Character & Concept Design Portfolio-2023

Character and concept art for new major animation project coming soon.

All work copyright to Tony O’Keeffe 2023. For more information please email- anthonyokeeffe@hotmail.com

Character design- “Humphrey transformed state.

Sketches exploring options for character empowerment that doesn’t simply increase the scale of the original cat.

Character design – “Jasper”

Sketches exploring clothing and hair options for 11 year old autistic character.

Character design- “ Mr Cavill” 2023
Character design- “Sneaky Snake’ 2023
Character design – ‘Fab Flair’ 2023
Character design- ‘Mr Rigby’ 2023
Character design – ‘Mrs Rigby’ 2923
Early character design – ‘Mr Cavill’ mk2 2023
Character design- ‘Mrs Cavill’ 2023
Character design sketches- Patti hair options 2023
Character design- Mr Wilson & Humphrey 2023
Character design- ‘Lady Barbra’ 2023
Character design- ‘Wilda the housekeeper’ 2023

For more info please email –

anthonyokeeffe@hotmail.com

Illustration 2021

For more info contact: anthonyokeeffe@hotmail.com

‘Tulips, sketching during the Poland game 2021

‘Patsi’ character study. 2021

‘Tower Of Pressure” 2021

Excerpt from Orthopedia handbook 2020- (Illustrator)

Front cover for “The Smith” 2021

Live drawing from Alexander McQueen’s “13”

Logo for Hebden Bridge Motorcycle club 2021

Viz com BAGS!
viz com HELMETS!

Excerpt from “Patsi & Pete” pencil and paper 2021

Digital roses made in Illustrator 2021

Golden portrait study 2021

Lockdown poems- The Floating Bear 2021

Illustration for “The Family” 2021

‘Pandalife’! 2021

“Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes together…” 2021 ink on paper

EH Shepherd parody style illustration 2021 ink and watercolour on paper

Excerpt from ‘The Smith”

Excerpt from “Immi The Friendly Spider” 2020

Sleepy giraffe, pentel brush pen on cappuccino paper 2020

Vincents digital sunflowers, Illustrator 2021

A spider’s bed made from a feather. Digital Procreate 2021

‘…and happiness reigned’ excerpt from ‘The Smith’ 2020

Excerpt from ‘The Smith”

Concept location study for ‘ABOVE’ digital painting 2021

Live ocean crab study 2021 procreate

Excerpt from ‘Immi the friendly spider’ 2021

Illustration & Storyboards

Selection of images from ‘Tower Of Pressure’ graphic novel written by Agnieszka Szczepanska. 2018TOP sample panel 01TOP sample panel 02TOP sample panel 03TOP sample panel 04TOP sample panel 05TOP sample panel 06Latest ongoing illustration projects, character developments, storyboards and sketchbook work.

75 mph-

Video -75 mph- Words& Music by Tony O’Keeffe (additional words by John Flynn)

Animation by Tony O’Keeffe. The music and the imagery weren’t intended for each other but came together during a test and worked in a totally different way. As I write this I flip from wanting to resolve the film as I intended and going with this new direction. I was so stunned when I first saw the scenes in sequence – it had an emotional narrative stream that I didn’t think would be so good or even there at all on the screen but it’s strangely powerful. It would be a big change as the original has a narrator, totally different start and finish and was intended to be about loving and accepting someone in a way that allows them to be free. I didnt realise (although the narrator is the male character you see in the film) that the focus would be on him so much although again I have left out lots of scenes with the female character for this music video.

For me (you decide for yourself, you will think of something better) I was thinking about how my mother who never owned a motorcycle had so much trouble with them. She has been in love with a (short) string of motorcyclists not intentionally although who knows? We spent many years (I am her only son who does not fall off a motorbike regularly) touring the hospitals of Britain scooping up her husbands and sons after they had snapped their stupid arms, legs and necks and left tiny parts of themselves on the surfaces of race tracks and roads up and down the country. Thankfully my partner does not ride motorcycles nor does she parachute or bunjee jump or….

I think i was thinking about my mother and the way she lived happily in harmony next to her partners maleness even when it was genuinely life threatening. Of course she complained when they were hurt and perhaps she was just with the wrong men, perhaps she should have looked for watercolourists who like books like any sensible woman but if I asked her about this she would look at me as if I was surprised that the dog had barked.

Thank you so much for watching . very much hope you get some pleasure or enjoyment from my film X

‘ABOVE’- 2021

Concept art for (up coming) full length animation based in Warsaw 1943.

Garden study. Night.

‘Garden study (daytime)’

‘German soldiers including principle officer and dog plus collaborator’.

‘Three principle characters- Nina, Benia, Anya’

‘Albisia’- principle character in her kitchen with the entrance to the crawl space above the cooker.

‘Stork on roof from opening titles’

‘Train and cattle truck studies’

‘Guard dog studies’

‘Marcin and Andrej see the Russian tank which means the war is over.’

‘Horse and rocket scene’

‘The Germans retreat using anything they can find.’

‘Studies for the German officers’

‘Studies for Albisia’s nightmare.’

‘ABOVE’ poster concept

Currently in pre-production 2021.

All concept work in Photoshop, Procreate and Illustrator, copywright Tony O’Keeffe/ AGATOn Animation studio 2021