DesertFriends Shop

I've neglected my Etsy shop for a long while, but I'm back into printing and self-publishing some stuff that will be in the DesertFriends Etsy shop soon I hope! A few new prints are on there already...Go check it out now!

Zodiac Baby

A book I've somehow forgotten about, it's a long time ago and I don't use this rough oil pastel style anymore, but here it is anyway, it's seriously cute for when you have a baby and are into star signs.... (by Sarah Bartlett - Godsfield Press / Octopus Publishing 2005/2006 - Amazon)

Scorpio boy:

Sagittarius boy:


Cancer girl:

Taurus girl:

Capricorn girl:

Useless At Baking

planning my end of year holidays...I only realized recently that it's the end of a decade! I remember New Year's Eve 1999 (working behind a bar with friends) and how we all thought it would be a big deal, the new millennium. Anyway I look forward to 2010 mainly cause it's an even number, even years are luckier I think!

Postcards and the ferret guy

view Nevada front

view Texas front

view Montana front


some of my latest personal work, the backs of the postcards and the ferret guy from Northline by Willy Vlautin.

Spoonflower fabric samples

They have arrived today, I really like the printing quality and how the colours came out...I haven't really decided what to do now, it's nice to see my patterns on fabric though, I might order some. see more here
Do you have a favourite?

New website!

Visit the new DesertFriends website by clicking above.
Lots of new work / books / personal projects...Hope you like it!
I'm glad I got that done now...next time I will really use an existing template...html is insane!
Next plan: complete a zine and later in the week commissioned work starts again.

Singing Express

The music book I worked on a short while ago, Singing Express by A+C Black is out now. It's got lots of illustrations by me plus it comes with a disc containing little animated clips (done by Walk Tall Media) for which I prepared illustrations as well. There's a rap version of Sleeping Beauty on it and it basically teaches primary kids the basics of singing in a playful way, i.e. by learning how to make animal noises etc.

What I wore on Halloween

in this lovely Flickr group: What I Wore Today

Hello November

I think I'm losing my mind building my new website...I'm wasting time in which I could actually create art instead of technical stuff but I wish I was more of a technical web wizz because I do like websites that aren't based on a template but are slightly different although the work should speak for itself, right? And I was actually trying to make it simpler. So hopefully, I will be able to send a website re-launch note out soon to people on my e-mail list. :o)
Other news: Halloween was great this year / my iron levels are at 9 which is alarming / it's November and I can't believe it / the German name for hillbilly is Hinterwäldler which makes me laugh because it literally means someone who's living behind a forest and also because I'm never sure if people in rural Germany think I am one when they're staring at me.

Illustration Friday - Fast

a getaway situation - on a very fast horse.
(click image to see it big)

3 patterns of things I love

click on the images to see them bigger, i.e. on Flickr.

Little Green Helpers

The book series I worked on early this year with Campbell Books is available to pre-order at Amazon or just to sign up for the publication date (May 2010) in the UK, US and Canada.
Click on the covers above to see a hi-res zoom.

Product description on Amazon:
"How can we help our planet? This is a brilliant book for introducing very young readers to green concepts. In "GROW!" they can find out about sowing seeds, putting out food for birds, planting trees and more!
In "RECYCLE!" they can find out about taking materials to the recycling bins, making toys out of old boxes, saving water and more!
Pushing up the chunky tabs on each spread will make new words and pictures appear, helping them to learn in an easy, accessible way."

picture of the bound proofs (my camera doesn't do focus anymore)
The printing quality looks really great, it's printed on textured paper that's matte and slightly shiny at the same time...works good for my colours. :o)

New Editorial Work

New editorial work for a German parenting magazine.

My bike in colour

From the sketch I did a while ago. The bike isn't new anymore but popular nonetheless. (That mean looking kid on the right actually chased me a bit.)

Illustration Friday - Frozen

It's a drawing I did with one of my favourite new pens
whilst making notes for the never-ending website work...I hope it's worth it and will look better and simpler after it's all done.
I created a new pattern recently, yesterday actually, check it out at SuperDuper or at Society6.

Music collage

I coloured up the sketch I did when putting together some music.

PRINT AVAILABLE

What I wore yesterday and photos

Last night I did a quick illustration of me and my feet, as they look ridiculous in woolen socks and Birkenstock flip flops in this weather but that's how it is when you sit at the desk a lot and are running on a low temperature like I do. Click the picture to view it big, or see it at Gemma Correll's cute WhatIWoreToday Flickr group.

I got some of my old pictures reprinted from negatives and created a new set with various US holidays pics on Flickr. I had 100s of them and they were my favourite things when I was still a student and influenced my work a lot and I based an animation called DesertFriends on those photos and sketches and stuff I collected on trips, and then I kept the name for my website.

October break

...in my home town in Northern Germany which isn't a town but a place with no local shops but it's great for cycling in forests and pretending you're somewhere else..;o) - - we didn't really do that but got caught in a storm and were lost most of the time... Other things I've been up to is de-cluttering my things, revisiting the 80s and unfortunately the 90s and looking at pictures from vacations.

My pumpkin, the one on the right, tries entering a carving contest at AGM, leave a comment on flickr if you like it...

Ideal World

sketch / detail / full illo.
I had this in my head a while ago and then the sketch appeared whilst I was doing loose drawings for the kids music book.

Uppercase preview

click image to see Uppercase issue 3 in low res, with my Richmond Fontaine cover in it.

Another State

I forgot to post Texas here. Nevada, Oregon and Utah are soon to follow, so keep checking back! They will have stories, i.e. things that you would write on a postcard on the back, and be part of my Postcards From set...it's a work-in-progress thing and I will need to get photo prints done when i go home now cause i mainly only have the negatives of my US pictures.

Illustration Friday - Pattern

a SKI pattern for Illustration Friday! I'm not sure how to set the background should I ever get my patterns printed onto fabrics...
Re. skiing: all the skiing I've ever done was cross-country in my parent's back garden but there was never enough snow.
Here it is as a single tile:

Kid on TV

A few weeks ago I did some sketches of this kid actor I saw on TV, it's Brad Renfro in The Client, I thought he was pretty cool, and maybe I will do some of those scenes in colour...

Something interesting I found yesterday: OneSentence.org

Album cover art

my version of the Richmond Fontaine album cover has been selected by Uppercase magazine (Canada) who called artists to 'Redesign your favourite LP, CD or MP3 into a classic 12-inch album cover'. A good subject cause I love sketching to music... and this one stuck with me cause of the river<->freeway idea.
Oh and yesterday I heard this song live at the RF gig here in London! It was great!

State Puzzle Painting

painting and pencil drawing on a blue envelope just to try out real paint again. Maybe I'll do one original artwork for every state I've been to..? Or make this part of the 'Postcards from' series...?