Simon Draws 'Squirrels'

Here's a newly-released episode in the Simon Draws series of videos I put-together for the Simon's Cat YouTube channel.

We recorded Simon Tofield talking whilst he's drawing to make these entertaining tutorial-style videos. Simon draws these digitally using a Wacom tablet and Adobe Flash software. We captured his drawing performance directly using the Quicktime 'Screen Capture' option.

The audio was recorded simultaneously using my Tascam DR07 mk II recorder and Rode VideomicPro microphone. The editing on these videos is pretty minimal; we combine the best takes and put these together on one 'page', then round the episodes off to a neat three minutes each. Although we use 'best takes' and cut-out unnecessary pauses, we don't speed-up the drawing footage, so these really do show what a talented artist Simon Tofield is.

The music track was composed specifically for these by Russell Pay a.k.a 'Shrooty'.

'Simon Draws' Great ASMR Video Content

The BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning covered the phenomenon of 'ASMR' video content.
The definition of 'Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response' is somewhat nebulous and pseudo scientific but seems to cover any video content that induces a 'tingly' sensation in viewers.

The BBC website article goes on to cite the Bob Ross painting tutorials as an example of ASMR-rich video content. Here in the UK, I don't remember seeing Bob Ross, but we did have Tony Hart. As a child of the 70s/80s I lapped-up Tony Hart's art shows and yes, these were certainly something of an inspiration for the Simon Draws format.

In the Simon Draws videos, Simon Tofield draws various characters from his popular Simon's Cat cartoons whilst simultaneously dispensing his drawing tips and wildlife wisdom along the way.

Over the last few years for I have recorded twelve episodes of the  Simon Draws for Simon's Cat Ltd. I had no idea these would score highly as ASMR video content but they were intended to provide an informative and relaxing viewing experience. If these videos appeal to a new audience seeking an ASMR video experience (whatever that really is) then ... welcome aboard ; )

Simon Draws: Mice

Released today, another episode in the Simon Draws series of online videos I Direct/Edit for Simon's Cat Ltd. In this lesson, the inimitable Mr.Simon Tofield shows us how to draw Mice.

Simon Draws: Rabbits

Just Released over on the main Simon's Cat YouTube channel, here's another short web video I directed/edited. This is another episode in the on-going series of drawing tutorials I make for Simon's Cat Ltd. In this episode, talented animator and artist Simon Tofield shows us how he draws the Rabbit character from his popular books and animation films.

These tutorial films appear on the Simon's Cat YouTube channel, and have also featured as 'extra content' on the DVD release too.

Simon Draws: Tabby Cats

Here's another episode in the Simon Draws series of online videos I put together for Simon's Cat Ltd. In this lesson, the inimitable Mr.Simon Tofield shows us how to draw Tabby cats.

3 New Simon's Cat Films Today

It's been a grand day for Simon Tofield and the Simon's Cat team, with THREE new short film released to YouTube this evening. The many fans of Simon's Cat eagerly await the release of each new animated episode and  Nut Again will surely not disappoint.

The animated cartoons are the main event of course, but I'm very happy to have helped out Simon's Cat Ltd. by making the two supporting 'Behind The Scenes' videos also released today. Simon Paints 'Catnip' and Simon Draws 'Squirrels'.



For Simon Paints 'Catnip' we screen-recorded Simon Tofield as he digitally paints one of the pages of his new book Simon's Cat vs The World.  Simon is seen colouring one of his book illustrations in Photoshop CS3 using a Wacom tablet and pen. I shot some cutaways and book-ended the piece (ahem) with shots of Simon's sketch books and the final image as a page of the resulting full-colour book (Available now!)
Of course the action is somewhat sped up; I edited the piece to compress a day of Simon's work down  into three minutes. Music is by Russell Pay of Shrooty.


Simon Draws 'Squirrels' is the ninth video in the series of drawing tutorials released online so far. In this episode, the talented Mr. Tofield shows us how he draws his squirrel characters. We've got a slightly slicker method of recording these now. The first few were recorded with a separate audio recorder 'double system' style, but recording the screen drawing and voice together in Quicktime X on the iMac in real time saves a lot of subsequent editing time. Music and sound mix is again by Russell Pay of Shrooty.

DVD 'Extras' for Simon's Cat Ltd.

As of today, YouTube phenomenon Simon's Cat is now available for the first time for purchase as a DVD release. The DVD Das Beste von Simon's Cat has received its first distribution in Germany and is available from Amazon.de as well as other good retailers of course.

Simon's Cat is the creation of Simon Tofield, the UK-based animator whom I've had the pleasure of working with for several years now. The DVD includes all 23 of the Simon's Cat animated short films and inevitably quite a bit of 'DVD Extra' content.

I am proud to say that I've Directed/Edited the extra video content on this DVD release, that's 12 episodes (12x3:00) of Simon's drawing tutorials Simon Draws, the 5 minute documentary Simon Talks and a charming 2 minute photo montage Simon's Real Cats. Much of this video content is exclusive to the DVD release and not available on the web, so order your copy now!

Simon Draws: Toads & Frogs

Here's the eighth webisode in the Simon Draws series I record and edit for Simon's Cat Ltd. These 3 minute films get published from time to time over on the Simon's Cat Extra YouTube channel.

In this show, the totally-talented Simon Tofield draws some toads and frogs for us. I changed the recording setup a bit for this one; still using the Rode VideoMic Pro, but both the screen and audio recording is done straight into an iMac instead of using my separate Tascam audio recorder.

Who knew that Quicktime X would actually be useful for something?