A Bear Ate All The Brussels Sprouts

Posted on 5th July 2011  |   Catagories: Illustration

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Below are a few screenshots and process images from my latest project – an interactive children’s book for the iPad. You can download it here, or read on for more details.

This latest project has been tough but enjoyable – faced with the seemingly impossible task of fitting over a months worth of work into just two weeks, I didn’t have much choice but to pull out all the stops, put the kettle on and wave goodbye to my bed (on a side note, it’s interesting to discover how little sleep I need to get by, and that drawing for 24 hours straight can do strange things to my brain). Fortunately, I don’t remember the last time I’ve been so completely in love with a project that wasn’t self directed – it’s easy to put in the extra hours when you’re given the freedom to develop a personal connection with the work and produce something you can feel truly proud of. Of course, having a deadline with high stakes helps too! I was approached by writer & producer Charles Kriel with a tantalisingly simple brief – to illustrate and animate an interactive children’s book for the iPad entitled ‘A Bear Ate All The Brussels Sprouts’. If I wasn’t already sold on the prospects of working on the iPad, then Charles’ succinctly charming story about a boy and his overactive imagination (let’s just say it wasn’t difficult for me to identify with the lead protagonist) as well as the freedom to take the artwork in my own direction was just too great an opportunity to miss. Later on in the project I also had the chance to get to grips with the development environment and help work on some of the scripting and interactions, which after weeks of drawing was a welcome change of pace. Over all it was an incredibly fun project, and I really felt like Charles and I made a good team – I’m hoping to work with him again in the near future. The app is now live in the App Store, and will be presented by Charles at the Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield on Thursday the 7th July. We’re also hoping to push a 1.1 update in the coming weeks, which will add extra interactions, smoother transitions as well as a few hidden surprises! If you own an iPad, even if you don’t have any kids, you should definitely download it now! Oh, and for a limited time…it’s completely free! Check out some screenshots below:

Also, below is some of my working process – the video is a demonstration of the underlying 3D reference model I created to help inform the perspective and lighting, allowing me to quickly draw the scene from any angle and keep things consistent.