Pet Defenders - Attack of the Alien Dung!

I just received my copy of the first in the series of the Pet Defenders books - 'Attack of the Alien Dung' written by the very funny Gareth P Jones & published by Stripes. It's out on the 9th February so will share more info & pictures then. It's been a lot of fun to illustrate & I've just finished working on book 2 so plenty more to come, I also get a PROPER credit which is very welcome! 

Aidan Abet - Teacher's Pet

The very funny 'Aidan Abet Teacher's Pet' by award winning author Guy Bass & illustrated by me is published today by Barrington Stoke.

I enjoyed working on this immensely & always great to get to grips with a really nasty villain, the sinister Miss Vowel (& I always love a bear in glasses!)

You can get your grubby mitts on it here or even better, get off the interweb & go to your local independent bookshop & buy it there (that's ALWAYS more fun!)

'Aidan Abet loves to help the teacher. It makes him popular with the teachers but very unpopular with everyone else. But when substitute Miss Vowel strides into school with a rather unusual mini-zoo, Aidan has a choice to make – he can listen to the animals, or he can become the Ultimate Teacher’s Pet.'

Johnny Danger - Spyborg

I recently completed the cover for the 3rd Johnny Danger book 'Spy Borg' written by Peter Millett published by Penguin Books. (Any excuse to draw big robots is a 'very good thing' in my book!)
It's available for pre-order in Australia here 

One that got away...

Rejected cover for a recent project (boo!) Some things are never meant to happen, often one party has a very specific idea of what they want but can't always articulate it which makes an illustrator's job harder. Equally, sometimes it's the wrong illustrator for the job which I think was the case for this one. Pity, I LOVE a dinosaur!

Diary of Dennis The Menace - The Great Escape published TODAY!

It's publication day for the 6th Diary of Dennis the Menace book - The Great Escape written by Steven Butler with illustrations by me.

In this story, Dennis the Menace - Prankmaster General and feared enemy of softies everywhere - has been sent to Posh Street, an elite boarding school run by the terrifying Mrs Snoot. Help! Dennis is surrounded by bookish boffins, can't hang out with the Bash Street Kids and is nearly starving as the school dining room only serves super-healthy food. What he needs is a plan. With a little help from his menacing buddies on the outside, some fart pellets and Gran on a Charley Davison bike, it's time for Dennis to make his great escape . . .

Very sadly I recently found out that this is going to be the last Dennis the Menace book I'll be drawing. It's been a huge amount of fun & I've absolutely loved the chance to be able to reinterpret a childhood hero of mine in the books. I've also thoroughly enjoyed working with the lovely Steven Butler (any author who can make me laugh out loud with the manuscript is ALWAYS a good sign!) & lots of thanks to all the people at Puffin & The Beano.

Felix Frost - Time Detective - Ghost Plane - published today!

Ghost Plane, the second in the series of Eleanor Hawken's Felix Frost books I've illustrated is published today (14th January)

While illustrating the interiors & cover I got to become familiar with the details of several WW II planes (in particular the Mustang P51 he says knowledgeably!), some '40s hairstyles & managed a few pictures of Winston Churchill in the meantime.
(Because of another job I actually ended up drawing likenesses of Winston Churchill & MC Hammer on the same day! Not many illustrators can claim that but that's a story for another day...)

It's published by Quercus books & you can buy it online but I'd urge you to seek out your nearest independent book shop & give them the trade if you can - you never know what else you'll find or what people you might meet!*

(*ok, Winston Churchill's out, but there's an outside chance of MC Hammer...)

'As every respectable scientist knows, messing with the space-time continuum is more trouble than it's worth.

That's why Felix Frost, secret child genius, has locked up his time machine for good. Yes, sir.

But, when your best friend is an adventure-loving bossy pants and you've got a history project to do. Well, that changes things.

When Missy and Felix visit Bill Hudson, Missy's great grandfather, to ask him about his years as a pilot in WW2, he tells them the story of the ghost plane: a fighter jet that went out on a routine mission, and when it came back, its pilot had vanished.

Join Felix, Missy and Einstein as they dust off the time machine to travel back to England, 1943. Can they solve the mystery of the ghost plane without getting caught out as time travellers? Or worse, spies!'

Happy (belated) New Year

First post of 2016! Here's my newly arrived copy of Felix Frost - Time Detective - Ghost Plane, written by Eleanor Hawken & illustrated by me. I'll post some more when it's published on January 14th. It's published by Quercus books

Johnny Danger - Lie Another Day

Forget your Spectre nonsense! Here's my cover illustration for Peter Millet's second Johnny Danger book, 'Lie Another Day'
It features 'death-defying bungee bogeys, Big Andy the killer anaconda, despicable G.R.O.S.S. agents, and a gassy evil villain known as The Blank Space.' - out in 2016

Doctor Menace!

As it's Doctor Who's 52nd birthday today. I sometimes like to sneak the odd extraneous detail into book illustrations for the eagle eyed... (& slightly geeky) This is from The Diary of Dennis the Menace - Canine Carnage

Then there were six!

I've illustrated six Diary of Dennis the Menace so far - nice to see them all lined up together!

The Diary Of Dennis The Menace: The Great Escape! - cover!

Pssst! Here's a sneak preview of the cover for the new Diary of Dennis the Menace - The Great Escape - written by Steven Butler with illustrations by me - afraid you're going to have to wait for 4th February 2016 until you can get your grubby paws on it!

Felix Frost Time Detective: Roman Riddle

Felix Frost - Time Detective - Roman Riddle by Eleanor Hawken which I illustrated recently has just been published by Quercus books.

"Join Felix Frost, secret boy genius, his chameleon Einstein and his classmate Missy as they travel back in time to Ancient Rome, where terrifying danger and embarrassing togas await."

(as well as chameleons & embarassing togas I also get to draw a toy Yoda, a smattering of chickens & indulge my 'inner Asterix' by drawing some Roman soldiers too! I'm also responsible for all hair styling in the book)

You can get hold of a copy here or better still get off the internet & support your local bookshop & buy it there

The Fine British Art of Queuing.

Dennis & friends demonstrating the fine British art of queuing.

From the latest Diary of Dennis the Menace - Canine Carnage written by Steven Butler & published by Puffin

(see also 'passive aggressive tutting' & Britishness)

©DC Thomson and Co. Ltd

Diary of Dennis the Menace - Canine Carnage

The new Diary of Dennis the Menace - Canine Carnage written by Steven Butler & illustrated by my good self is published today!

Mighty menaces, disaster has struck! Gnasher's got himself into REAL trouble this time.

If he's not careful, DENNIS AND THE DINMAKERS are going to be kicked out of THE FAME FACTOR competition. And with our rockin' tunes, we're guaranteed winners!

I have to do something to help Gnasher out - before he ends up in the doghouse for good!

So who's the 'Greatest rockstar on the planet' huh?

(I had a lot of fun with this one - hope you enjoy it)

The Haunted Lunchbox

The Haunted Lunchbox or... when good foodstuffs go BAD!
With a little nod to Wagon Wheels (which even as a kid I thought were foul) & Um Bongo, which according to legend they drink in the DRC - except this doesn't rhyme / scan in quite the way it did in the slightly naive / racist  '80s commercials!

I'm thinking this would be a great book title, I just haven't come up with the story yet, so here's the cover while you wait...

Johnny Danger - DIY Spy

Having thoroughly enjoyed worked with author (& all round good egg) Peter Millet on his Boy Zero series for Faber & Faber a few years back I recently illustrated the cover for his latest book 'Johnny Danger - DIY Spy' published by Penguin.

 It's billed as 'A hilarious, action-packed tale featuring a pair of evil number twos, a madman, exploding bogey bombs, discount ninjas and a man-eating piranha called Bob.' - what's NOT to like?

It's only available in Australia at the moment but hopefully a UK deal will follow - otherwise you'll just have to buy this edition & read it upside down in the UK.

Here's a couple of the original preliminary character sketches (we lost the Blofeld cat & the water pistol & gained a banana in the process!)

May Festival!

No, not the (Steve) May festival, but lovely to see my Dennis the Menace illustrations on the posters for the Shrewsbury Bookfest !

Diary of Dennis the Menace - Canine Carnage cover

Sneak preview of the cover for 'Canine Carnage' the fifth in the very funny Diary of Dennis the Menace series written by Steven Butler & illustrated by me.
Publication date 2nd July 2015

(Wondering if I can swing a free Flying V or Explorer guitar from Gibson for my product placement...hmmm...)

World Menace (Book) Day 2015

I've been pleased to illustrate a special edition of Diary of Dennis the Menace written by the very funny Steven Butler especially for World Book Day (or World Menace Day as Dennis has decided to rebrand it!) 

A few weeks ago I also took part in a Puffin Virtually Live event where the audience got two Stevens for the price of one, (myself & Mr Butler!) tips on dressing up as Dennis for school on World Book Day itself & I explain how to draw your very own Gnasher! Lots of fun! 

Here's a sneak preview of Dennis' Blobzilla costume I drew for World Book (I mean Menace) Day...

(design by Mandy Norman)

Bash Street Bandits - Puffin Virtually Live

Had great fun this afternoon drawing for the Puffin Virtually Live event for the publication of the new Diary of Dennis the Menace book at Sadlers Wells with charming Dennis the Menace author Steven Butler & former Blur Peter presenter the lovely Helen Skelton. (ok, it's very childish of me but that's BLUE PETER! So cool!)

I got to demonstrate to the audience the fine art of drawing Dennis' best friend, the one and only Gnasher with some great audience results too! (might be out of a job if I'm not careful!) Here's a couple I managed to get photos of.