

Number 4! Here is another piece about Bao Fook/Po Fook Memorial Hall. This is the peaceful turtle pond and shrine down at the entrance to the halls. This one is now up at They Draw and Travel  (The bottom one is an action shot of drawing the turtles at the pond, proof I was there!)


3: This is Po Fook Ancestral Halls/ memorial halls (also sometimes known as Bao Fook). It is a large, modern-ish burial ground near the 10,000 Buddha temple in the Sha Tin area of Hong Kong. Confused tourists often end up here whilst trying to find the 10,000 Buddha temple, which has a small entrance a little bit further down the road. However this place is worth a look anyway, with a big jumble of red and white traditional style buildings which pile up on several layers around a big pagoda in the middle. There is also some really peaceful gardens by the base of the temple full of turtles lazing in the sun.



2: Hong Kong, and just one of the many golden statues at the temple of 10,000 Buddhas. On-location drawing with digital colour.



New series! I love to travel, and I have been fortunate enough to visit some beautiful places with good friends. I thought it was time to let some of my drawings loose from their sketchbooks and revisit some of those amazing places.
This is a sketch done on location in Penang, Malaysia a few years ago. There is a fisherman's settlement which extends over the sea with houses built on wooden jettys. This clan shrine under a huge old tree sits next to a small temple at the entrance. I found the scan loitering on my hard drive and added some digital colour from reference photos I took. Prints of the coloured version available here.



25. I had to finish this series on perhaps my favourite book, and one I read so much growing up; T.H White's The Sword in the Stone. The one I had and loved was the original version, the book was altered by TH White himself when he collected this and three other books into The Once and Future King. I prefer the original, stand-alone version, although The Once and Future King as a whole is really, really good too.
Go here if you would like a print


Sometimes it's fun to play around with older work after a little break...I found out that this was my favourite part of an old portrait I did, so I made a print out of it. Get it here if you want.


24, Lynne Reid Banks with The Indian in the Cupboard, a children's classic. 
Prints available in the shop


23, Kurt Vonnegut. This one is about Cat's Cradle, his darkly funny and sarcastic look at the end of the world.
p.s. Up in the shop
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