Shrewsbury Doodle Boy, 12, signs Nike deal

A 12-year-old illustrator has signed a deal with sports brand Nike.

Joe, from Shrewsbury, also known as The Doodle Boy, will work to encourage people to be more creative and promote the firm online.

He signed as a co-creator and said "it was one of my dreams".

The young doodler's first book, Game of Scones, a children's fiction publication featuring his illustrations, is due out later.

"Nike is such a big thing and there'll be loads of fun stuff coming up soon that I'm really excited for," he said.

His father, Greg Whale, said the Game of Scones book, written by author Eric Luper, would be part of a series by Joe, Bad Food.

He said the book was geared "around characters Joe likes to draw" and his son "loves drawing characters from food and monsters and stationery".

Joe said the publication was "about a school... when all of the kids and the teachers go home, all of the food and the supplies and everything come alive".

He added: "There's loads of food fights and battles... it was very fun to do."

Joe also did a live event at St Mary's in Shrewsbury this week with light artist Andy McKeown.

"I was able to draw on a church, so it was projected and I would have this digital pad and instead of looking at it while I was drawing, I'd have to look at the church.

"It looks really cool."

Another project he has been involved with is a music video being released in collaboration with the Shropshire musician Henry Maybury, which also includes Joe's twin, Jesse, on guitar.

The song, Starship, was written about The Doodle Boy by Mr Maybury, who said it would be performed at the fanzone area at about 14:00 GMT on Saturday before Shrewsbury Town's home game against Bolton Wanderers.

Joe's dad said: "It's been a rollercoaster couple of years with both of them actually.

"Jesse was being modest, but he played lead boy role at Shrewsbury theatre just before this all came out with Joe. So they certainly keep me busy these two boys."

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