About Diplodicus & Sealion

When my kids started diving headfirst into reading, they fell in love with comic books, full of bold pictures, silly jokes, and wild, wacky adventures. The more they read, the more I thought: wouldn’t it be fun to make a comic just for them? Something I could write and draw, that we could giggle over together at bedtime.

And that was how Diplodicus & Sealion began!

I made each story exactly four pages long so I could print them on a single folded A4 sheet at home, perfect mini comics, just the right size for little hands (and short attention spans).

They appear on this website in the order I made them.

These goofy little stories bring me so much joy to make, I hope they bring many smiles to you too.

As Sealion would say… Tally Bally Ho!

Photo of the original comics Andy printed for the kids

About me

Hi, I’m Andy! I’m a graphic designer and illustrator living in lovely Surrey with my wife, our two wild little kids, and a black cat named Martha who thinks she runs the place (she almost certainly does).

I like bold colours, silly stories, and characters who take nonsense very seriously.

When I’m not doodling ridiculous stories or chasing after children and cats, I’m usually running. Oh, and I’ve got long hair. Like, cartoon-villain-in-the-wind long hair. It’s part of the creative process. Probably.

How it’s made

Diplodicus & Sealion is written, illustrated, coloured, and shaded entirely by hand by me, using an iPad and Procreate.

I keep things deliberately simple: I only ever use two brushes in Procreate. One for sketching, and one for inking (and pretty much everything else). I never change the brush size, and I work with a very minimal colour palette.

Below is a list of some of the main bits of gear I use to bring these comics to life.

Apple Pencil (2nd generation)

An incredible bit of kit. Paired with a pencil grip, I can draw with it for hours and hours without any discomfort.

iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation)

I’ve had this for a few years now and the M1 chip with 256GB of storage is more than enough for everything I do. The larger screen size is the real winner though.

Paperlike 3 iPad Screen Protector

Super expensive, but worth it. It makes the iPad feel like you’re drawing on paper. I really didn’t want to like these… but I love them.

Paperlike Drawing Glove

I’ve tried loads of different drawing gloves over the years, and these are by far my favourite. Comfortable, simple, and they just work.

Paperlike Pencil Grips

Like the gloves, I’ve tested a lot of grips, but these win for one very important reason: you don’t have to take them off to charge the pencil.

Procreate

This is the only drawing app I’ve ever used on the iPad and I genuinely can’t fault it. Whether I’m drawing comics, sketching ideas, or painting, it’s just brilliant.

Meet the cast

The forest is full of wacky, colourful characters guaranteed to make you giggle. Some are kind, helpful, and loving, while others have a worrying enthusiasm for blowing things to pieces with enormous space cannons. There’s truly something for everyone.