Character design
Pip the Parrot
The lead character for a picture book series about a parrot who won’t say a word.
Client
Fernhollow Press
Year
2024
Medium
Colour woodblock print
The project
The brief
The series needed a hero who could be funny without speaking. Pip had to read at stamp size on a spine and fill a whole spread, and children had to know his mood at a glance.
How it was made
I made a turnaround sheet and twelve expressions before drawing a single page. The red stayed from the very first sketch; everything else around him got quieter.
The result
Pip now leads three books, a board book and a plush toy. The publisher uses the expression sheet as the brief for every new title.
Sample image: after Ito Jakuchu, Red Parrot on the Branch of a Tree, c. 1905. Public domain, Art Institute of Chicago.
Want one like it?
Send a short brief and I’ll reply with questions or a price.
