Illustration

Michael Tyrrell

Illustration of three anthropomorphic dogs in forest, one with a wet foot from stream, the other two laughing

Watch my animated loading screen

Hi! I’m Michael and I’m a Cambridgeshire-based illustrator with a passion for narrative and character focused art.

I love exploring storytelling in my work, and I’m always trying to take an imaginative approach to everything I do. I aim to tell stories that are sensitive and relatable, but with a distinct playful edge.

My inspirations draw largely from the world of graphic novels and other sequential art mediums, which have helped make dynamic compositions, sensitive colour work and intriguing characters all important focuses of my work. While I specialise in digital art, I have a background in traditional drawing and painting that lets me inject a sense of life and texture into all my pieces.

In my work you can always expect to see my uniquely playful perspective shine through, but also plenty of dumb little dogs in dumb little situations.


I split my Final Major Project into three separate projects, all with a focus on character and storytelling.

For my first project, I created an animated loading screen for a hypothetical visual novel game. The animation loops endlessly and depicts a lively scene featuring three spirited dog characters on a hike out in the forest. For this project, I aimed to create a vibrant scene full of life and whimsy to capture any viewer’s curiosity.

For my second project, I concepted the first chapter of an original graphic, titled ÆNIMAL. The graphic novel would follow the story of a young fox who finds his life mysteriously intertwined with a dog who fell from the sky one fateful night, with the first chapter detailing the circumstances of their first meeting. The pages on display here are taken from the context of this larger introductory chapter.

For my third project, I created an animatic based on the events of a visual novel called The Smoke Room. The animatic serves as a prototype for a theoretical final animation, used potentially as a trailer or promotional piece for the game.

Illustrated graphic novel cover for "Aenimal",  showing back of anthropomorphic dog in water at night
Frame from graphic novel showing anthropomorphic fox sitting in bed texting somebody, with dialogue captions hinting at its regrets
Graphic novel frame showing anthropomorphic fox resting head on backpack in field,  having conversation with someone out of frame
Illustration of anthropomorphic fox and dog wearing stylish clothes, including scarves and coats, stand together, engaging in conversation.
Illustration of face of anthropomorphic dog with moustache wearing shirt and braces with blood running down side of head onto shoulder
Illustration of two anthropomorphic dogs facing each other in a desert with cacti
The cover for a speculative original graphic novel: “ÆNIMAL”, for which I produced one chapter as part of my final major project A spread of finished pages for my speculative original graphic novel: “ÆNIMAL”, for which I produced one chapter as part of my final major project A second spread of finished pages for my speculative original graphic novel: “ÆNIMAL”, for which I produced one chapter as part of my final major project The designs for my graphic novel’s two main characters. Watch my narrative animatic for a conceptual animated trailer based on “The Smoke Room” visual novel A second frame from my animatic, fully worked up to a finished level – to visualise how the animatic may look as a fully produced trailer