Real Life Sketching.

Hi Chaps,

I've been going out and doing some sketching recently. 
Real life sketching of real life things with a real life sketch book and pencil, that is, rather than doing character and idea sketches straight in Photoshop for work.

I do find trees interesting so have sketched a lot of trees.
I was taking whatever opportunity to sketch I could get, so very often I was sneaking in a sketch when I only had literally 1 or 2 minutes to do the sketch.

So it's been fun to try and capture the character of a tree or view or cloud in a really short space of time.
Here are a few.

Terrific Toddlers

Hi Chaps,

I recently illustrated a set of three books for Toddlers called Terrific Toddlers, written by Carol Zeavin, Rhona Silverbush and published by Magination Press
They are about a diverse group of toddlers who are learning to share with each other, deal with hurt, and to say goodbye.
The books use simple language and are reflective of children’s realities, based on an understanding of the developmental level of young toddlers.
This series is the first to handle the topics in carefully researched, developmentally appropriate ways for toddlers, and is affiliated with the American Psychological Association
I'm really pleased to have been involved with such worthwhile books.
They were very interesting to illustrate, and I also think the designers did a fab job with the design of them :)
Here are a few illustrations

The Tiger Who Came To Tea Exhibition

Hi Chaps,

I went to Acorn Bank National Trust House at the weekend and there I saw the lovely 'A Tiger Came To Tea' 50th Anniversary Exhibition set up by Seven Stories.
It was a very nice little exhibition, including some rough sketches and old drawings by Judith Kerr, and also facsimiles of some of the actual artwork, which was very interesting.
It's always informative and inspiring to see artists' workings, and also interesting looking back to the pre-digital age.

And, one of the best things was the giant cuddly Tiger, very nicely capturing the look of the illustrations.

If it comes near you it's worth a look :)

Outdoor Sketching

Hi Chaps,

Recently I went on a sketching expedition and managed to do a batch of outdoor sketches.
It's something I intend to find time for more often as it makes a nice change to draw from nature rather than sketching ideas for projects.
Here are some of them.

A tree in a wood

A view down a stream while standing in it

A view over some landscape

A study of a bit of dry-stone wall

Ginger Green in four territoties

Hi Chaps

Ginger Green Playdate Queen, written by Kim Kane and Illustrated by me for Hardie Grant Egmont in Australia has now been published in four teritories :)
After the initial run in Australia, it's now avilable in the US, Slovenia and now the UK.
Very exciting indeed!!
They're a fab series and I can heartily recommend them for early readers.

Here are the Australian, Slovenian and US editions of Fancy Friend.

Keep an eye out or ask for them in bookshops and libraries, they're worth a look at :)

New Book, 'Journeys'

Hi Chaps,

A book I jointly illustrated, called 'Journeys' by Jonathan Litton is now out.
The other illustrators involved are Chris Chalik, Dave Shephard and Leo Hartas.

It's a lovely looking book, the treatment of the design by the chaps at Little Tiger is absolutely lovely and the stories of amazing journeys around the world are very interesting indeed.
They range from Amundsen, Livingston, Bligh and Gagarin, in chapters covering Water, Land, Ice and Snow, and Man and Machine.
I've really enjoyed reading through my copy, so I can recommend having a look at it :)

Here's the cover and one of the spreads by me.

Ginger Green Playdate Queen out in the UK

Hi Chaps,

Ginger Green Playdate Queen, written by Kim Kane and Illustrated by me for Hardie Grant Egmont in Australia has now been published in the UK :)
Very exciting indeed, hopefully I'll get to see it in bookshops.
It's initially starting with a run of the first four stories, New Friend, Crazy Friend, Fancy Friend and Next Door Friend.
They're a fab series and I can heartily recommend them for early readers.

So keep an eye out or ask for them in bookshops and libraries, they're worth a look at :)