AJAiken

All In Gesture – 1940s Baseball

And here are some more recent drawings! Makenzie was the model of these ‘A League of Their Own’-inspired poses.

All In Gesture – Hula

I drew these back in May? June? I can’t remember now. Anyway, here they finally are! Anna Rose modelled these fantastic Hula poses for Todd Bright’s All In Gesture class.

King

I doodled this king a few months ago and just now found him hiding in my folder of sketches. Still strange to think there is now a king, not a queen!

A young queen falls ill at the beginning of her reign. Initially unable to leave her bedroom, she fights against fear and hopelessness in her dreams. But as Kinsey grows strong she remains in the dream world, avoiding the kingdom she left behind … Take a peek inside: I’ve shared bits and pieces from Kinsey’sContinue reading “Kinsey’s Sword Sneak Peek”

Creating the Title Page for Kinsey’s Sword

Here’s a look at some of the process I went through drawing the title page for Kinsey’s Sword. As it was the first spread I painted for the book I was still trying to capture the style of the illustrations. Initially I’d thought I’d add a lot more detail and move further away from theContinue reading “Creating the Title Page for Kinsey’s Sword”

Toad & Friends

Over the last year I’ve been storyboarding on Toad & Friends, a new CG children’s series based on Kenneth Grahame’s classic novel The Wind in the Willows. It’s just been announced (you can find out more about it here) so it’s very exciting to finally be able to share it with you all!

Looking for Work

Sadly the project I’m a Storyboard Artist on at Wild Child is coming to an end in September, so I’m looking for work from mid-October! If you’d like to work with me, or know of a project coming up, please email me at ajaiken90@gmail.com Also, take a look at my updated portfolio here!

All In Gesture – Travelling

Today I dusted the cobwebs off my pencil and newsprint pad and sat down to do some gesture drawing! Todd Bright’s weekly All In Gesture class gets recorded, so I was able to take part at a time that suited me. It was so much fun to do, despite being very rusty.

Sketch Club: Wizard of Oz

Wild Child’s sketch prompt this week was ‘The Wizard of Oz’. My choice of character was Toto, played by a Cairn Terrier in the 1939 movie.

Sketch Club: Fairytale

This week’s prompt was ‘fairytale’. I was inspired by the birth of my nephew and drew a scene from Thumbelina.

Sketch Club: Road Trip

Wild Child has recently started a weekly Sketch Club with a prompt. This week’s was ‘Road Trip’. I had a lot of fun doing research and creating this little image of a family on the Oregon Trail.

Gorilla Sketches

A colleague took a video of some gorillas while visiting his local zoo, and I asked if I could sketch from it. The interactions between the gorillas were fascinating to study.

Light

This character jumped out while I doodled today. I’m not sure who she is or what she’s holding, but she seems a bit worried about it.

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates

For the last six months I’ve been a storyboard artist on The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, working for Wild Child as part of an amazing team. The series is based on Liz Pichon’s bestselling Tom Gates books. The first episodes are now on Sky Kids in the UK, either as part of a SkyContinue reading “The Brilliant World of Tom Gates”

Jonah Music Video

Over the last few months I’ve been working on something really special – something a bit different from anything I’ve made before. Rachel Zylstra, a singer-songwriter based in Edinburgh, asked me to create a music video for one of the tracks on her new album On Faith. You can watch the result below!

Wild Life Drawing – Wolf Pups

On Saturday I joined an online drawing class from Wild Life Drawing featuring five-week-old wolf-dog pups from Watermill Wolves. They were alternately incredibly active or completely asleep.

Lots of Liffeys

Liffey was the Irish Setter my family owned while I was growing up. She was a wonderful companion, if a little odd at times. I must have doodled these caricatures of her at some point last year, but I’d forgotten about them until now.

Life Drawing, 31st December

I made it along to some of the epic eight-hour life drawing marathon organised by Deryck Henley on New Year’s Eve. It was great to do some drawing from (digital) life – it had been a few months, and I was very rusty. These poses were modelled by Anna and Mariano.

CTN Live – It All Began Five Years Ago

Five years ago I was in LA attending the CTN expo as part of an animation industry group from Scotland. Today, as part of CTN Live (sign up now if you haven’t already – it’s free!) we’re having a reunion to discuss the trip and where we are now. It All Began 5 Years Ago:Continue reading “CTN Live – It All Began Five Years Ago”

Wild Life Drawing – Wolves

Wild Life Drawing hosts live drawing sessions with animals in the UK. I sadly haven’t ever been able to go to any of their in-person classes, but I have now attended online! Last week I joined in a Zoom drawing class featuring three wolf-dogs from Watermill Wolves. A lot of little mannerisms reminded me ofContinue reading “Wild Life Drawing – Wolves”