Author Archive: ShaneMadeArt
Illustrator, character designer and all round creative type person.
Shane Smith – 19 characters in 30 days
You may have noticed that my post is actually 19 characters in 30 days, so yeah, I guess I failed the challenge. With an influx of work and family interuptions, all the determination in the world couldn’t magically make the time I would have needed to keep up. Despite the fact I’m eleven characters short, I really enjoyed taking part and am happy with what I achieved which is why I decided to post anyway.
One of my aims was to create a stylistically consistent range of characters, so I guess I shot myself in the foot by choosing a style that was quite time consuming! I could have done some quick doodles or dug out some old sketches but I’d rather do it properly or not at all.
Thanks to everyone for the great comments and encouragement, sorry I didn’t get to reply to all of them (all my spare time went on drawing!).
I’d be interested to know which of my characters you think is the strongest, which is the weakest and why if you have the time.
All the best, and see you next year (unless you stop by my blog that is!)
Shane Smith
#19 – Dust Bunny
Whether you’ve seen your’s or not, everyone has a monster that lives under their bed. This is mine; He’s pretty quiet most of the time, only causing a fuss if we put too much junk under there.
Shane S
ShaneMadeArt.blogspot.com
#18 – Thorn
A kind of wood elf with a fondness for jewellery the ability to mimic any flower with it’s head. It nestles in flowerbeds waiting for a bejewelled hand to attempt to pick it, then deftly sevres the embellished digits with it’s razor sharp forearms.
Shane S
#16 & 17 – Dex & Rex
Dexter loves Dinosaurs, especially the T-Rex that lives in the woods at the bottom of the garden. Rex will often poke his head in through the nursery window to make sure his snoozing little buddy is ok.
Shane S
#15 – Sock thief
At little over 18 inches tall, this little guy is perfectly adapted to sneak into your home through your catflap and steal your socks. Unlike their less evolved cousins, Pachysapiens tend to live in cooler climates so need a plentiful supply of wool to make they’re clothing and nests. Fortunately humans seem to have two of each sock, so the thief is more than happy to take the spare. The handy coathanger serves as the perfect grappling hook, sock snatching device and zip line handle.
Shane S
#14 – Lacto Vamp
Not many people know this, but your wisdom teeth are actually a species of bat. If there isn’t enough calcium in your diet they’ll wait until you’re asleep then extract themselves and fly away on a frenzied milk hunt, returning just before you wake.
Unfortunately the only way they can transfer the much needed calcium to their slumbering host is through the passing of guano… which explains morning breath.
Shane S
#13 – Little Dead Ridinghood
For several months in 1459, hunters feared to set foot in the forests northern France. After a spate of violent unexplained murders amongst the trees, survivors reported hearing footsteps running lightly through the undergrowth, accompanied by the sounds of whelping wolves just before the onslaught began.
The attacker was never found.
Shane S
#12 – Yonkey
The fourth member of Captain Fancypants’ crew, Yonkey just wants an easy life and that’s what he’s got aboard the Captain’s ship. With all the rope he can swing on and a seemingly endless supply of junk food, all he has to worry about is the occasional bout of seasickness.
With his superior intellect he’s been able to repeatedly delay the revoloution, no point starting a pesky war when life’s so sweet.
Shane S
#11 – Scowl
Scowl serves as the lookout on the ship of the feared pirate, Captain Fancypants.
Although, being nocturnal, he fails to spot most things.
Shane S
#10 – Herman Horn Poker
With his empty, maleable mind, it wasn’t long before Herman was recruited by Captain Fancypants. He was a perfect addition to the crew, loyal, obedient and stronge enough to hauling around cannons, gunpowder, hostages or pretty much anything else the Capt desired.
Shane S
#9 – Captain Fancypants
Bored of being caged up for tourists to gawp at, the alligator formerly known as “Snappy” mutineed against the zoo staff and escaped into the lake surrounding the island zoo.
There he hid patiently, planning a revolution and gradually gathering anything that might be useful for building his pirate vessel. Luckily, the lake was in the middle of a huge theme park which provided a plentiful supply of swashbuckling merchendise that was often dropped into the water by careless children and littering man-babies.
But before he could launch his attack he needed a crew…
Shane S
#8 – Zomburger
What happens to the food that you don’t finish? It rises from the dead of course! Shambling behind restaurants, struggling in bins and rising from the landfill, you’d better watch out…
…although luckily most food items don’t have the teeth and claws nesessary to escape a bin bag, let alone bite and spread the virus, but finish all your meals just to be safe kiddies.
Shane S
ShaneMadeArt.blogspot.com
#6 & 7 – Sprocket & Scratch
Long after the demise of Mankind, small mammals have taken over the Earth once again. Unfortunately for Rodent kind, cats survived too. Meet two participants in the violent war between felines and rodents.
Sprocket – Anti-social mechanical genius, tasked with the maintenance and programming of the Mekat fleet. He’s also a rat.
Scratch – Mark II Lynx Mekat, an autonomous robotic feline programmed with the thought processes of a basset hound. Ten times the strength, speed and agility of a biological cat but with the loyalty and intelligence of a hunting dog.
Shane S
#5 – The Hummingbird
Sometimes called ‘The Death of Plants’, the Hummingbird devours all the moisture from any plant it touches, leaving nothing but a dry dead husk.
Shane S
#4 – Amnesius
Most spirits take on the appearance of their living form when they pass over. Unfortunately for this guy he was snuffed out by an axe blow to the cranium, resulting in a case of amnesia so severe it crossed over with him. Because he can’t remember what he actually looked like, he’s now stuck with the default ghost body until his memory returns.
Shane S
#3 – FjordOak the Restless
FjordOak had relished his freedom as a Walker, but the end drew near. Once his life bud bloomed, his inner light would fade and he would be bound to the soil once again, to stand guard as a silent sentinal of the Ringwood until the end of days.
Shane S
#2 – Maddie
Maddie didn’t have many friends at school. She creeped the other kids out, maybe it was the way she stared. Luckily for them she had her Father’s eyes.
Shane S
#1 – Bogborn the Distracted
After a day slacking off down the brimstone mines, Bogborn the Distracted likes nothing more than to relax with a bargain bucket of fried human.
Shane S
ShaneMadeArt.blogspot.com
2011 Challenger: Shane Smith
Hi,
My name is Shane and I’m an illustrator for a greetings card company in the UK.
I spend everyday drawing cute and cuddly characters, so this challenge will be a good opportunity for me to mix it up a bit and try something different, although sometimes it might be hard to keep the cuteness at bay.
As a first time participant I’m determined to complete all thirty characters. I’ll also be illustrating them traditionally which will enable me to sell the originals (for a very reasonable price!) to anybody that’s interested.
So all that’s left to say is good luck to everyone and roll on the 1st of November!
Here are a few personal pieces, and you can see some of my day job art over on my blog at ShaneMadeArt.blogspot.com. All my Twittery Facebook details are on there too so feel free to get in touch, it would be cool to get involved in the community.
Shane S
#30Characters Chatter…