Evolution of Schoolboy Evolution

I recently worked with the good folks at Atomic on some illustrations for a poster they were putting together for Lifestyle Sports. It featured a series of Darwinian-like evolutionary steps of a schoolboy as he shed the dull trappings of his uniform and became a summery soul.

Here's the first sketch:


Then my first slight change to make him younger:


After which it was decided to go much younger:


Then youngest version as sharp & crispy finished inks:


Then colours taking him from grey school to bright summer:


And then the final poster with Atomic's swanky text:


Overall a fun project to work on.

I've a backlog of stuff to post up here from before and after the evolution poster so i have good intentions to post again before another month and a half gap.

In the meantime, as a stuff-I-like section, I finally got round to reading Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. It's been on my to-do list for years after some serious recommendations and I thought I should pass on the high praise. Ostensibly kids' fantasy books, they are full of some stunning bouts of imagination and heavy philosophical musings.

As some illustration of their contents here's a picture of a talking polar bear: