Illustration Friday: Savour

Croc and Sam liked to savour their spaghetti!

Illustration Friday: Sneaky

Here is a sneaky peek of my christmas card design for this year which I have been working on over the weekend. I haven't quite decided how I'm going to format the card but it may involve some embossing and maybe some die-cutting too.....it depends on how much time I have to make them all!

Illustration Friday: Afterwards

It's a tenuous one this week but I ran a giveaway on my blog which finished last week and afterwards I made this picture to send to the winner ( along with many other goodies)! I hope Kerrie will like it.....

Gaspard and Lisa on You Tube!

I've just finished working part-time as a texture artist for Impossible TV. This was on a new animated series called Gaspard and Lisa, based on the books by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben. The first countries to air the series are France and Japan. Click here to see a trail for the Japanese version or here for the French version of the title sequence. It's very exciting to see it finished and spot all the textures that David (the art director) and I made!

There's also a clip from the English version here!

GIVEAWAY: My Biggest and Best Yet!!!-THE RESULTS

I'm pleased to say that I can now announce the winner of my latest giveaway courtesy of the random number generator......drum roll please....Kerrie! Congratulations to you. So far my giveaway prizes have gone to USA, UK and now Australia! A big thank you to all of you who entered - please keep visiting:)

Illustration Friday: Spent

All Billy's energy was spent!

Sorry I've been quiet for a couple of weeks - I've been away and am now desperately trying to write up new ideas as I'm visiting my publisher next week to discuss them...eek!

Remember there's only a couple of days left to enter my giveaway - it's definitely worth winning so please take a look here.

Illustration Friday: Spooky!

I know it's a bit silly but when I noted the word spooky down for this week's topic all I kept seeing was a pair of crazy glasses!

If you haven't already entered by biggest and best ever giveaway....please do! Just click here.

I thought I'd include my rough sketches too - you can probably tell they're done on an off-cut of scrap paper that was lying on my desk!

Today's the Day!

Today is the day that Not Me! is officially published by Egmont USA. I've added links to the book on Barnes and Noble and Borders' websites (just in case)!

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway if you'd like to win some goodies......

Coventry Inspiration Book Awards 2011

I had some brilliant news a few days ago - Not Me! has been shortlisted for the Coventry Inspiration Book Awards 2011 in the Never Too Young category (ages 0-4). The books are nominated by the public and then shortlisted for voting. You can see the other books on the shortlist here. The voting is like X-Factor as the books with the least votes are gradually knocked out - the winner is announced in March 2011!

Thanks to everyone involved for nominating and including Not Me! on the shortlist.

If you would like to enter my current giveaway please click here.

GIVEAWAY: My Biggest and Best Yet!!!

To celebrate the publication of Not Me! by Egmont USA on 12th October I am pleased to announce my latest giveaway. As it's a big one I'm leaving it open for 3 weeks so all entries must be in by midnight(GMT) on 31st October (Halloween)!

What you can win:

A signed hardback copy of Not Me! (UK first-edition) with a dedication of your choice

A set of promotional postcards

A sheet of stickers

2 handmade christmas cards

AND

A small artwork featuring the Not Me! character of your choice done especially for you. This will be a one-off piece and therefore unique.

Postcards!

Stickers!

Two handmade christmas cards(may vary from picture as all individual).....

Pick a character for your own special artwork!

To win all you have to do is be publicly following this blog - if you're not following already just click on the Follow button in the right-hand side bar(that way I'll be able to contact you if you're the winner) and leave a comment below by the end of October. I'll pick a winner out of a hat once the giveaway is closed. It's that easy. Good luck!

Cornwall

I've spent the last week on holiday in Cornwall. Prepared for the worst weather, I took lots of work and reading with me but the sun shone everyday - so we made the most of it by walking miles (mostly uphill)! This sketch is of the view from a bench in Porthloe (on a hill)!

Not Me! US Edition is out on October 12th......

Illustration Friday: Transportation

The only way to travel as far as I'm concerned!

If you're interested in entering my latest giveaway (it's a good one) please click here!

A Small Giveaway: The Winner

First of all thanks to everyone who entered! Having assigned everyone a number and put them into the True Random Number Generator I can reveal that the winner is number 6 a.k.a. David! Congratulations - I will be in touch to organise delivery of your prize.

Remember to look out for the next giveaway which should be in a couple of weeks!

Illustration Friday: Old Fashioned

Slightly tenuous - but this was my attempt to create old-fashioned looking alphabet animals. I have 'G is for Giraffe' done too but the rest of the alphabet is still waiting for attention!

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway which is open until tomorrow at 5pm. Thanks!

Drawing at the Fitzwilliam Museum

On Wednesday I went to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge to look around and do some drawing too. I couldn't find my current sketchbook so I took some watercolour paper instead. I used water-soluble pencils and a Pentel Aquash brushpen filled with water (recommended to me by Loo Prentice a few months ago). I really liked using the brushpen but I'm not sure about the drawings as I was trying to get more tone into them and I don't think it's worked...... I like line!

The drawings I've posted are from the room with all the armour in - as I drew the horse last time I was there I picked something else this time - and an 18th century monkey from chinese ceramics.

Illustration Friday: Acrobat

When I saw the title 'Acrobat' it immediately brought to mind a couple of characters - these two have featured in some of my previous work. I didn't have time to do a complete illustration so I've coloured my sketch in Photoshop. You can see more of Crocodile and his friend here and here.

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway - it's open until Saturday.

Pin the tail on the Donkey!

Something different this morning! My friend's daughter is turning 4 on Saturday and I have volunteered to help at her party and to provide a donkey for pinning the tail on to....I hope he's up to the job! Don't forget to enter my giveaway here.

A small GIVEAWAY!

I know it's been a while so I've decided to run a small giveaway for the next week only.

The winner will receive a signed digital print of Fluff and Billy (printed on Somerset paper and measuring approximately 210 x 220mm) and 3 handmade Christmas cards (hand stencilled and printed). I'll also throw in some Not Me! stickers as featured in my last giveaway. I know it's quite early for Christmas cards but as most of the shops have got them on display now I thought I could get away with it!

All you have to do to enter is be a follower of this blog and register your interest in the comments section below by 5pm next Saturday 25th September (BST). I'll pick the winner out of a hat/bowl/whatever is available and send the prizes to where ever in the world the winner is.

I'll try and do another giveaway very soon (maybe to celebrate Not Me! coming out in the US in October) so keep checking. Thanks!

Fluff and Billy still in progress!

Apologies for the delay in getting any posts up for a while - I've been busy trying to get Fluff and Billy up and running. It's still a work in progress but atleast it feels like there is progress!

They'll be off with the publishers to the Frankfurt bookfair at the beginning of October so I hope they enjoy the trip.....

The Penguin Production Line!

Just a quick phone picture of my desk as I left it this evening.....covered in penguins. I have 45 to paint in total....and seem to end up with lots of rejects. I am planning to cover a wall in partially painted penguins when I am finished!

Folk Festival Drawings

I spent the weekend at the Cambridge Folk Festival and managed to do a few drawings in my much neglected sketch book - mostly of people lounging around listening to the music......as that's what I was doing too!

Penguins in progress!

I've been trying to sort out final colours for my penguins.....to help make the final decision I taped some different versions up on the studio wall. I think I'm happy with my decision but I may change my mind when I see them again tomorrow!

Illustration Friday: Breakfast

I thougt I'd try doing something in Illustrator again this week.....my skills are a bit rusty and I keep trying to do Photoshop shortcuts but if I keep practicing maybe I'll get there!

Apologies for the break in blog posts - I moved house a couple of weeks ago and have been trying to sort all my stuff out.....I'm very disorganised but I think I'm almost there now.

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

On the first Sunday of the month, Jules from the blog Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast features a new illustrator. I'm very pleased to say that today that illustrator is me! Big thanks to Jules.

Click here to see the full post.

Catalogue No.2

A while ago I posted a catalogue cover which I'd designed while on work experience......here is the other design which I did at the time and which is now being used for the latest catalogue. I made the illustration in Illustrator - it was the first design programme I learnt but I hardly ever use it now. I still love clipping masks though!

My first ever GIVEAWAY!!!: The Results......

I decided to do the draw in the old fashioned, names-in-a-hat method. They were then mixed around by an independent bystander and held up high for me to pick a name.

And the winner is......Suzanne McGinness!

Congratulations - the prizes will be on their way to Ohio in the next few days.

A BIG thank you to everyone who entered. I'll try and run another giveaway in the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled!

Illustration Friday: Paisley

I thought I'd try something different for this week's Illustration Friday topic - Paisley. For some reason the idea of a sausage dog with a paisley coat was the first thing that popped into my head - so here it is!

Don't forget - if you haven't entered my giveaway yet, it closes at 11am tomorrow morning! Click here for more details.

Father's Day Card

I've spent this afternoon making a Father's Day card for my Dad so I thought I'd share it! He is the biggest technophobe I've ever met so there is absolutely no danger of him seeing this before Sunday.

Don't forget if you haven't entered my giveaway yet it closes next Thursday at 11am. Click here to find out more!

Ripple Update

I'm pleased to say that my picture for the ripple blog has sold and I am currently packing it up to wing its way to Jacksonville in Florida.

Illustration Friday: Ripple

This week's Illustration Friday topic is Ripple and is tied in to the illustrator Kelly Light's great idea for raising money for wildlife affected by the Gulf oil spill. Each small work submitted is being sold for $10 and all this money will go directly to 2 charities working in this area.

Click here to see ripple sketches

If you haven't visited my blog before you may be interested in looking at the giveaway I am currently running.

My first ever GIVEAWAY!!!

To celebrate reaching 20 followers I've decided to do my first ever bonanza giveaway. It's open to all followers of this blog - wherever you are!

The Prizes

1. A signed paperback first edition copy of Not Me! dedicated to you or the person of your choice.

2. A complete set of promotional postcards for Not Me!

3. An A4 sheet of stickers featuring characters from Not Me!

4. And last but not least a signed limited edition print (number 7 of 10) of Bertie

How to Enter

If you are already following this blog, all you have to do is leave a comment after this post registering your interest in winning! If you aren't already following, just sign up and then leave your comment.

The names of everyone who has left a comment by 11 am (BST) on Thursday 24th June will be put into a hat and a winner will be drawn at random. I will then contact the winner for their details and send all the prizes to them.

Illustration Friday: Trail

This young fellow Bertie is one of the characters from my book 'Not Me!' When I saw that the topic for this week's illustration friday was 'trail' I couldn't resist posting this picture!

I've been struggling to do any illustration work over the last few weeks so apologies for not showing any brand new work. I've been doing several events promoting the book and spending a lot of time preparing all the materials for each event. It has been really fun meeting loads of children and a really good way of learning how they respond to the story.

Events!

It's been quite a while since my last post - I've been busy doing events at nursery schools, then I went on holiday for a week, and then I was ill when I got back. Now that I've rolled out my list of excuses I can mention the last couple of events I've done.

The first was on Saturday at Cambridge Central Library and was organised by Heffers Bookshop in Cambridge. It was really nice to meet Kate and Michelle from the shop and Richard and Ruth from the library - they were so friendly and positive about the book. The children who came seemed to enjoy the story and making the headdresses. They also enjoyed juice and biscuits served on red spotted napkins to match the pattern on the tablecloth in Not Me! (specially selected by the ladies from Heffers - I was very impressed by their attention to detail)! Heffers are currently refitting their children's area so it will have its own entrance with easy access for pushchairs and decorated with murals - I can't wait to see it!

Today I went to a place called Tales on Moon Lane in Herne Hill, South London. It's a great children's bookshop with really friendly and knowledgeable staff. They made me feel really welcome and the shop was packed with children. I read my giant copy of Not Me! and then the children got to do some colouring or make a headdress. I took some photos on my phone of the shop window and their display - apologies for the bluriness! Thanks to Tamara, George and Leah for such an enjoyable event.

Feathers!

I started doing some events and sessions at nursery schools today to promote 'Not Me!'. In preparation for these I had to cut out around 800 paper feather shapes. It took a while!

The children I saw today seemed to really enjoy making the headdresses (like the one Bertie wears) and also enjoyed the book.