Hey Everyone,

It’s been a fair while since my last proper post (bar the flowery photos a couple of weeks ago) as I’ve been consumed with project work (more so than normal).

There has been SO much going on behind the scenes as I’ve got my head deeply implanted in a few new games! Exciting stuff!

The main projects that have been consuming my time are a kick ass facebook game for the guys over at Aranim, a suuuper exciting game for the guys at Thunder Game Works and some more epic MMO action for the Haypi team.

I’ve been lucky enough to spend the VAST majority of this time illustrating too.  To give you a rough idea, I’ve probably put together something like 50 new characters over the past few months, people, soldiers, zombies, animals, monsters, dragons, you name it, it’s been bloody marvellous!  I also got to try my hand at matte painting on two separate projects too, something I’ve always fancied a pop at.  It was a steep learning curve but I was exceptionally happy with the final results…I just need the respective projects to launch so I can release them :)

Add into this lots of other smaller projects and you can expect some rather epic updates to FI over the coming months.  I genuinely cannot wait to get all these things out into the public eye!

The other very exciting sideline project I’m cooking up is Fully Illustrated’s first dedicated iPad app!  But watch this space for a dedicated blog post about that soon, it’s shaping up rather nicely!  And note the word app, not game ;)

Catch you all soon.

Mike.

Happy New Year everyone!

Wow, what a fantastic year 2010 was!  I can’t believe it’s over already, it seems to have come and gone in the blink of an eye.

I’m looking back at 2010 to try and pick out a particular highlight (other than the obvious one of becoming a dad!), but I have to say that I was blessed last year with so many superb projects and opportunities.  I guess what’s needed here is a HUGE THANK YOU to all my kick ass clients!  Guys, you all rock and keep me smiling from ear to ear :)

2011 promises some amazing new events for Fully Illustrated too, a lot of which are focused around the iPhone and iPad, but I’m also very excited about my new relationship with the legends that are Microsoft Game Studio.  The Neosaurs project was one hell of a way to end 2010, it’s given me a lot to strive for this year.  I also can’t wait to announce some other BIG relationships that I’ve got in the mix at the moment.  Once I’m able to officially announce more I surely will! I know that sounds very cloak and dagger, but NDA’s have the last word in my book ;)

And last but most surely not least, a big thanks to all the wonderful people that visit Fully Illustrated so often and are kind enough to drop me a mail, it’s great to see you returning on such a regular basis.  I’ll try my level best to keep the site as regularly updated as its always been.

Here’s to an exciting 2011!!!

Mike.

Hey Everyone,

Well, that was the first 2 weeks break in over 2 years, and boy was it good!  I’m now fully re-charged and ready for action!

I’ve got a mountain of emails to work through, so if your awaiting a response, I’ll be with you as soon as I can :)

I was greeted back with one enquiry that has really made my day too, from one of my all time favourite old school games companies!  I cant say any more than that for now, but boy am I excited!

I’ve got a whole ream of new releases to get into the portfoio pages too, including trailers, games, websites, the lot, so watch this space!

Thanks!

Mike.

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick one to let you know that all of a sudden I’ve just recieved a whole swathe of great press!  I just had to let out the excitement somewhere :)  My dinosaur character that came to life on my iPad has been featured in .NET Magazine and Mac Format! And to add to that, Voodoo Controllers has been featured in .NET Mag too, scooping site of the month!  What a lovely contrast to all that god awful hacking and copying!

You can take a look at all the coverage over in the press section.

Oh, and I also got a rather lovely mention in the 3 Circle Studio Podcast last week too!  They ran a podcast on ‘The Most Inspiring Creatives‘ and they chose to include little old me (about 33mins in)…flattered is a bloody understatement!  Thanks guys!!

Mike.

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that Fully Illustrated has been under attack recently from some unscupulous hackers and pirates.  This past week has seen the site hacked and copied a number of times.  I’ve got a number of people helping out at Media Temple, WordPress, Codefor plus assistance from a kind friend Ben Hogan, so a quick thanks to you guys for all your continued support and help, its much appreciated!

Fully Illustrated gets ripped off about once a month, but recently the site has been copied no less than 6 times in 4 weeks, which is very annoying and time consuming, as speaking to the relevant hosts, infringer’s, and my solicitor, becomes a full time job.  But rest assured, anyone that copies this site will be followed up via legal channels.

A quick thanks to the kind folks that let me know when they see my work being used elsewhere too!!

So, if you spot any strange goings on, on the pages of Fully Illustrated, it will be down to this, so please bear with us as we sort the issue out.

Thanks.

Mike.

Hey Everyone!

Wow, things have been ultra quiet on the site recently, sorry about that!  I’ve been buried under some sersiously intense deadlines for some seriously fun projects.  Here’s a few specific updates to let you know what’s been going on…

Websites:
I’ve been working on a whole host of sites recently, all of which are awaiting release and most of which (bizarrely) are MMO related!  I’ve gone from doing almost no MMO related games and sites to working on 5! Crazy and immense fun at the same time!

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Games:

Wii:
I’m back to work on the Wii game that I started over a year ago (which was paused for about 6-8months) so there will be loads more info on that beauty as it becomes public.  I’m bloody loving this project!

Steam & X360:
For the past few weeks I’ve been working (hard…very, very hard) on the menu’s, HUD and general UI for a kick ass new game that’s due out on Steam and X360.  This is one of, if not the most amazing project I’ve had the honour of working on, its been a blast!  Again, more info soon.

iPhone & iPad:
Man, this industry is booming right now and the amount of iPhone related enquiries I’m seeing is mind boggling.  At the moment I’m working on (working on also includes completed and as yet un-released) 4 new iPhone games and 1 iPad game with a mixture of companies, all of which have been great to work on!  Unfortunetly, none of them are under the Joystick Generals as JG is on pause for the next few months until both Chris and I can settle our current crazy schedules.

Web:
Yep, I’m dabbling in some web games at the moment, actually, more specifically Facebook games on the whole, creating the UI for 3 MMO’s.  This is fairly new territory for me and has been amazing to work on.  I cannot wait to get them into the portfolio.

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Email Delays:
I know I post this message about every 2 months, but its back again.  Due to my workload there has been A HUUUUGE backlog on my email replies and I am doing all that I can to get back to everyone, so if your waiting, thanks for being patient, I havent forgotten about you and I WILL be back in touch as soon as I can.

Thanks everyone, watch this space, there is lots to be released :)

Mike.

Hey Everyone,

I just thought you may like to know that I was recently interviewed by the guys over at The Design Inspiration and its now online.  The Design Inspiration is a great resource, and is one that I use for Illustration inspiration all the time as they’ve always got some great articles and artist showcases on, so it was rather nice to have been invited along!

The interview covers a whole host of things, which hopefully some of you may find of interest.

Take a peek…

http://thedesigninspiration.com/articles/the-founder-of-fully-illustrated-micheal-heald/

Thanks.

Mike.

Hey everyone,

Just a quick post to say that I’ll be back to full speed really soon.

On top of the huge influx of enquiries that have been flooding in (thanks everyone!!), I became a dad a couple of weeks ago, so life has just got a whole load busier and brilliant ;)  He arrived a little earlier than expected, so its played havoc (albeit rather amazing and wonderful havoc) with my calender, and I’ll be getting back to everyone as soon as possible.  So if your waiting for a reply, I do apologise for the delay and I will be back to you very soon.

Added to all this, Super Turbo Action Pig went into Beta testing recently (thanks for the testing everyone) and is now having a some cool extras thrown in based on some very awesome feedback.  Soooooo, the game is going to be ready really soon (I know I’ve been saying this since November ;) and the site is launch ready!

2010 is proving to be a rather marvelous and exciting year!

Catch you all soon.

Mike.

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post a quick apology for the current delay in email replies.  I’m  seeing a huge influx of enquiries at the moment and the result of which has meant that I am struggling to reply in a timely manner.  So for anyone awaiting a reply, I apologise for the wait.

I’ll be getting back to everyone as soon as I possibly can.

I hope the delay doesnt cause you any inconvenience.

Thanks.

Mike.

It’s a little late, but happy new year everyone!

2009 was simply a brilliant year, so many fun projects and so many fun clients! The past year was a dream come true for me, as after 10 years working in this industry, it is only now, since setting up on my own, that I am finally doing the kinds of work I’ve always dreamed of. I want to say thanks to all my awesome clients and the ace folks that keep popping back to this little site to see what’s been going on!

My dream had always been to be working with games companies, and just shy of 2 years into my voyage, I seem to be living that dream and I feel so thankful to everyone out there that has helped me to this point. My very first games jobs were for the guys at Toribash and Data Realms, so to Hampus and Daniel, I say a BIG THANK YOU for both your business and your kind referrals, as I truly believe that it is you that helped set the wheels in motion.

2010 is shaping up to be pretty bloomin exciting too, I’m soon to be launching the Joystick Generals with Chris Wilson, I have a lovely line up of exciting projects and to top it all off, Trenches, the first major iPhone game that I was the Art Director on, has hit the top 5 best selling paid apps worldwide, blooming awesome! Anyway, I’m starting to get all emotional lol, so without further ado, I want to say a big hello to 2010 and I cannot wait to see what you have in store!

Mike.