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.