Tras Mi Ventana (through my window)

Between the end of June and the start of September I illustrated a picture-book for Ediciones LaFragatina, and now it's out (in Spain)! Tras mi Ventana is written by Román Belmonte, and is for slightly older children, as the subject matter is quite dark (a man reflecting on his life from prison.)

Here are some of my original interiors:

and some images of the printed book:

Bloghop

The lovely Julie Van Wezemael invited me to take part in bloghop, which gave me the much needed impetus to update my blog. I have lots of exciting projects in the pipeline, a lot of which I can't show quite yet, but there will be updates soon.

Here are my bloghop answers:

- What am I working on?
I've just finished my first picture book with Ediciones La Fragatina which will be published in Spain, so a lot of my time recently has been spent doing final changes and edits on that.  I can't show pictures just yet, but I will do so as soon as I'm allowed! I've also just started the final semester of my Masters degree, and so am having a lot of fun coming up with ideas for my final project. Mostly I'm struggling with deciding between project ideas - there are so many things I'd love to illustrate.

These are some sketches for a comic book idea I'm playing around with at the moment. I love the aesthetics of Film Noir, and I've been keen to use them in my work for a while now.

- How does my work differ from others in it’s genre?
This is such a hard question to answer! I think no two people's work is ever the same, as they haven't been shaped by the same influences and experiences, so hopefully my work shows my interests and tastes. I like drawing from old films, patterns, nature and people, so I often try to shape my work around something I'm excited about.

(Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief - I quite often screenshot nice compositions in films for reference) 

- Why do I create what I do?
The simplest answer is because I enjoy it - it's a joy to be able to work doing what you love. Which is not to say that there aren't days where it's very hard work. I've always been drawn to narrative work, the idea of imparting something to a complete stranger through drawing appeals to me, and creating and reading narratives has always been a part of my life.

- How does my creative process work?
I try to start with what makes a project interesting to me, regardless of whether it is commissioned work or self initiated. I'll then do some research (visual and otherwise) into the topic, and some sketches to try and capture the mood of the piece. The next stage is planning, which is usually drawing endless tiny thumbnails and boxes.  I'll then draw increasingly large roughs, until I have a dummy book, or final rough and a clear picture of what I want the final piece to look like in my head. I usually paint (with gouache, watercolour & acrylics) and use coloured pencils for my final artwork, which I then scan in and tinker with digitally until I'm happy.

I've asked Lilly Louise Allen and Maisie Shearring to continue the bloghop, so have a look at their lovely work. 

The Ghost in the Glasshouse III

Chapter One

A little chapter heading for my poor neglected White Boots project

The Minnow

Yesterday I got my advanced copies of 'The Minnow' by Diana Sweeney, which I illustrated the cover and an interior minnow spot for. The finished cover has some elements debossed in silver, including the little minnow on the spine, which was a lovely surprise. Text Publishing have done a great job, I just need to read the book now!

 

White Boots

As a little personal side project I have been planning some black and white interior illustrations for the Noel Streatfield book 'White Boots', mostly because I was a bit obsessed with it as a child. If I get time I plan to do some more chapter illustrations and possibly a cover.

The Ghost in the Glasshouse II

So after much storyboarding etc (I might do a process point at some later stage) I have finally reached the stage of producing artwork for the scene I imagined in my previous post. The Ghost in the Glasshouse is a comic/picturebook containing mild peril and many plants.

I will be attending the Bologna Book Fair next week (very exciting!) and will be taking dummy books of The Ghost in the Glasshouse along. All of my work will be represented on the CSA stand, although I will also be wandering around bothering publishers. 

The Ghost in the Glasshouse

 

Rough painting to work out ideas for my new book.

Repeat Mermaids

Yesterday I found this article on Design Sponge about making repeat patterns, so decided to give it a go. It aalmost works, unfortunately the mermaid's face keeps getting a bit squashed.  I have high hopes for next time though!

Firespotters Comic

A couple of pages from my recent endeavours to make a comic/graphic novel based on my Gran's stories about the war:

Observational Painting

The reason behind the complete lack of updates lately is slightly better than usual - I have started a Masters degree! Because of this I'll be posting some things which are different from my usual work - like this observational painting from Cambridge Folk Museum.