Unused "England Won!" image for BBC Sport

This image was to be published online by BBC Sport if England won the 2019 Rugby World Cup, sadly this was not to be because as you all know, England unfortunately failed to beat South Africa in the final.

...And even more sadly for me, the image remains irrelevant. Thankfully I can show it off regardless.

The current squad roll up to an exclusive nightclub 

for previous winners. Waiting at the door is the 

2003 World Cup-winning squad, with expressions
ranging from bemused to whatever-I-
could-find-on-the-internet. 

The image features current head coach Eddie Jones, eyeballing the 2003 coach Clive Woodward who is posing as a doorman alongside Martin Johnson. Mike Tindall and Jony Wilkinson pause from cocktail slurping to gape from the doorway at the (not) new champions headed by Owen Farrell holding the Webb Ellis Cup. Behind Owen you should, if I've done my job correctly, be able to spot Harlequin star Kyle Sinckler and Sale Shark's Tom Curry ...Sale is just down the road from my house, where I drew this. So there's that.  

Oh, and before I go: the original ink-on-paper

drawing. I added the VIP sign later and changed

Eddie's flag from Japan to an England one. 

I should point out that most of the ideas came from Nick at BBC Sport and his crew. Good eggs.

Up the Irons!

Manchester United: Treble Quest - Part 1

Fuzzy Duck, a Media City (Salford, UK) - based design house hired me to work on a project for Manchester United Football Club. Exciting, not only because my hastily-typed stream of emails actually yielded a client, but of course Manchester United probably rank in the top 3 of organisations that I can now claim on my CV. ...The other two being Microsoft and Huawei, however whilst those two global giants got unpolished, scribbly storyboards, (the Microsoft one's in particular being mostly unused by the client) this footy project is something I can show off without cringing.

 The final product is an interactive 

touch-screen game located on a 

large display in the Manchester 

United Store, Old Trafford. 

Think of it as Football Manager-lite. The player has to guide Man U through to winning the treble cups in the year 1999. The three cups being The Champion's League, FA Cup and Premier League trophy.

Essentially you get to be Sir Alex Ferguson; 

chewing gum and po-face, not essential. 

His image is all over this game.

Assistant Manager Steve McClaren also turns up

to blow his whistle in your face.

This is what happens if you completely screw it up.

Seaman is from South Yorkshire, where I once lived.

I know this because drunken knobs were chanting it

back in the summer of Euro '96. 

From left to right: Peter Schmiechel, Jaap Stam, 

Dwight Yorke, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, 

Denis Irwin (sorry Denis, but it is you honest), 

Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, 

Andy Cole, David Beckham 

...plus the arm and legs of some other guy. 

I won't spoil the ending just yet, you have to go and play it, score some goals and whatnot. Go, now!

Three Lions

It's a blisteringly hot summer and England are smashing their way through the World Cup. Like planets in alignment (which presumably are not usually aligned) this is nice, rare and people seem to be pleased.

I feel like I am now playing a very small part in this national fervour; I was hired by BBC Sport again - this time to create a bombastic image of England as they clambered dramatically into the quarter finals.

Commissioning of the image was dependent on England beating Columbia in the last 16, so I had a lot riding on that game. ...Yes, for the usual reasons; I need the work, I need the exposure, but it was more than that. I was gripped and I wanted England to win, just as I want them to beat Croatia in the semi final. This is like 1990 again, a rap is needed, someone wheel out New Order!

So for any fellow illustrators out there, or anyone interested in the process, here goes...

 I was asked to depict Harry Kane, Gareth Southgate

and Jordan Pickford, riding lions. The background

was not really envisioned by this point, so I'd get to that later. First thing 

was this sketch. ^

 The nice folks at BBC Sport suggested they should look

as if going into battle, which is why alongside adding the England

 banner, my original "happy" Harry Kane head had to be ditched...

 In favour of this one! For the record, drawn by hand, scanned

and then photoshopped into place. Despite the extra time taken,

I fully agree with the change. 

I'm also not a massive football nut, "Kane" is still totally

the bad guy from Robocop 2.

 That's the final square-format version. you can see it 

on the BBC Sport Instagram HERE

 Here's a close up. Big heads retain a cartoon, caricature "carry on" vibe.

Well otherwise it's all snarls, war and plumes of smoke, got to have a bit of fun.

Plus it gives me more canvas space to get the looks right. 

Here's a snapshot of the BBC Sport England V Sweden

live web thing. That's the 16x9 version of the image.

Oh go on then, "it's coming home". 

The BBC and the World Cup

Good news! I was lucky enough to create several 2018 FIFA World Cup images for BBC Sport. These pics get posted online when they become relevant (sort of).

On the downside, the two images posted so far are tragic reminders that you can't always predict the winners.

The first one is "King Salah"; a depiction of Mohammed Salah taking his place as one of the world's top three football players currently, much to the annoyance of the other two: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Of course the image may still hold true, however neither Salah nor Lionel Messi have had a great tournament to say the least, with Egypt most definitely out and Argentina on the brink.

 Salah takes centre stage, Messi trying to reach a golden ball

from under Salah's boot. Made sense when I drew it. 

Here's a link to the BBC Sport post on Instagram: MO SALAH

 Salah has been given the "Egyptian King" moniker by 

Liverpool fans (Salah plays for Liverpool). ...Hence the crown.

At least he scored a penalty against hosts Russia.

Moving on to the second image, which depicts Lionel Messi carrying the squad through the tournament. This could still be a thing if Argentina can beat Nigeria and if Iceland can win against Croatia. I hope I've got that right.

We know it's in Russia because of St Basil's Cathdral 

Here's a link to the BBC Sport Instagram IMAGE

Here's a close-up! Perhaps I'll end up making one 

of these for England and Harry Kane 

Fruit and Football Wizards

I always make a point to use the word "diverse" in describing the range of projects I have worked on. Well, this one come straight out of left field. That being said, I had worked with famous footballers before ...and by "with" I mean as an unknown entity, on the same project, for vastly different salaries. Sad face (not really sad, I'm always happy to be employed).

Back in January, I worked on a commercial starring several Manchester United football players. The ad was for international fruit juice brand Chivita and the post-production company I worked with were Bark & Bite (Manchester). In the advert, the players (Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Eric Bertrand Bailly), drink some juice before gathering round a Chivita themed pinball machine "Chivita, 100% Pinball" as the illuminated backboard says. See the video here...

As you can see the scenario is like an analogue version of Disney's Tron; the players are miniaturised and play football-pinball against the machine. My role was to create the artwork for the sides of the main body of the machine as well as the "backbox" sides and "backglass" where the score is displayed.

 Combining fruit, football to make it look hopefully interesting and pinbally:

The sides of the main body of the machine.

 Kaboom! The sides of the backbox.

Aside from a supermarket-load of fruit, that backglass is where my illustration of the players comes in. First drawn separately, they were composited together like the reflections of the players themselves, frozen in time. ...Just watch the bloody thing, it's hard to explain!

Wayne Rooney

Eric Bertrand Bailly

This is the final post-transition backbox with the 

players in their frozen reflections. Some of the above

elements were created entirely for mock-up and some 

were in the final commercial...

...Such as the fruit corners. Thanks for reading!!!

The Manchester and London Marathon

If I'm an illustrator first, then I'm a runner second. Specifically I'm a member of "Chorlton Runners," though no membership is required. http://www.runningmanchester.com/

Recently a whole bunch of us ran marathons. Chorlton being in South Manchester, meant that many from the club ran the Manchester Marathon, though myself and several others ran London the very next weekend instead. ...Or the "Virgin Money London Marathon" to give it its full contractual title.

I ran London because I was lucky enough to win a place through Chorlton Runners (yay!). ...A wonderful, painful, exhilarating day was had... though this is slightly beside the point because this post is really about who I trained with and moreover who coached me and my fellow marathon runners to overwhelming success. ...(Success as in a) attempting the bloody thing and all the training, (or is that insanity?) or b) just getting through the bloody thing.)

To cut a long story short, by way of thanks from me and the club I dedicated a framed picture to our coach Gavin Cameron. Giver of many, many man-hours; though a self titled "Dark Lord" of blood sweat and tears, he devised our training plan and was on hand pretty much every step of the way. A good man. This picture was presented to him during the post-Manchester marathon party...

Me and Gavin: Incidentally, I was a marshal at the 

Manchester Marathon so felt entitled to join 

in with a celebratory a pint (last one before 

London, the week after - hey, I never said I 

was Mo Farah).

The caricature in all it's glorious fun-poking detail. 

Yes, he does indeed say all those things.

Me, just after finishing the London Marathon. 

Mmmm, tastes like running-bling.

Softball Girls

Pull your socks up, let's play ball...

Dee Foster is the marvel behind obeyyourobsession.com, and she commissioned yours truly to draw a ton of female softball players. She knows how to add colour digitally, so I just got down and dirty with the old brush and ink.

Now, why is there not a comic about a vengeance-

hungry team of female softball players?

Also, this guy.

What was that Simpsons song? ..Oh yeh (I haven't copied and pasted this in a pathetic attempt to get more hits, honest).

Well Mr. Burns had done it,
The power plant had won it,
With Roger Clemens clucking all the while,
Mike Scioscia's tragic illness made us smile,
While Wade Boggs lay unconscious on the barroom tile...

We're talkin' softball...
From Maine to San Diego.
Talkin' softball...
Mattingly and Canseco.
Ken Griffey's grotesquely swollen jaw.
Steve Sax and his run-in with the law.
We're talkin' Homer... Ozzie and the Straw.

We're talkin' softball...
From Maine to San Diego.
Talkin' softball...
Mattingly and Canseco.
Ken Griffey's grotesquely swollen jaw.
Steve Sax and his run-in with the law.
We're talkin' Homer... Ozzie and the Straw.