White Christmas and a very cold Winter
Mountain life
Supermouse 2, Little Tiger Press - finished
Sky Pirates - The Dragon’s Gold, Simon & Schuster - finished
If You’re Spooky and You Know it, Ladybird - finished
New commissions - The Magical Library series with Billy Bones.
My author/illustrated picture book written, thumbnailed and pitched at the book fairs (fingers crossed)
Lots of personal work done, new ideas for stories
Lots of hiking
Time to sell our house…plans are afoot
Love France. Residency card sorted, first french tax return done, lots more words learnt.
‘Christmas is a light that won’t be dimmed, shining brightly, illuminating the joy we share.’
Always Together at Christmas
I was commissioned to do this book earlier in the Summer knowing from the outset the challenge that lay ahead. From start to finish I had one week to get it done and and sent off to print by the publisher. The single most difficult project that I’ve taken on since becoming an Illustrator in 2003.
Thankfully, everyone pulled together, even Jessica my wife who helped me out in the dimly lit wee hours of August. There were a few very late nights and some early morning finishes and it took a few days to recover, but we made it.
2020
So another year has flown past and my single update per annum continues (at least there’s one!) I will try therefore to give an overview of what has happened in the last 12-18 months :
Don’t Close Your Eyes published with HarperCollins US
Supermouse published with Liontree (Little Tiger)
Karate Kid published with Running Press in the US
I designed the 2019 and 2020 Newark Book Festival postcard (image below)
The portfolio was boosted with some new pieces of artwork
Newark Book Festival 2020 Postcard Design
Life-wise :
We came to France
We adopted a dog
We have climbed mountains, hills and walked many many kms
I have chopped, split, stacked and burnt a lot of wood (I now craft things out of wood too!)
Col de Pause, April 2019
Zelda, Port de Salau, 2019
I have learnt A LOT of French and the list goes on, but it has been a lot of fun!
Back to the work front and late last Summer (2019) I was asked to come up with some concepts for a fantastic new middle-grade series called ‘Sky Pirates’ written by Alex English, the first book publishing July 23rd 2020 with Simon & Schuster.
It is a fantastic story with everything you could hope for in an adventure story. From airships, giant butterflies and crazy professors to mechanical dragons and pirates. A massive thanks to Simon & Schuster for giving me the opportunity to illustrate this series, it has been a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing the first book in the shops!
While most of the artwork I’ve kept under wraps, below are a few sneak peeks at what to expect :
News...So Much News!
So it's only been.....four months since my last post!! This year has been the busiest on record and I've been involved in all sorts of different things alongside my commissioned picture books from painting sculptures and animating trailers to designing book festival postcards and prints for charity. It's all been happening and I'm looking forward to a break away in France later this Summer.
KNIGHTS TRAIL
The year started off with this chap (not me the other guy) :
I was fortunate enough to have my design selected for this years Lincoln Knights Trail to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Battle of Lincoln and the sealing of the Charter of the Forest. There are many Wild In Art trails that are put on around the country and this was the second time that one of these events has been hosted in my hometown of Lincoln so I was very proud to be involved. It was great to do some physical artwork away from the studio and the screen (he was stored in my garage) and while it was a challenge in areas it was a lot of fun to do and I'm very pleased with the outcome. Here's the sculpture in place at Lincoln College who were the sponsors :
I'll be putting together a separate area on this website for everything Knights Trail related, from the initial design to work in progress shots, so I'll keep this brief for now.
I also designed some prints, an animated trailer and a billboard to go alongside this sculpture. The prints are being sold here in Lincoln at the Visitor Information Centre as well as my Etsy shop (which will go live again very soon) The trailer can be viewed here on my website or over on my Vimeo Channel :
I'll post up images of the billboard when it's up on the building but it was the biggest piece of artwork I've had to do so far measuring 4m x 3m.
If you are in the area be sure to check out the Knights Trail as there are some fantastic designs on show and plenty of good pubs along the way.
JAKE BAKES A MONSTER CAKE
As well as painting this sculpture I also had my commissioned picture book work to do which included Jake Bakes a Monster Cake, my next book publishing with Macmillan in September. It's written by the fabulous Lucy Rowland (Pirate Pete and his Smelly Feet) and features Jake who wants to cook up a storm in the kitchen and bake his best friend Sam a cake. His friends, however, have other ideas! It was a lot of fun to do and the paperback version comes with stinky stickers, similar to Pirate Pete (these smell worse though!)
This will be available later this year in all good bookshops and online from the 7th September.
SPIDER!
Then it was onto Spider! written by the fabulous Alison Steadman (Gavin & Stacey, Abigails Party, The Singing Detective) and publishing with Hodder Childrens. The story follows Rafael and his pet cat on a journey discovering about the common house spider and why they really aren't that scary. I've always been a fan of spiders and I think they get some bad press sometimes so it was great to work on a book that details how amazing these eight-legged mini-beasts really are. The book includes lots of facts and figures about spiders along the way so it makes for a fun educational book as well.
It was great to work on this title with the Hodder team so looking forward to many more. This book will be out in all good bookshops and online in October.
AOI WORLD ILLUSTRATION AWARDS
This took me by surprise I have to say as I've always held this award in high regard, so to be shortlisted out of the thousands of images sent in was a proud moment in my career as an Illustrator. The World Illustration Awards is judged by industry professionals and it always showcases an array of different work so to be included amongst the incredible talent that was shortlisted was fantastic. You can read a blog that my agency wrote about it here.
I entered my piece 'We Will Remember' which was a personal image I came up with last year to commemorate the 100 years since the Battle of the Somme and Armistice Day :
I'm looking to take this image further as I feel there's more to say so watch this space!
COTTAGES DE GARRIGUES
I'd been asked to design a logo by two of our friends who are setting up their Gîte business in the South-West of France. Cottages de Garrigues is a fantastic 17th century farmhouse in the Dordogne offering three gîtes for rent with acres of woods and countryside surrounding it. They wanted a simple pen & ink/pencil sketch look to the design, so after looking at many different photos of their building I put something together :
NEWARK BOOK FESTIVAL
More recently I was asked to design an image to be used on a limited edition postcard to be given away during the Newark Book Festival in July. The brief was fairly open but it had to include elements of Newark (the castle, marketplace etc) and a character that can be used each year to coincide with the relevant theme. This year it's 'Adventures and Heroes' so I decided to go down the Sherlock Holmes (Mouse Detective) route with my design. I initially did two designs but felt the first one wasn't answering the brief well enough so started on the second which works much better :
I'll also be doing a 'Pirate Pete' event with my author Lucy Rowland so if you're in the area you can purchase tickets here Newark Book Festival. Come along for some Piratey fun (clothes pegs recommended!)
I've now pretty much caught up with everything that's been happening these past few months. Currently working on my next picture book which is with Amazon, Mrs Claus Takes the Reins. Santa Claus is sick and can't deliver the presents, so there's only one thing for it :
Mrs Claus steps in!! :)
Updates Coming Soon!
So apologies for the lack of updates in this news section recently. I've been so busy and I've been doing all sorts from picture books to painting sculptures to animating picture book trailers. I'll provide more information very soon but in the meantime, here's a spider for a thing I'm currently working on! :)
Updates coming very soon!
Too Many Moose
There are moose on the horizon and lots of them! :)
With the publication of 'Too Many Moose' around the corner I thought I'd put a little making of together for this book. So here's how this book written by the fab Lisa M. Bakos came together.
From the outset the book needed to start calmly and then descend into a lot of moosey chaos. I wanted to keep the illustration style bright, colourful and quite minimal in areas as the whole focus was on Martha and her ten moose. So the use of white space in the book was important and how I could keep the pages interesting but not overload them at the same time.
The first step was to come up with the moose character himself :
This is the first moose that Martha orders and so I wanted to keep him fairly plain and as normal looking as possible. As she orders more the various other moose have their own characteristics to separate them from each other. This moose design was successfully signed off so then I moved onto developing the cover for what was then the original title 'Mail Order Moose'
Initial moose thumbnails
Some early cover ideas. I had the thought of using letters and envelopes as a border to frame the two main characters.
This set of cover ideas were moving in the direction the publisher wanted however and we decided to go with number two.
Going to art with the chosen design, everyone felt the moose looked a bit unhappy at being wrapped up in a load of parcel tape (wouldn't you be too?) also Martha needed to look happier and more animated to express her joy at receiving her first moose.
I also went to colour on one other idea I had, to see what it would look like and to give the publisher a choice just in case. While this looked alright it was felt that we needed to see the whole moose and not just his head stuck through a letterbox. The type that I created was working well though so we used this in the subsequent rounds of cover designs as well as the stamp concept.
So it moved onto Martha literally falling off her feet with excitement and our moose bursting out of a box. The colours used here were perceived as a bit 'Christmassy' and as it's a Summer publication they needed to change. The slightly washed out moose in the background were to change as well as the cover wasn't leaping out enough.
The box has been changed as well as a stripy yellow background added. It's much more of an inviting cover now however the type couldn't be read from a distance very easily so this was also refined.
…and this is the final final, final cover after lots of tweaking. The title changed towards the end of the project too after the publisher addressed a slight issue.
When it came to the spreads themselves I wanted them to look interesting and slightly different to how I've done previous books. I'm always playing around with styles and tweaking how pages are designed so I experimented a bit as you can see with one of the final spreads below when Martha orders a second moose (much to the dislike of the first one)
A spread full of maple tea, movies and makeovers.
It was a great project to work on and I'm very pleased with the final outcome so I hope everyone has as much fun with this book as I did making it. Many thanks to the fab Sourcebooks team for all their hard work and for making it their feature book in the recent catalogue :
Don't forget to visit the 'Moose Mart' to choose your own moose, name it and then share it with your friends…because everyone needs at least one more moose! :)
Look out for the 'Too Many Moose' trailer which will be EXCLUSIVELY released during publication week (5th July)
Too Many Moose is available at all good bookshops and online including :
Don't forget to look for the hidden envelope on each page! :)
3000 Chairs
In May Illustrators, authors and children responded to a publication of Nicola Davies's poem The Day The War Came which drew attention to the 3000 unaccompanied Syrian children that the UK government decided not to give a safe place to stay. Nicola called on everyone who was outraged by this to paint, draw or sketch an empty chair and then share it on Twitter.
Here was my contribution :
You can read more about this campaign and see the other chairs that were sent in here
Illustrator Interview
It's been a very busy year already full of moose, pirates and dinosaurs. I've got some very exciting news to share with everyone but I can't quite yet plus there's the upcoming 'Too many Moose' trailer that will be EXCLUSIVELY revealed during publication week (5th July)
In the meantime I was kindly interviewed by Gabriela Gonzalez, an illustrator living and working and Belgium and who is the Regional Illustrator Coordinator for the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, Belgium.
The link to my interview is here so I hope it offers some good advice to all those looking to dive into illustration :)
New Studio, New Year!
Happy New Year!
2016 is off and running and January has already flown by. I'm also very late getting round to updating everything on here so apologies for that. However it's been a very busy start to the new year!
So what's been going on since my last news update way back forever ago in August last year. The Bright Group Christmas party was fun as always being held at the new Bright Emporium which is a fantastic new gallery space that also hosts book readings and other events. Now in my thirteenth year represented by Bright this new premises will open up a whole new dimension to the agency and I'm very proud to be a part of it.
Martha from 'Too Many Moose' on the Bright Emporium window
Over the Christmas and New Year period I also moved out of my old studio and into my new one at home. There were many factors that contributed to moving out after being there for seven years but sometimes you need a fresh look and a change. After all….…change is good! It's certainly worked out very well for me as I'm really happy with how the new studio has come together, even turning my hand to carpet fitting in the process. But the end result has produced a very creative, inspiring space to work in. I've filled it with all my books and prints that I've acquired over the years, it's also energised me into picking up my paints and pencils again. Sadly I downed these tools for far too many years and decided to sit in front of a tablet. Digital artwork is fantastic and the majority of my work is produced using lots of different custom-made brushes and textures in Photoshop, however it's been great to pick up a brush again and 'retrain' myself using traditional media. Currently working up some pieces in the style below as they've been well received so I'm very pleased with how it's going!
The new studio
Hare in Snow
Time for a nap
Winter trees
Inky whale
Work-wise I don't think I've been busier. Around some of the smaller projects I've got on I'm currently writing and drawing up the concepts for the next two 'Brian the Smelly Bear' books with Hinkler in Australia, one involves a love interest for old Brian and the other…..well you'll have to find out but things get a little bit crazy for him let's just say that. Also my work with Macmillan is moving forward at a rate of knots. Revised roughs are being drawn up and the cover has just been approved for 'Pirate Pete and his Smelly Feet' so it can go into the Rights Guide. Sneak peek coming soon!
As well as all this I was asked by Cygnet Ink to come up with an image of our fantastic cathedral here in the city of Lincoln. It's currently for sale in the cathedral shop and will be online here very soon!
I chose to do the iconic West Front which is the main entrance of this incredible building. I wanted to keep to a very simple design and a limited colour palette while giving it a contemporary feel.
The West Front
So all in all it's a busy time in the new studio. Bologna Children's Book Fair is just around the corner which I'll be visiting again this year, we've managed to get a fantastic place in the middle of the city with a roof terrace so drinks round ours. Looking forward to catching up with friends and publishers out there and generally having a few days away from the studio. I'll be sorting my personal shop on here out at some point as well where you'll be able to buy limited edition prints.
In the meantime, watch this space for more news! :)
What's Been Happening?
So two months have passed since my last update (sorry!) but I have been very busy with various things and time has flown by! So what's been going on since May?
It's been moose, moose, moose for a while and we're now at the artwork stage for Mail Order Moose which is great news. It's been a lot of fun to do and it's really coming together. The cover artwork has been approved and we're just tinkering with the type so it stands out on the shelf and it'll be good to go. There's been a few versions of the front cover and I'll post up some cover developments for this very soon.
Everyone loves colouring in moose! :)
It's also been a very busy time for parties and book do's. Had a great time catching up with friends at Benji Davies's Grandad's Island book launch and overdosed on watermelon and chewy teeth! :)
Then there was a golden invitation onto a pirate ship for the fab launch of Fred Blunt's Captain Falsebeard. With an inflatable parrot in one hand and some grog in the other, much fun was had that could only be described as 'ARRRRRRRR!!' Particular mention to my agency Bright Group International for organising such a great shindig and here is Fred himself with some of my fellow landlubbers! :)
I've just signed a very exciting two book deal with a fantastic publisher and I'll be posting this very smelly news soon.
To round everything off I went to the very impressive RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) building on Great Portland street for the Macmillan Summer party. Saw some familiar faces and met some new ones, all in all a lovely evening, many thanks to Macmillan and my editor Laura Roberts for the invite.
So onwards into the rest of the Summer. Coming up I've got Yasmeen's book launch for I'm a Girl, meetings, the annual Bright Summer Picnic (always a laugh) and then onto France for a well earned break (plus a bit of work on the side plus sun….and wine……….and cheese!)
Oh…..and more moose! :)
VE Day 70
'Never was so much owed by so many to so few'
Bologna Book Fair 2015
So this years' Bologna Book Fair has been and gone and by the sounds of it the agent's at Bright had a seriously busy few days showing all the new artwork produced by the fab scribblers being represented. Massive thanks to them for all their hard work and energy that they put into this year's fair. Looking forward to 2016 when I'll be going again and *fingers crossed* my author/illustrated picture book will be on show! :)
Mail Order Moose
Original moose character concepts
I recently had to do some samples for a pitch out in the US on a book called Mail Order Moose. It was great fun drawing this guy and seeing how he'd work. The story contains so many moose/mooses/meese that I'll be able to draw them with my eyes closed by the end of it.
We're busy working on the cover idea at the moment and it's due for a Summer 2016 release so keep your peepers open for these mooses then :)
Solar Eclipse
A fantastic natural phenomenon occurred the other day and I thought I'd doodle a quick illustration to mark it. Solar eclipses happen from time to time and to experience one is an incredible feeling. Twilight at 0930 as you're having your breakfast is very strange and where I live in the UK about 90% of the sun was blocked out.
Roll on 2026 when we see the next one!
World Book Day
Happy World Book Day!
Sunnyside School Friends
I've been recently working on a nine book series with Simon & Schuster and Sainsbury's and I received the advance copies of the first three books the other week. It's a series of picture books about Abby, Ella, Joey, Bethany, Arun, Dylan and Daisy and what they get up to at school. From digging up dinosaur bones on the beach to looking after the classrooms' ted, it's a fun little series to work on (plus each book comes with stickers, WIN!) :)
Happy New Year!
So in the blink of an eye 2014 is over and we've welcomed in 2015. I had a great festive period out in France eating and drinking as much as I could to build up my 'winter coat'. I also had my latest picture book 'Superlove' written by Cherise Harper published with Knopf Random House out in the US. A fun story perfect for little girls and if you like moody cats! :)
For now it's right back to work and it's a very busy start to the new year for me. I'm carrying on with the nine book series I have with Simon & Schuster and Sainsbury's, we're now on book four with book one to three published very soon.
I've just started a new book series with Simon & Schuster US about a pair of kids that get up to all sorts of adventures in New York so I'm designing the cover jacket for that at the moment.
'My Hamster is a Genius' written by the fab Dave Lowe is up for the Worcestershire Awesomest Book Award with the winner announced in March, so fingers crossed for Stinky & Jinks!
I've also been sent a nice little project with Ladybird, there's new work to do for the upcoming Bologna Book Fair and also my first author/illustrated book that I'm currently writing.
So it's pretty much all go!!
5000 Superfans!
I've just hit 5000 likes over on my Facebook fan page and just wanted to say a MASSIVE thank you to you all for the continued support and fantastic comments. Really appreciate it and glad you're enjoying what I post up! :)
Superlove *Coming Soon*
A new picture book by Charise Harper that I did the scribbles for is coming out this Winter. Perfect for little girls, it even has a magic wand in it!!
Places to purchase Superlove :
Below are some development sketches for this book and shows how the main character of the book came together….
Bright Literary
My agency Bright Group International have just finished putting the final touches to a fantastic new literary site. Here's a snapshot of the 'Rising Stars' page which I'm very proud to be a part of alongside some great people and superb scribblers!
I am currently working on my first author/illustrated book using a shiny new style so keep your eyes open for updates! :)
