Dinosaur hiding in ice cream van (slight return)

Where else would you hide if you were a Brontosaurus* at the seaside?

*I know, there's no such thing as a Brontosaurus see previous Apatosaurus post

Disclaimer : Occasionally my detractors take issue with accuracy / plausibility of some of my images & with this one I will hold up my hands & admit that Fab lollies & Sky Rays were probably made by different ice cream firms so might not really co-exist within the same van. I am extremely sorry if anyone is offended*

*apart from creationists who spoil dinosaurs for EVERYONE!

Illustrators for War Child

I'm pleased to be included in  a charity illustration auction organised by the lovely Leigh Hodgkinson to raise money for War Child a charity who provide life-changing support to the most vulnerable children whose families, communities and schools have been torn apart by war.

A group of talented illustrators (most of whom are children's book illustrators) have generously donated their artwork for this cause. Work in this auction ranges from signed prints, original artwork, signed books, and other wonderful items.

You can find out more at the website & you can bid for the artwork here It's for a very good cause - happy bidding!

This is my offer which is an ORIGINAL & SIGNED (yep, I can write my name too!) pen & ink drawing called 'Ketchup?' which you can bid for here

Happy (rainy) Monday!

Seemed apt today somehow, please come back summer!

Cats, trumpets, elephants & more...

These new prints were designed & drawn specifically for a private commission recently - lots of fun to draw & incorporate certain specific references in the artwork to personalise them.
They also happen to have some of my favourite things in them, elephants, cats, penguins, balloons & pizza (in no particular order)

Let there be drums!

Monster Facts #10

Monster Fact : Monsters do not receive mandatory holiday pay & rarely take time off - it is considered wise not to disturb them when they do*

*This also applies to freelance illustrators, crocodiles et al. Dogs, as EVERYBODY knows have Wednesday afternoons off.

Dennis the Menace - Rollercoaster Riot!

 Diary of Dennis the Menace 3 - Rollercoaster Riot written by Steven Butler & scribbled all over by me is published today by Puffin books!

All aboard THE VOMIT COMET! Guess what fellow menaces - The World's Biggest Rollercoaster is opening in Beanoland this summer! I just need to win an easy-peasy competition to be the first Bash Street School student to ride it - and I might have to trick a few Softies as well . . .

As usual this has been a riot to draw (see what I did there?) & am looking forward to the next book immensely - KEEP MENACING KIDS!

Silly Name for a Monster - publication day!

 'Silly Name for a Monster' written by Timothy Knapman & illustrated by me is out today published by Scholastic.

'Once upon a time if you wanted to be a hero, you had to have a proper, hero-sounding name. And if you wanted to be a big scary monster, it was no good unless your name was big and scary too. But when all the proper-sounding heroes can't defeat the most menacing monster in the kingdom, the king offers his whole kingdom to whoever can beat it. Could Stinkpot succeed? Even with such a silly name?'

It's got scary monsters, heroes, donkeys, knights in pink frilly knickers & INCREDIBLY SILLY NAMES! I think you should go out & buy it!

You can order it from here or preferably get your best pair of pink frilly knickers on pop into your local bookshop & get it there!

Monster Fact #9

Monster fact : Very BIG monsters can fit through very SMALL holes

Monster Facts #8

Monster Fact: Monster breath is terrible. Many beautiful would-be monster relationships are de-railed early on by halitosis*.

(*See also monster diets)

Monster Facts #7

Monster fact: Up to 95% of domestic 'lost sock' incidents are the result of monster activity

Monster Facts #6

Monster Fact: Monsters love ice cream, but mainly when it's somebody else's ice cream.

See also monster diets

Monster Facts #5

Monster Fact: The dark is composed of at least 70% monsters (& at least 10% horrible creepy crawlies) - very much like the percentage of cocoa solids in posh chocolate but much SCARIER!

Monster facts #3

Monster fact : Vegetarianism is EXTREMELY uncommon. Their favourite dinner is invariably YOU!

(yeah, yeah, wear the monster deflective tofu armour if it makes you feel better #futilegesture)

Monster facts #2

Yep, sorry to break it to you kids, I'm not making this up...

Sleep tight huh? x

The Wednesday creature

Monster fact : Bloodthirsty monsters always have Wednesdays off to catch up on laundry / e-mails etc.

Here is a candid pen & ink picture of a monster washing his smalls (the artist was nearly devoured in the process of drawing this, monsters are NOTORIOUSLY touchy - I don't make this sh*t up you know!)

Disappointing sandwich

We've ALL been there.

How to draw Dennis the Menace and Gnasher

Me pulling some stupid faces & demonstrating some drawing stuff & nonsense

PS...this is my REAL drawing face

Silly Name for a Monster!

I just received a copy of 'Silly Name for a Monster' by the very funny Timothy Knapman which I illustrated earlier in the year.
The fact that I laughed out loud when I first received the text was definitely a good start & I thoroughly enjoyed illustrating this. It's a hilarious book with a big scary monster, some cowardly knights & a little boy called Stinkpot. Can he succeed in defeating a monster with such a silly name?

I'm not going to tell you that. You'll have to wait until August 7th until it's actually released so there!

In the mean time, here's a sneak preview...

Full moon tonight! Altogether now... "AAAAWWWWOOOOOOO!"

I know LOTS about werewolves but very little about astronomy but apparently... 

'A full moon coinciding on Friday the 13th is not all that uncommon, occurring every three or so years.

But having the combination of a honey moon and Friday the 13th is rare, last occurring on June 13, 1919, according to the popular astronomy site Universe Today. We'll have to wait until June 13, 2098, for the next one.'

(thank you National Geographic)

(illustration from 'Making Monsters Happy' by Susan Gates)