I just finished up a t-shirt illustration - ‘The Hairy Canary‘ - for mail-order/catalog company What On Earth for their pub t-shirts line.
The basic premise of the t-shirt designs are as follows: the artist is given a choice of bar/pub names to choose from, and from there a design is worked up to go with the name. I believe all the bars & pubs are actual places, but these aren’t officially sanctioned or anything.
From the list I was given, the name ‘Hairy Canary’ just jumped out at me and I knew it was a theme that would spark a cool illustration.
Continue reading '‘Hairy Canary’ T-Shirt Illustration'
by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio • Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.
Sometimes (and probably most of the time) merely seeing how an effect is achieved will offer no clues as to what it’s like to create that effect for yourself. Copying or mimicking the effect can help, but those moments where it works within your own artwork should be explored the moment they happen.
When these chance moments appear, when you have that ‘a ha!’ moment, be sure to dig deeper. I’ll share with you a recent ‘eureka’ moment I had while working on a t-shirt illustration project for a client.
Continue reading 'High-Contrast Line Art Illustration Style: Self-Inspiration'
by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio • Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.
I recently finished up this ‘Theology On Tap’ cartoon character mascot/logo project for a youth ministries client.
The client is a youth ministries minister, and his new program is focused on bringing discussions of theological matters into more casual settings to try and reach additional young people.
The artwork is intended to be used on various advertising and promotional materials, as well as a t-shirt design.
I thought it odd at first, but I suppose there’s nothing really wrong about talking about religious matters in a bar, right? And I suppose a minister knows the deal. My only concern was to create a great illustration for him and his project.
Anyways, read on for an in-depth overview of the process to create this cartoon character mascot/logo from start to finish, including unused sketches created along the way.
Continue reading 'Monk/Friar With Beer Keg - Cartoon Mascot Illustration'
by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio • Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.
A rough sketch of a cartoon pinup girl with American flag & mobile phone. This was drawn for a project I am currently working on for a client, updating their existing mascot character art to be used with the company logo and other branding. It was rejected due to not being the kind of pose the client wanted for the woman.
She has potential, but there are a few things proportion-wise that I think need to be reworked, particularly with her face — the lips are a bit low on the head, and the eyes are a bit off. These are all things that would have been tweaked in the revision stage.
At this point I wanted to get the general idea over to the client for feedback before I went too far, and in this case it was the smart thing to do since I will need to start from scratch with her.
Continue reading 'Cartoon Pinup Girl With American Flag Sketch'
by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio • Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.
“Average Joe” is a recent cartoon character mascot I created for a client. The project specs were pretty straightforward - two cartoon characters, one being “Average Joe” who would become the company mascot, and for this particular illustration he would need a sexy cartoon woman wrapped around him.
This project had a very tight deadline, so I got to work immediately on the sketches. The initial rough sketch was created to get the general idea down and to start the conversation. Being a tight deadline, I sent out a sketch that normally I would have refined a bit before sending. In this case, I needed immediate feedback on the direction so I sent this rough concept to get the client’s OK on the overall posing of the characters and the general look.
Continue reading '“Average Joe” Cartoon Mascot Guy & Sexy Woman Illustration'
by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio • Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.
I recently finished up this cartooning project of a cartoon mascot & logo of a dog with a cigar and a hockey stick. The client had a specific vision for this character, which initially included a cowboy hat (see sketch below), but the hat was nixed before going to the final vector art.
Continue reading 'Cartoon Dog With Cigar - Mascot & Logo Illustration'
by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio • Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.
This cartoon sketch of a trendy ‘cool guy’ rocker type was created for a current project. He was to the the male ‘companion’ character for the cute cartoon indie rock/alternative rock girl created for the same project. While I love how the head and face came out, I am not so pleased with the body - could use a bit more flair. This is an initial working sketch, so had the client approved that would have been edited. The client wanted to go in a different direction with him, so he’s on the reserve list for perhaps another project.
Continue reading 'Cool Guy/Rocker Dude Cartoon Character Sketch'
by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio • Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.
This cartoon sketch of a cute indie rock/alternative rocker girl is one of a series of cartoon characters I am working on for a current project. She went through quite a bit of revisions in look, dress and age - but the final came out perfect.
Earlier version had her a little too old and road-weary - I thought we were going for a more ‘edgy’ character but the client wanted a younger, cuter version. The iPod, chain wallet and Chuck Taylor sneakers were a must.
Continue reading 'Cute Cartoon Indie Rock/Alternative Rock Girl Sketch'
by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio • Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.
Sketch of a cartoon man’s head with an evil grin. this was sketched out on a newspaper using a ball-point pen. Drew this the other night while having some beers with friends down at Ray’s Place in Kent, Ohio.
If a large, blank(ish) piece of paper and a pen is around, I can’t help but draw.
My friend Preeti snapped the photo for me.
by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio • Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.
Months ago a fan emailed me to get the OK to use one of my sketches as a tattoo. I usually give the go-ahead on any not-for-profit use of my personal art (that said, unless I actually do give the OK, it’s not officially OK). In this case since it was a personal sketch I had done I was cool with it.
I have a few tattoos myself (all done by the venerable Eric Starr over at Arkham Tattoo in Akron, Ohio). I can sympathize with someone who finds the right art for a tattoo - I had Eric ink over a bunch of early stuff that I became less than enthralled with - and now have a huge Japanes-style koi fish shoulder piece in addition to my original Mayan God/Ancient Astronaut glyph.
Continue reading 'Cartoon ‘Teeth Creature’ Sketch Tattoo Art'
by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio • Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.
