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