characterdesign

Characters At Work — Chapter 2: Kitty's Fishbowl Follies

2nd installment in the ongoing series of my character illo work at Mitch Dowd.

This is called Fishbowl Follies.

If I could go back and refine the character, I'd definitely reduce the kitty's stripes on the main body.

A tabby cat is having the worstest of luck grabbing that damn goldfish — I tend to draw characters in ill-fated situations... maybe that says something about me? Who knows.

It was the 1st kitty-themed print I'd done for MD — the concept was going against the grain, or fur, as dogs are more popular with our retail buyers*.
* A "retail buyer" selects & buys goods from vendors, like Mitch Dowd, to be sold in retail stores.

That said, whenever I design a doggy-themed print, I throw in a kitty as the antagonist — an example of this may be featured in the next posting.

All artwork & designs featured in this blog posting are exclusively owned by Mitch Dowd Australia.

Characters At Work — Chapter 1: Oink Attack.

Part of my day job is to put pen-to-paper and draw up "quirky" characters for Mitch Dowd's seasonal apparel range (i.e. underwear, sleepwear, socks).

These characters have been in the wilds of retail for a year or more, so I'll be posting some here from time to time.

First up — Shark Finn Hamm.

S.F.Hamm made his first cameo in a men's boxer, titled "Great White Pork":

When designing Summer 2024's mens range, pig characters were on trend (or so I was told). When conceptualizing that summer's shark print, it was missing one crucial ingredient... a pig with a strap-on shark fin.

A year later, Hamm was given more character range and thrust into his own print:

Hero print of a mens trunk 3-pack.

Hamm’s character range.

Every now and then, I try and sneak Hamm into other designs, but he gets caught out and removed by eagle-eyed managers (or I foolishly point him out).

I long for the day to see Hamm as a plush character — he's destined for plushiness (and greatness).

All artwork & designs featured in this blog posting are exclusively owned by Mitch Dowd Australia.

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Slinky Kitty | A "What Was I Thinking?" Desk Drawer Project

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Fact: animals adapt.

That was the inspiration for “Floyd”, the cat that swallowed a slinky toy — general character development that went from artboard to being placed into the desk drawer for years.

At the time, my goal was to branch out into self-authored illustration/story books. Or, by some miracle, get hired as a go-to illustrator for a top-tier publishing house (or any tier).

A lacked time, money, motivation, and a myriad of reasons benched the whole thing.

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