Personalised Framed Pictures

A new venture for me - personalised framed pictures for anyone who would like a proper unique gift. Drawn in ink and painted in watercolours - I even paint the frames!

I'm happy to paint almost anything you want and you can order them at:

Pine-Oakio
72 Market Street
Ulverston
Cumbria
Tel: 0752 593 2847

Oops!

Well, here's the new style - except it isn't. It's an early experiment at a possible new style that I decided not to continue; but it isn't what I was thinking of when I posted my last news.

Unfortunately it seems that I have only drawn and coloured the new style pictures in my head - I'm blaming my stinking cold! I've just spent an hour hunting for all the pictures that, I now realise, do not exist. I do have piles of sketches but I can't figure them out at the moment - hopefully it's just the cold & my scrawls will make sense once again. I think the moral of all this is not to do anything when you have a cold except wrap up in a blanket, eat chocolate & watch cheesy films.

New Style

I haven't written for over a month & the reason is because I'm working on a new picture style. It's been fun, interesting, hard work & taken at a lot of my free time (which is why I haven't blogged for ages) but I'm getting there. Will show you what I've been getting up to ASAP.

Ancient Historical & Architectural Pictures

I'm currently approaching some non-fiction publishers to find out if they are interested in using me as an illustrator. If I haven't mentioned before (& I probably have) I love ancient history & architecture so I'm emailing publishers who do this sort of thing. This is a new thing for me as I normally work on picture books for children. Here's a line drawing that I've been working on of a Greek temple:

Comic Strip Experiment

I've been experimenting with a comic strip book for children recently & it's given me even more respect for the writers & illustrators of this format. There's so much that you have to be aware of - page layout alone is a bit of a headache. And then there's the actual pictures, writing, etc.

The strip is based on a story that I've been working on for the last few years & this is a trial picture to see if it works or not. I can't help wondering if I laid on the murky atmosphere a bit too much & perhaps a bit more colour would help. But, on the other hand, it does let me play around with lighting and shadows.

Aesop's Fables Cover Design - Continued

This is the latest version of my cover design for Aesop's Fables. Also slightly re-working my web site so please forgive any weird spacings & other strange bits.

Aesop's Fables Cover Design

Thought that I'd play around with a cover design for a book about Aesop's Fables today. I absolutely adore Aesop - probably because they're often about animals (which I love) & also have morals. Much as I'd like to think that I have a decadent streak, I get ridiculously indignant over the smallest things. Aesop makes me feel better about this.

I thought that it might be a good idea to work with a limited range of colours - similar to those used in ancient Greek pottery - as it seemed appropriate. I even used an old font used in classical times. This is the second version:

But I can't help feeling the first one is better (or funnier). Please note the title change.

Baron Bears Web Site Continued

I'm currently busy working on a secret project which I will tell you about as soon as I can. But I can't at the moment so will distract you with the news that Sam (of Baron Bears) let slip that she actually quite liked the rough version of the teddy bear I drew for her web site. This one:

What can you say to that! Thankfully she's a good friend & I have managed to change her mind.

Baron Bears Web Site

I am delighted to say that Sam came round this week (so we could knock our heads together) & we have built her web site. The address is: baronbears.com but just click on the picture below to see it. Much less hassle than typing.

She makes hand made bears, memory bears, bags, cushions, baby stuff & much more. It really is all hand made too - not even a sewing-machine in sight.

Designing a New Web Site

Tomorrow I start work on a new web site for my friend, Sam. She's coming over so that I can build it in front of her & the end result should look better than the mock-up I did some time ago. Below is a sample:

All the pictures were drawn using a mouse & are just intended to give her an idea of the layout. They are, I admit, pretty awful though! If you click on the picture you can see the whole page in all its glory.

Sam designs and makes hand-made bears (amongst other things) & her business is called Baron Bears. And they really are made by hand - not a sewing-machine in sight! I'll post a link to her proper site as soon as it's built so you can see for yourselves.

All Happy With the Christmas Doodles Book

I'm happy with the colour work I recently did for the Christmas Doodles book; Buster Books are happy with it & so are the US publishers - although I have no idea who they are! I must ask!

It's always a relief when the publishers are pleased with the end result & I'm looking forward to seeing the book when it's published in time for Christmas.

I start work on another new project tomorrow. Yet again it's a secret. All I can say is that it's different from my usual type of thing & it's not a book!

Web Design

I haven't written anything for ages for two reasons - I've been busy working on the Christmas Doodles book for Buster Books. Here's their logo:

The dog is called Buster Bob, and that makes me laugh. No idea why, it just does! Anyway, this book is now finished - unless the USA want me to make any changes.

The second reason I've haven't blogged is because I have been working on a new web site to advertise myself & my friend, Alex, as web designers. This is something that we've both wanted to do for a while and we've just finished building the pages. Below are some sample pages &, as we're very new, they're from each of our illustration web sites. I suppose that everyone has to start somewhere! We do have a commission already though.

If you click on either of the pictures you can see our web design site.

Christmas Doodles Book in Colour!

Anyone who read my last blog on March 31^st will know that I mentioned the latest project I was working on - but couldn't say any more until I had asked the publisher's permission.

Bryony at Michael O'Mara / Buster Books has given me the go-ahead so I can now let you know that Christmas Doodles (one of the most fun books that I have ever worked on) is going to be coloured - or at least part of it. I have to leave some areas white for the kids to colour, which is proving hard to do.

This is a sneak preview of one of the doodles & will have a caption at the top saying something like Fill the plate with Christmas Cakes. The new coloured version, as far as I know, will only be on sale in the United States - but who knows what will happen in the future?

Finished my Web Site!

I've finished my web site at last! Hopefully it is now clearer to look at, easier to find your way around & faster to download, etc. etc.

Now I have to get on with some work. I can't say much about it at the moment because I haven't asked the publisher's permission - but the picture above is a clue.

Web Site Revamp

I'm actually embarrassed to write this but, once again, I have redesigned my web site. It was for a number of reasons - I wanted to practice my html5 skills & I wanted to learn how to put a favicon on it. This is it:

And, most importantly, the previous web site was too cramped and oppressive. At the time I liked all the grey but, after feedback, realised it was just too much. Now I've gone the other way, researched on minimalist design, & learned to love white space again.

If You Love a Bear

I had some very good news at the end of last year. Walker Books wrote to me to let me know that one of my books, called If You Love a Bear, was being republished & it came out this month. They've brightened up the cover by adding a stronger blue background & I'm really pleased with it.

It's one of a set of ten books all about bears, is called the Bear Hug Picture Book Collection, & sold by the Book People.

These are the ten books:
This is the Bear - Sarah Hayes & Helen Craig
You and Me, Little Bear - Martin Waddell & Barbara Firth
We're Going on a Bear Hunt - Michael Rosen & Helen Oxenbury
The Sniffles for Bear - Bonny Becker & Kady MacDonald Denton
Kiss Good Night, Sam - Amy Hest & Anita Jeram
Snow Bears - Martin Waddell & Sarah Fox-Davies
The Little Bear Book - Anthony Browne
My Friend Bear - Jez Alborough
Down in the Woods at Sleepytime - Carole Lexa Schaefer & Vanessa Cabban
If You Love a Bear - Piers Harper