PSA regarding some recent artwork requests...

I'm getting a lot of people asking for hi-res versions of my Blue Nose Friends scenes for use as a printable mural, canvas print or other products for a baby's nursery.  These might be genuine requests for personal use, but as most of them are similarly worded ("I'd like this for my future child's nursery" etc.), ask for very specific document dimensions and are of South African origin, I have my suspicions as to their sincerity.

So, to clarify, I no longer work for Carte Blanche Greetings and am therefore unable to provide (for free or otherwise) a high resolution version of these images.  You can try your luck directly with the copyright holder at www.CarteBlancheGreetings.com, but they're even less likely to fall for your stories than I am.

If you're a company or individual genuinely seeking to commission a piece of artwork (which doesn't include Tatty Teddy or his Blue Nose Friends) I'm more than happy to discuss this with you (email me at Shane@ShaneMadeArt.com), but please don't pretend to be a parent as a way of obtaining high resolution artwork to use for manufacturing and selling copyright-infringing products.  

It's hard enough for artists to make a living as it is, so to cut financial corners in such a dishonest way is a major jerk move.




Thanks,

Shane
www.shanemadeart.com

Blue Nose Friends toy environment concepts

This will be my last post of artwork from my time at Carte Blanche Greetings.

I think the forest image above was actually the best thing I did whilst at the company, so it's a good one to close this chapter of my artistic career on.

Below are some concepts for other such worlds, along with the 'magical doors' which lead to each one.
Seems like a lifetime ago I did these, but it was a really fun project.

Images courtesy of and copyright Carte Blanche Greetings

There was a whole new character sub brand I worked on whilst there that I'm dying to show, but as it never made it to market I'll probably never be able to.  :(

Next onto some newer stuff!


SHane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Tatty Teddy / Me to You card illustrations

I got my start in the industry drawing Tatty Teddy (the Me to You bear) for cards back in 2007.

I believe all of the illustrations are digital now, but back when I was working on the brand everything was done in good old graphite pencil and watercolour.

This guy is surprisingly difficult to get right, and the small size of the originals (a bear would be drawn at about 3 to 4 inches tall) meant you needed a steady hand and eyes like a bloody hawk in order to get all the tiny 'ticks' of hair right.

I'll be honest, it was a painstaking process which I don't miss, but it did teach me a lot about drawing characters for greetings cards.  I still see them in stores occasionally, which is strange considering some of them were drawn nearly seven years ago.

Above is a mega sheet of every Tatty Teddy card image I drew during my time at Carte Blanche Greetings, if you spot one in there you want to see in more detail let me know and I'll add it to this post;

One more CBG post to go!

Shane

www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Blue Nose Summer beach

Image courtesy of Carte Blanche Greetings

As the weather's so amazing at the moment I thought this painting would be approriate.  Enjoy the summer while it lasts!

I feel it's time I closed the blue nose chapter of my illustration career, so I'm only going to post a few more of my Carte Blanche images, after which it'll just be personal work and anything I get approval to post from my current job.



Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Blue Nose Friends Blossom Pond

Image Courtesy of Carte Blanche Greetings

A promotional illustration created for the launch of the included characters in plush form.  I always enjoy painting water and it was fun experimenting with different colours and levels of transparency in this piece.

Shane
www.ShaneMadeArt.com

Quaint toy fireplace

Image courtesy of Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd

A painting used as a decal inside "Tatty Teddy's heart shaped house", a new toy that's part of a range from Worlds Apart.

In the snap below you can see it on TV, the second time my artwork's been shown on the small screen (the first was the result of a competition I entered when I was 8 so it doesn't really count);

Check out www.TattyTeddyToys.com to see the rest of the toy range.

Shane

Tatty Teddy and Blue Nose Friends Sky Scape

Image courtesy of Carte Blanche Greetings

An image used in a kind of trailer animation for the newly released Tatty Teddy and My Blue Nose Friends toys.

This is what I call the 'Sky Scape', an aerial kingdom found within the sky door (to be shown in a future post).

About the new toys, got to www.tattyteddytoys.com to check them out; Your small female relatives will love 'em!

Shane

Magical room of magical doors

This is kind of a hub found within Tatty Teddy's wardrobe, each door, for example this farmyard door, leads to a different themed world, for example the Farmyard world.  I think you can see where I'm going with this!

Initially it was produced for a style guide to inspire new toys, but has since been used on a bunch of things including a giant display at the London Toy Fair (shown below, I did the characters too), which was nice.

More doors coming in future.

Shane

(All images property of Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd)

Tatty Teddy Rainbow Lake

Image and character property of Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd

An experimental Tatty Teddy painted a few years ago.  Although the concept wasn't quite right I still like the colours so I thought I'd post it anyway.

Shane S

Blue Nose Friends Character Designs Part 2

Some more blue nose friends characters, all now available as plush.

From top to bottom;
Flame the Dragon, Yabber the Platypus and Nutmeg the Squirrel.

My last BNF character post got a lot of views, so if you're another blue nose friend fan stopping by then feel free to leave a comment or ask a question and I'll do my best to answer.

Cheers!

Shane S

(Images and characters property of Carte Blanche Greetings)

Summer fun with some blue nose friends

Characters and image property of Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd

Promotional image for the launch of these plush characters.  It was also a great chance to experiment with coloured lighting.

Shane S

Painting for the Make a Wish Foundation

At the end of 2011 a little girl called Shannon visited our studio.  The visit was organised by the Make a Wish Foundation, a charity that grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses.

Shannon is a huge Blue Nose Friends fan, so I was honoured to be asked to create a picture for her.  I was given total freedom, as long as it included her favourite character, Patch.  So I took the opportunity to dust off the watercolours and this is the result; a one of a kind piece that I hope brings a smile to Shannon's face whenever she looks at it.

Shane

Blue Nose wishing well

Image and characters property of Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd

Promotional image for the toy launch of these four little guys.

Blue Nose beach 2

Image and animation property of Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd

Another animation background for this short, beaches are surprisingly fun to paint;

Blue Nose Christmas

Image and characters property of Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd

Merry Christmas!  Here's an advent calendar design that's available now on all good high streets.  Probably a bit late to buy it now though.

I'll post a not-so-cute Christmas image tomorrow :)

Shane S

Blue Nose Friends Character designs

Images and characters property of Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd

A few of my favourite recent character designs for My Blue Nose Friends, now available in plushie form in all good retailers.

Shane S

Happy Halloween!

Halloween seems to be getting bigger every year here in the UK, so I thought I'd get involved for a change and discovered that pumpkin carving is much harder than it looks;

Monsters Inc's Mike carved pumpkin;

Plus a figurine I designed a few years ago - it's bones glow in the dark!;

 

 Shane S

A room with a view...

This is the opening shot of a five minute limited animation that I storyboarded and produced the assets for.  The animation itself was handled by the talented fellows over at Gizmo Animation and features Tatty Teddy and his Blue Nose Friends enjoying a day out in the park.

Image property of Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd

Had fun with the lighting on this one, and it's always nice to work on some environments.

Here's the full short for your viewing pleasure;

 

Shane S

Tatty Teddy Bathtime

Another puzzle image for Ravensberger, this time featuring some extra characters.  Had a lot of fun with the lighting on this one.

Image and characters property of Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd

You can buy the 1000 piece puzzle on Amazon right now!

Shane S

First book cover!

My first book cover!

Featuring Tatty Teddy and his Blue Nose Friends, this was painted for the first 'My Blue Nose Friends' book (that also came with a mug featuring the same image).  This was also the first time that these characters were rendered with more realistic lighting, marking a slight progression of the style that is still evolving today.

Image and characters property of Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd

Shane S