Jon Davis' Sketch Blog

Shall I Make My Story Rhyme?

2012-01-26T04:30:00.000-08:00

Hiya chaps,

Here's a sketch for a book I'm working on.

This one ended up not being used, it's all sort of moved on a bit, but I do have an affection for it.

So I thought I'd pop it up here.

BUT, In between doing this, I'm working on a story as well.

I've just got the start and the end, and I know what's going to happen, so it's 'just' a matter of filling it all in.

But what I was wondering was if anyone had any thoughts or experience with rhyming stories.

This one is at the very early stages of becoming formed but it's threatening to be rhyming.

They sort of keep popping out, and seem to fit the feel of it.

But I have heard that publishers prefer straight prose, cos it's easier to translate with co-editions, so I was wondering if I should wrestle it into straight prose instead, or just go with it.

Will it have a better chance of being picked up if it doesn't rhyme?

There are of course rhyming books that get published and do well, Julia Donaldson's stuff being an example, although maybe she is an exception, because she's very very very very good at it :)

Has anyone else out there done a rhyming story, or would you advise against it while there is still time to change?

Christmas Doggie In The Snow

2011-12-15T01:34:00.000-08:00

Hiya Chaps,

I've just posted a picture on the LittleBitBunny Blog here - http://alittlebitbunny.blogspot.com/2011/12/festive-one.html

of a little doggie playing in the snow in a Santa hat.

But I thought it might be nice to augment this a bit by posting a couple of my working sketches :)

I did one dog character sketch, which I refined, before changing direction to the character I stuck with, which was then refined a little bit for the final doggie design.

But do have a quick ook at the LittleBitBunny Blog, there's some good stuff on it :)

It's easy to write picture books.

2011-10-28T01:26:00.000-07:00

Thoughtful blog post here, chaps.
I've read a few things about writing picture books, and some articles talk about how lots of people want to write a picture book, thinking it will be easy, and the articles say it's harder than writing a novel, because every word counts, and requires thought, and economy and skill to get the ideas across.
And I've also read articles that say that of course it's easier than writing a novel, because it's much shorter and you can rattle one off in a day or two.

Well, it's been trundling about in the back of my mind, and I've ended up thinking about it a bit, and I can kind of agree with both points of view, they both have elements of truth.
But I think the problem is that they're making slightly different points.

And I've thought of an analogy.

Is it easier to run 100m or 10,000m?
Well, one takes less than thirty seconds, and one takes quite a while.
Now most people can run 100m, whereas only people of a certain fitness can actually run 10,000m, so you could argue that one is easier than the other.

But... it's just as hard to win a gold medal in either.
Which I think is sort of the point, really.
Just because something's short, doesn't make it easy to do well.

Though it is maybe easier for more people to give it a quick go.

And having written this (for me) fairly serious post, here are a couple of sneak peek sketches from a book I've been working on :)
They're all bits of illustrations and backgrounds, so as to not give much away, but they are hopefully interesting too :)

Little Bit Bunny - Badger

2011-10-06T03:36:00.000-07:00

Well, it's a new month, and a new theme on the Little Bit Bunny Blog, and I've just put up this months post, and it's got a bit of colour this time.

You can find it here - LittleBitBunny

And yep, does look like this is where I'm headed.

I've still very much got a fringe, though, but the sides of it now have to cover more ground than they used to :)

But here's the initial sketch I did when I first got the idea.

As you can see, it didn't really change much from here, just redrew it, and had the idea of it being a sort of diagram in a guide.

I think this guy looks like an English Teacher.

Maybe he'll turn up in something else.

2012 UKLA Book Awards Longlist

2011-09-28T01:23:00.000-07:00

The Longlist for the 2012 UKLA Book Awards was announced a day or two ago. Some top names in there, and a bunch of really good illustrators too.

Like Emily Gravett, Oliver Jeffers, Viviane Schwartz, Catherine Rayner, Chris Haughton are a bunch who I really rate.

I shall have to check out any of the others I'm not so familiar with.

Here's a link. - http://bit.ly/oZqBnJ

Good luck chaps

A Little Bit Bunny

2011-09-27T02:19:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to contribute to the A Little Bit Bunny Blog, here - http://alittlebitbunny.blogspot.com/

Which is fabulous, and I'm really looking forward to it.

The blog is run by an impressive bunch of chaps - Damon O'Keefe, Eric Barclay, Chris Kennett, Matt Dawson, Kev Levell, froggie, Mr Toodle, Matt Soffe, and is themed to a different animal each month.

There's been some really good stuff posted, so I'm really chuffed to be invited to contribute.

I've been a bit slow off the mark, so am only just posting my first entry for October now.

But you can find it here, and it's for the theme of Dragons.

http://alittlebitbunny.blogspot.com/2011/09/i-find-cigars-and-pipes-really-arent.html

Do pop over and have a look.

Cozy Bears

2011-09-26T05:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while, I've been busy, which is good I suppose.

Dealing with Bears, a bulbous blue monster, kids, and a wolf.

But I shall post some bits of these, so you can have a bit of a look.

So, here we are, some cozy bears from a book I am working on.

These are initial sketches, and have changed through the development.

A Bunch of Bears

2011-06-22T06:09:00.000-07:00

Here we are. Here are the bears of which I was speaking in my last post.

I've been doing some greeting card ideas featuring smiling and snuggly bears, and I'm also working on an idea for a book, which is basically all about bears doing things.

So, consequently, I'm doing lots of sketches of bears.

I don't think I've drawn anything else for the past week, actually.

But that's ok. I like drawing bears, and I feel I'm really getting to know them.

Some of these are a bit rougher than others.

Jungle Shorts

2011-06-16T01:21:00.000-07:00

Hi again chaps.

Following on from the last few posts, here's another bit of work done recently.

This is the sketch stage of the cover for a book about a boy who's Mum buys him embarrassing Jungle patterned shorts to play football in. (I only put the pattern in with the colour though)

It was quite a nice tight brief for what was they wanted included image-wise, which I often quite like. Sometimes if it's left a bit open I get options paralysis, but if some constraints are put on, I can get something out nice and quick.

So it was a nice job to do.

In other news, I've decided to do some ideas for some greeting type cards.

At the moment I'm planning on these being based around bears

(Lot of bears in my work at the mo, and more coming up, so I'll be getting a lot of practise.)

But I'll put up some of the bear sketches soon.

Baby Milk Bear

2011-05-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

Hiya chaps,

On a bit of a roll with the posts here.

This is another bit of work I've done fairly recently.

It's a cuddly bear for the label on some baby mik.

The agency already had the pack designed, and a rough of the bear, and my task was to draw a nice cuddly bear, that had the head and paws etc in the same place as their rough, but that looked natural, and not like a hunchback. Cos it's head was over to one side, in order for it to fit in next to the logo.

So I thought of it as a bear reaching up to be picked up, and in that pose the head and everything was in the right place, but he looked nice and natural, and his face and paws weren't obscured by and of the design elements.

But it was a fun quick job to do, and quite a nice interesting problem to solve.

Books

2011-05-24T06:17:00.001-07:00

Hi Chaps,

As you may or may not have noticed, I haven't blogged too often in the last month or so.

BUT, now I have something to show of what I've been doing.

I'll spread it over a couple of posts I think.

But, this is from a book I've been working on.

The artwork is delivered, which is v satisfying, and I'm just waiting to see what tweaks they may want.

But here are some sketches from it.

Two versions of a character sketch for the main character. She is naughty and cheeky but likeable.

The doctor.

And Cecily (The main character, gasp, telling secrets here) and her family racing along in the car.

I'll maybe post the final versions of these sketches so you can see them in colour & stuff.

But, more soon :)

Doggie Doodle Friday

2011-05-17T01:20:00.000-07:00

Hello Chaps,

Sorry it's been a while since posting, I've been working on a couple of books, so will put some sketches of their workings up soon, so you can see some of what I've been up to.

In the meanwhile-time-being I've got a sketch of a doggie up on the Doggie Doodle Friday page.

This is a page run by the Book Sniffer Blog, which is a fab blog about children's books.

Here is the Doggie Doodle Friday page - http://tinyurl.com/62rovtf

Mine doggie is the one second in, third row, and I am honoured to have it featured among all the other great doggie's there, by, among others, Lauren Tobias and Alex T Smith, whose blogs are here - http://laurentobia.com/ and here - http://alextsmith.blogspot.com/ in case you've not already seen them.

And the Book Sniffer Blog is here - http://booksniffingpug.blogspot.com/

London Book Fair

2011-04-08T03:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it's the London Book Fair, next week, so I'm going along.

I've got some work printed, and postcards made, and I'm polishing my boots, and picking out a shirt.

I may wear my 'Kaftan Shirt' as it's called. (Not quite as groovy as it sounds, it's just not got a colllar, but it's nice.)

But anyway, I don't know if anyone else is going along, but it'd be great to bump into people.

Maybe at the Illustrator Networking thing on Monday, or at the Lauren Child and Anthony Browne conversation, or the Booktrust talk, or just round and about :)

Booktrust Best New Illustrators Award

2011-03-23T03:24:00.000-07:00

Hiya,

Quick post here about the Booktrust Best New Illustrators Award which was announced last night.

Winners are here:

There's some good stuff there.

Illustrators whose work I've come across already are -

Claudia Boldt, who I met v briefly at LBF last year,

Chris Haughton, who does great stuff, lovely colours.

Viviane Schwartz, whose cat books are fab.

And Sara Ogilvie, and Kevin Waldron and Levi Pinfold.

But I must say I do think they are very well chosen cos I do rate all of them very highly, there's some really inspiring, marvellous work there.

Well done all :)

Hamble, Felix, Elsie, Ernie

2011-03-04T06:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I was sketching out characters, and these two popped up.

Hamble and Felix Hamshanks.

Hamble dines exclusively on strips of salted beef and lemon juice, her husband Felix, subsists on whisky and dried prunes.

And here they are.

I think if I need a couple of baddies, these two might be it.

They make a dastardly living stealing pet rabbits, making them into slippers, and selling them to rich clients.

The dastardly cads.

But....

Would it be ok to feature them in an illustration aimed at early readers, to go in my portfolio, or are they a bit too creepy, OR, would it be a good thing to vary my portfolio with them even if they are a bit creepy?

Do you think they would they be suitable for children's books as they are, or should I make them a bit more charicatured and fun?

Any thoughts would be welcomed :)

Below are two slightly more friendly looking old characters, this is Elsie Hotterpoppercot, and Ernie Bramble.

Elsie makes the scones, Ernie makes the jam.

Red House Children's Book Award

2011-02-28T03:20:00.000-08:00

Here we are, quick post, the shortlist for the Red House Children's Book Award has come out.

There's some good stuff in the picture book section, including a couple of illustrators who I really like, Alison Edgson, and Charles Fuge.

Good luck chaps :)

http://www.redhousechildrensbookaward.co.uk/award-shortlist.asp

Melvyn Quentinship The Lion

2011-02-15T04:14:00.000-08:00

I've been sketching lions. Well, it's probably just one lion, really, but I've been moved to give him a fine head of hair.

As I was drawing his face, and was about to move onto his mane, images of Melvyn Bragg and Quentin Crisp came to me.

So I decided to make him finely and luxuriously coiffed, but was undecided as to whether to give him a big quiff, or a bisonesque centre parting, so I did one of each.

Do let me know which hairstyle you like best, if you have a preference.

I'll try and build him up into a full character, rather than just a head.

I think he will be christened Melvyn Quentinship, in honour of his hair inspirations

And he shall wear a cravat.

Basic Shapes

2011-01-24T08:48:00.000-08:00

Hi again chaps.

I wanted to post a couple sketches I did recently of some people I saw in the street.

I noticed both of them because of their silhouettes, I think, because of the simple shapes they break down into.

I haven't done much charicaturing or exaggerating, they pretty much looked like this.

I just thought it was interesting how the little girl is a triangle on a box, with two straight lines underneath, and the lady is basically a triangle and two blocks with a little circle on top.

Breaking down into simple shapes and silhouettes in animation is a fairly major part of creating a character, and similarly is in illustration, and I thought it was interesting how these two people stood out in real life for me because of these characteristics.

Anyway, back to the colouring in.

Dogs

2011-01-20T03:31:00.001-08:00

Hiya chaps,

Hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year, I've been away from blogging for a while now, so I hope to make up for that a bit.

I have a couple of actual commission type things on the go at the moment, so here are some sketches of dogs that aren't anything to do with them.

I will however, post some work stuff sketches in a bit, when they've all moved on to the next stage :)

These are two dogs called Elliot and Spiner that have developed in my sketch book over the last few weeks. I really enjoy drawing Elliot.

Elliot is the bigger one with big ears, and Spiner is the one with the pointy nose.

It's very satisfying doing the base of his nose just in front of his eyes for some reason.

I imagine Elliot being a bit slow and dusty, and like an old general, and Spiner is very energetic, never stands still.

The Leicestershire Children's Book Prize

2010-12-17T04:14:00.000-08:00

There's some good stuff in the Leicestershire Children's Book Prize.

And, you can vote for them too, last day is today though (oops) sorry about posting this so late

http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/leisure_tourism/libraries/children/childrensbookprize.htm

Both Dirty Bertie and The Dunderheads has illustrations by David Roberts, who is very good indeed. So well done him for getting on here twice. Top stuff.

Ghost Goblins is illustrated by David Melling who is also very good indeed.

And The Story of Matthew Buzzington is illustrated by Ross Collins, whose stuff I really really like.

So those are my pick of the pops

Burp

2010-12-17T03:14:00.000-08:00

Here we are, here's a rough sketch from what I've been working on recently.

A naughty girl, who is nevertheless likeable.

Website Update

2010-11-25T05:59:00.000-08:00

Right, I've finally managed to update my website with some new work.

There's a bunch of stuff you might like to have a look at.

Here's a link to it

There are two pictures of Gorgonzola the Witch (Black & White, bottom half of front page) featuring Huddleston, ironing, and her friend Alison. So you can see how the sketches from the previous posts match up to the finished illustrations.

(Actually, my final drawings are often a refined version of a sketch, if I'm more or less happy with it, as I tend to just knock the opacity down and draw over it in photoshop, kind of like a lightbox - bit of info on my technique there - so you might spot a few similarities)

There's a picture from my book idea The Shirt Machine (also Black & White)

And the colour stuff features Elephants and Tigers, and a couple of Bears.

Here are some sketches working out little elephant - Small, and the big, old elephants, and the Tiger.

So you can do the same as with Gorgonzola, and spot the bits where I used them.

Gorgonzola Again

2010-11-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

A bit more info on Gorgonzola the Witch.

I'm going to get a couple of pictures of her up on my website soon, hopefully start of next week.

But before that, here's a sketch of her faithful pet dragon Huddleston.

He was tamed via the power of peanut butter sandwiches.

Gogonzola The Witch

2010-11-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry there hasn't been much drawing up here of late - I've been working hard.

But here we are, I've got something new to show.

I've been thinking about witches (a little bit late maybe, but still) and here is a character I thought up.

She is a witch called Gongonzola.

She's a bit disorganised, so tends to be in a bit of a rush, and so she's gone out with her bunny slippers still on.

And she didn't have time to put her skull patterned skirt on, so is going about with her bloomers showing.

And the cold weather has made her hair a bit frizzy.

Her witch best friend is more sensible and reliable, and is called Alison.

Here's a character sketch of her, and some rough idea sketches, to sort of show a bit of development of the picture.

I will be putting a couple of pictures of her up on my website soon, which will also feature her friend Alison, and a Dragon, a cat, a frog and ironing,

A website update with a nice few pictures is on the way, actually, so will post more about that when it happens, too :)

Carnegie and Greenaway

2010-11-09T05:25:00.000-08:00

Hi,

The long lists for the Carnegie and Greenaway award nominations came out last week.

You can see them here and here.

I just thought I'd do a post about it, cos there are a few people I know a bit vaguely through blog land and stuff, and there are a few books there that I'd heard of previously, so I just thought I'd do a quick chat pointing out a few highlights and points of note.

Purely from a very personal perspective of course, but then maybe that angle might be interesting.

Poly Bernatene has two books listed. He's an amazing illustrator, and his book When Night Didn't Come has some great stuff in it. Well worth a look.

Quentin Blake. I do like a bit of Quentin Blake, though he's probably pretty much the only illustrator most people have heard of, and is maybe a bit 'obvious' if you see what I mean. But I'm glad he's still doing stuff that's top quality, which is encouraging, really.

Emma Chichester Clark - a nice new version of Alice In Wonderland. Interesting stuff.

Ross Collins. Another fave of mine. I find his work really satisfying somehow, I'm glad he's on the list.

Emma Dodd does great simple illustrations. Her style is pretty different from mine but I do find it very inspiring

Emily Golden - I chatted to Emily at the London Book Fair, and I believe I'm right in saying that this is her first book, which is v cool. Well done indeed :)

Emily Gravett - I really like Emily's stuff. Apple Pear Orange Bear is stunning, and Mouse's Fears is brill, so I'm glad she's in.

Petr Horacek is a great illustrator too. Really nice textural simple stuff. I've got What Is Black And White, which is great.

Inkpen and Ingpen. It always amuses me how Mick Inkpen is an illustrator and is called Ink pen. Like a cobbler being called Dave Boot or something.

And I like the way they both have fairly obscure names, but that are so similar, and they do the same job, but differently.

But saying that, it's not just childish amusement at people's names, both are top rate, and I do really like their stuff too.

Oliver Jeffers rules. I try and read his books in the hope they will rub off and influence me.

Sarah McIntyre has a blog which I follow. She does comics as well, so is a bit of a link to the world of comics. Which is nice.

David Melling - another top illustrator.

Kristin Oftedal went to Kingston University, I saw her work in the final show and really liked it, and have seen her work popping up in a few places since. So it's nice she's got something nominated. I believe this may be her first book too.

Catherine Rayner's work is brill too. Two books in too. Top stuff.

Joel Stewart does pictures with fab loose line work. I really liked Dexter Bexley. Nice lot of detail in this.

So there you go. A few random thoughts on the award lists.

Hope there might be something there that you hadn't noticed, or that you might find interesting :)

15 artists in 15 minutes

2010-09-28T02:26:00.000-07:00

This is a game, and the rules are to list fifteen Artists who've influenced you and will ALWAYS STICK WITH YOU. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes, don't take too long to think about it.

I got this from Cassia Thomas, and I thought I'd give it a go.

She's doing it on Facebook too, though, but seeing as I don't have a Facebook account, I thought I'd just do it on my blog instead.

So if you do it too, put a link to it in the comments below :)

But anyway, my fifteen, (with optional subject categories as well) are -

Comics

1 - Steve Ditko

2 - Bill Sienkiewicz

3 - Alan Davis

4 - Dudley D Watkins

5 - Jamie Hewlett

Classic

6 - Arthur Rackham

7 - Mervyn Peake

8 - E H Shepherd

9 - Edmund Dulac

10 - Edward Ardizzone

Recent

11 - Barbara Firth

12 - Ross Collins

13 - Oliver Jeffers

14 - Quentin Blake

15 - Chris Riddell

The picture is Oor Wullie by Dudley D Watkins, who did the Broons, and Lord Snooty as well.

My Grandma and Grandad used to have Oor Wullie and The Broons annuals from the Dudley D Watkins era, so he's probably the earliest influence on my list.

Undo

2010-09-24T02:37:00.000-07:00

I'm really used to drawing straight on my pc, with my tablet and pen, it's how I do most of my work nowadays.

So much so, that last night, when I was sketching in my pad, if I made a mistake I kept on wanting to press Ctrl Z instead of using my annoying smudgy rubber.

And my left hand actually kept twitching, it's such an automatic thing for me.

Maybe this is a sign I should invest in an iPad type thing for my sketching. Though from what I can make out, they aren't pressure sensitive yet, so you can't get variation of line, so I don't think it would do the job for me sketching-wise.

Maybe on the third or fourth generation I'll find they'll do the job.

Anyway, here is one of the sketches I did.

I've called it, "Supermarket", "Toyshop"

Princess

2010-09-01T02:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a princess, in a rather traditional fairy story style.

Maybe I could make her a bit more post modern, and do another picture of her with big Tank Girl boots, and have her riding a Harley Davidson (or Hog, as I believe they are referred to)

PLR Petition

2010-08-26T01:59:00.001-07:00

This was brought to my attention by Cassia Thomas, and I think it is a rather worthwhile petition.

Cassia puts it very nicely, so I will quote from her post if I may :)

PLR (public lending rights) allows an author/illustrator a small earning from each lending of their work from a public library (6p per lend). The government want to drastically cut this funding.

There are but a few JKRowling's, Stephanie Meyer's, and Quentin Blakes. Many of us, if not most of us struggle to make ends meet and every penny makes a difference. Please, please show your support of PLR funding by signing this petition .

Swoon

2010-08-24T02:44:00.000-07:00

Well, after a week away, and a rebuild of my pc, which basically took up just over two weeks in total, I'm ready to post a follow up to my last post about Miss Sampson, the new teacher.

(and yes I did lose stuff in my pc rebuild, annoyingly. Somehow, however methodical I try and be, I always forget something. And all the driver installs for the hardware stuff is always awkward, and I end up spending a morning trying to install the print drivers or something.)

Here is the full finished picture, with swooning little lad, and jealous classmate.

Also, I've posted my original pencil sketches of the lad and the little girl, so you can see how they developed.

New Teacher

2010-08-04T04:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a character from a couple of illustrations I'm working on.

She's a new teacher, and she's called Miss Sampson.

The first image has the first thumbnail sketch that I did to capture the idea, and the rough version working out the pose.

And the second image is the refined version of her.

I saw a woman walking down the street who was like this, v. skinny, round head and short bob, So I had a good clear mental image to draw from, which I find always helps.

The clearer the mental image, the easier it is to get it down on paper without spoiling it.

And the character came to me trousers, hairdo and head first

More fine trousers

2010-07-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

Quick sketch of a chap playing a trumpet.

I started with his trousers.

For some reason , when I draw a character, I seem to start with their legs/trousers.

It's not what I would have thought would be the normal foundation for creating a character, but they do often come to me trousers first.

Then if I get the neck and nose right, I feel I'm on the way.

Then I think of a hairdo.

But I do tend to leave arms till last.

Sometimes I only stick arms on when I sketch them doing things.

Maybe it's a bit like Alec Guinness only feeling he can properly do a character when he's got the right shoes.

Re-Working

2010-07-14T01:54:00.000-07:00

I've been working on the design of a mailer type thing, and it's taken me ages, it's ridiculous.

I sort of did a sketchy first version, which wasn't quite right, so I re did it a bit, still all sketchy, and still wasn't happy, so I tinkered with bits, and faffed around, and faffed a bit more, and re-sketched some of it and felt dis-heartened.

Then I started again and re-sketched it all loosely, and re-jigged it and faffed and tinkered a bit more, but still wasn't happy with it, but wasn't sure why.

Then, I decided to work into it a bit more, to decide what each of the bits in it was going to be like.

And once I'd drawn it all properly, not sketchily, I realised there was too much in it, it was all a bit busy, and I also realised I didn't have a proper sort of concept or idea behind it, really.

So, I had a cup of tea, and thought about it a bit and suddenly had an idea for a concept and composition.

So now it's all drawn and I'm going to do the colouring.

But this initial bit has basically taken about a week, and I feel a bit like I was wasting time faffing around.

Maybe if I'd drawn it all properly earlier, I might've realised what was wrong with it earlier, which is a bit frustrating.

But I'm trying to persuade myself that the faffing was all an essential part of the creative process.

so, now I'm trying to do the colour nice and quick to make up for it, but I find colour really hard.

Best bet is to just launch in and whack it about a bit, I reckon.

No good being timid in this sort of situation.

I think I'll quickly and loosely put a bit of colour on, get it all covered, and then I'll have a cup of tea as a reward.

But anyway, here are some a sketches of a doggie that's going to be on it.

Dad's Army In The Cafe

2010-07-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

There were two members of the Home Guard on the table next to us in the cafe yesterday.

Helmets, camouflage, boots, everything.

One with a Sten Gun, one with a Tommy Gun.

One having a Calypso, one having a Coke.

Yes, it was Historical Re-enactment time again. And this was at a different stately home.

There's some great stuff going on.

One of the other guys doing it was wearing these absolutely huge dungaree things.

I did a sketch of him, cos I thought he cut an interesting figure.

Kate Greenaway Medal

2010-07-05T04:11:00.001-07:00

The Kate Greenaway Medal has just been announced. - http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/2010awards/

The winners are The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, and Harry and Hopper, by Freya Blackwood.

The Graveyard Book is illustrated by Chris Riddell, who is one of my favourite illustrators, so that's good stuff.

And Freya Blackwood's illustrations for harry & Hopper are brilliant too.

Lovely and lively and sketchy and some great perspective.

I know and like pretty much all the other finalist illustrators as well.

There were Oliver Jeffers, who I find really inspiring, Satishi Kitamura, who is really great, Dave McKean, who I know best from his comic stuff, David Roberts, and Grahame Baker-Smith, who I heard about at the LBF.

So it was a really tip of the top, tip top, cream of the crop list.

Three Musketeers in the Loo

2010-07-05T03:49:00.000-07:00

I found three musketeers in the loo yesterday.

Not something you see every day, but not too weird under the circumstances, as there was a 17th Century re-enactment going on at a Stately Home type place we went to.

But it was odd having the musketeers in hats, spurs, swords and frills taking turns with the hand dryer.

You had to sort of step over their swords to get past.

Here are sketches of a couple of them.

Later on, a man with little bails of firewood told us how to catch a duck.

That's a family day out right there.

Giraffes

2010-06-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

Here we go.

Here are some sketches of Giraffes.

I haven't done many giraffes in the past, and it seems that they can very easily turn into goats or donkeys.

Though when you stick the neck on that generally helps.

Website Update Alert

2010-06-29T01:59:00.000-07:00

Just put some new illustrations up on my website.

There's a fair bunch, five new colour ones, and five new black and white ones. (I've made the new ones the first five in each section)

There's some Pirate stuff, Robot Dog, A boy and his dog Oakley, Lady Spamtwitch and her man servant Hugo, and some Cuddly bears.

Here's a link through a Gentleman Pirate

Have a look, I hope you like them :)

Twitter

2010-06-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

I'm now on Twitter, watch out everyone!

There's a link over on the right, so have a look and follow if you fancy :)

Running

2010-06-18T05:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a bit, I don't seem to have had much to put up, for some reason.

But here is a quick sketch of a young chap running.

New Profile Image

2010-06-03T03:43:00.000-07:00

I've updated my profile image, there it is to the right.

The previous version was an old bit of work that I just used so I could get my blog set up quick.

But now I've finally got round to doing a special version of it especially for my blog, more in keeping with my work nowadays.

So, there you go :)

Character Sketches

2010-05-19T02:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some sketches of a chap.

I'm sort of trying ideas out for a someone who's a bit bad tempered.

I think, though, that he should be more of a boy rather than full grown.

So I will try that next :)

Bunny and Elephant

2010-05-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

Here are sketches of a bunny (not a rabbit), and an elephant.

I'm doing some clouds that look like things, and these are sketches for that, which is why they're a bit floaty.

Tree

2010-05-07T02:33:00.001-07:00

Not posted for a bit, but here's one.

A drawing of a tree that I'm using as part of an illustration I'm working on at the mo.

Robot Dog Spread

2010-04-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a two page spread for my story idea, 'Robot Dog'.

Sometimes he's nice, and sometimes he's naughty.

This is him being naughty.

This is a B&W rough layout.

Now With Colour!!

2010-04-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

New and improved Blog entry with colour.

These are sketches of Robot Dog, who I've been trying to work out a character for.

He's friendly and a bit mischievous.

Book Fair

2010-04-22T05:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I just spent two days wandering round and round the children's bit of the London Book Fair. My first time there.

It was rather quiet, due to the lack of planes, and I'm not sure if that was good or bad.

Some Editor/Art Director type people weren't there, but on the other hand, you were actually able to speak to the ones that were there, which apparently isn't so easy normally.

I went to the networking event, which I had expected to be a bit more organised, or there to be an introduction or something.

But the tables and wine appeared, and then after about ten minutes of standing about everyone sort of shuffled in and sidled up to people, and formed little windy queues.

But all in all I reckon it was good. I spoke to a few publisher type people, saw a few new things that were inspiring, and also bumped into two people from blog land - Cassia, and Emma.

I had steeled myself for constantly grinding up courage to speak to strangers, so it was lovely to meet some friendly faces.

I must say I don't generally like doing networking stuff, but the encouraging feedback I've been getting on this blog, did give me more confidence to approach people than I would normally have, so thank you everyone for all your lovely comments :)

And here are a couple of sketches of people I did on the way.

Babies

2010-04-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

I thought recently that most of my drawing of kids tend to be of an indeterminate age around sort of 5 or 6.

So I thought I'd do some babies/toddlers.

More Kids

2010-04-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

Here are two more, and with the hands drawn in, too :)

Kids

2010-04-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

Here we are, I've started doing some sketches of kids.

Just a bunch of characters doing various stuff.

This is the first one, a bit of a shy girl.

I'll post more as I do them

Award

2010-03-31T03:07:00.000-07:00

I have received an award! Huzzah!

The very kind Justin Segal bestowed the Zombie Chicken award upon me.

(See Justin's great blog here)

Thanks very much Justin :)

In honour of it, here is a sketch of a chicken I did a while back.

He's not a zombie, but is supposed to be snooty, self-important, and a bit hubristic.

Something Different

2010-03-29T02:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a sketch of a plant.

This is in actual real life pencil, rather computer drawing.

I thought the twisty creeper bits looked cool, so I drew it.

Patiently Explaining

2010-03-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a sketch of a Mum patiently explaining something to a girl.

I think she's just about to break a bit of bad news.

I haven't done the hands yet, I always seem to leave them till last, but I wanted to get it put up.

Maybe I'll do a post of just sketches of hands.

More heads

2010-03-22T05:12:00.000-07:00

I'm really trying to work on my heads at the moment,

as you can probably see.

I'll try and post some drawings with bodies as well soon :)

Another Head

2010-03-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here's another study of a head intended for Picture Book work

Grumpy Cats

2010-03-17T04:32:00.000-07:00

To follow on from the sweet cats in the last post, here are some more grumpy cats.

Cats, cats, cats

2010-03-16T04:17:00.001-07:00

These are more on the cute and sweet side compared to the big cat I did in an earlier post.

I'm doing a whole bunch of them.

Heads Again

2010-03-11T05:35:00.000-08:00

A couple more sketches of heads for Picture Book Type work.

These are preliminary drawings for a book idea I'm working on.

Pot Bellied Man

2010-03-10T03:42:00.000-08:00

with shorts and skinny legs.

Prof. Dave Smallpillow

2010-03-09T04:18:00.001-08:00

Prof Dave Smallpillow from the Open University in about 1972.

Dave says, "The square of the sine on the tangent frangilates quintiply."

Gosh he's clever.

And he makes it all sound so simple too.

Motorcycle Courier

2010-03-09T04:00:00.000-08:00

This is a sketch of a Motorcycle Courier i saw at Euston station, taking a cigarette break.

He kind of stood out for me.

The sketch isn't caricatured at all, this is pretty much what he looked like.

Pear Shaped Man, Hurrying

2010-03-04T01:36:00.001-08:00

I seem to like drawing pear shaped people, I don't know why.

Some of my pirates were fairly pear shaped.

Pear shaped characters do seem a bit more friendly, rather than someone with broader shoulders.

Maybe that's it

Young Girl 2

2010-03-03T03:05:00.001-08:00

And another

Young Girl

2010-03-03T03:01:00.000-08:00

A more realistic sketch of a little girl's head.

More Pirates, Arrrrrrrrrrrrr

2010-02-26T06:17:00.001-08:00

Pirates, Arrrrr

2010-02-25T04:30:00.000-08:00

Pirate sketches.

Here are two, more to come.

Little Girl In A Picture Book

2010-02-23T07:38:00.000-08:00

Picture book style little girl sketches - ie fairly naive.

These are my first ideas trying out the proportions.

She will have arms :)

And these are a few studies of the head.

Again just working on the proportions.

I'll see if I can dig up a few different expressions as well for another post.

Jon

Rabbit

2010-02-22T06:44:00.000-08:00

Here are two sketches of the rabbit to go with the bear in my last post.

It was for a picture book idea, and I had two slightly different approaches for the rabbit character, that I was pursuing.

the first is a more traditional lifelike rabbit...

And the second version is a bit more stylised.

Bear Sketch

2010-02-18T07:09:00.000-08:00

Here are some sketches of a bear character.

I had a friendly paternal bear in mind.

He looks after a rabbit and he's the 'grown up' out of the pair.

I'll post sketches of the rabbit soon.

Looks like Spring today

2010-02-17T04:47:00.000-08:00

I decided to open a blog.
I'm going to use it to show sketches, illustration ideas and doodles of my recent work.

Here's a cat..

Bless him.