AJAiken

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!

I’ve shared bits and pieces from Kinsey’s Sword over the years, but now I’m releasing the pdf for everyone to purchase! It’s an illustrated short story, told across 20 spreads. The pdf includes a two-page bonus section featuring concept art from the upcoming animated film.

Bu y it here!

I’ll post more about the project on this blog and across my social media, but you can also follow the Kinsey’s Sword Instagram which has more behind-the-scenes images and updates.

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 the rough drawings I’d done, but I was unhappy with how it looked. In the end I returned to the looser style.

I also decided to remove the foreground branches. Though I really liked my sketches I wasn’t able to paint them in a way I was pleased with!

Looking back, the simpler image works much better as an introduction to the story. There was too much going on before.

Find out more through the Kinsey’s Sword Instagram. Keep an eye out tomorrow for a big announcement!

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 Sky subscription or through Now TV. Watch the trailer below!

https://videopress.com/v/yh2IF7x8?preloadContent=metadata

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: Scotland Animation Industry Reunion

The panel discussion is at 11am PST (7pm GMT) on Wednesday 18th November.

A recording may be available later – I’ll update this post with more information if so. View the schedule here to find out more!